Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The soldiers cursed, ‘That fella has actually succeeded, but he pulled such a long face as if his mother died. We were happy for nothing.’
However, the amateurs did not notice the surprised look on Ni Yunhong’s face, which lasted for a split second.
Similarly, they did not notice the bizarre look on the professionals’ faces, which were so complicated that it was indescribable.
Attribute Equipment was certainly the most powerful kind of equipment, and one that had the Fire-resistant attribute was exceptionally rare. It could give an incredibly magical effect in specific situations, and was also a Unique Attribute that was highly sought after by powerful forces who were willing to pay a lump sum.
Nonetheless, it was confusing that the Fire-resistant attribute appeared in this situation.
“Ah, what the hell!” Li Shunfeng smiled bitterly. “He clearly took the Power Ore, but a Fire-resistant attribute appeared. Does this… Does this even make sense?”
Old Craftsman sighed and commented, “If it’s meant to be, it will be. We can’t do anything about it…”
They finally understood what had happened earlier.
Ni Yunhong had obviously failed to attach the Power attribute earlier, and he had thought so too.
Despite that, only God knew what happened during the process. When Ni Yunhong’s spiritual fire burned, a mysterious power between Heaven and Earth was triggered, and the Fire-resistant attribute was incorporated. Consequently, the arm guard underwent a sudden change. Not only did it become a piece of Attribute Equipment, but it also became an uncommon piece of fire-resistant equipment.
The Military Fire Blacksmiths did not know how to describe this situation at all. Perhaps Ni Yunhong was such a lucky b*stard that he was blessed with good fortune.
“Master Ou,” Wang Zhongtong suddenly called out, “We admit defeat this round, challenge him in the next round!”
“Yes, Master Ou, that’s the way…”
Many Military Fire Blacksmiths agreed.
Before this, Ou Yangming had officially been qualified as a Military Fire Blacksmith and had submitted more pieces of Attribute Equipment than most of them. That said, the senior blacksmiths only nodded politely at Ou Yangming whenever they met him, and none of them addressed him as a master.
At this moment, they finally expressed their thoughts by calling him Master Ou.
Ni Yunhong’s smithing process earlier was bestowed by Heaven. It could not be contended with, and could not be repeated.
Under the circumstances, his opponent could not even complain about a loss. Other than admitting defeat, there was simply no other option.
Nevertheless, Ou Yangming turned to nod at his seniors and said, “Thank you for your good intentions, but I’d like to give it a shot.”
He then turned to walk toward the remaining steel.
After some serious thought, Ou Yangming picked up an iron ingot and released his Military Fire.
The iron ingot was quickly transformed into the shape of an arm guard through the burning Military Fire. Following that, Ou Yangming reached out for a Power Ore next to him.
Old Craftsman and the others sighed upon seeing this.
Even if Ou Yangming attempted to bind an attribute to it and actually succeeded by luck, he was up against the Fire-resistant attribute, hence the outcome was already fixed regardless of his hard work. Ni Yunhong’s magical fire earlier was a gift from Heaven, it was something that was a hundred or a thousand times harder to achieve than the attachment of an attribute.
Many Military Fire Blacksmiths worked hard their entire life and smithed countless pieces of equipment, but miracles like that only occurred less than ten times in total.
Therefore, even if they were the judges, they would cast the winning vote to Ni Yunhong without any hesitation.
Ou Yangming’s effort would only be in vain.
In spite of that, Ou Yangming paused just as he touched the Power Ore.
Subsequently, he withdrew his hand. Old Craftsman and the others nodded because they knew that he had figured it out. Since Ou Yangming could not be victorious in this round, he might as well foster his strength and bypass his weakness. He could miss this round and could regain his victory in the next round.
However, just as they thought Ou Yangming was going to end his smithing process, he had a grave expression on his face. The Military Fire in his hand danced and burned while circulating around the arm guard.
Ni Yunhong paid attention to Ou Yangming’s every move to carefully observe and identify each step.
Although Ou Yangming’s movements looked simple, which seemed far from being complicated, each of his moves was actually done according to the most standard stance of a Military Fire Blacksmith. They were common textbook moves, hence Ni Yunhong could not even spot a single flaw.
In the past, Master Ni would simply disregard methodical smithing arts that were inflexible and did not involve skills.
This time, he suffered a huge loss because of such a simple technique.
For some reason, as Ou Yangming’s movements kept changing, Ni Yunhong’s mind and thoughts wavered.
The greatest truth was usually achieved in the simplest way. This situation was what the saying meant.
When Ni Yunhong watched Ou Yangming’s simple smithing method, the unbelievable feeling somehow grew inside him.
‘How could a young Military Fire Blacksmith like him achieve the legendary boundary in smithing art?’
Ni Yunhong let go of his fists and clenched them again. When he let go of them once more, he realized that his palms were sweaty.
He was frightened, so frightened from his deduction that he lost self-control.
Nonetheless, Ni Yunhong quickly forced himself to suppress the discomfort. ‘Ou Yangming’s still quite young, how is it possible that he knows to return to his true self, and that the greatest truth is usually achieved in the simplest way? Heh, the person who frightened ends up being frightened, but I didn’t think that it’ll be so terrifying to scare myself…’
Nevertheless, Ni Yunhong had no clue that Ou Yangming did not even learn that the greatest truth was usually achieved in the simplest way. He simply learned the most basic smithing art and performed the only thing he knew at this moment because he knew nothing else.
At last, the Military Fire slowly went away after burning for some time.
Ou Yangming exhaled deeply and looked weary when he put down the arm guard.
It seemed like the energy he had consumed to smith a normal White Slate Arm Guard surpassed by a huge margin of what was consumed during the smithing of a piece of Attribute Equipment.
Old Craftsman felt sorry for Ou Yangming. ‘He’s still a child, did I let him fly too soon…’
Wang Zhongtong suddenly whispered to the old man, “Old Craftsman, why does Lil Ou seem so exhausted? Is there something strange about the arm guard?”
The rest were stunned, but they quickly shook their heads. Ni Yunhong was exceptionally lucky to have obtained the God-given Fire-resistant attribute, and it would definitely be wishful thinking if one wanted to replicate the process. Even if the blacksmiths’ heads were chopped off, they would not believe that there was also a God-given attribute in this arm guard.
Zheng Ziwen and Ni Yinghong stepped forward curiously because they could not understand why it was such a strenuous process for Ou Yangming when he only smithed a normal White Slate Arm Guard. He was completely different from when he easily smithed the piece of Attribute Equipment earlier.
“Not bad, this should be a High Grade Rank Five,” Zheng Ziwen remarked with a nod after inspecting the arm guard carefully. He then expressed to Ou Yangming, “Master Ou, you have a profound foundation to be able to smith two pieces of High Grade Rank Five equipment consecutively, I admire you.”
Even if a piece of equipment was of High Grade, there was a huge difference between Rank One and Rank Five. Other than that, the smithing of a piece of High Grade Rank Five equipment by chance and the successful smithing of two of those in a short span of time also carried different meanings.
At the very least, in terms of quality only, the ability displayed by Ou Yangming was clearly more remarkable than Ni Yunhong’s.
Unfortunately, Ou Yangming’s advantage became nothing due to the rare God-given attribute.
Wang Zhongtong and the other blacksmiths nodded and said, “It’s truly amazing that he can smith pieces of High Grade Rank Five consecutively!”
“Yes, that’s a real skill, whereas the God-given attribute can’t be repeated.”
The crowd nodded in agreement, but they did not look too delighted because they somehow felt sour about it.
Zheng Ziwen announced loudly, “This round’s…”
“Wait,” Ou Yangming suddenly called out to him, “Master Zheng, please take another look at it.”
“What?”
“What did he say?”
“Could it be that… There’s a mystery inside his arm guard?”
The professionals could not help but clamor at once. In fact, even Old Craftsman, who had been calm all along, was breathing heavily with a red face.
Zheng Ziwen was stunned, and a ghastly expression was seen on his face.
He looked deeply at Ou Yangming because he dared not believe that he would witness the birth of two pieces of God-given equipment. The appraiser skipped the steps that he had always adhered to as he wanted to just announce the result.
That being said, Zheng Ziwen was at a loss once Ou Yangming raised his objection.
He would be reputable if two pieces of God-given equipment were made on the same day, but if that was really the case, it would be hard to say if the reputation spread would be good or bad.
Zheng Ziwen proceeded to channel a hint of essential Qi into the arm guard.
Subsequently, his face changed wonderfully.
“H-how is this possible?” Zheng Ziwen’s face twitched. He gritted his teeth, and finally announced as everyone else looked at him eagerly, “A High Grade Rank Five Arm Guard, attached with a Precision Attribute!”
His voice spread far and wide. It was not loud, but it certainly sounded like a crash of thunder to the experts, who were left speechless for a long time.
