Once everyone was done examining the horseshoe, the elder chuckled and announced, “I’m quick lucky today; I smithed a piece of White Silver Equipment.”
One of the human cultivators flattered him, “Elder Bai, you’ve smithed pieces of five-star White Silver Equipment before, so a one-star one obviously isn’t difficult for you.”
The elder stroked his beard and smiled proudly. He was evidently in a great mood.
Ou Yangming was moved, and he asked, “Senior, may I try the White Silver Equipment’s power?”
It was his first time seeing such a queer color, so he naturally wanted to experience it.
The elder was slightly stunned. He pondered for a while before he answered, “Go outside to try it.”
‘That’s my equipment, so why do you—a human blacksmith—want to try it? Do you have nothing better to do?’ The spirit horse widened its eyes and wanted to flip out, but it opened its mouth without saying a word.
Ou Yangming nodded. He knew the elder was afraid that the equipment would wreck the tall building as it was too powerful, which was why the elder gave such an order.
The young fellow carried the horseshoe and walked out of the tall building. He was followed by a bunch of spirit beasts, which were extremely curious and even coveted the equipment.
It went without saying that the equipment was far more valuable than an ordinary white slate magic tool.
Needless to say, they also knew that the human blacksmith would not take forcible possession of the equipment as long as he was not mad. This was a core area on the 10,000 Beasts Ridge, after all. If the young fellow had wishful thinking about fleeing with the equipment, he would be courting death.
Ou Yangming went far away from the tall building and lifted the horseshoe before he channeled his essential Qi into it. Nonetheless, his face changed, and there was a strange look on his face.
This was because he suddenly realized that his essential Qi could not be used.
Although Ou Yangming’s mental power was notable and had long broken through a Spiritualist’s limit, his essential Qi had not reached that boundary.
He suddenly understood that pieces of White Silver Equipment were made for Spiritualists. If one only used one’s mental power, one would not be able to initiate it.
Ou Yangming smiled bitterly and waved at the big yellow dog. “Big Yellow, come and try it.”
At this point, including the elder and the spirit horse, almost everyone and every spirit beast in the high building had come out.
They instantly guessed the reason when they saw Ou Yangming’s expression, and they could not help but grin. The spirit horse was the only one with an incredibly dark face, and it stared furiously at Big Yellow as though it wanted to rip it apart and swallow it.
Big Yellow might not be brave, but it did not show a weak impression with Ou Yangming by its side.
Perhaps it had regarded Ou Yangming as an invincible figure after witnessing the numerous miracles that he created.
With that, the big yellow dog trotted toward the iron horseshoe and pressed its paw on it. Next, its body quivered, and it glanced at Ou Yangming before it stepped on the ground.
“Boom…”
As a result, the ground beneath its paw sunk deeply right away. With it as the center, cracks were seen spreading like a spiderweb.
The power from the step was so appalling that in terms of mightiness only, even the Stone Awl Penetration—Big Yellow’s natural gift—seemed to be insignificant. Besides, the power needed to be consumed to perform that skill was enormous, which could not be compared with the casual step that the big yellow dog had just made.
Ou Yangming and Big Yellow looked at each other and noticed how shocked they both were.
A piece of White Silver Equipment’s power turned out to be so frightening. In comparison, the so-called Layering Art in the lower realm was simply the biggest joke.
The young fellow removed the iron horseshoe from the Big Yellow and looked deeply at it one last time before he returned it to the elder respectfully.
At this moment, he very much admired the elder, who attached the power to the equipment. As the elder carried out the smithing process with ease, it perfectly displayed his deep understanding of the attribute. Perhaps this would be Ou Yangming’s biggest gain from his trip to the mountaintop.
The elder accepted the horseshoe and said to the eager spirit horse, “I’ve done smithing your equipment; take it.”
“Thank you.” The spirit horse bowed deeply at the elder. As soon as it accepted the equipment, it inserted it into its hoof without any hesitation and was overjoyed. Despite that, the horse dared not step carelessly as Big Yellow did.
It would be fine if it occasionally did it once or twice but if it caused massive destruction, it would suffer an unbearable disaster.
“I’ve taught you the Attachment Technique, so practice more with ores for Common Attributes in the future,” the elder noted as he turned around. He added after a short pause, “Once you’re able to layer Common Attributes to the tenth level, you can attempt to layer White Silver Attributes.”
The 3 blacksmiths responded with respect, “Yes, thanks for your pointers, Elder Bai.”
Ou Yangming’s eyes lit up. He was adept in layering attributes the most in the lower realm; even without using his Military Fire’s unique ability, he could layer around 5 attributes. Having said that, he could vaguely sense the obstruction from the world’s power when he tried to advance. Moreover, the layering of 4 to 5 attributes was considered astounding in the lower realm, thus he did not need to go further.
Everything was different in the Spiritual Realm; it was simply unbelievable that the layering of Common Attributes could be done to a tenth level.
The elder looked at Ou Yangming, who was deep in his thought, and questioned, “Young fella, what’s your name? How long have you learned smithing art?”
Even though the young fellow was quiet, the fact that he had the guts to request to try the equipment made the elder feel that they could get along with each other.
Ou Yangming cupped his hands and answered, “I’m Ou Yangming, and I’ve been learning smithing art for… Over 3 years.”
It had only been 3 years, but so much had happened in between. When he recalled what he had gone through, he could not help but lament.
“3 years?” The elder was dumbfounded. As for the 3 blacksmiths, they cast weird looks at Ou Yangming.
Smithing art was not a rubbish skill, such that one must pay a considerable price to go far in the trade, one of the essentials being time. Even ordinary human cultivators needed 2 to 3 years to join the trade, whereas those that could participate in the Trading Meet were either God-favored ones or had worked hard for at least a decade.
Nevertheless, peerless talents in smithing art were already hidden and protected by different sects, so they could not have been sent here.
Therefore, even when Ou Yangming gave an honest answer, everyone including the elder did not believe him.
The elder frowned and asked in a deep voice, “Young fella, do you know who I am?”
Ou Yangming shook his head and answered frankly, “I don’t know.”
“Hmph, I’m Bai Zhiyi, an elder from Danzhou’s Smithing Alliance,” the elder expressed, “Now, can you tell me the truth?”
The young fellow blinked and was puzzled.
‘I know about Danzhou, but what’s the Smithing Alliance? Why did this old man want me to tell the truth after introducing himself?’
He looked at the people in confusion, but Bai Zhiyi’s eyes were as sharp as electric while the 3 human blacksmiths looked scornful. As for the spirit beasts nearby, they kept quiet but seemed rather interested in an internal conflict among the Humans.
Ou Yangming smiled bitterly and responded, “Senior Bai, I don’t understand you.”
“Ah, brother, why are you mystifying things and playing dumb?” A tall blacksmith sighed. “Elder Bai’s an elder from the association, so he knows every renowned blacksmith in Danzhou. If it’s true that you only learned for 3 years and are qualified to join the Trading Meet held by the 10,000 Beasts Venerable One, you must be a gifted genius and have a remarkable reputation in Danzhou. If that’s the case, Elder Bai would’ve heard of you.”
Another blacksmith nodded and commented, “Elder Bai has always said that one must learn smithing art steadily and mustn’t reach for things beyond one’s grasp. Judging from your young age, I suppose if you’re able to participate in this event, you must have outstanding qualities even if you’re not a God-favored one.” He stressed after a pause, “If you answer Elder Bai truthfully, you’ll benefit from it.”
Ou Yangming touched his nose and smiled bitterly.
What the blacksmiths said was true; in the lower realm, he became distinguished in less than 2 years and was even honored as the best blacksmith in the world when he was in the capital. Furthermore, he was confident that he was not inferior to any God-favored ones in the Spiritual Realm in terms of his natural gift in smithing art.
However, the problem was that this was the Spiritual Realm, and information from the lower realm could not be sent here.
Ou Yangming forced a smile and rejoined, “Elder Bai, brothers, I don’t have a habit of lying, so I didn’t hide anything from you.”
Bai Zhiyi looked fierce at once, and he questioned in a deep voice, “Who’s your teacher?”
The young fellow answered seriously, “Old Craftsman was the one that taught me about the smithing path.”
“Old Craftsman?” Bai Zhiyi was struck dumb for some time, but he could not recall any famous blacksmiths to have that name. He frowned and asked, “You’re not from Danzhou?”
Ou Yangming answered after some thought, “Yes, not before this.”
Before he came here, he was not even from the Spiritual Realm, let alone Danzhou.
Bai Zhiyi’s eyes flickered, but nobody knew what he was thinking. As for the 3 blacksmiths, they were very curious, ‘Is this young fella really a God-favored one from outside of Danzhou?’
“You’re qualified to come here after only 3 years.” Bai Zhiyi pondered and raised another question, “Who invited you here?”
While the Trading Meet was traditionally held at this place, not everyone was qualified to enter; one would not be invited at all if one did not have the ability to smith magic tools.
Ou Yangming thought for a brief moment but decided to give a frank answer, “It was the 10,000 Beasts Venerable One.”
“What?”
Bai Zhiyi suddenly looked up in shock.
This time, apart from the human blacksmiths, even the spirit beasts around were taken aback too.
“You were personally invited by Sir Venerable One?”
“Yes!” Ou Yangming nodded. If the 10,000 Beasts Venerable One had not sensed Multi-armed King Kong’s aura on him and sent him an invitation, he would not have shown up here.
