The blood essence spread, and blood threads interweaved into a net, forming a strange and inexplicable pattern that shone with a red light.
Feng Duxin was enveloped in a cloud of blood mists, and his index finger tapped lightly on the back of the short saber. Afterward, the blood-colored pattern rippled like a tide. His middle finger quickly followed, landing an inch away from his index finger.
This movement was extremely fast, but it did not seem messy at all. On the contrary, it was meticulous.
The process could be seen clearly and each time, the short saber would quickly turn red and give off a strong fluctuation. It even gave off a faint spiritual charm.
This kind of technique gave everyone a pleasant feeling. This was the strength of the Phoenixes’ blacksmith. Even Ou Yangming, who was watching from the side, could not help but want to clap his hands and praise.
“As expected of Elder Duxin. He’s so proficient in the Blood Essence Sharpening Technique,” a phoenix powerhouse wearing a bamboo hat praised.
The Blood Essence Sharpening Technique was a secret technique of the Phoenixes. Not only did it require one’s comprehension, but it also required luck to be cultivated. Among the hundreds of thousands of phoenix powerhouses, less than 10 of them had mastered this secret technique. There were 2 main reasons. First, this secret technique was too weak and unrewarding. Second, it was too difficult and complicated to cultivate.
“It’s hard to say. The success rate of this secret technique is too low. If Elder Duxin wasn’t forced to the edge, he surely wouldn’t have used it.” A powerhouse sighed. He stared at the blood mists without blinking, afraid that he would miss out on even a single detail.
Ou Yangming rubbed his chin with his fingers. His eyes flashed with a sharp light as he thought to himself, ‘This secret technique is really strange.’
He had a deep understanding of smithing and could sense things that others could not. As such, he discovered that with every finger movement from Feng Duxin’s, the old man’s blood essence and the spiritual Qi in the air would fuse, producing a magical power that could remove the impurities in the equipment and improve its quality. Nonetheless, there were also side effects, where the air holes in the short saber were blocked, causing its flexibility to be severely damaged.
If Feng Duxin knew Ou Yangming had thoroughly analyzed the technique in just a short while, what would he think? Presumably, he would also let out a long sigh and say, “Freak.”
Feng Duxin was unaware of what was going on. His hand movements became faster while the blood mists became thicker, but they did not have any sinister or ominous feeling. On the other hand, they gave off a sense of holiness.
“Using the blood essence of the Phoenixes as a guide, by bringing life from death, activate!” Feng Duxin uttered in a low voice. His right middle finger pointed out 6 times in the air. Every time he pointed out, spiritual Qi would vibrate violently. All the blood threads on the equipment were connected smoothly, and the equipment also started to vibrate violently.
‘I succeeded.’ Feng Duxin thought to himself. There was a slight fluctuation in his mood.
It was then when a chaotic and violent feeling spread out from the equipment.
The exquisite and perfect short saber became pitch black at a speed visible to the naked eye. Countless fine cracks appeared on it and in the end, it crumbled.
‘What a pity!’ Ou Yangming sighed internally. ‘If he had steadied his thoughts in the end, he might’ve succeeded. Well, it’s too late to say all this now.’
Feng Duxin was stunned for a moment. His wrinkled face looked even older, and his silver-white hair fluttered in the wind.
Nevertheless, he was well-cultivated. He immediately suppressed the regret in his heart. He cupped his hands at Ou Yangming and forced a smile. “Master Ou, congratulations on your victory.”
“Master Feng, thank you for letting me win.” Ou Yangming returned the bow.
He had always respected such virtuous and capable people.
Feng Xiao stood at the side, his heart thumping non-stop. It was as if he was being bitten by 100,000 ants at the same time. It was incredibly painful. He turned his gaze and secretly glanced at Feng Xinxiao. Seeing that Feng Xinxiao’s expression was normal, he felt a little more at ease. He slowly walked to the arena and announced in a deep voice, “For the smithing competition, the Peacemaking Sect wins.”
His voice seemed to carry an odd magical power as it spread in all directions.
The originally noisy terrace became strangely quiet. There was only warm sunlight and a gentle breeze. After the silence, there was an uproar.
On the high platform, Feng Yun looked at Ou Yangming and noted with a chuckle, “Congratulations, Brother Feng Xiang, for the icing on the cake.” He shrugged. No matter what, he felt like he was dreaming because the Peacemaking Sect had actually won.
After seeing Ou Yangming refine the magic weapon, Feng Yun knew the young fellow had a high chance of winning, but he was still shocked when he really heard the result. He kept weighing the pros and cons in his heart. If the unusual phenomenon that was triggered by Ou Yangming earlier was a door knocker, at this time, half of the door had been pushed open.
Top blacksmiths were a scarce resource no matter where they were, after all.
Feng Xiang waved his hand and took in the expression on Feng Yun’s face.
He sighed internally and thought, ‘I can’t believe that the deadlock that has lasted for thousands of years might actually be turned around now.’
His thoughts were not without reason. From Feng Yun’s change in attitude toward him, he knew that the cause of all this change was Ou Yangming.
Big Yellow thought, ‘Since Lil’ Ming can refine magic weapons now, I should change my equipment set, right?’ The thought of this excited him. In fact, his equipment set had not been upgraded for a long time.
King Kong’s thoughts were much simpler. He only wanted to quietly follow in Ou Yangming’s footsteps and not fall behind.
Perhaps it was because of this perseverance that he would finally reach the top of the world and dominate a region.
Feng Xiao saw that everyone had digested most of the news, thus he once again walked into the arena, collected his emotions, and said, “The first round has ended. The next round is pill refinement. Everyone knows that the Phoenixes’ pills are awe-inspiring to all races and enjoy a great reputation in the Great Wide World. Some of them can’t even be bought with spirit ores. This is also one of the necessary means for the Phoenixes to suppress all worlds. There are no rules for this round, and the outcome will only depend on the value of the pills. Without further ado, let’s begin.” His voice was not loud but it seemed to be omnipresent. The phoenix powerhouses in the crowd were instantly thrilled.
As Feng Xiao’s voice faded, he gently waved his hand.
The sky shook with a booming sound then a curving bolt of lightning rapidly spread out like a dragon, emitting a sizzling sound. Electric arcs flickered in the sky as if they had fallen into a lightning pool that seemed to be able to blot out the sky and cover the sun. A powerful and vigorous feeling spread in all directions, causing one’s scalp to go numb.
Consequently, the originally silent sky was stirred until it shattered into pieces.
Following that, 2 piercing sounds were transmitted from the lightning pool. One could see that the lightning bolts seemed to have been pulled by a pair of invisible large hands. They were forcefully torn toward both sides, revealing a pale whiteness. At the same time, 2 black dots squeezed into everyone’s sight in an unreasonable manner and became bigger. Upon a closer look, they were 2 ancient pill furnaces. The pill furnaces were at least 10 meters tall, and they were pitch black. The lifelike picture of a phoenix dancing in the nine heavens was carved on each of them.
“Bang!” A loud sound filled the air.
The pill furnaces landed on the balcony, and dust scattered in all directions. A circular storm that could be seen with the naked eye swept in all directions.
Many hurricanes rose up from the ground while gravel flew everywhere.
After a full 10 breaths, the spiritual Qi fluctuation above the terrace finally calmed down.
Subsequently, a grey-robed old man walked over from afar. His steps were slow but with each step he took, it was as if he was stepping on an interspatial node, resonating with Heaven and Earth. Even the spiritual Qi in front of him gave out a joyful feeling.
After reaching the totem, he looked at Ou Yangming and said in a low voice, “Master Ou, please. I’m Feng Juelian.” Obviously, he had received the news that his opponent would still be the young human who had caused quite a stir. No, he was considered a part of the Phoenixes now. After all, he had caused a commotion earlier.
“Please!” Ou Yangming’s gaze focused as he returned the bow.
“Why… Why is he going to refine pills as well?” Someone exclaimed in a low voice.
The list of people participating in the grand competition was only known by a small group of people, which was why he was so surprised.
“Yeah! Besides, at such an age? How could he have such deep attainments?” Indeed, whether it was equipment smithing or pill refinement, they were time-consuming. It was simply impossible to achieve them in one go. Now, not only did the person in front of him participate in the smithing competition, but he was also going to refine pills. Was this a legend? This was not child’s play!
Feng Xiang’s pupils trembled. His face was as calm as a lake, but the fingers hidden in his long sleeves were squeezed together. Obviously, his thoughts were not as calm as he seemed.
He thought to himself, ‘Brother Ou, what exactly are you trying to do?’ Previously, he had provided Ou Yangming with the spiritual herbs, but the young fellow smiled and shook his head. Furthermore, Ou Yangming had made a solemn promise that he was already prepared, so Feng Xiang could rest assured.
These words made Feng Xiang a little speechless, and he was very worried.
From what he knew, after Ou Yangming entered the Great Wide World, he had never gone out at all.
Therefore, he had no chance to find the heavenly and earthly treasures and rare spiritual herbs here. In other words, the spiritual herbs that he had prepared were all brought up from the Spiritual Realm.
It was also because of this that Feng Xiang subconsciously believed that Ou Yangming did not have any spiritual herbs to use. After all, the Spiritual Realm was just a barren wasteland.
This logic was right, but there were exceptions to everything.
Who would have thought that Master Ou had the Long Feather Band, the Wutong Tree, and the poisonous pill’s world
In this way, all impossibilities became possible.
Ou Yangming did not know Feng Xiang had thought so much in such a short time. He quickly collected his thoughts and exhaled the turbid air from his chest, turning them into a cloud of white mist. His eyes suddenly focused. With a flip of his wrist, he gently raised his hand and grabbed. The 10-meters-tall pill furnace flew in front of him. The shadow of flames was reflected in his eyes. With a flash of thought, the Heavenly Phoenix Fire spread out from his palm, emitting a scorching light.
Feng Xiang and Feng Yun exchanged a look and saw the shock in each other’s eyes.
When a powerhouse made a move, one could perceive even the details.
Feng Yun secretly transmitted his voice to Feng Xiang, ‘Master Ou’s control of his fire is something that very few alchemists in the Phoenixes can compare to.”
Feng Xiang was surprised, but his face did not reveal the slightest bit of it. He nodded lightly.
He thought to himself, ‘The more I try to understand him, the more I feel that he’s like a vast ocean.
This was Feng Xiang’s most exact thought. After spending the past few days together, he realized that Ou Yangming knew a lot of things and could hit the nail on the head. The young fellow could grasp the crux of matters and infer them to come up with new ideas with ease.
This made Feng Xiang feel that his decision to befriend Ou Yangming was priceless.
