Chapter 234 Enter the Capital To Meet The Emperor
“Let me see it!” Li Xinfan and Ni Xuetian reached out their hands and shouted almost at the same time.
Master Lu was stunned. He held back the excitement and shock as he was feeling troubled.
Li Xinfan was the commanding general in the military camp, whereas Ni Xuetian was a great ancestor from Changlong’s Ni family. Since Master Lu had learned the path of runes from the Ni family, he was obviously familiar with the latter.
Even so, the master could not afford to offend any one of the big bosses.
Ni Xuetian quickly came back to his senses and uttered with a smile, “Brother Li, please.”
“Excuse me.” Li Xinfan did a fist salute then went forward to take the military saber without any hesitation.
The general was neither an appraiser nor a blacksmith, but as a powerful martial artist and after being in the military for many years, he could tell a weapon’s quality at one glance. In actuality, the military saber was nothing much to Li Xinfan. Based on his status, he could easily acquire an Attribute Military Saber at the peak of Fine Grade, let alone a Good Grade military saber.
Nonetheless, the general’s hand shook when he held the military saber.
The saber seemed to be heavier than a magic tool to him.
Good Grade—it was indeed a Good Grade military saber. Moreover, it was not a saber that was smithed through hard work, but one that was upgraded from a Common Grade military saber by carving a rune on it. “Hahaha! Hahaha…” Li Xinfan laughed out loud all of a sudden and simply disregarded his noble status; he laughed like an unrestrained madman.
Nevertheless, nobody around him belittled him because of that. In particular, the eyes of Master Lu and the other protectors became faintly red.
The Military Saber Upgrade Rune, which was desired by many, was finally born!
Although the Rune Mold was still unsatisfactory because it was only a prototype, given that there was a good start, perfecting it would not be out of reach.
It was similar to walking in the dark; without any clues, finding the right direction would be as difficult as scaling the heavens. On the contrary, if there was a light ahead as guidance, even if it was dim, they would be confident enough to walk to the end of the
path.
Li Xinfan finally stopped laughing after a long time. He lifted his robe abruptly and bowed his head to the ground at Ou Yangming
Ou Yangming was initially smiling with his eyes squinted because Li Xinfan was wild with joy.
At that moment, he felt that a month’s worth of hard work was worth it.
Who knew, Li Xinfan, the mighty Supreme Great Ancestor, did such a big salutation.
As such, Ou Yangming’s face changed, and he moved away without any hesitation and asked, “General, what are you doing?” Li Xinfan did not get up. In fact, Master Lu, Wang Leshui, and the other people from the military kowtowed at the young fellow too after some time.
On the other hand, Ni Xuetian shifted backward, but he looked at Ou Yangming with admiration and respect.
The young fellow actually did it.
Old Craftsman was startled, and he immediately went forward to help Li Xinfan up. With a pale face, he commented, “General Li, you’re going to shorten that young fella’s life if you do this—you mustn’t do this!”
The old man was the Immense Forest Military Camp’s chief Military Fire Blacksmith, which was a status not worth mentioning for Li Xinfan.
Despite that, Li Xinfan dared not ignore Old Craftsman’s other identity.
Ou Yangming’s guardian and mentor.
Therefore, when Old Craftsman did his best to help Li Xinfan get up, the general stood up without resisting. General Li sighed. “Old Craftsman, Master Ou designed a rune to upgrade military sabers, which is a huge favor for the Humans; my salutation is nothing compared to that.”
Old Craftsman shook his head and persisted. “General Li, you’re exaggerating it; it’s just a military saber. Besides, the rune is incomplete and is far from perfect.” Li Xinfan forced a smile, but he was not daring enough to tell Old Craftsman the real reason behind it. He turned to smile apologetically at Ou Yangming. “Master Ou, I won’t say much. All in all, if you need someone to run errands for you in the future, I, Li Xinfan, and everyone in Changlong’s military camp will take all risks, go to all lengths, and will never refuse to help!”
“Take all risks, go to all lengths!” Everyone else roared, causing an intense masculine aura to fill the air, which was soul-stirring.
“Everyone, you’re being too polite.” Ou Yangming chuckled and added after a pause, “Since this rune is effective, it proves that my idea is right. That said, more time is needed for testing if I’d like to complete the rune, so please lend me a helping hand.”
Li Xinfan raised his eyebrows and expressed out loud, “Master Ou, please let us know if there’s anything you need; we’ll get it for you.”
Ou Yangming laughed and glanced at Ni Xuetian.
‘What should I do if Ou Yangming suddenly says that he wants to meet Ni Yinghong?’ Ni Xuetian’s heart skipped a beat. If he declined the request, judging from the look in the soldiers’ eyes, they would possibly tear the Ni residence apart.
Ou Yangming approached Ni Xuetian and stared at the great ancestor, who looked extremely worried. “Senior, I have a presumptuous request.”
Ni Xuetian sighed. ‘What’s bound to come will come.’
“Go ahead.”
“I was only inspired because I read books from your residence’s library,” Ou Yangming said with a stern face, “I’d like to continue to read so that I’ll perfect the rune’s effect, and I hope you’ll grant me the permission to do so, senior.”
“Huh? Wh-what?” Ni Xuetian was dumbfounded because he was not expecting Ou Yangming to make such a request.
“Brother Ni, it’s true that your residence’s library is a forbidden area, but Master Ou’s doing it for the greater good,” Li Xinfan remarked unhappily, “Please open up your library. As for the compensation, I’ll report it to His Majesty, and I’ll make sure you won’t suffer any loss.”
Ni Xuetian glared at him. “Brother Li, what are you talking about? Master Ou’s our clan’s chief tributary even though he has a different surname. His status is equivalent to a great ancestor’s, so the library is open to him whenever, and he doesn’t need my permission at all.”
Ou Yangming wondered, ‘When did I become the Ni family’s chief tributary? Why wasn’t I informed at all?’
However, when he thought about the treatment he received at the Ni residence, especially the fact that he had the right to enter the library at any time, it seemed like that was the case.
Li Xinfan laughed out loud. “Alright. The Ni family is sensible of the general interest indeed; I’ll certainly report it to His Majesty accordingly.”
He later looked at Ou Yangming as though he had something to say, but he swallowed his words in the end. After all, it was a crucial time for Ou Yangming to study runes, so it was best to leave the other matters for discussion the next time.
Ou Yangming returned to the Ni family once he obtained the two Supreme Great Ancestors’ support. While he continued reading books in the library, he attempted to carve runes in a newly renovated cabin outside the library.
Each time he smithed a Rune Mold, Master Lu and Old Craftsman would take it away like it was a treasure, and they would test it with a Common Grade military saber.
To ensure that Ou Yangming was not affected by external factors, Wang Leshui and Ni Xuehai personally guarded outside with their men after they received permission from the Ni family’s Three Great Ancestors. Between the two of them, one was a powerhouse in the military while one was a Yang Grade great elder from the Ni family, so the library was strongly guarded like never before.
Ou Yangming read extensively in the library as he slowly deepened his knowledge of the rune in his sea of consciousness. The young fellow finally left the library after half a month, and he smithed a new steel mold while the Ni family’s great ancestors, Li Xinfan, and the other people waited.
Master Lu and Old Craftsman inspected the mold. There was an enormous change between the veined patterns on the new mold and the ones of the previous mold. Most importantly, the rune could now be clearly seen, and it carried a mysterious feeling.
After testing with ten Common Grade military sabers, which were prepared in advance, the two blacksmith masters announced the outcome at the same time.
The rune that could improve Common Grade military sabers was successfully developed, and they were pleasantly surprised that the mold contained a mysterious power of flames; the military sabers also had a 3% chance of counterattacking fire mastery damages, which was a unique ability.
Nonetheless, it was quite a pity because the 3% counterattack ability seemed to overlap the Counterattack attribute on the arm guards.
In other words, even if a soldier was equipped with arm guards and a military saber, both of which had the Counterattack attribute, only 3% of probability would come into effect.
Ou Yangming felt incredibly troubled too, but even he had no idea how to adjust the relationship between the arm guards and the military saber.
As for the other people, they were even more in the dark-absolutely clueless.
Despite the shortcoming, Li Xinfan and the other people were so content that they would not make other unreasonable requests.
For the next few days, Ou Yangming stayed in the military camp as he went all-out to forge new molds. Based on his speed, even if he held back on purpose, he still produced over a hundred molds a day, which was an overdone result.
Master Lu and Old Craftsman did their best to learn the new mold’s smithing method.
The molds’ value was far greater than the arm guards’ such that the smithing method became the most popular skill to be learned the moment it was confirmed.
After several days, Li Xinfan found Ou Yangming and voiced out with a smile, “Master Ou, the military saber has more than one weapon.” Ou Yangming could not help but laugh. “Are you asking me to come up with Upgrade Runes for other weapons?”
“That’s right,” Li Xinfan answered seriously, “Apart from military sabers, arrows and spears are commonly used in the military. If you’re able to design the runes, the military’s combat power will surely be increased by a few times.”
“I’ll try.” Ou Yangming beamed. In actual fact, after the Military Saber Upgrade Rune was formed, Ou Yangming withdrew it from the Runes Formation and visualized an arrow to replace it.
He had not arrived at a solution yet, but it was only a matter of time.
Li Xinfan was delighted to hear the young fellow’s reply, and he questioned after a moment of hesitation, “Master Ou, I’d like to invite you to the capital to meet the emperor; would you be willing to do so?”
