Hu Lingfeng and Yuan Lexin were both Master Wu Hongxi’s followers.
Nonetheless, their actual identities were Heaven and Earth apart and could not be compared with each other at all.
Yuan Lexin was Master Wu Hongxi’s second disciple. He attained the Advanced Blacksmith title, and he was a promising and gifted genius who would advance to the Superior rank.
In comparison, Hu Lingfeng was only a young apprentice who was under Master Wu for only 3 years and had not gotten the Military Fire nor the spiritual fire.
There were many apprentices like him in every blacksmith master’s residence. While they were talented enough to become blacksmiths, the Military Fire and the spiritual fire that could be provided in a year were limited. As such, the competition was so intense that it was far beyond one’s imagination.
Hu Lingfeng had been learning hard for 3 years, but it was still a problem for him to pass the Apprentice Assessment and to obtain the Military Fire.
From his perspective, Yuan Lexin was almost considered the same as Master Wu Hongxi.
At the very least, Yuan Lexin had never greeted him in the Wu residence, to the point that he even doubted—’Does Master Yuan actually know my name?’
When Hu Lingfeng heard Yuan Lexin’s friendly voice, he walked over in confusion and kowtowed to Jin Shengjie. “Master Jin.”
Jin Shengjie waved his sleeve and helped Hu Lingfeng up. He later glanced at the young man and asked Ou Yangming, “This is…” Ou Yangming smiled bitterly but answered, “This is my… nephew.”
Hu Lingfeng and Ou Yangming were not far apart in age, so the former was not very willing to address the latter as an uncle at the beginning. Nevertheless, Hu Lingfeng was grateful for Ou Yangming’s answer at this moment.
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“Oh, he’s your nephew…” Jin Shengjie smiled faintly. “I think I remember seeing him during the Apprentice Assessment earlier.” Ou Yangming tensed up a little and thought, ‘Sure enough, none of the well-known figures are simple.”
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He nodded and responded, “You’re right. My nephew’s name is Hu Lingfeng, and he represented the Wu residence for the first time in the Apprentice Assessment.”
Jin Shengjie expressed, “Very well, he’s a promising young man. Keep working hard in the future.”
Hu Lingfeng looked up, surprised, and overjoyed. “Yes!”
It was difficult to receive such a remark from Master Jin. Behind Jin Shengjie, Feng Guangyuan and Yi Yucheng exchanged glances because they knew there was now a predetermined slot for the qualified apprentices this year.
Yuan Lexin commented as he grinned with his eyes narrowed, “Lingfeng, you’ll be my junior brother from now on. You must work hard and strive to become an official blacksmith as soon as possible.”
Hu Lingfeng was even more elated after he heard what Yuan Lexin said.
The fact that Yuan Lexin said it in front of so many people meant that he was covertly making a promise to Hu Lingfeng. Although Hu Lingfeng was not very experienced in life yet, he could distinguish some of the most basic things.
Therefore, he had such mixed feelings that it was indescribable.
“Master Ou, your secret technique is truly shocking; my master will be delighted if he witnesses it.” Yuan Lexin turned and flashed a big smile at Ou Yangming. He later paused and continued sternly, “On behalf of my master, I invite you to the Wu residence for a meeting, and I hope you’ll agree to it.”
Ou Yangming turned to look at Yan Yuanhua half-intentionally. The proud twelfth young master had already lowered his head as he dared not look back at Ou Yangming.
Even so, Ou Yangming was not bothered about what Yan Yuanhua was thinking. He beamed and said, “It’s my honor to be able to meet Master Wu Hongxi. After today, I’ll definitely make time to visit him as soon as I can.”
Yuan Lexin sighed a breath of relief and uttered softly, “Thank you.”
He spoke so softly that Ou Yangming was the only one who could hear him clearly.
Ou Yangming also understood that since Yuan Lexin stood out to uplift Hu Lingfeng, he would let the matter, where Yan Yuanhua stopped him from meeting Master Wu Hongxi, pass.
As for the other people, they looked at each other and had different thoughts.
Even though Yuan Lexin was not Wu Hongxi, he was unquestionably Master Wu’s representative for now. The other people expected other top-notch masters to befriend Ou Yangming because of his ability, but they did not think that Master Wu Hongxi—the Fine Grade King-would be the first.
“Carry on, I’ll go down and take a look.” Jin Shengjie chuckled. Before he left, he looked deeply at Ou Yangming. “Lil’ Friend Ou, when you go to visit Brother Wu, can I tag along too?”
Ou Yangming laughed. “Master Jin, I’ll be more than happy if you’re willing to join me, but I wonder if Master Wu will agree to it.”
‘The older Master Jin is, the more thick-faced he has become!’ Yuan Lexin cursed to himself, but he kept a smile on his face. “I’ll be more than happy too.”
Jin Shengxie laughed out loud. Perhaps Ou Yangming was being sincere, but Yuan Lexin was certainly showing a false display of affection.
Despite that, the secret to smith a piece of High-Grade equipment by using normal iron ingot was incredibly attractive to the blacksmith master. Not to mention humbling himself, even if he had to pay a greater price to learn about the secret, he would not hesitate to do so.
Following that, Jin Shengjie left the platform and carried out another round of inspections and announcements.
In any case, it had nothing to do with Ou Yangming anymore. The atmosphere on the high platform changed all of a sudden as nobody paid attention to the routine assessment anymore.
The assessment would be held at least twice a year, but a freak like Ou Yangming was one of a kind.
After Yuan Lexin, many other people approached the young fellow and spoke to him fervently.
Those people represented other great and famous blacksmiths. While they could not be compared with Jin Shengjie, they were supported by Superior Blacksmiths, who were not inferior to Master Jin, as well.
Ou Yangming treated them equally where he agreed to visit their respective masters at appropriate times.
Ever since Ou Yangming saw the weapon at Wu Hongxi’s residence, he knew that the other renowned masters had unique skills too. The young fellow possessed the peculiar Military Fire, but he dared not belittle any reputable master anymore.
He knew he could learn greater smithing arts from those masters.
Hence, he was not going to miss any opportunity.
Once the assessments for Rudimentary Blacksmiths and Intermediate Blacksmiths ended in succession, Jin Shengjie went up to the high platform again and asked with a smile, “Lil’ Friend Ou, the Advanced Blacksmith Assessment will begin soon. Are you willing to take it?”
Ou Yangming stood up and said, “I was just about to give it a shot.”
Jin Shengjie nodded and noted with a serious face, “Lil’ Friend Ou, the Advanced Assessment is a bit different. You’re required to smith a Fine Grade equipment set in an hour, and at least one of the pieces of equipment has to be attached with an attribute. Honestly, it’s not easy for you to have such achievements at this age, so nobody will treat you lightly even if you take the Advanced Blacksmith Assessment after a few years.”
He reminded Ou Yangming out of good intention. After all, the difficulty of smithing a piece of High Grade equipment was very much different from having to smith a Fine Grade equipment set, which included a piece of Attribute Equipment, in an hour.
Ou Yangming possessed a secret technique, which was desired by many, thus he could smith a piece of High Grade equipment with ordinary iron ingot.
That said, there was a massive gap between a High Grade equipment set and a Fine Grade equipment set. Moreover, one was required to attach an attribute to one of the pieces of Fine Grade equipment. Jin Shengjie asked around earlier and found out that Ou Yangming had only gotten the Military Fire for about a year. From his perspective, even the most gifted person in the world could not perform something as absurd as this.
Even so, Ou Yangming grinned and responded, “Thank you for your concern, senior, but I’d still like to try.”
Jin Shengjie raised his eyebrows. He finally sighed when he noticed Ou Yangming’s confident smile. “Okay, it’s good to try.” The blacksmith master made up his mind; it would be fine if Ou Yangming could truly create a miracle, but if the young fellow failed the assessment, he would do his best to help him out of the shadow.
The instant he witnessed Ou Yangming smith a High Grade military saber, he treated the young fellow with a completely different attitude.
Ou Yangming was a gem—a rare child with the potential to become a Superior Blacksmith. Given Jin Shengjie’s status in the blacksmith trade, there was no need for him to be jealous of someone like that. Instead, he hoped that more geniuses would emerge so that the blacksmith profession could be brought to a greater height.
The young fellow sensed Jin Shengjie’s good intention. He nodded and made his way down to the stage.
Twelve people were already standing in the middle of the square. They were people of different ages where the oldest person already had white hair while the youngest candidate seemed to be only a few years older than Ou Yangming. Among the blacksmiths, one’s status and rank were not determined by one’s age and qualification, but one’s true ability.
After one obtained the Military Fire or the spiritual fire, it would not be tough to become an official blacksmith. In fact, through long-term practice, advancing to the Rudimentary Rank and the Intermediate Rank was an achievable goal for many.
However, the threshold for the Advanced Rank was entirely different.
For most blacksmiths, the rank was like an insurmountable giant mountain.
It was easy to find blacksmiths who were of the Intermediate Rank and below in the capital, but it was extremely difficult to find an Advanced Blacksmith to smith a piece of unique equipment.
Without a certain status, the Advanced Blacksmith would not accept the task even if one presented plenty of money and gifts.
It was also worth noting that while there were numerous Intermediate Blacksmiths in the capital, very few had the confidence to make it to the Advanced Rank. As such, only about ten candidates would take the assessment each time.
Seeing as Ou Yangming walked down from the high platform, the participants on the stage had different looks on their faces.
Some of them smiled at Ou Yangming to express goodwill, but some of them looked at him enviously.
“Father, can Uncle succeed?” Hu Lingfeng tugged at his father and questioned softly.
Hu Yicheng was stunned. He pouted his lips and looked at Du Gaoge.
Du Gaoge was startled. He wanted to tell them the truth-a person who had just acquired the Military Fire for a year could not achieve the Advanced standard—but he swallowed his words right before he uttered them.
“Ou Yangming is too odd. It seems like anything that happens isn’t weird if it has to do with him.’
Jin Shengjie glanced at the crowd and announced coldly, “Everyone, the assessment… Begins.”
