As Wu Hongxi gently picked up the treasure sword on the casting table, he nodded at Ou Yangming before he studied the weapon.
Although he had not appraised the sword’s grade and rank, he regarded Ou Yangming differently and treated the young fellow with a dissimilar attitude.
What was heard might be false, but what was seen was true.
After witnessing Ou Yangming’s peculiar Military Fire, Wu Hongxi acknowledged the other rumors to a particular level. Putting aside everything else, he knew for sure that he could not smith a piece of Fine Grade equipment in such a short time. Even though Wu Hongxi was known as the Fine Grade King because most of the equipment that he smithed was at the peak of Fine Grade, he had to pay a certain price for it. Time—the special technique that he used required him to use much more time than his peers.
Needless to say, Wu Hongxi could tolerate the tiny flaw if he wanted to pursue superb and perfect qualities. Besides, countless people were envious of his unique ability, but no matter how other people tried to imitate him, they made themselves look like fools and gained nothing because they copied him blindly.
Therefore, when Wu Hongxi envied Ou Yangming, who was able to melt black steel quickly and successfully smithed a piece of equipment with it.
Master Wu scanned the longsword and slowly moved his fingers along the blade. A grave yet strange expression was seen on his face. He later looked deeply at Ou Yangming, then he handed the longsword to Tan Yangping, who had been waiting anxiously.
Tan Yangming was not a Superior Blacksmith, but his skills were infinitely approaching that standard. He accepted the longsword and inspected it carefully for some time before his face changed. He asked softly, “This is… The peak of Fine Grade Rank Five?”
He was not an appraiser, after all, hence he was not completely sure though he had the feeling.
Nonetheless, everyone else became extremely interested after hearing what he said. In particular, the Advanced Blacksmiths who were in charge of the casting tables gathered round.
Among them, a few of them were close to Tan Yangping, so they simply took the longsword and appraised it one after another.
Wu Hongxi did not stop them. The blacksmiths had pending tasks, but they were clueless about how they could complete them. They had been worn out from working hard for more than a month, so it was a great choice to let them take the opportunity to relax.
Ou Yangming quietly took a few steps back to make some space.
As the people browsed through the longsword, exclamations and praises filled the air.
Everyone who appraised the weapon confirmed that it was definitely a piece of equipment at the peak of Fine Grade Rank Five.
One person could have sensed it wrongly, but it was impossible for all the blacksmiths to sense it wrongly.
A piece of equipment at the peak of Fine Grade Rank Five was not a big deal for Superior Blacksmiths because they had smithed many pieces of equal-ranked equipment. Nevertheless, if they were asked to smith it in a specified time, they would unlikely accomplish the task.
Therefore, when everyone else noticed the time spent by Ou Yangming, they developed a stronger admiration for him.
“Lil’ Friend Ou, your technique is… Strange indeed.” Wu Hongxi stared at the longsword for some time after it was returned to him at last. He furrowed his eyebrows and commented, “The Layering Technique-so this is your Layering Technique.”
He shook his head and passed the longsword to Jin Shengjie. “Big Brother Jin, his technique is somewhat similar to the Layering Art that you’re adept in.”
Jin Shengjie accepted the longsword and gently touched the blade. He stated, “I witnessed five similar pieces of equipment at the peak of Fine Grade Rank Five yesterday. Hehe, his smithing technique is very much different from yours, but in terms of efficiency only, he seems to be superior.”
Many of the other blacksmiths had an incredibly odd look on their faces. ‘How dare someone speak to Master Wu Hongxi like that? Even if they’re on the same rank, he shouldn’t be so direct.’
Despite that, Wu Hongxi did not seem to be furious at all. Instead, he nodded and commented, “That’s right, it’s true if we’re only talking about the efficiency of smithing a piece of equipment at the peak of Fine Grade Rank Five, but…” He slightly dragged out the word and added, “My Equilibrium Art has plenty of potential left to be uncovered; in a long term, equilibrium is the orthodox method!”
Jin Shengjie could not help but laugh. “You and your stubbornness… Ah, did you forget about the natural moat?”
Wu Hongxi was stunned, and his face took on a ghastly expression. He sighed. “If the world’s barrier isn’t present, and we’re able to easily smith magic tools with the smithing art…” He mumbled and seemed to be in a daze.
Master Jin clapped his hands and remarked, “Stop having wishful thinking. Lil’ Friend Ou has shown off his skills, so aren’t you going to present your specialty too?”
Wu Hongxi shook his head and sighed, then he curbed his thought and asked Ou Yangming, “Lil’ Friend Ou, your smithing technique is probably related to your Military Fire, am I right?”
Ou Yangming’s heart sank, but he kept a straight face and answered, “That’s right!” “You Military Fire has a unique power that allows you to layer attributes on a piece of equipment layer by layer. The more powerful you are, the more obvious the layering process’ result. Hehe, it’s my first time seeing such a bizarre Military Fire,” Wu Hongxi noted as he smiled with narrowed eyes.
Ou Yangming sighed a breath of relief, but he dared not underestimate the Superior Blacksmith anymore.
‘He’s truly unmatched as a sharp-eyed person,’ he thought.
Following that, Wu Hongxi reached out for another metal and said, “You probably know I’m adept in smithing pieces of equipment at the peak of Fine Grade Rank Five, but my technique is slightly different from yours. I call it… The Equilibrium Art.”
He spoke slower, but he immediately went to work as his Military Fire burned and wrapped the metal ore.
The metal melted bit by bit and eventually took the form of a longsword.
Wu Hongxi wanted to smith the same weapon as Ou Yangming did just now.
However, Ou Yangming’s eyes lit up. He stared at the Military Fire in Wu Hongxi’s hands, and he began to breathe heavier than before.
The path of equilibrium—so this is the path of equilibrium,’ he wondered.
Under Wu Hongxi’s control, the longsword took form and slowly solidified. Throughout the process, whether it was the Military Fire’s intensity, the ore’s melting speed, or the longsword’s solidifying speed, they achieved a wonderful equilibrium state.
Wu Hongxi was smithing a longsword but from Ou Yangming’s perspective, he seemed to be watching a huge yet beautiful art being presented in front of him.
It was no longer an ordinary smithing process as it was transformed by Wu Hongxi into a marvelous art. Moreover, it seemed like any form of disturbance during the process would be as unbearable as profanity.
Ou Yangming was enlightened for the first time that smithing art could be used in this way, and it could also become… Magnificent.
Wu Hongxi exhaled deeply after half an hour, then he turned his wrist to curb the Military Fire.
It was at that instant that loud exhales filled the air almost at the same time.
Ou Yangming turned to look in shock and realized that most people were dazed, and they seemed to have not come back to their senses yet.
He instantly understood that he was not the only one who was affected by the marvelous smithing art; everyone else present was attracted too.
Wu Hongxi later placed the longsword on the casting table. “Lil’ Friend Ou, please.”
Before Ou Yangming could reach out for it, Jin Shengjie sighed. “Brother Wu, I truly salute you. Each time you smith, it’s a rare and enjoyable moment!”
“Big Brother Jin, your Layering Art isn’t inferior to my skill at all.” Wu Hongxi humbled himself.
“It obviously isn’t poorer than yours in terms of difficulty, but from a spectator’s point of view, it’s far less enjoyable,” Jin Shengjie responded helplessly as he shook his head. He continued after a pause, “Among the elders, you’re the only one who fathomed the integration of Heaven and man. Hehe, if you’re able to advance further, perhaps you’ll really be able to produce a magic tool!” Ou Yangming was starting to feel deeply moved.
The integration of Heaven and man—that was the real conduct of the integration of Heaven and man in the smithing path.
Ou Yangming had previously displayed the integration of Heaven and man in martial arts and the smithing art.
That said, in terms of the state’s utilization and performance standard only, the young fellow was inferior to Wu Hongxi. Even if he had a deeper understanding of nature, at the very least, he was still lacking in the state.
When Ou Yangming slowly picked up the longsword on the casting table, he could confirm without releasing the Military Fire that it was a mighty piece of equipment at the peak of Fine Grade Rank Five.
Furthermore, Wu Hongxi had evidently smithed the longsword with special care, thus it seemed perfect to everyone. It was as if one could comprehend the integration of Heaven and man through the weapon. Of course, Ou Yangming could notice some hints because he already possessed the ability. The other people would only think that the longsword was exceedingly perfect, but they could not identify what made it so perfect. Wu Hongxi beamed. “Lil’ Friend Ou, what do you think?”
They performed different smithing techniques but arrived at the same outcome. If Ou Yangming’s technique was said to have exhibited the beauty of power without constraint, Wu Hongxi’s technique was an exquisite demonstration of perfection.
“Senior, your skill is god-like, and I truly admire you.” Ou Yangming pondered for a while before he decided to kowtow to Wu Hongxi. He later looked up and expressed seriously, “I’d like to learn the path of equilibrium, so please allow me to do so.”
