Peng Yanbing looked up and asked as he was surprised, “Master Ou, this is…”
He had vaguely guessed Ou Yangming’s intention, but he did not want to cause any misunderstanding before the young fellow said it himself.
Ou Yangming grinned and said, “This is a piece of equipment. Sect Elder, please examine it.”
Peng Yanbing nodded and focused as he noted, “This should be a Good Grade magic tool. It was refined rather perfectly, and it’s probably in Rank Five.”
Ou Yangming was in admiration. Peng Yanbing did not have a Military Fire to use; he simply evaluated the equipment with his judgment and experience. The young fellow felt that he was lacking in this aspect.
The sect elder did not stop. He continued to fiddle with the round shield, but he began to look confused.
In actuality, he might be well-experienced, but he could not perceive everything in one glance.
If the equipment was not brought here by Ou Yangming, who was also being very careful, Peng Yanbing might have just ignored it; he was being more attentive because of the young fellow.
Peng Yanbing could not refine flying carpets, but he did not want to be defeated by Ou Yangming in other areas.
Therefore, he dared not be careless in front of Ou Yangming.
The more the sect elder looked at the shield, the more certain he was that the equipment was not as easy as it seemed.
Ou Yangming cleared his throat and spoke after a moment of hesitation, “Sect Elder, you can use appraisal art.”
The face of the middle-aged man in the room changed, and he cast a look of discontent at Ou Yangming. Even so, the young fellow had a special identity and could not be offended by him, thus he dared not express his indignation.
Given Peng Yanbing’s identity, would he need to use appraisal art to appraise a Good Grade magic tool? It was close to an insult, hence being one of the sect elder’s disciples, the middle-aged man was strongly displeased.
Who knew, Peng Yanbing simply glanced at Ou Yangming then opened his hand to release a white light.
It was the Appraisal Light.
The middle-aged man widened his eyes and stammered. He was in disbelief.
‘What exactly is Mentor thinking? Why did he release the Appraisal Light because of what Ou Yangming said? Nobody would believe this.’
Enveloped by the white light, Peng Yanbing’s face changed as though he saw something unbelievable.
Following that, he took a deep breath and ordered in a low voice, “Go out.”
Ou Yangming was slightly stunned. Before he could react to the situation, the middle-aged man bowed seriously and answered, “Yes.” Next, the man turned around and left the room without hesitation, then he ordered the rest to not disturb the elder.
As long as Peng Yanbing made a decision, nobody on this peak would object to it.
Unless Yuqi the Venerable One or the old macaque had come, nobody would dare to go close to the room anymore.
Ou Yangming chuckled and knew he had misunderstood the situation. Nonetheless, he could tell from Peng Yanbing’s expression how shocked he was by the equipment.
Peng Yanbing looked deeply at Ou Yangming and asked, “Master Ou, where did you get this equipment from?”
The young fellow hesitated for a while before he answered, “I smithed it.”
“You smithed it?” The look in Peng Yanbing’s eyes was as strange as it could be. He stared at Ou Yangming without blinking for a long time before he finally sighed and uttered, “Ah, I surrender…” He shook his head and added, “Master Ou, are you willing to join the Beast King Sect? If you’re willing to, I’ll explain it to Sir Venerable One and let you take my spot as the Smithing Hall’s sect elder.”
Ou Yangming was taken aback. He quickly waved his hand and said, “Sect Elder, you misunderstood me; I didn’t mean this.”
Peng Yanbing waved his hand and explained, “Master Ou, I didn’t misunderstand anything. If you’re willing to join the Beast King Sect, the sect’s mightiness will be redoubled.” He knocked the round shield in front of him gently and lamented, “I know you can refine flying carpets, where you’re already making the impossible possible, but I was still not convinced. I was confident that I can surpass you in terms of normal pieces of equipment but… There’s always someone better out there. Indeed, I’ve been thinking too highly of myself.”
Ou Yangming was embarrassed after he heard those words. He had found Peng Yanbing to ask him about an unknown problem, but the elder sighed with sorrow. Had the young fellow known this was going to happen, he would rather look for information on his own than look for the sect elder.
“Sect Elder, did you see a Unique Attribute?” Ou Yangming accentuated his tone slightly and steered back to the main topic.
Peng Yanbing raised his eyebrows and replied to him, “Yes, a Unique Attribute. Ah, I’ve only heard about this Unique Attribute from my late master; this is my first time seeing the real thing.”
Ou Yangming was moved. He questioned the elder closely, “Sect Elder, what does this Unique Attribute represent?”
The sect elder opened his mouth and was about to answer when he asked the young fellow in return, “Master Ou, tell me first—how exactly did you smith this?”
Left with no choice, Ou Yangming could only tell the truth. “I observed Sect Elder Gu Jiacheng refine pills earlier. His refining technique is extremely interesting, so I somewhat used it for reference.”
Peng Yanbing was dumbfounded. He mumbled, “What did you say? You were observing Gu Jiacheng refining pills?” He felt like 10,000 alpacas were galloping crazily in his heart at the moment, and he was incredibly befuddled.
‘He observed an alchemist refine pills and used it for reference because he found it interesting.
‘Why does this explanation sound unreliable?’
In actual fact, Peng Yanbing would not believe it if it did not come from Ou Yangming.
He looked at Ou Yangming speechlessly and remarked with a bitter smile, “Master Ou, you used it for reference but made something astounding.”
Ou Yangming asked sternly, “Sect Elder, please give me some pointers.”
Peng Yanbing immediately shook his hand and responded, “I dare not give you any pointers; I’m only telling you what I heard about it.”
He dared not give himself airs anymore in front of Ou Yangming. The young fellow’s performance made him feel like he had met a celestial being.
The sect elder pondered seriously before he explained, “Unique Attribute is a general term, whereas active power is known as the greatest attribute.” He chuckled and commented, “Master Ou, you’re truly amazing to have anyhow produced the greatest attribute.”
Ou Yangming’s eyelids flickered. He asked, “The greatest attribute—what’s that?”
Peng Yanbing answered with a very stern look, “Spirit.”
“Spirit?” Ou Yangming looked up abruptly as he was surprised.
It was true that the mysterious nebula that he sent into the round shield was captured from the poisonous pill’s world, but it would be too exaggerated to say that the bit of nebula could be considered a spirit.
Peng Yanbing could not help but laugh. “Master Ou, the spirit that I’m talking about isn’t the spirit that the Venerable Ones were fighting for.”
Back when the Insects invaded the Beast King Sect, Peng Yanbing witnessed the 3 insect Venerable Ones trapping the poisonous pill’s spirit.
Ou Yangming laughed and thought, ‘I don’t believe that the spirit that you’re talking about can be on par with the poisonous pill’s spirit.’
“The spirit that I’m talking about is a Tool Spirit,” Peng Yanbing stated seriously. His eyes were hollow as he continued, “As powerful as a piece of equipment is, it’s still a dead object, so it needs to be controlled by someone to be used. On the other hand, pieces of equipment with Tool Spirits are different; they can even self-assist their masters in fights. Besides, is there anything else in the world that understands a piece of equipment better than a Tool Spirit? In a fight, such a spirit can definitely fully unleash a piece of equipment’s powers. Moreover, the equipment will also have unlimited possibilities to grow and might even get a new lease of life to become a real divine tool.”
Ou Yangming was deeply moved. He mumbled, “A piece of equipment that fights by itself.”
He immediately thought about the poisonous pill. Ever since the poisonous pill’s spirit was born, the centipede kept growing and became an indispensable trump card for him.
Although Ou Yangming did not expect the round shield to become something like the poisonous pill’s spirit, it would be great if it could unleash its powers actively and assist in defenses.
Ou Yangming’s eyes lit up. “Sect Elder, how much do you understand about Tool Spirits?”
Peng Yanbing spread out his hands and answered, “I’ve told you everything I know.”
“What?” Ou Yangming was shocked, and he had a rather weird look on his face. He initially thought that Peng Yanbing could tell him the specific way to control this type of Unique Attribute, but the sect elder gave him a helpless answer at the end.
Peng Yanbing smiled embarrassedly. “Tool Spirits are a legend in the equipment industry. I’ve seen countless pieces of equipment throughout my life, but this is my first time seeing one with a Tool Spirit’s potential.”
Ou Yangming responded snappily, “I take it you don’t know how to bring up—uhm, meaning to hatch—a Tool Spirit too, right?”
The sect elder answered after some thought, “My late master has one told me that if a Tool Spirit’s unhatched, the equipment’s user will need to communicate with it every day using mental power and use his or her mental power as food to make it grow.”
“How long will it take?” Ou Yangming asked in a deep voice.
“This… I suppose it differs according to users.” Peng Yanbing was unsure. “Legend has it that a clan used 3 generations to successfully hatch a Tool Spirit.”
“3 generations…” Ou Yangming twitched his mouth. He looked at the round shield and suddenly realized that he seemed to have been happy too soon.
‘This thing isn’t something that’s of little value but a pity to be thrown away, is it?’
Peng Yanbing asked all of a sudden, “Master Ou, do I have a chance to learn this smithing art?”
Ou Yangming shook his head without any hesitation. “Sect Elder, you don’t have a Heavenly Phoenix Fire, so I’m afraid that it won’t be doable.”
The sect elder sighed with regret and was not resigned to the outcome. However, the Heavenly Phoenix Fire was exceptionally precious such that even he dared not have extravagant hopes for it.
