Immortal Path to Heaven
chapter-12

Chapter 12: Killing A Pig

Old Craftsman was speechless for a long time when he held the newly forged military saber.

He looked at Ou Yangming, intending to criticize him a little to prevent him from growing arrogant, but found he could not do so.

Although he could not tell the military saber’s specific attributes with his sight, he could sense that it was a top-notch Good Grade item. It had been a long time since he had met anyone who could forge a military saber of such quality using a concentrated iron ingot, and without mixing other items.

When Old Craftsman was forty, and his body quality had not declined, he was at his peak. He used concentrated iron ingots of the same grade to smith a top-notch Good Grade military saber.

Needless to say, the probability of him forging a fine item like that was very low, at most one in ten. Even then, it was what helped him become the chief of the Military Fire Blacksmiths, and he had been unsurpassed ever since.

Nonetheless, as he aged, it was no longer easy for him to perform something like that anymore.

A moment later when he looked at the Military Fire in his hands, his eyes went blurry.

‘B*stard, you don’t disappoint…’

Ou Yangming looked at him carefully, and asked softly, “Old Man, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing, you did pretty well, but you’re still lacking in some areas.” Old Craftsman waved his hand and held back his emotions. He then took Ou Yangming by the hand and showed him the mistakes he made during the smithing process, explaining how he could improve them.

2Ou Yangming paid full attention to him and remembered everything that the old man said.

Though he had the wonderful purple light in his mind that allowed him to shift attributes around, it did not mean that he did not need to learn the art of smithing.

Old Craftsman spoke for a long time before he said. “What you used were some concentrated ordinary iron ingots, so, by producing a military saber of this level, you’ve hit the limit. Mm, when I gather better materials next time, I hope that you can surpass me.”

Ou Yangming was moved. He asked, “Old Man, what if I smith a better weapon using concentrated iron ingot?”

“Don’t get your head in the clouds, you should know that. If you elevate the weapon’s quality by force, it’ll only end up breaking.” Old Craftsman shook his head, then added after a pause, “The amount of cargo on a ship depends on the ship’s size, the same goes to the amount of rice a person eats. You must remember not to force anything.”

4Ou Yangming quickly nodded. He was aware of it because when he tried to improve the saber’s attributes earlier, he had a feeling that it was going to break. Luckily, he stopped, or the saber would have shattered into pieces.

After a moment of hesitation, Old Craftsman commented, “Your military saber is indeed a fine item, but the development of its edge is a little excessive, so you must be careful when you use it, or it’ll be damaged beyond its original quality.”

Ou Yangming was stunned, then looked at the military saber.

While the saber’s sharpness and toughness were at the upper limit of Good Grade, which was 10, its durability was only 6.

It was then that he finally realized his mistake. Compared to Old Craftsman’s method, his was indeed much fresher. Without the ability to substitute the attributes stealthily, his saber could not be compared with the old man’s at all.

He bowed to Old Craftsman, then mentioned sincerely, “Old Man, thanks for your pointers.”

Old Craftsman chuckled and waved his hand. “Alright, since you’ve smithed two military sabers in a row, you should rest. Remember, learn more, practice more, and think more.”

Ou Yangming answered him politely, then stared at the Good Grade Rank Five military saber for a long time.

Old Craftsman laughed. “You’re such a little weasel. Keep it, you smithed it after all.”

Ou Yangming cheered instantly, then picked up the military saber as well as a random scabbard before he left.

It was natural for a military camp to have strict rules. Though it was not strange to carry a military saber around, if a person carried one without permission and was found, it was a huge sin. Since Old Craftsman gave him permission, he was no longer worried.

After all, nobody would say anything about the old man giving his apprentice a martial tool.

Ou Yangming took long strides in the military camp while carrying his saber. Perhaps because he was finally carrying a sharp tool, his footsteps were very light.

Soon enough, he arrived at the camp’s entrance.

According to what he had heard, there was a dense forest 15 kilometers to the west of the camp. The forest had countless ferocious beasts, which made it a good hunting spot for the men in the camp.

Of course, those who hunted in the forest were first-class men in the military, but people often went missing without ever returning. It was said that those who did not return were killed by the beasts, and their skeletons could not be found.

Nevertheless, the men from the military often went into the dangerous forest together to hunt, and they sometimes competed with each other over the number of kills they got.

Ou Yangming held his military saber tightly as he looked to the west fervently.

He pictured a beautiful scene in his head, where he used his saber to kill every beast in his way, and he hunted so many of them that he received a lot of respect.

It was natural for men in the military camp to dream about being victorious.

Knowing that it was impossible in reality, Ou Yangming buried this thought.

However, since he began cultivating martial arts, and possessed a top-notch Good Grade military saber, his hidden ambition burned fiercely, like a prairie fire.

Following that, he hurried toward the… The South of the military camp.

The west of the military camp was where the dangerous forest was situated. For those who entered it, one would either return with glory or be killed in the forest.

While Ou Yangming was ambitious, he was not a fool, so he knew that his present self was not qualified enough to enter the forest. Perhaps his dream would come true one day, but it would definitely not happen now.

1Should he venture into the forest now, he would very likely become food for a ferocious beast, and would later turn into feces, which was only an insignificant source of nutrition for the plants.

Thus, he got rid of his delusion and ran toward the south.

1There was also a camp that occupied a huge space at the south side of the military camp, but it was loosely guarded, so nobody noticed Ou Yangming when he tried to sneak in.

The camp was surrounded by a railing made of wood, and the place smelled so awful that people would want to leave when they got close.

Despite that, it seemed to be Ou Yangming’s first time smelling the scent. He went closer to the railing carefully, then lowered his hand, and crawled in in a flash.

After walking along the railing for a while, he entered a barracks.

In the barracks, numerous white and fat pigs were scattered everywhere, gobbling up food from a hollow stone trough.

Pigs.

Yes, this was where livestock was most abundant in the camp.

In comparison with the dense forest in the west, the giant pigpen was extremely safe.

After Ou Yangming looked around to confirm that nobody was present, he took a deep breath, then pulled his military saber out of its scabbard. The moment his Military Fire flashed, the strangest attribute in his mind instantly entered the saber.

Next, there was a wonderful change to the military saber’s attributes.

[Item: Outstanding military saber (Red)]

1[Equivalent Rank: Ordinary Tool, Good Grade, Rank Five]

[Attributes: Sharpness +10, Toughness +10, Devouring +1, Durability 6]

3On top of the base attributes, a devouring +1 attributed was added. Besides, the item’s name had the word red shown in a bracket.

Ou Yangming was stunned. ‘What does the red mean?’

When he killed Zhang Hanyu, he did not recall seeing a similar word.

‘Was it because I used a broken saber, so the words didn’t show?’

He shook his head, then got rid of all his questions. He had come here to verify something, not figure out the military saber’s secret.

When he looked at the fat pigs, so focused on eating that they neglected their surroundings, he gritted his teeth, then slashed his saber at the fattest pig.

1Owing to the fact that his military saber was a treasure saber that was at the peak of Good Grade, a slash could split normal steel, let alone a person’s body.

With that, the saber was slashed into the domestic pig’s body.

Next, a strange thing happened.

The domestic pig actually had a body that was much bigger than Ou Yangming’s and was probably 500 to 600 pounds, so it should not die immediately after being slashed by a saber.

That being said, when the saber cut the pig’s body, the pig shivered violently and fell to the ground, unable to move. Later, it shriveled at average speed, and its flesh, its skin, and its bones transformed into energy that was absorbed by Ou Yangming’s saber.

Instead of staying in the military saber, the energies gushed into his body through the saber.

Consequently, Ou Yangming felt his blood boil, and he became unusually excited. Additionally, he felt that he was filled with Qi and blood again.

In a flash, a huge domestic pig vanished into thin air, even its hair had disappeared.

Ou Yangming breathed heavily, his eyes were bright, and he cheered to himself.

‘As expected, that’s what happens!’