Immortal Path to Heaven
chapter-64

Chapter 64: Smithing Challenge

Ou Yangming took a glance at the saber that Ni Yinghong held. Although the fellow was too thin, and his eyes were somewhat moist, he could not see through his real identity.

That said, Ou Yangming recognized the saber at a glance.

From another person’s perspective, one could distinguish minor differences between pieces of equipment that looked the same. Especially if the equipment was personally smithed by a person, that person would naturally recognize it easily.

Ou Yangming nodded and replied casually, “Yes, this is a Good Grade Military Saber, I recall that I’ve submitted it to the depot.”

He had submitted a considerable amount of equipment to the depot, so it did not matter if someone withdrew one. Besides, the saber that they retrieved was only an ordinary piece of White Slate Equipment that did not contain any attribute, hence he was even more unconcerned.

Ni Yinghong’s eyes glowed. “Your saber obviously has some flaws, and theoretically, it’s difficult for it to achieve Good Grade with these flaws. How did this military saber achieve Good Grade Rank Five?”

Ou Yangming’s mouth twitched as he wondered, ‘I hate sharp-eyed insiders like him the most.’

Old Craftsman quickly cleared his throat and remarked, “Hehe, little brother, that’s a blacksmith’s core secret. I have no idea either, so how can he tell you?”

“Haha, Old Craftsman’s right.” Ni Yunhong had been pondering ever since Ou Yangming spoke. His eyes finally lit up as he laughed. “Master Ou, we’ve met before, haven’t we?”

Ou Yangming let out a dry cough and replied to him, “Master Ni, you probably remembered wrongly, you’ve never seen me before.”

Ni Yunhong nodded and said, “Yes, I’ve never seen your face.”

Ou Yangming sighed because he knew that the fellow had finally recognized his voice. Even though his face was covered that night, his voice was still the same. Moreover, Ou Yangming behaved quite strangely when they met, thus it only made sense that he could not hide the truth from Ni Yunhong.

Old Craftsman and Ni Yinghong looked at them confusedly as they had no idea what the other two were saying.

Ni Yunhong took the military saber back and asked seriously, “Master Ou, may I ask if your military saber has any room for improvement?”

Ou Yangming had come with Old Craftsman. In terms of seniority, he was considered Old Craftsman’s disciple, but because of the military saber in Ni Yunhong’s hand, he was worthy of being addressed as a master.

“If further improvement is to be done, it can be done on the saber’s Durability,” Ou Yangming answered with a nod after some thought.

“Durability?” Ni Yunhong was stunned, but he soon came to a sudden realization so he laughed. “Master Ou, that’s interesting. Indeed, I’ve been thinking for a night, and I’m certain that the saber has room for improvement, but I couldn’t come up with a way to increase its quality. Hehe, looks like this is the real shortcoming.”

The saber was already of Good Grade Rank Five, and the probability of advancing it to High Grade was close to zero due to the limitation of the raw material. Nonetheless, more work could be done to improve its Durability to 10 points, which was the peak.

However, the time and effort required seemed like the final outcome would not make up for the loss.

Ni Yunhong was still cheerful and excited. He rubbed his hands slightly, then a flame instantly burned in his hand.

Ou Yangming’s face changed the instant the fire burned.

‘Is that the Military Fire?’

Whether it was Ou Yangming, Old Craftsman, or the other Military Fire Blacksmiths in the military camp, the Military Fire possessed by each of them was different. The only similarity was they all burned in red.

On the contrary, the flame produced by Ni Yunhong was purely white. Additionally, it was quite shocking that the fire was not hot, but gave a chilly feeling instead.

Ou Yangming turned to look at Old Craftsman, only to find that the old man was staring at the white flame with a puzzled look on his face.

After a brief moment, Old Craftsman finally sensed the questioning look from Ou Yangming, hence he lowered his voice and said, “Young fella, watch closely. This is a type of spiritual fire that has similar effects to the Military Fire, but they both have their own strengths.”

Ni Yinghong looked disdainful for a split second when she heard what Old Craftsman had said.

‘How can the Military Fire be mentioned on equal terms with spiritual fire? This old craftsman is someone with genuine talent though, and since Elder Brother treats him with respect, I shall not be rude because of what he said.’

The white flame disappeared a while after, and Ni Yunhong laughed out loud. “Master Ou, I remodeled your military saber without asking, I hope you don’t mind.”

Following that, he tossed the saber to Ou Yangming.

Ou Yangming reached his arm out to catch it steadily. He studied it with a dark face and noticed the flaws that were initially on the military saber had been fixed. Without inspecting with his Military Fire, he knew that the saber’s Durability attribute had definitely achieved 10 points of Good Grade Rank Five.

Nevertheless, it did not feel nice that his product was made perfect by someone else.

Ni Yinghong smiled proudly and disclosed, “Master Ou, my brother’s spiritual fire is the rare Frost Fire, and it’s far more superior than the ordinary Military Fire.¹”

The young lady, who disguised herself as a boy, was pleased to see that her older brother was better than his opponent.

While Old Craftsman was a little unhappy, he had to admit that the Frost Fire was truly more wonderful than the Military Fire.

On the other hand, Ou Yangming raised his eyebrows and commented, “Frost Fire, its name is interesting and rare indeed.”

Ni Yinghong blinked and asked, “What do you mean?”

Ou Yangming smiled with squinted eyes as he said, “I meant that the Frost Fire’s name is wonderful indeed, but its effect is so-so.”

“What high-sounding sentiments! Are you saying that your Military Fire is more superior to my older brother’s Frost Fire?” Ni Yinghong was so mad that she smiled instead.

“A challenge will show if it’s more superior,” Ou Yangming casually suggested.

Old Craftsman’s face changed. He had not brought Ou Yangming along for him to pick a fight. Just as he was about to lecture Ou Yangming, Ni Yunhong responded, “Master Ou, since you’re interested, let’s pick a date?”

Ou Yangming smirked. “Master Ni, would you like to fail again?”

Ni Yunhong replied to him expressionlessly, “Master Ou, don’t worry, I won’t be defeated this time around!”

Old Craftsman instantly shut his mouth but was feeling flustered. ‘When did they challenge each other? Why do I know nothing about it?’

Ou Yangming was not willing to show an impression of weakness. “A verbal guarantee doesn’t mean anything, how would you like to challenge me?”

Ni Yunhong pondered then said, “We’ll smith a full equipment set using the same materials, and the one who smiths the more powerful equipment set wins, what do you think?”

“Okay, that’s fair.” Ou Yangming nodded.

Smithing a full equipment set meant that more than a piece of equipment would be smithed. The blacksmith’s skills would be fully displayed, and the probability of an accident would be lowered, hence it was the fairest challenge indeed.

“Since you agree…” Ni Yunhong smiled and thought for a while before continuing, “Let’s do it in three days’ time. We’ll compete at the Armament Camp’s public space, and I’ll invite General Tian from the East Camp, as well as General Chen from the West Camp, to be the hosts and the judges.”

Old Craftsman’s eyes twitched at the spur of the moment, and he looked deeply at Ni Yunhong with a dark face.

Ou Yangming laughed out loud. “Okay, as long as you can invite them, I’m fine with it.”

“A promise made,” Ni Yunhong uttered and lifted his right hand.

“Must be kept!” Ou Yangming completed the sentence and tapped his hand.

Old Craftsman shook his head and sighed. “Master Ni, since you’ve agreed on a date, I’ll bring him back to prepare for it. I’ll watch your performances in three days.”

Ni Yunhong nodded. “Okay, I’ll learn more skills from you after the challenge.”

The skills that he meant to learn was not the same as the intense challenge that was said earlier, it was really an inquiry session to exchange views.

Once Old Craftsman and Ou Yangming left, Ni Yinghong asked curiously, “Elder Brother, have you met Ou Yangming before?”

Ni Yunhong smiled bitterly. “Indeed, I’ve seen him once and challenged him once.”

“You really challenged each other, and you lost?” Ni Yinghong was surprised. She then shook his head and said, “Impossible, you’re the best blacksmith among the younger generation in our family.”

“Hah, what were you thinking? I only exchanged blows with him in a martial arts battle, but I ended up fleeing.” Ni Yunhong did not know whether to cry or laugh. He was embarrassed when he recalled the night he escaped without continuing the fight.

Ni Yinghong widened her eyes even more. “That’s even more impossible. You’re the best at controlling skills in our family. Unless that fella is already in Yin Grade Boundary, how could he defeat you?”

In actual fact, it did not matter even if Ou Yangming was a Yin Grade martial artist because Ni Yunhong had actually defeated quite a number of Yin Grade powerhouses. Among the people whom he defeated, there were also powerhouses above Yin Grade Class Three.

COMMENT

However, Ni Yunhong shook his head and explained, “Master Ou’s martial art boundary is lower than mine, but he’s able to execute skills in an unbelievable way. I lost because of the disparity between our skills.”

Honestly, Ni Yunhong might not bother if he was defeated because of the difference between their boundaries, but the fact that he lost because of his skills was a huge blow for him.

Ni Yinghong looked at her older brother dumbfoundedly. She finally understood why Ni Yunhong did the unusual by agreeing to challenge Ou Yangming, suggested having the challenge in public, and even proposed to compete with what he was adept in—smithing a full equipment set.

In other words, Ni Yunhong had a hidden trick for the challenge of smithing a full equipment set.

The challenge had not begun, but the result was already set.

‘It looks like Elder Brother still hasn’t let go of that incident, so he decided to vent his anger by smithing an equipment set.’

Ni Yinghong shook her head and felt that Ou Yangming was unlucky to have encountered her elder brother, who was willing to give his all. ‘I hope that he won’t lose confidence after being defeated.’