Ou Yangming glanced at them and said coldly, “The two of you may stay here.”

He was on a tight schedule, so he could not bother arguing with them. Since they were willing to help, he could save a lot of effort.

“Brother Chen, what’s your expertise?” Ou Yangming asked after some thought.

Chen Yihe’s eyes lit up, and he immediately answered, “Brother Ou, I’m adept in merging more than two different materials to present their greatest strength.”

Being an Advanced Blacksmith, he definitely knew more than that, but he only told Ou Yangming about his best skill. As for his other skills, he did not have the guts to bring them up. Ou Yangming nodded and casually retrieved two materials. One was the popularized featured steel while the other one was a soft material.

“Brother Chen, combine them and show me later.”

Chen Yihe accepted the materials with a serious face. He was somewhat excited but nervous at the same time. Ou Yangming had just given him a test, and he would be qualified as an assistant if the young fellow was satisfied with his melting skill.

ras

On the opposite, if his work could not get Ou Yangming’s approval, although he was related to Chen Yifan, he would be too embarrassed to stay here. Even if Ou Yangming would not judge him, he would become a laughing stock among the blacksmiths in the capital.

Chen Yihe took a deep breath and slowly looked up. The burning Military Fire was released from his hands, allowing him to fuse the two materials. He did everything carefully as he was afraid of making mistakes, and he was more serious and meticulous than when he participated in the Advanced Blacksmith Assessment in the past.

“What about you? What’s your expertise?” Ou Yangming turned to ask.

Even though Xing Zhengyang was much older than him, he did not raise the question politely. Nonetheless, Xing Zhengyang did not react strangely as if everything was expected.

“Master Ou, I’m an expert in the Suit Skill,” Xing Zhengyang answered. When he recalled Ou Yangming’s performance earlier, he quickly added, “Of course, I’m still far from you in that

aspect.”

Ou Yangming could not help but laugh. “Master Xing, I’m not as amazing as you think I am.”

He was being honest because he was not as great as Xing Zhengyang in the study of runes. It was just that the veined patterns, which were derived in reverse, had surpassed the world’s limit, hence they seemed profound to Xing Zhengyang

Nevertheless, Xing Zhengyang was unaware of that. His face changed, and he responded with reverence and humility while putting his hands on the side of his legs, “Master Ou, you’re being too humble. Please assign a task to me.” Ou Yangming shook his head helplessly and looked around before he said, “I’ll give you a rune; carve it on a gem.” Following that, he reached out for a gem and used his Military Fire to create a rune on it.

He did not spend too much time on the process, but Xing Zhengyang-an Advanced Blacksmith-widened his eyes when he received the gem. The blacksmith seemed to have entered a huge land of fantasy, where he became extremely immersed in it.

Ou Yangming grinned when he looked at the two Advanced Blacksmiths, who were in worlds of their own at the moment. He retrieved another material and constructed an idea in his head, then he was ready to smith.

Just then, two individuals walked out from the crowd and bowed at him. “Master Ou, we’d like to assist you too. Can we have the opportunity?”

The young fellow was dumbfounded, and he could not help but laugh. “Master Feng, Master Yi, are you kidding me?” Feng Guangyuan and Yi Yucheng were the ones who showed up. Ou Yangming did not expect the two experienced Advanced Blacksmiths to come out at all.

The two blacksmith masters looked at each other with straight faces. “Master Ou, I’m skilled in layering Agility attributes and have special experience in the refinement of gold-thread clothes. Please set a task for me.” Yi Yucheng saluted the young fellow.

Feng Guangyuan hesitated before he noted, “I have some experience in the Gem Embedding Art. I’m not as proficient at it as you are, but I can handle the basics. Please test me.” He bowed as well.

The blacksmith masters humbled themselves, but everyone else knew they were way more capable than they claimed to be.

“Since you’re willing to help, I can’t ask for more.” Ou Yangming sighed after a moment of hesitation. He pondered and arranged different tasks for the two blacksmiths.

Despite that, right after he settled affairs with the two Advanced Blacksmiths, several people walked out from the crowd again.

Ou Yangming was either strange or familiar with those people, but without exception, they were Advanced Blacksmiths from the capital. When those reputable figures came out together, they caused a sensation bigger than a Superior Blacksmith would.

They approached Ou Yangming and modestly made the same requests.

The young fellow was undecided, and he wondered for some time. He later asked each of them their expertise and decided to assign corresponding tasks for them according to their strengths.

Regardless of their intentions, the blacksmiths curbed their thoughts and focused on their smithing tasks. It was worth noting that they were well-known figures in the capital and treasured their feathers very much; they rarely did things that were beyond their reach.

However, when their peers stood out, they had to follow suit whether they were inclined to it or not.

This was a sudden test, but the blacksmiths were not forced by anyone to take it; they did it out of self-consciousness and self-will.

Even if a Superior Blacksmith was present, the Advanced Blacksmiths would not have willingly participated in the assessment.

It was only because of Ou Yangming that they were glad to join the assessment, which could make them lose their reputations. The blacksmiths were eager to get close to the young fellow as they wanted to experience his aura when he smithed pieces of equipment.

The different distances from Ou Yangming would give them completely dissimilar experiences.

A person would always have a stature much like how a tree would always have a shadow. This was the most straightforward change in Ou Yangming’s fame after he smithed magic tools.

As the number of Advanced Blacksmiths increased, the square’s atmosphere slowly approached a climax. At the same time, some powerhouses, who were not blacksmiths, began to join the crowd.

The powerhouses initially observed the scene strangely and softly inquired about the situation from the other blacksmiths.

When they were told the whole course of the incident, they were in disbelief. After all, the imperial family seemed to be the only party that could gather so many Advanced Blacksmiths in a place.

Who knew, Ou Yangming had unknowingly become so capable.

The powerhouses were curious, and they looked forward to the outcome with fervent eyes.

Ou Yangming was indifferent toward the crowd. After distributing tasks to the blacksmiths, he began to come up with a new plan. The young fellow had previously decided to smith the pieces of equipment himself, but given that he had somehow gained over ten helpers, he was going to make the best use of them.

The blacksmiths were not ordinary figures; they were experienced powerhouses among Advanced Blacksmiths and were far from those who had just earned the Advanced title.

By taking a glance at them, Ou Yangming had a clearer understanding of their strengths in smithing art.

From the Immense Forest Military Camp, even Old Craftsman, who was known as the chief of blacksmiths, was inferior to them before he fathomed the integration of Heaven and man.

Therefore, Ou Yangming no longer thought about tackling the problem on his own. He began to think of ways to combine everyone’s strengths.

All of a sudden, Chen Yihe stopped smithing. He handed the merged materials to Ou Yangming, who examined the product with his Military Fire and nodded as he was pleased. The young fellow sighed and thought, ‘The capital is full of talents indeed.’

The end product had almost perfectly integrated the materials’ strong attributes. Even if Ou Yangming had done it himself and fully unleashed his Military Fire’s unique properties, he could not have done it any better.

He glanced at Chen Yihe and wondered, ‘What a pity.’

If Chen Yihe was excellent in other aspects as well, he would have advanced from an Advanced Blacksmith to a Superior Blacksmith long ago.

Seeing as Ou Yangming was satisfied, Chen Yihe was finally relieved.

Subsequently, Ou Yangming picked more materials and separated them into different groups. “Merge them accordingly.”

“Yes, Brother Ou,” Chen Yihe responded proudly.

Among the Advanced Blacksmiths, he was the only one who addressed Ou Yangming differently.

Eventually, the other blacksmiths completed their tasks one after another. While they seemed confident, they were more or less anxious.

They did not know if what they regarded as a high standard was acceptable for Ou Yangming, who could smith magic tools.

Fortunately, Ou Yangming did not make things difficult for them at all. After inspecting their pieces of equipment, he gave them new tasks, whereas he made final touches to the semi-finished products.

The moment his Military Fire burned, near or far, everyone focused on him.

In fact, even the Advanced Blacksmiths, who were working hard, shifted half of their attention to him. They carried out their tasks in familiar ways while they carefully apprehended Ou Yangming’s aura.

Soon enough, more powerhouses joined the crowd. They were either Supreme Great Ancestors or Superior Blacksmiths like Jin Shengjie.

That said, when they arrived, they quietly observed the crowd and did not plan to cause any disturbance at all.