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nTranslator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

nOu Yangming arrived at the Middle Camp. Although it was not his first time here, he was fearful each time he came.

nOf course, that feeling had disappeared now that he was different from who he used to be.

n“Master Ou.” A familiar voice was heard, and Jiang Chengwei approached him quickly to welcome him earnestly, “You’re finally here, I’ve been waiting for a long time.”

nOu Yangming was surprised. “Why were you waiting for me?”

n“We heard that you’re coming, and every squad leader wanted to welcome you to witness your graceful bearing. But I said that I’m the only one in the Middle Camp who has gone through thick and thin with you, so only I can carry out the task, which is why the general sent me.” Jiang Chengwei giggled. He looked so proud, as if it was such an honor to be able to welcome Ou Yangming.

nOu Yangming could not help but laugh, he naturally knew that there were words in his words. Nonetheless, he was delighted to have made Jiang Chengwei put his ego down to flatter him without holding back.

nHe said after some thought, “Alright, send three High Grade Arrows over to me once I return.”

nJiang Chengwei was instantly elated. “Thank you, Master Ou.”

nHe had done everything he could to secure this task, and was willing to fawn over Ou Yangming without any limit, all to ask for explosive arrows.

nHowever, he had never expected his dream would come true so easily.

nIn actual fact, Ou Yangming was extremely happy to have comprehended from Old Craftsman the integration of Heaven and man. Hence, Jiang Chengwei was greatly rewarded for flattering him at the right moment.

nAfter all, the weapons were explosive arrows. Though they were mighty, they were one-off consumables, thus Ou Yangming agreed to it easily.

nOnce Jiang Chengwei used them and became addicted, he would understand Ou Yangming’s real objective.

nAfter following Jiang Chengwei into the Middle Camp, they arrived at a martial arts training hall. The smile on Jiang Chengwei’s face immediately disappeared as he went forward to report with a serious face.

nHe brought Ou Yangming into the hall after a brief moment.

nInside the spacious hall, two men laid their eyes on Ou Yangming.

nOu Yangming was slightly tensed up. The two men were well-known in the military camp. They were Commanding General Deng Zhicai and Senior Officer Wu Guotu of the Guards from the Middle Camp.

nTheir gazes were substantial, as though they could see through everything. Nevertheless, the two men found it strange because Ou Yangming was partly anxious, yet also partly distracted, as if he was absent-minded.

nEven though there were two different feelings coming from the same person, the feelings were somewhat in harmony. Deng Zhicai and Wu Guotu had seen countless people in their lives, but were still astonished.

nDespite that, they had no idea that their probing looks had triggered Ou Yangming’s vigilance, causing the purple energy in his mind to be stimulated. This was the exact reason they felt that he was strange.

n“You’re Ou Yangming. Not bad, you did pretty well in the dense forest this time.” Deng Zhicai nodded and asked, “How many explosive arrows can you smith daily?”

n“The smithing of explosive arrows requires the consumption of a unique power, so only three to five arrows can be smithed a day, but…” Ou Yangming was stunned, but he answered after some thought. After a short pause, he continued, “If I smith explosive arrows every day, I won’t have the time and energy to learn new skills, and I won’t be able to complete tasks assigned to me at the Armament Camp.”

nWu Guotu suddenly scoffed. “Hmph! The general’s asking you a question, and you only needed to answer it. There’s no need for you to explain in such detail.” He sounded cold, as if everyone owed him 30,000 taels of silver.

nOu Yangming would have lost his balance out of fear if he was still the helper he used to be. However, Ou Yangming only lowered his eyes at the moment, and although he did not argue, he was not afraid at all.

n“Ah, Guotu, the Armament Camp has fixed monthly tasks, it’ll be fine as long as he completes them.” Deng Zhicai waved his hand. “Ou Yangming, smith some explosive arrows for me if you’re free, but it’s fine if you’re not.”

nOu Yangming was stunned because it was really surprising that General Deng was easy to deal with.

nHe bowed and replied to the general, “Yes, thank you for understanding, general.”

nDeng Zhicai nodded, then suddenly called out, “Please, Mister Lin, Mister Zheng.”

n“Yes.”

nTwo men walked out from the hall’s side entrance after a short while. One of them was Appraiser Zheng Ziwen, whom Ou Yangming had met once.

n“Brother Lin, Mister Zheng, this is Ou Yangming, the youngest Military Fire Blacksmith in my army,” Deng Zhicai introduced with a smile, then nodded at Ou Yangming and said, “This is Lin Yichen, the Yi Pavilion’s head shopkeeper, and this is Zheng Ziwen, the pavilion’s appraiser. They’re here to seek your help.”

nOu Yangming hesitated for a while before he answered, “General, as a Military Fire Blacksmith, when you give the orders, I’ll obey them.

nWu Guotu raised his eyebrow as he wondered, ‘The fella looks young, but he’s quite sensible to have given the general the option, he’s selling himself well. But based on the general’s capability and status, why would he bother with the flattery?’

nDeng Zhicai could not help but laugh. “Ou Yangming, Shopkeeper Lin is like my brother. It’d be best if you can help him.”

nOu Yangming came to a sudden realization. ‘No wonder the shop—the Yi Pavilion—has such booming business. Their customers range from normal soldiers to generals from different camps. This is the reason behind it.’

nThat said, he maintained a straight face and asked, “Head Shopkeeper Lin, what’s the request?”

n“Master Ou, I heard that you’re adept in appraisal art, so I’d like your help to appraise a bunch of equipment that we’ve recently acquired at the Yi residence,” Lin Yichen replied to him with a smile, then added after a short pause, “Of course, once the appraisal is done, we’ll reward you with 100 taels of gold and an appraised equipment of your choice.”

nOu Yangming’s heart skipped a beat. ‘100 taels of gold? Did I hear him right?’

nHe had worked hard to smith countless pieces of Attribute Equipment for the Armament Camp in the past two months, but Kang Weibo only gave him banknotes worth 300 fine silver. On the other hand, Head Shopkeeper Lin was so generous that he offered 100 taels of gold right away.

nOu Yangming was moved because if he was given banknotes again, they would be worth 1,000 fine silver.

nDespite that, he knew very well that the money could not be earned easily.

nSeeing as Ou Yangming was hesitant, Deng Zhicai commented with a smile, “Ou Yangming, this is a rare opportunity, it’s highly beneficial for you to expand your knowledge.”

nOu Yangming smiled bitterly. “General, you’re right. If that’s the case, I’ll do it.”

nIt was actually not a difficult job for Ou Yangming, and given that Deng Zhicai had asked him to take the job, he could not decline it if he wanted to keep a foothold in the military camp.

nLin Yicheng laughed out loud. “Very well, let’s set out now.”

nBefore Ou Yangming could reject the idea, Zheng Ziwen shook his head and suggested, “Head Shopkeeper, let’s stay here for three more days.”

n“Master Zheng, why do you propose that?” Lin Yicheng asked as he was startled. He expressed sternly, “The guild has rushed us for the batch of equipment, so we can’t delay it any longer.”

nZheng Ziwen smiled. “It’s okay. Since we have Master Ou’s help, it won’t be delayed even if we stay here for three days.”

nOu Yangming thought to himself, ‘This fella actually has a lot of confidence in me.’

nLin Yicheng hesitated and asked, “Master Zheng, can you tell me the reason?”

n“I met a peer earlier, and he invited me to be the witness of an upcoming challenge. His master is…” Zheng Ziwen answered with a smile, and whispered to Lin Yichen the rest of his sentence. “I couldn’t decline it.”

n“Is he really that disciple?” Lin Yichen’s face changed.

nZheng Ziwen seemed slightly displeased. “Why would I have the guts to lie to you? Heh, although he’s not a direct disciple, he’s a recorded disciple. If you don’t believe me, we can leave now.”

nLin Yichen quickly reached out his hand to stop him. “Master Zheng, please don’t be mad, I was only asking. Since it’s that disciple, let’s stay for three more days.”

nDeng Zhicai pondered for a while, and his eyes suddenly lit up. “Could you be talking about…” He pointed at Heaven, then at the Earth.

n“Yes.” Lin Yichen nodded slowly.

n“He’s the elder’s disciple, I see.” Deng Zhicai smiled bitterly.

n“Master Zheng, you’re an appraiser, so why did he ask you to stay to be a witness?” Lin Yichen was stunned after laughing halfway. He turned to look at Deng Zhicai and asked, “The general’s a good witness, why didn’t he invite him instead?”

nIf an ordinary person wanted to invite the general to be a witness, it would certainly be wishful thinking, but it would be different if the disciple, the one whom they were talking about, had asked. Deng Zhicai would definitely attend it at all costs.

nZheng Ziwen shook his head and explained, “The challenge in three days isn’t a martial arts challenge, it’s a smithing challenge.”

nOu Yangming’s eyes glowed, and a strange expression was seen on his face.

nZheng Ziwen had an extremely high level of attainment in appraisal art, so there would not be any mistakes if he was invited to be the judge.

nThat being said, they had invited Zheng Ziwen as the witness, and even let Ou Yangming be aware of it, hence it was quite funny.

nDeng Zhicai asked shockingly, “What exactly is this challenge of equipment smithing?”

nWu Guotu’s face reddened. “General, I’ll go ask around now.”

nEvidently, although Ni Yunhong had spread the news, it had only been half a day, after all. Therefore, apart from the East Camp and the West Camp that found out due to special reasons, it seemed like the Middle Camp’s commanding general was still not aware of it yet.

nNonetheless, Ou Yangming believed that Ni Yunhong would surely not miss the Middle Camp.

nHe cleared his throat and responded, “Captain Wu, you don’t have to ask around.”

nWu Guotu was stunned, and he said, “Yes, I had forgotten that you’re from the Armament Camp. What exactly is it about?”

nOu Yangming laughed. “I’ll be challenging Master Ni in equipment smithing in three days, and I invite you to be a witness, General Deng, Captain Wu.”

nDeng Zhicai. “…”

nWu Guotu. “…”

nLin Yichen and Zheng Ziwen. “…”

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