As Ou Yangming's Military Fire burned, the tough steel became soft, and was finally turned into a military saber after the constant burning.
Yes, it was a military saber, because that was what Ou Yangming was most skilled at.
Old Craftsman watched with a dignified expression. Although the smithing process using steel and a featured iron ingot were similar, there were still some differences due to the different raw materials. The old man had taught Ou Yangming how different materials should be handled, so it was up to the young fellow to grasp the patterns and changes.
Ou Yangming needed experience the most from the process, because it would increase his success rate.
He did not cheat at the moment as he did not increase the military saber's attributes using the purple lights. Instead, he sensed the differences between steel and iron ingots wholeheartedly according to Old Craftsman's guidance.
At last, when his Military Fire stopped, a military saber was formed.
He frowned a little, and was rather embarrassed.
[Item: Outstanding military saber]
[Equivalent Rank: Ordinary Tool, Good Grade, Rank Five]
[Attributes: Sharpness +10. Toughness +10, Durability 10]
The saber was of Good Grade, and was the best of that grade, yet Ou Yangming was dissatisfied.
That was because he used steel instead of a featured iron ingot. It was a precious material that could have allowed him to smith a High Grade weapon, but he only managed to force a Good Grade one.
It was then when Ou Yangming lost his confidence.
He wondered, 'Without the purple lights' support, this is all I have.'
Old Craftsman took the military saber to look at it for a while before he exclaimed, "Ah, young fella, you're good."
Ou Yangming felt helpless. "Old Man, I know I made a mistake. Don't attack me, okay?"
"Nonsense. It's your first time using steel, and you forged something that's at the peak of Good Grade. What more do you want?" Old Craftsman glared at him, and scoffed. "I failed more than ten times before I figured it out and smithed a High Grade weapon. Come, let me tell you what your mistake was."
"Thank you, Old Man." Ou Yangming was stunned. He regained half of his confidence upon hearing the old man.
He knew that Old Craftsman was only saying that because of the sad look on his face.
Nevertheless, he also knew that the old man was right, because one could not improve one's smithing technique in one move. As such, he realized that it was unreasonable for him to feel disappointed.
Ou Yangming lowered his head, and picked up more steel to begin smithing again.
Even though he did not use the attribute lights stored in his mind, he automatically triggered the purple lights the moment he used the Military Fire. Consequently, he became extremely calm as though his consciousness was detached.
Under the state, he was almost able to perform perfectly.
After experiencing failure, Ou Yangming's Military Fire became exceptionally stable, and it did not fluctuate at all as though it was controlled by a machine.
The flaws that were present before were compensated excellently, such that even the picky Old Craftsman could not find any fault.
'He did it,' Old Craftsman said to himself the moment the military saber was formed, and a joyful look was seen on his face. Though he had not touched the finished product yet, he had a feeling that the young fellow succeeded.
[Item: Distinguished military saber]
[Equivalent Rank: Ordinary Tool, High Grade, Rank Two]
[Attributes: Sharpness +12, Toughness +11, Durability 12]
High Grade.
Through the Military Fire's afterglow, Ou Yangming saw the attributes stated clearly.
He finally fulfilled his wish of smithing a High Grade equipment.
A result like that worth celebrating even for other Military Fire Blacksmiths. Those blacksmiths would usually attempt smithing with steel only after having years of experience, and none of them could guarantee that they could definitely smith High Grade equipment with steel. In fact, even Old Craftsman, who was the chief of blacksmiths, dared not guarantee it too.
Sure enough, a piece of High Grade equipment was far more appreciated than a Good Grade one, but a piece of equipment like that could only be a wild wish for normal soldiers.
"Young fella, you're amazing!" Old Craftsman punched Ou Yangming jokingly as he remarked excitedly.
The greater the young fellow's achievements, the happier he was. He was not aware at all that he would lose his job when his apprentice mastered the knowledge.
Ou Yangming smiled awkwardly. "Old Man, this isn't an Attribute Equipment…"
Old Craftsman scoffed. "You greedy fella. Before you control the different properties of steel completely, you're not allowed to use precious ores of them, do you understand?"
Ou Yangming quickly responded to him, but it remained unknown whether he could do it or not.
"Go back to your smithing workshop, you'll only annoy me if you stay here," Old Craftsman waved his hand as if he was irritated. He added after a short pause, "After a few days, if you can forge a piece of High Grade Attribute Equipment, bring it to General Chen, do you understand?"
"Old Man, you're not going with me?" Ou Yangming was stunned.
"Young fella, are you asking for a beating? Why do you have to trouble me? Do you not have hands? Or did you break your leg?" Old Craftsman smiled meaningfully.
Ou Yangming was shocked, so he quickly escaped back to his smithing workshop.
He knew that Old Craftsman was busy planning the smithing proposal for General Chen's weapon, so it was best that he did not provoke him.
Upon seeing Ou Yangming leaving like a monkey, Old Craftsman shook his head and sighed.
'Young fella, you should learn to be independent, because I can't take care of you much longer.'
Once Ou Yangming returned to his smithing workshop, he continued to figure out the different properties of steel, and forged three more times.
Owing to his improvement in martial arts cultivation, he was able to use his Military Fire for a much longer time. While a higher consumption was required to smith using steel as compared to using iron ingots, a few times would not do any harm.
After three days, he finally grasped the properties of steel with the help of the wonderful state.
Needless to say, having controlled the basics was one thing, because it was difficult to unleash all properties to the maximum. Based on Ou Yangming's current smithing art, it would not be tough to maintain his smithed products at Good Grade, but it would not be easy to smith one at the peak of that grade.
Experience. He still lacked experience. If he had enough experiences as Old Craftsman did, even without using the stored attributes, he could create armaments at the peak of High Grade consistently with the help of the purple light.
Nonetheless, Ou Yangming did not want to attract unnecessary attention. For the following days, he continued to practice the martial-art squat and his Military Fire, read books, and spared time to forge some equipment.
Of course, instead of smithing High Grade Attribute Equipment, he smithed normal equipment of High Grade and Good Grade Attribute Equipment.
Despite that, from Old Craftsman's perspective, Ou Yangming was taking slow and steady steps one at a time.
At last, ten days went by again, and Sui Hezhi sent him another bloody ferocious beast as he did before.
Ou Yangming greeted him affectionately, "Big Brother Sui, I'm sorry for troubling you all the time."
"Brother Ou, we're brothers, so you don't have to be so polite." Sui Hezhi laughed, then tapped the saber that he carried. "When you gave me this treasure saber that's at the peak of Good Grade, I wasn't apologetic."
Ou Yangming chuckled. Although he was young, he knew very well there would be an end to favors.
The military saber that he gave to Sui Hezhi might be extremely rare for a normal soldier, but that was all. If Sui Hezhi were to send him quarries over the years just because of that saber, it would not be worthy at all.
Nevertheless, Ou Yangming already had a solution to his problem.
"Big Brother Sui, this is the latest saber I smithed. Give it a try!" Ou Yangming mentioned smilingly.
Sui Hezhi was immediately elated as he had been flattering Ou Yangming in wait for this day. However, he did not expect the day to come so soon, because he thought that it would take at least half a year.
He nodded, then accepted the military saber to wield it.
"Big Brother Sui, use your essential Qi!" Ou Yangming squinted his eyes as he smiled.
Sui Hezhi's face changed a little. He looked at Ou Yangming for a long time before he decided to release a bit of his essential Qi. At the next moment, Sui Hezhi's body quivered a little, and his aura rose so much that he even released a hint of killing intent.
Ou Yangming gasped, because Sui Hezhi seemed to have turned into a fearsome beast at that moment. On top of that, it was as if Sui Hezhi was going to slash him into two, and the enormous pressure made him feel dizzy.
All of a sudden, the purple light in Ou Yangming's mind flashed, and his consciousness detached from his body. As a result, he went into an exceptionally composed state.
He immediately realized that it was momentum. A momentum that belonged to a martial artist who experienced many wars and drifted between life and death.
When a martial artist with bloody hands released his momentum, the pressure caused would be quite frightening.
Ou Yangming only knew that Sui Hezhi was part of the Guards led by General Chen Yifan, thus he did not expect him to have such momentum.
In a flash, Sui Hezhi realized what was happening, so he quickly curbed his momentum. "Brother Ou, were you, were you frightened?"
The instant Sui Hezhi's momentum disappeared, the purple light in Ou Yangming's head vanished too.
Ou Yangming smiled bitterly and sighed. "Big Brother Sui, what are you doing…"