A few top-notch bosses from the Fang family sat opposite each other in the secret room.
The equipment set that had just been attached with attributes by Ou Yangming a while ago was placed in front of them.
Fang Zhaoyang took the longbow and turned it around several times to look at it as if he was reluctant to part with it. It was obvious from his facial expression that he was overjoyed.
“Yihai, the person whom you recommended did not let us down indeed.” Fang Zhaoyang laughed. “You’ve contributed greatly to our clan!”
Fang Yihai quickly responded, “Great Ancestor, it’s my duty to serve the clan.”
“Oh right, since you’ve been stationed at the Immense Forest Military Camp, did you notice anything unusual about the immense forest?” Fang Zhaoyang nodded and asked.
“There’s nothing different about the immense forest. The soldiers from different camps are still going in to hunt in batches, and they haven’t noticed any abnormalities too. It’s just that…” Fang Yihai answered seriously. He suddenly furrowed his eyebrows and said hesitantly, “The number of half-spirit beasts in the forest seems to have increased, but it’s not a big deal because it has always been like that every few decades.”
“The number of half-spirit beasts increased?” Fang Zhaoyang finally put down his longbow and remarked, “It’s not a big deal indeed if this happened in the past, but I can’t say the same now.”
Fang Yihai nodded. “Yes, I’ll increase our manpower once I return, as well as the number of times they enter the forest. I’ll definitely verify the matter.”
“Okay.” Fang Zhaoyang nodded as he was pleased. “If the disaster isn’t coming, we won’t have to talk about it, but if it’s really coming, we’ll have to prepare in advance.”
“Yes.” The few important figures from the Fang family bowed and responded to him.
Fang Zhaoyang looked at the longbow and ordered with a stern tone, “Once Xuande returns, let him rest and get him to chisel a hole in the bow on an auspicious day. This is our only chance, so we must succeed!”
Everyone else nodded and had a grave expression on their faces.
Right then, they heard footsteps that sounded like the wind.
A flash of figure was seen, and Fang Xuande appeared in front of them. What surprised them more was the usually steady person was holding a saber with his eyes widened at the moment, and he looked rather odd.
“Xuande, what are you doing? Great Ancestor is here, you mustn’t be so unrestrained!” Fang Zhengde expressed his discontent.
Nonetheless, Fang Xuande turned a deaf ear to him. He hurried to the great ancestor with a saber.
The other men were dumbfounded, and they had the same thought at the same time.
‘Has Xuande gone mad?’
Despite that, they were soon at ease.
This was because Fang Xuande pointed at the blade instead of slashing the saber at the great ancestor. “Great Ancestor, look…”
Fang Zhaoyang cast a surprised look at him, then at the blade.
A groove was seen on the blade, and it was polished so smoothly that it had a perfect luster.
“Xuande, you did quite well. Keep it up, and our clan’s future will depend on you!” Fang Zhaoyang nodded with a smile.
On the other hand, the other people looked at him and shook their head.
It was true that the groove was polished perfectly, but it was not Fang Xuande’s first time achieving something like this, so they could not understand why he had suddenly made a fuss about it.
Fang Xuande shook his head and said, “Great Ancestor, it wasn’t me who chiseled the hole.”
“Oh, it wasn’t you?” Fang Zhaoyang was stunned, and he seemed moved, but he quickly shook his head and mumbled, “Impossible…”
The rest of them were slightly shocked too because they could not figure out who else in their clan could accomplish something like that.
When they recalled that Fang Xuande had just… Everyone’s face changed at that instant, and Fang Zhengde commented, “It’s impossible. Master Lil’ Ou may be talented in the Layering Art, but the Tool-chiseling Secret Technique is completely different from that art, so how could he have grasped it?”
The other people nodded in agreement. It was difficult for them to believe that ou Yangming had made the groove.
Fang Zhaoyang asked in all seriousness, “Xuande, tell me, who did this?”
“It was Master Lil’ Ou.” Fang Xuande looked stern, and he glanced around him to see how the other people reacted. “You might not believe me, but I only taught him once, once…” He eventually slowed down and even spoke like he was talking in his sleep. “But once was all he took to grasp the Hole-searching Art and Hole-chiseling Art.”
“What? He even learned the Hole-searching Art?” Fang Zhaoyang’s face changed as he asked with an unsmiling face.
If Ou Yangming had only succeeded in hole-chiseling, it would cause a sensation between them, but they knew that he was a top-notch smithing master, after all. In particular, his mighty ability in the Layering Art was beyond one’s reach.
Therefore, they could at least accept the fact because it was natural for an extraordinary person to have extraordinary accomplishments.
That said, hole-searching was different. Not every point on a piece of equipment could be chiseled, and there was an extremely high requirement for it. If a hole was carelessly chiseled onto a piece of equipment, the equipment would become useless the moment the groove was formed.
Fang Xuande nodded his head hard and swore, “Yes, I tried it. Master Lil’ Ou didn’t just find the key point, he also found it ten times faster than I did!”
Everyone else twitched their mouth and thought, ‘Even if you want to flatter him, you shouldn’t exaggerate…’
Fang Xuande was the best blacksmith in their clan, and he was the best in the Tool-chiseling Art. If someone else was ten times better than him, it was simply unimaginable.
“Yihai, go get Master Lil’ Ou here,” Fang Zhaoyang instructed after some thought.
Fang Yihai quickly responded to him and left.
“Great Ancestor, are you…” Fang Zhengde asked hesitantly.
“I haven’t decided, but since Xuande praised him so much, let’s take a look,” Fang Zhaoyang responded casually. Fang Zhengde’s face changed. “Great Ancestor, even if Master Lil’ Ou is gifted, he has only learned the Tool-chiseling Art for a… Less than an hour.”
He initially wanted to say ‘a day’, but on a second thought, he could not bring himself to say it.
“Don’t worry, this matter will affect the Fang family’s future, so I won’t make a rash decision.” Fang Zhaoyang chuckled.
When Fang Yihai went to the smithing workshop excitedly, he indeed saw Ou Yangming sitting on the chair helplessly. “Master Ou, Great Ancestor has asked you to go over.” Fang Yihai approached Ou Yangming and grabbed him. He was elated, thus he was more friendly toward Ou Yangming.
Before this, while he had a place in the clan, he was not ranked high enough among the elders, and he had not won the great ancestor’s heart.
This time, it was different. Fang Yihai’s position in the great ancestor’s and the patriarch’s hearts had greatly improved, which would be beneficial for his future.
Ou Yangming muttered and wanted to just bid his farewell, but he thought, ‘I’ve just learned the Tool-chiseling Art, so if I suddenly turn against them and leave, I might be terribly rebuked…’
Hence, he got rid of the dust on his body and returned to the secret room with Fang Yihai.
However, Ou Yangming instantly felt something different this time.
The elders cast questioning looks and him, causing the smile on his face to freeze a little.
Fang Zhaoyang asked, “Lil’ Friend, I heard you’ve learned the Hole-searching Art?”
Ou Yangming was struck dumb, but he quickly understood that the Hole-searching Art was the art to find a suitable point for a groove.
He pursed his lips slightly and answered, “I have superficial knowledge of it.”
“Very well, let me take a look at your superficial knowledge then.” Fang Zhaoyang reached out his hand and displayed his strength as a Supreme Great Ancestor when a shield, which was at the corner, flew into his hand.
“Take a look at it and find a suitable point for a groove.”
Ou Yangming hesitated for a while, but he obeyed the instruction and took a look at it. Nonetheless, he immediately looked puzzled.
The other people sighed a breath of relief at the same time and were somewhat expressing their delight through their eyebrows.
Ou Yangming’s performance had been quite shocking.
If he could learn the Hole-searching Art so easily… Even Fang Zhaoyang would not be able to accept the truth because it would be such a heavy impact, so much so that he would not be willing to bear it.
Fang Xuande was surprised. ‘Why is this young fella suddenly frightened?’
Ou Yangming turned the shield around to study it for some time before he finally raised a question, “Senior Xuande, may I ask how many grooves can there be on a piece of equipment?”
In actuality, the answer was already shown on his waist sash.
Nevertheless, he wanted to hear the opinion of a true successor.
Fang Xuande answered, “It’s subjective. According to a piece of equipment’s grade, rank, and material, some can only have one, while some can have three of four grooves.”
Ou Yangming could not help but laugh. “Indeed.”
He pointed at two spots on the shield and stated, “Based on my observation, these two points are suitable.”
The other men looked at each other and were shocked.
It turned out that the young fellow was not troubled. He only wanted to ask a question because he had not stumbled upon treasures with two holes and above.
If that was the case, did it mean that he had really grasped the Hole-searching Art?
Fang Zhaoyang took the shield and closed his eyes before he felt about the shield with his hands.
He had also learned smithing art when he was younger, but he mostly focused on martial arts in his life, which was why he managed to become the clan’s Great Supreme Ancestor.
Fang Zhaoyang had also learned his clan’s Hole-searching Art before. On top of that, he had never really forgotten about it because it was a secret technique that was handed down to them.
Of course, knowing it was one thing. It was hard to say how many times he had practiced
it.
For a long time…
For a long time…
For a long time…
Fang Zhaoyang finally opened his eyes. As the crowd looked at him eagerly, he pointed on a spot on the shield and said, “This point is right.”
Following that, he closed his eyes again and fully focused on calculating and searching. The faces of Fang Zhengde and the other men finally changed, and they looked at Ou Yangming even more strangely than before. That being said, there was also a feeling of deep respect and envy in their looks. ‘This young fella is indeed…. Not an ordinary person!