Chapter 280 Unexpected
An interspatial bag was a magical treasure, whose trace could only be found in legends in this world. At the very least, Ou Yangming never saw the wonderful item in the Ni family and the Prefecture Military Camp.
Although he obtained an interspatial bag’s refining method from the dwarf’s strange consciousness and found special materials from Big Abdomen Ghost Spiders, he was still clueless about the unique method.
Moreover, he could not seek help from someone else.
It was an interspatial bag, after all, and the young fellow did not want to test his relationship with another person with the secret. He was not interested in turning his friends into greedy enemies.
Ou Yangming initially thought he could only delve into the matter if he survived the beast tide, so he did not expect to arrive at the threshold under Master Wu Hongxi’s guidance.
The alternation between the cold fire and the hot fire, as well as the control over the temperature changes, were the required abilities to refine an interspatial bag.
Needless to say, Ou Yangming did not refine one right away.
Without being 70 to 80% confident, he dared not waste the opportunity.
Following that, he casually picked a new piece of silk cloth and began to make a cloak again.
This time, he burned the edges of the silk cloth smoothly. Due to the gushing airflow from the flame, the black smoke and ashes gathered in the center and did not spread elsewhere. It only took a brief moment for a cloak to take form in front of Ou Yangming.
Ou Yangming inhaled deeply and retrieved a jade box, then he poured half of the powder inside to mix it with the black smoke. At once, the combined vapor dripped on the cloak as if it had turned into liquid.
The young fellow quickly turned the cloak so that the liquid could be evenly spread on it.
At the same time, the temperature of the Military Fire in the center rose a little. The temperature obviously did not allow the fire to burn the silk cloth, but it could help the cloth better absorb the liquid.
Ou Yangming recalled the different situations when Wu Hongxi refined the cloak. In particular, he admired the master’s grasp in softness.
It seemed like an easy procedure, but it was Ou Yangming’s greatest issue at the moment. He encountered many difficulties when he practiced according to Wu Hongxi’s method; he could not perfectly control the cloak’s turning direction even when he entered the integration of Heaven and man, as well as the thoroughly meticulous state.
Nonetheless, the thoroughly meticulous state was a higher understanding of nature as compared to the integration of Heaven and man. When Ou Yangming gave his all, he could still manage to produce the cloak.
At last, the airflow vanished when the Military Fire was curbed, and a cloak fluttered down to Ou Yangming’s hands from mid-air.
[Item: Standard cloak]
(Equivalent Rank: Ordinary Tool, Common Grade, Rank Four]
[Attributes: Toughness +4, Durability +4]
By using the same material, Wu Hongxi made a Good Grade cloak whereas Ou Yangming made a Common Grade one.
When the Military Fire burned again, Ou Yangming was glad to find that he could absorb attributes from the cloak and upgrade it too. Nevertheless, he gave up on the idea to cheat after some thought.
A cloak was not a significant piece of equipment. Even though its Toughness attribute had endless functions and would exhibit decent effects if it was used to resist long-range attacks, a person’s hands and legs would be bound if he or she exchanged blows with another person while wearing a cloak. Therefore, a cloak was not a good choice for a top-notch fighter.
Having said that, Ou Yangming was moved. He figured that if a person had an average martial arts cultivation base but had great mental power to continuously release small fireballs, one would be the best owner for a cloak.
Ou Yangming put down the cloak flat and curbed his thought before he fixed his gaze on the wild beast furs.
Before Wu Hongxi left, he told the young fellow that it was easy to make boots because the process was not much different from the refinement of a cloak. The only thing to note was the material for the boot’s sole.
Of course, the master’s ways of refining cloaks and boots were out of the ordinary because his real aim was to practice the soft aspect in smithing. As such, he added many distinctive changes in the processes and made them more difficult.
If one could fully grasp the refining techniques and perfectly execute them, one would gain unexpected benefits. At the very least, the smithing technique, which involved a hint of the path of equilibrium, could greatly increase the success rate of smithing pieces of equipment at the peak of Rank Five.
Despite that, Ou Yangming was stunned when he stared at the furs in the room, and he could not bring himself to start after a long time. He twitched his mouth and mumbled, “Easy? Why can’t I tell it’s easy!”
It was worth noting that boots and cloaks were different. Wu Hongxi was familiar with the production of boots because he had done it countless times, but Ou Yangming was bewildered because he had not done it before. He wrapped a piece of fur around his foot but could not work out how he should start.
Ou Yangming smiled bitterly and shook his head as he gave up wanting to figure it out. With that, he picked another piece of silk cloth and continued to make another cloak.
As he became more familiar with the technique, he managed to smith a cloak with better attributes without using the Military Fire’s unique abilities. Most importantly, he was going to catch up to Master Wu Hongxi in terms of speed.
With help from the integration of Heaven and man, as well as the thoroughly meticulous state, nobody could be on par with him in terms of speed only.
Ou Yangming finally stopped after he made the fifth cloak. He wrapped them in a bundle and left the room to head to the secret room.
The Wu residence was strictly guarded, by which Yang Grade powerhouses were willing to be protectors, hence it was supposedly difficult for a stranger like Ou Yangming to move around freely. However, he was not obstructed when he made his way to the secret room.
This was because the protectors saw Ou Yangming walking together with Wu Hongxi, so while they were hesitant, they let the young fellow leave.
On the other side, Wu Hongxi, Jin Shengjie, and the other people were having an intense debate in the secretive smithing workshop.
The smithing of magic tools was an extremely strict topic for them. There were many records of it in the imperial family’s treasure books, but the records could not be applied to their situation.
Those who were qualified to oversee the smithing of a magic tool were publicly acknowledged as mighty Superior Blacksmiths.
That said, every Superior Blacksmith’s talent and experience were one of a kind, and they were adept in different areas. In fact, even the Layering Art could be achieved through numerous methods.
Thus, the records in the treasure books could be used as references, but if one tried to stick closely to the steps, one would only end up falling
Since the methods could not be replicated, new blacksmith masters had to design their respective smithing methods if they wanted to attempt smithing a magic tool.
That was what Wu Hongxi did, but unfortunately, he did not have a way to break through the world’s barrier.
When Jin Shengjie arrived, Wu Hongxi decided to invite the master to participate in the activity. The two top-notch Superior Blacksmiths carried out evaluations and made changes according to their comprehension of the treasure books’ contents; they were determined to design the most stable smithing technique.
Nonetheless, the geniuses had different thoughts. For the time being, they were unable to convince each other, causing the smithing process to come to a halt.
Tan Yangping, Yuan Lexin, and the other Advanced Blacksmiths did not idle around. They quietly listened to the conversation between the Superior Blacksmiths, and they were enlightened by accident from time to time.
The discussion between Wu Hongxi and Jin Shengjie was not systematic because they spoke what came to their minds. Even so, the other blacksmiths, who acquired high-level smithing art, felt like their eyes were opened when the masters touched on notable key aspects.
On the contrary, the conversation was too deep for blacksmiths who had not arrived at the Advanced rank, so they could not understand anything. The two Superior Blacksmiths were opposing each other and were unwilling to give way, but their eyes were bright because the exchange of views was a rare experience. Tan Yangping and the other people benefited from it, but it was no doubt that the two masters gained much more.
At the spur of the moment, someone opened the door and entered.
Wu Hongxi stopped talking and looked at the person unhappily. Many Advanced Blacksmiths, who were immersed in the conversation, reacted the same way; they cast unfriendly looks at that person.
The person who entered was a guard. He could not help but gasp when he noticed the looks from the other people, and he also turned pale.
He was a martial artist at the peak of Yin Grade, where his cultivation base was higher than most of the people present.
Despite that, he would not be able to gain a foothold in the capital if he offended all the blacksmiths at once. Many people would be willing to borrow his head to fawn over the reputable blacksmiths in the room.
“M-Master Wu…” The person’s voice trembled. “Someone asked to see you!”
Wu Hongxi scoffed. “Who is it?”
The person stammered, “I-It’s t-the person whom you left with just now.”
“Lil’ Friend Ou? Why is he here?” Wu Hongxi was stunned.
Jin Shengjie laughed out loud. “Did you assign him smithing tasks? He probably finished it, so he’s here to see you.”
“I did assign him some tasks, but the items that he has to refine are uncommon. He’s new to the materials, so he can’t…” Wu Hongxi hesitated for a while, and he suddenly paused because he recalled the time Ou Yangming took to grasp the Military Fire’s hot and cold temperatures.
Nevertheless, he quickly cast aside the thought.
It was difficult to grasp the Military Fire’s path of cold and heat, but Ou Yangming could do it because of his Military Fire’s unusual properties.
However, the refinement of a cloak involved more than just one’s understanding of the path.
Back then, Wu Hongxi spent 10 days to successfully make his first cloak.
“Master Wu, I’ll ask him to leave if you don’t want to see him.” The middle-aged guard acted belatedly.
Wu Hongxi waved his hand and said, “Forget it; let him in.”
The middle-aged man immediately turned and left, whereas Jin Shengjie laughed and remarked, “Brother Wu, Lil’ Friend Ou is good at doing the unexpected.”
“Very well, I’d like to see how unexpected he can be…” Wu Hongxi could not help but laugh.