Inside a bright and luxurious room, 2 distinguished beings from Zhangzhou’s Seven Stars Sect sat at opposite ends of a table.
One of them was Ai Hongli, who was a top-grade Venerable One, while the other person was Qu Zhengde, who had just returned from the Beyond Heaven Pavilion.
Qu Zhengde was picking up the teapot on the table to pour a cup of tea for Ai Hongli with respect. His movements were steady, but a look of agitation could be seen deep inside his eyes.
Ai Hongli glanced at him and said, “Zhengde, you’re restless.”
Qu Zhengde chuckled. “I couldn’t hide it from you indeed—you noticed right away.”
“Who made you feel like this?”Ai Hongli asked after he took a sip of his tea. He then put the teacup down and asked with a smile, “Could that Young Fella Ou from Danzhou really be qualified enough to be your opponent?”
It was worth noting that Ou Yangming had not been the Phoenixes’ messenger for a long time, and Danzhou and Zhangzhou were far apart. Moreover, as imaginative as Ai Hongli was, he could not have associated the Phoenixes’ messenger with Qu Zhende’s opponent no matter what. Therefore, he was not aware of Ou Yangming’s identity.
Nonetheless, he was sharp-eyed enough to be able to tell Ou Yangming’s real age after meeting him just once.
Smithing art was a skill that required time to master, hence one would not be able to stand out from the rest by only being gifted. Ai Hongli did not underestimate Ou Yangming, but he was simply more optimistic about the acknowledged smithing genius from his sect.
Qu Zhengde was in high spirits as he replied to the Venerable One, “Elder Ai, Ou Yangming might be young, but he has extraordinary talent and achievements in certain aspects, so he’s a strong opponent indeed.”
Ai Hongli was slightly stunned. “You actually think so highly of him?”
Qu Zhengde recalled Ou Yangming’s confident look and nodded. “A person like him wouldn’t lie. I’m sure that I’ll be having a tough fight against him.” He paused for a while before he raised his eyebrows and added, “Elder Ai, Danzhou’s smithing industry has many talents. Apart from Ou Yangming, Yu Xiuming from Mount Wuzhi’s also a top-notch master.”
“Oh? Are you sure?” Ai Hongli was really surprised this time.
Given that Qu Zhengde expressed his approval, Yu Xiuming’s strength in smithing art was definitely one of the finest.
Judging from Yu Xiuming’s appearance, he was at most of a similar age with Qu Zhengde. Such a figure would be preciously protected no matter which prefecture that figure was in.
Nonetheless, Ai Hongli felt slightly ill at ease knowing that Danzhou suddenly had 2 geniuses.
“Zhengde, how do you think you’ll do against them?” Ai Hongli asked in a deep voice.
Qu Zhengde chuckled and answered, “I can’t wait to go against them already.”
He did not give a direct answer, but he had displayed his confidence by curling his lips.
It was a confidence that was slowly accumulated from the countless competitions that he had, where he always managed to defeat equally-matched opponents. It seemed like he would crush anyone in his way without mercy.
His unreasonable confidence was the biggest reason that he finally made his way here.
Ai Hongli nodded as he was pleased.
No matter what the outcome would be, he would be able to accept it if Qu Zhengde could maintain his mentality.
Qu Zhengde’s eyes flickered as he asked, “Elder Ai, where are the 2 other Venerable Ones?”
Ai Hongli scoffed. “Don’t you know why they’re here? Don’t care about them and simply think that they don’t exist.”
Qu Zhengde could not help but laugh. Chi Ningyun was extremely famous among the Venerable Ones and Advanced Spiritualists in Zhangzhou. After all, the majority of cultivators were men, and very few females could advance into Venerable Ones.
Qiu Chengwang from Reborn in Paradise fell in love with Chi Ningyun at first sight, which was why he had been struggling to pursue her.
However, Chi Ningyun did not have a favorable impression of him, but she did not want to offend Reborn in Paradise, so she could only avoid him. In fact, she did not hesitate to travel 5,000 kilometers away by becoming one of the escorts to Danzhou.
Who knew, Qiu Chengwang was well-resourced indeed and managed to become one of the escorts as well. Furthermore, he kept it a secret before the journey, thus Chi Ningyun was clueless.
As one could imagine, once everyone gathered and they met, how could Chi Ningyun not show him a long face? Nevertheless, Qiu Chengwang was incredibly thick-faced. He pretended not to know anything and kept following her brazenly. Although he did not pester her, he followed her closely like maggots feeding on a corpse.
Even so, they were both Venerable Ones, after all, and they had formidable backings.
Other than Ai Hongli, nobody dared to ignore them.
Ai Hongli pondered for a brief moment before he noted, “Zhengde, don’t get involved in their matter. Hmph, the Big Smithing Competition between the 2 prefectures is considered a grand event, so they won’t disturb you during this time. If not, I’ll make sure that they’ll bear the consequences.”
“Yes, Elder Ai,” Qu Zhengde immediately responded. He paused for a short while before he asked, “Elder Ai, back in Zhangzhou, I’ve heard of Master Kurong from Mount Wuzhi. As far as I know, he’s the greatest blacksmith in Danzhou. May I visit him?”
Ai Hongli’s eyes moved slightly as he sighed. “Zhengde, Master Kurong’s known as the greatest blacksmith, but I heard that he doesn’t have much time left, so you’ll probably hear about his death at any time.” He shook his head and continued, “During the welcoming banquet, Mount Wuzhi served us wholeheartedly, but Master Kurong was still nowhere to be seen. Perhaps…” He shook his head again with a strange look in his eyes.
Qu Zhengde shook his head disappointedly. He was a true blacksmith, after all, thus he had always heard of and admired the reputable seniors that were still alive.
Now that he was not able to meet the elder from Mount Wuzhi this time, he was naturally upset.
Ai Hongli glared at him and reprimanded him, “Why are you thinking about this? Hmph, the competition’s about to happen soon but instead of focusing and recuperating, you’re being distracted by thinking about something else. Are you trying to admit your defeat now?”
Qu Zhengde tensed up. He quickly apologized, “Yes, it’s my mistake.” When he returned to his room, he composed himself right away and retrieved his newly acquired Blood Condensation Ore. As such, his face turned red due to the red light that was emitted, but he looked more serious and delighted.
With the treasure ore as the core, he was prepared to face the big competition at any time.
※※※※
On the other hand, Ou Yangming arrived at Yu Xiuming’s residence.
Yu Xiuming was neither a Venerable One nor did he take up the role of Mount Wuzhi’s sect elder, but he was not less renowned than top-grade Spiritualists in the sect.
This was because he was not only Master Kurong’s last disciple, but he also possessed remarkable smithing abilities. The higher-ups in Mount Wuzhi including the Venerable Ones had requested pieces of equipment from him before or asked him to repair certain pieces of rare equipment. This alone was enough to let Yu Xiuming do anything he wanted in the sect.
After returning from the Beyond Heaven Pavilion, Yu Xiuming closed his door, and his face took on a grave expression.
“Brother Ou, Master Qu’s quite capable indeed for being able to pick a Blood Condensation Ore from the many peculiar stones,” Yu Xiuming said in a deep voice, “Given his skill, he’s indeed worthy of being the chief blacksmith among the younger generation in Zhangzhou.”
Since Qu Zhengde could represent Zhangzhou in the upcoming competition, he had automatically become the greatest blacksmith among the younger generation. Even though this was only limited to smithing art, it was not a title that could be treated lightly.
Ou Yangming giggled. “Brother Yu, what about you? Hehe, did your Interspatial Spirit Ore fall from the sky?”
They addressed each other as masters in front of other people, but they had actually become quite close in private.
Yu Xiuming smiled bitterly and replied to the young fellow, “My secret appraisal technique isn’t much; anyone with great mental power can cultivate it. On the contrary, hehe, the fact that you chose that stone really shocked us all.”
He was in admiration when he said that.
The stone had been put up in the Beyond Heaven Pavilion for a long time, but nobody asked about it because of its flaws and expensive price.
Who knew, Ou Yangming sensed something about it. Most importantly, he remained as still as a mountain despite being persuaded by several people.
That was a display of his confidence. Yu Xiuming asked himself honestly and concluded that he probably could not have persevered if he was in the young fellow’s shoes.
Ou Yangming grinned. “I was only lucky. Honestly, when Elder Yue started to cut the stone, I wasn’t sure at all.” Of course, he could not admit that he knew there was surely going to be a treasure ore inside, so he could only give an excuse.
Yu Xiuming looked at him with bright eyes as if he wanted to see through his secret.
Having said that, Ou Yangming smiled as usual. His eyes were also unpredictable such that nobody could notice anything from them.
Yu Xiuming sighed after a brief moment and noted all of a sudden, “Brother Ou, you defeated me in our challenge and will be representing Danzhou, so you must emerge victorious no matter what!”
His biggest wish had always been representing Danzhou in the Big Smithing Competition against Zhangzhou. While he lost the qualification this time, his desire to win did not reduce at all.
Ou Yangming could tell that Yu Xiuming was entrusting the task to him. The smile on his face disappeared slowly.
He nodded and rejoined seriously like never before, “Brother Yu, don’t worry, I won’t disappoint you at all during the competition.”
Yu Xiuming exhaled deeply as though he was somewhat glad and delighted. That said, deep down he had not fully let go of his regret.
He cupped his hands and got up to kowtow to Ou Yangming.
Upon seeing this, Ou Yangming stood up as well and returned the salutation in the same way.
The responsibility that was passed on, as well as the promise made, were implied in silence!
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