On the third day, Ou Yangming stopped practicing the blade technique and the fist art all of a sudden.

It was not because he wanted to slack, but because he had not enough Qi and blood to consume.

Although Sui Hezhi sent him a wild beast, which unexceptionally transformed into Qi and blood that were stored in his body, he noticed a troubling issue after cultivating the blade technique for three days.

The Qi and blood consumptions during the cultivation of the blade technique and the fist art were a few times higher than what was needed for a martial-art squat.

It was not strange at all. After all, the martial-art squat was a type of mediation, whereas sword-wielding and punching required Ou Yangming to jump around, thus the energy consumed could not be matched by the former.

Needless to say, the exhaustion of his Qi and blood caused his essential Qi to increase faster, but the increased margin was not proportionate to the Qi and blood consumption.

In actual fact, Chen Yifan was very knowledgeable, and he assigned Ou Yangming to practice the martial-art squat on purpose.

Everyone was gifted in a different way, hence one person's Qi and blood were Heaven and Earth apart from another person's. According to the conversion speed of Ou Yangming's Qi and blood that were absorbed from a ferocious beast once in ten days, they were perfect for a martial-art squat. It allowed him to strike a perfect balance between the production and consumption of his Qi and blood, so his body would not be destroyed by undue haste.

However, it would be different if he cultivated a blade technique and a fist art unrestrained.

If anyone else were to cultivate as hard as Ou Yangming did, one would suffer an extreme deficit in Qi and blood, which would only be harmful.

Similar to an athlete, there must be a limit to one's difficult training. Above the limit, one would get hurt easily, and would be forced to bid farewell to the field in advance.

Sui Hezhi had no choice but to teach Ou Yangming a blade technique and a fist art since he received benefits. Even though he intended well, he was actually harming Ou Yangming.

Nevertheless, Ou Yangming was out of the ordinary.

Once Ou Yangming sensed that his Qi and blood could not compensate for their loss, he immediately stopped without forcing himself to continue. This was because he knew better than anyone else that he was not a talented genius in martial arts. The only reason people started looking at Ou Yangming differently was that he devoured blood and flesh to maintain the richness of his Qi and blood.

Without abundant Qi and blood, which was Ou Yangming's greatest reliance, he could not achieve anything.

Countless thoughts crossed his mind when he looked at the military saber in his hands.

It was impossible for him to secretly kill pigs, because he would be exposed one day. His actions would be inexcusable if that happened.

Ou Yangming could not ask Sui Hezhi to send him quarries more frequently too.

He was already receiving a ferocious beast once in ten days, and if he asked to receive one in three days, it would seem suspicious as he actually turned the beasts into Qi and blood for his own usage.

Besides, how would he explain if Old Craftsman asked him about it?

Ou Yangming stomped his foot when he finally made a decision.

He returned to his house, then burned steel with his Military Fire to turn it into armor.

[Upgradable composition found, upgrade?]

'Upgrade.'

Ou Yangming chose to upgrade it without hesitation, and he wanted to test where his limit was.

As a result, the purple lights in his mind gradually reduced. Other than the Toughness attributes, he added some Power attributes too. In the past, he would have stopped, but this time, he concentrated on attaching more Unique Attributes.

Agility +1, Power +1 again, Agility +1 again…

After adding the Power and Agility attributes to 2 points each, Ou Yangming's Military Fire swayed a little as if it was about to be uncontrollable.

His face changed, and he quickly understood that the armor had reached its limit for attributes.

If Ou Yangming upgraded it further forcefully, the armor would likely be ruined.

As he calmed his mind, the Military Fire disappeared, and a brand new armor was produced.

[Item: Distinguished armor (Orange)]

[Equivalent Rank: Ordinary Tool, High Grade, Rank Five]

[Attributes: Toughness +15, Power +2, Agility +2, Durability 15]

Ou Yangming was overjoyed. As expected, the Unique Attributes in each equipment can be overlayed, and they were not limited to 1 point.

Nonetheless, the better the equipment's quality, the lower the success rate, and the higher the smithing difficulty.

It was an unchanging theory. The process of attaching a Unique Attribute was already very difficult for normal Military Fire Blacksmiths, so if one counted on them to do better than that, one would simply be forcing them to do the impossible.

Perhaps there were actually blacksmiths who could achieve excellence, but definitely not the ones in the military camp. In fact, even Old Craftsman could not do it.

The armor smithed by Ou Yangming was a size smaller than the ones usually forged in the camp because he had forged it for himself. There were only a few in the entire military camp who could fit in the armor.

Nevertheless, the armor was already at the limit of the grade that could be achieved by using normal steel, and the attributes that were attached were at a maximum. Ou Yangming needed to use a better raw material if he wanted to upgrade it further.

That being said, this was only one of the equipment he prepared to upgrade himself.

Without further ado, Ou Yangming continued to work.

Through the burning of his Military Fire, other pieces of equipment that were a size smaller than the usual ones were produced.

He was able to attain such an amazing result due to his accumulated experience.

An armor, a military saber, greaves, arm guards, and a helmet.

The five pieces of equipment formed an equipment set that could only be possessed by the most elite soldiers. Normally, only a general's Guard like Sui Hezhi had the full set.

Of course, they only possessed pieces of White Slate Equipment, which were completely different from the ones Ou Yangming was wearing.

Ou Yangming had a pair of greaves and arm guards. If he only had one of each, he could only attach 1 point of Power and 1 point of Agility, but since they were in pairs, their attributes were above the armor's attributes.

He was even more surprised by the helmet and the military saber smithed.

[Item: Distinguished helmet (Orange)]

[Equivalent rank: Ordinary Tool, Good Grade, Rank Five]

[Attributes: Toughness +15, Power +3, Vision +1, Durability 14]

Apart from the Toughness and Power attributes that he was familiar with, the helmet had an extra attribute, which was Vision.

Ou Yangming had no idea where the Vision attribute came from, and he did not possess any precious ore that contained such an attribute.

While looking at the orange helmet, he began pondering.

He thought about the various explanations about the Military Fire. The fire was an extremely peculiar thing, and there were special situations during the smithing process where its ability to attach attributes occasionally increased.

However, the situation was extremely rare, and it could not be viewed under normal circumstances.

Ou Yangming did not understand it before, but he slowly began to fathom it.

In spite of that, he could not figure out what was the abnormality that caused the surprising outcome earlier.

He could not make sense of it even after thinking for a long time. As such, he cast the thought aside for now.

Other than the amazing helmet, the military saber turned out great too as it was the equipment that he smithed the most.

[Item: Distinguished military saber (Red)]

[Equivalent Rank: Ordinary Tool, High Grade, Rank Five]

[Attributes: Sharpness +15, Toughness +15, Power +4, Durability 14]

If Ou Yangming put on all five pieces of equipment, he would have 11 points of Power and 4 points of Agility in total.

Although the points for Agility were lesser, there was nothing he could do. He heard that some masters created miracles by adding the Agility attribute to boots, but it was beyond his capability.

Ou Yangming was thrilled when he looked at the pieces of equipment smithed using his ultimate power.

He took a deep breath, then packed them into a bag.

If he simply put them on, he would definitely attract a lot of attention in the camp. Even though people would stare at him too if he carried them in a bag, it would be less eye-catching.

When Ou Yangming tried to carry the bag, he gasped.

The bag was much heavier than he imagined, and he could not lift it easily due to his current power. In other words, he would likely become an unmovable fort if he put the pieces of equipment on.

He could at least put them on since he was already in Force Grade Class Two, because his past self could not have lifted them at all.

After hesitating for a while, Ou Yangming did not give up. He retrieved the arm guards to put them on.

As he released his essential Qi, hot streams flowed into the guards then back into his body.

Power. Ou Yangming sensed strong power at that instant. It was indescribable, and he felt like his power increased by a few times. With that, he could carry the heavy bag easily with one hand.

Ou Yangming's eyes glowed. This was the magical effect of equipment, which was his biggest reliance at the moment.

Afterward, he looked for a long robe to cover his swollen wrists, then left the military camp confidently.

In the past, when Ou Yangming was still a helper, he would surely be checked if he left the camp with the bag. This time, he left the camp without obstructions by showing the waist tag of an official Military Fire Blacksmith. Even if someone was suspicious about what he carried, nobody would displease him because of a small matter.

This was the unapparent treatment that could be enjoyed by Military Fire Blacksmiths in the military camp, and Ou Yangming was extremely happy about it.

After leaving the camp, he took a small path to head to the dense forest in the west.

The dense forest was 15 kilometers away from the military camp. Ou Yangming paused after walking for 15 minutes, and upon noticing that nobody was around him, he put on the greaves too.

Ou Yangming was delighted when he channeled his essential Qi. When he moved his legs, he naturally dashed forward as though an arrow left its bow.