The noon sun was not blazing; it felt like a gentle warm current flowing on one's body, which made one feel lazy.

A carriage took its time to travel on the main path, but when it was near the city's gate, rapid gallops were suddenly heard as horses sped in its direction.

Ou Yangming, who accompanied Old Craftsman in the carriage, was awakened by the noise. He quickly looked outside through the window gap.

Their journey from the military camp to the prefecture was not of a smaller scale than the one before.

On top of that, due to the long preparation time, Commanding General Fang Yihai from the South Camp had even found an excuse to personally escort his guests. Similarly, Chen Yifan, who claimed to be Ou Yangming's master and his representative from home, did not show an impression of weakness at all. Not only did he send Liu Zhengye, but he also dispatched three squads.

Although Liu Zhengye was not on par with Fang Yihai, Old Craftsman and Ou Yangming appreciated the kind gesture.

Nonetheless, even with such a solid team, Ou Yangming was extremely sensitive about everything.

Perhaps it was due to the many accidents that had occurred previously.

Despite that, after seeing the people who were on the fine horses ahead, Ou Yangming let his guard down and even smiled.

Old Craftsman asked in confusion, "Young fella, is it someone you know?"

Ou Yangming quickly answered, "Old Man, sit tight, it's Ni Yinghong who has come."

"Oh, it's…" Old Craftsman furrowed his eyebrows a little and looked at Ou Yangming with worry. He hesitated to finish his sentence.

"Old Man, just sit still, I'll ask them to go slower," Ou Yangming said smilingly.

Old Craftsman scoffed. "You've been nagging them to go slower throughout the journey. The journey, that's supposed to take three days and three nights if the horses galloped fast enough, would end up lasting for almost half a month. Are you trying to make my old body rot?"

It was just like the old man said; Ou Yangming had been repeating two words throughout the journey, which were 'slow' and 'steady'.

They actually took half a month to travel from the military camp to the prefecture, which was the slowest marching speed recorded in history. Nevertheless, Old Craftsman was surprised that neither Fang Yihai nor the normal soldiers complained at all.

In actual fact, Fang Yihai had only remained his composure because Ou Yangming guaranteed that his success rate of attributes attachment was definitely above 30%. Besides, Ou Yangming had also promised to attempt binding layered attributes to the pieces of equipment.

Therefore, Fang Yihai dared not urge Ou Yangming so as to maintain the young fellow's good mood.

As for the low-level soldiers…

Since the South Camp's commanding general was present, how could they have the guts to complain?

Ou Yangming grinned and got off the carriage. He noticed the gentle figure among the cavalries from a distance away.

"Brother Ni, how have you been!" He greeted with a smile.

Ni Yinghong smiled weirdly and replied to him, "Brother Ou, you've returned to the military camp for more than a month, so I thought you no longer want to learn the Suit Skill and appraisal art!"

Ou Yangming laughed out loud, "As long as you're willing to teach, I'm willing to learn."

"Okay, my older brother has been waiting at home, please!"

Seeing as things were off, Fang Yihai quickly interrupted, "Ni Yinghong, I'm the one who has invited Master Ou here, so even if you'd like to invite him to your clan, you should go after the Fang family."

"Oh, is that so?" Ni Yinghong curled her lips into a slight smile and looked like a cunning little fox. She said, "If that's the case, Brother Ou can go with you while I bring the old man to my clan."

"No!" Fang Yihai refused without any hesitation. He obviously understood how important Old Craftsman was to Ou Yangming. It would only be strange that the young fellow would stay in the Fang residence if the old man was taken away.

The general cursed, 'She's such a clingy, sly fox. How can she take such drastic measures?'

That said, Ni Yinghong suddenly spread out her hands and expressed helplessly, "Okay, Elder Xuehai has actually made preparations to treat Old Man, but since General Fang disallows, I'll ask him to forget it."

Ou Yangming's eyes instantly glowed. "Senior Xuehai is here too!"

Fang Yihai's face twitched. He was resentful. 'Is a national medical elder that amazing? But it does sound quite amazing…'

"General Fang, since Senior Xuehai is already waiting for Old Man, how about we make a trip there first?" Ou Yangming immediately turned to ask.

Fang Yihai smiled bitterly, but he could not object to it.

However, before he could decide, Ni Yinghong voiced out, "General Fang, there's actually something I'd like to ask."

"Go ahead." Fang Yihai was somewhat startled.

"Have you invited Brother Ou here for the archer equipment set?" Ni Yinghong questioned seriously.

Fang Yihai pulled a long face and answered with another question, "So what if that's the case?"

The matter was actually not a secret anymore, but it was the first time someone had spoken about it so openly, thus it made sense for him to be displeased.

Ni Yinghong showed a disdainful smile. "According to what I heard, many people from the Fang family disapprove of it! Hehe, if they don't trust Brother Ou, why have you invited him here?"

Fang Yihai's face took on an unpleasant expression, and his eyes looked fierce. In spite of that, unlike the hot-tempered general's usual behavior, he did not rebuke Ni Yinghong.

Ou Yangming understood the situation after hearing them.

The archer equipment set was quite important for the Fang family, but while Fang Yihai was an honorable figure in the South Camp, his power of discourse in his clan was worrying.

Ni Yinghong added, "General Fang, instead of letting Brother Ou receive insults at the Fang residence, how about you let him be my guest at the Ni residence? What do you think?"

Fang Yihai sneered. "As long as I'm around, nobody will insult my guest."

Ni Yinghong shook her head and suggested, "How about this? My older brother and Brother Ou will have a smithing challenge tomorrow noon as a learning experience for them. If the people from the Fang family are interested, they can come to watch."

She had only spoken about it casually, but Fang Yihai's eyes lit up right away. He inhaled deeply and cupped his hands at Ni Yinghong. "Okay, I'll remember this and repay you the favor in the future!"

He turned to say to Ou Yangming apologetically, "Master Ou, you've heard what we said. Indeed, I haven't made the best arrangements this time, but don't worry, I assure you that there won't be any more mishaps from tomorrow onward."

Ou Yangming naturally smiled and said that he was fine with it, but he shook his head and sighed when Fang Yihai left with his squad. "Ah, I didn't think that helping someone was going to be so tough…"

Ni Yinghong smiled sweetly and responded, "The queue of people who want to help General Fang extends from the prefecture to the military camp. He has asked you for help because he values you!"

"Is that so? What about the people who want to help you?" Ou Yangming blinked.

"There are probably two queues of people who want to help me!" Ni Yinghong answered proudly.

"Ah… I was being impolite, it turns out that you're more welcomed than General Fang. I admire you for that!"

"You're flattering me, Brother Ou, you're flattering me!"

They laughed and conversed happily.

"Uhm…" Old Craftsman suddenly came out of the carriage.

Ou Yangming and Ni Yinghong quickly stopped laughing and approached the old man at the same time. Although they had not rehearsed it, they naturally supported Old Craftsman by holding one of his arms each.

Old Craftsman was dumbfounded, and he remarked with a bitter smile, "Ah, I don't deserve this treatment."

Ni Yinghong grinned. "Old Man, you're a senior, so of course you deserve it."

Ou Yangming nodded as well. "Old Man, you deserve it indeed."

Ni Yinghong blushed and rolled her eyes at him, whereas Ou Yangming pretended to ignore her.

Old Craftsman wanted to correct the way Ni Yinghong addressed him out of habit but sighed when he saw her and Ou Yangming making eyes at each other. In fact, the old man was also less worried.

With that, they entered the Ni residence together.

Ni Xuehai had indeed been waiting for a long time, and he took in Old Craftsman as soon as he arrived.

Ou Yangming wanted to follow them too, but he could only back away when Ni Xuehai glared at him.

If there was someone other than Old Craftsman whom he respected and feared, it was none other than the doctor who treated Old Craftsman.

Ni Yunhong made his way over by then and comforted Ou Yangming with a smile, "Brother Ou, don't worry. Since Old Man consumed the golden pill, he'll surely be fine."

Ou Yangming nodded. "Brother Ou, you've put in a lot of effort to get me here instead of letting me go to the Fang residence, what exactly is it for?"

"Brother Ou, I know that you're interested in every skill related to smithing, am I right?" Ni Yunhong grinned.

"That's right." Ou Yangming was stunned.

"Hehe, are you interested in boring?"

"Boring?" Ou Yangming asked in confusion.

"Yes, it means making a hole on a piece of equipment to embed a gem in the future."

Ou Yangming's eyes shone. "Is the Fang family adept in boring?"

Ni Yunhong laughed out loud. "Brother Ou, you're really smart. Hehe, in terms of the Suit Skill, the Ni family is definitely the best in the prefecture! But equipment boring is the Fang family's expertise. You picked up the Gem Embedding Art right away when Yinghong taught you, so you're gifted enough to learn the new skill."

"Brother Ni, why are you helping me?" Ou Yangming asked after he kept quiet for some time.

Ni Yunhong pondered and sighed. "Brother Ou, there was an unforeseen event among the Ni family a month ago. Ni Xueming's bloodline branch was removed from the clan by the great ancestors, and the disciples in his branch are now useless. That said, he managed to escape before he was caught."

Normal people would be baffled when Ni Yunhong suddenly brought up the unrelated matter.

Nonetheless, Ou Yangming immediately understood that the two Yang Grade powerhouses who attacked him but were killed by Ni Wangyang were likely hired by Ni Xueming.

Ni Yunhong added, "His bloodline was the most one among the clan's branches, but he had aged and his days were numbered. He decided to take the risk but ended up harming others and himself."

"It's already in the past, so let's not talk about it." Ou Yangming laughed after remaining silent for some time. He expressed after a pause, "Tomorrow at noon, I'd like to see if your skills have improved."

"Tomorrow will be your show, so I'm not going to be involved!" Ni Yunhong responded snappily.

They laughed together and no longer bore grudges against each other.