Another three days passed before Ou Yangming finally managed to leave the Fang residence and return to the Ni residence.

In actual fact, Ou Yangming had only chiseled holes to make grooves for the seven pieces of equipment throughout the three days. If he had worked at his normal speed, he could actually finish the task within a day.

Nonetheless, the people from the Fang family dared not be too unrestrained. Therefore, Ou Yangming was allowed to rest each time he finished chiseling a hole and was only asked to continue when he was full of spirit and energy again.

Ou Yangming had repeatedly told them that he could manage it and that they could trust him.

Even then, everyone from the Fang family persuaded him nicely while they adhered to their own opinion.

As such, Ou Yangming could only stay there helplessly for three days. He quickly left when he was done settling every piece of equipment.

Needless to say, Ou Yangming kept reminding before he left that everything he did and said in the Fang residence must not be spread. Fang Zhaoyang promised him since there was no reason to decline the request.

Even though Ou Yangming had only stayed in the Fang residence for ten days, he had become friends with the powerhouses from the Fang family's higher-ups.

He went to meet Old Craftsman as soon as he returned to the Ni residence.

Old Craftsman was in great condition, where he had somewhat returned to his peak state without any sign of aging.

Ou Yangming was extremely satisfied with the Life-prolonging Golden Pill's mighty effect.

After having a meal with Old Craftsman, he was brought to the side room, which had been rebuilt into a smithing workshop. In addition, Ou Yangming could tell at once that the workshop was built with reference to the old man's private workshop in the military camp.

In other words, when Ou Yangming looked at it, he thought they had shifted Old Craftsman's workshop from the military camp.

"Look, Eldest Young Lady Ni ordered them to rebuild it." Old Craftsman laughed. "With this smithing workshop here, I won't feel lonely anymore."

Seeing as the smithing workshop was equipped with various materials, Ou Yangming commented, "Old Man, Eldest Young Lady Yinghong has really put in a lot of effort into this!"

Old Craftsman cast a meaningful look at him. "Yes, but she didn't do it for me."

Ou Yangming blushed. "Old Man, you're kidding me."

The old man laughed heartily, but he looked slightly worried after a brief moment. "Young fella, the eldest young lady is nice, but she doesn't match you…"

"What?" Ou Yangming was stunned. He scratched his head and remarked, "Old Man, she's quite a nice person…"

Old Craftsman sighed and responded seriously, "She's the Ni family's eldest young lady, so she has a noble status. On the opposite, you're just an orphan, so how can you deserve her?"

Ou Yangming quickly realized that he had misunderstood the old man earlier.

He smiled embarrassedly. It was reasonable for Old Craftsman to be worried, but the old man had no idea that after he fell sick, Ou Yangming was no longer the little kid that he used to be as he had become independent.

Nevertheless, no matter how great Ou Yangming's achievements were, they could not seem to change Old Craftsman's mind because the old man regarded him as a young fellow who would never grow up.

"Old Man, don't worry. As long as you're willing to, I'm definitely going to marry your daughter-in-law!" Ou Yangming patted his chest.

"Young fella, it's good to have a desire, but you mustn't do anything wrong…" Old Craftsman's face changed a little, and he warned Ou Yangming softly.

Ou Yangming did not know whether to cry or to laugh when he saw how concerned the old man was. 'What are you thinking…'

A loud and clear voice was suddenly heard outside. "Ou Yangming, are you here?"

"Coming!" Ou Yangming quickly called out, and his eyes lit up right away. He even winked at Old Craftsman and said to him softly, "Old Man, I'm going to seduce your daughter-in-law!"

Old Craftsman glared at Ou Yangming and wanted to hit him, but the young fellow had already dodged and escaped.

"Forget it. There's no need to worry if it's a blessing, and even if it's a curse, it can't be avoided. Children have to take care of themselves when they grow up, so there's nothing I can do…" The old man shook his head and sighed for a while. When he curbed his thought and looked at the different ores on the table, he felt his hands itch.

※※※※

Ou Yangming approached Ni Yinghong with brisk footsteps.

Though Ni Yinghong was still dressed like a man at the moment, since Ou Yangming had found out her real identity, she looked charming to him even in that outfit.

Ni Yinghong blushed when he noticed Ou Yangming staring at her with his perceptive eyes. She scoffed. "You finally came back? Hmph, Old Man has been waiting for you for ten days!"

Ou Yangming wondered, 'Old Man wouldn't care how long I've been away. I'm sure you're the one who has been missing me…'

Of course, he would be a fool to actually say it out loud.

He giggled and explained, "The Fang family's archer suit is unusual indeed, so the matter was delayed by a few days."

Ni Yinghong's eyes glowed. "How's the archer suit now? Tell me about it."

Ou Yangming did not hide anything from her, hence he told her everything he encountered at the Fang residence.

When Ni Yinghong heard that the five types of equipment in the Fang family had all been triple-layered with attributes, she could not help but feel stunned.

In actuality, if it was the Power or Agility attributes that were attached, it would not be too surprising to use less than a hundred precious ores to complete the task. Both the Fang family and the Ni family could have done it.

However, the Fang family had prepared ores for the Vision and Precision attributes, which were much more valuable. Therefore, even the rich and influential Fang family had to give up on quadruple-layering.

Despite that, this was just the beginning.

When Ni Yinghong heard Ou Yangming brag about how he grasped the Hole-searching Art and Hole-chiseling Art during the first time, she wrinkled her nose and looked at him in disdain.

It was clear that she was trying to express how he should not have told her something lame, which could be easily exposed, just to make her happy.

Ou Yangming apprehended her look right away, and he felt a tingling sensation on his scalp.

That said, he knew that the matter sounded like a fantasy indeed, and he would also be dubious if it had not happened to him.

Ou Yangming's eyes wandered about, and he suddenly reached out to hold Ni Yinghong's tender hand.

Ni Yinghong widened her almond eyes, but before she could rage, Ou Yangming pulled her into the old man's smithing workshop.

She struggled for a while, but she dared not be enraged in front of Old Craftsman.

Ni Yinghong could only glare angrily at the shameless rascal as she decided, 'When there's only the two of us the next time, I'll definitely make him… Make him…

'What should I make him do?

'If I punish him too lightly, I can't vent my anger; if I punish him too heavily, what if he really leaves because he can't take it?'

Just as Ni Yinghong was having a dilemma, Ou Yangming let go of her hand.

"Old Man, lend me your equipment."

Ou Yangming noticed the helmet on the platform.

Unquestionably, Old Man had smithed it while Ou Yangming and Ni Yinghong were conversing earlier.

Old Craftsman was dumbfounded when he saw the young fellow pulling the reluctant young lady into the workshop, but before he could reprimand Ou Yangming, he saw him picking up the newly smithed helmet.

The instant Ou Yangming picked it up, the look in his eyes changed.

It took only a split second, but Ou Yangming became incredibly calm and focused.

Old Craftsman and Ni Yinghong sensed the change in the atmosphere, so they immediately shut their mouths and watched Ou Yangming attentively.

Ou Yangming turned the helmet in his hands once, then he grinned as he said, "Yinghong, appraise it."

Ni Yinghong pouted her lips and thought, 'Who allowed you to call me by my first name?'

While she complained, she would not make things difficult for Ou Yangming in front of Old Craftsman.

She rubbed her hands to release the Appraisal Light.

Ou Yangming chuckled. As soon as the light went away, the Military Fire burned in his hands and enveloped the helmet.

When the fire disappeared after a brief moment, a groove was seen on the helmet.

Ou Yangming tossed the helmet back to Ni Yinghong. "Appraise it again. How is its quality?"

Ni Yinghong was surprised, but she proceeded to inspect the equipment, and she soon looked like she was in disbelief.

"Y-you actually found the node?"

Ou Yangming responded proudly, "Isn't it just a node? How hard can it be?"

Old Craftsman was stupefied too, and he wondered, 'This young fella actually grasped the legendary Boring Skill too?

'It… Wasn't me who taught him that, right?

As thick-faced as the old man was, he had to admit that Ou Yangming had mastered things that were beyond his capability.

Ni Yinghong was left in awe, but she was displeased when she noticed the arrogant look on Ou Yangming's face.

She was struck with an idea, and a strange expression was seen on her face. "Brother Ou, something huge happened in our clan when you weren't around these few days."

"What?" Ou Yangming asked curiously.

Ni Yinghong answered with a sweet smile, "Young Master He Liangce came to visit the three great ancestors. He made it through the Testimony Path that was hosted by the ancestors, and he was qualified to enter the Land of Inheritance to cultivate mental power's secret technique!"

Ou Yangming's face changed, and he felt ill at ease when he looked at Ni Yinghong.

"Oh right, where's Big Yellow? Where did it go?"

"Big Yellow was sent to the Land of Inheritance by the great ancestors a long time ago. I haven't seen it for a long time either." Ni Yinghong was rather regretful.

Ou Yangming nodded. When he was going to speak again, a servant from the Ni family1 had hurried over to say, "Young Master Ou, a soldier visited and said that he's Sui Hezhi from the West Camp2. He asked to meet you!" Following that, the servant glanced at the eldest young lady and expressed anxiously, "If you don't want to meet him, I'll ask him to leave."

"No, I'll go meet him now," Ou Yangming quickly responded although he was slightly startled.

That being said, he somehow had a bad feeling about this.

The author originally wrote 'the Fang family' here, but they're at the Ni residence, so the servant couldn't have come from the Fang family. We've corrected it for the contextThe author originally wrote 'South Camp' here, but Sui Hezhi is from the West Camp. We've corrected it for the context