When Ou Yangming, Ni Yinghong, and He Liangce left the big residence, Ou Yangming glanced at He Liangce. The graceful young master was cool and collected as though he had nothing to do with the changes.

He Liangce only nodded with a grin when Ou Yangming looked hatefully at him, and he had no intention to give the blacksmith tit for tat.

Ou Yangming furrowed his eyebrows because he felt like he had punched cotton.

He scoffed and asked softly, "What exactly did you do to bewitch the three great ancestors?"

"That's what I want to ask you. Why are the great ancestors so supportive of you?" He Liangce questioned.

Both of them had a trump card each that they were extremely confident about, so they did not expect the Ni family's great ancestors to make this choice in the end. Did the great ancestors send them to travel together for Ni Yinghong to make a decision?

At the very least, the three great ancestors looked like they were not taking sides.

As such, Ou Yangming and He Liangce attached more importance to each other.

He Liangce said, "Young Sister1, we're about to enter the forest soon, so you should make some preparations."

"Thank you for reminding me, Elder Brother1, I'll be getting ready now," Ni Yinghong replied to him, then she winked at Ou Yangming before she left.

The smile on Ou Yangming's face disappeared once Ni Yinghong was far away. He turned to smirk at He Liangce. "Great move, Brother He. I wonder—what do you plan to do in the forest?"

"Nothing. I just want to get closer to the two of you," He Liangce answered with a smile. He sighed and explained, "Brother Ou, I honestly have nothing against you, but there are some things that even I am helpless with…"

"Brother He, you must be so helpless!" Ou Yangming sneered. He then lowered his voice and said, "You have an incredible martial arts cultivation base, which is truly admirable. Are you taking the opportunity to kill me in the immense forest?"

He Liangce could not help but laugh. "If I plan on doing that, would I have agreed to travel with Miss Ni?"

Ou Yangming was a little dumbfounded. Although he was not fond of He Liangce, he had to admit that if He Liangce killed him in front of Ni Yinghong, he would be dreaming if he wanted to marry the young lady after that.

'But God knows what lost study this young master from an influential family has? If I'm careless, perhaps the immense forest will be the place of my death,' Ou Yangming wondered.

He Liangce expressed frankly as if he saw through Ou Yangming's thought, "Brother Ou, you don't have to worry so much because I only want to pursue Miss Ni in an upright manner. Whether you're in the picture or not, I'll do the same."

Ou Yangming laughed. "You're such an upright person, Brother He. Aren't you afraid that I'll secretly kill you in the immense forest?"

"I believe I won't die so easily. Besides, I trust you won't resort to such a measure," He Liangce responded proudly.

"That might not necessarily be the case. Is there a need to be lawful against a rival in love?" Ou Yangming grinned with squinted eyes.

Nonetheless, he was surprised that He Liangce still kept a smile on his face. "If you're not afraid that Miss Ni will think little of you in the future, go ahead and use your tricks."

Ou Yangming was taken aback. He scoffed and left.

He returned to his bedroom to inform Old Craftsman of his trip to the immense forest to find the strange bamboo, then he packed some things in a bag and fully equipped himself.

Even though Ou Yangming had the peculiar stones, he did not smith a full equipment set made of magic tools. Instead, he only brought two pieces of equipment at the peak of Fine Grade Rank Five, as well as a gift for Ni Yinghong.

After all, one magic tool was enough to shock the world, thus if he smithed a whole set…

Ou Yangming had given the Ni family enough benefits, and he wished to maintain the current relationship. Before he possessed stronger power, he would not be too unrestrained in certain things.

If Ou Yangming did not do so, he would not be giving favors; he would be giving them tests to control their greed.

Once he left the courtyard, he was instantly delighted because he spotted a graceful figure.

Ni Yinghong had come to find him first.

"Lil' Ming, that fella's a little strange, so you must be careful!" Ni Yinghong whispered in Ou Yangming's ear.

Ou Yangming blushed when he sensed warm air being blown into his ear, but he quickly nodded and responded, "Elder Sister Ying, that fella has ill intentions indeed, so you must be extra careful!"

Though the words 'Lil' Ming' sounded weird, Ou Yangming thought it was sweet because Ni Yinghong was the one who said it.

Ni Yinghong's face reddened when she heard the words 'Elder Sister Ying', but she was quickly attracted by his words.

"Ill intentions? Do you know what he plans to do?"

Ou Yangming was struck dumb. 'Oh no.'

He could not tell Ni Yinghong the truth, and he did not want her to be curious about He Liangce. The best thing to do was to let her treat He Liangce as a stranger, where they would never meet again after their trip to the immense forest.

"This…" As Ou Yangming was being stared at by Ni Yinghong's bright eyes, he racked his brain faster than usual. One would normally be quick-witted during an emergency—Ou Yangming came up with an idea in no time. "Your great ancestors said a half-spirit beast guards the bizarre bamboo!"

"Oh, but what does that have to do with him being ill-intentioned?" Ni Yinghong was confused.

'Yes, what does this have to do with him being ill-intentioned…'

Ou Yangming repeated Ni Yinghong's words in his head, but he said with a mysterious look on his face, "The great ancestors kept us in the dark about the bamboo forest and the half-spirit beast. Ah, perhaps the great ancestors are the only ones who can answer your question."

He was secretly proud because he indirectly stated that they were on the same line.

Ni Yinghong furrowed her beautiful eyebrows. "The great ancestors won't harm me for sure."

"They obviously won't! But they might've been deceived by the bad guy…" Ou Yangming immediately explained.

Ni Yinghong nodded. It was probably a sign of her agreeing with him.

Ou Yangming sighed a breath of relief, then he suddenly handed a longsword to her. "Elder Sister Ying, I smithed this weapon for you. Take a look at it and see if you like it?"

Ni Yinghong was startled, but her eyes lit up right away. She accepted the longsword and pulled it out of the scabbard.

At once, an intense cold-intent was released from the sword, and it gushed toward her face.

Ni Yinghong shivered as she felt a chill. While she had already guessed it, she could not help but feel surprised and overjoyed.

"T-this is…"

Ou Yangming nodded. "Elder Sister Ying, I noticed you only use a longsword when you practice martial arts. This sword has the same specifications as the one you usually use, but it's slightly heavier."

Ni Yinghong pursed her lips. She did not usually practice with her sword for long and only did it a few times in front of Ou Yangming. In fact, Ou Yangming had only held her sword once or twice.

Even then, Ou Yangming was able to remember so much.

The young lady felt a warmth in her heart, and she suddenly had the urge to cry.

Nevertheless, Ni Yinghong's dignity as the eldest young lady disallowed her from doing something as impolite as such. Hence, she only wrinkled her nose and remarked, "Okay, at least you're attentive. This sword is mine from now on!"

Ou Yangming nodded and was elated.

Honestly, he was surprised and aware of He Liangce's tricks.

It was worth noting that Ou Yangming had done huge favors for the Ni family's great ancestors, yet they were still moved by He Liangce. Although it seemed like the great ancestors were being fair by sending the three of them to the immense forest, He Liangce was a Yang Grade martial artist—an unordinary one.

Ou Yangming would not be able to do anything if He Liangce did his best to please and woo Ni Yinghong, thus he gave her the most precious gift before they set out. With the gift around, Ni Yinghong would surely be able to turn a deaf ear to He Liangce's sweet words.

Following that, Ou Yangming and Ni Yinghong conversed happily and returned to where they left He Liangce earlier.

Seeing as they were so close to each other, He Liangce was neither mad nor embarrassed. Instead, he looked at them with pity.

Ou Yangming was astonished. 'This fella's mind is imperceptible.'

The Ni residence had prepared horses for them. This time, more than twenty people came to see them off, and among those people were three Yang Grade elders.

Needless to say, one of the three Yang Grade elders was from the He family.

Subsequently, Ou Yangming and his travel companions left the prefecture and traveled quickly without being obstructed at all.

They arrived in front of a dense forest after three days and could see that the Immense Forest Military Camp was not too far away.

He Liangce flashed and jumped off the horse, then he said with a smile, "Let's head inside."

Ou Yangming glanced at Ni Yinghong, then they jumped off their horses one after another and stood together but at a distance away from He Liangce.

He Liangce turned and instructed the other people, "Go to the Immense Forest Military Camp to wait for our news."

The other people responded to him, then they turned around and went out of sight after some time.

"I'll be going in first." He Liangce smiled and entered the dense forest calmly.

Ou Yangming frowned because he was confused about He Liangce's confidence.

Just as Ni Yinghong wanted to enter the forest, Ou Yangming reached out his hand to stop her. He retrieved two equipment sets and gestured to Ni Yinghong to put on one of them.

Ou Yangming had previously smithed an equipment set for Ni Yinghong according to her size. It was not made of magic tools, but the pieces of equipment were at the peak of Fine Grade.

Ni Yinghong's eyes were watery as if tears were about to flow.

Since she was one of the rare forthright ladies, she gritted her teeth and put on the pieces of equipment in front of Ou Yangming.

Ou Yangming equipped himself as well, then he entered the forest with Ni Yinghong, who wore pieces of Fine Grade equipment and held a magic longsword.

He thought, 'He Liangce, no matter what tricks you have up your sleeve, bring it on…'

Note that He Liangce is addressing Ni Yinghong as a younger sister because their clans share a friendship for generationsThe reason for this is the same as above