Inside the spacious courtyard, two elders and a young fellow stared at each other. The atmosphere was unusually strange.

Ou Yangming was stunned, and he did not know whether to laugh or to cry when he saw how anxious the two great ancestors looked.

He instantly understood what they were thinking. They definitely thought he went mad and wanted to destroy the Ni residence because they sided with He Liangce.

Ou Yangming wanted to explain, but as long as the giant fireball was still in his hands, the great ancestors would still be concerned.

When he fixed his gaze on the huge fireball, the three runes that were visualized by him remained in his mind.

The runes had endless wonderful effects. Not only could they allow him to release his mental power faster, but they also helped him have more control.

Under Ou Yangming's control, the runes in his mind slowly circulated.

They moved in reverse, and the giant fireball in Ou Yangming's hand moved accordingly.

Following that, the fireball began to shrink bit by bit and slowly dispersed in front of the two Supreme Great Ancestors.

The great ancestors looked at each other and noticed how they were both deeply in awe.

Why were they so shocked when they saw the giant fireball earlier?

It was because they sensed the threatening might contained in the fireball. The power was so intense that they were scared out of their wits.

In actual fact, Ou Yangming had killed an Extreme Grade half-spirit beast with the fireball.

If the great ancestors were to face it with their bodies, it would certainly not end well.

Although the energy had a time limit of twenty breaths, it was immensely threatening toward an Extreme Grade powerhouse.

Apart from displaying the great strength, most importantly, he curbed the fireball bit by bit.

It was difficult to gather and release the fireball.

What about curbing the power, which had not been released, perfectly?

It was ten times harder.

Once Ou Yangming curbed the fireball, the two Supreme Great Ancestors immediately thought highly of him, more than they did before.

As the young fellow turned his wrists, the final hint of red vanished into thin air.

Ou Yangming exhaled and said, "Greetings, great ancestors."

Ni Jingshen regained his senses and smiled with squinted eyes. "Master Ou, if you have something to say, we can talk it out; it's not gentlemanly to attack."

Ou Yangming was startled, and he explained with a bitter smile, "I accidentally gained something just now, so I decided to try it out, but I ended up alarming you. I'm really sorry."

"You accidentally gained something?" Ni Jingshen was suspicious.

"Yes," Ou Yangming responded seriously, "I came across three runes when I read about the Suit Runes Technique, and the runes allow one to gather mental power faster and have better control over it. I was thrilled when I saw them, so I wanted to attempt using them."

Ni Jingshen's face twitched. "Have you grasped the secret technique for the three runes?"

Ou Yangming shook his head. "The runes' secret technique is difficult and mysterious, so I haven't grasped it yet."

Ni Jingshen and Ni Jingtong sighed a breath of relief and thought, 'That makes more sense; it'll only make no sense if you grasped it after having casually tried it once.'

Nonetheless, Ou Yangming added, "I only have a superficial knowledge of it for now, so I'm not familiar with operating it yet. As long as I'm given more time, I'll be able to carry out the process faster."

According to his understanding, if he became better at visualizing the three runes, he could form the giant fireball twice as fast as he could earlier; the fireball could be gathered in fifteen breaths.

Even though fifteen breaths meant that it was impractical to use the skill in a battle, it would still be considered a huge improvement.

"Not familiar with… Operating it?" Ni Jingshen was dumbfounded. "Are you saying that you can already use the secret technique for the three runes?"

"Yes," Ou Yangming answered honestly, "I've successfully visualized them, it's… Not that difficult, is it?"

Ni Jingshen twitched his mouth and looked deeply at Ou Yangming. "There were powerhouses from the past generations in the Ni family who were also adept in mental power, so they were able to use the technique freely."

Ou Yangming nodded as if it was already expected.

Nevertheless, he did not know that Ni Jingshen and Ni Jingtong were secretly complaining.

It was true that some of the Ni family's ancestors were powerhouses with great mental power, but they were in touch with the runes much earlier than Ou Yangming did. Besides, none of them could visualize runes and use them right after they studied them.

The great ancestors wondered, 'How powerful is this young fella's mental power now?'

When they thought about the giant fireball and recalled the rumor about a god of fire descending to Elder Universe's residence, they became confused.

On the other hand, Ou Yangming was excited for having practiced the Runes Technique, so he did a fist salute and said, "Seniors, I made an appointment with Master Lu to meet him at the Armament Camp."

Ni Jingshen laughed out loud. "Master Ou, you're going to study the pieces of Rune Equipment, am I right?"

Ou Yangming pondered. 'The cheap arm guards smithed by Master Lu can be categorized as pieces of Rune Equipment.'

He nodded and answered, "Yes."

"Okay. If you're able to solve the issue and smith more pieces of economical Good Grade equipment, the Humans will be blessed, and countless people will be indebted to you," Ni Jingshen responded.

Ou Yangming was surprised, but he kept a straight face and nodded at the great ancestor before he left.

Ni Jingtong asked with a deep voice as he watched the young man leave. "Big Brother, do you think he'll succeed?"

"The Runes Secret Technique's mystery is endless. For thousands of years, our former great ancestors have thought about attaching runes to pieces of low-cost equipment, but there was only progress when we stumbled upon a rune drawing roughly ten years ago." Ni Jingshen smiled bitterly.

He fell silent for a while and continued, "Ou Yangming's a gifted genius, but for him to complete runes that can enhance pieces of low-priced equipment… Ah, it's too tough."

The great ancestor said that it was too tough, but he did not claim that Ou Yangming would fail. This was because of the numerous miracles created by Ou Yangming in the past.

If Ou Yangming did not smith a magic tool, Ni Jingshen would not have given such a remark.

Ni Jingtong nodded in agreement.

Ou Yangming was by himself, after all, so how could he fulfill the wish that was unachievable by many smithing powerhouses in the Ni family's past generations?

The great ancestors exchanged glances; they looked equally distressed.

'If the beast tide happens again this time, I wonder how many brave men will be sacrificed.'

※※※※

Ou Yangming traveled at the speed of light. Though he had just grasped a new skill, he was not relaxed yet.

Ni Jingshen linked the process of upgrading pieces of inexpensive equipment with the entire human race.

It would not matter if the great ancestor had casually said it, but if it was true… Ou Yangming shook his head as he dared not think further.

Once he arrived at the military camp, before he could even say a word, the squad leader who guarded the gate ran over to him passionately, "Master Ou, why have you come so soon?"

Ou Yangming was struck dumb. He could not recall having seen this squad leader, so he simply responded to the man.

"Master Ou, I've seen you from far when you visited the last time, so I remember you," the squad leader explained with a smile and cupped his hands as he noted, "I dare not leave my post, so please enter, Master Ou, you have access to every area in the military camp."

"Thank you," Ou Yangming uttered softly. Subsequently, he entered the military camp and made his way to the Armament Camp without being obstructed at all.

The Armament Camp was still bustling, but Ou Yangming easily found Master Lu, Old Craftsman, and the other blacksmith masters there.

When he looked from afar, he saw them having an intense discussion in front of a mold.

Ou Yangming flashed toward them, and it only took him a split second while it seemed like he was slow. He quickly knew what they were arguing about by listening attentively for a brief moment.

Master Lu personally smithed about ten molds in order to smith affordable Good Grade arm guards. Normally, the success rate of producing Good Grade items with the mold was around 50%, but the success rate of the mold in front of them was only 30%. The two blacksmith masters were comparing the molds to find the differences.

If they could find the differences, perhaps they would be enlightened with new ideas, and they might even increase the success rate.

Given that Old Craftsman had not learned the Suit Runes Skill, theoretically, he could not provide relevant opinions.

Despite that, the old man had unknowingly grasped the integration of Heaven and man after he survived a life-or-death period. Instead of studying the rune, he sensed the mold's operation through the integration of Heaven and man.

Master Lu usually did not think about the problems from a completely different perspective.

Therefore, Master Lu and Old Craftsman had a tacit understanding when they worked together, but unfortunately, they could not find the real cause.

Just as Master Lu was talking endlessly while he gestured, he noticed Ou Yangming, who had been standing on one side without making a sound. The master smiled right away. "Ah, Lil' Friend Ou is here. How's your learning going?"

He had already heard about Ou Yangming's past achievements by now.

Not to mention Ou Yangming could smith a magic tool, which was unachievable for Master Lu, even the fact that the young fellow knew the Layering Art and could smith a piece of equipment at the peak of Fine Grade Rank Five was enough to make the master respect him.

Ou Yangming grinned. "I read some books and scratched the surface, but I'd like to apply it to practical work, so I came to learn from you."

"I dare not say I can teach you, so let's discuss this together." Master Lu stroked his long beard and laughed out loud. He prided himself on being a veteran, but he no longer had the guts to show it in front of Ou Yangming.

"Oh, Master Ou, the path of runes is extremely profound and is difficult to understand." Master Lu sighed. "You've just started learning about runes, so the best way is to visualize them in your mind. If you succeed in visualizing a rune within a month, you'll be qualified to study it in depth."