In the Ni residence, the three great ancestors quietly listened to Ni Xuehai's report.

When they heard about Ou Yangming's strange behavior, even though they were Supreme Great Ancestors, they could not help but look at each other.

"Xuetian, since Master Ou stayed in the library for so long, did he gain something?" Ni Jingshen asked.

If anyone else had done the same, not to mention staying in the library for a month, even if he or she stayed inside for ten years, the great ancestors would not be bothered.

After all, how could a rune for improving the quality of pieces of equipment be acquired so easily?

The Ni family had countless powerhouses in their past generations, many of which were smithing powerhouses who mastered runes. In fact, the concept of enhancing inexpensive pieces of equipment through a rune was already proposed a thousand years ago.

Nonetheless, for a thousand years, even when numerous smithing powerhouses spared no effort and used a great amount of manpower and resources in this matter, they ended up with nothing.

As for the rune that was used to upgrade affordable arm guards, it was just an accident.

The blacksmith who created the rune had not done it intentionally; the rune was an unexpected product of the experiment. Although the disciple from a clan was highly rewarded, nobody counted on him to create another similar rune.

An unexpected product like that would certainly appear once in a thousand years.

Therefore, nobody believed that Ou Yangming could have such an achievement after a month of research.

"Big Uncle, theoretically, Master Ou couldn't have gained much," Ni Xuetian responded after some thought, then he explained, "I have a deep understanding of runes too. It's impossible to grasp every rune in a month, let alone studying every rune."

Ni Jingshen nodded and remarked, "That's great, let's not care about him anymore."

Nevertheless, Ni Jingtong suddenly voiced out, "Big Brother, Xuetian mentioned the word 'theoretically'. Since when has Master Ou done things according to the logical way?"

Ni Jingshen was stunned, and an odd look was seen on his face.

As said by Ni Jingtong, ever since they met Ou Yangming, they had seen him create plenty of miracles.

The young fellow's martial arts cultivation base went from Yin Grade Class One to Class Four, which was an advancement so fast that it was simply unachievable for even a well-trained disciple from a clan.

It was worth noting that Ou Yangming's advancement in martial arts was his least eye-catching achievement.

Ou Yangming passed the Testimony Path through determination and brought Big Yellow to the Land of Inheritance. He displayed great abilities in the Tool-chiseling Art and the Layering Art, and he set a fire that shocked the whole prefecture when he visited Elder Universe. Furthermore, the young fellow smithed magic tools, drove away a Supreme Great Ancestor with Big Yellow, and so on.

Any Yin Grade martial artist would become famous for accomplishing any one of the deeds.

However, all these attainments belonged to Ou Yangming, and were too much for everyone else to take in. However, people began to think it was expected of him.

The distinguished Yin Grade martial artist ended up staying a whole month in the library, and he headed straight to the military camp after he left, hence it was inevitable for people to feel doubtful.

"Xuehai, what was Master Ou's facial expression?" Ni Jingshen furrowed his eyebrows.

Ni Xuehai was the great elder in their clan, but he dared not disregard the three great ancestors. He answered with respect, "According to my men, Master Ou looked confident."

The three great ancestors were moved. They did not believe that Ou Yangming could come up with anything useful, but… The person was Ou Yangming—the master who kept working miracles.

"Big Uncle, I'll go take a look." Ni Xuetian sighed. "I should also talk to him about Yinghong."

"Okay. Xuetian, be careful with your words. If he asks for any form of compensation, we will agree to it," Ni Jingshen reminded him.

"Yes," Ni Xuetian responded to him, then he flashed away and left.

On the other hand, Ni Xuehai sighed because the inexperienced teen had grown up. Though Ou Yangming was not a giant tree, he was not someone who could be ignored.

※※※※

Ou Yangming arrived at the military camp excitedly. Based on his status, there was no need for him to report his arrival, thus he went to the Armament Camp while many soldiers looked at him respectfully.

The Armament Camp was still a bustling place, and it had somewhat flourished.

As soon as Ou Yangming arrived, someone recognized him and left to make the announcement.

The soldiers outside were grateful for Ou Yangming because he did not fear the imperial merchant and stood up for a soldier's family member; the craftsmen in the Armament Camp revered him from the bottom of their hearts.

Whether it was the ordinary blacksmiths or the Military Fire Blacksmiths, they all developed a deep respect for Ou Yangming.

Ever since Ou Yangming modified the molds for arm guards, the molds had been playing a big role in their daily tasks, and nobody dared to question his ability anymore.

Master Lu and Old Craftsman arrived together after a brief moment.

Before this, Master Lu had a slightly higher status than Old Craftsman, but Ou Yangming could tell from the way they walked shoulder-to-shoulder that the master had regarded the old man to be on par with him.

It was not only because of Ou Yangming, but because Old Craftsman's smithing art was not to be overlooked. In particular, after fathoming the integration of Heaven and man, the old man advanced by leaps and bounds and was far beyond Master Lu's reach in certain unique situations.

"Master Ou, you're finally back." Master Lu flashed a bright smile. "Without your presence, the new molds that were smithed couldn't be used at all."

Ou Yangming was surprised. "Did you forge new molds?"

Master Lu sighed. "We were researching new Rune Molds, but our efforts were to no avail. Instead of wasting time, we were thinking about making more molds for the arm guards."

He glanced at Old Craftsman and continued, "Ah, I always thought I'm a genius in runes, but it turns out that the two of you have already surpassed me."

Ou Yangming looked at Old Craftsman as he was struck dumb. The old man commented with a grin, "Master Lu, you're being too polite."

Master Lu shook his head and explained, "I taught Old Craftsman the path of runes. He couldn't grasp it in the beginning, but once he learned it, heh… The molds that he smithed were much better than the ones I've accumulated over the years!"

Ou Yangming's eyes lit up as he realized that Old Craftsman finally perceived the key of the Upgrade Rune after studying it for some time.

This was the disadvantage of not being gifted with mental power; one would take much longer than Ou Yangming and Master Lu to comprehend runes.

Despite that, Old Craftsman understood the Upgrade Rune after he put in a lot of effort to explore it. Hence, he began to smith molds too.

Master Lu was not optimistic about it at first, but after just a few times, Old Craftsman managed to smith molds of better quality than his.

While the molds did not contain the unique Counterattack attribute, they had a 60% success rate in enhancing arm guards to Good Grade. The result alone was much better than what Master Lu achieved ten years ago from his research.

It was no wonder Master Lu sounded bitter when he spoke earlier.

Ou Yangming could not help but laugh because he knew it was the advantage of the integration of Heaven and man. Old Craftsman had not entered the thoroughly meticulous state, so he could not perfectly engrave every rune's veined pattern.

Even so, with the integration of Heaven and man, the old man was superior to Master Lu.

The difference in states could result in a huge gap regardless of the trade.

Ou Yangming congratulated Old Craftsman as he was glad, then he said to the master, "Master Lu, I didn't come to amend molds today."

Master Lu was dumbfounded. "Then you're…"

"I've been reading books for a month in the Ni family's library, so I gained more knowledge in the path of runes. I've come to put them into practice today," Ou Yangming stated.

"Oh…" Master Lu looked disappointed, then he asked with a bitter smile, "Master Ou, are you looking to find a lost rune drawing too? Ah, my chance encounter could be discovered but couldn't be sought."

Ou Yangming cursed, 'What do you mean by a chance encounter? The Ni family's Three Great Ancestors planned it on purpose, okay? Without their approval, you couldn't have stumbled upon the crucial rune.'

That said, he would not say his thoughts out loud.

Ou Yangming smiled. "I didn't find a new Upgrade Rune, but I have unique feelings about certain runes, so I'd like to amend and combine them."

Master Lu was stupefied. He warned, "Master Ou, we're talking about runes now. If you carelessly alter them, I'm afraid that…"

"There'll be a huge loss?" Ou Yangming could not help but laugh.

"If it's done away from the crowd, it shouldn't be a problem," Master Lu suggested after some thought.

"That's fine." Ou Yangming spread out his hands. "Find me a remote area and let me test it out."

Master Lu was disgruntled. If Ou Yangming was not the one who made the request, he would have slapped the person who requested it; he dared not object to the idea when he saw Ou Yangming's face.

The military camp was tight on resources, but once Master Lu gave the order, a suitable place was found.

When Ou Yangming arrived at the remote area, he was surprised to see that not only Master Lu and Old Craftsman had come, but Commanding General Li Xinfan and Ni Xuetian from the Ni family had also shown up.

Ou Yangming tensed up a little. Li Xinfan was the military camp's commanding general, after all, thus nobody could restrict him.

However, why was Ni Xuetian present too? Could he have guessed something?

Seeing as how things had already developed so far, Ou Yangming was certain that he would not change his plan because of Ni Xuetian.

He moved away from the crowd and closed his eyes to refresh his spirit.

A rune emerged above the military saber's visualized image, which was in the center of the Runes Formation in Ou Yangming's sea of consciousness. It was not particularly clear, but the veined patterns on it were faintly visible.

If more time was given, the patterns would become clearer, but Ou Yangming had a feeling of urgency, so he could not wait any longer.

The Military Fire burned in his hand, causing a piece of steel to be melted into a mold.