Ou Yangming smiled without saying a word; he only nodded to express his gratitude.

He did not approve of the so-called Blacksmith Rank Assessment, but he could tell that Hu Yicheng suggested it out of good intentions, so he responded to the officer.

Nonetheless, everyone felt that he was being half-hearted.

Putting Hu Yicheng aside, the cavaliers around him were furious as they were dissatisfied with the young man, who failed to appreciate the kindness.

Scholar Xu asked abruptly, "Ou Yangming, what level of equipment can you smith now?"

Ou Yangming was stunned, and he twitched his mouth because he did not know how to answer the question.

'If one who can smith pieces of Fine Grade equipment and different top-notch equipment with unique skills is considered a Superior Blacksmith, what about me? What's my rank?'

According to his knowledge, there was no corresponding title for a blacksmith who could smith magic tools.

However, Sir Hu and Scholar Xu misunderstood Ou Yangming's hesitation.

They looked at each other and thought the young fellow's talent in smithing art was probably nothing much.

"Heh, Lil' Brother Ou, being a blacksmith is a promising path, but the world is huge, and there are many other options out there," Scholar Xu expressed with a smile, "We're heading to the capital too, so if you don't mind, how about we travel together?"

The cavaliers around them exchanged strange glances.

They could not understand why Sir Xu valued the impolite young man.

"Thank you for the invitation, but I have something else to attend to, so I'm afraid I can't join you." Ou Yangming smiled and bowed at Hu Yicheng. "Sir Hu, I'll meet you again in the capital."

Hu Yicheng nodded slightly. Seeing as the cavaliers were not going to make way, he flapped his sleeve and ordered with a dark face, "Move!"

The cavaliers opened up a path embarrassedly to let Ou Yangming leave.

"Brother Xu, you value that fella too much," Hu Yicheng remarked.

Scholar Xu chuckled. "Brother He, I think he's not as simple as he seems."

"It's true that he's quite capable to be able to take out my follower in one move, but my follower was being careless because he didn't think the fella knew martial arts," Hu Yicheng said in a deep voice, "If they end up fighting against each other, my follower won't necessarily be defeated."

"Sir, you're wise." The cavalier, who fell off his horse and had a lash mark on his face, went forward and bowed. "I was indeed being negligent. If we fought in a life-or-death battle, I can definitely kill him."

He openly expressed his hatred toward Ou Yangming. After all, the fact that he embarrassed himself in front of the inspector would certainly affect his future, so he hated the young fellow to his bones.

Nevertheless, Hu Yicheng's face darkened. "Nonsense, he's from the Immense Forest Military Camp. It's a remote camp, but he's a part of the empire's army, so how can you kill him easily?"

"Yes." The cavalier lowered his head but hated Ou Yangming even more.

Hu Yicheng waved his hand and instructed, "Let's enter the gazebo and rest for an hour."

As he gave the order, everyone else began to hustle.

※※※※

Ou Yangming traveled along the small forest after he left the gazebo.

Although it was more strenuous to take this path, he did not feel too hot because he was shaded by the leaves above him.

His ear twitched after 15 minutes, so he flashed and hid behind a tree without a sound.

A figure later jumped out from behind a big tree nearby, and it turned out to be one of the big men from the gazebo earlier. He scanned the surroundings with a confused look, then he finally went back into hiding.

"Big Brother, not even a ghost is seen outside; they're probably resting in the gazebo," the big man whispered when he went into the forest.

Roughly thirty men were sitting there. Apart from the men who were at the gazebo just now, there were twenty more strangers. They sat in a circle and whispered to one another to discuss something.

None of them noticed that a rather thin figure had discreetly appeared on top of a big tree above them.

Ou Yangming began to ponder when he looked down at the men.

He was sure they did not gather without a reason, and it was evident from the men's well-built bodies and fierce looks that they were not ordinary people.

The person in the middle was not the sturdy man who was able to resist the soldier moments ago without showing a weak impression.

On the contrary, it was a short and small dwarf, who was obviously a core figure.

The person's eyes were appalling, and one would get chills by just looking at his ice-cold eyes, including strong men who had abundant Qi and blood.

Ou Yangming was becoming more careful about staying hidden because he had a vague feeling that the little dwarf was mightier than everyone else; the person was a Yang Grade powerhouse.

Based on the people whom Ou Yangming associated with, it seemed like Yang Grade powerhouses were not worth mentioning, but it was because his smithing art was at an extraordinary level.

In terms of smithing art, Ou Yangming was at the tip of a pyramid.

Therefore, he was qualified to meet Supreme Great Ancestors and was never belittled.

In actual fact, a Yang Grade powerhouse was a formidable backbone in this world.

It was worth noting that there were only six Yang Grade powerhouses in the Immense Forest Military Camp.

Even in the Ni family, which was a forceful clan that could dominate a county, there were less than thirty Yang Grade powerhouses. This included those from their clan's branches and foreign tributaries.

It would be absurd to say a Yang Grade powerhouse could be randomly met on the street.

Nevertheless, Ou Yangming encountered one at the moment, and it seemed like that powerhouse was scheming something.

The dwarf furrowed his eyebrows and questioned, "You didn't see anyone else?"

"I swear nobody else passed by. Why would I lie to you, Big Brother?" The sturdy man swore.

It was funny that a built man like him addressed a dwarf as a big brother, but the other people were already used to it as if it was expected.

The dwarf scoffed. "I asked you to scout earlier, how was it?"

"Big Brother, we weren't able to converse with the corrupt officials at all because we were driven away very quickly. If it wasn't because we were afraid of exposing your plan, we would've fought them!" The man who spoke to Ou Yangming earlier stood up and answered.

The other men around him nodded in agreement, each one of them showed evil tendencies.

Ou Yangming thought, 'I see, they're here for Hu Yicheng. But even though Hu Yicheng and Scholar Xu are officials from the imperial court, they're only in Yin Grade, so why is a Yang Grade powerhouse targeting them?'

The dwarf curled his lips. "You did well; you mustn't attack easily if you're not fully confident about it. Since you had a conflict with them, it'll be great. Heh, go out and pretend to be mad about being mistreated, then try to create troubles to stall them so that they can't enter the capital on time."

Everyone else looked at him with glowing eyes, then one of them asked softly, "Big Brother, have you finally decided to make a move?"

"I've confirmed that the item is with them. Ah, it'll be quite troublesome after I kill them, but I couldn't care less because I must get that item." The dwarf nodded, and his eyes became fiercer. "You mustn't let anyone escape the ambush or I won't be able to get rid of the imperial court's hawks and hounds even if I go to the ends of the earth!"

"Yes!" The other men looked grim, and they no longer smiled or laughed.

"Go and make the necessary preparations. We'll go all out once it's dark at night, and we must kill all loose ends." The dwarf waved his hand.

As soon as he gave the order, the men dispersed and the ground became empty again.

Ou Yangming hid quietly on the tree, and he did not move an inch even when the men were gone.

After 15 minutes, flashes of figures appeared below as the dwarf led several people back from a different direction. One of them assured the dwarf with a smile. "Big Brother, nobody will be here, so don't worry."

"It's better to be safe than sorry. This is our last operation, so we can't make any mistakes," the dwarf explained. He looked around for some time and sighed. "For some reason, I have a bad feeling about this."

The person beside him comforted him, "Big Brother, this is our final operation, perhaps you're overthinking because it's coming to an end."

"I hope that's the case." The dwarf forced a smile and shook his head. "Let's go and make the necessary preparations; everything must go as planned."

With that, the men gathered and headed quickly in a certain direction. This time, nobody stayed around the area.

Ou Yangming shook his head on the big tree. When he entered the integration of Heaven and man, as well as the thoroughly meticulous state, he could monitor everything in the area.

The dwarf might have sensed something, but it would be wishful thinking if he wanted to find Ou Yangming, who hid on purpose.

Ou Yangming pondered for a while before he made his decision.

While Hu Yicheng's cavaliers had terrible attitudes, Ou Yangming had friendly feelings toward the inspector.

For the sake of the Military Fire, Ou Yangming could not sit by idly. Nonetheless, he would break off the relationship after he was done helping them.

Ou Yangming exerted force through the tip of his toes and zoomed away like a ghost.

Not to mention nobody in this area spotted Ou Yangming, the sturdy men could not have noticed him even if they stayed behind.

After an hour, shouts filled the air on the main road as Hu Yicheng's convoy and the strong men began to fight.