"What? You want to learn the path of equilibrium?" Wu Hongxi was stunned.

"Yes. Senior, your path of equilibrium is the truth and the way, so I must learn from you if I'd like to advance further in smithing art." Ou Yangming nodded seriously and did not look like he was joking at all.

Wu Hongxi and the other people looked at each other as they found it funny.

Although Ou Yangming was only an Advanced Blacksmith, he successfully smithed a longsword at the peak of Fine Grade Rank Five using black steel, and he completed the task at an unbelievable speed in front of everyone. As such, the other proud Advanced Blacksmiths present became more compliant. They respected Ou Yangming because of his skills.

Perhaps they also regarded Ou Yangming to be on par with Jin Shengjie and Wu Hongxi, such that they thought he was qualified to be a Superior Blacksmith too.

Nonetheless, they suddenly heard Ou Yangming humble himself in front of Wu Hongxi, where he admitted defeat and even requested to learn Master Wu's lost study.

If the same scenario took place between two martial arts powerhouse, it would seem like one was conceding defeat in front of the other martial artist.

Everyone exchanged glances as they were confused; they would never do something like that if they were as capable as Ou Yangming. After all, Wu Hongxi did not emerge victorious in this smithing challenge.

Even if Wu Hongxi's longsword seemed perfect, Ou Yangming used black steel and smithed much faster than Wu Hongxi did.

Jin Shengjie kept quiet for some time before he suddenly asked, "Brother Wu, you became a Superior Blacksmith 30 years ago, am I right?"

Wu Hongxi was startled because he did not understand why Jin Shengjie brought up the matter, but he still responded, "Yes, it was 30 years ago…"

"Ah, it feels like it was just yesterday. If I hadn't witnessed you smith a full set of equipment at the peak of Fine Grade Rank Five during the assessment, I would've never believed that someone can achieve that in this world." Jin Shengjie sighed.

"Big Brother Jin, you're overpraising me. Besides…" Wu Hongxi smiled bitterly and glanced at Ou Yangming. "The younger generation will surpass the older!"

Jin Shengjie laughed out loud. "You should say that you now have a worthy successor."

Wu Hongxi was slightly dumbfounded. He pondered and said, "Big Brother Jin, you're saying…"

Master Jin nodded. "We take in disciples because we want our greatest skills to be passed on so that they won't vanish. You've accepted many disciples over the years, but how many of them can inherit your skills?"

Wu Hongxi glanced at the other people in the room. Other than the Advanced Blacksmiths from the imperial family, the others were his disciples.

Nevertheless, his disciples including Tan Yangping—his first disciple—and Yuan Lexin—his second disciple—lowered their heads embarrassedly.

They were obviously excellent and talented to be able to become Wu Hongxi's disciples; in fact, a few of them were especially fit to learn the path of equilibrium. Unfortunately, as said by Jin Shengjie, after all these years, none of them imitated at least 50% of Master Wu, let alone having perfectly inherited the master's skills.

If that was not the case, Wu Hongxi would not be the only Superior Blacksmith in the Wu residence.

Tan Yangping had an incredible smithing standard, so much so that he could potentially become a Superior Blacksmith in a few years.

Despite that, he paved a path that belonged to himself, and he greatly disappointed Wu Hongxi in terms of his grasp in the path of equilibrium.

Jin Shengjie stroked his long beard and mumbled, "Judging from our age, how many more years can we live? I won't be resigned if I die together with my skills!"

Wu Hongxi raised his eyebrows and finally sighed. "Lil' Friend Ou, please come with me."

Ou Yangming was elated. He nodded at Jin Shengjie gratefully.

A white-haired elder suddenly blurted, "Master Wu, what about our task?"

Wu Hongxi was displeased. "I'm still in the residence! Hmph, I'll only be away for a while, so seek help from Master Jin if you encounter any problem."

Jin Shengjie's eyes lit up. "That's right. I'm extremely interested in smithing magic tools too. You won't mind if I join you, right?"

The Advanced Blacksmiths from the imperial family smiled bitterly at each other, but nobody dared to object to Jin Shengjie's request. Whether it was his reputation or his skills, Master Jin could suppress the other blacksmiths, to the extent that they could not even turn their bodies around.

Wu Hongxi brought Ou Yangming away from the room and walked slowly with his hands behind his back.

"Lil' Friend Ou, what's your thought after seeing my sword just now?"

Ou Yangming gathered his thoughts and constructed a sentence in his head before he answered, "The integration of Heaven and man is probably the key for the path of equilibrium."

"Many people have said that." Wu Hongxi grinned and questioned after a pause, "Do you know what the integration of Heaven and man is?"

Ou Yangming's body trembled a little as he released his consciousness and entered an exceptionally mysterious state. His body and breathing seemed to have become one with the world at that moment.

Wu Hongxi was stunned, and his eyes glowed. "The integration of Heaven and man—you grasped it too, Lil' Friend Ou."

"I feel ashamed; I fathomed the integration of Heaven and man during a smithing process, but due to various unforeseen events after that, I gained a deeper understanding of the state in martial arts instead." Ou Yangming smiled bitterly

"Martial arts is only a small path. It's fine if you learn it to strengthen yourself, but don't invest too much energy in it." Wu Hongxi furrowed his eyebrows.

Ou Yangming twitched his mouth. He disagreed with the master, but he responded obediently, "Yes, I understand."

Wu Hongxi nodded and stated, "If you'd like to learn my path of equilibrium, you must be able to execute four words."

"Senior, please guide me," Ou Yangming immediately curbed his thought and expressed with respect.

"Couple hardness with softness," Wu Hongxi uttered word by word.

Ou Yangming frowned and repeated after the master, "Couple hardness with softness?"

'Why does it sound like martial arts cultivation?'

Wu Hongxi smiled. They had unknowingly arrived at a house, where Master Wu pushed the door open and noted, "Come in, this is one of the rooms where I usually practice smithing art in."

Ou Yangming quickly entered, and he was struck dumb when he took a look around him.

Even though blacksmiths had different ranks, the structures of their smithing workshops were similar. At most, the blacksmiths had different materials, which could not be mentioned on equal terms.

That said, judging from the room's furnishing, it did not seem like a smithing workshop at all.

"How is it? How do you feel?" Wu Hongxi asked with a smile.

"Master Wu, why are there only silk cloths and furs here?" Ou Yangming was confused. He expressed honestly, "I can't figure out how exactly they're related to smithing art…"

Wu Hongxi laughed out loud. "Who said they're unrelated? If that's the case, where do we get our cloaks and boots from?"

Ou Yangming was surprised. "This is… This is where cloaks and boots are made?"

"Yes. Silk cloths and furs are unordinary items, and they're great materials for equipment production." Wu Hongxi nodded and went forward to pick up a piece of silk cloth. "Take a look at it."

The young fellow accepted it and hesitated for a while before he released a bit of his Military Fire.

His Military Fire had a marvelous effect of appraising objects as well, hence he was informed of the item's name right away.

[Item: Silk]

[Equivalent Rank: Ordinary Item]

It was a simple introduction, and the item's specific rank was not stated.

However, it was normal because the item was a raw material, which had not been smithed into a piece of equipment.

Even so, Ou Yangming knew that the silk cloth was not simple due to being able to cause the Military Fire to react to it.

Wu Hongxi explained in a deep voice, "This item is silk, which is made of spiderweb and steel wire. In terms of defensive ability only, it's not inferior to a steel plate at all. In particular, it has endless wonderful effects to fend off arrows and hidden weapons."

Ou Yangming's eyelids twitched. "But how can silk like this be made into qualified pieces of equipment?"

It was fine if steel wire was used, but how could spiderweb withstand the Military Fire? It was quite unexpected that the material was used for smithing practice.

Wu Hongxi chuckled. "Watch me closely."

He opened his palm, where a small fire emerged.

It was the moment when the small flame appeared Ou Yangming fixed his gaze on it. Nonetheless, he found it strange that he could not sense any heat from the fire. Moreover, the fire vaguely cast a chill over him.

Ou Yangming felt like it was not the Military Fire that was burning, but a peculiar and unknown object.

"Come and feel it." Wu Hongxi extended his arm and presented the fire to Ou Yangming.

The young fellow was hesitant because the Military Fire's heat was known to be intense. It would be fine if he was the one who released it; the fire would not burn its owner. If he were to touch another person's Military Fire or spiritual fire, he would be courting death.

In spite of that, Ou Yangming believed that Wu Hongxi would not harm him without any reason.

Therefore, he carefully reached out to touch the fire.

Ou Yangming stopped frowning at once, but he was utterly shocked.

Cold.

It was as cold as ice.

He was right; the fire carried no heat at all, and it contained intense chillness instead.

Needless to say, Ou Yangming could not be physically harmed by the chillness, but the distinctive energy change, which exceeded his expectations, still astonished him.