The setting sun shone its light down, which was crushed into golden spots of light, reflecting the mists into a faint golden color. The scene looked extremely mysterious.

This was a small house surrounded by plants. The spiritual Qi was rich, and the plants were verdant. Looking at the majestic mountains and rivers from afar, it was obvious that this was a good place to live in.

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Although it was evening, the candles in the house had already been lit.

Ou Yangming held the staff and observed it carefully, not missing a single detail.

He transferred his golden mental power to the spirit beast's core at the top of the staff. Instantly, countless tadpole-like jumping runes appeared in his senses. When his right fingers gently tapped on the staff, the runes emitted a sense of joy. They surged toward the young fellow's fingers. Even the grey cracks that criss crossed into a net on the staff lit up.

Ou Yangming sensed carefully. When the rune left the staff, it disappeared.

"What's going on?" His face revealed a contemplative look. He still could not understand.

After all, this was his first time coming into contact with a staff in the traditional sense. After a few experiments, the rune left the staff and disappeared like the most beautiful spark.

With a flash of thought, Ou Yangming entered the integration of Heaven and man, as well as the thoroughly meticulous state.

He split his mental power into two as he constantly observed the changes in his surroundings, and he entered a completely calm state.

As the young fellow tapped his interspatial bag, a long spear was already in his hand. There were 9 black spots on the long spear, and they looked like the deepest vortexed. A dragon and a phoenix were engraved on the spear. They were lifelike, luxurious, and exquisite. It was the Blood Spear Dragon Slayer.

Ou Yangming's powerful mental power swept across and in an instant, the red tassel on the spear started to flow like blood.

Countless tadpole-like runes swam on the spear...

"Hmm, a rune in the Blood Spear Dragon Slayer is similar to the one in this staff? What's going on?" Ou Yangming's face darkened as he thought carefully.

He shifted his gaze and flicked his finger lightly.

A rune on the Blood Spear Dragon Slayer lit up like a firefly and turned into a ray of light that dissipated.

'It lasted a breath longer than the staff? Could it be because of this rune? Is this the reason behind the significant difference between their power increments for magic arts?' Ou Yangming wondered. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. He tested it a few more times and finally confirmed that it was this rune that determined how much the power of magic arts would be amplified.

The problem came again.

Even though he found the reason, the most important thing was how to solve it.

In the Seven Stars Sect, Ou Yangming did not dare to easily expose the Heavenly Phoenix Fire. Without the fire, he could not smith pieces of equipment.

Just by thinking, he could not understand something no matter how hard he tried. This kind of problem needed to be put into practice.

The night was silent. Early in the morning, Ou Yangming began to breathe again.

In the past few days, Ou Yangming had been free. Every morning, he would breathe. At night, after visualizing the snow mountain, he would think about the connection between the staff and the rune. Sometimes, he would even practice his spear techniques in the courtyard...

Ling Yue seemed to be very busy. He came twice in total and each time, he left not too long after.

On this day, Ou Yangming looked at the pine trees at the bottom of the cliff. He sighed. "A person should be like the green pines on the cliff; their roots are deeply embedded in the rocks. Since one has already decided, one can't retreat nor regret it. No matter what the result is, one just has to advance bravely. One shouldn't hope for a future nor should one fight for a next life. One should only think about living with a clear conscience and be magnanimous."

"Great words—live with a clear conscience and be magnanimous." Ling Yue walked up with a smile.

Ou Yangming turned around and picked up a bluestone. He asked in a low voice, "Brother Ling, why are you here?" As he said that, he looked behind him but did not see Guan Yue at all. His heart was filled with doubts.

Ling Yue smiled bitterly and answered, "Yue'er was taken away by her master..."

"No Wonder." Ou Yangming looked like he had expected it. The pair had been developing their relationship very quickly. Other than sleeping and going to the toilet, they were practically inseparable.

After a moment, Ou Yangming finally remembered something and asked, "She returned to Reborn in Paradise?"

Ling Yue had a strange look on his face. He sighed and asked, "You don't know?"

"What do I know?" Ou Yangming asked him in return.

They stared at each other for a long time before Ling Yue gently patted Ou Yangming's shoulder and sighed. "In a few days, the Seven Stars Sect's once-in-a-decade Pill Feast will be held. Brother Yu, you're really... Really obsessed with cultivation." He was almost biting his tongue when he said the word "obsessed" out loud. One could imagine how speechless he was.

Indeed, the Seven Stars Sect's Pill Feast was especially famous. Almost all the influential sects in Zhangzhou would be present. It could be considered a carnival for the whole of Zhangzhou.

Ling Yue was certain that Ou Yangming was a disciple from a large sect outside of Zhangzhou, but he never expected the young fellow to not know such logical questions.

After hearing Ling Yue's response, Ou Yangming did not explain himself. He had heard from Wen Zhou about the Pill Feast, but he had misunderstood for a moment. He thought that the relationship between Ling Yue and Guan Yue was exposed and that the young lady's master had come to take her back. After all, Guan Yue was one of the outer sect disciples of Reborn in Paradise, and she was one of the more talented disciples.

If Ou Yangming was one of the higher-ups from Reborn in Paradise, he would want his disciple to be lured away so easily too.

Ou Yangming narrowed his eyes, turned around, and looked at the cliff. He lowered his center of gravity, and the spiritual power in his Dantian circulated in his body. With a flick of his finger, the bluestone in his hand instantly turned into a green stream of light, which was deeply embedded in the stone wall of the cliff. Consequently, a few pieces of broken stone also fell from the cliff.

The power of his finger was so forceful.

Ling Yue focused on the broken stones, and his eyelids twitched a few times. He approached Ou Yangming and sat on the ground, then he expressed softly, "Brother Yu, after the Pill Feast, I'll rely on you."

Ou Yangming knew what he was referring to. He nodded and replied to him, "Brother Ling, don't worry. I'll definitely use my full strength."

Ling Yue did not say anything. His interspatial bag lit up as he took out 2 flasks of strong liquor and passed one of them to Ou Yangming. Just like that, they began to drink.

After finishing his liquor, a dazed look appeared in Ling Yue's eyes. He smiled and asked, "I heard that Master Qu Zhengde will also come to the Seven Stars Sect this time. Brother Yu, have you heard of him?"

Ou Yangming curled his lips and felt a little embarrassed. 'Why is it this question again? This time, I didn't show my smithing skills! How did I get led back to this question?' Nonetheless, he still responded with a grave expression, "Master Qu's smithing skills are the best among the younger generation in Zhangzhou. Of course, I've heard of him."

Due to his excitement, Ling Yue blushed and nodded heavily. "Yes, I admire Master Qu's achievements in smithing art. If I get a chance this time, I'll ask him to smith a piece of equipment for me."

Ou Yangming. "..."

The 2 of them drank 2 more pots of wine each, and their bodies grew warmer. Ling Yue was completely drunk, and he left the cliff unsteadily but did not need anyone to help him.

On the other hand, Ou Yangming was very clear-headed. Looking at Ling Yue's figure that was swaying unsteadily under the moonlight, he knew the young man had something on his mind. It was not just because of the Seven Dazzling Pill but likely also because of Guan Yue.

He shook his head and sighed. "If it isn't because he can't control his feelings, why would he feel as cold as frost on the inside?"

The day of the Pill Feast was getting closer, and the atmosphere in the Seven Stars Sect was getting livelier.

On this day, Ou Yangming let out a breath of turbid air. He slowly descended the Ultimate Sword Peak and came to the side of the Spiritual Vitality Lake.

The surface of the lake was sparkling, and the willow branches drooped down like thousands of strands of black hair.

Ou Yangming looked at the Spiritual Vitality Tower and clicked his tongue. "I really don't know what would happen if one were to cultivate in there."

"Heh, it costs 50,000 contribution points a day. How could anyone afford it?" A man in green next to him rolled his eyes and noted. He shifted his butt and sat over.

"So expensive?" Ou Yangming was surprised.

"Expensive?" The man in green glanced at him and continued, "The Spiritual Vitality Tower was built with the combined efforts of 5 Venerable Ones. I heard that it contains the experiences and images of the Venerable Ones during their Heavenly Disasters. From ancient times until now, there have been at least tens of cultivators who entered the tower to cultivate and became Venerable Ones. In a way, without any connection, even if one has enough contribution points, one wouldn't be able to enter."

The green-clothed man spoke with confidence. If it was not for Ou Yangming's profound cultivation and extraordinary bearing, he would not have come over to chat, much less talk about these things.

At this moment, an exclamation echoed in the air. "Zhangzhou's greatest blacksmith below Venerable Blacksmiths—Master Qu—has arrived."

"This... This is Master Qu. His true bearing is incredible indeed!" Someone remarked obsequiously.

"That's right!" Another person next to him nodded in agreement.

This was especially so for some female cultivators. Their bodies seemed to have softened. Blacksmiths—Qu Zhengde was a blacksmith, after all. In the Spiritual Realm, the most popular people were not formation masters nor casters, but blacksmiths. Pieces of equipment, weapons, flying carpets, interspatial bags, and even powerful flying ships. Which one of those was not related to blacksmiths? A potent blacksmith was similar to a mountain of gold, so how could the ladies not be excited? Among Spiritualists, the weak were prey to the strong.

Ou Yangming also looked over. He saw a middle-aged man walking over from afar and was surrounded by a large group of people. He wore grey and black clothes, and his hair was neat. His cultivation base had broken through that of a Rudimentary Spiritualist, and he was becoming an Intermediate Spiritualist. Furthermore, his foundation was very solid.

As if sensing Ou Yangming's gaze, Qu Zhengde stopped in his tracks and looked over.

Their eyes met in the air. One of them was calm as water while the other was puzzled.

Indeed, Qu Zhengde was bewildered at this time. The young man that he was looking at gave him a familiar feeling but as soon as he thought deeper, his mind was in a mess, and he had no clue at all.

Ou Yangming's heart thumped, and he thought to himself, 'I've changed so much now, so how could he still recognize me?'

That was what he thought, but he looked calm with a hint of displeasure and doubt.

Only then did the doubt in Qu Zhengde's head fade away. He looked meaningfully at the young fellow but continued to walk forward.

"Master Qu, what's wrong?" A top-grade Spiritualist asked fearfully with a smile on his face.

"It's nothing. I thought I saw someone I knew but in the end, I was mistaken." Qu Zhengde's voice was indifferent. As a strong smithing master, he had his pride, which had been imprinted into his soul. It was just that when he was with Ou Yangming and Yu Xiuming, he did not show it because they were all smithing masters.

Now, the person next to him was a top-grade Spiritualist but so what?

The group of people came and left in a hurry.

Ou Yangming heaved a long sigh of relief in his heart. He was so close to being recognized.

Concurrently, he used the Heavenly Phoenix Fire to change the aura in his body once again.