Immortal Path to Heaven

Chapter 618: More Skillful

After half an hour, a flash of a luster could be seen in Xu Guangji’s eyes. He grunted, then his fire and that released by his spirit beast disappeared at the same time.

He immediately lifted his head and looked in Ou Yangming’s direction, then he smiled faintly as he noticed that the young fellow’s fire was still burning. The man had guessed that one would need an adapting period when one used the 2 unique materials for the first time.

This was because the materials had vastly different melting points and special repulsive natures. If they were to be merged perfectly, extremely specific techniques must be used. Needless to say, those techniques were inherited. In terms of this alone, the challenge might seem fair, but it was actually unfair from the start.

Nonetheless, whether it was Xu Guangji or Xu Feiyu, they would have never thought that there was a potent fire in this world that could ignore those disparities by bulldozing through the obstructions through the most forceful power.

It was an essential difference, which could not be imagined by them from where they stood.

The 2 men from the Xu family exchanged glances and instantly calmed down.

“Hehe, Brother Bai, there’s no need to hurry. Since it’s his first time getting in touch with Danzhou’s smithing technique, it’s inevitable for him to find it a little strange, so let’s give him more time,” Xu Feiyu noted.

He sounded as though he was being polite, but he was vaguely reprimanding Ou Yangming for wasting too much time.

Bai Zhiyi scoffed and questioned, “Brother Xu, if 2 new ores are being used, how much time will you take to merge them?”

Xu Feiyu grinned and replied to him, “Brother Bai, we’re talking about the challenge between the younger generation now, so why are you suddenly bringing me into the picture?”

‘How thick-faced,’ Bai Zhiyi cursed internally, but he was embarrassed to question the elder further.

Before long, Ou Yangming shook his wrist and curbed his fire too.

Everyone including Bai Zhiyi was stunned. Although Bai Zhiyi knew Ou Yangming’s smithing speed was faster than normal people, he was still very surprised.

The people could tell that Ou Yangming had not experienced this kind of challenge before, and he even picked the ores according to Xu Guangji’s choices. It was evident that he was also unfamiliar with the 2 ores.

Theoretically, much more time would be needed if one were to melt 2 completely strange ores, let alone ores with distinctive melting points and repulsive natures. As such, the process to fuse them was bound to be strenuous.

Therefore, even Bai Zhiyi thought Ou Yangming would take at least an hour to study the ores before he could melt them.

However, the young fellow simply curbed his fire a few moments after Xu Guangji did. It was truly unbelievable.

At the spur of the moment, everyone gazed between Ou Yangming and Xu Guangji. They had a feeling that if the former really managed to fuse the 2 ores, his smithing foundation was probably much more solid than that of the latter.

After all, Xu Guangji was assisted by his spirit beast, whereas Ou Yangming completed the task on his own.

Xu Feiyu suddenly cleared his throat loudly and said, “Since you’re both down, put them on the table and let us take a look.”

Ou Yangming and Xu Guangji responded to him at the same time, then they placed their merged ores on the casting table.

Xu Feiyu and Bai Zhiyi went forward shoulder-to-shoulder. They looked at each other and picked up the merged ores that belonged to their respective sides.

Following that, they released white lights through their hands concurrently; those were the marvelous Appraisal Lights. Both elders seemed to be satisfied, but nobody could tell that Bai Zhiyi was not pleased but was in awe.

Even so, Bai Zhiyi’s cultivation base was so profound that nobody noticed anything from his expression.

Xu Feiyu laughed and announced, “Guangji was in such a rush that his result isn’t the best this time, but he managed to pass with 92 points.”

“92 points?”

“Oh, he’s amazing to have scored 92 points from merging the 2 ores in such a short period!”

“Yes, those are a gild ore and a black grindstone, which have always been the most difficult ores to be merged.”

The crowd exclaimed one after another, and most of them looked glad.

After all, Xu Guangji was a God-favored one from the sect, whereas Ou Yangming was an outsider. This was the perfect depiction of the direction of popular feelings.

Among the spectators, a majority of them hoped that Xu Guangji would be victorious.

Bai Zhiyi laughed and remarked, “92 points—this is indeed a great result. Hmm, based on his age, very few people can achieve the same result too.”

“Brother Bai, you’re overpraising him. Ah, it’ll be better if he wasn’t so impatient and was more stable.” Xu Feiyu nodded and pretended to ask casually, “Brother Bai, what’s the melting degree achieved by this fella, whom you’re optimistic about?”

“Similar to Guangji’s.” Bai Zhiyi chuckled.

Xu Feiyu furrowed his eyebrows and asked, “Brother Bai, if you don’t mind, may I take a look at it?”

Bai Zhiyi put the merged mineral on the table and uttered, “Ah, it’s about the same anyway, so you don’t need to take a look at it!”

Upon hearing how shameless he was, Xu Feiyu was somewhat annoyed. He grabbed the ore from the table and released his white light again.

Bai Zhiyi was already overjoyed, but he acted as if he was regretful. “Ah, I told you that they’re about the same. There’s only a gap of 5 to 6 points, so there’s not much difference between them!”

The spectators shook their heads. They could not believe that the honorable elder was being so shameless to protect Ou Yangming.

‘What do you mean by only a gap of 5 to 6 points? For this kind of assessment, the gap is considered huge. To put it impolitely, the different standards can even be said to belong to 2 blacksmiths in entirely different boundaries.’

That said, Bai Zhiyi insisted on saying that they were roughly the same, which was simply unreasonable.

Nevertheless, Bai Zhiyi was incredibly reputable here. Apart from the people that made him their enemy, the others dared not say anything even though they were not convinced.

Despite that, the discussion slowly stopped after some time.

They initially thought that Xu Feiyu would be furious after hearing what Bai Zhiyi said and would reproach Elder Bai for being shameless. Who knew, Xu Feiyu flushed and turned blue, which was evident that something was off.

Xu Feiyu twitched his mouth, and he spoke as though his voice was forced out through his teeth. “Brother Bai, is this meaningful at all?”

“Brother Xu, what do you mean?” Bai Zhiyi was taken aback.

“Hmph!” Xu Feiyu said coldly, “You said that it’s Ou Yangming’s first time participating in this kind of challenge, and he has never used these 2 ores, right?”

Bai Zhiyi frowned and answered, “It’s indeed his first time joining this kind of challenge, but I never said if he has used these ores before.”

Xu Feiyu curled his mouth and responded, “Alright, I was careless this round, so you win this time.”

There was instantly a heated discussion among the crowd. This initially thought that Xu Guangji had definitely grasped victory, but there was suddenly a turn of events as Xu Feiyu simply admitted defeat.

Xu Guangji looked up in confusion and disbelief.

‘Did my grandfather just admit defeat on my behalf?’

Through his grandfather’s help, he had shown immense talent in smithing art from a young age.

He could not compare with the other God-favored ones in terms of martial arts cultivation, but he was exceptionally confident that he was not inferior to anyone in smithing art.

This was the exact reason he could not accept his defeat.

“Grandfather, why am I defeated?” Xu Guangji could not hold it back anymore, so he questioned loudly, “Did he really merge better than I did?”

Xu Feiyu pulled a long face without saying a word, whereas Bai Zhiyi laughed out loud and said, “Guangji, don’t overthink this. Honestly, your merging degrees are about the same; they’re only 5 to 6 points apart.”

“5 to 6 points...” Xu Guangji was dumbfounded for some time, and he slowly turned pale.

At this point, even the dumbest person could understand the meaning behind those words.

This was also why they were so shocked that it could not be put into words.

It turned out that Xu Guangji was not the one that achieved 5 to 6 points more than Ou Yangming, but it was the other way round.

A challenge regarding merging degrees tested the blacksmiths’ basic skills, but it was also a way to prove their strengths.

It was worth noting that a difference of 5 to 6 points was significant as it almost represented 2 blacksmiths in different ranks.

“No, it’s impossible!” Xu Guangji mumbled, “Did he achieve 97 points?”

Bai Zhiyi smiled calmly and noted, “98 points.”

As soon as he spoke, the whole room fell silent.

This was because everyone knew that the higher a merging degree, the harder it would be to increase it further.

Similar to practicing martial arts, one would advance by leaps and bounds at the beginning, but one would eventually become stagnant especially when one was nearing the peak.

A merging degree of 90 and above was a watershed. If one wanted to increase the value, every additional point would be a new watershed.

Xu Guangji was considered potent to many people for being able to achieve a 92-points merging degree. As for a 98-points merging degree... Even if Xu Feiyu and Bai Zhiyi took the test, it would also be tough for them to accomplish that, right?

Sure enough, Xu Guangji swallowed his saliva then turned to look at Ou Yangming. “Brother Ou, it turns out that you’ve done this countless times and grasped the key technique. Heh, I must’ve made a joke out of myself by comparing my weakness with your strength.”

Ou Yangming shrugged. He did not deny the statement, and he asked, “Is there more?”

“Of course,” Xu Guangji uttered and said to the elders, “Please arrange something else for us, judges.” He looked determined, and he had a strong desire to fight.