Chapter 264 The Advanced Assessment

Hu Lingfeng and Yuan Lexin were both Master Wu Hongxi’s followers.

Nonetheless, their actual identities were Heaven and Earth apart and could not be compared with each other at all.

Yuan Lexin was Master Wu Hongxi’s second disciple. He attained the Advanced Blacksmith title, and he was a promising and gifted genius who would advance to the Superior rank.

In comparison, Hu Lingfeng was only a young apprentice who was under Master Wu for only 3 years and had not gotten the Military Fire nor the spiritual fire.

There were many apprentices like him in every blacksmith master’s residence. While they were talented enough to become blacksmiths, the Military Fire and the spiritual fire that could be provided in a year were limited. As such, the competition was so intense that it was far beyond one’s imagination.

Hu Lingfeng had been learning hard for 3 years, but it was still a problem for him to pass the Apprentice Assessment and to obtain the Military Fire.

From his perspective, Yuan Lexin was almost considered the same as Master Wu Hongxi.

At the very least, Yuan Lexin had never greeted him in the Wu residence, to the point that he even doubted—’Does Master Yuan actually know my name?’

When Hu Lingfeng heard Yuan Lexin’s friendly voice, he walked over in confusion and kowtowed to Jin Shengjie. “Master Jin.”

Jin Shengjie waved his sleeve and helped Hu Lingfeng up. He later glanced at the young man and asked Ou Yangming, “This is…” Ou Yangming smiled bitterly but answered, “This is my… nephew.”

Hu Lingfeng and Ou Yangming were not far apart in age, so the former was not very willing to address the latter as an uncle at the beginning. Nevertheless, Hu Lingfeng was grateful for Ou Yangming’s answer at this moment.

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“Oh, he’s your nephew…” Jin Shengjie smiled faintly. “I think I remember seeing him during the Apprentice Assessment earlier.” Ou Yangming tensed up a little and thought, ‘Sure enough, none of the well-known figures are simple.”

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He nodded and responded, “You’re right. My nephew’s name is Hu Lingfeng, and he represented the Wu residence for the first time in the Apprentice Assessment.”

Jin Shengjie expressed, “Very well, he’s a promising young man. Keep working hard in the future.”

Hu Lingfeng looked up, surprised, and overjoyed. “Yes!”

It was difficult to receive such a remark from Master Jin. Behind Jin Shengjie, Feng Guangyuan and Yi Yucheng exchanged glances because they knew there was now a predetermined slot for the qualified apprentices this year.

Yuan Lexin commented as he grinned with his eyes narrowed, “Lingfeng, you’ll be my junior brother from now on. You must work hard and strive to become an official blacksmith as soon as possible.”

Hu Lingfeng was even more elated after he heard what Yuan Lexin said.

The fact that Yuan Lexin said it in front of so many people meant that he was covertly making a promise to Hu Lingfeng. Although Hu Lingfeng was not very experienced in life yet, he could distinguish some of the most basic things.

Therefore, he had such mixed feelings that it was indescribable.

“Master Ou, your secret technique is truly shocking; my master will be delighted if he witnesses it.” Yuan Lexin turned and flashed a big smile at Ou Yangming. He later paused and continued sternly, “On behalf of my master, I invite you to the Wu residence for a meeting, and I hope you’ll agree to it.”

Ou Yangming turned to look at Yan Yuanhua half-intentionally. The proud twelfth young master had already lowered his head as he dared not look back at Ou Yangming.

Even so, Ou Yangming was not bothered about what Yan Yuanhua was thinking. He beamed and said, “It’s my honor to be able to meet Master Wu Hongxi. After today, I’ll definitely make time to visit him as soon as I can.”

Yuan Lexin sighed a breath of relief and uttered softly, “Thank you.”

He spoke so softly that Ou Yangming was the only one who could hear him clearly.

Ou Yangming also understood that since Yuan Lexin stood out to uplift Hu Lingfeng, he would let the matter, where Yan Yuanhua stopped him from meeting Master Wu Hongxi, pass.

As for the other people, they looked at each other and had different thoughts.

Even though Yuan Lexin was not Wu Hongxi, he was unquestionably Master Wu’s representative for now. The other people expected other top-notch masters to befriend Ou Yangming because of his ability, but they did not think that Master Wu Hongxi—the Fine Grade King-would be the first.

“Carry on, I’ll go down and take a look.” Jin Shengjie chuckled. Before he left, he looked deeply at Ou Yangming. “Lil’ Friend Ou, when you go to visit Brother Wu, can I tag along too?”

Ou Yangming laughed. “Master Jin, I’ll be more than happy if you’re willing to join me, but I wonder if Master Wu will agree to it.”

‘The older Master Jin is, the more thick-faced he has become!’ Yuan Lexin cursed to himself, but he kept a smile on his face. “I’ll be more than happy too.”

Jin Shengxie laughed out loud. Perhaps Ou Yangming was being sincere, but Yuan Lexin was certainly showing a false display of affection.

Despite that, the secret to smith a piece of High-Grade equipment by using normal iron ingot was incredibly attractive to the blacksmith master. Not to mention humbling himself, even if he had to pay a greater price to learn about the secret, he would not hesitate to do so.

Following that, Jin Shengjie left the platform and carried out another round of inspections and announcements.

In any case, it had nothing to do with Ou Yangming anymore. The atmosphere on the high platform changed all of a sudden as nobody paid attention to the routine assessment anymore.

The assessment would be held at least twice a year, but a freak like Ou Yangming was one of a kind.

After Yuan Lexin, many other people approached the young fellow and spoke to him fervently.

Those people represented other great and famous blacksmiths. While they could not be compared with Jin Shengjie, they were supported by Superior Blacksmiths, who were not inferior to Master Jin, as well.

Ou Yangming treated them equally where he agreed to visit their respective masters at appropriate times.

Ever since Ou Yangming saw the weapon at Wu Hongxi’s residence, he knew that the other renowned masters had unique skills too. The young fellow possessed the peculiar Military Fire, but he dared not belittle any reputable master anymore.

He knew he could learn greater smithing arts from those masters.

Hence, he was not going to miss any opportunity.

Once the assessments for Rudimentary Blacksmiths and Intermedia