Chapter 222 Difference Of A Thousand Times
“Within a month…” Ou Yangming grinned. He was too abashed to tell Master Lu that he had already visualized three runes.
The visualization of runes was the usage of mental power.
Therefore, the stronger one’s mental power the easier the visualization. On the opposite, without any mental power, one could not visualize runes even if one put in tremendous effort.
When Ni Yunhong and the other people learned the Suit Runes Skill, they did not adopt mental power; they could only use a bit of that power through researching, analyzing, and memorizing for a long time. On the other hand, Ou Yangming had a huge advar because he possessed mental power.
Master Lu chuckled. “That’s right. When I learned runes in the past, I only used around twenty days to successfully visualize one of them.”
Ou Yangming was speechless when he saw how proud the master was, and he secretly rolled his eyes.
He later voiced out when a thought crossed his mind, “Master Lu, I’d like to look at the model that you smithed.”
Master Lu quickly responded, “Please, Master Ou.”
Although he did not think Ou Yangming could perceive anything, he naturally felt inferior when he faced a blacksmith who could smith magic tools. Ou Yangming went to the side of the model, but he first asked with a smile. “Old Man, did you have fun?”
Old Craftsman glared at him and reprimanded, “What do you mean if I had fun? Did I come here to have fun?”
“Of course not! You came with great ambition and for the wellbeing of your fellow workers!” Ou Yangming immediately flattered the old man.
old Craftsman scoffed. Just as Ou Yangming thought the old man would hit him, the old man expressed, “Young fella, you did well.”
Ou Yangming was stunned, so he dug his ear and asked, “What?”
The old man uttered slowly, “I was talking about the incident regarding Jiang Jiumei; you did pretty well.” “Old Man, you found out.” Ou Yangming put his smile away.
“It’s such a huge matter, so why did you keep it a secret from me?” Old Craftsman was displeased.
Ou Yangming tweaked his ears and scratched his cheeks for some time before he explained, “I didn’t want you to worry about me. Besides, you taught me to stay out of conflict to protect myself.”
“If you’re powerless like you were before, that’s indeed your only way. Now, you’ve achieved things that are beyond my imagination, so…” Old Craftsman pursed his lips and continued, “Some things have to be done by someone, and as soldiers, we’re more often than not that somebody.”
“Yes, Old Man,” Ou Yangming responded firmly.
“Uhm.” Master Lu approached them and noted, “Master Ou, I admire what you did too. Hehe, you might not be aware of this, but in the last month, the soldiers from Changlong, as well as their family members, have been able to stand straight with their heads up. Many of the things that couldn’t be done can be carried out smoothly now, and it’s all because of you!”
“I only did what I should do; you’re praising me too much, Master Lu.” Ou Yangming twitched his mouth, then he changed the topic. “So this is a mold…”
It was not his first time seeing a mold, but seeing it and studying it were two entirely different things.
Ou Yangming reached out his hand to touch the mold gently. As he sensed the runes that were carved on the mold, he tried his best to recall his memory.
His mind was clear after a brief moment.
The young fellow did not find the runes strange because he had already seen them in the Ni family’s library.
Nonetheless, even if Ou Yangming could visualize the runes in the library, they were different from the real thing. While they were roughly the same, the subtle differences were clear to him.
Needless to say, he could notice everything clearly because he achieved a thoroughly meticulous state.
If another person-even a runes smithing master-had come, one might not necessarily differentiate the tiny differences.
Ou Yangming touched the mold for a long time before he looked up and asked hesitantly, “Master Lu, may I ask how you came up with these runes?”
Master Lu showed his teeth as though he was troubled by the question.
Upon seeing Ou Yangming’s bright eyes, the master finally gritted his teeth and answered in a low voice, “Master Ou, to be honest, I wasn’t the one who came up with the runes.” ‘As I expected,’ Ou Yangming thought, but he looked like he was dazed.
Master Lu continued, “When I previously learned the Suit Runes Skill at the Ni residence, I stumbled upon a book that recorded something interesting. I was very interested in the runes that can be used to upgrade pieces of cheap equipment, so I secretly remembered them.” Old Craftsman’s eyelids twitched. “Master Lu, are you saying that you stole the runes from the Ni family?”
“How can you say I stole them! It’s an ancient book from the Ni family, and nobody reads it.” Master Lu was unhappy. He added after a short pause, “Moreover, it’s something that can be used to increase the military’s combat power, so how can I keep it to myself? Wouldn’t I be wasting a natural resource?”
Ou Yangming smiled because he was well aware of the situation.
It was not Master Lu who was lucky; the Ni family had arranged the little accident on purpose.
Ten years ago, the Ni family accidentally found out that the runes could improve a piece of low-cost equipment’s equivalent rank. Despite that, from an aristocratic family’s perspective, publicizing it would not match their clan’s benefits. Hence, the Ni family found Master Lu and leaked the skill through this method.
Even so, it was not easy to transform the runes in theory into something real. In fact, Master Lu spent nearly ten years trying to get some results.
Master Lu, what about the other normal molds? Let me take a look at them,” Ou Yangming requested.
“That’s easy, come with me,” Master Lu responded loud and clear.
There were about ten of those molds, but not all of them were used; at least a quarter of them took turns to be fixed and maintained.
When Ou Yangming was brought to four molds, which were stacked together, he reached out his hand to touch them.
Master Lu stated proudly, “I polished these molds bit by bit, so their qualities are generally the same.”
Ou Yangming nodded, but he was already inspecting through the thoroughly meticulous state.
Sure enough, the molds that were deemed perfect by Master Lu were lacking in many ways based on what Ou Yangming saw.
That said, the sub-quality areas were not eye-catching, so nobody would notice them without the thoroughly meticulous state. If Ou Yangming pointed them out, he would be nitpicking Master Lu and would make things difficult for the master.
However, Ou Yangming had a hunch that the reason the upgrade of the pieces of cheap equipment was low was closely related to the details.
He pondered before he suggested, “Master Lu, I’ve been studying runes, so I gained some knowledge in them. How about I modify that mold?”
“You…” Master Lu was taken aback, and he wanted to reject the young fellow.
‘You’ve just come across Runes Power, yet you’re already thinking about fixing a mold that even I am helpless against. You’re being overconfident!’
The master opened his mouth as he wanted to rebuke Ou Yangming, but he instantly thought about the magic spear.
Since the spear was still in the military camp, based on Master Lu’s status, it was not difficult for him to visit Chen Yifan. It was also after the master saw the magic tool that he no longer doubted Ou Yangming’s identity and his ability.
Master Lu decided to shut up. Judging from the fact that Ou Yangming could smith a magic tool, any strange requests made by the young fellow seemed to be excusable. “Ah, okay.” Master Lu was helpless. “I’ll give you that mold that has a low success rate, and I hope you’ll figure out its mystery.”
Ou Yangming laughed. “I’ll surely do my best.”
Following that, he reached out his hand and placed it on the mold, then he activated the Military Fire to envelop the mold. Through the Military Fire, Ou Yangming had a finer understanding of the veined patterns on the mold. When he compared them with what was stored in his memory and employed the thoroughly meticulous state, he found several unordinary points at once.
From Ou Yangming’s point of view, the world was still the world, but it became a microscopic world.
It was not easy for Master Lu to achieve a millimeter precision by using the Military Fire.
Nonetheless, through the thoroughly meticulous state, Ou Yangming’s view was on a micro-level.
The difference between their observations was no longer a hundred times, but a thousand times.
This was why Ou Yangming could easily find the flaws, whereas Master Lu could not notice anything even if he widened his eyes until he became blind.
Ou Yangming smiled confidently. In terms of understanding of changes in runes, he was inferior to Master Lu, who was already immersed in the study for ten years.
Nevertheless, the young fellow’s tool was much stronger than Master Lu’s.
As the Military Fire burned, the flaws were corrected one by one. In particular, Ou Yangming paid extra attention to the ambiguous parts.
Eventually, the veined patterns on the mold were fully amended. Ou Yangming perfectly displayed the theories in the book on a real object. The instant the runes became perfect, the purple light in Ou Yangming’s mind suddenly moved as if it was attracted to the runes. The lights gushed out abruptly and went around the runes.
Ou Yangming did not expect the occurrence because it was out of the blue. He initially wanted to stop it, but he decided to let it be because he was curious.
Next, the purple light flashed and returned to his mind.
Ou Yangming exhaled deeply and trembled a little. He had a weird look on his face as he slowly raised his palm.
“Woosh…”
The Military Fire disappeared, and the mold, which looked the same as its original state to ordinary people, was uncovered.