Chapter 554: A Blacksmith’s Treatment
Ou Yangming was slightly stunned. A strange look could be seen in his eyes.
“Your Excellency, are you mistaken?” He was confused. “Big Yellow’s pieces of equipment might not suit you!”
The antelope was startled, so it asked, “What? Why?”
Ou Yangming laughed and answered, “Your builds are too different. Even if you’d like to put on the pieces of equipment, I’m afraid you’ll be… Helpless?”
Although the antelope was not as huge as the Silver Ridge Giant Leopard, it was much plumper than Big Yellow. Even if the big yellow dog was willing to remove its pieces of equipment for the antelope, it would be quite difficult for the antelope to squeeze into them.
“Hey…” Nonetheless, before the antelope could say a word, the big lazy turtle made some noise. “Was the Wish-fulfilling Clay not incorporated into the equipment set?”
Ou Yangming’s eyelids flickered, and he thought, ‘What’s the Wish-fulfilling Clay?’
The antelope looked displeased. “Human powerhouse, it’s fine that you’re not willing to give them to me. Why did you have to lie to me?”
When Ou Yangming gleaned at the lazy turtle and the antelope, he vaguely guessed something. He waved his hand hard and said, “Big Yellow, remove a piece of equipment and give it to the antelope.”
Big Yellow sulked as it was not resigned to the outcome.
Ou Yangming quickly added, “Don’t worry, out with the old, in with the new. Since we’re already here, are you still worried that you won’t have enough pieces of equipment?”
The big yellow dog pondered for some time before it smiled and removed the equipment on one of its claws.
Yes. After all, they were already in the Spiritual Realm, where Ou Yangming would definitely obtain more smithing materials. Since that was the case, would Big Yellow still need to worry about pieces of equipment? Perhaps its only concern would be having too many of them, so much so that it could not swallow them anymore.
Ou Yangming picked out the greave and tossed it to the antelope. “Your Excellency, please take a look at it.”
The antelope was dumbfounded. It used the tip of its hoof to kick up the greave, then it extended its other leg as it attempted to slot it into the equipment.
Despite how hard it tried, it could not squeeze its leg into the greave.
After some time, the furious antelope gave up trying and shouted, “This is impossible. How could this be?” It suddenly looked up and stared indignantly at Ou Yangming. “You humans are truly profiteering merchants. If you’re smithing magic tools for the Beasts, why would you smith something that can’t be resized?”
“Your Excellency, please calm down.” Ou Yangming furrowed his eyebrows. He turned to face the big lazy turtle and asked through his mental conception, “What’s the Wish-fulfilling Clay?”
“The Wish-fulfilling Clay is a kind of clay in the Spiritual Realm.” The lazy turtle blinked. For the sake of the long green bamboo, which it would soon get its hands on, it revealed everything it knew with any reservations. “I suppose the lower realm doesn’t have anything like that, am I right?”
Ou Yangming smiled bitterly. “I’ve never heard of it.”
“The Wish-fulfilling Clay isn’t a precious item; it can’t be seen everywhere, but it can be easily acquired.” The lazy turtle laughed, then it rolled its eyes as though it was thinking hard. After some time, it continued, “I don’t know anything about smithing art, but I heard from my seniors that the Wish-fulfilling Clay must be included if one were to smith pieces of equipment for the Beasts. It’s because the clay allows the sizes of the pieces of equipment to be adjusted as we wish, so we won’t need to change them if we grow bigger.”
Ou Yangming’s eyes lit up. He finally knew what the Wish-fulfilling Clay was for and why the antelope was so infuriated.
The antelope did not know where Ou Yangming and Big Yellow came from; it thought they were local cultivators from the Spiritual Realm.
Since the WIsh-fulfilling Clay was not a rare item in this world, it would definitely be incorporated in pieces of equipment smithed for spirit beasts.
If not, judging from how fast a spirit beast would grow, one would need to change one’s equipment set every once in a while. As such, any materials accumulated would end up being fully consumed.
In actuality, if Big Yellow had not met a wealthy blacksmith like Ou Yangming in the lower realm, it would not have gathered a full set of equipment.
Ou Yangming cleared his throat and responded with a smile, “Your Excellency, please don’t be mad. Frankly speaking, I was the one that smithed the equipment set.”
The antelope was less angry, and it asked, “Y-you’re a blacksmith from the Humans?” As it scanned Ou Yangming from head to toe, there was a subtle change in its attitude.
Before Ou Yangming could answer it, Big Yellow went forward and said, “Woof, you don’t believe it? Hmph, Lil’ Ming, let’s ignore it then.”
Big Yellow glared at the antelope. It seemed like it had a bitter resentment toward the antelope after being hotly pursued by it. Upon seeing this, Ou Yangming was annoyed and amused at the same time. He pushed the dog’s head away and asked the antelope, “Do you not believe me?”
The antelope shook its head. “So, you’re a human blacksmith. If that’s the case, you can’t be blamed. Did a mountain lord invite you here?”
Ou Yangming found it odd, but he kept a straight face and asked the antelope in return, “How did you know, Your Excellency?”
“Human blacksmiths like you need rare and precious minerals while beasts like us need pieces of equipment to protect ourselves. Hasn’t this been the norm for countless years?” The antelope was proud. It blinked and looked at the unconscious Silver Ridge Giant Leopard, then it remarked, “That damn leopard must’ve been blind to attack a human blacksmith. Heh, if word spread, even if you don’t call it to account, it’ll suffer a miserable fate.”
The young fellow was moved, and he thought, ‘It looks like human blacksmiths are very popular in the Spiritual Realm.’
He raised another question, “Oh, according to what you say, can we leave this place easily without Silver Ridge’s lead?”
“Of course,” the antelope answered without any hesitation, “When human blacksmiths and alchemists enter the 10,000 Beasts Ridge, while the rules don’t allow it, spirit beasts like us welcome them. If any fella attacks them, they’ll surely be punished by the sirs.”
Ou Yangming nodded as half of his doubt was answered. “If you want an equipment set, I can customize one for you, but you’ll need to provide me the materials.”
The antelope’s eyes gleamed, and it questioned, “Can the equipment set be mentioned on equal terms with that fella’s?”
Big Yellow glared at it. If it was not certain that it could not defeat the antelope, it would have pounced on it long ago to bite it into pieces.
Ou Yangming grinned. “You’ll find out once I’m done smithing.”
Seeing how unconcerned but confident he was, the antelope was elated. Nevertheless, it stressed after a moment of hesitation, “I want a set of equipment that can be resized, not this, this…” It had a rather complicated look in its eyes.
Earlier when the antelope fought Big Yellow, it knew how tough the pieces of equipment were and was coveting them. Even so, they were tailored and would not be useful to it if it took forcible possession of them.
Therefore, the antelope loved but hated them, and it felt very helpless.
Ou Yangming laughed and said, “Your Excellency, you’re wrong.”
“What?” The antelope asked as it was puzzled.
The young fellow put his hands behind his back and responded with an unpredictable look on his face. “The smithing of the pieces of equipment are actually closely related to their materials. If the Wish-fulfilling Clay isn’t one of the materials you’re about to prepare for me, even if I have a divine ability, I won’t be able to smith pieces of resizeable equipment.”
Upon hearing him, the antelope was overjoyed. It nodded and said, “Smithing master, don’t worry, I’ve prepared the Wish-fulfilling Clay already.”
Following that, it turned its wrist to return the spiritual herb to its body. It was weird because once the herb was covered by its dense coat of fur, not only would it not be seen, but even the lazy turtle and Big Yellow could not sense it anymore.
Ou Yangming was rather intrigued when he looked at the antelope’s fur. Without needing to ask, he knew there was something mysterious about its fur.
Having said that, the young fellow was not a fool, thus he would not ask about its fur’s origin and functions.
The antelope later swayed and ran far away, but its voice echoed in the air. “Human master, please wait for a brief moment while I go to retrieve the materials.”
Ou Yangming turned to ask the lazy turtle after the antelope left, “Lazy turtle, have human blacksmiths entered the sea before?”
The lazy turtle shrunk its neck and answered, “Of course.”
“If that’s the case, you were already aware of the unspoken rule.” Ou Yangming looked hostile.
Even though the antelope did not explain it clearly, Ou Yangming understood what it meant. Human blacksmiths and alchemists had always been able to enter and leave the Beasts’ territory. Furthermore, the beast powerhouses would not harm them after finding out their identities and would secretly protect them too.
This was because the Beasts could not smith pieces of equipment and could only obtain them from human blacksmiths.
Needless to say, human blacksmiths would not anyhow smith pieces of equipment for them. Without materials that would move them, they would not work for nothing.
Ou Yangming could not understand why such a rule existed, but he believed that there was a purpose in everything. Since it had been going on for generations and was approved by both parties, it must be reasonable.
This also meant that he could arrive at the Humans’ boundary even if he strutted through the ridge; he did not need the Silver Ridge Giant Leopard to guide him.
The lazy turtle made an unnecessary move when it pretentiously put a restraining order on the spirit leopard.
Perhaps it was looking for a way to take away the Tree of Splendour righteously.
Sure enough, the lazy turtle became unusually embarrassed. It laughed and expressed, “Master Ou, why are you clinging to such a trivial matter? Don’t worry, I won’t leave even if you shoo me away next time!”
Big Yellow was confused because it could not understand the riddle between them.
However, after hearing the lazy turtle’s pledge, it looked strangely at Ou Yangming.
‘Lil’ Ming is really amazing. How did he fool that dumb and lazy turtle just now? It actually became dead set on following him now. I should probably learn this from him.’
“Woosh…”
A strong wind blew all of a sudden. The antelope was indeed a… An animal of its word. It had asked Ou Yangming to wait for a brief moment, and it really returned after a short while.