Chapter 2

Ouyang Ming opened his mouth, about to agree to Hu Yicheng’s words. However, just as he was about to speak, his heart suddenly stirred.

Weapons?

He suddenly raised his head, his eyes flashing with extreme surprise.

Throughout the journey, he had been secretly guessing what kind of position could make Zhang Yinfan have the heart to snatch and be willing to exchange it for a formal soldier’s position. Given that miser’s nature, if there wasn’t enough benefit, how could he be willing to pay so much?

And now, the truth was revealed. It turned out that the old craftsman had not sought any official position for him, but weapons.

Thinking of the mysterious flame that flickered in the old craftsman’s palm when he was repairing the broken sword, Ouyang Ming’s heart raced like thunder, and his face turned red.

Hu Yicheng was slightly taken aback, turned to look at Zhang Yinfan, frowned, and let out a dissatisfied hum.

Zhang Yinfan and his nephew exchanged glances, both secretly calling it a bad situation.

Zhang Yinfan’s face darkened, and he said coldly, "Ouyang Ming, Lord Hu is asking you a question. Answer quickly!"

Zhang Hanru finally couldn’t hold back and said, "Ouyang Ming, think carefully about what you agreed to earlier!" The threat in his tone was evident.

Ouyang Ming clenched his fists, two thoughts constantly wrestling in his mind.

Weapons, those are weapons! As long as he had weapons, he could become a true blacksmith in the Armory like the old craftsman.

In the Armory, there were many formal soldiers, but only about twenty blacksmiths who possessed weapons. Although an ordinary weapons blacksmith wasn’t a particularly prestigious position, the weapons alone were enough to secure a place in the camp and live a lifetime.

However, as he glanced at the Zhang Yinfan uncle and nephew who were eyeing him like tigers, the burning passion in his heart was like being doused with a bucket of ice water, making him feel as if he were in the depths of winter, shivering all over.

What good would it do to get weapons? The Armory was still under the control of the Supply Camp. If Zhang Yinfan was determined to cause trouble for him, how could he deal with it?

For a moment, Ouyang Ming’s back was drenched in cold sweat.

Zhang Hanru gritted his teeth, a great opportunity was right in front of him, but this foolish boy still wouldn’t speak. His eyes flashed with a fierce light, and his handsome face twisted into a sinister expression, "Ouyang Ming, answer quickly!"

Ouyang Ming looked up, seeing the venomous look in his eyes, and his heart suddenly became clear.

His hesitation had already deeply offended these two uncle and nephew. Even if he chose to back down now, they wouldn’t let him off easily. Especially Zhang Hanru, the murderous intent in his eyes was so obvious that it made one’s heart race.

In fact, if Zhang Hanru had spoken kindly and promised great benefits, Ouyang Ming might not have been able to hold out. But his fierce and intimidating demeanor had instead stirred up a trace of violent spirit in Ouyang Ming’s heart.

He was an orphan, with no powerful backing, but if he didn’t have a bit of ferocity, how could he have survived until now?

He straightened his chest, took a step forward, and bowed to Hu Yicheng, saying loudly, "Lord Hu, I am willing to accept the weapons. Please judge accordingly."

Zhang Yinfan’s face twitched slightly. Although his smile was somewhat stiff, he managed to maintain it.

But Zhang Hanru lacked such composure. He stared at Ouyang Ming, fists clenched, and if it weren’t for Hu Yicheng’s presence, he might have pounced and torn Ouyang Ming apart.

Hu Yicheng coughed lightly and said, "Lord Zhang, you have heard." He waved his hand lightly, "Since Lord Zhang has brought the person, I will fulfill my duty."

Zhang Yinfan bowed slightly, "Yes, I will take my leave." He glanced at Ouyang Ming and said coldly, "Ouyang Ming, you are very good, truly a standout in the Armory." Although his tone was calm, it carried a chilling undertone.

With that, Zhang Yinfan turned and quickly left, pulling Zhang Hanru along.

Ouyang Ming’s expression was uncertain. He knew he had greatly offended Zhang Yinfan, but it was too late to regret now.

Hu Yicheng shook his head slightly, looking at the young man with pity, as if he could already see his tragic future. However, this was none of his concern; he only needed to fulfill his duty.

He raised his wrist, took out a token, and said, "Ouyang Ming, this is the weapon token. Place it on your forehead and guide it yourself."

Ouyang Ming was taken aback, "Is that all it takes?"

Hu Yicheng nodded slowly, "The power of the weapon token is beyond your imagination. Go ahead."

Obtaining weapons was certainly an opportunity. But for someone like Hu Yicheng, it was nothing special. Moreover, Ouyang Ming had offended Zhang Yinfan, and whether he could survive in the future was questionable. Hu Yicheng naturally had no intention of forming a connection with him.

Ouyang Ming responded, carefully took the weapon token, and gently placed it on his forehead.

The weapon token, made of some unknown metal, felt icy cold on his forehead. But in the next moment, a scorching, terrifying aura that seemed capable of destroying the heavens and the earth suddenly rushed into Ouyang Ming’s mind.

Ouyang Ming cried out in surprise, trying to remove the weapon token, but it was as if it was firmly stuck to his forehead, impossible to take off.

As Ouyang Ming panicked, he suddenly found that his consciousness seemed to have separated from his body, entering a strange and mysterious space.

In this space, there were countless points of light.

The space was boundless, and the stars were countless, like the stars in the sky.

Ouyang Ming sensed the endless stars in this illusory world, and at that moment, he had a feeling that if he reached out, he could touch all the stars, regardless of their distance or size.

He didn’t reach out to pluck the stars randomly but tried to recall the days he spent with the old craftsman.

The old craftsman had often talked to him about weapons, though not in detail, but often inadvertently revealed some key information. Ouyang Ming hadn’t noticed anything amiss before, but at this moment, he vaguely felt that everything was the old craftsman’s deliberate doing.

Weapons were a special kind of spirit fire bestowed by the imperial court. This spirit fire could be used by ordinary people, consuming their physical strength and endurance without negatively affecting their lifespan. On the contrary, if used frequently, it could even strengthen the body and internal organs.

The greatest benefit of obtaining weapons was the ability to forge and repair weapons and armor at any time. Moreover, since weapons were a type of spirit fire, if one was lucky, they might even add some extra attributes to the weapons.

In short, anyone who obtained weapons was like a mobile forge.

Such a person was always highly sought after in the military camp.

However, although weapons were the lowest level of spirit fire, they still had different qualities. If one had the opportunity, the benefits and treatment of obtaining high-quality weapons versus low-quality ones were vastly different.

Now, there were many stars here, but he could only pluck one.

The size of the stars represented the strength of the spirit fire. The larger the star, the higher the temperature of the spirit fire. To live a good life, one naturally needed to pluck the largest star.

However, it was difficult to judge the size of the stars based on their distance. One had to get closer to see their true size.

Ouyang Ming’s consciousness roamed through the sea of stars, seeing hundreds of them, but he remained indecisive, unable to make a move.

Gradually, Ouyang Ming suddenly felt extremely tired, as if he hadn’t slept for three days and was about to faint.

He immediately snapped back to his senses, on the verge of losing consciousness, and with a determined bite of his teeth, focused the last bit of his mental energy on a particular star.

However, just as his mental energy was about to touch the star, he suddenly saw a purple light.

The light was a meteor, trailing a long tail, falling from a distant unknown place. The purple was so beautiful that it instantly captured all his attention.

His mental energy suddenly dissipated, and the last thought in Ouyang Ming’s mind was, how wonderful it would be to pluck such a beautiful star...

※※※※

Slowly, his consciousness emerged from the depths of the sea.

Ouyang Ming wobbled to his feet, his hands clutching his head, his face contorted in pain.

A gentle voice sounded in his ear, "Your mental energy was overused, so you feel a headache. Sit and rest for a moment before leaving."

Ouyang Ming’s body trembled, he forced his eyes open, and quickly said, "Lord Hu."

Hu Yicheng nodded slightly, spread his sleeves, and left Ouyang Ming, who was still in shock, entering the inner hall.

In the inner hall, a scholar sat before a chessboard, saying, "You old fox, you were about to lose, but you pretended to have official business and fled. Humph, do you know shame?"

Hu Yicheng, unable to laugh or cry, said, "I have military duties. A weapons blacksmith used fifty years of imperial service to exchange for a chance to use the weapon token. That person just arrived, should I not go out to preside over it?"

The scholar was taken aback, then understood, "So that’s it, I wronged you. Hmm, why does your face look different? Has something happened?"

Hu Yicheng laughed and scolded, "Your eyes see through everything." He recounted the events involving Zhang Yinfan and others, sighing, "Such a scoundrel, he truly deserves to die."

The scholar shook his head, "Zhang Yinfan is still a member of the Zhang family. Although he is despicable, this alone is not enough to warrant death." He beckoned, "Let’s not talk about this, come and play chess!"

Hu Yicheng responded with a bad temper but still sat at the other end of the chessboard. However, as he raised his chess piece, a thought flashed through his mind.

I didn’t expect that Ouyang Ming, that boy, would have a talent for mental energy. An untrained ordinary person staying in the weapon token for half an hour, such talent is quite good.

But, he has offended the Zhang family, what a pity.

PS: Bai He has created a new group for the new book. Friends reading on mobile might not see the full introduction, so I’ll mention it here.

Group number: 511418664

Everyone, come join. Bai He guarantees to come at least once a week to take the scolding ^_^

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