When Ou Yangming finished everything after a day, he suddenly realized that he had a deeper understanding of runes.

Once he was done with the task given by the military, he took an ore into a room that was arranged for him in the Armament Camp. The young fellow had gained approval from everyone in the military, so after he entered the room, he only informed the other people that he needed a quiet environment to study runes.

The room was instantly surrounded by numerous powerhouses in the military, so much so that even a fly could not enter.

Ou Yangming smithed a mold using the ore, the veined patterned slowly surfaced on the mold.

Nonetheless, it was not the rune that he carved on over a hundred molds earlier; it was one of the three runes that allowed him to collect his mental power at a higher speed.

Throughout the smithing process for the molds, he noticed that the rune drawings would transform into a purple light to be kept in his sea of consciousness forever.

Moreover, the more Ou Yangming formed the specific rune on the molds, the stronger the rune's effect in his consciousness. With that, he only needed to think about the rune whenever he wanted to use it.

After Ou Yangming realized the benefit, he naturally did not want to miss out on the three joint runes.

As Ou Yangming's Military Fire danced, a new rune was finally formed. Sure enough, the moment the rune was perfectly formed on the mold, the purple light in his mind glowed and circulated the rune. Subsequently, the rune was permanently fixed in his sea of consciousness.

Nevertheless, as compared to the other rune in his consciousness, the new rune seemed more intangible.

Ou Yangming curled his lips into a cheerful smile because he found a shortcut to grasp plenty of Runes Skills quickly.

However, he was probably the only person in the world who could take the shortcut.

Firstly, he could enter the unique thoroughly meticulous state. It was the only state that allowed him to perfectly display runes, which he read from the books, on molds.

Even if the tiniest mistake was made during the process, the rune would be deemed imperfect.

As many runes as they were on molds, they only represented the number of practices made. For instance, Ni Yunhong could grasp two matching runes because he worked tirelessly ever since he was little and made countless attempts to perceive the essence between the two matching runes. In the end, the young master could etch the runes on pieces of equipment.

On the other hand, the process was different for Ou Yangming. Once he perfectly carved a rune on a mold, his unique Military Fire would release mysterious energy to solidify the rune in his sea of consciousness.

As Ou Yangming sensed the drifting rune in his mind, he suddenly had a feeling that everything was under his control.

He took a deep breath to suppress the swelling sensation in his heart, then he moved on to engrave the two other runes on the mold.

Although Ou Yangming had successfully visualized the two runes before, a substantial amount of energy was required for him to visualize them again. Despite that, the instant he shaped the runes on the mold, they became solidified runes for his use.

The solidified runes were stored in his mind after a brief moment.

By setting his mind on it, Ou Yangming combined the three runes, so much so that the action was completed as soon as he thought about it. Following that, his enormous mental power gathered and almost formed a fireball in his hands.

Ou Yangming tensed up, and he immediately dispersed the mental power.

If he collected a giant fireball in the room, and it exploded, only God would know how huge the disaster would be.

That said, Ou Yangming was elated that his hypothesis was verified; when the runes were solidified, he could indeed use them as he wished. Most importantly, he saved a lot of time because there was no need to visualize and combine them.

This was the effect of merely three rune drawings. If Ou Yangming picked up more runes and solidified them one by one, what wonderful effect would they result in?

Could he one day have the ability to produce a giant fireball in a split second by only thinking about it when he released mental power?

If he could achieve that, he would not need to fear anything in the world.

After all, even a Supreme Great Ancestor could not resist his giant fireball head-on.

Needless to say, Ou Yangming knew it was only a beautiful wish. Not to mention it was impractical, even if he could realize his wish, the hard work and the price that must be paid could not be neglected.

Ou Yangming curbed his thought after he solidified the runes, then he left the room.

When the young fellow left the room and looked around, he came to a shocking realization that the room was strongly fortified. Near or far, many powerhouses in the military guarded openly and covertly. Even if a Supreme Great Ancestor were to sneak an attack against him, the powerhouse would be forced to retreat.

An officer with a captain's logo approached Ou Yangming with a smile. "Master Ou, I'm Wang Leshui, and I was ordered by the general to guard you."

Ou Yangming was moved, and he expressed, "Captain Wang, I've heard a lot about you."

Wang Leshui was the Guards captain under Li Xinfan. He was known for his powerful martial arts as he was already at the peak of Yang Grade.

Even though Ou Yangming did not know much about the Prefecture Military Camp, he often heard of important figures like Wang Leshui.

Nonetheless, Ou Yangming also heard that Wang Leshui was a harsh and cold person, but the captain had such a friendly smile that he did not seem distant at all.

Ou Yangming thought, 'Rumors can really kill…'

Wang Leshui chuckled and asked, "Master Ou, are you coming out of isolated cultivation?"

"Captain Wang, I was only studying some runes; I wasn't in isolated cultivation." Ou Yangming blushed.

"Heh, Master Ou, you're incredibly talented and wise, so you're the best candidate for the research of runes," Wang Leshui expressed, "I know nothing about them, but I'll do my best if you have any orders, and I won't let you down."

Ou Yangming could tell at once that they were still hopeful that he could come up with new runes.

However, the more hopeful they were, the more disappointed they would be.

"Brother Ou, you're finally out." Ni Yunhong walked over to them quickly.

He was not a soldier, but due to his identity as the Ni family's eldest young master, there were rarely any places in Changlong County that were out of bounds for him. As such, the young master could enter and leave the military camp freely.

Ou Yangming's eyes lit up, and he asked in a hurry, "Brother Ni, has Elder Sister Ying returned?"

Ni Yunhong paused for a while, then he nodded but did not look too well.

"What happened to Elder Sister Ying? Is she…" Ou Yangming's heart sank.

"My younger sister is well, can you not curse her?!" Ni Yunhong glared at him.

Ou Yangming could not help but roll his eyes. 'Your expression earlier is the real culprit, okay!'

"Ah…" Ni Yunhong sighed and continued, "Great Ancestor took her away as soon as she came back."

"Oh, where did they go?"

"I have no idea either." Ni Yunhong spread out his hands, and he looked rather dispirited. "I realized that I'm not as popular as my younger sister now."

Ou Yangming did not know to cry or to laugh. "Elder Sister Ying is your younger sister, okay? Do you have to be envious of her?"

Ni Yunhong shook his head. "I'm not envious of her, I just… I'll work hard to catch up to you!"

The difference between the two young men was not too huge when they first met, but there was now a huge disparity. Therefore, it was inevitable for Ni Yunhong to feel dismayed.

Ou Yangming chuckled and responded, "Okay, I'll work hard to not let you catch up to me!"

Ni Yunhong was displeased. "If you continue to work hard, aren't you cutting off any means of survival for me?"

Ou Yangming laughed out loud as he was quite cheerful.

Since Ni Yinghong had returned safely and was together with the Ni family's great ancestor, there was no need for him to worry.

That being said, Ou Yangming was still deeply troubled by something, and he would feel uncomfortable if he did not raise the question. "Brother Ni, do you know what 'Iron Blood Loyal Heart, sacrificing for a noble cause' means?"

"What?" Ni Yunhong replied to him with another question.

"Nothing." Ou Yangming spread out his hands. There was no need for him to ask further questions if Ni Yunhong knew nothing about it.

He suddenly turned around to ask, "Captain Wang, do you happen to know about it?"

Wang Leshui's face took on a ghastly expression when Ou Yangming inquired about the phrase just now. The expression was gone in a flash, but Ou Yangming saw it clearly.

"Master Ou, this…" Wang Leshui smiled bitterly.

Ou Yangming said without any hesitation, "Captain Wang, this is extremely important to me. If you know anything, I hope you'll answer me honestly."

Being faced with Ou Yangming's sharp eyes, the smile on Wang Leshui's face became more bitter.

The captain looked around them and lowered his voice. "Master Ou, frankly speaking, I've heard of the phrase, but I don't know much about it. If you wish to find out, there's someone you can ask."

Ou Yangming's eyes glowed. "Who?"

"Elder Universe," Wang Leshui was solemn. "I guarantee that nobody knows this better than Elder Universe does."

"Thank you, Captain Wang." Ou Yangming looked deeply at the captain, then he turned to nod at Ni Yunhong and left.

Ni Yunhong looked at Ou Yangming dumbfoundedly, then he took a glance at Wang Leshui. He kept feeling like he was excluded.

Wang Leshui sighed and waved at someone else to serve Ni Yunhong, whereas he left to look for Li Xinfan.

After Li Xinfan found out about what happened earlier, he had a grim look on his face. The Supreme Great Ancestor looked in the distance, and he was looking at the direction of the Immense Forest Military Camp.

"No… This timing is wrong! Is the beast tide going to happen earlier this time?"

The general pondered then instructed with a straight face, "Leshui, ask Chen Yifan to get his *ss back to the Immense Forest Military Camp now. Let him dispatch the armaments and keep an eye on the immense forest; they need to be ready to dispatch soldiers at any time!"

Wang Leshui was hesitant. "Sir, General Chen is still holding on to the spear, and he's not willing to leave…"

"Hmph! Tell him that I'll personally snatch the magic tool away if he still fools around. When that happens, let's see if he can still keep the spear!"

"Yes!" Wang Leshui shivered and left right away.

Despite that, he felt a strong sense of crisis where the impending event would cast their shadows before them.