Inside the Military Fire, Ou Yangming sensed that the armor released a mysterious yet wonderful luster.

The Toughness attribute, which had initially reached 25 points, was forcibly increased by the marvelous Military Fire's upgrading ability. As such, it became 26 points, which was beyond Common Grade.

Ou Yangming smiled faintly because his Military Fire did not disappoint him indeed. When he came to the Spiritual Realm and drew more than 20 points of attributes, he could continue to overlay them on the same attribute as he wished. In fact, it seemed like there would not be a problem even if he passed the small level of 5 points.

Needless to say, Although he was able to do this, it did not mean that his real smithing standard allowed him to smith Good Grade magic tools as he wished.

He knew other people had unique knacks and knowledge for the smithing of Good Grade magic tools. It was similar to when he learned the smithing technique to merge basic peculiar stones and was able to smith Common Grade magic tools with his real ability.

Ou Yangming had not learned the skill for Good Grade magic tools yet, hence he could only smith one by fully relying on his Military FIre's power, by which he forcibly increased the equipment's attribute.

Nonetheless, this was the exact reason he wanted to continue to advance to a higher peak to observe a new smithing technique.

[Item: Walking beast's battle armor]

[Equivalent Rank: Magic Tool, Good Grade, Rank One]

[Attributes: Toughness +26, Durability 24]

[Wish-fulfilling Degree: 5]

Ou Yangming curbed his Military Fire and announced with a smile, "I'm done."

The ape scanned Ou Yangming seriously. It treated the young fellow with an entirely different attitude at this moment. After pondering for a brief moment, it reached out its giant arm and said, "Let me have a look."

Ou Yangming grinned and tossed the armor to the ape.

The armor was smithed for the Silver Ridge Giant Leopard, thus it was naturally unsuitable for the ape. Even so, the ape was in admiration when it examined it in its hand.

On the other hand, the Silver Ridge Giant Leopard cast a complicated look at the ape, and it was clearly worried. 'If this ape fancies the armor and wants to claim it for its own, how should I confront it? Should I pounce on it and rip it apart with my teeth, or should I just accept my terrible luck…'

The ape's aura was far greater than that of the leopard. It was at least a middle-grade spirit beast, so the leopard would not be a match for it no matter what. Moreover, this was the most important place on the 10,000 Beasts Ridge as it was being watched over by the Venerable One. If the Silver Ridge Giant Leopard wanted to cause any trouble here, it would not even know how it would die.

After some time, the ape tossed the armor back.

Ou Yangming reached out his hand to block, causing the armor to change its direction in mid-air, such that it flew straight to the Silver Ridge Giant Leopard.

The enormous leopard suddenly widened its eyes and jumped without any hesitation to wear the armor. Given how precious the equipment was, it would be worried no matter where it kept it, so it might as well wear it right away.

Similarly, the fat antelope had also worn its equipment set. To them, this would set their minds at rest the most.

The ape glanced at Ou Yangming for some time before it shifted its body and made way. "Human master, please."

It was ordered to guard this area so as to disallow overconfident low-grade spirit beasts from climbing the mountain, but it would not stop them if a real human master wanted to bring them up.

Ou Yangming nodded and thanked the ape, "Thank you."

Following that, he put his hands behind his back and walked proudly toward the peak. Behind him, Big Yellow and the 2 other spirit beasts followed in his footsteps.

Seeing as they had gone far away, the ape retrieved an item and was about to stimulate it. Who knew, a speedy figure jumped on its body without warning.

If Ou Yangming and his companions were still here, they would surely recognize that it was the little ape, which was not a spirit beast but could speak human language, that led them to the mountain.

The little ape was not as sturdy as its fellow, so it seemed rather small on the ape guard's shoulders. Despite that, the massive middle-grade spirit beast's face changed as it asked softly, "Sir, why have you come?"

"Why did you retrieve the Spirit Whistle?"

"Sir, I found a human smithing genius, so I wanted to notify you." The ape guard bent forward a little before he continued respectfully, "That genius blacksmith isn't old, but he has an incredible smithing ability; he can smith Good Grade magic tools. He's a real genius among the Humans, so we mustn't let him slip away!"

The little ape nodded and responded, "Alright. Don't worry about this, and pretend it never happened."

"Ah… Yes, sir." The ape guard lowered its head very much. It was puzzled, but it knew better that if the little ape gave an instruction, it could only obey it. This was because the little ape's words represented the Venerable One's decree, and the 2 of them could not be defied.

Subsequently, the little ape swayed its body and vanished. It was worth noting that its body technique could not be performed by ordinary apes that were not even spirit beasts.

"Since Big Brother acknowledges him as its master, how could he be a normal person? Hehe, Master Ou, display your powers to your heart's content…"

※※※※

Ou Yangming and his companions obviously did not know what happened at the mountainside. They continued their journey in high spirits.

This time, Big Yellow, Fat Antelope, and the Silver Ridge Giant Leopard lifted their heads and stuck out their chests as though they were as majestic as a dragon or a tiger.

They were only low-grade spirit beasts, hence they were not considered much in the gathering spot for middle-grade spirit beasts. Having said that, they seemed to be fearless with Ou Yangming by their side.

There were high platforms here too, but they were evidently much more gorgeous than the ones below the mountainside. Furthermore, the spirit beasts that surrounded the platforms had exceptional auras. They found it strange when they looked at Ou Yangming and his companions, but they soon came to a sudden realization and cast envious looks at Big Yellow and the 2 other spirit beasts.

Given that a blacksmith could bring low-grade spirit beasts into this place, there could only be one possibility. As for Big Yellow and the 2 other spirit beasts, the fact that they were lucky enough to follow such a human powerhouse caused the other spirit beasts to be jealous.

All of a sudden, a figure arrived at the speed of light and blocked their paths.

Ou Yangming stared at the figure and could not help but laugh. The figure that blocked him and his companions as if it was a wall was the spirit bear, which had questioned him at the bottom before this.

"Hey, how did you get up here, human blacksmith?" The spirit bear was in disbelief. "Didn't you say you can't smith Good Grade magic tools?"

"Why can't I come up here if I can't smith Good Grade magic tools?" Ou Yangming laughed and asked the spirit bear in return.

The spirit bear blinked its huge eyes and answered, "It's a rule set by Sir Venerable One!"

Ou Yangming could not bring himself to be mad at all when he saw how simple and honest the fellow was. Instead, he found it quite interesting. "When did Sir Venerable One set such a rule?"

The spirit bear looked around it as though it was questioning its partner, which was not far away.

A small spirit beast noted in a troubled tone, "Dumb bear, Sir Venerable One never set such a rule for human blacksmiths!"

"Ah," the spirit bear uttered, then it scratched its head and said, "I remembered it wrongly." It turned its humongous body around to go back to where it came from, and it spoke as it walked, "I remember it now—you can't smith Good Grade magic tools, but you can come in if you're a human."

The tiny spirit beast seemed to be a spirit fox. It hopped on to the spirit bear and tugged at its ear as it said, "Dumb bear, if this human master's a blacksmith, he can definitely smith Good Grade magic tools!"

"Why?" The spirit bear widened its eyes as it was surprised.

"Take a look at the low-grade spirit beasts behind him. Since he can bring them here, do you still not understand?" The spirit fox answered snappily.

The spirit bear wondered for a while before its eyes lit up. It shouted, "I get it now—you can really smith Good Grade magic tools."

Ou Yangming laughed out loud and rejoined, "You're right, I was lucky to have smithed one just now."

"You're truly a cunning human. Why did you lie to me when you can actually smith Good Grade magic tools!" The spirit bear was infuriated.

The young fellow was dumbfounded. He was speechless, and he thought.

'It must've been difficult for this honest and simple-minded bear to live until now…'

Nevertheless, Ou Yangming was lost for words when the bear questioned him.

"Haha, please don't be offended, human master. This fella was born dumb, and it's still the same even after it became a middle-grade spirit beast." The spirit fox pulled the spirit bear's ear hard, but the mountainous fellow seemed to be unfeeling. Its thick skin was truly one of a kind.

Ou Yangming cleared his throat and asked, "You're…"

"I'm Fox Yi, and this is Bear Da, my good friend." The spirit fox smiled with its eyes squinted. "How should I address you, master?"

Bear Da was monstrous, but it was clear that Fox Yi was the one in charge. The former was displeased with Ou Yangming, but it dared not say anything else after the latter conversed with the young fellow.

"I'm Ou Yangming, a human blacksmith." Ou Yangming paused before he continued, "I'm here to take a look at my fella's smithing techniques. Please forgive me if I disturbed you."

He had guessed the spirit beasts' intention, so he beat them to it and stopped them from bringing it up.

Fox Yi was shocked. 'Master Ou, can't you smith Good Grade magic tools already?"

"I was just lucky, so I need to keep learning," Ou Yangming replied to it.

The spirit fox obviously did not buy it. It looked around and suggested, "Master Ou, I'm very familiar with this place, so how about I be your guide?"

Ou Yangming was about to reject it when a thought crossed his mind. He rejoined with a smile, "Okay, thanks for the trouble, Your Excellency."

Fox Yi was elated, and it immediately led Ou Yangming up. As for Bear Da, it followed them compliantly. Accompanied by the 2 middle-grade spirit beasts, Big Yellow and the 2 other spirit beasts were not so eye-catching anymore.

Sure enough, the spirit fox was extremely familiar with this area. It knew the names of every human master on the high platforms, and it was well-informed about the abilities that those masters were adept in. Ou Yangming was amazed.

Even though there were many blacksmiths along the way, they adopted secret techniques to conceal their Military Fires, thus Ou Yangming could not see much.

However, Fox Yi, which was leading the way, made a sudden turn into a quiet trail.

Ou Yangming was moved, but he followed the spirit beast calmly.