"..." Le Youran was silent for a while, then turned and walked toward Xiaoyao, directly asking, "Did you make these?"
"Mm!" Xiaoyao nodded and continued chopping wood.
"How do you know how to do this?" Le Youran asked.
"Make gauntlets? The Mo family is a weapon-forging family - I learned a bit. If you didn't dislike extra things, I could add several offensive mechanisms to these gauntlets!" Xiaoyao said casually. These gauntlets had some mechanical design that cleverly allowed the entire gauntlet to have both defensive and offensive capabilities while maintaining extremely high flexibility... These gauntlets weren't just about weapon forging, but also involved mechanical arts, which satisfied the special requirements of gauntlets. The forging needed to be more precise than sword-making.
The Mo family indeed had the manufacturing technology, but there weren't many people who could actually make them, otherwise all gauntlets would already be made this way.
The components of gauntlets were all very small. Few people would work on such small parts, and no one could guarantee success, so unless it was for very wealthy nobles, no one would undertake this.
Le Youran had also commissioned such gauntlets before, but they had a serious problem, they couldn't withstand overly violent techniques. Whenever Le Youran used a slightly violent move, the gauntlets would immediately fall apart.
So Le Youran had given up on choosing this type of gauntlet, because no matter how wealthy she was, she couldn't afford to keep replacing them. Moreover, they were useless if they couldn't allow her to display her full strength.
"Can these withstand my strength?" Le Youran now had this concern - she didn't want the same thing to happen as before. However, these gauntlets gave her a feeling that was somehow different from previous ones.
The previous gauntlets definitely didn't feel as comfortable and suited to her as these did, she had already sensed this from the moment she put them on.
...
...
This feeling was very strange. She couldn't describe it herself, but she could be certain it existed.
"You can try them now. If there are any problems, just tell me, and I can adjust them for you!" Xiaoyao didn't mind Le Youran's doubts. Whether they worked or not would be clear after testing, no need for lengthy explanations.
"Good!" Le Youran was also straightforward. At this point, talking was useless - one trial would immediately reveal everything.
Le Youran originally wanted to test them right here, but Xiaoyao stopped her, saying the space was too small to properly test her boxing techniques.
Although Le Youran suspected Xiaoyao's reasoning, this place indeed wasn't very suitable, so she immediately ran to the training ground. In the Le family's training ground, quite a few people were practicing martial arts. When they saw Le Youran appear, they were somewhat surprised.
After Le Youran performed a very violent set of boxing techniques, scaring the group to one side, she quickly left amid everyone's astonished gazes and ran back to Xiaoyao's side.
"Damn! These gauntlets are so satisfying and violent - I love them!!" Le Youran said to Xiaoyao. "I didn't expect you to have such skills - very impressive!!"
"Thank you for the praise. I only know a little!" Xiaoyao said very modestly.
"For this, I'm going to reward you! Xiao Hong, tell the accounting office to give this kid one hundred taels!" Le Youran said excitedly. Her opening offer of one hundred taels startled Xiaoyao.
The Le family truly lived up to its reputation. A casual reward was one hundred taels, an amount some people couldn't earn in several years!
"Yes, Miss!" Xiao Hong responded. She didn't seem surprised by this, probably knowing such a possibility existed. Le Youran had likely done similar things before.
Then, at Le Youran's signal, Xiao Hong went to the accounting office, leaving only Le Youran standing nearby, watching Xiaoyao in a daze, thinking about something.
"Kid, I think you're not simple at all," Le Youran looked at Xiaoyao, discovering that her random capture might have caught someone extraordinary, possibly even a treasure.
"I'm very simple, just a little servant!" Xiaoyao replied casually.
"If you're just a little servant, how could you craft such things?"
"If the master needs it, we servants naturally have to know how. Nowadays, being a servant requires mastering eighteen different skills, or it's easy to become unemployed." Xiaoyao said with a smile.
"..." Le Youran fell silent again. She found Xiaoyao's words seemed to have some logic. If she required her servants to know something, they would definitely have to learn it, or she would certainly dismiss them.
Although ordinary servants wouldn't know such high-level techniques, if someone really required it, why couldn't they learn?
"Regardless, you're very interesting, kid!!"
Le Youran finally reached this conclusion, then left without waiting for Xiao Hong, because she knew Xiao Hong would know where to find her, no need to wait or give instructions.
Xiaoyao also didn't mind Le Youran and continued working, just getting by in the Le family.
Time passed bit by bit. Before he knew it, Xiaoyao had been at the Le family for a year, doing various things that people knew and didn't know about.
During this year, Guxing and the others came once every month. Each month they showed considerable improvement, and Le Youran was also stimulated to break through to Emperor level a few days ago.
But Le Youran wasn't very happy about this, because she knew Guxing was getting closer and closer to her. The current Guxing was also faintly showing signs of breaking through to Emperor level.
Guxing was obviously receiving more stimulation than Le Youran, allowing her to advance at unimaginable speed during this year.
Not just Guxing, Nangong Suxin and the Young Miss were the same. Although their progress wasn't as fast as Guxing's, it was still astonishing. Going from lower King level a year ago to upper-middle King level now, completing this span in one year was practically unprecedented.
This achievement should still be credited to Xiaoyao, because when Le Youran was too busy sparring with Guxing, he had actually arranged for some people to spar with the Young Miss and the others, using formation combination techniques that were definitely no less effective than Le Youran.
These people were given to Xiaoyao by Le Youran. Xiaoyao personally selected seven people who could perfectly use the Tiangang Big Dipper Formation, which also let Le Youran know another of Xiaoyao's skills - formation arts!!
Le Youran had also tried this formation. Initially she could handle it, but later she found it increasingly difficult to cope with, because the seven people's formation techniques became more and more proficient, their coordination more and more perfect, and the power increased dramatically.
Because of this, the Le family members seemed to value this formation, wanting Xiaoyao to train some of their own guards. Xiaoyao's status was also elevated from temporary servant to temporary servant and temporary instructor.
Xiaoyao didn't refuse this either. He had nothing else to do anyway, could earn more wages, and this type of formation wasn't his exclusive knowledge - quite a few people knew it. The only difference was that his personal guidance would be somewhat better and more powerful.
Of course, if one day he had to face the Le family as enemies, Xiaoyao wasn't afraid these formations would trip him up, because he not only knew how to teach these formations, but also how to break them.
The Young Miss and her companion were definitely defeated by the seven-person formation at first, with absolutely no ability to fight back. For this, Xiaoyao gave them a solution, they should also form a small formation to counterattack.
As for what formation the Young Miss and her companion used, except for the parties involved, no one else knew. But many people desperately wanted to know this formation, because its power was truly formidable.
A two-person formation that could contend with seven people, and the strength difference between both sides wasn't that great!
Heaven and Earth Formation, one person as heaven, one person as earth. It was that simple!
This was what Xiaoyao had told the Young Miss and her companion privately, speaking with them for most of an hour. Fortunately, both were very intelligent, comprehended quickly, and knew each other well. Having fought together so much, they naturally understood each other, so their coordination easily fell into place.
For their two-person formation, Xiaoyao had another explanation.
This was a Heaven and Earth Formation for two people. If the boss was added, there would be an upgraded version called the Heaven, Earth, and Human Formation, with even greater power.
Four people? That would be the Four Symbols Formation. Five people would be the Five Elements Formation...
Regardless, the Young Miss and her companion also improved rapidly because of this. With their two-person combination, they could even possibly match Le Youran, and with Guxing added, they would have absolute advantage.
However, they wouldn't do this, not just because of their word, but most importantly because if they broke this rule, the Le family could too, and the Le family was obviously much more powerful than them.
They now also knew that Xiaoyao wasn't really in any danger at the Le family, and recently had become increasingly free, even able to go out, though only when Le Youran took him.
Since this was the case, they naturally wouldn't do anything risky or fall out with the Le family.
The influence of this matter was also significant. The battles between Guxing's group and Le Youran were elevated by some people to the level of several young ladies single-handedly confronting the entire Le family. If the Le family hadn't been indifferent to such talk, Guxing's group would have been in trouble.
Because the Le family was somewhat domineering, they didn't care what others said. Le Youran had already made it clear that the matter between her and Guxing's group was theirs alone, no one else should interfere. The Le family had always respected family members' decisions.
Although the Le family didn't care, others continued spreading rumors. The more they spread, the more exaggerated they became. As for the Nangong clan of Nangong Suxin, who was at the center of events, since their family was originally large and could contend with the Le family, they also didn't care.
(End of Chapter)