Transmigrated into a Grandpa, Embracing the Laid-Back Life-Chapter 257: This casting costs forty spirit stones

Luo Feng opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

He stared at the youth before him, who only had Qi Refining cultivation, yet it felt like a thunderclap had exploded in his mind.

After a long while, he slowly closed his eyes.

From the depths of his memory, the teachings of his master, Xuanheng Zhenren, surfaced: "Feng'er, your exceptional talent is both a blessing and a tribulation for you. The highest realm of the path of formations is 'the formation merging with heaven and earth.' You always think about 'making heaven and earth conform to the formation,' but you forget that 'the formation can also conform to heaven and earth.'"

"The formation can also conform to heaven and earth..."

Luo Feng murmured softly. The unique pressure characteristic of the Golden Core realm around him began to fluctuate violently, then receded like a tide, becoming calm and profound.

After a long moment, he opened his eyes. The confusion within them was completely gone, replaced only by clarity.

He took a deep breath, stood up, and performed a deep, formal bow to Su Ming.

"Junior Brother, your words woke me from my dream."

Luo Feng's voice carried an unprecedented sense of lucidity. "I have learned. You are right. My 'cleverness' is petty cleverness; your 'clumsiness' is true great skill. This formation plate... I will craft it according to your line of thinking."

This bow was not to cultivation level, but to the "Dao."

After seeing Luo Feng off, night had completely fallen.

Su Ming stood alone in the courtyard. Moonlight spilled over him, casting a long shadow.

He opened his palm. The ice-blue Cold Jade Formation Rune lay quietly in his hand, emitting a faint, cool glow.

"Master, one month," Su Ming said softly, slowly closing his fingers to grip the rune tightly. "I need to break through to the seventh layer of Qi Refining and prepare enough 'chips' for the trip to Emerald Wave Pond. Since I'm going to meet a big shot, I can't go empty-handed."

In his Consciousness Sea, Lin Yu stretched lazily. "Naturally. Meeting a Golden Core elder empty-handed is improper. We should at least bring some of our 'local specialties' to impress that old man."

"And..." Lin Yu's tone shifted, becoming somewhat money-grubbing. "Although that guy Luo Feng gave us the formation rune, the idea for the 'Void Stone Powder' was ours. That counts as technology shares, right? We'll have to find a chance to discuss profit-sharing with him later."

Su Ming couldn't help but smile, turning to look at the workshop inside the Repair Hall, still brightly lit.

There, Zhang Asheng was leading several menial disciples, working by lamplight late into the night, polishing a batch of newly delivered, worn-out magical implements. The clinking sounds of hammering were particularly pleasing in the quiet night.

That was the sound of money, and also the sound of a foundation.

"Then... let's take on a few more 'private jobs,'" Su Ming said, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly.

......

The Moonlight Stone within the Clear Stream Valley cave dwelling emitted a hazy, clear glow.

Su Ming sat cross-legged before a stone table. In front of him lay the dark-gold formation plate named "Minor Void Spirit Attraction Formation," and beside it was a brocade pouch he had exchanged for at the Administration Hall.

The pouch was open, containing a small pinch of fine sand that shimmered with cold, starry radiance—Stardust Sand.

Just this small pinch had cost him a full forty spirit stones.

The eighty spirit stones he had just earned from Steward Wu hadn't even warmed his pocket before half were gone in the blink of an eye.

"Stop looking so pained, your expression is like you're cutting off your own flesh," Lin Yu's illusory figure hovered mid-air, pointing at the formation plate. "We need to review. In the previous attempts, most of the attracted Source Substance dissipated the instant it contacted the present world."

Su Ming withdrew his gaze from the Stardust Sand, lightly tapping the table with his fingers. "This disciple has also been pondering this matter. The previous formation line structure seemed to overly pursue 'breadth,' trying to cast a wider net. But the barrier between the Void and the present world is extremely thick. A wide net means divided force, and divided force means loose pores."

"Exactly," Lin Yu snapped his fingers. "To use the words of my hometown, the frequency is off. The fluctuations of the Void are high-frequency and dense. Our formation is a coarse band; most of the good stuff leaked through."

Su Ming didn't understand the term "band," but he grasped the meaning.

He pulled out the well-thumbed "True Meaning of Basic Rune Deconstruction" from his robe, flipped to the page about "Spirit Attraction," and pointed at several ancient patterns.

"Master, Senior Brother Luo Feng once mentioned the principle of 'rune resonance.' If we change these three core 'Gathering' character runes to the ancient 'Spirit Attraction' pattern in a 'spiral' shape, and supplement it with Stardust Sand to stabilize space, could we make the ripples generated by the formation stop spreading outward and instead drill deep?"

As he spoke, Su Ming gestured with his finger in the air, making a downward drilling motion. "Like... drilling a well."

Lin Yu's eyes lit up. His soul body floated down to take a closer look at the diagram. "Changing a flat net into a deep-water drill bit? Interesting. Disciple, your comprehension is almost catching up to one ten-thousandth of mine in my prime. Want to try?"

Su Ming said no more. He cleansed his hands, lit incense, and adjusted his breathing.

At this moment, he transformed back into the precise, calm Hall Master of the Repair Hall.

Stardust Sand was extremely hard. It required repeated washing and grinding with water spiritual energy until it turned into a viscous, starry slurry. Su Ming circulated the "Like Water Art." A dark blue glow shimmered at his fingertips, enveloping the expensive sand grains.

Half an hour later, a mass of liquid shimmering with a silver-blue luster floated in his palm.

Su Ming held his breath and concentrated. Using his divine sense as a brush, he guided this slurry, carefully covering it over the original lines on the formation plate. He didn't completely erase the old lines but made extremely bold modifications at key nodes.

He deliberately outlined originally smooth lines with subtle serrations, and at the end of each rune, he curled them inward to form a microscopic vortex.

This was an extremely mentally taxing task.

Sweat trickled down Su Ming's temples, dripping onto the stone table with a soft "plop," but his fingers gripping the formation plate were as steady as a rock.

"Li position, shift to Kan position, retract three inches inward..." Su Ming muttered under his breath, his eyes reflecting the complex formation lines.

When the final stroke was completed, the formation plate emitted a dull hum, like an ancient beast waking from slumber and snorting.

The originally dim plate surface now faintly exuded a deep, sucking force. Even the surrounding light seemed to be swallowed by it somewhat.

"It's done."

Su Ming let out a long breath. Not bothering to wipe his sweat, he immediately took out five spirit stones and embedded them into the grooves.

"Master, get ready."

"Been waiting. Let's eat!" Lin Yu rubbed his hands together, though he couldn't produce any sound.

Su Ming struck out with a hand seal.

Hum—

This time, the formation plate didn't emit its usual light, cheerful tremor. Instead, it produced a low, suppressed vibration. No visible ripples spread through the air, but in Su Ming's perception, the space above the formation plate seemed to have collapsed inward.

The feeling was like a bottomless vortex suddenly appearing on calm water. All fluctuations were forcibly constrained within a foot-wide area, collapsing inward with frantic intensity.

"Such strong suction!" Su Ming felt the spiritual energy within his body being drawn out by the formation plate like a breached river. His expression changed slightly, and he hurriedly increased his output.

The effect of the Stardust Sand manifested. The originally highly unstable spatial ripples, bolstered by the starlight, became tough and condensed.

A quarter of an hour passed.

At the central Void node of the formation plate, instead of spewing large clumps of gray waste gas, it began to seep out wisps of extremely fine, thread-like material, resembling tobacco shreds.

"It's here!" Lin Yu's expression turned serious, even carrying a trace of tension.