Transmigrated into a Grandpa, Embracing the Laid-Back Life-Chapter 258: This is a losing proposition no matter how you look at it.

At first glance, the tobacco shreds still appeared grayish and murky, but within that grayness, an extremely sharp, bright flash would occasionally streak through.

Su Ming activated his "Observation Micro State," and his pupils contracted sharply.

Deep within those turbid gray impurities was actually a silver thread, as fine as a strand of hair, mixed in! It swam through the gray mist like a nimble silver fish, emanating a clear, cold, and aloof aura.

"Silver thread! It's silver thread source substance!" Lin Yu's voice even changed pitch, unable to suppress his excitement. "Disciple, steady! Don't let it escape!"

Without needing Lin Yu's reminder, Su Ming had already fully activated the *Like Water Art*. His dark blue spiritual energy transformed into a flexible, resilient net, tightly covering that tiny area.

The Xuantian ring's light blazed brilliantly, like a starving tiger pouncing on its prey, suddenly generating a powerful suction force.

That "silver fish" struggled in the air for a moment, seemingly wanting to burrow back into the void. But trapped within the stable channel constructed by the Star Pattern Sand and bound by Su Ming's spiritual energy, it ultimately couldn't escape.

*Whoosh.*

A flash of silver light vanished into the ring's surface.

The next instant, Su Ming felt a wave of cool, refreshing sensation wash over his mind. His divine sense, originally somewhat depleted from setting up the formation, recovered more than half in an instant under this coolness. Even his thinking became unprecedentedly clear.

Within his Consciousness Sea, Lin Yu had his eyes closed, a look of intoxication on his face. His originally somewhat illusory legs now seemed to solidify a bit more, even the cloud patterns on his shoes were clearly visible.

"Hah..." Lin Yu let out a long exhale, opened his eyes, his gaze bright and clear. "The kick is strong. This single strand of silver thread is worth the total of the previous ten extractions combined! And it has very few impurities, requiring little effort to purify."

Su Ming slumped to the floor. He looked at the spirit stones that had exhausted their spiritual energy and crumbled into powder, then glanced at the Star Pattern Sand on the formation plate whose luster had dimmed, and gave a bitter laugh. "It's effective alright, but the cost..."

After running for just half a shichen, the forty spirit stones worth of Star Pattern Sand was completely consumed, and five spirit stones had turned into useless dregs.

This single "silver thread" was entirely bought with money.

"This is called 'pay-to-win'," Lin Yu said in high spirits, floating in front of Su Ming. "Although the cost is high, the direction is right. As long as we can keep getting money, this teacher's soul body recovery has hope. At that time, forget about guiding you in formation cultivation, even helping you deduce the missing subsequent parts of the *Like Water Art* won't be difficult."

Hearing this, the look of heartache in Su Ming's eyes faded, replaced by a glint of determination.

He took out those several pottery jars filled with "poisonous soil" from his storage pouch and placed them on the stone table.

"If that's the case, then we need to speed up our money-making pace." Su Ming's fingers lightly stroked the cold surface of the pottery jars. "Master, you said before this 'Thunder Fire Sand' can be made into a nasty surprise for people?"

"Of course." Lin Yu chuckled, pointing at that pile of mud. "This is a natural 'high-explosive grenade' blank. With just a bit of refinement and carving a few unstable 'Burst' runes on it... tsk tsk, our Repair Hall's new product has a prototype."

...

Inside the stone chamber, Su Ming sat cross-legged, his brows tightly furrowed.

A wisp of dark blue spiritual energy slowly traveled along his meridians. When it reached the core of his Dantian Qihai, the originally smooth spiritual flow suddenly stalled. It was like a rushing river hitting a hidden reef, stirring up chaotic ripples.

*Hiss.*

Su Ming sucked in a sharp breath of cold air, a fine layer of cold sweat beading on his temples. That pain wasn't heart-wrenching, but rather like a bone-deep parasite—an extremely fine steel needle repeatedly pricking the most vulnerable soft flesh.

The damage to his Dao foundation.

As his cultivation advanced and his spiritual energy grew more abundant, the hidden danger brought by this crack became increasingly apparent.

With trembling hands, Su Ming fished out a small white jade bottle from his robes. Pulling out the stopper, a rich milky fragrance mixed with clear, cold spiritual energy assailed his nostrils.

Beast Spirit Milk.

This was the "extra" earned from Lei Hu.

Su Ming tilted his head back and carefully let a single drop fall into his mouth.

The spirit milk melted upon touching his throat, transforming into a stream of warm heat that rapidly enveloped the crack within his Dantian.

That stabbing pain eased slightly, like applying a layer of cool menthol ointment to a wound.

But that was all.

After a moment, the medicinal effect dissipated, and that feeling of obstruction and stagnation surged back, even appearing clearer and more grating because of the previous relief.

"Stop trying."

Within his Consciousness Sea, Lin Yu's voice sounded lazily, carrying a touch of helplessness. "Although this Beast Spirit Milk is good stuff, it's for strengthening the physiques of young spirit beasts. What you have is a 'Dao Injury,' a crack in the foundation. Using this kind of wall-painting paste to patch a load-bearing wall's crack, aside from seeking psychological comfort, isn't very useful."

Su Ming put down the jade bottle and gave a bitter laugh. "Master, your disciple naturally knows this. But if this pain isn't suppressed, my cultivation efficiency drops by at least thirty percent. If I forcefully try to break through, I'm afraid my Dantian would explode before I even touch the threshold of the seventh layer of Qi Refining."

Lin Yu sighed, his figure swaying slightly above the ring. "This is a bottomless pit. Wanting to mend the heavens is as difficult as ascending to the sky."

Su Ming fell silent.

His fingers rubbed against the cool jade bottle, and his thoughts couldn't help but drift back to the meeting at Spirit Beast Peak three shichen ago.

...

Back then, the Jade Water Python's snake eggs had just hatched.

Three small, greenish-blue snakes poked their heads out within the precisely temperature-controlled formation, flicking their tongues.

Lei Hu, that burly, rough man, was actually so moved his eyes turned red. If not for being mindful of the fragility of the newly hatched snakes, he probably would have given Su Ming a bear hug.

"Brother Su! From now on, you are my sworn brother Lei Hu!" Lei Hu's booming voice made the surface of the cold pool tremble. "Take this Beast Spirit Milk! If anyone dares bully you, just mention my name, Lei Hu!"

It was also at that moment that a young man dressed in a moon-white robe walked out from the back hall.

The man looked to be only in his early twenties, with a fair, clean face and a gentle smile at the corner of his mouth, standing out starkly from the surrounding Beast Peak disciples who were all covered in murderous aura. But the moment he appeared, the previously boisterous Lei Hu instantly shut his mouth and respectfully called out, "Senior Brother Qin."

Qin Yi.

A Beast Peak disciple, rumored to be raising a Foundation Establishment stage mutated spirit crane.

Qin Yi didn't look at the three small snakes. His eyes, which seemed gentle but were actually deep and profound like a deep pool, immediately landed on Su Ming.

That gaze wasn't aggressive, but it felt like a soft brush, sweeping over Su Ming inside and out.

"Repair Hall, Su Ming?" Qin Yi spoke, his voice like jade striking jade. "I heard from Junior Brother Lei. You didn't forcibly alter the formation but instead followed the earth veins, using a guiding method to resolve the danger of the cold pool. That thinking is ingenious." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

Su Ming's heart tightened slightly.

This feeling of being seen through wasn't pleasant. He bowed slightly, putting on a look of fearful respect. "Senior Brother flatters me. This junior brother was just lucky, having happened to read a few miscellaneous books about the coexistence of earth fire and cold springs, and simply followed the example."