The days flowed slowly by in a monotonous, regular rhythm.

Su Ming used his own thin wisp of spiritual energy to wash over the Xuantian ring, over and over again, every single day.

He didn’t know if this was useful, but he had to do it.

The vitality brought by the Greenwood Longevity Art, mixed with the residual medicinal power of that Hundred-Herb Revival Pill, continuously nourished the ring, and also nourished the master slumbering within it.

A month’s time passed quietly.

One afternoon, as Su Ming had just returned from the Accounting Office, he saw two familiar small figures standing at the courtyard gate.

Qingfeng stood with his hands clasped behind his back, impatiently kicking pebbles on the ground with the tip of his foot.

Mingyue was squatting on the ground, curiously teasing a passing grasshopper.

“Su Ming! You’re back!” Mingyue, sharp-eyed, was the first to spot him, waving happily.

Su Ming walked over, a faint smile appearing on his face.

Over this past month, these two little ancestors had become regular visitors to Courtyard Ding-Qi.

They would always find some pretext, either “passing by” or “conducting an inspection,” but in reality, they came to listen to Su Ming tell those stories of political intrigue from the mortal imperial court, or the strange tales and bizarre accounts from the Records of Southern Border Wonders.

“Senior Apprentice Brother Qingfeng, Senior Apprentice Sister Mingyue.” Su Ming cupped his hands in salute.

“Enough, enough.” Qingfeng waved his hand impatiently, but his eyes were sparkling, “Are you telling the ‘Nine Princes’ Fight for the Throne’ story today? Last time you stopped right when the Fourth Prince and the Eighth Prince joined forces to set a trap for the Crown Prince, what happened next?”

Before Su Ming could open his mouth, the door to the North Room creaked open.

Manager Zhao walked out, his face wreathed in smiles, holding a plate of freshly washed spirit fruits.

“Oh my! Junior Uncle Qingfeng, Junior Aunt Mingyue! Why didn’t you two inform me you were coming? I could have prepared some fine tea and snacks!”

The speed of his attitude change over this month had left even Zhang Meng utterly astonished.

Ever since learning that Su Ming was under the protection of these two “little junior uncles,” Manager Zhao had completely dropped his airs. He now inquired daily about Su Ming’s well-being, being extremely attentive and solicitous.

“Zhao Ping, your presence is not required here.” Qingfeng’s little face immediately adopted a stern expression, clearly enjoying the feeling of being flattered.

“Yes, yes, yes, this disciple will not disturb the esteemed junior uncles’ pleasant conversation.” Manager Zhao nodded and bowed, stuffing the fruit plate into Su Ming’s hands, then lowering his voice to say, “Brother Su, the courtyard is out of water, I’ll go fetch some. If there’s any work, just give the order.”

After saying this, he tactfully picked up the water buckets and left.

Su Ming watched his retreating back, secretly shaking his head in his heart.

In this world of cultivation, the ways of human relations and worldly affairs were no different from those of the mortal imperial court.

“Su Ming, ignore him.” Qingfeng tugged at Su Ming’s sleeve, urging him, “Hurry up and tell the story, hurry up!”

Su Ming smiled, placed the fruit plate on the stone table in the courtyard, and said, “The story can wait. Actually, I happen to have a matter I’d like to ask you two about.”

He concisely explained his predicament of studying formations but being unable to grasp the fundamentals.

“…I can barely manage to draw the runes now, but for some reason, I always fail to stir the spiritual energy.”

“Formations?” Qingfeng’s eyes immediately lit up upon hearing this. He lifted his little chin, putting on the airs of an expert.

“I understand this!”

He cleared his throat, imitating the way the sect elders lectured, and began his “profound discourse.”

“The Dao of Formations is vast and profound! Its core lies in the three true words: ‘Draw,’ ‘Gather,’ and ‘Transform’!”

“The so-called ‘Draw’ means drawing upon the spiritual energy of heaven and earth for your own use! If you can’t draw it, it means your affinity with the heaven and earth’s spiritual energy is insufficient! That requires talent, understand? Talent!”

“The so-called ‘Gather’ means gathering the drawn spiritual energy at the formation core! Why can’t your drawn runes gather energy? It means your spiritual energy isn’t pure enough! Go back and practice your cultivation method another hundred times!”

“As for ‘Transform,’ that’s even more profound! Transforming spiritual energy into myriad phenomena, either for slaughter or for protection! Right now, you haven’t even touched the threshold, so don’t even think about it!”

His speech was full of cogent arguments, delivered with great confidence.

Mingyue, listening beside him, nodded repeatedly, her eyes full of admiration.

After listening, however, Su Ming frowned deeply.

These words sounded very reasonable, but… they were all correct yet useless platitudes.

The Basic Overview of Formations explained these theories in a hundred times more detail than he did.

What Su Ming wanted wasn’t theory; it was a method to solve the problem.

Looking at Qingfeng’s smug expression, Su Ming had a thought and changed his approach.

“Senior Apprentice Brother’s words are extremely insightful, they have truly opened my mind.”

He first offered a compliment, then asked, “Then… could Senior Apprentice Brother demonstrate for me how to precisely control spiritual energy, allowing it to steadily infuse into the rune at the final node, rather than instantly dissipating?”

This question precisely hit Qingfeng’s weak spot.

His little face instantly flushed red.

“Uh… well… that…” His eyes began to dart around, and he hemmed and hawed, “Spiritual energy control is a matter of slow, meticulous work! It can only be comprehended, not explained! Yes, only comprehended!”

“I… my spiritual energy circulation isn’t smooth today, not suitable for a demonstration! Another day, we’ll talk about it another day!”

After saying this, he grabbed Mingyue’s hand and ran off without looking back.

“We’ll hear the story next time!”

Watching their fleeing figures, Su Ming could only smile helplessly.

It seemed the Dao of Formations ultimately still depended on himself.

Just as he was about to return to his room to continue that tedious practice of spiritual energy control, a familiar, loud voice rang out outside the courtyard.

“Brother Su! Brother Su! Come out quickly to collect your monthly allowance!”

Wang Defa’s portly figure squeezed through the courtyard gate, panting heavily.

His face was flushed with excitement. As soon as he saw Su Ming, he enthusiastically waved him over.

“Brother Su, come quick, come quick! This month’s allowance, plus last month’s, I’m giving them to you together!”

Wang Defa fished out a small cloth pouch from his bulging storage pouch and thrust it into Su Ming’s hands.

The pouch felt heavy in his grasp.

Su Ming opened it to see six pieces of stone, quietly lying inside, emitting a warm, lustrous glow.

Low-grade spirit stones!

“Six pieces?” Su Ming was somewhat surprised.

According to the rules, menial disciples could only receive ten catties of spiritual rice and three fasting pills per month. Spirit stones were a privilege reserved for outer sect disciples.

Although he had done well in the Accounting Office this past month, it shouldn’t warrant such preferential treatment.

“Heheh!” Wang Defa proudly slapped his chest, lowered his voice, and spoke mysteriously.

“Brother Su, you don’t understand.”

“What a great merit you’ve earned for our Accounting Office, no, for our entire External Affairs Hall? Just based on those ledger analyses of yours, how many spirit stones have you saved for the sect? I, Old Wang, saw it all with my own eyes!”

He leaned in even closer, his spittle practically spraying onto Su Ming’s face.

“Last month, I applied to Elder Ma to improve your treatment! Elder Ma didn’t say anything at the time, so I thought it fell through. But when it was time to distribute the monthly allowances, Elder Ma specifically instructed me to give you an extra spirit stone per month, according to the outer sect disciple standard!”

“But back then, the official approval document from above hadn’t come down yet. I, Old Wang, thought about it, this matter had to be handled cleanly! I couldn’t let you take the money without a clear reason, only to have people gossip about it later.”

“So, I simply held back your allowance from last month! I said you had just entered the sect, the procedures weren’t finished, and we’d make it up together next month!”

He heavily patted Su Ming’s shoulder, wearing an expression that said, “Brother, I’ve worried myself sick for you.”

“See, this month the official approval came down! You are now a ‘Specially Appointed Menial’ of our External Affairs Hall’s Accounting Office! Your monthly allowance is three spirit stones! I’ve given you last month’s and this month’s, a total of six, all at once!”

“So? Did your brother here handle this matter properly or not?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep