Su Ming’s words were nine parts truth, one part falsehood.

He had indeed spent a great deal of time on the basic runes.

But he omitted his master’s guidance, and he concealed his own comprehension ability that far surpassed the ordinary.

He had compressed his actual progress by at least tenfold.

“Oh?”

Elder Ma’s tone gave no indication of joy or anger.

“Set one up, let me see.”

“Yes.”

Su Ming replied respectfully.

He did not go looking for spirit stones or jade.

He simply walked to a corner of the meditation room, and from a potted plant used for decoration, picked up three of the most inconspicuous, fingernail-sized pebbles.

Then, he crouched down, right there on the polished, mirror-like bluestone floor, and prepared to begin.

Lin Yu’s soul thought, at this moment, transformed into the most demanding director.

“Your hand, tremble a little! Yes, just like that, as if your spiritual energy is unstable!”

“Your expression must be pained! Frown! Make others think that mobilizing every wisp of spiritual energy is like being constipated for you!”

“The rune inscription must be slow! Hesitant! Pause at the turning points, make it look like you’re pondering the meaning of life!”

Su Ming’s performance was practically flawless.

He extended his index finger, mobilizing that faint wisp of spiritual energy within his body.

His fingertip slowly traced across the floor, leaving behind a crooked, dimly glowing cyan trace.

The entire process was halting and stumbling.

He would pause from time to time, as if recalling the strokes.

At times, sweat beaded on his forehead, as if his spiritual energy was insufficient.

It took a full stick of incense’s time before a structurally simple, even somewhat ugly “Gathering” character rune finally took shape.

*Hum.*

At the center of the three pebbles, a faint halo of light ignited.

That halo flickered like a candle in the wind, brightening and dimming unsteadily.

An invisible, extremely weak force field rippled outwards from the rune as its center.

The range of the force field was no more than three feet.

Where it passed, a few specks of dust on the floor were gently pushed aside.

One breath.

Two breaths.

…

Exactly ten breaths.

The halo flickered twice, then completely extinguished.

Everything returned to stillness.

Su Ming let out a long, heavy sigh, his face wearing a trace of joy after success, but more than that, the pallor of depleted spiritual energy.

He stood up and bowed deeply once more towards Elder Ma.

“Elder, this disciple has made a fool of himself.”

The meditation room was utterly silent.

Elder Ma’s turbid eyes stared quietly at the three ordinary stones on the floor.

No one knew that, in the very moment Su Ming was setting up the array just now,

His seemingly ancient-well-still divine sense had already clearly observed every single detail of the entire process.

The spiritual energy was weak. That was true.

The technique was clumsy. That was true.

The array’s effect was poor. That was also true.

But!

Beneath that surface appearance of clumsiness and weakness, what was hidden was a level of control that was almost terrifying!

The output of every single wisp of spiritual energy was neither too much nor too little, just enough to maintain the rune’s formation.

Every pause, seemingly hesitant, was actually to allow the subsequent spiritual energy to connect more smoothly.

From beginning to end, not a single iota of spiritual energy was wasted in the entire array!

More importantly, this kid had actually completed the array setup using only ordinary stones!

Elder Ma’s hand, holding the teacup, under the concealment of his sleeve, paused for a moment, almost imperceptibly.

Back then, when he exceptionally approved three spirit stones for him monthly, it was to see, once he had spirit stones as the array’s energy source, what fraction of power he could unleash from this most basic array. He never expected… the kid had actually reached this stage.

A glimmer of extremely difficult-to-detect sharp light flashed in his turbid eyes.

Interesting.

A truly interesting little fellow.

He did not expose it, nor did he offer praise or criticism.

He merely placed the teacup gently back on the table.

“Progress is acceptable,” he spoke indifferently, his voice as calm as ever.

“With your foundation damaged to this extent, to still possess such temperament and comprehension is truly not easy.”

Su Ming kept his head bowed, but his mind was rapidly calculating.

“Acceptable” meant “not bad.”

“Truly not easy” meant “very good.”

It seemed this performance had passed.

“Dismissed.” Elder Ma waved his hand.

“Yes.”

Su Ming respectfully performed a bow and turned to leave.

Just as his hand was about to touch the meditation room door, Elder Ma’s voice came from behind him once more.

“If you encounter difficulties, you may…”

Elder Ma’s voice paused, as if carefully choosing his words.

“…come ask me again.”

Su Ming’s body stiffened abruptly.

He slowly turned around, looking at the old man, his face filled with a perfectly appropriate, incredulous delight.

He opened his mouth, seeming to want to say something, but in the end, it only transformed into an even deeper, heartfelt long bow.

“Thank you… Elder!”

This final sentence was a signal.

An immensely important signal.

It meant that Su Ming was no longer merely a “useful” menial post from the Accounting Office.

He had been truly, by Elder Ma, brought within the scope of those who could be “guided.”

This door leading to higher levels, Elder Ma had personally pushed it open a crack for him.

Su Ming withdrew from the meditation room and gently closed the door behind him.

Outside, the soft sunlight fell upon him, making him feel somewhat unreal.

Inside the Xuantian ring, Lin Yu let out a long sigh of relief.

“Whew, we finally managed to fool him.”

“From today on, you have a real backer in this External Affairs Hall!”

Su Ming’s heart settled, and his footsteps also became much steadier.

He did not return to Courtyard Ding-Qi, but instead walked straight towards the scrap repository deep within the Accounting Office.

Elder Ma’s “olive branch” was an opportunity, but also a death warrant.

He had to become faster, stronger.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep