Fear and anxiety grew heavier on Su Ming’s face.

But beneath this fear, a sliver of… uncontrollable excitement and longing quietly rose.

“Yes! This disciple… this disciple understands!”

He bowed deeply, his voice trembling slightly with agitation.

“This disciple… will definitely not fail the elder’s high expectations!”

Seeing his appearance of being both scared and excited, the last trace of doubt in Liu Feng’s heart dissipated.

This kid was just a commoner who got lucky.

“Pack your things and follow me.”

Liu Feng waved his hand impatiently, turned around, and walked out of the courtyard.

Su Ming hurriedly acknowledged the order, rushed back into the room, and carefully returned the account book on the table to its original place.

Only after finishing all this did he quickly follow.

Inside the Xuantian ring, Lin Yu watched Su Ming’s series of performances and nodded with satisfaction.

…

Formation Peak was located at the edge of the Cloud Hidden Sect’s thirty-six main peaks.

The entire mountain peak was enveloped by a visible light screen composed of countless runes, radiating a powerful and profound aura.

Liu Feng led Su Ming but did not enter the main peak area.

Instead, he stopped before a huge square at the foot of the mountain.

At the edge of the square stood rows of massive, warehouse-like stone halls.

This was the “Basic Formation Lines Maintenance Department.”

Even before getting close, a chaotic and mixed aura of spiritual energy rushed towards them.

The air was filled with the smell of spirit stone powder, the scorched odor of metal smelting, and the peculiar scents of various formation materials.

This place was even more chaotic and busier than Su Ming had imagined.

Countless disciples wearing menial clothes hurriedly shuttled between the various stone halls.

Some carried huge formation plates taller than a person, others held bundles of damaged formation flags, and some pushed carts filled with scrapped spirit stones.

The clamor of voices, curses, and the clanging of metal rose and fell incessantly.

“This is it,” Liu Feng pointed to one of the largest stone halls, a flicker of disgust flashing in his eyes.

“Go in by yourself and report to Senior Brother Chen Ping, who’s in charge here. Just say you were sent by Elder Ma from the External Affairs Hall.”

After saying this, he flew away on his sword without looking back, as if avoiding the plague.

Su Ming took a deep breath, suppressed the turmoil in his heart, and stepped into that stone hall.

The interior of the stone hall was extremely spacious.

Like a giant scrap recycling station.

Piles of various low-grade formation plates, formation flags, and the wreckage of patrol puppets that needed repair were scattered everywhere, in heaps to the east and stacks to the west.

Over a dozen menial disciples were gathered around a massive workbench, frantically carrying out repair work.

“The energy circuit of this ‘Sharp’ character rune burned out again! Who did this!”

“The wear and tear on this batch of formation plates is too high! Did those brutes from Heavenly Sword Peak use them as shields?”

“Stop complaining! Hurry up! Senior Brother Chen said we must repair these thirty ‘Shield Formations’ before sunset today, or there’ll be no dinner!”

Amidst the chaos, an impatient voice rang out like thunder.

“What’s all the noise! Have you all finished the work in your hands?”

Su Ming looked in the direction of the voice.

At the far end of the stone hall, on a high-backed chair, sat a young man wearing the core disciple robes of Formation Peak.

The young man had handsome features, but between his brows was an inescapable air of irritability and arrogance.

His cultivation level was actually at the early Golden Core stage!

This person should be Chen Ping.

Chen Ping’s gaze soon fell upon Su Ming at the entrance.

He frowned, his voice icy.

“Newcomer? Which hall are you from?”

Su Ming hurried forward and bowed in greeting.

“Disciple Su Ming, greets Senior Brother Chen.”

“Elder Ma from the External Affairs Hall sent this disciple here to assist with the verification and repair of basic formation lines.”

“External Affairs Hall?”

When Chen Ping heard the words “External Affairs Hall,” the irritation between his brows intensified.

When the name “Elder Ma” came from Su Ming’s mouth, the impatience on his face instantly transformed into a suppressed fury.

“Elder Ma?”

Chen Ping repeated it once, his voice not loud, yet it instantly silenced the entire noisy stone hall.

All the menial disciples who had been working hard with their heads down froze as if under a paralysis spell, stopping their work and even lightening their breaths.

An invisible pressure began to permeate the air.

Su Ming clearly felt a gaze as sharp as a blade land on him.

That gaze carried scrutiny, contempt, and a trace of undisguised anger.

“I requested that he dispatch at least five menial disciples who understand basic formation lines.”

Chen Ping slowly rose from the high-backed chair.

With his movement, a pressure far a hundred times more powerful than that of a Foundation Establishment cultivator descended with a crash!

The pressure of a Golden Core cultivator!

Su Ming’s body suddenly sank, his bones emitting a creaking sound of strain.

The air seemed to turn into viscous mud, pressing down on his every breath.

His face instantly turned pale.

“And he sent only you?”

Chen Ping stepped forward from the depths of the stone hall, each step seeming to tread on Su Ming’s heart.

He walked up to Su Ming, looked down at him from above, and laughed in extreme anger.

“What a fine Elder Ma!”

“Does he think my Formation Peak has no one, or is he just making a fool of me?!”

He suddenly waved his hand, pointing at the mountain-like pile of damaged formation plates in the center of the hall.

“Look at all this!”

“Thirty ‘Bedrock Shield Formations’ need to be repaired before sunset! Can you alone replace five people?!”

His voice echoed like a great bell within the spacious stone hall, painfully vibrating eardrums.

The surrounding menial disciples buried their heads even lower, afraid this fury would burn them.

A few menial disciples in the corners secretly glanced up, their gazes towards Su Ming filled with sympathy and schadenfreude.

“Another unlucky fellow.”

“Look at his build, like a scholar. He might be crushed directly by Senior Brother Chen’s pressure.”

Inside the Xuantian ring, Lin Yu’s soul body instantly bristled.

“How outrageous!”

“Disciple, let’s go! We won’t suffer this humiliation! If this place doesn’t want us, there are other places that will! At worst, we’ll go back to keeping accounts!”

However, Su Ming’s reaction was beyond everyone’s expectations.

Under the mountain-like pressure, although his face was pale and his legs trembled slightly.

His back remained ramrod straight.

He bowed deeply to Chen Ping once more, his tone neither servile nor overbearing.

“Senior Brother Chen, please calm your anger.”

“This disciple does not know the specific agreement between Elder Ma and Senior Brother.”

“This disciple came under orders, knowing only to exhaust all efforts to complete the work within my duty.”

“Whether I can replace five people, this disciple dares not presume.”

Su Ming raised his head, meeting Chen Ping’s icy gaze, and said calmly.

“But please give this disciple a chance, Senior Brother. You’ll know once we try.”

His voice was not loud, but it clearly reached the ears of everyone in the stone hall.

The entire stone hall fell into a deathly silence.

All the menial disciples looked at Su Ming as if he were a madman.

Even Chen Ping’s anger paused slightly, replaced by a flicker of astonishment.

He hadn’t expected a third-stage Qi Refining menial disciple to dare say such words under his pressure.

“Master, calm down.”

Su Ming soothed the furious Lin Yu in his heart.

“This is Elder Ma’s test, and also our opportunity.”

“If we cannot even establish a foothold here, how can we talk about the future?”

Lin Yu’s soul consciousness fell silent for a moment, then transformed into a sigh.

“Ah! You child, you’re just too honest! Fine, fine, since you want to stay, your teacher will help you!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep