After seeing Qingfeng and Mingyue off, Su Ming did not immediately immerse himself in contemplating how to deal with the Vessel Hall steward. Instead, he returned to his own meditation room. No matter how turbulent the outside storm, it could not shake the most fundamental plan in his heart—improving himself.

He carefully retrieved from his storage pouch the jade slip that recorded the “Detailed Explanation of Basic Runes.”

The composite formation silently activated, completely isolating this tiny space from the outside world.

“Master, today’s incident at the Vessel Hall, though temporarily handled, also exposed that our Repair Hall is like duckweed without roots, extremely easy for others to control and manipulate,” Su Ming’s divine sense sank into the Xuantian ring, his voice carrying a trace of gravity.

“Correct.” Lin Yu’s phantom sat cross-legged inside the ring, his expression uncharacteristically serious. “Therefore, we must seize every moment to solidify our own foundation even more! External process management is the ‘technique’;
your own formation cultivation is the ‘Way’! Only by unifying the Way and the technique can one truly stand undefeated.”

Su Ming deeply agreed. He expelled distracting thoughts and immersed his divine sense into the jade slip. This time, his goal was no longer to learn new runes, but to conduct a deeper-level organization and induction of the fifteen basic runes he had already mastered.

He did not try to memorize those complex variations. Instead, he learned the method Lin Yu taught him, seeking the “principle” behind each rune.

“Gathering” is gravitational force, “Control” is repulsive force, “Solidify” is structural stability, “Flow” is energy conduction…

In his Consciousness Sea, it was as if a massive mind map had appeared. The fifteen basic runes were no longer isolated points, but were connected through various logical relationships into a complex yet orderly network.

One hour later, Su Ming slowly opened his eyes and let out a long, turbid breath. He felt his divine sense was more condensed than before, and his understanding of formations had stepped onto an entirely new level.

…

The next day.

The appearance of the “Data Wall” was like a public slap in the face to those whispering rumors.

Many passing External Affairs Hall disciples stopped in their tracks, pointing and commenting at the data on the wall, their faces full of astonishment.

“Goodness, the loss ratio is even lower than the standard value? How was that achieved?”

“It seems the rumors are untrue. Their ledgers are crystal clear.”

Su Ming looked at this “Data Wall,” the corner of his mouth curling into a barely perceptible arc.

Inside the Xuantian ring, Lin Yu’s soul thought materialized into a phantom wearing gold-rimmed glasses, currently pointing and gesturing at a virtual whiteboard.

“See that, disciple! This is called ‘Transparent Open Management and Public Opinion Guidance’! Let all doubts crumble before absolutely real data! Not only must we do the work beautifully, we must also keep up with the publicity work!”

Just then, a steward wearing Vessel Hall attire strode briskly into the courtyard. This person had a square face and a serious demeanor, exactly the one who had been responsible for receiving the “Sharp Metal Formation Plate” last time.

He was not here to cause trouble, but to deliver a new batch of formation vessels awaiting repair.

After the handover was complete, he did not leave immediately. Instead, he walked up to that “Data Wall” and examined it carefully for a long while.

He suddenly turned around and, facing the busy crowd within the courtyard, said in a clear, loud voice, “Everyone, I am Zhou Tong, steward of the Vessel Hall. That batch of Sharp Metal Formation Plates from last time, after being personally inspected by the elder, were found to have superior repair quality, smooth spiritual energy operation, and extremely precise material usage with not a single bit of waste! The elder specifically ordered me to deliver another batch of tasks and to convey his thanks to everyone at the Repair Hall on his behalf!”

His voice was resonant and full of vigor, clearly reaching the ears of everyone inside and outside the courtyard.

These words were like a resounding slap, fiercely striking the faces of those rumor-mongers!

Outside the courtyard, the sharp-faced, monkey-cheeked Manager Liu happened to be passing by. Looking at the glaring data on the wall and hearing the Vessel Hall steward’s undisguised praise, the smile on his face instantly froze, becoming extremely gloomy.

He flicked his sleeve and left, his eyes flashing with venomous light.

“Fine! What a Su Ming! Since I can’t beat you with open schemes, then don’t blame me… for using underhanded tricks!”

…

The next day, the Repair Hall received a “special task” personally issued and signed by Manager Liu.

When a massive flatbed cart pulled by four “Iron-Armored Savage Oxen” rumbled to a stop at the gate of Bing Character Seven Courtyard, everyone was stunned.

On the cart was piled a small mountain.

A “garbage mountain” haphazardly stacked with various discarded parts, damaged magical artifacts, burnt formation flags, and wreckage mixed with mud and medicinal dregs!

The pungent smell of metal corrosion, dissipated spiritual energy, and rotting vegetation mixed together was enough to make people gag.

Manager Liu stood beside the cart, unfolding a task archive with a false smile.

“Junior Brother Su, hard work. This is the ‘mixed waste material’ cleared out from various places within the sect, backlogged for a long time. The Hall of Meritorious Deeds is pressing hard, and Elder Ma values your Repair Hall’s ‘sorting’ ability, so he entrusted this important task to you.”

He pointed at the small mountain, his eyes full of schadenfreude.

“The requirement isn’t high. Within three days, just sort and categorize all materials within it that still have recycling value, and register them in a ledger. If you miss the Hall of Meritorious Deeds’ deadline, Elder Ma’s face… won’t look too good.”

Old Li and Zhang Asheng’s faces instantly turned pale.

What kind of task was this? This was clearly deliberate obstruction!

Such a massive, such a mixed pile of waste material—forget three days, even thirty days might not be enough to sort through it!

This was simply an impossible task!

Yet, not a trace of panic could be seen on Su Ming’s face.

He just calmly looked at that “garbage mountain.” Far from despair, his eyes instead shone with an almost fervent light.

He stepped forward slowly, reached into the pile of waste material, pinched a small pinch of scorched black earth mixed with metal shavings, and brought it lightly to his nose to sniff.

“Master,” he whispered in his heart, “I smell it… the scent of process.”

Lin Yu’s soul thought inside the Xuantian ring laughed so hard he nearly tumbled over.

“Good disciple! You have promise! Crisis, crisis—within danger lies opportunity! Isn’t this the perfect opportunity for us to perfect the ‘waste material recycling and reuse’ process? A teaching case delivered right to our doorstep!”

Su Ming straightened up, facing the livid Manager Liu with a slight, gentle, and harmless smile.

“Please rest assured, Manager Liu.”

“The Repair Hall guarantees completion of the task.”

Manager Liu looked at his composed and unruffled appearance, feeling an inexplicable twinge of unease in his heart. He snorted coldly, flicked his sleeve, and left.

After he left, the atmosphere within the courtyard became extremely tense.

“Senior Brother Su, this… what do we do?” Qian Xiaofan asked.

Su Ming turned around, his gaze sweeping over the anxious faces of everyone, his voice steady and forceful.

“Why panic?”

“It’s just a pile of unsorted materials.”

He walked to the courtyard wall, picked up a new wooden board, and began writing with vigorous, flowing strokes.

“Today, we establish a new process—Waste Material Preprocessing and Classification!”

He gathered everyone together, pointed at the small mountain, his eyes flashing with intelligent light.

“Old Li, you have the most experience. You are responsible for preliminary identification, sorting out the four major categories: metal, jade, wood, and fabric.”

“Zhang Asheng, your hands are the steadiest. You are responsible for fine cleaning, removing impurities from the sorted materials.”

“Old Wang, your mind is the most meticulous. You are responsible for recording and cross-referencing, compiling the ‘Waste Material Classification Atlas,’ recording the form, properties, and residual value of every single type of material for me!”

“Zhao Tiezhu, Qian Xiaofan, you two are strong. You are responsible for moving and rough washing!”

He paused, looking at everyone, enunciating each word clearly.

“Remember, we are not picking through garbage.”

“We are establishing an unprecedented standard for the sect!”

These words were like a shot of adrenaline, instantly dispelling the fear in everyone’s hearts.

That’s right! We are not picking through garbage!

Under Senior Brother Su’s leadership, they had created one miracle after another. This time, they definitely could too!

The team’s sense of belonging and combat effectiveness, faced with this unprecedented obstruction, was thoroughly ignited and unprecedentedly united!

A race against time thus began.

Relying on efficient assembly line operation and increasingly seamless cooperation, this seemingly impossible “garbage mountain” was rapidly decomposed and categorized at a visible speed.

Two and a half days later.

When Manager Liu arrived right on schedule, ready to watch the Repair Hall become a laughingstock, what he saw in Bing Character Seven Courtyard were hundreds of neatly stacked, meticulously categorized material boxes, and a thick, illustrated “Waste Material Classification Atlas.”

The Repair Hall had not only completed this thorny task on time, but even half a day early.

When the news spread, the entire External Affairs Hall was in an uproar.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep