At the same time, in the South Room.

Li Kai, who had been sitting motionless behind the door, suddenly raised his head.

He felt it.

That formation murderous aura that gnawed at his very marrow, in that instant, ceased its restless agitation. Immediately after, a gentle pulling force emanated from the room next door, guiding the murderous aura within his body, slowly flowing toward the now-repaired formation plate.

Two clear streams of tears silently slid down the cheeks of this usually taciturn young man.

He knew his gamble had paid off.

That seemingly gentle yet profoundly unfathomable Junior Brother Su had truly accomplished something even a Formation Peak elder might not be able to achieve.

“Su Ming…”

Li Kai murmured, engraving this name deep within his heart.

Meanwhile, on the distant Cloud Hidden Sect’s main peak.

A secluded supreme elder suddenly opened his eyes, looking with confusion toward the direction of the External Affairs Hall at the mountain gate.

“Just now… there seemed to be a ripple of ‘Void’? Was it an illusion…”

The old man shook his head and closed his eyes again.

The churning sea of clouds concealed all secrets.

……

The door of the South Room in Courtyard D-7 was tightly shut, yet it couldn’t contain the heavy, labored breathing inside, suppressed to its absolute limit.

When Su Ming pushed the door open, Li Kai’s right arm, covered in sinister black murderous aura lines, was currently resting on the edge of the formation plate.

With the circulation of spiritual energy, those ferocious lines, writhing like living worms, were visibly fading at a rapid pace, revealing pale but healthy skin once more.

Hearing the sound of the door opening, Li Kai abruptly looked up.

The despair in his bloodshot eyes had dissipated, replaced by a near-exhausted ecstasy and a profound reverence for the youth before him.

“The mission is accomplished without disgrace.”

Su Ming’s voice broke the silence. He didn’t look further at the arm currently being “purified.”

He took out a smooth, warm green jade slip from his sleeve and gently placed it in the center of the table.

Inside the jade slip was recorded the “flexible spiritual energy guidance flow” concept he had spent several hours deducing, along with the specific method for constructing that “water spiritual energy bridge.”

“The complete repair plan for the core node is all inside. With your foundation in the path of formations, following the template to maintain the formation plate’s operation for half a quarter-hour and expel the murderous aura shouldn’t be difficult.”

Li Kai’s hand, covered in calluses and scars, suddenly clamped onto the jade slip.

His knuckles turned white from excessive force, and the few ferocious black murderous aura lines on the back of his hand seemed to sense their impending end, writhing uneasily.

He didn’t immediately check the contents but instead took a deep breath, as if trying to expel all the despair that had accumulated in his chest for half a month.

His divine sense probed inside. Moments later, Li Kai sharply raised his head.

Those eyes, always lifeless, were now bloodshot but burning with a flame called “rebirth.”

He didn’t utter any superfluous words of gratitude. He simply stood up, took a step back, straightened his robes that hadn’t become disheveled even in his suffering, and bowed deeply to Su Ming, bending at the waist until his upper body was parallel to the ground.

Then, solemnly, he took out that ancient, simple jade slip and presented it to Su Ming with both hands.

“It is yours now.”

Su Ming took the jade slip. It felt cold to the touch, as if holding a piece of profound ice that hadn’t melted for ten thousand years.

The transaction was complete, cause and effect settled.

This young man, usually silent as a stone, now seemed somewhat hesitant.

He glanced back at the closed door, lowered his voice further, his hoarse tone echoing in the quiet meditation room, carrying a barely perceptible tension.

“Junior Brother Su, the outer sect assessment is imminent. After much thought, there are some things I must tell you.”

Li Kai stared into Su Ming’s eyes, speaking rapidly, “Although you have Elder Ma’s recommendation, for the ‘Hundred Arts Path to Heaven’ stage, the examiner in charge of formations is the brother-in-law of Steward Zhang from the Vessel Hall. This person… has very close past ties with Elder Luo’s faction from Formation Peak. Previously, when the Repair Hall cut off the Vessel Hall’s source of income, Elder Luo’s side also suffered losses. They can’t openly move against Elder Ma’s people, but if they give you a hard time within the assessment rules, no one could utter a single word of complaint.”

Su Ming’s pupils contracted slightly.

Steward Zhang’s brother-in-law? Elder Luo’s faction?

This was indeed an expected kind of trouble.

The cake of the Repair Hall was too tempting. Moving someone else’s cheese naturally invites backlash.

He just didn’t expect the retribution to come this quickly, and to target such a critical juncture as the assessment.

“Thank you for the warning, Senior Brother.” Su Ming nodded slightly, his expression unchanged. “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

Seeing Su Ming so composed, a flicker of surprise passed through Li Kai’s eyes, followed by deeper admiration. He hesitated for a moment, then pointed at the pitch-black jade slip in Su Ming’s hand, lowering his voice even further, as if afraid of disturbing some presence.

“One more thing, consider it my meddling.”

“Junior Brother, do you know the true origin of the ‘Zhou Tian Celestial Star Grand Formation,’ the foundation upon which our Cloud Hidden Sect was established, the one said to withstand attacks from peak Spirit Transformation experts?”

Su Ming’s heart stirred. “Isn’t it said to have been created by our founding patriarch, Senior Cloud Hidden Master, through observing the stars and comprehending the Dao?”

“That’s the story told to outsiders.”

A mocking curve appeared at the corner of Li Kai’s mouth. “The Patriarch was indeed a genius of unparalleled brilliance, but back then… he actually found a fragmentary scroll from ‘beyond the heavens.’ He pieced together this grand formation based on mere fragments from that scroll, combined with the topography of the thirty-six peaks here.”

A fragmentary scroll from beyond the heavens?

Su Ming felt the Xuantian ring on his right index finger tremble slightly.

“And this ‘Minor Void Spirit Attraction Formation’…” Li Kai pointed at the pitch-black jade slip, a trace of awe flashing in his eyes, “…shares the same origin as that fragmentary scroll. One could even say it is one of the very few relatively intact ‘portable’ components preserved from that vast inheritance system.”

“So, Junior Brother Su.”

Li Kai’s expression became exceptionally serious. “Although this formation is named ‘Spirit Attraction,’ in my view, its greatest use is not for cultivation. Using it for cultivation is what fools do.”

“Why?” Su Ming didn’t understand.

“Cost.” Li Kai uttered two words. “Activating this formation requires ‘Void Stone’ as a medium, something extremely difficult to find in this world. Moreover, while the spiritual energy it attracts is of ultimate purity, it carries a trace of the ‘Void’s’ cold attribute. If a cultivator directly absorbs it, they need to expend a great deal of effort to ‘warm’ it. The gain isn’t worth the loss.”

“Its true value lies in two things: First, if you suffer from injuries inflicted by difficult-to-expel foreign spiritual energy, or are poisoned by elixir toxins or murderous aura that has penetrated to the marrow, you can use the pure Void spiritual energy attracted by this formation to slowly cleanse it, like washing ink with clear water. Its effectiveness is unparalleled under heaven. Second, if you obtain some delicate spiritual seeds, or need to refine high-grade elixirs that have zero tolerance for impurities, the ‘absolutely pure’ environment provided by this formation is the finest in the world.”

Lin Yu listened, his eyes growing brighter and brighter.

For Su Ming, whose Dao foundation was damaged and urgently needed gentle nourishment and repair, and for the future high-end pill refining and talisman-making fields he might enter, this was practically a divine skill tailor-made for him.

“I understand.” Su Ming expressed his gratitude solemnly. “This is precisely the kind of formation I urgently need.”

Seeing that Su Ming had taken his words to heart, Li Kai breathed a sigh of relief.

He fished out two small bottles from his storage pouch and placed them on the table.

“Inside is the little bit of ‘Void Stone Powder’ and ‘Soul Stabilizing Sand’ I have left. I’ll give you half.”

Li Kai gave a bitter smile. “Don’t think it’s too little. This stuff is outrageously expensive. When activating the formation, remember to use the ‘Soul Stabilizing Sand’ to guard your spiritual platform. At the edges of the Void rift, there are occasionally disturbing whispers. Though not fatal, hearing them too much can easily lead to mental agitation, and even… give rise to inner demons.”

Having heard all this from Li Kai, Su Ming didn’t linger any longer. He turned and pushed the door open to leave.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep