For a cultivator, a month’s time was nothing more than the span of a short nap.

In Clear Stream Valley, the vines had climbed three feet higher up the cliff face. The stream at the valley entrance had swelled and receded twice with the rainy season.

Within the cave dwelling, the “Minor Heavenly Cycle Water Rhythm Formation” operated with increasing smoothness, shrouding this remote valley in a perennial, faint mist. To outsiders, this place seemed cold, damp, and utterly lifeless. In truth, the interior was warm and moist with spiritual energy, a hidden world of its own.

Inside the meditation room, the air was unnaturally dry and hot.

Su Ming was bare-chested, sweat trickling down his spine. Before the droplets could hit the ground, they were vaporized into white steam by the residual high temperature lingering in the air.

A water sphere the size of a fist hovered before him.

Su Ming’s eyes were bloodshot, his divine sense honed like a carving knife as he attempted to forcibly inscribe a fiery red “Burst” character rune onto the surface of the extremely unstable water ball.

Fire and water being incompatible was a fundamental law of heaven and earth.

The moment the rune, representing the ultimate ferocity of the fire attribute, touched the gentle water spiritual energy, the violent repulsion reaction occurred exactly as expected.

“Zzzzt—”

A sharp, piercing screech rang out.

The water sphere didn’t shatter into lethally sharp fragments as anticipated. Instead, like a deflating balloon, it trembled violently before transforming into a shower of scalding hot water that drenched Su Ming from head to toe.

“Three hundred and twenty-four.”

Lin Yu’s phantom sat cross-legged in mid-air, having even conjured a handful of sunflower seeds in his hand. Though he couldn’t actually crack them, his posture was the epitome of someone enjoying a show. “Disciple, admit it. What you’re doing is like trying to make a fish wear iron armor to go for a run. You’re torturing both the fish and the armor.”

Su Ming wiped the hot water from his face and slumped back onto the meditation cushion, somewhat dejected.

If this hot water had poured onto an ordinary person, their skin would have blistered and peeled instantly. But for a cultivator at the fifth level of Qi Refining, it was merely like taking a bath.

“The power is too dispersed.”

Su Ming stared at the mess on the floor, his brow deeply furrowed. “The explosion of fire lies in the instantaneous release of light and heat, propelling shockwaves to injure. Even if I manage to force it into shape using water spiritual energy, the end result is just a pushing shockwave at best. It might knock someone over, but it wouldn’t even scrape their skin.”

“That’s because the ‘wall’ in your mind hasn’t been torn down yet.”

Lin Yu drifted down and extended a finger, swiping it through the puddle of hot water. “You’ve been imitating ‘fire.’ Why imitate it? Can’t water explode?”

Su Ming was taken aback. “The nature of water is supreme softness…”

“Softness my foot.”

Lin Yu rolled his eyes, his tone turning serious. “Disciple, let this teacher test you. If you put a pot of water into a completely sealed iron canister, then fiercely burn a fire underneath it, what will ultimately happen?”

Su Ming thought for a moment before answering, “The iron canister will explode.”

“Why will it explode?”

“The water turns to steam, its volume expands, and the canister cannot contain it…” Su Ming’s voice cut off halfway through his sentence.

His pupils contracted sharply, as if he had just grasped a flash of lightning streaking across his mind.

“Volume… expansion?”

Lin Yu snapped his fingers, a pleased, teacherly smile appearing on his face. “The essence of a fire explosion is the rapid expansion of gas produced by combustion. But water doesn’t need to combust. When water turns to steam, its volume can increase a thousandfold! If that kind of force is confined within a tiny space, the instantaneous thrust it generates is purer, more domineering than gunpowder!”

“You don’t need ‘Burn.’ What you need is ‘Expand’ and ‘Shatter’!”

Su Ming sprang to his feet, not bothering to wipe the water from his body, and began pacing back and forth in the meditation room.

He muttered under his breath.

“Gathering spiritual energy into water, that’s ‘Gathering.'”

“Transforming water into a prison, that’s ‘Solidify.'”

“Agitating water into steam, that’s… ‘Heat’?”

Su Ming stopped in his tracks, a sharp light flashing in his eyes. “I don’t need the fire attribute’s ‘Burn.’ I just need pure spiritual energy friction, or extremely high-frequency vibrations, to make the water boil and vaporize in an instant!”

“As long as the outer shell is hard enough, the internal pressure is great enough…”

…

Early the next morning, at the Repair Hall.

Su Ming, sporting dark circles under his eyes, appeared punctually at the Bing Character Seven Courtyard.

Though his mind was completely occupied with ideas for rune combinations, as the Hall Master, he couldn’t neglect his daily administrative duties.

This was the foundation of his standing within the sect, and also the best cover for concealing his cultivation.

“Hall Master, this is the inventory list of damaged and retired magical implements returned from the front lines last month.”

Wang Defa carefully placed a thick ledger on Su Ming’s desk.

After two months apart, Old Wang seemed to have lost some weight, his frame a bit tighter, likely due to being run ragged by Su Ming’s set of “standardized procedures.”

Nowadays, everyone in the Repair Hall moved with purpose and efficiency.

Su Ming took the ledger and flipped through it casually.

His gaze paused on one particular entry.

“‘Flexwood Shields,’ damaged quantity: one hundred and twenty. Cause of damage: Internal fiber fracture?”

Su Ming looked up at Wang Defa. “Old Wang, flexwood is famously sturdy among low-grade magical implements. Chopping at it with an axe would at most leave a white mark. How could so many have ‘internal fractures’?”

Wang Defa was momentarily stunned, not expecting the Hall Master to focus on such a detail. He hurriedly explained, “Hall Master, you might not be aware. This batch of shields was issued to disciples assigned to missions in the ‘Black Swamp.’ That place has heavy humidity and lots of poisonous miasma. These shields look fine on the surface, but the dampness seeped in through the gaps in the runes. If they encountered an ambush and the enemy used ice or fire-based spells…”

Old Wang gestured with his hands. “Even with just a cycle of extreme cold and heat, the moisture that seeped in would either freeze and expand or instantly turn to steam. No matter how hard the flexwood is, it can’t withstand that kind of turmoil happening inside it. When we took them apart for inspection, the insides were all crumbled to bits, like rotten wood.”

“Moisture seepage… extreme cold and heat… internal disintegration…”

Su Ming’s fingers tapped lightly on the desk, his gaze gradually growing profound.

Old Wang’s words were like a puzzle piece, fitting perfectly into the framework of his conception from last night.

The strongest fortresses are often breached from within.

If last night’s theory was about manufacturing a bomb, then Old Wang’s account had just shown him the delivery method for that bomb—infiltration.

“Set aside two shields from this batch. Don’t repair them. Send them to my cave dwelling.”

Su Ming closed the ledger, his tone calm. “I want to study them for improvements.”

Wang Defa quickly assented, though inwardly he was filled with admiration. *The Hall Master is truly dedicated. He even personally delves into these peripheral issues. No wonder he gets top marks.*

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep