In the afternoon, in the backyard of the Repair Hall.

The sunlight was just right, and a few sparrows were chirping noisily on the old locust tree in the courtyard.

Su Ming did not hold a general assembly as usual. Instead, he, Wang Defa, and Old Li gathered around a stone slab that had been wiped clean. There were no complex runes on the slab, only a few crudely drawn squares and arrows sketched with charcoal.

It was a simple diagram of contribution point flow.

“This is our Repair Hall’s accounts from last month,” Su Ming said, pointing at the diagram. “Income is stable, even showing slight growth. But look at the expenditures. Besides the regular material purchases, the largest portion is actually the training losses for new apprentices.”

On the diagram, an arrow pointed from the “Material Storage” to a square marked with an ‘X’. Below the square was the label “Newcomer Losses,” and next to it was a particularly eye-catching funnel-shaped graphic.

Wang Defa leaned in for a look and clicked his tongue. “Hall Master, there’s no helping it. When newcomers are learning the ropes, who doesn’t break a few things? Back when I was learning accounting, I even miscalculated several large transactions myself.”

Su Ming shook his head and pointed at the funnel. “Our current method is master teaching apprentice, passing knowledge orally and by example. The efficiency is far too low. Out of ten new menial disciples, after three months of training, less than three can independently handle faults in a low-grade Yellow-tier formation plate. This isn’t because they aren’t trying hard. It’s because our knowledge transfer is too slow, too disorganized.”

Old Li, squatting to the side smoking his pipe tobacco, nodded upon hearing this and blew out a smoke ring. “That’s the truth of it. A craft like this relies entirely on innate understanding. Some people grasp it with just a hint, while others, even if you break it down step by step for them, just can’t learn.”

“So, we need to change our method.”

Su Ming picked up the charcoal pencil and drew a few small squares next to the diagram. “We’ll take the twenty most common faults, like ‘spiritual energy conduction blockage,’ ‘loose rune node connections,’ ‘energy core overheating,’ and create ‘standard damaged components.'”

“Standard damaged components?” Wang Defa and Old Li asked in unison, their faces full of confusion.

“Exactly,” Su Ming explained. “We intentionally damage good formation plates, precisely creating those twenty most common fault conditions. Then, the new apprentices won’t do anything else. They’ll just repeatedly disassemble, diagnose, and reassemble these twenty standard components. They’ll develop muscle memory and conditioned reflexes. When they see a certain symptom, their minds won’t need to think; their hands will automatically know which component to check.”

Upon hearing this, the fat on Wang Defa’s face trembled, and his voice changed pitch. “Hall Master! This… this would waste so many good items! A single formation plate costs dozens of contribution points at the very least!”

“Sharpening the axe doesn’t delay the chopping.”

Old Li, who had been silent, suddenly spoke up, knocking his pipe against the sole of his shoe. “It’s a clumsy method, but it might be the fastest proper path. Rather than having them ruin even more valuable formation plates on actual commissions, it’s better to pay the tuition fees upfront on these ‘standard components.'”

Zhang Asheng was practicing carving runes not far away and had long since pricked up his ears at the argument. Now, he threw down his carving knife and ran over excitedly. “Hall Master, that’s a great idea! I volunteer to be that ‘instructor,’ specifically in charge of damaging formation plates!”

“You just want to cause destruction!” Wang Defa glared at him with annoyance.

Amidst the daily arguments, a concept powerful enough to change the future of the Repair Hall was quietly taking root.

……

The last autumn rain before winter arrived in the Cloud Mist Mountain Range drizzled for three days.

The humidity within Clear Stream Valley was so heavy it felt like you could wring water from the air. The moss on the cliff face, saturated with moisture, displayed a deep, almost ink-green hue.

The “Minor Heavenly Cycle Water Rhythm Formation” enveloping the cave dwelling operated with even more vigor within the curtain of rain. The originally invisible barrier now faintly glowed with an extremely pale, dark blue halo, silently devouring and transforming the endless rain, converting it into pure water spiritual energy that nourished the valley floor.

Inside the meditation room of the cave dwelling, a single lamp burned like a bean.

Su Ming sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion, his eyes slightly closed, his breathing long and subtle, almost merging with the continuous sound of rain outside.

Nearly two months had passed since the day the rule of “destructive teaching” was established.

During these two months, he spent his days at the Repair Hall supervising those apprentices as they disassembled formation plates, and his nights back in the valley diligently cultivating the “Like Water Art” and formation runes.

He hadn’t taken any aggressive elixirs, nor had he deliberately tried to break through bottlenecks. He was simply like a patient old farmer, day after day, drawing in energy, circulating it, and accumulating it.

The Dantian and Qihai within his body were now on the verge of overflowing.

The originally viscous spiritual liquid, circulating through the meridians and Dantian walls with each cycle of the “Like Water Art,” brought a faint sense of expansion with every tide-like surge.

At the center of the Qihai, that tender green seedling floated quietly.

It seemed to sense the fullness of its surroundings. Its two stretched-out leaves gently swayed. At the base of the petiole, the phantom of a third leaf had solidified to its limit, its veins clearly visible, as if ready to break free at any moment.

“Full.”

A flash of understanding passed through Su Ming’s mind.

This feeling wasn’t the painful swelling of being overstuffed, but a sense of “completion.”

Like a large vat filled with water, the water surface bulged slightly, rising above the rim, yet held back from spilling by surface tension, maintaining a delicate and fragile balance.

The opportunity had arrived.

Su Ming felt not a trace of panic, nor did his heartbeat rate change in the slightest.

He did not, like those described in passionate adventure tales, grit his teeth, turn red in the face, and “charge the barrier.”

He simply followed that feeling of “overflowing” and gave a slight nudge with his spiritual sense.

“Flow.”

He silently recited the character in his heart.

The spiritual energy that had been flowing gently through his meridians suddenly accelerated.

It wasn’t a violent surge, but more like a mountain stream merging into a great river, becoming broader and deeper.

The spiritual energy, following the circulation path of the sixth layer of the “Like Water Art,” washed over several minor meridians that had originally felt somewhat sluggish.

Those were the barriers leading to the sixth layer of Qi Refining.

There was no imagined violent collision, nor that tearing kind of pain.

The pure water spiritual energy accumulated over two months, upon touching that intangible barrier, was like spring water gently overflowing a dam.

“Pop.”

Su Ming’s ears seemed to hear an extremely faint, crisp sound.

Like a bubble bursting on the water’s surface.

That barrier that had blocked him for two months silently dissolved under the continuous soaking and scouring of the thick spiritual energy.

The originally somewhat crowded Dantian and Qihai expanded outward in that instant.

The sensation was incredibly wondrous, as if a space within his body had been forcibly stretched open. Yet, it didn’t feel uncomfortable. On the contrary, there was a sense of sudden openness and clarity.

The Qihai expanded by roughly thirty percent.

The originally overflowing spiritual liquid level dropped, but its rotation speed abruptly increased. The seedling at the center of the Qihai gave a violent tremble, and the third tender leaf fully unfurled, its entire body emerald green, radiating vibrant vitality.

As the vortex’s rotation speed quickened, the spiritual energy within the cave dwelling seemed to be pulled by some powerful force.

“Whoosh—”

A light breeze sprang up out of thin air in the meditation room.

A large amount of free-floating water spiritual energy was drawn into Su Ming’s body. After being purified through his meridians, it transformed into newly born spiritual liquid, joyfully pouring into the expanded Qihai.

The sixth layer of Qi Refining, achieved.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep