Behind the counter, a steward in gray robes was yawning out of sheer boredom. Seeing Su Ming approach, he didn’t even lift his eyelids. “What are you taking? Show your waist token first.”

“I’m taking task seventy-three, Spirit Beast Peak formation maintenance.” Su Ming handed over his waist token.

The steward, who had been picking his teeth, suddenly froze, nearly jabbing his gum.

He looked up, giving Su Ming a once-over, his gaze as if looking at a madman.

“You?” The steward pointed at Su Ming’s brand-new outer sect magic robe. “Never seen you before. Newly promoted? Do you know how many days that task has been posted? Two Qi Refining late-stage formation masters went before, one had his eyebrows singed by an out-of-control earth fire, the other almost got turned into an ice pop. Both slunk away after paying compensation. You, a… hmm, Qi Refining fifth layer? Going to send yourself to death or to send money?”

Several disciples nearby who were picking tasks also cast surprised glances, and whispers started to rise.

“Who is this kid? So ignorant of his own limits?”

“He looks unfamiliar, probably just entered and wants to show off.”

“Hey, if those Jade Water Python eggs shatter, he’ll probably be scrubbing chamber pots on Spirit Beast Peak for the rest of his life to pay off the debt.”

Su Ming’s expression didn’t change, his tone steady. “Since this disciple dares to take it, I naturally have some confidence. If something truly goes wrong, this disciple is willing to compensate according to the rules.”

The steward sneered, about to dissuade (or rather, mock) him, when a thunderously rough voice suddenly boomed from the main hall entrance.

“Who still dares to take it?! My eggs are about to be cooked! Those trash from Formation Peak usually brag to the heavens, but at the critical moment, they all turn into turtles pulling their heads in!”

The crowd scattered with a rustle.

They saw a burly, bear-like man wearing a sleeveless leather vest stride in with large steps.

His face was full of thick, fierce-looking flesh, his crimson hair stood on end, and his entire body exuded a heart-palpitating aura of violence, the bloody scent from years of battling demonic beasts.

Spirit Beast Peak outer sect disciple, Lei Hu.

Qi Refining ninth layer peak.

Lei Hu charged to the counter, slapping a palm on the table, making the pen holder jump. “Steward Liu! Still no one taking it? If something happens to those three Jade Water Python eggs, I’ll dismantle this counter of yours!”

Steward Liu shuddered in fright, hurriedly forcing a smile. “Senior Brother Lei, calm your anger, calm your anger! This task’s difficulty is too high, there’s compensation and…”

“Cut the crap!” Lei Hu’s eyes were bloodshot. “Isn’t there a single man with balls who dares to try?”

“This senior brother.”

A clear, resonant yet neither subservient nor arrogant voice sounded beside Lei Hu.

Lei Hu turned his head sharply, seeing a thin, azure-robed youth standing quietly there, holding the jade slip representing the task in his hand.

“I’ll take it.” Su Ming looked directly into Lei Hu’s oppressively intense eyes without the slightest retreat.

Lei Hu narrowed his eyes, his violent spiritual pressure pressing down on Su Ming like a mountain. “You? A kid whose hair hasn’t even fully grown? Which elder’s personal disciple are you?”

Su Ming felt his breath catch, but the “Like Water Art” within his body automatically circulated. That soft, tenacious water spiritual energy instantly dissolved most of the pressure.

“Neither.” Su Ming said calmly. “Outer sect disciple, Su Ming. Repair Hall Hall Master.”

“Repair Hall?” Lei Hu was stunned for a moment, seeming to have some impression of the name but couldn’t recall it. “That place that fixes broken junk?”

A few chuckles came from the surroundings.

Su Ming wasn’t angered, just calmly raised the jade slip in his hand. “Senior Brother, if you want to continue discussing my background here, those three spirit eggs will probably truly be cooked. It’s true I fix broken junk, but sometimes, those who fix broken things understand better how to solve trouble than those who make them.”

Lei Hu stared at Su Ming for three breaths.

He saw not the slightest trace of fear or vanity in this youth’s eyes, only a kind of nearly cold rationality and confidence. He had seen this kind of look in the eyes of truly skilled experts.

“Fine!”

Lei Hu suddenly waved a hand. “Treating a dead horse as a live one to doctor! Kid, if you can save my spirit eggs, I owe you a favor! If you ruin them because your skills are lacking…”

He leaned close to Su Ming, baring his pale white teeth. “I’ll throw you into the python nest to incubate eggs!”

Su Ming expressionlessly tucked the jade slip into his robe. “Lead the way.”

…

Spirit Beast Peak, rear mountain cold pool.

Before even getting close, an extremely strange aura assaulted their senses.

The left half of the body felt as if falling into an ice cellar, the cold piercing to the bone; the right half felt unbearably hot and dry, as if standing in a furnace.

They saw a deep, emerald green pool above which white mist steamed.

Intricate formation flags were arranged around the cold pool, but at this moment, these flags were scattered and askew, some covered in frost, others already charred and smoking.

In the center of the cold pool, on a stone platform, lay three green snake eggs the size of human heads. At this moment, the luster on the surface of these three snake eggs was extremely dim, even faintly emitting a grayish, decaying aura.

“See it?” Lei Hu stood by the pool’s edge, anxiously rubbing his hands. “This earth fire vein has gone crazy for some reason, surging up once every half hour. The cold pool’s original ‘Profound Yin Formation’ can’t suppress it. I had someone add a ‘Blazing Fire Formation’ to try to neutralize it, but the two sides started fighting!”

Su Ming didn’t speak. He activated the “observation micro state.”

With the support of Lin Yu’s soul power, the scene before him instantly transformed into countless red and blue intertwined lines.

Red was the earth fire murderous aura, violent, disorderly, like a herd of mad bulls charging up from underground.

Blue was the cold pool’s yin energy, icy cold, stagnant, pressing down firmly from above.

The two collided violently at the location of the snake eggs, forming terrifying spiritual energy turbulent flows.

Those three fragile snake eggs were like beans between millstones, about to be crushed at any moment.

“Typical ‘block the leak’ thinking.” Lin Yu evaluated within the Consciousness Sea. “The previous formation master tried to use cold energy to suppress the earth fire, resulting in accumulated pressure that erupts even more violently.”

Su Ming nodded, taking out eighteen blank formation flags from his storage pouch.

He didn’t immediately set up the formation. Instead, he walked a circle around the cold pool, stopping every few steps to gently tap the ground with his toe, as if measuring something.

“Hey! What are you doing? Performing a shaman dance?” Lei Hu was growing impatient.

“Shut up.”

Su Ming didn’t even turn his head, coldly spitting out two words.

Lei Hu choked, about to explode, but then saw Su Ming suddenly move.

This time, he didn’t use any complex hand seals. Instead, he directly inserted the formation flags in his hand at an extremely tricky angle into seemingly completely unrelated spots of soil at the cold pool’s edge.

The first flag, inserted at the Li position, three inches left of center.

The second flag, inserted at the Kan position, five inches right of center.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep