177: assembly line

Su Ming instantly understood Lin Yu's meaning.

Without hesitation, he immediately gathered the five core members.

"Gentlemen, our speed is still not fast enough."

As soon as he spoke, Old Wang and the others, who had just felt a hint of pride, felt their hearts clench again.

Su Ming, Chief Engineer, ignored their astonishment and walked towards the mountain of Formation Plates, beginning his earth-shattering "modular decomposition."

"All Formation Plates are divided into three major categories based on function!" His voice was steady and clear, carrying a reassuring strength.

"The Sharp Metal Formation, Stone Splitting Formation, and others are classified as the 'Attack Module,' and Old Li, you are in charge of this!"

"The Kunyuan Shield Formation, Bedrock Formation, and others are classified as the 'Defense Module,' Zhang Asheng, this is yours!"

"The Quieting Heart Formation, Swift Travel Formation, and others are classified as the 'Auxiliary Module,' Zhao Tiezhu, Qian Xiaofan, the two of you will work together!"

"Old Wang!" Su Ming's gaze finally landed on Old Wang. "You are no longer Quality Inspection; you are the 'Chief Scheduler' and 'Quality Control Director'! You are responsible for the precise allocation of all materials and the tracking of all semi-finished products!"

He forcibly disassembled five hundred Formation Plates into three massive "project groups." But this was only the beginning.

"Just the five of us isn't enough." Su Ming turned, pulling out the Profound Iron Token representing Elder Ma's authority from his robes. "I need more manpower."

Half an hour later, twenty Utility Disciples, who were the most honest and hardworking in the External Affairs Hall but were marginalized due to poor talent, stood nervously at the entrance of the Bing Zi Qi Hao Courtyard.

They looked with dread at the small mountain of stacked Formation Plates inside the courtyard, thinking they had been called in to be scapegoats.

However, what Su Ming said next was something they would never forget.

"From now on, each of you only needs to learn one action."

Su Ming picked up a disassembled component and walked over to a Utility Disciple.

"Your task is to use this soft cloth soaked in Dust Cleansing Fluid to wipe this component three times, from left to right. Remember, only three times, and only from left to right."

He walked to another person and handed him the thickest Talisman Brush.

"Your task is to re-ink the most basic Auxiliary 'Draw' Inscription with Spirit Ink. You don't need to inject Spiritual Power, just ensure the application is even."

...Twenty people, twenty steps that were simple, mechanical, and even tedious.

This was the "assembly line" Lin Yu spoke of—a method of production capable of overturning this world!

But a new problem immediately arose: inscribing runes, even the simplest auxiliary ones, required a certain foundation; a shaky hand could ruin the part.

"Master, their hands are unsteady." Su Ming instantly spotted the issue.

"Heh, I expected that," Lin Yu laughed. "Disciple, do you remember the chalk lines and mortise and tenon joints used by mortal carpenters? Come, your Master will teach you to design a few 'Universal Tooling' devices."

Under Lin Yu's guidance, Su Ming, Chief Engineer, quickly used several pieces of hard Ironwood to design several adjustable Inscription Engraving Bases.

These bases were unremarkable, yet they utilized the simplest physical principles to design various slots, limit rulers, and auxiliary guide rails. An inexperienced Utility Disciple only needed to fit the component snugly into the base and run the Talisman Brush along the guide rail to trace a standard inscription with minimal error.

These few crude "Universal Tooling" devices were like a divine stroke, instantly bridging the largest skill gap between the operators!

Night fell once more.

The Bing Zi Qi Hao Courtyard, however, was as bright as day.

Dozens of repaired Illumination Formation Plates were hung high, lighting the entire courtyard in sharp detail.

A shocking scene, one that would make any Formation Master feel their scalp tingle, was playing out here.

Twenty-five people were silently and intently busy at their respective workstations.

The courtyard was bustling but orderly, terrifyingly quiet. There was no conversation, no noise, only the rhythmic 'clack' of tools hitting components, the 'shhh' of Talisman Brushes sliding across Formation Plates, and the sound of Old Wang, the Quality Control Director, furiously writing in the ledger.

The air was a mix of the herbal fragrance of Dust Cleansing Fluid, the rich scent of Spirit Ink, and the faint warmth of metal components being polished, forming a unique atmosphere of "creation."

Everyone was like a precise gear, driven by an invisible hand, embedded in this terrifying machine named "Efficiency," operating at high speed.

A new wooden board was hung next to the "Data Wall," displaying the day's "Work Log."

The numbers on it were no longer increasing slowly, but jumping wildly at an alarming rate.

[Chen Hour: 120 items repaired.]

[Si Hour: 175 items repaired.]

[Wu Hour: 250 items repaired!]

...Old Wang held the verification checklist in one hand and a charcoal pen in the other, his wrist moving so fast it was almost a blur. In the wooden box behind him, the white stones representing qualified products were piled high.

The pass rate was still that terrifying—one hundred percent!

Su Ming stood in the center of the courtyard like a general planning his strategy. He no longer repaired things himself but constantly patrolled the three "production lines," solving various minor issues that arose in the process.

When his gaze swept across the Defense Module production line, that familiar, extremely subtle sense of Spiritual Power stagnation came again from a batch of semi-finished Kunyuan Shield Formations.

He calmly picked up one of the core modules and examined it carefully with his Divine Sense.

This time, he finally captured the source of the anomaly.

Deep within a node where the 'Kun' Inscription and the 'Gu' Inscription intersected, a Spiritual Power Circuit, hundreds of times finer than a strand of hair, contained an extremely tiny distortion.

"Master, I found it." Su Ming's heart sank.

"Excellent work!" Lin Yu's tone also grew serious. "This flaw is invisible normally. But under high-intensity Spiritual Power activation, this distortion point will become a Bottleneck, leading to the Formation's failure at best, and at worst... it will trigger a chain reaction of Spiritual Power Collapse!"

A layer of cold sweat instantly broke out on Su Ming's back.

If a defensive Formation Plate suddenly collapsed during the Minor Cycle Martial Competition... he dared not imagine it.

This was a scheme far more sinister and malicious than Sun Quan's trap!

Because the blame for this would perfectly fall upon the Formation Inscription Repair Hall!

Just then, a cold voice sounded outside the courtyard gate without warning, like the chill wind of the Twelfth Lunar Month, instantly extinguishing all the bustling activity inside.

"It seems your progress is much faster... than I anticipated."