192: All methods of formation lead to the same goal, though different paths may lead to the same destination.

"The spirit is the Master of man. The Soul is the dwelling of the spirit. Nurturing the Divine Soul is like a clam holding a pearl, or earth concealing gold. It does not strive for temporary strength or weakness, but only seeks the Perfection of its Origin. Maintain profound tranquility, achieve ultimate emptiness, and nurture my vast and righteous Soul with the Qi of heaven and earth..."

Su Ming's heart trembled.

This Cultivation Technique didn't teach how to attack, nor how to perform Possession; the entire text focused on how to "nurture."

It taught how to stabilize the Soul body, how to repair cracks, and how to maintain one's clarity and integrity over long ages. It emphasized stability, refinement, and slow growth, rather than opportunistic devouring and plundering.

"Like a clam holding a pearl..." Lin Yu murmured to himself, his voice trembling slightly. "Isn't this tailor-made for 'stubborn residents' like me? Not seeking to kill or rob, but only to ensure I don't wear myself out in this long river of time."

"This is it!" Lin Yu laughed loudly. "Disciple, quick! Write it down! This is a good thing, a true orthodox Daoist technique, a million times better than those flashy, cheap tricks!"

Su Ming no longer hesitated. He unleashed his full Divine Sense and began to engrave the True Explanation of Nurturing Spirit.

However, the moment his Divine Sense probed into the core of the light sphere, an anomaly suddenly occurred!

The originally gentle light sphere seemed to have triggered some Restriction, and a huge suction force suddenly erupted from within!

Su Ming felt his Divine Sense instantly being pulled into a massive gray vortex. Countless chaotic images, whispers, and even the sighs of some ancient existence, surged towards him like a tide.

"What is spirit? What is Soul? Do you also desire immortality? Abandon your Physical Body..."

A tempting thought tried to lure Su Ming into abandoning resistance and sinking into this gray tranquility.

"Not good! It's the Legacy trial!" Lin Yu exclaimed in shock. "This thing looks gentle, but its threshold is extremely high! It's testing the resilience of your Divine Soul! Disciple, guard your spiritual platform! Don't listen to that nonsense!"

Su Ming's face turned pale, and large beads of sweat instantly seeped from his forehead.

The pulling force was immense, as if it wanted to forcibly peel his Soul from his Physical Body.

"Flowing Water..."

At the critical moment, Su Ming gritted his teeth and silently recited the scriptures of the Ruoshui Art in his heart.

"The greatest good is like water... dwelling in good places... with a heart as deep as a deep..."

The water spiritual power within his Dantian frantically circulated, transforming into a cool torrent that rushed straight into his Sea of Consciousness.

That coolness was like a dam, firmly blocking the erosion of the gray vortex.

Although Su Ming's eyes showed pain, he maintained the last shred of clarity.

He was like a reef in a stormy sea, standing firm and unmoving no matter how the waves crashed against him.

Boom!

Perhaps sensing this unbreakable will, or perhaps the all-encompassing nature of the Ruoshui Art took effect, the gray vortex suddenly paused, then rapidly collapsed and contracted, finally transforming into golden characters that obediently imprinted themselves deep within Su Ming's memory.

Whoosh... Su Ming's legs went soft, and he almost knelt to the ground.

He gasped for air, his clothes drenched in cold sweat, as if he had just been pulled out of water.

"You scared the hell out of me..." Lin Yu's voice was also a bit shaky. "Disciple, you just leaked some 'King's Aura'! Are you alright? Is your brain okay? Do you still recognize me? I'm your creditor."

Su Ming wiped the sweat from his face and smiled weakly, "Master... I did not fail my mission."

"Alright, alright, I'll add a chicken drumstick for you when we get back!" Lin Yu's tone was relaxed, but Su Ming could hear the unconcealed concern and emotion in it. "With the True Explanation of Nurturing Spirit in hand, my grand revival plan has taken its first step in a long march. Next... there's still some time, don't waste it, go check out the Formation area."

"Yes."

Su Ming swallowed a Qi Replenishing Pill, rested briefly, then forced his tired body to walk towards the other end of the starry sky—the Formation area.

The Formation area was the most vast Star Domain within the Merit Dispensation Pavilion.

Here, light spheres were as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, densely arranged in the air. Countless lines intertwined and connected between the light spheres, evolving earth, water, fire, and wind, as if it were a precise Universe constantly self-evolving.

As soon as Su Ming stepped in, he was dazzled by the intricate Formation diagrams.

The Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Formation, the Sky Net Earth Trap Grand Formation, the Purple Heaven Divine Thunder Formation... each light sphere emitted a powerful, heart-palpitating fluctuation, as if learning just one would allow one to roam the world.

Su Ming subconsciously looked at the Legacies that were the brightest and highest in position.

"Don't look up there," Lin Yu's voice sounded at the opportune moment. "Those ready-made profound Formations are useless to us right now."

"What we're looking for is something that allows us to 'build our own roads.'"

Lin Yu's voice became serious, revealing the persistence of a past science student: "Disciple, you must remember. A true Formation Great Master isn't someone who has memorized many diagrams, but someone who understands 'why' every rune is the way it is."

"Look for ancient texts that explain the 'structural principles' and 'energy logic' of the most basic runes. Even if they seem simple and boring."

Su Ming nodded, half understanding, but he chose to trust his Master's judgment unconditionally.

He retracted his gaze, no longer looking at the high and mighty Divine-Grade Grand Formations, but lowered his head to look at the "bottom" of this Formation Star Domain.

There, lay the foundation of countless light spheres.

Beneath those dazzling Legacies, in the deepest part of the water mirror, Su Ming discovered an inconspicuous, even somewhat crude, earthy yellow light sphere.

It wasn't floating in the air but was half-buried in the void foundation, like a stepping stone, supporting countless magnificent Formations above, yet ignored by all.

Su Ming walked over and probed with his Divine Sense.

True Meaning of Basic Rune Deconstruction.

No domineering name, no earth-shattering power description.

The content of this ancient text didn't teach any complete Formation; instead, it dissected thousands of basic runes, like dissecting a corpse, exploring the energy configuration of each stroke, the Origin symbolism of each turn, and the combination logic between different runes.

It explained: Why is the character for "fire" drawn this way? Why does one extra stroke cause an explosion, and one less cause it to extinguish? Why does combining the characters for "gather" and "disperse" create repulsion?

This was simply the Xinhua Dictionary and Comprehensive Grammar of the Formation world.

"This is it!"

Lin Yu's voice was so excited it almost cracked. "This is what I was looking for! This is the true Treasure Trove! Disciple, think about it. If you Master these basic logics, you can create, modify, and optimize any Formation at will, just like building with blocks!"

"This is simply tailor-made for us! With this, we can fundamentally dimensionally attack those natives who only know how to memorize diagrams!"

Su Ming looked at the earthy yellow light sphere, and a hint of realization flashed in his eyes.

What he needed was never to learn ten thousand types of Formations.

What he needed was to Master the method of creating Formations.

"This is... the foundation for establishing the Dao."

Su Ming unhesitatingly reached out and grasped this seemingly most basic, yet core-pointing, light sphere.

The moment he made his choice, the noisy Formation Star Domain above him seemed to instantly recede.

A tranquility of returning to the Origin enveloped him.

He seemed to see countless threads intertwining in his hands, weaving the warp and weft of the entire world.