476: Chapter 476 Let's release some silver thread source material to satisfy our cravings.

"As long as Master finds it useful. In the spiritual fields of Formation Peak's back mountain, your Disciple has planted plenty of raw Materials, enough for you to smoke every day." Su Ming felt a sense of relief seeing his Master's condition improve.

"Nurturing is one thing, but this stuff is like ginseng soup for Mortals; it can sustain life and nourish the body, but if one truly wants to Breakthrough the Bottleneck and raise the upper limit of the soul body, smoking alone won't suffice." Lin Yu drifted onto a prayer mat, his expression gradually turning serious.

Su Ming understood the underlying meaning immediately, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly. "Master, are you referring to the Lesser Void Spirit Guiding Formation?"

"Nonsense." Lin Yu rolled his eyes. "The Grand Elder gave you a full ten catties of void stone powder and world origin sand! You're sitting on a fortune now; if you don't set up the 'Lesser Void Spirit Guiding Formation' quickly, are you waiting for it to grow mold?"

"Your Disciple understands."

Without the slightest hesitation, Su Ming moved his Divine Sense, and several jade boxes and bottles, sealed with Advanced sealing Talismans, were neatly arranged on the stone table.

He looked up at the skylight at the top of the Immortal Cave, which had been specially left for observing the stars.

"Midnight is approaching, and the sky is cloudless tonight. It's the time when the moonlight is at its Peak."

Su Ming stood up, took a deep breath, and adjusted his state to its Peak.

He did not use his former crude dark gold Formation Plate. Now, having mastered over three hundred rune Laws, his understanding of the Dao of Formations was far beyond what it used to be.

Su Ming walked to the open bluestone floor in the center of the Immortal Cave, his right hand's fingers held like a sword as spiritual power condensed at the tips.

"Chi—"

His fingers carved into the hard bluestone floor like a knife. This time, onto the original 'Spirit Guiding' Formation framework, he boldly integrated the three high-level control runes he had comprehended outside the Lantai Secret Garden: 'Lock,' 'Seal,' and 'Gather.'

After a full hour, a circular formation diagram of extreme complexity, about ten feet in diameter, finally took shape.

Sweat appeared on Su Ming's forehead, but he didn't dare to pause. He opened a jade bottle, using spiritual power to guide the world origin sand, precisely laying it within every circuit line of the Formation. Afterward, he evenly scattered the void stone powder across the three core nodes of the Formation.

Finally, Su Ming gritted his teeth and took out thirty-six Spirit Stones filled with Spiritual Qi from his Storage Pouch. Following the number of the Heavenly Dipper, he embedded them one by one into the grooves along the edge of the formation diagram.

"Rise!"

Su Ming's hands suddenly formed a complex hand seal. The Ruoshui Art within him circulated frantically, and a surge of spiritual power was instantly injected into the Formation node.

"Buzz—"

The thirty-six Mid-Grade Spirit Stones erupted with dazzling light simultaneously!

The air within the Immortal Cave seemed to be sucked dry at that moment. The moonlight pouring down through the skylight did not hit the ground but was instead forcibly twisted and pulled in mid-air by an invisible force.

Su Ming held his breath, his eyes fixed intently on the center of the formation diagram.

There, the originally flat bluestone floor began to turn blurry. Under the violent reaction of the void stone powder and world origin sand, the Void Realm seemed to turn into a thin sheet of paper scorched by fire, beginning to show extremely eerie distortions and folds.

A void node, only the size of a fist and as black as ink, slowly opened in the center of the Formation like a demon's vertical pupil.

A fifteen-minute wait felt as long as a century.

Finally, just as the light of the thirty-six Mid-Grade Spirit Stones was about to dim, a wisp of mist extremely slowly seeped out from that pitch-black void node.

Su Ming's eyes widened, filled with anticipation.

However, when that wisp of mist completely drifted out of the node and hovered in mid-air under the Formation's restraint, the light in Su Ming's eyes quickly faded.

That was a clump of extremely turbid, greyish mist.

—The most basic, most common grey mist source essence.

"Only grey mist..." Su Ming looked at the dull-colored thing and couldn't help but quickly calculate the cost in his head. Having consumed thirty-six Mid-Grade Spirit Stones, plus the priceless void stone powder and world origin sand, only to end up with such a guaranteed 'waste material,' the return on investment was so low it made him want to cough up blood.

"I miscalculated; I lost big tonight." Su Ming withdrew his spiritual power somewhat dejectedly, and the thirty-six Spirit Stones turned into powder simultaneously.

"Brat, why are you so discouraged?"

Lin Yu, however, appeared extremely calm, even somewhat impatient. He drifted forward and, without any sign of disdain, opened his mouth and inhaled the entire clump of grey mist source essence locked by the Formation.

As the grey mist entered his body, an extremely faint glow flashed across the surface of Lin Yu's soul body.

"Do you think the top-tier source essence from the depths of the Void Realm is like cabbage in a wet market, something you can just get whenever you want?" Lin Yu sighed comfortably and taught him earnestly, "Cultivation is a slow and painstaking process, like rowing against the current. We are stealing the fortune of the Void Realm; even grey mist is Origin! Accumulating small amounts to make a lot is the correct interpretation of The Way of Cautious Survival. Don't always think about getting rich overnight; that leads easily to Qi Deviation."

Listening to his Master's teachings, Su Ming took a deep breath and completely suppressed the restlessness in his heart.

"Master is right to scold me." Su Ming looked at the remains of the Formation, his gaze becoming resolute and calm once again. "There are still plenty of Materials. If it's grey mist today, I'll try again tomorrow. Your Disciple doesn't believe that in these countless attempts at fishing, I won't be able to catch that one wisp of gold or silver light!"

Lin Yu sat cross-legged, floating in mid-air. Seeing his Disciple's steady state of mind, he closed his eyes in satisfaction.

At the moment he closed his eyes, he muttered to himself in a voice only he could hear:

"But to be honest, the taste of this grey mist is indeed a bit lackluster. I hope next time... we can get some silver silk source essence to satisfy the craving."