560: Chapter 560 Congratulations

"Junior Martial Brother!"

The newcomer was none other than Third Senior Brother Luo Feng. He was dressed in rags today, his hair looking like a bird's nest, and his Daoist robe was stained with several black scorch marks, clearly having just crawled out from a pile of exploded Formations.

But in those bloodshot eyes of his, there was a flash of fanaticism that was hard to hide.

"Senior Brother." Su Ming stood up and cupped his hands in greeting.

Luo Feng didn't care for formalities at all. He rushed to Su Ming in a few steps, looking him up and down like he was a rare treasure, and even couldn't help but reach out to squeeze Su Ming's shoulder.

"Good grief, this Golden Core pressure is so solid that not even a trace of stray spiritual energy leaks out." Luo Feng clicked his tongue. "Do you have any idea? The pure Dao rhythm fluctuation you caused the day you formed your core directly triggered a resonance in the Nine Palaces Star Orbit Formation at the heart of Formation Peak!"

Luo Feng's tone was full of shock. "The celestial phenomenon was extremely brief, so people from other peaks might have just watched for the spectacle, but Revered Master Master Xuan Heng saw it very clearly. Your dao foundation was supplemented to be even more perfect than a natural one!"

Su Ming's heart stirred slightly, but on the surface, he showed a perfectly timed bitter smile.

"It was just a narrow escape from death." Su Ming shook his head. "If it weren't for Revered Master's Medicinal Pills and Senior Brother's Spirit-Sustaining Talisman, I'm afraid not even my ashes would be left by now."

Luo Feng waved his hand dismissively. "We're brothers; there's no need for such formalities. You'd better prepare well for the Dao discussion the day after tomorrow. Those two freaks, Eldest Senior Sister and Second Senior Brother, have made quite a bit of progress recently. You've just formed your core, so don't let them pressure you until you can't breathe."

Just as he finished speaking, another set of gentle footsteps came from outside the Immortal Cave.

"Is Su Ming here?"

A voice as crisp as a silver bell rang out. The two girls, Qingfeng and Mingyue, appeared outside the Immortal Cave together, dressed in elegant green robes.

They carefully held a small white jade jar sealed with a Talisman.

"Qingfeng, Mingyue." Su Ming went out to meet them.

"Congratulations on forming your Golden Core, Su Ming! Your path to the Great Dao is promising!" Qingfeng handed over the small white jade jar. "This is Hundred Flower Brew, personally prepared by our Revered Master, Immortal Master Xuan Ming. It's extracted from over seventy types of century-old flower stamens and is exceptionally effective for stabilizing the Meridians during the Early Stage of Core Formation. He specifically ordered us to bring it as a congratulatory gift."

Su Ming took it with both hands, feeling the warm Spiritual Qi faintly emanating from the jade jar. He couldn't help but feel a bit more wary and grateful toward that calculating Immortal Master Xuan Ming. This debt of gratitude was truly piling up.

"Please thank Senior Xuan Ming on my behalf."

Su Ming turned back to the stone table, took out two exquisite jade bottles from his Storage Pouch, and handed one to each of them.

"I've just come out of seclusion and don't have anything particularly good. These are two bottles of purified hundred flower spirit honey; they're quite beneficial for cultivation and maintaining one's appearance. Please accept them."

Qingfeng and Mingyue's eyes lit up, and they immediately accepted them with joy.

The two looked at each other. Mingyue couldn't help but lean in closer, lowering her voice, her tone full of gossipy excitement.

"Su Ming, you're really making a name for yourself in the Sect now!" Mingyue winked. "Word is spreading outside that you're a monster skilled in both pills and Formations. Not only is your Formation attainment unfathomable, but you can even suppress Elder Qingyang's Pill Furnace. I heard that even those Sword Cultivators from Heavenly Sword Peak, who usually keep their noses in the air, are privately discussing how they should break your defensive formations if you participate in next year's Sect competition!"

Listening to Qingfeng and Mingyue's back-and-forth descriptions, Su Ming's sense of caution—the feeling that 'the tallest tree in the forest is the first to be buffeted by the wind'—grew even stronger. The outside world was hyping up the threat he posed too much, which completely went against the survival Laws Lin Yu had taught him.

He waved his hand, caught between laughter and tears. "The rumors are just exaggerations. I was just lucky and happen to know a bit about the basics of fire control. As for Formations, I'm still far behind my Senior Brothers and sisters."

After finally seeing off the still-excited and gossiping Qingfeng and Mingyue, Su Ming turned around only to find the Immortal Cave eerily quiet.

He looked closely.

He saw Luo Feng squatting at the spot where he had just been sitting in cultivation.

The 'flexible water chain' that Su Ming had casually dispersed had turned into a few drops of water, but a faint trace of spiritual energy circulation still remained in the air.

Luo Feng stared intently at that Void Realm, his eyes losing focus. His two fingers moved unconsciously in the air as he muttered to himself, "Soft on the outside, firm on the inside... the shear force of the water flow locked with the center of the 'Solid' character... how can they be so compatible? If I put this structure into the buffer layer of an explosive formation plate..."

The spiritual energy fluctuations around him began to become extremely unstable; he had clearly fallen into a deep state of Epiphany.

Lin Yu's soul body drifted over, looking down at Luo Feng on the ground with a cold sneer.

"This Third Senior Brother of yours truly has amazing talent, but this habit of going into a frenzy anytime, anywhere will get him targeted and beaten in the middle of nowhere sooner or later."

Su Ming did not speak to interrupt Luo Feng's Epiphany; he just stood quietly to the side.

Su Ming narrowed his eyes slightly.

If he displayed powerful killing techniques during the Dao discussion, it would only confirm the external suspicions.

But if he could demonstrate a subtle defensive system before his Revered Master—one that was beneficial enough to Formation Peak but happened to have no offensive capability... then he would become the most irreplaceable cornerstone of Formation Peak, rather than a sharp sword in the eyes of the outside world.

...

The silence in the Star Gazing Cliff's Immortal Cave returned to an extreme level of oppression.

The ever-burning lamps embedded in the walls emitted a faint orange glow, making the Array Patterns on the stone walls flicker.

Su Ming sat cross-legged on the bone-chilling cold jade bed, his gaze calmly falling on the puddle of completely dried water on the floor. It was the trace left behind after Third Senior Brother Luo Feng fell into his Epiphany, and a hint of extremely unstable fire-attribute explosive aura still seemed to float in the air.

A deep blue luster lit up without warning in the dim stone room.

Lin Yu's soul body drifted out from the xuantian ring, hovering in mid-air less than three feet from Su Ming. The outline of his soul body was clearer than ever, with even the small folds at the edge of his Daoist robe clearly visible, but the restrained Soul Power fluctuations caused the surrounding Spiritual Qi to twist minutely.

"Those three Senior Brothers and sisters of yours are none of them pushovers." Lin Yu followed Su Ming's gaze to the floor, his lips curling into a slow, somewhat disdainful sneer. "Eldest Senior Sister Eldest Senior Sister Ling Shuang is a total Sword Cultivator who treats Formations as scabbards, following the extreme path of killing where one sword breaks ten thousand laws. Second Senior Brother Second Senior Brother Qin Yi spends all day strolling in the back courtyard of Beast Peak; relying on his mastery of life-force formations and beast-taming techniques, he's made it so that no one in the entire Sect dares to pick a fight at Beast Peak. As for that kid Luo Feng..."

Lin Yu's soul body paused abruptly in mid-air, his tone carrying a hint of irrepressible speechlessness. "He's been messing with explosions for twenty whole years, playing with perfectly good Formation Plates as if they were firecrackers. You're just a brat who's recently formed his core; what do you have to compete with them in tomorrow's Dao discussion?"