573: Chapter 573 Demanding the Tonglin Wood

Elder Qingquan held a small hammer in his hand, only the size of a palm, emitting a dark green, eerie glow throughout. He was focused intently on tapping a dark golden Formation Plate resting on his knees.

His movements were not fast, but every strike landed with extreme precision.

Su Ming stood three zhang away from the small cottage and stopped. He did not make a sound to disturb him, just stood there quietly, slowing his breathing, waiting in silence.

Elder Qingquan did not even lift his head, the small green-glowing hammer in his hand continuing to strike the dark golden Formation Plate on his knees at a leisurely pace.

"Ding... Ding..."

The crisp tapping sound echoed along the misty banks of the Green Wave Pool, carrying a strange rhythm.

"Come in."

An old yet vigorous voice came from under the veranda of the small cottage.

Hearing this, Su Ming stepped forward again. He walked to the steps under the veranda, stopped respectfully, folded his hands in front of him, and bowed deeply in a grand salute.

"Disciple Su Ming greets Revered Master."

Elder Qingquan finally stopped his movements and slowly raised his head.

Elder Qingquan's gaze swept up and down over Su Ming a few times, finally pausing for a moment at the center of Su Ming's brow.

That was a faint ripple left behind by the extreme condensation of his Divine Sense after opening his Sea of Consciousness.

"dao foundation reshaped, Golden Core formed. And you've completed the third revolution?"

Elder Qingquan's tone sounded very casual, as if making small talk, but the weight of his words was immense. "At your age, to possess such Foundation and Heart-Nature... Formation Peak has truly produced an incredible kid this generation. That guy, Master Xuan Heng, has managed to take in a good Disciple."

Su Ming's expression remained calm, and he lowered his head humbly: "Revered Master overpraises me. This Disciple was just lucky; I only reached this point today thanks to the care of my Revered Master and the various Elders."

The first rule of The Way of Cautious Survival: Never try to be clever in front of a true big shot.

Elder Qingquan looked at Su Ming's watertight demeanor and let out a noncommittal hum. He casually placed the small green-glowing hammer on the wooden table to the side and pointed to another bamboo chair under the veranda.

"Sit. It's tiring to talk while standing."

Su Ming followed instructions and walked to the bamboo chair, sitting only on the front third, his back straight as a rod.

At some point, a purple clay teapot and two small teacups had been placed on the wooden table. A pot of steaming Spiritual Qi tea was emitting curling white mist.

The tea soup was clear and emerald green, without the slightest Impurities. A peculiar fragrance filled the air, a scent mixing the crispness of pine needles with the slight saltiness of the sea breeze.

"Try it." Elder Qingquan picked up his own teacup. "This is 'Green Pool Welcoming Guest' tea that I grew myself by the Green Wave Pool. You won't find this taste in those so-called immortal tea houses outside."

"Many thanks for the tea, Revered Master."

Su Ming respectfully picked up the teacup. He did not rush to drink, but first placed it under his nose and took a light sniff.

After confirming that the tea soup did not contain any unknown, violent Spiritual Qi, he lowered his head and took a small sip.

As soon as the tea entered his mouth, a distinct bitterness spread across his tongue. But after just an instant, this bitterness melted like ice and snow, transforming into an extremely sweet, pure Spiritual Qi without any Impurities, which slid smoothly down his throat.

In an instant, a wave of extremely comfortable warmth surged through his limbs and bones. Even the faint lingering fatigue from opening his Sea of Consciousness last night was swept away by this warmth.

"Good tea." Su Ming raised his head and praised sincerely.

Elder Qingquan put down his teacup, his gaze becoming somewhat profound.

After the pleasantries, he did not continue with any more polite nonsense but went straight to the point.

"That Spider Web Formation you presented to Formation Peak at the Star Pivot Hall yesterday, Master Xuan Heng has already sent it to me via Divine Thought for me to see."

Elder Qingquan leaned forward slightly, his eyes revealing the strictness of a Grandmaster. "Abandoning all offensive and defensive Array Patterns and pressing all the Formation's computing power into perception—this extreme approach of subtraction is something few old guys in the entire Formation Peak could think of. You have great courage, and your thinking is quite ruthless."

He changed the subject: "However, your Fusion technique for the Materials is truly too crude. It's simply wasting precious items! Let me see it."

Su Ming had been prepared in his heart. Without any hesitation, he reached into his Storage Pouch, took out that dark gray Spider Web Formation Plate, and respectfully presented it with both hands.

Elder Qingquan took the Formation Plate.

His calloused fingers slowly slid over the tiny marks on the surface of the Formation Plate. As his fingers moved, the sharpness in his eyes grew more intense, his brows gradually furrowed, and he fell into deep thought.

After a full stick of incense had burned, Elder Qingquan finally placed the Formation Plate back on the table.

Without a word, he stood up from the bamboo chair and turned to walk into the somewhat cluttered room behind him. A sound of rummaging through boxes and cabinets followed.

A moment later, Elder Qingquan walked out holding three ancient books with somewhat damaged edges.

"Clap."

The three ancient books were spread out on the wooden table in front of Su Ming.

"Look at these." Elder Qingquan pointed to the one on the far left. "This is an ancient Incomplete Manual, which records a secret technique for repeatedly tempering spiritual Materials using water quenching. It can greatly remove the internal stress of metals and improve the transmission efficiency of Spiritual Qi."

He then pointed to the booklet in the middle, filled with dense microscopic structural diagrams: "This one is a chart of changes for various spiritual Materials when infiltrated by Spiritual Qi of different attributes, which I spent 150 years exploring bit by bit."

Finally, his finger landed on the thinnest booklet on the far right: "As for this one, it only records three lost material formulas. One of them happens to be able to solve the transmission lag problem of your Spider Web Formation."

Elder Qingquan pulled the bamboo chair over and sat down again. He opened the middle chart and pointed to a tiny node structure on it, beginning a deep, 'skinning and boning' style explanation for Su Ming.

"Your Spider Web Formation has three fatal transmission Bottlenecks..."

Su Ming's body involuntarily leaned forward.

He engraved every word Elder Qingquan spoke and every structure he deduced into his newly opened Sea of Consciousness without missing a single detail.

This was a Legacy of technique without any reservations.

An hour later.

The tea on the table had completely cooled.

The ultimate optimization plan for the Spider Web Formation had been basically finalized through the deductions of the two—the old man and the young man. If re-refined according to this new plan, the perception precision and transmission speed of the Spider Web Formation would increase by at least thirty percent compared to before!

Elder Qingquan picked up the cold tea and took a sip, a hint of satisfaction appearing on his face. Clearly, this deduction made him, a fanatic of the Array Dao, feel very satisfied.

Su Ming keenly captured Elder Qingquan's current relaxed mood.

He solemnly gathered and tidied the three ancient books on the table, then raised his head, his expression revealing just the right amount of dilemma of one thirsty for knowledge.

"Revered Master, this Disciple has one more matter I would like to boldly ask for advice on." Su Ming's tone was extremely low.

"Speak." Elder Qingquan seemed to still be savoring the previous deduction and replied casually.