582: Chapter 582 Is My Teacher Free Labor?

Inside the stone chamber, the faint, deep blue glow of the Formation illuminated the dim Void Realm in a somewhat eerie manner.

On the cold jade bed, the Jade Slips that had originally been piled up had been completely cleared away.

Su Ming looked solemn, sitting cross-legged on the edge of the bed, his deep gaze resting quietly on the stone platform in front of him.

On the stone platform, three top-tier Materials, each exuding distinctly different auras, were displayed side by side.

On the far left was a piece of tonglin wood heart, about three feet long and deep brownish-brown in color. On the surface of the wood heart, fine, pure gold-like thread patterns faintly flowed, emitting a majestic vitality that was endless and immortal through ten thousand calamities.

In the middle was a fist-sized, translucent cyan-white ice block sealed in a thousand-year-old warm jade box. That was the marrow-cleansing profound ice, with freezing cold mist circling the edges of the box; even with sealing barriers, a thin layer of white frost had still condensed on the stone platform.

On the far right were three pieces of black metal fragments that looked rusty and devoid of any Qi fluctuations. They looked like ordinary iron that had been buried underground for millions of years.

"Whoosh—" A faint sound of breaking through the air rang out.

The xuantian ring lit up slightly, and Lin Yu, whose deep blue soul body had solidified significantly, floated out.

He floated quietly in mid-air, arms crossed over his chest, curiously examining the three items on the stone platform. The blue luster on the surface of his soul body flickered in the darkness, eventually turning into a rare, serious exclamation.

"Tsk tsk, one wood, one ice, one iron; vitality, deathly stillness, heaviness... The Three Talents are all gathered, kid."

Lin Yu's body drifted half a circle in the Void Realm and he let out a cold, somewhat jealous snort, "If you can perfectly fuse these three items according to the requirements of the 'Yin and Yang Fusion Art,' the foundation of your natal formation plate will likely be much more solid than those of the true Disciples of ancient major sects. It's a real bargain for you, kid."

Su Ming bowed his head slightly, hands clasped: "Thank you, Master, for your protection back then. That this Disciple has reached today is entirely due to Master's excellent guidance."

Lin Yu rolled his eyes in annoyance, his soul body floating above Su Ming's head, his fingers poised to flick, but he ultimately withdrew them and sneered, "Alright, stop flattering me. Flattery won't smooth out the stress in your body. Since you have the Materials, how do you plan to proceed?"

Su Ming did not answer immediately.

He slowly closed his eyes, and deep within his Sea of Consciousness, that solitary lamp of Divine Sense, created upon reaching the third turn of the Golden Core Stage, suddenly emitted a brilliant golden light.

Over the past two days, he had compared the ancient techniques taught by Elder Qingquan with the design blueprint for the natal formation plate given by Master Xuan Heng within his Sea of Consciousness.

"Revered Master, look here."

Su Ming opened his eyes abruptly, his right index finger tracing casually in the air, and indigo-colored Qi wove together like threads, instantly drawing a complex diagram of Qi circulation.

On the circulation diagram, seven Qi network nodes marked with bright red light were faintly emitting unstable fluctuations.

"These are two completely different design philosophies."

Su Ming's brows were locked, and he analyzed with a solemn expression, "Teacher Qingquan's approach leans towards nourishing things silently. The conduction of Qi within the Formation Plate follows a spiral, nurturing path. This method is extremely stable with a very high fault tolerance, but the speed of Qi conversion is a beat slower. Master Xuan Heng's technique, however, is like cutting a tangled knot with a sharp knife. The Qi circulation follows a straight, sharp gold path, pursuing extreme burst and the speed of instant Formation activation. But such high-intensity Qi networks put a huge load on the Materials; once any part is damaged, it will trigger a chain collapse of the entire Formation Plate."

Lin Yu's soul body paused slightly in the air, drifted to the Qi circulation diagram, and observed it carefully for a moment.

The corners of his mouth turned up slightly, and a look of appreciation appeared in his eyes, but his tone still maintained the reserve of a Revered Master.

"You figured it out? Not bad, didn't waste that newly opened Sea of Consciousness of yours."

Lin Yu pointed to the seven red conflict nodes and deconstructed them unhurriedly, "Qingquan's method is a slow and steady process, focusing on long-term stability; Xuan Heng's method is military slaughter, focusing on a one-hit kill."

Su Ming's gaze was fixed on those seven nodes, his mind calculating frantically.

If he used Xuan Heng's straight path entirely, the vitality of the tonglin wood would be washed away by the cold ice aura in an extremely short time, and the agility of the Formation Plate would be reduced by twenty percent.

If he used Qingquan's path entirely, although it would be safe, his future speed of activating Formations on the battlefield would be one breath slower—in a battle at the Golden Core Stage, one breath of time was enough for him to die ten times over.

With the "Ruoshui Art" and "Yin and Yang Fusion Art" in his hands, if he could...

"If..." Su Ming's eyes suddenly lit up, and he spoke in a slightly hoarse voice, "What if I integrate the two?"

Lin Yu raised an eyebrow, looking at him with great interest: "Oh? How would you integrate them?"

Su Ming's fingers traced in the air again, and the Qi network paths on the Qi circulation diagram began to undergo a marvelous transformation.

"In the rough embryo stage of refining, I will adopt Master Xuan Heng's fast technique, using extreme Qi compression to forcibly shape the sturdy framework of the tonglin wood and star core fragments in a very short time. And when it comes to the latter half of refining the Array Patterns, I will switch back to Teacher Qingquan's slow and steady process, using gentle water-type Qi to slowly penetrate the marrow patterns of the marrow-cleansing profound ice, nourishing and smoothing out all the hidden injuries and stress left behind in the initial phase."

Su Ming looked up, his burning gaze fixed on Lin Yu, "In this way, I can ensure the Formation Plate is sturdy and durable, while also achieving the extreme speed of Formation activation!"

Lin Yu looked at the near-perfect route map in the void and remained silent for a long time.

"Damn brat..." Lin Yu cursed inwardly, feeling a genuine sense of shock at Su Ming's nearly Prodigy-level Comprehension Ability. But he still maintained a very steady expression on his face, only letting out a faint snort.

"Theoretically, this is indeed the most secure and perfect plan currently. I shall name this method of yours the Staged Tempering Method."

But his tone immediately sank, and he warned: "However, you must remember. This method is easy to talk about, but as difficult as ascending to heaven to execute. The timing of the switch between techniques must be precise to the seam, without even the slightest error. If you switch too early, the rough embryo won't be formed, and the gold thread patterns of the tonglin wood will be frozen to death instantly; if you switch too late, the extreme cold aura of the marrow-cleansing profound ice will be forced out by the stress of the rough embryo, and the entire piece of Material will be completely ruined."

Su Ming's expression became extremely serious, and he nodded heavily.

"This Disciple understands. Therefore, this Disciple needs someone by my side, a supervisor who can use powerful Divine Sense surpassing the Golden Core Stage at all times to help me keep an eye on the most microscopic Qi flow inside the Materials."

After speaking, Su Ming's gaze fell earnestly on Lin Yu in mid-air.

Their eyes met. The stone chamber fell into a brief silence.

Lin Yu looked away somewhat guiltily, gave a dry cough, and put on airs in an arrogant tone.

"What are you looking at? Do you think Revered Master is free labor? Working for you for nothing every day? Dream on."

Lin Yu's soul body turned around in the air, his voice coming through muffled: "Stop talking nonsense, first strip away the Impurities and attached freezing aura from the outer layer of that marrow-cleansing profound ice for me. If you can't even do this first step well, are you even worthy of using this Staged Tempering Method?"

Su Ming's mouth twitched slightly, a trace of a smile flashing in his eyes, and he bowed: "This Disciple obeys."