The victory celebration wine at Bing Battalion hadn't even finished being drunk when trouble came knocking.

Su Ming hadn't even had time to take a sip of hot tea when the tent flap was viciously kicked open by a foot clad in deerskin boots.

Three young men dressed in dark red short jackets walked in.

The leader was a tall fellow, carrying a heavy animal skin bag in his hand.

These were apprentices from the Vessel Hall.

At Iron Wall Pass, the Vessel Hall was in charge of the repair and distribution of all magical implements, their status always a notch higher than these wandering cultivators.

Zhao Tiji was gnawing on a lamb chop, his brows furrowing at the sight. He slapped the bone in his hand onto the table. "From the Vessel Hall? If you have business, state it. What's the rule about kicking doors?"

The tall apprentice glanced at Zhao Tiji, ignoring this blood-stained brute. His gaze swept around the tent, finally settling on Su Ming, who was wiping his fingers in the corner.

"You're that Su Ming?"

The tall fellow threw the animal skin bag in his hand onto the table in front of Su Ming.

With a clatter.

The mouth of the bag opened, and a pile of colorful, incomplete fragments spilled out, nearly knocking over the teacup by Su Ming's hand.

Su Ming reached out to steady the teacup, lifting his eyelids, his gaze calm. "What guidance do you have, Senior Brothers?"

"Guidance isn't the word." The tall apprentice crossed his arms, chin slightly raised. "We heard from Steward Zheng that you showed off some 'water grinding skill' at the Ancient Formation Repair Workshop, making us look utterly worthless. Saying we're not even as good as an outer sect self-taught formation cultivator."

He pointed at the pile of fragments on the table. "Since you're so capable, we'd like you to take a look. This is a set of 'Yin-Yang Mother-Child Formation Plates,' sent back from the front lines, severely damaged. We few dullards can't fix it. Since Junior Brother Su's methods are so brilliant, why not give us a live demonstration right here?"

Su Ming swept a glance over the fragments on the table. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

This wasn't severe damage.

This was clearly dismantled into pieces, then deliberately mixing fragments from several formation plates of different attributes.

The break surfaces were fresh, some places even still had traces of being snapped by hand.

This was looking for trouble.

The air in the tent instantly solidified.

Zhao Tiji shot to his feet, his large palm like a cattail leaf fan pressing down on the giant hammer at his waist. Chen Chuan also placed his hand on his sword hilt.

"Looking for a fight?" Zhao Tiji gave a fierce grin. "Take a good look at whose territory this is."

Su Ming extended a finger, gently nudging the pile of fragments.

In his Consciousness Sea, Lin Yu's voice rang out with a hint of mockery. "Well now, disciple, this is a 'Yin-Yang Mother-Child Formation.' Even though they've messed it up, the core circuits are still there. If this thing gets fixed, it can be traded for quite a few good things."

"Zheng Tieshou has been trying to recruit me these past few days. These guys probably can't swallow their pride," Su Ming replied mentally.

"Can't swallow their pride? Good," Lin Yu chuckled. "Then let's make them even more furious."

A slight curve lifted the corner of Su Ming's mouth.

He stood up, ignoring the three aggressive apprentices, and instead picked up a fragment, holding it up to examine it.

"This formation plate is indeed 'trash' enough," Su Ming said lightly.

The tall apprentice sneered. "If you can't fix it, just say so. Don't make excuses. If you admit defeat, go kneel before Steward Zheng, admit you were just a blind cat stumbling upon a dead mouse, and stop loitering around the Vessel Hall entrance from now on."

"I mean, the original design was too trash."

Su Ming put down the fragment, extending both hands flat.

"Watch closely."

Before his words even finished, the spiritual energy within the Qihai of Su Ming's Dantian suddenly surged.

From the tips of his ten fingers, ten dark blue threads of spiritual energy instantly streamed out. These threads, as if alive, nimbly drilled into that chaotic pile of fragments.

Rise!

Su Ming's hands lifted slightly.

The hundreds of tiny broken pieces on the table actually all floated up simultaneously, slowly rotating in mid-air.

The tall apprentice's pupils contracted sharply, the sneer on his face freezing.

What kind of spiritual energy control technique was this?

Before he could even react, Su Ming's fingers began to move.

Fast.

So fast only afterimages remained.

Su Ming was like someone playing an invisible ancient zither, his ten fingers flying, so fast it dazzled the eyes.

Those floating fragments, guided by the spiritual energy threads, rapidly sought their own positions.

Click.

The first fragment returned to place.

Followed by the second, the third…

Dense metallic clinking sounds linked together, crisp and pleasant, like large and small pearls falling onto a jade plate.

"This piece isn't needed."

Su Ming flicked a finger. A red fragment that looked perfectly intact was flicked away by him, landing on the ground with a *ding*.

"What are you doing! That's the core flow-guiding piece of the child formation!" the tall apprentice shouted anxiously.

"That's deadweight."

Su Ming didn't even lift his head, his fingers continuing to dance. "Yin-Yang conversion, why go through a fire position relay? Using water directly as the bridge increases efficiency by at least ten percent."

As he spoke, a blue water bridge appeared out of thin air, directly connecting the originally severed Yin and Yang poles.

Hum—

As the final fragment fit perfectly into the main body, the entire formation plate emitted a low hum.

The originally dull, lusterless surface instantly lit up with two swirling halos, one black, one white. The halos, like a Taiji fish, head-to-tail, operated so smoothly it was even more fluid than a new one.

Su Ming withdrew his hands, dispersing the spiritual energy.

That "Yin-Yang Mother-Child Formation Plate," as large as a washbasin, landed steadily on the tabletop, spiritual light pulsing, without a hint of sluggishness.

Dead silence filled the tent.

The two followers gaped, their eyeballs nearly popping out. The tall apprentice looked as if he'd seen a ghost, pointing at the formation plate, his finger trembling, unable to speak for a long time.

From start to finish, it hadn't even taken half the time to finish a cup of tea.

The interference items they'd deliberately mixed in were precisely removed, the broken circuits perfectly repaired, and even… even the original design had been modified?

"This… this is impossible…" the tall apprentice muttered to himself, his face flushing to the color of pig liver.

"Nothing's impossible."

Su Ming picked up his teacup, blew on the floating tea leaves, his tone as flat as if discussing the weather. "Just used a bit more brain and a bit less useless talk than you."

"Excellent!"

A loud roar suddenly came from outside the tent flap.

The door curtain was lifted again, and Zheng Tieshou strode in. Behind him were a few old soldiers who had come to watch the commotion.

Zheng Tieshou's face was flushed red, clearly having just come from the drinking table, but his eyes were frighteningly bright.

He walked over to the table in a few steps, picked up the formation plate, turned it over and examined it twice, then channeled spiritual energy into it to test it.

"Marvelous!"

Zheng Tieshou slapped his thigh hard. "Removing the fire position flow-guiding piece, why didn't I think of that? With this modification, spiritual energy consumption is reduced by at least twenty percent!"

He suddenly turned around and kicked the tall apprentice in the backside.

"See that clearly? Huh?"