Is Chapter 322 the end?

Su Ming took a deep breath, circulated the Like Water Art, and condensed an extremely gentle ball of water spiritual energy at his fingertips. He probed into the bottle's opening, wrapping around and extracting a wisp of silver-gray powder.

Shasha, shasha.

The powder scattered like fine snow, accurately falling into the most crucial node grooves at the very center of the formation plate.

As the Void Stone Powder filled the grooves, the originally dull and lusterless patterns on the formation plate, like a dried-up riverbed suddenly nourished by rainwater, began to glow with an extremely faint grayish light.

"Rise!"

Su Ming shouted softly, his hands forming a seal. The spiritual energy within his body, like a trickling stream, slowly poured into the formation plate along the spiritual energy guiding channels.

Hmm—

An extremely faint, almost imperceptible tremor sounded within the stone hut.

The sensation was very strange, as if the originally flat space had been pressed by an invisible finger, creating a slight depression invisible to the naked eye.

At the center of the formation plate, that small pinch of Void Stone Powder instantly burned out, transforming into a wisp of silver smoke that drilled into that "depression."

Crack.

A hair-thin black crack quietly split open three inches above the formation plate.

There was no earth-shattering spiritual energy vortex, nor any radiant, spectacular phenomenon.

The crack was like a sleepy eye, barely opening a slit, exuding an aura of lifelessness and icy coldness.

Immediately after, a wisp of dull gray mist slowly seeped out from the crack.

It really was just a single wisp.

And its color was turbid, completely lacking luster, looking like the ash left over from burning firewood, carrying a musty smell.

Su Ming was stunned.

"This..." he hesitated, "Master, is this the 'Source Substance' we worked so hard to attract? Why does it look different from what we attracted back at the sect?"

Last time at the back mountains of the Cloud Hidden Sect, although it was also gray mist, at least the quantity was substantial and satisfying, and occasionally silver threads or even golden grains could be seen.

But this thing before his eyes...

"Don't complain, it's good enough to have something to eat."

Lin Yu's voice sounded somewhat helpless. The Xuantian ring glowed faintly, emitting a suction force that swallowed that wisp of gray mist in one gulp.

"Pah, tastes like dirt."

As soon as he swallowed it, Lin Yu started his outburst, "It's like soaking a moldy steamed bun that's been sitting for three years in muddy water, dry and astringent. Just barely enough to fill the stomach."

As the gray mist was absorbed, the glow on the Xuantian ring brightened for just a moment before returning to calm.

That tiny spatial crack also closed accordingly. The light on the formation plate completely extinguished, leaving only a pile of white lime devoid of any spiritual energy.

"This is it? It's over?" Su Ming looked at that small pile of waste residue, feeling a pang of heartache.

One qian of Void Stone Powder, exchanged for just this one mouthful of "moldy steamed bun"?

"Let's analyze it."

Although Lin Yu's voice still carried a tone of disdain, it was noticeably more vigorous than before, "This place is Iron Wall Pass. The underground spiritual veins have been drained day and night by that 'Big Dipper Seven Stars Demon Locking Grand Formation,' already dried up like an old woman's foot-binding cloth. With the earth veins powerless, the connection to the Void is naturally weak."

"What about stellar energy?" Su Ming looked up at the roof, "Although we're inside, the moonlight tonight is decent..."

"Forget it." Lin Yu cut him off, "Don't you see what's above your head? The sky above Iron Wall Pass is perpetually shrouded in blood-tainted energy and the spiritual light of the mountain-protecting formation, meant to guard against demonic bird raids. This shell blocks stellar energy and moonlight essence completely. Without stellar energy to pull it, our 'Minor Void Spirit Attraction Formation' is just a broken radio without an antenna, only able to pick up the most basic static."

"Which is this most basic 'Gray Mist Source Substance.'"

Su Ming fell silent.

Indeed, this was a battlefield, not a blessed pocket dimension. All resources had been squeezed dry by the war machine. Where would there be any extra spiritual essence left for them to scavenge?

"Still, even a mosquito's leg is meat."

Lin Yu seemed to be consoling himself, or perhaps encouraging Su Ming, "Although this gray mist is of low quality and small quantity, its advantage lies in its purity. After absorbing it, I feel the stability of my Soul Body has increased by about ten percent."

"Ten percent?" Su Ming's eyes lit up.

"That's right. Translated into your understanding, it means the time I can now maintain the 'observation micro state' each day has extended from the original two hours to three hours." Lin Yu paused, "Moreover, that feeling of emptiness inside the Soul Body, as if it could dissipate with the wind at any moment, has finally disappeared. It's like... putting a new beam into a house about to collapse."

Su Ming felt somewhat relieved.

As long as his Master was still here, as long as that cheat-like "observation micro" vision remained, this one qian of Void Stone Powder was well spent.

"As for that higher-level 'Silver Radiance Source Substance,' or even 'Golden Grains'..." Lin Yu sighed, "That kind of luxurious meal requires the right timing and favorable conditions. In this godforsaken Iron Wall Pass, unless you can find a spiritual vein node not covered by the grand formation, or wait for this mountain-protecting formation to develop a hole... Of course, let's not hope for the latter. If the formation breaks, we'll be the ones filling the breach with our lives."

"Master is right."

Su Ming put away the formation plate and used a brush to sweep the waste residue into a special waste bag, "Basic Source Substance is enough for Master to recover slowly. High-level Source Substance requires the right timing and conditions; it can't be forced. For now, improving our own strength is the priority."

"The Void Stone supply line is now barely closed."

Su Ming calculated, "Although the output is low, as long as I keep earning Military Merit, keep buying ore, this 'Gray Mist' can keep coming. As long as Master doesn't starve, our snowball can keep rolling."

"Speaking of rolling snowballs..."

Su Ming glanced at the pile of damaged magical implements in the corner that hadn't been processed yet, a slight curve forming at the corner of his mouth, "Tomorrow, it's time to visit the neighbors."

...

The next day, the wind and snow had somewhat subsided.

The reputation of the Bing-7 Defense Zone had, as if grown wings, spread throughout the entire Bing Battalion overnight.

This wasn't just because of Zhao Tiji's big mouth that couldn't keep a secret, but also because of solid, tangible achievements.

The neighboring Bing-6 Defense Zone had encountered a small-scale "Shadow Rat" sneak attack last night. Those palm-sized, burrowing-specialist first-tier demon beasts were usually the most annoying. Though they couldn't kill anyone, they specialized in biting formation foundations, endlessly irritating.

But last night, that hot-tempered Zhang Meng actually didn't curse.

Reportedly, it was because of that newly laid "Spiderweb" formation. The moment those rats poked their heads out, it was like they were stuck to glue. Their movements slowed down as if they had dementia, and the lads from Bing-6 beat them all to death with shovels like playing whack-a-mole.

Zero losses in that battle.

Once this news got out, the entire Bing Battalion was in an uproar.

Early in the morning, the area outside Su Ming's Stone Hut Number Seven was as lively as a vegetable market. "Brother Su! Brother Su, are you home? I'm Wang Dachui from Bing-8!"