The wind atop Gazing Star Cliff felt heavier than usual in the night.

Su Ming stood in the center of his cave dwelling, holding a piece of Star Pattern Steel in his hand. The surface of the steel pillar, thick as an arm, was covered in intricate patterns. Despite its size, it weighed a thousand jun, a formation core material gifted by his Master, Xuanheng.

He didn't rush to set the formation. Instead, he pulled out a homemade bone ruler from his storage pouch and, by the faint light of the glowstones, began measuring the ground inch by inch.

"The Kan position is three parts too far left; there will be a two-breath delay when the earth energy surges upward." Su Ming crouched down, dipped his finger in cinnabar, and drew a thin red line on the greenstone floor, muttering under his breath, "If I use the Star Pattern Steel to suppress it, that two-breath delay will amplify into a turbulent spiritual energy flow that will assault my meridians."

He made a cross mark next to the red line, then moved half an inch to the right and drew a new circle.

In his Consciousness Sea, Lin Yu watched his disciple haggle over every inch of the ground like an old tailor, and that familiar urge to blurt out a comment welled up inside him. But this time, he held back.

"Half an inch to the right is correct." Lin Yu's voice rang in Su Ming's mind, carrying an unusual seriousness.

Su Ming nodded and carefully inserted the Star Pattern Steel pillar into the circled spot.

There was no crisp sound of metal striking stone. As the pillar sank into the ground, a dull "hum" resonated. Then, the entire floor of the cave dwelling trembled slightly, as if a giant beast slumbering deep underground had rolled over.

All seven skylights at the top of the cave dwelling were now open.

Tonight, there were no clouds, and the River of Stars cascaded like a waterfall.

The visible starlight, as if drawn by some invisible force, streamed down through the skylights and converged precisely onto the seven pre-positioned Star Pattern Steel pillars. The silver light flowed along the patterns on the pillars' surfaces, finally seeping into the ground, where it interwove with the faint, dark-yellow earth energy rising from deep below.

The cave dwelling, which had been somewhat chilly, was now filled with a strange, metallic warmth.

Su Ming straightened up and wiped the non-existent sweat from his forehead.

This was the seventh day of his cave dwelling renovation, and the final step.

To pinpoint the placement of these seven pillars, he had worn through the "Earth Veins Chapter" of the *True Meaning of Basic Rune Deconstruction*, and had dragged Lin Yu into the Consciousness Sea to run simulations over a hundred times.

"Even a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator would be baffled by this setup," Lin Yu remarked, looking at the runes around them that pulsed and dimmed in rhythm with their own breathing.

Su Ming walked to the stone bed and sat down cross-legged.

Next to the stone bed was a celadon bowl holding half a bowl of emerald-green medicinal soup. The liquid was thick, not steaming, but it emitted a rich, refreshing scent, like a forest after rain.

This was the "Greenwood Soup" left by his Second Senior Brother, Qin Yi.

When Qin Yi had delivered the medicine that day, he had only said: "The essence of wood and grass best nurtures the root. Your meridians were damaged by the Heart-Questioning Formation; it's like an old tree struck by lightning. You need this to mend it."

Su Ming picked up the bowl, didn't hesitate, and downed it in one gulp.

The liquid wasn't bitter as it went down; instead, it carried a faint astringency and a sweet aftertaste.

Immediately, a cool sensation slid down his throat into his stomach, and then transformed into countless tiny streams of energy that surged into every corner of his limbs and bones.

Su Ming closed his eyes, a twitch in his brow.

The feeling wasn't pleasant.

It was like countless ants crawling through his veins, specifically seeking out the tiny damage sites, then spinning threads to mend them. That itchiness mixed with numbness, reaching deep into his marrow, was far more unbearable than simple pain.

In particular, the hidden meridians near his Consciousness Sea, which had been damaged by the Old Woman's spiritual sense, were now throbbing violently under the assault of the medicinal power.

Su Ming gritted his teeth, remaining silent, but his hands on his knees tightly clenched the hem of his robe.

A quarter of an hour later.

He exhaled a long breath of turbid qi, which carried a faint greenish hue.

A trace of color finally returned to his face, which had been as pale as paper. The constant feeling of emptiness, as if his body had been hollowed out, receded considerably, replaced by a long-lost sense of "substance."

"This medicine from Senior Brother Qin really packs a punch," Su Ming whispered, opening his eyes.

"Of course it does," Lin Yu's figure drifted out from the ring. "It contains at least three hundred-year-old 'Second Wood Essence.' If you took that out in the outside world, it'd have those Qi Refinement cultivators fighting tooth and nail until they cracked each other's skulls."

Lin Yu floated over to Su Ming, sat cross-legged in mid-air, and brought his eyes level with Su Ming's.

"Alright, your body is pretty much healed up. Let's go through the final process one more time."

"Disciple, do you know why Xuanheng set up the 'Star Foundation Establishment Array' for you instead of a common Spirit Gathering Array?"

Su Ming looked up.

Lin Yu didn't wait for him to answer and continued on his own: "Because your Dantian has been patched up too many times, and it's no longer enough. What it needs is—high-pressure solidification."

He raised his hand and made a gesture in the air.

"Earth Vein Spirit Milk can patch up the cracks in your Dao foundation. Water spiritual energy is too soft to provide that pressure."

"Star power is the hammer."

Lin Yu looked into Su Ming's eyes. "When you draw star power into your body, you don't do it to absorb it. You use it to hit yourself. Hammer the spirit milk into the cracks, blow by blow. Once it's set, it'll never leak again for the rest of your life."

Lin Yu extended a finger and drew a line in the air.

"Foundation Establishment is simply rebuilding the Dao foundation. For ordinary people, it's turning water into ice, a qualitative change. But for you..."

Lin Yu pointed at Su Ming's lower abdomen. "It's a renovation project on a condemned building."

"But the prerequisite is that you have to break the bones that have grown crooked or cracked, and then set them straight."

Su Ming subconsciously touched the spot of his Dantian. That was where his Dao injury was most severe, and the root of all his troubles.

"Master, what if... after breaking it... it doesn't reconnect?" Su Ming asked very softly, as if asking what was for dinner.

But his pupils were tightly contracted.

"If it doesn't reconnect?" Lin Yu snorted, a hint of disdain in his tone. "If it doesn't reconnect, you'll turn into a pile of mush. I'll be off the hook after that, I'll just find another host, or I'll just vanish into thin air and be done with it."

Su Ming fell silent.

Lin Yu looked at his disciple's tense face and sighed inwardly. This kid always loved to overthink things at the most critical moments.

"Listen up."

"When the time comes, I'll use my soul power to protect your heart and the core of your Consciousness Sea, ensuring you don't die from pain or go stupid."

"But—"

Lin Yu's tone hardened. "The rest is up to you. How you guide the spirit milk as it enters your body, how you reassemble the broken Dao foundation—that depends on you. I can't do this job for you, and Xuanheng can't do it for you either." 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

"It's like when you first drew a talisman. If your hand shakes, the ink scatters. If you shake this time, what scatters is your life."