The core of this formation plate was a set of veins designed to guide spiritual energy in an instantaneous burst. But Luo Feng's design was too complex; within an extremely small space, he had crammed in seventeen different runes with distinct functions. In the pursuit of ultimate power, their spiritual energy pathways overlapped and intertwined, making the whole assembly trigger at the slightest touch.

It was like trying to squeeze seventeen massive ships into a narrow river channel at once—the result would be mutual congestion, ending in the destruction of both ships and men.

"Third Senior Brother, your 'spiritual energy vein' design has too many nodes. The spiritual energy can't flow through, so it's no wonder it blew up." Su Ming said helplessly.

"Is that so?" Luo Feng leaned in, his face full of eagerness to learn. "But I thought that with greater power, the structure had to be more complex! Look at those ancient killing formations—which one doesn't have runes stacked on runes and formation lines layered on formation lines?"

Su Ming shook his head. This line of thinking wasn't necessarily wrong, but it had to be judged case by case.

Without much explanation, he sat cross-legged, placed the formation plate fragments on his lap, and took out a rune brush and some blank formation plate materials from his storage pouch.

He spent a full hour.

During that hour, he didn't add a single new rune; instead, he subtracted.

From Luo Feng's original seventeen runes, he cut nine, keeping only the eight most fundamental runes—"Gather," "Burn," "Burst," and the like. Then, he redesigned the spiritual energy circuits, streamlining the original chaotic, interlocking lines into clear pathways that flowed like several non-interfering streams, finally converging at a single point.

Throughout the process, Luo Feng crouched beside him, now scratching his head, now slapping his thigh in sudden epiphany, muttering under his breath: "So that's how it's done..." "What a brilliant idea!"

When Su Ming made his final stroke, a new, much simpler-looking formation plate was complete.

"Try it." Su Ming handed the formation plate to Luo Feng.

Luo Feng took it carefully, as if holding some priceless treasure. He took a deep breath, inserted a new spirit stone, and infused a thread of spiritual energy into it.

The formation plate lit up, its glow gentle and steady.

The expected explosion didn't happen.

Luo Feng increased the spiritual energy infusion.

The runes on the formation plate lit up one by one, spiritual energy flowing smoothly within them until it all converged at the center point, condensing into a compressed ball of light the size of a chicken egg.

"It worked!"

Luo Feng jumped up in excitement, nearly throwing the formation plate out of his hands. He grabbed Su Ming by the shoulders and shook him vigorously, babbling incoherently in his thrill.

"Su Ming! You're practically my real junior brother! No, closer than a real junior brother! If I make a fortune from this in the future, I'll split it with you half and half!"

Su Ming's head spun from the shaking. Rubbing his forehead, he said weakly: "...Third Senior Brother, you said the same thing last time."

"Last time was last time. This time, I mean it!" Luo Feng pounded his chest with a solemn vow.

Su Ming looked at his face, smudged black and white from the explosions, and couldn't bring himself to argue.

Without further ado, Luo Feng pulled Su Ming to sit on the stone stools in the courtyard, fished out two somewhat clean wine cups from some unknown corner, and then produced two jars of wine.

"Come, come! You have to have a few drinks with me today! I tell you, my recent formation research has hit a critical bottleneck!"

Luo Feng filled both cups, downed a large gulp himself, and then lowered his voice mysteriously.

"Su Ming, do you know? The highest realm of a self-destruct puppet isn't about how loud it blasts or how wide its range is."

His eyes sparkled with a light that was almost mad. "It's about how beautifully it explodes! Like fireworks, blooming in the night sky with the most dazzling display! Imagine—when the enemy charges, your puppet doesn't just go 'boom' and shatter into pieces. Instead, it goes 'bang' and explodes in midair into a gigantic spider lily made of multicolored spiritual energy flames! What kind of scene would that be?"

Su Ming held his wine cup and took a quiet sip, saying nothing.

"The enemy would be stunned on the spot! He'd forget the battle, lost in that incomparable beauty! Then, in his dazed stupor, he'd be torn to shreds by the subsequent spiritual energy shockwave. This is the ultimate state of the killing formation!"

The more Luo Feng spoke, the more excited he got, standing up and gesturing wildly.

Su Ming watched him, finally unable to hold back: "...So, for the sake of this spider lily, you blew it up twenty-three times?"

"Yes!" Luo Feng straightened his neck, sitting back down with utter conviction. "The path to the highest realm always demands sacrifice! You don't understand!"

Su Ming silently took another sip of wine.

He recalled what his Master, Xuanheng, had said to him when he first joined.

"Your Third Senior Brother... isn't quite right in the head."

Now it seemed the Master was right.

Not just 'not quite right'—he was practically deviant.

Still, as Su Ming watched Luo Feng's face flushed with excitement, he found he didn't dislike him.

Although this Third Senior Brother had strange habits, his obsession and pure passion for formations were rare to see in the sect.

"Junior Brother, what do you think of my idea?" Luo Feng leaned in, eyes full of expectation.

Su Ming thought for a moment, then answered very seriously: "I think if you could add some sound effects when the spider lily blooms, it would work even better."

"Sound?" Luo Feng was taken aback.

"For example, the moment it explodes, it could emit the roar of a dragon or the cry of a tiger, or the harmony of celestial music." Su Ming said with a straight face. "A dual assault of vision and sound would be even more stunning to the enemy's mind."

Luo Feng's eyes lit up instantly.

He slapped his thigh: "Right! Why didn't I think of that! Su Ming, you're a genius!"

He grabbed the wine jar and filled Su Ming's cup to the brim. "Come on, to this great idea—bottoms up!"

Su Ming looked at the wine cup before him, then at Luo Feng's fervent face, and silently raised his glass.

Life under the Master, it seemed, would be quite exciting.

...

The next day, Su Ming went to Beast Peak.

The mountain gate of Beast Peak differed from the grandeur of the main peak. A faint air mixed with the scent of grass and the wild musk of hundreds of beasts permeated the surroundings. Several massive stone pillars were carved with runes for suppressing demonic beasts, and sunlight, filtering through the clouds, cast dappled shadows into the grooves of the runes.

Su Ming approached leisurely. His new purple True Disciple robe flowed with a faint spiritual light under the sunlight, and the pattern of seven stars and flowing clouds on the sleeves seemed to move slowly, as if alive.

At the mountain gate, a tall, thin disciple on duty was lazily leaning against a stone pillar. The corner of his eye caught a glimpse of that purple color, and his body instantly tensed like a drawn bow.

That color, those cloud patterns—Formation Peak True Disciple!

He rushed forward in three steps, his bow even lower than what was taught in the sect's etiquette class, his face beaming with respectful smiles: "Senior Brother from Formation Peak has arrived! This disciple failed to welcome you from afar! May I ask your esteemed name, Senior Brother, so I can go in and announce your arrival?" 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Su Ming handed over his identity token, his tone gentle: "Su Ming of Formation Peak. I'm here to see Senior Brother Qin Yi."