Transmigrated into a Grandpa, Embracing the Laid-Back Life

Two months later.

The Mysterious Ice Platform was located at the highest point of Iron Wall Pass. There were no obstructions here; it directly and furiously endured all the malice from the extreme northern ice plains.

Su Ming sat cross-legged in the sheltered corner of the formation core. The standard-issue leather armor he wore was already covered in a thick layer of white frost, making him look like an ice statue just unearthed.

His breathing was extremely slow. With every exhalation, two arrow-like jets of white vapor shot from his nostrils, extending three feet without dissipating.

”Hiss... I say, disciple, this isn’t cultivation, it’s practically a pressure endurance test for a hydraulic press.”

Within the Consciousness Sea, Lin Yu shrank his neck, looking at the nearly solidified cold air and star-killing energy outside, unable to hold back an outburst. ”These ’Star Attraction Lines’ were originally meant for setting up gravitational formations. But you, you’ve gone and engraved them directly into your meridians, using your physical body as a formation plate. It’s only because the spiritual energy refined by your ’Like Water Art’ is as sticky as glue that you can do this. Anyone else, their meridians would have exploded into fireworks long ago.”

Su Ming did not respond. All his mind and spirit were immersed in that delicate balance within his body.

Over these two months, he had seized almost every spare moment to take advantage of this free cultivation environment.

Within the Qihai of his Dantian, the originally deep blue liquid spiritual energy had now become viscous to the extreme.

As Su Ming willed it, the complex and obscure ”Star Attraction Lines” within his Consciousness Sea glowed faintly.Hum.

An invisible gravitational field suddenly spread out with Su Ming at its center.

Above his head, the starlight that had been falling aimlessly, like iron filings attracted by a magnet, instantly distorted and converged, transforming into a silver thread barely visible to the naked eye, pouring straight into the crown of Su Ming’s head.

Pain.

Fullness.

The sensation was like someone forcefully stuffing lead ingots into an iron barrel already filled to the brim with water.

The starlight entering his body was not gentle nourishment; it carried the dual attributes of extreme cold and immense weight.

”Rotate.”

Su Ming inwardly commanded.

The water spiritual energy within his body did not choose to resist. Instead, it began to spin, following the momentum. The softness of water lay in its capacity for containment and dissolution. That viscous spiritual energy, like layers upon layers of silk, wrapped around, permeated, and ground down those violent streams of starlight.

With each rotation, the volume of the spiritual energy was compressed a fraction.

The spiritual energy that originally occupied the entire Qihai of his Dantian was now collapsing toward the center at a slow but steady pace. And at the core of that collapse, specks of silvery-blue crystalline light began to appear.

This was a sign that the purity of his spiritual energy had reached an extreme.

”Eighth layer peak...” Su Ming slowly opened his eyes, a fleeting silver light flashing deep within his pupils before vanishing.

He lowered his head to look at his palm. He wasn’t using spiritual energy to protect his body, yet in the extreme cold, his hand held a jade-like warmth and smoothness. He gently clenched his fist, and a dull, explosive sound echoed in the air, as if he had crushed an invisible ball of gas.

”So this is the so-called bottleneck.”

Su Ming whispered to himself.

Over two months, relying on the advantageous location of the Mysterious Ice Platform and his relentless, almost suicidal cultivation, his cultivation base had skyrocketed like a rocket to the very limit of the eighth layer of Qi Refining. Both the total amount and the quality of the spiritual energy within his body had touched that invisible ceiling.

The next step up was the ninth layer of Qi Refining.

But now, no matter how much starlight he drew in, that final layer of paper remained unbroken.

”Don’t rush it. The more you rush at this stage, the easier it is to deviate from the proper path and go berserk.”

Lin Yu’s voice sounded at the right moment, carrying a note of pacification.

Su Ming nodded, dispersing the gravitational field around him.

As his cultivation method ceased operation, the suffocating sense of oppression in the surroundings vanished instantly.

From the shadows not far away, a hoarse cough sounded.

Old Liu hobbled out from behind a stone pillar, his single leg dragging across the ground with a grating scrape. He still held that chipped wine gourd in one hand, while the other fiddled with a somewhat blackened formation plate.

”Awake?”

Old Liu offered the wine gourd, his cloudy single eye sweeping over Su Ming. ”That commotion just now was a bit bigger than a few days ago. The snowflakes within a thirty-foot radius were suspended mid-air, unable to fall. Anyone who didn’t know better would think you were practicing some evil art.”

Su Ming took the wine gourd, didn’t bother wiping it, tilted his head back, and took a large gulp.

The strong liquor burned down his throat like a line of fire into his stomach, dispelling the lingering chill within his body.

”Hit a bottleneck. Stuck.” Su Ming handed the gourd back, stating the truth plainly.

”Being stuck is good.” Old Liu chuckled, revealing a mouthful of broken, yellow teeth. ”On the battlefield, running too fast makes you easy to run into a blade’s edge. Stopping to rest, solidifying the path under your feet, that’s how you live long.”

Over these two months, Su Ming had gotten familiar with this old soldier.

Old Liu didn’t talk much, but every sentence was experience accumulated from crawling out of piles of corpses.

Su Ming stood up, stretching his somewhat stiff joints, which emitted a series of popping cracks. He walked to the edge of the Mysterious Ice Platform and looked down.

From this height, the entire Bing Battalion of Iron Wall Pass was laid out before him.

At this moment, Bing Battalion was vastly different from two months ago.

Where the defense zones were once pitch black, faint, dim streams of light could now be seen flowing beneath the surface. That wasn’t lamplight, but the trails of spiritual energy flowing through the formation nodes.

Over these two months, Su Ming had not been idle.

Ever since the ”Spiderweb” in the Bing-6 Defense Zone displayed its might, Su Ming’s business had exploded like a rolling snowball. Bing-8, Bing-9, even a few stubborn squad leaders from the neighboring Ding Battalion next door had shamelessly sought him out, begging Su Ming to go and ”weave webs” for them.

Now, Su Ming’s identity was far more than just a Technical Assistant Repair Specialist.

He was more like a ”security consultant” roaming between various defense zones.

That ”Spirit Response Spider Web,” composed of countless nodes, had already connected the seven or eight defense zones centered around Bing-7 into a single network.

Old Liu reached out, grabbed the wine gourd, pulled out the stopper, and took a fierce swig.

The pungent liquor rolled down his throat, bringing a touch of color to the old soldier’s pale face.

”These past two months, it’s spread all over Bing Battalion,” Old Liu said, putting down the gourd, his gaze looking toward the dark wilderness in the distance. ”They call you ’Half-City Su,’ saying half of Bing Battalion’s defense depends on your few lousy ropes holding it up.”

”It’s called the ’Spirit Response Spider Web,’” Su Ming corrected, casually casting a ”Sharpness” rune on Old Liu’s worn-out blade.

”Same difference.”

Old Liu glanced at the cold light glowing on the blade’s edge, the corner of his mouth twitching in what passed for a smile. ”But you’re a strange kid. Others, when they earn Military Merit, they wish they could eat elixirs like meals, or trade for a good flying sword to go kill demons. But you, you run up to this godforsaken place every day to catch the wind.”

”It’s quiet here.” Su Ming didn’t explain, just responded with a smile.

Su Ming fell silent for a moment, then cupped his hands respectfully toward Old Liu.

”Uncle Liu, enjoy the wine slowly. I need to go back and check the formation plates.”

”Go on.”

Su Ming turned and quickly descended along the winding stone steps.

Wind and snow struck his face.

”The ninth layer of Qi Refining...”

Su Ming clenched his fist, feeling the abundant spiritual energy within his body that stubbornly refused to take that final step.