Transmigrated into a Grandpa, Embracing the Laid-Back Life

The charcoal fire in the lecture shed had long since dwindled to only glowing embers, occasionally popping out a tiny spark that vanished instantly in the gloom before dawn.

The air was filled with the charred fragrance of burnt pine resin and a faint smell of sweat.

”Li Fire position, spiritual energy unstable.”

Lu Jun’s voice was somewhat dry, but his hands were extremely steady.

He was half-kneeling on the muddy ground, holding a probe engraved with dense talismanic patterns, staring intently at the violently vibrating formation plate before him.

Beside him, the ornate brocade robe originally used for show had its sleeves rolled up, now stained with black grease and mud splatters. That arrogant young man who had once pontificated about ”the path of formations reaching the heavens” in the first class now resembled the most seasoned repairman, sweat beads on his forehead dripping from the tip of his nose and landing on the scorching hot outer shell of the formation hub, producing a sizzling sound and a wisp of white smoke.

Surrounding them was complete silence. The other nineteen trainees had long since completed their own assessments and were now holding their breath, their gazes focused on this final and most difficult ”fault blind test.”

Su Ming stood not far away, holding the control talisman used to create interference between his fingers, his thumb gently rubbing the rough patterns on the talisman’s surface.

”Ten breaths left.” Su Ming’s voice was flat, as if calling out a dish name.

Lu Jun’s pupils constricted sharply.The vibration frequency of the formation plate was still increasing. According to orthodox formation theory, he should immediately cut off the spiritual source and reconstruct the Five Elements cycle.

But what flashed through his mind was the third iron rule from Su Ming’s ”Emergency Troubleshooting Manual”:

—On the battlefield, a broken formation can be repaired, but cutting off spiritual energy means certain death. Better to blow up the formation plate than interrupt the shield.

”To hell with the Five Elements cycle!”

Lu Jun gritted his teeth and growled lowly. His left hand, originally poised to cut off the spiritual source, abruptly twisted.

*Crack.*

Immediately after, his right-hand probe swiftly traced three ”flow-guiding lines” on the formation plate.

”Vent!”

With a fierce shout, the formation plate on the verge of explosion emitted a dull groan. A violent surge of crimson spiritual energy gushed out along the diversion pipe, blasting into the waste pile to the side and exploding into a cloud of dust.

As for the formation plate itself, although several fine cracks appeared on its surface, the core green light representing the shield’s operation remained stubbornly lit.

It never went out.

The shed fell silent for a moment.

”Excellent!”

A shout of praise broke the silence.

The one who spoke wasn’t a trainee, but a middle-aged, burly man sitting in the observer’s seat in the corner.

He was the representative sent by Yi-3 Defense Zone, also a trusted subordinate of the captain of Lu Jun’s defense zone.

The burly man stood up, his rough face trembling, eyes gleaming: ”If he had cut off the spiritual source just then, the moment the shield disappeared, a demon beast’s claws would have ripped in. This kid reacted fast. A broken formation plate can be repaired, but a dead man is gone forever! This is the kind of Formation Master we need!”

Lu Jun plopped down on the ground, panting heavily, looking at the still-flashing green light on the formation plate, a silly smile mixing exhaustion and relief spreading across his face.

Su Ming slowly walked up to Lu Jun, looking down at this former troublemaker.

”According to academic school rules, your violent operation just now would deduct at least thirty points.” Su Ming pulled out an assessment sheet filled with data from his sleeve.

Lu Jun’s smile froze on his face, his hands supporting him on the ground slightly tightening their grip on the soil.

”But,” Su Ming’s tone shifted, the vermilion brush in his hand drawing a heavy circle at the very bottom of the assessment sheet, ”here, that move of ’sacrificing the pawn to save the king’ gets full marks.”

He didn’t hand the assessment sheet directly to Lu Jun. Instead, he turned and respectfully presented it with both hands to the representative from Yi-3 Defense Zone.

”Steward Li, this is Fellow Daoist Lu’s final evaluation for this training. As for whether he is qualified and capable of taking on the responsibility of protecting the net in your Yi-3 Defense Zone, I leave that to you and the Formation Masters of your esteemed defense zone to jointly assess.”

Steward Li was momentarily stunned, then accepted it with both hands, his face beaming with joy: ”Instructor Su, you’re too polite! Just based on that life-risking stance earlier, this kid can hold his own alone once he returns!”

Similar scenes played out repeatedly over the next half hour.

Su Ming respectfully handed each assessment sheet to the representatives of their respective defense zones.

”Brilliant, truly brilliant.”

Within the Consciousness Sea, Lin Yu’s voice carried a hint of relaxed enjoyment, as if snacking on melon seeds, ”Disciple, if you scored them yourself, that would be called ’forming cliques for selfish ends’ and would easily attract resentment.”

Su Ming’s expression remained calm as he watched the representatives happily lead their respective trainees away, but his mind was as clear as a mirror.

He didn’t need a nominal ”master-disciple” relationship.

Because the core technical barrier of this ”Spirit Response Spider Web” system remained firmly in his grasp.

...

Three days later, Bing-7 Defense Zone returned to its usual calm.

But Su Ming’s days did not become idle.

Although those twenty ”crash-course Net Protectors” had returned to their respective defense zones and had begun grandly deploying or taking over maintenance of their zone’s spiderwebs, communication talismans flew into Su Ming’s stone hut like snowflakes.

”Instructor Su, the geology in Bing-4 Defense Zone is too hard, the formation stakes won’t drive in. Forcing them will cause the talismanic patterns to crack. How to solve?”

”Instructor Su, the spiritual energy reflux here always has noise. Followed the manual and checked three times, couldn’t find the cause. Urgent!”

Su Ming sat cross-legged on the stone bed, over a dozen flickering communication talismans floating before him. He looked composed, replying to each one.

”Bing-4 Defense Zone, soak the stake tips in ’Soil-Corroding Liquid’ for three breaths, and add a micro-pattern of the ’Vibration’ character at this position. I’ve attached the diagram in the jade slip.”

”Reflux noise is mostly due to trace magnetic ore interference underground. Ignore it. Just add a ’filtering valve’ at the receiving end. Specific parameters as follows...”

His replies were precise, concise, and hit the nail on the head.

But all his answers were strictly confined to the ”operational level.”

For the occasional, highly perceptive trainee—like Lu Jun—who sent questions ”touching upon the core principles of the formation array,”

Su Ming’s reply was always the same template:

”This pertains to the deep structure of formation theory, not something that can be grasped in the short term. The war situation is tense. Follow the manual procedures first. Do not alter the formation lines on your own, lest you cause formation destruction and loss of life.”

Watching Su Ming skillfully copy and paste from within the Consciousness Sea, Lin Yu couldn’t help but whistle: ”This is called a ’technical black box.’ Let them know how but not why. The more they rely on your ’fool-proof’ solutions, the more secure your position becomes. It’s like... never mind, you wouldn’t understand what an ’ecosystem closed loop’ is anyway. Just know that right now, the lifelines of the formation arrays in over a dozen defense zones are actually held in your hand.”

Su Ming gave a slight nod, lightly tapping with spiritual energy at his fingertip to send out the final communication.

Unconsciously, an implicit network with Su Ming as the technical core, spanning nearly ten defense zones, had already formed.

The captains of each defense zone might merely think Su Ming was a ”reliable Formation Master with excellent after-sales service,” but the key personnel responsible for formations under their command had grown accustomed to turning their gaze toward Bing-7 Defense Zone whenever they encountered tricky problems.