Transmigrated into a Grandpa, Embracing the Laid-Back Life

The mountain path of Artifact Burial Peak was scorched hot by the earth vein fire energy. Withered trees on both sides, like clawing ghostly figures, swayed faintly in the distorted air.

Luo Feng walked beside Su Ming, casually tossing a pitch-dark red earth fire crystal core in his hand. The core refracted a blinding blood-colored halo under the sunlight, and even without channeling spiritual energy, its exceptionally pure fire-attributed aura raised the surrounding temperature by another few degrees.

"That Old Man Zheng is just a blockhead," Luo Feng said, catching the falling core with a smug curl at the corner of his mouth. "Don't let his fierce act fool you. He knows full well what's up. This core was dug out from the Ten-Thousand-Zhang Earth Fire Abyss by the previous Peak Master of Artifact Burial Peak years ago. He's been hoarding it, letting it gather dust in storage. If I hadn't provoked him with those defective suicide puppets, he'd never have pulled this treasure out into the light."

Su Ming stopped and extended his right hand.

Luo Feng naturally handed the core over.

The moment the core touched his palm, a domineering wave of scorching heat pierced through the skin of Su Ming's hand and burrowed deep into his meridians. His expression unchanged, the Like Water Art quietly circulated within him, forming an extremely thin barrier of deep blue water-attributed spiritual energy between his palm and the core.

He probed his divine sense into the core's interior. There was not a trace of impurity. The dense golden veins, like the most intricate blood vessels within a human body, carried in every fiber the purest fire spiritual energy, accumulated over a millennium.

"Quality like this is enough to meet Elder Qingyang's requirements," Su Ming said softly, storing the core into his storage pouch.

A slightly cool mountain breeze blew from the direction of Formation Peak, dispersing the stifling heat around the two of them.

The smile on Luo Feng's face gradually faded. He stopped, turned around, and his gaze carried a rare hint of gravity.

"Junior Brother Su," Luo Feng said, his voice low, so low that even the mountain wind couldn't carry away the oppression within it. "That Pill Fiend—how sure are you, really? I went to check the sect's ancient records last night. The Heaven-Mending Pill plunders the very fortune of heaven and earth. Once the Pill Fiend descends, its power is no less than a full-force strike from a Golden Core cultivator. That old man Qingyang saying there's a seventy percent chance of the pill failing—he wasn't just trying to scare you."

Su Ming didn't answer immediately.

The mountain path fell into utter silence, with only a few withered yellow leaves spinning at their feet.

Su Ming's real trump cards were the Like Water Art's formidable resilience, enough to encompass all things, the Xuantian Ring's protection of his soul in critical moments, and his profound understanding of the path of formations over the past half year.

"I'm not sure," Su Ming said, lifting his head and meeting Luo Feng's eyes calmly. "But I must refine this pill."

Luo Feng stared at Su Ming's still, ancient-well-like gaze and let out a long sigh.

He brushed his hand over his storage pouch, and a jade talisman emitting a warm, yellow glow appeared in his palm. The talisman's surface was carved with ancient, intricate runes, exuding an aura that calmed the heart and mind.

"I picked this up years ago from an ancient cultivator's cave dwelling called True Man Xuanku," Luo Feng said, pressing the talisman solemnly into Su Ming's hand. "It's called the Spirit-Calming Talisman. It can't defend against physical attacks, but in extreme situations, it can forcibly stabilize your Consciousness Sea for ten breaths. It might not be decisive against a heavenly-earthly Pill Fiend, but at least... it's a backup plan."

Su Ming looked down at the talisman in his hand, feeling the faint warmth emanating from it. He didn't refuse, clutching it tightly and tucking it into his robe.

"Thank you, Senior Brother."

"The day you open the furnace, I'll be waiting for you outside Pill Cauldron Peak, under that crooked pine tree," Luo Feng said, patting Su Ming's shoulder heavily. "Don't die in there."

Su Ming nodded slightly, watching as Luo Feng transformed into a streak of light and flew toward Star Pivot Hall.

Half an hour later, Su Ming returned to his Gazing Star Cliff cave dwelling.

He first walked along the perimeter of the cave, checking all the warning and isolation formations, and meticulously replaced the cores of three formation plates whose spiritual energy was nearly depleted.

After confirming everything was in order, he walked to the wide stone table at the center of the cave.

His storage pouch flickered with a faint light.

Twenty-three auxiliary ingredients, carefully arranged according to Elder Qingyang's list, now covered the entire stone table.

On the leaves of the century-old Purple-backed Begonia, purple veins, like extremely fine threads, emitted a faint glow. The Cold Pool Ice Crystal was stored in a special jade box, its surface frost condensing into an incredibly fine white mist in the air. The Red Flame Sand had been ground perfectly even, with every minuscule grain exuding a pure, dark red luster.

Shadow fluttered lightly from Su Ming's shoulder and landed on the edge of the stone table. Tilting her little head, her golden pupils swept over the twenty-three materials, each emitting a different spiritual light, and a soft "purring" sound came from her throat.

She stretched out her pitch-black beak, tentatively aiming to peck at the crystal-clear Cold Pool Ice Crystal.

Su Ming precisely extended two fingers, pinched the nape of Shadow's neck, lifted her up, and placed her on a meditation cushion far from the table.

"Cheep." Shadow let out a slightly dissatisfied cry, preened her feathers, and obediently settled down.

A deep blue glow slowly illuminated the opposite side of the stone table.

Lin Yu's soul body materialized in midair, his unusually solid features flickering with shifting shadows under the multicolored radiance of the materials.

He didn't, as usual, crack a joke about Su Ming's excessive caution or offer any critique of the precious materials.

He simply floated there silently, his gaze sweeping over the table full of auxiliary ingredients, finally landing on Su Ming's calm face.

Lin Yu's soul body dimmed for a moment, then slowly brightened again.

"The materials are ready," Lin Yu said, his voice much lower than usual, stripped of its flippant tone, each word carrying a heavy weight. "Now it's up to that old man Qingyang's skill... and your own fate."

Su Ming met Lin Yu's gaze and, without a word, gave a solemn nod.

He raised his hands and smoothly repacked the auxiliary ingredients from the table into his storage pouch. Every movement was precise to the extreme, not making a single extra sound of collision.

When the tabletop was empty once more, Su Ming walked to the stone bed and sat down cross-legged.

He slowly closed his eyes.

The deep blue spiritual energy of the Like Water Art flowed through his meridians with an incredibly gentle rhythm, like a hidden current surging deep in an abyss. He adjusted every inch of his meridians, every thread of his divine sense, compressing and condensing his entire being—essence, energy, and spirit—to its peak state.

The cave dwelling fell into absolute stillness.

Tomorrow, the furnace would be opened.