Transmigrated into a Grandpa, Embracing the Laid-Back Life

Chapter 330: The Fall of the Privy Council, the Flame Passed On

The air in the secret passage was thick like congealed grease; every breath required immense effort to force that rust-scented air into the lungs.

There was no sound of wind, only the dull echoes of dozens of boots on the slick greenstone slabs and the rapid, suppressed panting held deep in throats.

Su Ming walked at the front, the long sword in his hand long since blunted, its surface caked with a mixture of purplish-black insect blood and dark red human blood.

He did not look back, just mechanically moved his legs forward.

Zhao Tiji's final posture—using his back to brace against the stone door—was like a red-hot nail, hammered irrevocably into the depths of his mind.

But he could not stop.

Behind him, Lu Jun and the others moved like a group of soulless zombies, their steps mechanical.

No one spoke. No one dared to look back at that now-closed stone door.

"We're here."

A sliver of light appeared ahead.It was not the white light of an exit, but a heart-palpitating dark gold, mixed with unstable spiritual energy turbulence, seeping through the crack of a half-ajar stone door.

The stone door was carved with intricate formation lines, which were now flickering erratically between brightness and dimness.

Su Ming took a deep breath, his lungs stinging from broken ribs, but his face remained expressionless as he reached out and pushed the door open.

*Boom—*

A vast and chaotic wave of spiritual pressure surged out, causing Lu Jun and the others to stumble backward. Only Su Ming remained firmly rooted in place, his cyan robe flapping violently in the gust.

*Creak—*

The heavy stone door slowly swung open.

A wave of heat mixed with violent spiritual energy fluctuations rushed out, as if he had pushed open the mouth of an erupting volcano. Lu Jun and the others behind Su Ming instinctively raised their arms to shield their faces, staggering back on unsteady feet.

Su Ming did not retreat.

He narrowed his eyes, his pupils rapidly contracting in response to the intense light, allowing him to see the scene beyond the door.

The sight that met them stole the breath from everyone's lungs.

It was a massive spherical space, the core forbidden area of the Spiritual Hub Hall.

Embedded in the vaulted ceiling were hundreds of night pearls, simulating the celestial constellations of the Northern Border. But now, most of those pearls representing the star mansions had shattered, their light extinguished, like pairs of blinded eyes gazing lifelessly downward.

The floor was not made of stone slabs, but was a huge, three-dimensional "miniaturized topographic formation map of the Northern Border's mountains, rivers, and strategic points."

Mountains, rivers, passes, earth veins… every detail was vivid and lifelike.

Yet now, this magnificent map of the land was marred by horrifying cracks.

Dark red spiritual fluid, like blood, seeped from the fissures, staining the originally cyan-green "mountains and rivers" into a mottled, chaotic mess.

At the very center of this shattered landscape, a millstone-sized black magnetic star core hovered in the air.

A withered, skeletal old man sat cross-legged upon this star core.

Elder Mo.

The once-majestic Grandmaster of Formations now had his ritual robes reduced to ashes. His skin was desiccated like old tree bark, clinging tightly to his bones. His eye sockets were sunken deep, but within them, his eyes, amidst the pale golden flames, were clear as a bottomless pool of icy water.

Those flames were not ordinary fire; they were the "Dan Fire" manifested by a Golden Core cultivator burning their origin and overdrafting their soul power.

He was burning himself alive.

Using his own life, he was forcibly suppressing this formation on the verge of total collapse.

"You've arrived."

Elder Mo's voice was very soft, devoid of its former bell-like resonance, yet it pierced clearly through the cacophony of spiritual energy explosions around them, entering each person's ears.

Su Ming's body swayed slightly.

The moment he saw Elder Mo's wretched state, the torrent of fury, grief, and helplessness that had been building in his chest since Zhao Tiji's death surged up like a breached dam, nearly suffocating him.

But he quickly bit the tip of his tongue.

The sharp pain kept him lucid. He knew now was not the time to break down.

Su Ming took a deep breath, strode across the flowing spiritual fluid on the ground, reached the edge of the formation map, and knelt on one knee, clasping his fists in salute.

"Disciple Su Ming, following orders, has led the team to break through and arrive here."

His voice was hoarse, thick with the smell of blood. "Squad Leader Zhao Tiji… fell in battle. The outer defensive line… has completely collapsed."

Elder Mo's gaze slowly swept over Su Ming, then glanced at Lu Jun and the others huddled trembling by the doorway. There was no sorrow, no joy in his eyes, only a desolate understanding that seemed to have seen through everything.

"To make it this far… is no easy feat."

Elder Mo's finger twitched slightly, pointing behind him.

There stood seven massive stone pillars, which should have held seven life lamps, representing the seven Golden Core cultivators who controlled the seven stars' formation cores.

Now, all seven lamps were extinguished.

Golden Cores to guard them. Now, within the pass, only this old man and Wu Miao

*Cough… cough-cough!*

was suddenly wracked by a fit of coughing, spraying specks of blood tinged with golden light onto the formation map before him, instantly burning several charred holes into that patch of

had a contingency plan long ago: The pass may fall, but the Formation Hub must not be lost. If the situation becomes untenable, then burn the formation foundations, overturn the earth

and he slumped to the ground,

"An… empty shell?"

final bastion. But now, the formation's master himself was telling

at Elder Mo's face,

to detonate

Ming's mind

This was the truth.

been, from the very beginning, a doomed rearguard

Steward Wu, he…" Lu Jun couldn't help but

sharpened like torches, sweeping over Lu

must lead the remaining troops in a rearguard action on the surface, creating the illusion of a

finally settling back on

were like two awls, boring into Su Ming. "This old man must remain here. Only with my remnant Golden Core as the catalyst can I fully ignite the embers of the earth veins, completely detonate the three thousand *li* of earth veins beneath Iron Wall Pass, and deal a crippling blow to

hard his jaw ached, his

This was war.

miracles, only calculations paid for

Ming

a certain-death situation, since everything was to be destroyed, why go through all the trouble to have him bring

looked at Su Ming, a faint trace of approval flashing in his

only one who can take the 'Border Defense Formation Hub True Seal' away

disciple's cultivation is lowly. Senior Brother Lu Jun is from the

to do with

only know rote memorization and rigid adherence to rules, even if they are at the peak of Foundation Establishment, would only

Su Ming, his originally turbid eyes erupting with

ragged breath, "…you grasped a

alive, not

might accept

Defense Formation Hub

The pale golden Dan Fire flowed at his fingertip,

stars along the long border line. Each point of light represented a border defense fortress similar to

since its founding, the Cloud Hidden Sect has established seventy-nine border defense great formations across the Northern Border. Iron Wall Pass

grew

same origin. They are all variants of an ancient formation based on the 'Zhou Tian Star Array' and connected by the 'mountains, rivers, and earth veins' as its

map. Suddenly, countless extremely fine, almost

hidden veins linking

Jun gasped in shock. Su Ming's pupils

They finally understood.

three hundred years of formation operation for Iron Wall

light burned in

their ancient monsters who have lived for who knows how many years, it's not impossible for them to reverse-engineer

"By that time—"

coughing fit, bloody foam tinged with golden light

that time, the ten-thousand-*li* defense line of the Northern Border will be

region can be temporarily abandoned. But if the Demon

Su

of a calamity leading to

Su Ming called out

"Take it."

sigh. "If you

took a deep breath, hesitated no longer, stepped

disciple… accepts the

Mo said

hands. At his chest, the burning Golden Core fire violently collapsed

*Hum—*

entire underground space emitted

it seemed to contain phantom images of mountains, rivers, and stellar trajectories within, so heavy it caused

instantly withered further. The pale golden

"Hold out your hands."

Ming gritted his teeth, presenting his

moment it touched Su Ming's palms, there was no

*Boom!*

if a mountain had been shoved into

heavy torrent of will and intent instantly

was ten thousand years of border

and snow, the despair of each shattered formation, the furious roars

"Ahhh—!"

His entire body was pressed hard against the ground by an invisible giant hand, the stone slabs beneath his

your Spiritual Platform! Don't try to read that information! Treat it like

Yu roared frantically within the Consciousness Sea. A surge of cool soul power rushed out recklessly, forming a barrier that desperately protected Su Ming's teetering

Ming clenched his jaw so hard a crisp cracking sound

not

he passed out, he

circulated the *Like Water Art*. The spiritual energy within his body became like a resilient, layered net, wrapping around that rampaging torrent of will and intent, compressing and sealing it

how long it lasted. Perhaps an instant, perhaps

impact finally slowly subsided, condensing into a dim star that floated quietly in the depths of Su Ming's Consciousness

his whole body drenched as if just pulled from water, sweat and blood dripping

"Good… good seedling…"

faint and ethereal as a wisp of

had even started to merge with the formation

does not cut short your path… when you achieve the Golden Core realm… nurture it with your heart and spirit, and

his head with great difficulty, his gaze