Steward Zheng Tieshou sprayed a mouthful of spittle onto the faces of those three. "Coming here to pick a fight with a bunch of deliberately broken junk, only to get utterly humiliated on the spot! My face has been thoroughly shamed by you blockheads!"

The tall apprentice covered his buttocks, head hung low, wishing he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

After scolding his disciples, Zheng Tieshou turned his face towards Su Ming, his expression instantly turning amiable and pleasant.

"Brother Su, that was a brilliant move!"

Zheng Tieshou rubbed his large, calloused hands together. "I've asked you before to come to the Vessel Hall for an exchange, but you always refused. Today's incident is due to my lax discipline. Alright, as an apology, come to the Vessel Hall, and you can pick any materials you want!"

Within the Consciousness Sea, Lin Yu shouted, "Disciple! Agree! Agree quickly! Hopefully the Vessel Hall has some Void Stone!"

Su Ming's hand holding the teacup tightened slightly.

"Steward Zheng, you exaggerate."

Su Ming set down the teacup, a signature, simple and honest smile appearing on his face. "Since the steward extends such a warm invitation, it would be ungrateful for this disciple to refuse again. Coincidentally, I've recently become quite interested in spatial formations. I'll have to trouble the steward for guidance then."

"Of course! Of course!"

Zheng Tieshou laughed heartily, dragging those three dejected apprentices out with him. "Come tomorrow! I'll save the best furnace for you!"

Only after that noisy group had walked far away did Zhao Tiji sidle over, looking at the still-glowing formation plate on the table with clicks of admiration.

"Brother Su, your skill is truly miraculous." Zhao Tiji gave a thumbs-up. "Did you see the looks on those brats' faces? Like they'd swallowed flies."

Su Ming smiled slightly, saying nothing.

Zhao Tiji pointed at the standard-issue black iron shield facing him.

"This damn thing is a real burden."

Zhao Tiji said, "Heavy as carrying a tombstone on your back. Last time when that Wind Jackal pounced, I could have dodged sideways and given it a hammer blow, but this shield dragged me down, nearly wrenching my lower back. This isn't protective gear; it's clearly a stumbling block helping the demon beasts."

Old Liu, who was nearby wrapping a cloth strip around his old, rheumatism-plagued leg that had caught a chill, snorted with a laugh upon hearing this. "You should be grateful. This 'Black Tortoise Shield' might be clumsy and heavy, but the 'Solid Armor Formation' on it is the real deal. If you'd had a lighter leather shield, that last claw swipe wouldn't have just wrenched your back; it would have gutted you."

"I get the principle, but this dead weight feel seriously messes with my performance." Zhao Tiji rubbed his sore wrist, his face full of displeasure. "If it were thirty percent lighter, I could pound the shit out of those wolf whelps."

Su Ming instantly understood that Zhao Tiji was too embarrassed to ask directly.

"Brother Zhao, can I take a look?"

Zhao Tiji promptly handed it over. "Look, it's just a lump of iron. Those bastards at the Vessel Hall only know how to pile on materials, they don't give a damn about whether it's comfortable for us to use."

Su Ming reached out and took the shield. It felt slightly heavy in his hand, roughly sixty *jin*. For a Foundation Establishment cultivator, it wasn't much, but in high-intensity combat, every ounce of excess weight would consume stamina exponentially.

"Master, activate 'Observation Micro State'."

A faint, dark blue light flickered deep within Su Ming's pupils.

In his vision, the spiritual energy circuits on the shield's surface became clearly visible. It was a standard "Solid Armor Formation." The spiritual energy lines were bold, thick, and heavy. All the nodes were like rigid, dead stones, tightly stacked together.

"Typical 'brute force' approach." Lin Yu's voice in the Consciousness Sea carried a hint of disdain, like someone critiquing a terrible movie. "Pursuing ultimate defensive power while completely sacrificing flexibility. It's like strapping a security door to your arm; all the impact force has to be absorbed by the shield-bearer's bones. The defense holds, but the concussive force can numb a person's arm."

"Can it be modified?" Su Ming asked in his mind.

"Modifying the formation lines is too troublesome, and it easily gives those Vessel Hall guys an excuse to accuse you of damaging public property." Lin Yu yawned. "Change your approach. Since this shield is too 'dead,' then add something 'alive' to it. Remember the non-Newtonian fluid principle I taught you before? Or perhaps... Tai Chi?"

Su Ming's eyes lit up.

He set the shield down, not touching the formation lines on it. Instead, he fished out a blank talisman paper from his storage pouch, along with that bottle of "Azure Thunder Sand" slurry that wasn't fully used yet.

"Brother Su, this thing is hopeless, right?" Seeing Su Ming silent for a long time, Zhao Tiji thought he also looked down on this crude, clumsy object.

"The shield itself is fine; it's hard enough." Su Ming picked up the spirit brush, dipping its tip into the dark blue water-attribute spiritual energy. "The problem is it's too 'direct.' The force comes and goes straight, so naturally it feels heavy."

"Direct?" Zhao Tiji scratched his head, not understanding.

Su Ming didn't explain, raising the brush and setting it to paper.

This time, he wasn't drawing those angular, sharp defensive talismans, but rather a series of undulating curves like ripples on water.

Spiritual energy flowed from the brush tip, not solidifying into hard lines but maintaining a semi-fluid state. This was a little something Su Ming had recently devised by combining the *Like Water Art* with "force-dispersing" techniques.

In the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, a talisman emitting a faint blue light was completed.

The patterns on the talisman's surface resembled a pond of spring water gently ruffled by a breeze, looking soft and gentle.

"What's this?" Old Liu also leaned over, his single eye full of curiosity. "Looks soft and flimsy, like embroidery done by a woman."

"This is called the 'Flexible Water Force-Dispersing Formation.'"

Su Ming attached the talisman to the inside of the shield's handle, the spot where the arm bears the most force.

"Activate."

Su Ming pointed a finger, and the talisman instantly vanished into the shield.

The originally pitch-black shield surface suddenly shimmered with an extremely faint layer of watery light. This light wasn't static; it pulsed with a strange rhythm, like breathing.

"Brother Zhao, give it a try." Su Ming handed the shield back.

Zhao Tiji reached out to take it, half-believing, half-doubting.

The moment his palm touched the handle, his eyebrows shot up sharply.

"Huh?"

He tried swinging it a couple of times.

*Whoosh—Whoosh—*

The heavy shield cut through the air, stirring up a gust of wind.

"That's bizarre!" Zhao Tiji's eyes widened. "The weight clearly hasn't changed, so why does it feel so much lighter to swing? It's like... like swinging the shield underwater, with a kind of buoyancy supporting it!"

"It's not actually lighter." Su Ming explained. "Rather, the talisman creates a flowing force field on the shield's surface. When you swing it or receive force, this force field disperses the concentrated impact across the entire shield face instantly, like water ripples. With the force dispersed, the burden on your wrist naturally lessens."

"I don't believe it. Here, Old Liu, give me a chop!" Zhao Tiji grew excited, holding the shield horizontally before his chest.

Old Liu was also a tough character. Without a word, he drew the saber from his waist, turned the blade's back downward, and with half his strength, chopped fiercely onto the shield's surface.

*Clang!*

A crisp sound rang out.