Wang Er Mazi plopped down onto the snow, wailing loudly, "We boarded the airships at the West Gate, but we were chased by the insect swarm as soon as we took off. Two airships were shot down, and we were forced to jump... We thought we were dead for sure, but then we saw light over here..."

Hearing "the airships were destroyed," the hearts of everyone in the stone house turned cold.

That batch of seeds evacuated from the West Gate represented the sect's future.

"Stop crying!"

Su Ming stepped forward, "Get to the point! Are there any other survivors besides you?"

Wang Er Mazi was startled by Su Ming, hiccuped, and stammered, "Yes... yes! I saw with my own eyes, at least two large airships broke through! That was the gap Elder Mo desperately opened!"

"And... and..."

He took a breath, pulling out a communication talisman from his chest that still flickered with a faint glow.

"This is a sect transmission we received on the way... the sect... the sect has already received the news! Three 'Cloud-Piercing Battleships' are rushing here at full speed! They told us to hold on!"

Silence.

Deathly silence.

Then, came a wave of barely suppressed cheers and sobs.

Su Ming felt the string that had been tightly wound around his heart finally loosen just a little.

Su Ming turned around, not joining the cheers of the others.

He walked alone outside the stone house, standing beside the dim teleportation formation.

The snow fell heavier and heavier.

Goose feather-like snowflakes drifted down, covering the bloodstains on the ground, covering the charred ruins, as if wanting to bury all the scars of this world.

Su Ming looked up towards the north.

The firelight there had gradually subsided.

The earth vein explosion triggered by Elder Mo seemed to have ended.

But he knew the scars left by that explosion would likely take centuries to heal.

......

The news brought by Wang Er Mazi acted like a shot of adrenaline, reigniting a spark of something called "hope" in the eyes of the previously lifeless group. Even if this hope was still far away, even if the so-called "Cloud-Piercing Battleships" were still on their way, at least they were no longer abandoned orphans in this blizzard.

Once the taut nerves relaxed, exhaustion surged in like a tide.

Apart from Lu Jun and another lightly injured veteran on duty, the rest fell into deep sleep within a few breaths. The chorus of snores and occasional low groans of pain became the only melody in this dilapidated stone house.

Su Ming did not sleep.

He sat cross-legged in the shadow nearest the door, leaning against the cold stone wall. The intense pain from the broken ribs on his left side felt like a dull saw, pulling back and forth inside his chest with every breath. He swallowed a Reviving Spring Pill, but the medicinal potency dispersed slowly, and the spiritual energy flowing through his meridians was as depleted as a creek in a drought.

"Don't push yourself so hard, disciple."

Lin Yu's voice echoed in the Consciousness Sea, carrying a hint of laziness, yet unable to completely hide a trace of barely perceptible concern, "Your body right now is like a sieve full of holes. Earlier, to keep up appearances for these people, you forcibly held onto a breath of energy. Now that breath has dissipated, the backlash isn't feeling too good, is it?"

Su Ming kept his eyes tightly shut, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly as he thought silently, "Master, this isn't the time for sarcasm. This place... isn't safe."

Lin Yu snorted, "Although Old Man Mo chose a place with some merit, the defensive formation of this broken house has long since rotted away. The commotion from Wang Er Mazi and the others earlier was only masked by the heavy snow covering the scent; otherwise, it would have attracted the insect swarm long ago."

Su Ming did not respond. He endured the dizziness, trying to mobilize the last trace of water-attribute spiritual energy within him to warm and nourish the broken bones.

However, the moment his divine sense touched the Qihai within his Dantian, a sudden change occurred.

*Hum—*

A low, grand, resonant hum, as if from the primordial chaos of ancient times, exploded without warning deep within his Consciousness Sea.

Su Ming's body jolted violently, nearly crying out.

The "Formation Heart Seal" that Elder Mo had forcibly implanted into his body, that dim star that had been in a state of silent seal, now seemed to sense something and began to slowly rotate.

It wasn't glowing, it was... breathing.

With each of its rhythmic pulses, a stream of obscure, incomprehensible information, like a bursting flood, violently rushed into Su Ming's divine sense.

"This is..."

Su Ming felt as if his brain was being stirred by a red-hot iron rod, cold sweat instantly soaking through his back.

This wasn't the complete legacy Elder Mo had mentioned, nor did it contain that vast history of border defense or profound formation mysteries. At this moment, what this seal transmitted was only a single diagram.

A diagram that was incomplete, fragmented, yet extremely complex—a three-dimensional structural diagram.

"Hmm?" Lin Yu let out a soft sound of surprise, his tone instantly turning serious, "Disciple, steady your mind! Don't resist it, follow its patterns! This seems to be... a real-time map?"

Su Ming gritted his teeth, relaxing his divine sense's resistance as instructed, allowing that information stream to unfold within his mind.

It was indeed a diagram.

The lines in the diagram weren't drawn with ink, but composed of countless flowing threads of spiritual energy light. Su Ming quickly recognized that the flow of these light threads perfectly matched the course of the earth veins beneath this Black Pine Forest!

However, most areas of this diagram were gray and dark. Only within a five-mile radius centered on the stone house were there intermittent points of bright light.

"This isn't a map."

Su Ming endured the sharp pain, analyzing rapidly in his mind, "This is... a formation diagram. A hidden measure left by Elder Mo in the Black Pine Forest back then?" 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Lin Yu paused for a moment, a trace of admiration entering his tone, "This seal isn't dead, it's alive! It senses your current dangerous situation and actively calculated the most suitable survival formation for the present moment!"

Su Ming's heart stirred, his divine sense quickly scanning the fragmented diagram.

Indeed.

The fragmented diagram marked forty-nine nodes. These nodes didn't require expensive spirit stones or Formation Flags; they utilized the existing terrain of the Black Pine Forest—a crooked old pine tree, a protruding weathered rock, even a snow-covered deep pit.

As long as these nodes were connected with spiritual energy in a specific sequence and method, it could borrow the Black Pine Forest's own Yin-cold earth energy to construct a natural barrier.

"Hidden Dragon Formation..."

The name of this formation array surfaced in Su Ming's mind.

The so-called Hidden Dragon does not transform into a dragon and soar to the sky, but rather, the latent dragon bides its time, hiding deep beneath the nine abysses, blending with the color of mud and sand, achieving Synchronization with the flow of water.

This was practically a tailor-made "Way of Survival" divine skill for Su Ming at this very moment!

"Do it or not?" Lin Yu asked, "Although this formation is a simplified version, setting it up will likely drain you dry, and it still might not be enough."

Su Ming suddenly opened his eyes, a flash of fierce determination in their depths.

"Do it."

He leaned against the wall, slowly standing up.

"Not doing it is waiting for death. The news Wang Er Mazi brought is good, but it also means the main force of the insect swarm is currently clearing the battlefield. Once they free up their hands, this thirty-mile buffer zone is just a quick meal's distance for them."

Su Ming took a deep breath, suppressing the churning in his chest, and looked towards Lu Jun, who was still dozing by the door.

"Lu Jun!"

A low shout startled Lu Jun, making him jolt all over, nearly dropping the formation plate in his hand.

"Su... Instructor Su? Are the insects here?" Lu Jun jumped up in panic.

"Not yet, but soon."

Su Ming didn't explain too much, his pale face radiating an unquestionable sternness, "Call those two formation apprentices who can still move. Bring all the Formation Flags and engraving knives. Come with me."

"Ah? Now?" Lu Jun glanced at the howling wind and snow outside the window.

"Follow."

Su Ming had already pushed open the dilapidated wooden door. The cold wind, mixed with snowflakes, rushed in, making his thin blue robe flap loudly.