Eternity Starts From His Seed

Chapter 88: Grind

South District. Lantern Workshop.

Old Shen's hands turned with practiced precision as he examined the formation ball through his monocle, scrutinizing the empty groove surrounded by the runes imprinted on the surface of the ball.

With a thoughtful expression, he muttered, "Barely passable," before placing it gently among five more formation balls scattered across his cluttered worktable.

Old Shen then reached for a jade slip from his counter, his fingers briefly navigating the delicate surface.

"Sixty points." He handed it toward young man standing in front of him, "Take this and go claim your reward from the Registration Pavilion."

Bubai took the jade slip, feeling its cool and smooth in his hands. Aw man, this hard-earned reward felt as good as Xiao Lan's soft hands.

After pocketing the jade slip, Bubai looked back at Old Shen, who gestured towards the edge of the workshop, shifting Bubai's gaze towards the wooden box sitting next to the wall of glowing lanterns.

"That's the box with brand new formation balls. You can collect some equal to the amount you just turned in. If you like, you can grab another from the same box as last time."

With a nod of understanding, Bubai approached the box. He opened one and found it filled with new formation balls, each one devoid of the carved groove.

Bubai quickly counted five balls and stowed them carefully into his green storage pouch. He then walked over to the box of prepped balls, taking one from within.

Once the supplies were acquired, Bubai turned to face the old man, whose attention was already absorbed by the delicate craft before him, the faint black mist still seeping out from the monocle he was using...

Bubai's eyes flickered with hesitation. In the end, he kept silent, bowing respectfully before he made his way towards the workshop's exit.

The light of the workshop lingered in his memory as Bubai stepped back into the warm embrace of dusk, the door creaking shut behind him, closing off the enclave of lanterns and tempting boxes of formation balls.

The ambient glow from the strangely-designed lanterns hanging on the workshop walls spilled onto the narrow street, casting flickering shadows of various mythical creatures on the white walls of the nearby workshops.

It was really ingenious and beautiful. Bubai silently took in the interplay of light and shadow, eventually unable to resist letting out a sigh.

Everyone has their own problems. It wasn't his place to worry about others when he can't even solve his own.

He already burned the contribution points earned over the weeks of painstaking copying tasks to search the classified room multiple times.

In the end, he found no solution to his problem, but he did glean some additional insights regarding foundation establishment.

Indeed, there were some geniuses who could spontaneously establish their foundation on the spot, but the majority often faced prolonged stagnation even after accumulating enough foundation for a breakthrough.

The natural occurrence of breakthroughs was typically hindered by hidden factors beyond the control of low-level cultivators, such as their spirit.

Even multi-attribute spiritual root geniuses could struggle during breakthrough due to their lackluster talents in relation to the spirit.

Absence of these struggles only existed in the geniuses with strong spiritual strength, either congenital or through the consumption of spiritual treasures.