Chapter 256

Chapter 256: Peering into the Secrets of the Grand Xuan

Inside the black ship’s cabin, numerous vessels lay scattered, and dried blood had already congealed. A gloomy air lingered, and Feng Du’s face turned pale, still haunted by fear.

The woman in the embroidered shoes stopped to observe, giving a strange smile. “This is interesting; starting from the aspect of fortune. For cultivators, sensing and seeing fortune is very difficult. The opponent can actually manipulate it against the enemy, which is not how the Aofeng Sect operates.”

“Big Sister, the Grand Xuan Dynasty supports the Heavenly Ghost Sect; we aren’t afraid of the Aofeng Sect. We can gather people to confront them head-on.”

“Fool! How could my Ghost Blood Dress have such a stupid brother like you?” The woman became impatient, waving her hand to summon other cultivators, saying, “Set up the ritual altar. My Heavenly Ghost Sect’s Five Ghosts are not that easy to handle. Hmph, the Aofeng Sect is deeply rooted; they are a sect that needs special attention on the list. Let’s see just how capable they are.”

Before long, everyone set up the ritual altar around a wooden table carved with countless blood faces, and twenty-two black talismans floated around, facing each other.

“Hahaha, Reverse Reflection Ghost Passing Great Formation!” Feng Du laughed, “Big Sister, you’ve brought out the Fierce Ghost Slaughtering Table; no wonder when I asked for it, my uncle always refused.”

“Idiot, pay attention. This is not the Fierce Ghost Slaughtering Table; it’s the Ghostly Faces Mourning Table. As long as you ignite the Yin Ghost Void Incense, its effect even surpasses the Fierce Ghost Slaughtering Table and is perfect for setting up the ritual altar.”

“Ah? The sect has such a treasure? I didn’t know!” The green-haired youth gaped in astonishment as he watched his sister reveal a massive toad, which trembled and lay flat on the table, too frightened to move.

“Next, let’s witness the Aofeng Sect’s abilities.” The woman took out three incense sticks as thick as a child’s arm and forcefully stabbed one into the toad’s back. With a loud “quack,” a chilling wind swept through the cabin.

At that moment, Li Hui was finishing the Five Ghosts Transportation Talisman. The talisman’s surface crackled with sounds as nine shallow gray lines emerged on the back of the talisman. The first transformation deepened the color of the nine patterns, the second transformed them into nine small rivers, and the third turned the waves of the rivers into ghostly faces.

The talisman became endowed with Nine Patterns Three Exotics and was just a bit away from being a treasure talisman. The silver snake bracelet flickered, and just as Li Hui was about to guide it with his mind to create a halo crossing barriers, a wave of killing intent descended.

“Eh?”

As his mind faltered, the opportunity slipped away. Li Hui realized this talisman couldn’t reach the level of a treasure talisman; he would need to invest ten times the resources to make it grow again.

“You come looking for me instead of me going to find you?”

“Very well! Let’s continue to duel. As the saying goes, knowing yourself and the enemy means victory in every battle. Qiniang is investigating the Heavenly Ghost Sect and knows of a woman called Ghost Blood Dress who holds an official position in the Grand Xuan Dynasty, a Deputy Director of the Institution of Meritorious Deeds, a Sixth-Rank official, which is much higher than my lowly Ninth-Rank Deputy Inspector General, but she is not an official of the same dynasty.”

Li Hui didn’t use the Fortune Ascending Talisman. Instead, he took out a stack of replacement talismans, cut a small piece of nail and placed it on the talisman’s surface, then cut a few strands of hair to tightly wrap the replacement talisman. He quickly made gestures to activate it, sending it at top speed into the dark lines on the back of the silver snake bracelet.

Since the enemy had made another move, it indicated they had means to resist backlash, so he was too lazy to even attempt it. Previously feeling it troublesome, now he wished the enemy would use sneaky tactics to utilize their own strength against them.

With a soft “swoosh,” the dense talisman light passed through the rift in time and space, immediately splashing outward.

Ghost Blood Dress grabbed an ancient copper coin sword and muttered under her breath. The incense burning on the toad’s back quickly ignited, and the blood-colored faces on the table became ferocious, seeming to choose a victim to devour.

“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…” In the blink of an eye, the incense had burned halfway, ash falling, and the ghostly faces on the table clamored to swallow it.

Heart-stopping fear gripped the woman as she thought, “How could the Yin Ghost Void Incense burn so fast? It could whip a soul a hundred times from a distance. No matter how skilled he is, as long as he hasn’t cultivated his spiritual sense, he’ll suffer serious injuries, or die instantly. The saying goes, the Lord of Hell wants you dead by nightfall, you definitely won’t survive until dawn. Why does it feel like I’m striking at emptiness?”

“Wuwuwu…” At that moment, all the ghostly faces on the table cried out in pain.

“What’s wrong? How could this be? Reverse Reflection Ghost Passing Great Formation, rise!” Ghost Blood Dress raised the copper coin sword as a command flag, triggering the twenty-two black talismans floating around her, causing them to rotate pair by pair, quickly forming eleven black whirlpools that erupted with terrifying power, as if hundreds of thousands of weapons were whirling.

Li Hui had already activated the densely packed Treasure Viewing Talisman formations, Spirit Sense Talismans, Brocade Talismans, Spirit Insight Talismans, Sky Peeping Talismans, and countless others.

The talisman formations connected, with the Yin-Yang Nine Heads at the center. The magical dragon eyes flapped like flags, concentrating all their power to peek into the secrets of the time-space ruins.

“They’re coming! The formation isn’t small.” Li Hui’s heart trembled slightly. Through the fading sensations from the replacement talisman, he saw countless weapons darting past, and after a booming sound, the heavy murky qi in the time-space ruins was cleared. In the distance, he spotted a massive palace where hordes of ghostly beings were laboring.

“Who goes there?” A sudden shout echoed, power imposing.

Li Hui quickly retracted his gaze, moving swiftly, causing the talisman light on the surrounding walls to flare up. Dozens of talisman formations struck together, camouflaging their presence with unbelievable speed.

“Boom…” The black ship suffered the consequences.

Ghost Blood Dress screamed as the Yin Ghost Void Incense burned all the way to its base, and the large toad wailed in pain, its body bursting apart.

“Bang, bang, bang…” On the Ghostly Faces Mourning Table, one ghostly face after another cracked open.

At the same time, the black talismans floating around trembled, shattering and dropping after barely supporting for four or five breaths. Terrified, Ghost Blood Dress retreated frantically, repeatedly waving her hands to throw her subordinates forward.

“Ah!” Cries of despair echoed behind. Ghost Blood Dress seized her brother and sped away, saying, “Go! We can’t stay on the ship. The other side has high-level protection. Does the Aofeng Sect dare to break the agreement and send a Master from the All-Manifestation Realm? No, that’s a chilling aura; we must leave.”

Li Hui stared around, feeling incredible shock.

Even with the enemy as a scapegoat, the majority of the Treasure Viewing Talisman formations were destroyed, along with damage to other talismans on the ship. From his observation before the image was obliterated, the ghostly beings were constructing a grand hall filled with treasures, and in front of it, they were laying down a stone tablet with the characters “Xuantian Road” boldly inscribed.

“So they want to blood sacrifice to connect Yin and Yang; the Great Xuan cave heaven wasn’t destroyed thoroughly enough!” Li Hui contemplated, “No wonder the Grand Xuan Dynasty has been reluctant to give up its former glory; they are plotting to establish a small underworld and planning to act against the heavens! With this, if I go for the top position, it will only lead to a quicker death…”

While he was pondering, a booming voice suddenly resounded outside the ship: “The golden boy and jade girl of the Aofeng Sect receive the decree. Noble Concubine Wan will hold a palace banquet tomorrow to celebrate the Prince’s birthday, inviting disciples from all sects to enjoy together, sharing happiness across all levels.”

Li Hui was alarmed. “They come so fast!”