Chapter 542

Chapter 542: Six Paths of Jade Stone

Si Ma Suiyun ran outside for three hours, and when he returned to the tavern, Li Hui was still eating and drinking.

“Sir, I’m sorry, but the funds you provided are insufficient.”

“Insufficient? It’s only a pawnshop guarantee; how much can they charge?” Li Hui slammed the table, a red glow flashing in his eyes.

Cultivating the heart of Dao into demons wasn’t easy to overcome. Even if the demonic heart and heart of Dao were at odds, the heart of Dao still became impure. The demonic influence was gradually changing him, but the transformation was slow.

Si Ma Suiyun’s heart raced in fear, and he finally managed to suppress his panic, saying, “Your demands are rather high. If you want to attend the Myriad Forms Stage cultivator trading conference, you’ll need to pay ten times the wealth and provide three items worth no less than third tribulation artifacts as collateral!”

“Ten times? Running a pawnshop truly is a highly profitable business!” Li Hui rummaged through his belongings and, after a short while, took out six bamboo scrolls and placed them on the table, saying, “Here, half a set of spirit-refining technique. Tell them I only have half a set; if I can gather a complete one, the price will be different.”

“Spirit-refining technique?” Si Ma Suiyun was stunned.

“Yeah, it’s called ‘Twelve Chapters of Emergency Relief,’ a marvelous method to enhance spiritual defenses, and it allows you to refine small spells without needing a spell slot. It’s quite useful; you can make a copy for yourself first. The other six scrolls don’t exist; if they did, they would be enough to serve as the sect’s foundational method.”

“Thank you for your kindness, young master. Suiyun is immensely grateful.”

“You’re stuck at Late Condense Essence and can’t break through because of your spiritual sense. Coming to Huangting Mountain is a great opportunity; hurry and get the guarantee command token.”

“Yes!” Si Ma Suiyun swiftly got to work, knowing how rare the spirit-refining technique was. Even coming across a single scroll would be a monumental achievement for him!

Li Hui continued to gorge himself, his appetite resembling a bottomless pit that could never be filled.

The tavern owner, perceptive enough to know that a high-level demon cultivator was present, didn’t dare pursue payment. However, this guest could eat a lot! He had to secretly fetch ingredients four times just to meet the demand.

Half an hour later, Si Ma Suiyun returned with a token, accompanied by three black-cloaked cultivators in arrow-sleeved attire who came to pay their respects.

“Greetings, my lord. We are associates of the Golden Sleeve Pawnshop. Here are most of the items for trade from the last three trading conferences. We hope there might be something of interest to you. We also have records from a recent underground auction, though we only gathered a few details for your reference.”

Li Hui nodded and browsed the item list.

The earlier part was dull, but as he flipped to the next few pages, he immediately took notice: there was a Rare Treasure that could potentially serve as the core for a treasure cabinet.

“Six Paths of Jade Stone?” Li Hui exclaimed in astonishment. “Dao Jade is already extremely rare, and Six Paths of Jade Stone is even more so! Who is so bold to sell such an item?”

The black-cloaked cultivator clasped his fists and said, “The seller wishes to conceal their identity, and we do not know. However, this person has special needs. Without extraordinary Heavenly Treasures and Earthly Treasures to entice them, they would never part with the Six Paths of Jade Stone.”

“What does this person need?” Li Hui couldn’t find any information in the list.

“They request that you exchange flying tokens at our Golden Sleeve Pawnshop. This person seeks three treasures: one to enhance vitality, one for purification, and one flying treasure!”

Li Hui pondered, “The enhancement of vitality must involve merging spirit and soul to refine the Yang God, right? Purification seeks to eliminate corruption and requires an exceptionally pure Jade Symbol at the very least. As for the flying treasure, there are many types, but few truly deserve to be called a flying treasure; it must mean something that can traverse barriers!”

“Truly insightful, my lord!” The Three Cultivators expressed their admiration.

“Alright, I understand your intent. You want to exchange flying tokens, right? There’s no need to make it so complicated. I’ll choose items from the list, and the Golden Sleeve Pawnshop can acquire them for me.” Li Hui couldn’t be bothered with such trivialities. He handed Si Ma Suiyun thirty storage talismans, suitable for the required items, letting him run the errand and settle with the pawnshop.

The exchange of the Six Paths of Jade Stone would not be simple; it resembled a one-sided small auction. To succeed, he had to think outside the box and try his best to meet the seller’s demands.

Si Ma Suiyun left with the pawnshop associates, and Li Hui began to sift through his Yin prison sealed with the wooden turtle ring. After a short while, he pulled out three pieces of rough tree bark and sighed, “Heavenly Treasures and Earthly Treasures are indeed scarce. When will I be able to visit Wan Nest Island again? There are so many good things to collect that I’d surely prosper.”

After muttering to himself, he started cutting the tree bark. Not only did he cut, but he also burned the edges with Demon Fire until each piece was the size of a palm and charred Black Charcoal.

The bark was just the initial step. Li Hui, like a cobbler nailing shoe soles, took out golden stones and hammered many small purple crystals into the rough bark. After toiling for half a day, he shouted, “Waiter, where’s my big pancake with meat? Hurry and bring the food and wine!”

“Ah? Sir, you haven’t finished yet?” The waiter was shocked and nearly fell over.

“How fresh! It’s not even close to dinner time; I haven’t even had a real meal. Good food and wine, hurry up!” After giving his orders, Li Hui resumed contemplating the exchange of Dao Jade.

“Yes!” The waiter hurriedly called for people to serve the dishes, and the spiritual chefs hadn’t even sat down before they had to get busy again.

“Bark from the Sun Tree, purple teeth from the Yangming Weasel, and powder from the Burning Sun Stone. Still not enough; I’m far from satisfying the requirements! I also need beast blood from the Chi Yang Beast and seed oil from the nine-thousand-year-old Sunflower to possibly create a Three Yang Opening Tai Symbol.” Li Hui poured money into this enterprise without hesitation, disregarding details as he drew symbols at the dining table. Strangely, apart from the waiter and the tavern owner, everyone else ignored him, quickly forgetting his presence.

Li Hui had been struggling against the calamity power stirred up by Zhang Daoheng, and now, with the self-painted bone and the Flower of the Other Shore, coupled with his demonic heart, he was slowly prodding the calamity of forgetfulness, even converting the calamity power for his own use.

After two hours of busy work, he finally caught the feeling. With a quick stroke of his brush, he heard a soft “hiss,” and brilliant sunlight began to sprout from the bark’s surface. When the light retracted, it emitted a pure Yang aura.

Li Hui shook his head, unsatisfied. He hurriedly drew all over the tree bark, and once he finished, he produced a large clam shell the size of a washbasin. He poured in silver spring water and crushed several pieces of golden stones to drop inside.

“Puff puff puff…” The gold and silver light shot forth, and soon the spring water solidified, leaving only a thin layer.

Then he repeatedly poured in silver spring water and crushed golden stones to simmer out a large amount of soft ointment, laying the bark side by side. Finally, he poured in silver spring water, eating and drinking while waiting.

Si Ma Suiyun returned once, and Li Hui gritted his teeth, giving him a few more storage talismans, secretly sighing, “There’s no choice! Some materials for talisman-making have to be purchased. I don’t believe I can’t create three usable Jade Symbols that will impress them.”

He was pouring all his resources into talisman-making, draining most of his wealth, but the next day, he received a message from the Golden Sleeve Pawnshop that things had changed!

“What? Things have changed? The Six Paths of Jade Stone were stolen!”

Li Hui felt furious as he held the message, with demonic light stirring in his eyes.

It turned out that the Six Paths of Jade Stone had been treasured by the ancestor of the Ten Thousand Gu Sect, and several Bosa stage Demon Cultivators surrounded him, self-destructing themselves. The ancestor, in an attempt to protect his disciples, was blindsided, and even the storage spirit treasure was stolen. Now he was infuriated and offering a reward to capture the culprit.