Chapter 177

Chapter 177: The Secret Chamber of Bones

In the southeast corner of the fifth layer of the Purple Fortress, Li Hui discovered a secret chamber.

The secret chamber was small, square-shaped, with a length, width, and height of three zhang each.

Chef Zhao crawled out from the secret chamber, crying and wiping his nose, “Waa waa waa, just knock me out and stuff me in a bag of treasures! I’d rather hug an electric eel and get struck by lightning than endure more torment. I encountered the devilish sound again, and this time it turned into a pile of cosmetics. Thank goodness Qiniang was asleep; otherwise, she would have killed me!”

“Spill it, what happened?” Li Hui chuckled to himself.

“Hallucinations everywhere, those little demons seduced me. I couldn’t resist and ended up being with seven different partners all night!” Chef Zhao said, covering his groin, feeling quite embarrassed.

“Oh, you fat fool.” Huo Qiniang suddenly lifted her head to look at him, puffing out her cheeks, tears welling in her eyes as if she had suffered a great injustice.

Ignoring their private squabble, Li Hui asked the chubby man, “Did you get the items?”

“I got it!” Chef Zhao hurried to take credit, “I endured humiliation and hardships for seven times! Finally, I managed to obtain this treasure.”

“Good, handle it carefully. This is an ancient magical item; don’t let it influence you,” Li Hui said as he pushed the door and entered the secret chamber.

Inside the secret chamber, there were no formations; only a jade token magical item provided automatic protection. However, it had been sealed for so long and lacked care from cultivators, so even someone with Chef Zhao’s cultivation could approach it.

On the ground lay several copper basins, and against the wall sat a tall skeleton, its clothes long turned to dust, leaving no trace of flesh but a white mat woven from grass rope beneath it.

The skeleton was slightly yellow, speckled with black spots, and Li Hui did not dare advance carelessly.

Right now, he urgently needed Qiuxiu’s observation ability, but this guy had locked himself away, blocking the location of the sect leader and the Grand Elder, unresponsive to any calls. Therefore, he had to rely on his own insight and judgment.

“This person probably died from poison, but he should have had considerable strength in life, allowing the skeleton to remain after many years,” Li Hui mused, turning to examine the scattered copper basins. He noticed a block of ash left in one, and using the Cloud-Brush Dragon Claw Technique from a distance of one zhang, he stirred the air to test it.

A gentle breeze revealed some ashes but showed no abnormalities. He then increased the force to extract the remaining ash from the basin, exposing parts that had not yet turned to dust.

Suddenly, a refreshing scent wafted through the air as Guang Jin transformed into human shape, eagerly leaping forward and shouting, “Bodhi tree! To be precise, it’s the root stem of the Kasyapa Bodhi tree. This thing is incredibly rare even in the Buddhist nation, let alone today. Speaking of resisting inner demons, Prison Wood doesn’t even compare.”

“The root stem of the Kasyapa Bodhi tree?” Li Hui had never heard of it before; there were no records in the texts.

“Hahaha, what a good item,” Guang Jin started to pester, “Good Young Master, you are my master, and I must think of the guardian’s benefit. Using these Kasyapa Bodhi root stems in any way would be Wasting Precious Resources, but if I refine them, my capability to cleanse your mind will gradually emerge. In the future, whether it’s understanding Buddhist scriptures or Taoist texts, you’ll achieve more with less effort, ensuring your mind stays sharp.”

“Oh? There are such benefits?” Li Hui realized Guang Jin had lofty standards; anything he valued must be extraordinary. Since he already had a Buddha fruit for dealing with inner demons, he didn’t fuss much: “Alright! Leave me half of the other copper basins with the Bodhi root stems, and you can handle the rest.”

“Ah! Young Master, please give me more!” Guang Jin begged shamelessly, ultimately getting sixty percent, or six pieces, leaving four pieces stored in the Bamboo Box.

This was but a small interlude; what Li Hui truly desired was the mat beneath the skeleton. He thought for a moment and released the poison dragon eel, keeping the shrinking seal placed by Qiuxiu intact. The secret chamber was too small for it, so it remained the size of his arm, and he only wanted to see its reaction.

“Roar, roar…” The poison dragon eel, Ao Chongguang, called out eagerly, eyeing the skeleton with an intense desire to pounce but filled with fear, hesitating as if unsure.

“Indeed, it contains poison, and the toxicity is considerable,” Li Hui said to the poison dragon eel, “I have a Nine Patterns Three Exotics monster-conjuring talisman here, ready to use it on you. However, like Ao Chonglin’s enhancement process, it’s best with external force for stimulation. Since the skeleton contains poison, this is heaven’s gift of external force for you! Go!”

Despite its name containing ‘dragon,’ the poison dragon eel’s intelligence could not be compared to genuine dragon beasts. Li Hui assumed it understood, and he waved his hand, sending out two Nine Patterns Three Exotics monster-conjuring talismans.

If the first one failed, the second would activate instantly, potentially increasing the chances of becoming a half-demon. Otherwise, without Ao Chonglin’s fighting spirit, it would be hard to endure the agony during the transformation, and it all depended on fate.

“Chirp, chirp…” Finally gathering its courage, the poison dragon eel swam toward the skeleton. As it got close, a black mist began to form, delighting it as it eagerly inhaled, its eyes growing brighter.

Li Hui stood quietly nearby, waiting. He estimated that the Li Family’s cultivators must have arrived via the teleportation array, but he wasn’t sure how long it would take for them to find the Purple Fortress.

In reality, the Li Family cultivators arrived through the teleportation array far earlier than Li Hui anticipated. Judging by the concentration of spiritual energy, it was clear they had already entered the Inner Ring of Wan Nest Island. So they dared not be careless and released the Beastmen to charge around.

The disaster of riled beasts began!

They belonged to the spiritual beasts of the Inner Ring of Wan Nest Island and, over time, had adapted to ignore most formation restrictions. The problem was, entering the Inner Ring and still wanting to rampage was tantamount to seeking death!

The sounds of wind and thunder arose, and countless wooden spikes and earth spikes emerged. Even if these Beastmen were tough-skinned and hearty, how many waves of attacks could they endure? Dust and smoke surged everywhere.

When the four Li Family cultivators regained their senses and attempted to summon the beasts back, they were shocked to find it was too late! Those that should be roasted were already roasted, and those that should be poisoned were poisoned; what seemed harmless was terrifying! Unfortunately, the little ghost next to Hongmo Zhengfang had completely disappeared.

Search! They used their spiritual sense to conduct a thorough scan of the area, spending two hours before finally locking onto the Purple Fortress.

Two hours! That was two hours! How frustrating and annoying! In fact, if the four had teamed up, they would have only needed a stick of incense to find the Purple Fortress, but this fortress was just too advanced. They had never considered that Li Hui would dare to enter with two burdens. However, after searching all around, they concluded that the kid had indeed gone into the Purple Fortress since there were no traces in other directions.

Furious, the four gritted their teeth and dashed toward the Purple Fortress. Two of them had already reached the Late Condense Essence stage, while the other two were also in the mid-Condense Essence stage, beginning to recover their energy. Coupled with the Li Family’s strong foundation, they were not only among the top in their rank but could also firmly keep an upper-tier level.

As they stepped onto the stone bridge before the Purple Fortress, they were filled with perplexity! Array maps appeared on either side of the stone bridge, indicating that unless they understood the array maps fully, entering the Purple Fortress would pose dangers.

Look! Perhaps this is an opportunity. Didn’t the master urge them? First, they decided to study the array maps. The four of them spent a long time exploring, and ultimately, two more hours passed…