Chapter 106
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Chapter 106: Responding to Change with Constancy
“Tick-tock, tick-tock…”
The sound was close, like water droplets, thick and viscous.
As Li Hui woke up, he immediately sensed blood dripping from above, and the heavy metallic scent of blood nearly made him gag. He opened his eyes to see a large pool of blood and corpses scattered all around.
These corpses belonged to residents of Linggui City and indigenous people from overseas. In their final moments, they seemed to have desperately grasped their own necks, unable to withstand the blood poison in this place.
“Ah! Where am I?” Someone nearby rose to their feet.
Li Hui glanced and recognized that the person was a practitioner; it seemed only those with practitioner bodies could endure the blood poison. He checked himself and found everything was intact. He pulled out the Spirit Sense Talisman and pressed it against his forehead.
The back of the Spirit Sense Talisman bore nine unusual patterns resembling pupils, which opened nine eyes that surveyed the surroundings.
“Whoosh…”
“Not good!” Li Hui was shocked and took a step back. The Spirit Sense Talisman burned to ashes, sending only scattered images before it vanished.
“What a terrifying place; I can’t even bear to glance.”
Filled with shock, he hurriedly pieced together the images in his mind, seeing tunnels everywhere, dense and maze-like. Many practitioners had already awakened, weaving through the tunnels and pools of blood.
In an instant, the images in his mind vanished, leaving only the memory of the tunnel labyrinth.
“No wonder Xiuqiu wanted to cut all the senses and hide; in this place, every step requires extra caution,” Li Hui thought as he touched his slightly burned forehead. He looked around, seeking a clean spot to sit and recuperate. He pondered, “So many practitioners from Linggui City were swept away by the Blood Light. There are certainly many with deep cultivation; I won’t join the fray; let them lead the exploration instead!”
“Hey, buddy, how can you still find time to sit here and meditate?” A nearby practitioner approached, a chubby man with fair skin holding a kitchen knife, wearing a chef’s apron and embellished sleeves.
“Better to be still than to move—responding to change with constancy!” Li Hui raised his eyes slightly, recognizing that this chubby man was definitely a cook from a grand tavern in Linggui City, judging by the grease on him. He didn’t know how many spiritual plants he had consumed.
“That sounds reasonable, though I don’t quite get it!” The chubby man mumbled, hesitating to venture out because of danger, finally plopping himself next to Li Hui, his cheeks jiggling as he grimaced. “I was sleeping well when the boss woke me up, saying I had to prepare breakfast for some prince, prepping Lingzhi and Qingyun Snake. Just as I was dazedly tying my apron, bam! The whole kitchen turned red. When I came to, I found myself in this cursed place. It’s like a bad dream!”
Li Hui was focused on how to construct the treasure cabinet talisman formation, his thoughts adrift in the intricate web of talismans, paying no mind to what the chubby man said.
“Hey, buddy, you seem to be a disciple of a prestigious sect. What is this place really? Do we still have a chance to get out? So many practitioners from Linggui City, yet I, the little chef Chef Zhao, got snatched away? Tsk, tsk, surrounded by corpses. Is there a demon planning to make me cook with these corpses? No way, absolutely not! That’s too bloody and disgusting!” The chubby man rambled, truly skilled at venting.
At that moment, another practitioner woke up and, upon seeing the piles of bones and pools of blood, screamed in fear, “Ah! So scary! Is anyone there? Wuwuwu, why am I being treated like this? Who is this pervert? I said I would sell my art, not my body; I have some cultivation, so I can’t be forced!”
The chubby man shot her a glare and shouted, “Huo Qiniang, stop pretending to be a virtuous lady; your pants are practically bursting from all the cavalry training! Hehe, I didn’t expect it wouldn’t be just me, Chef Zhao, who got unlucky.”
“Ah! Chef Zhao!”
The heavily made-up woman turned to look, quickly adjusting her hairdo and tugging at her extravagant ceremonial robe reserved for concubines as she walked over. Upon seeing the handsome young man sitting properly by the chubby man’s side, her eyes lit up.
“Oh dear! I’m so weak; my feet are all sore,” Huo Qiniang said, her body swaying like a willow, softening as if to fall.
Chef Zhao placed the kitchen knife down, arms open for an embrace, but to his surprise, she retreated. There was no sign of weakness or sore legs!
Li Hui didn’t even lift his eyelids, remaining vigilant. His mind was a chaotic storm. He had too many thoughts, and the topics left by the elder Chen Mengde were incredibly challenging. After digesting all the aspects mentioned in the notes and through repeated contemplation, he found himself filled with doubts, even considering overturning the elder’s hypothesis.
“Wait a minute! The eighty-one acupoints serve as the base for the Earthly Array, assisted by tracking talismans, Spirit Sense Talismans, Spirit Summoning Talismans, auspicious gas talismans, guidance talismans, and so on. The three hundred sixty-five hidden acupoints form the Heavenly Array, using Cloud-Brush Transforming Talismans, Universal Rain Talismans, and Storm and Thunder Talismans as the base—hasn’t this got the priorities reversed? The eighty-one acupoints should surely be more crucial; why use such simple talismans instead?”
“Think again, cannot be careless!”
“Simple? Simple signifies a foundation; could this be the true meaning here? The more foundational an item, the more vital it becomes, and it could place a lesser burden on the acupoints, not affecting the functionality?”
“Indeed, I misjudged! The elder is after all an elder, having immersed himself in the path of talismans for years. He wouldn’t err in such a place.” Li Hui secretly wiped his brow; he nearly reversed the Heavenly and Earthly Arrays.
“The final Spirit Motion mark of the Spirit Motion stage must be at the Dan Tian position, making the Dan Tian the most critical among the eighty-one acupoints. As the foundation among foundations, what type of talisman should be the source?”
“Tracking Talisman? Spirit Sense Talisman? Spirit Summoning Talisman? No, none are suitable! Is cultivating with the myriad of spiritual energies too disorganized? Or perhaps the human body itself is highly complex, needing various spiritual energies to nourish it? Even so, no matter what kind of spiritual energy is refined, it should be as pure as possible by the time it reaches the Dan Tian.”
“Focus on this purity; Purification Talismans? Purifying Talismans? Or Absorbing Talismans? Cannot be careless, must be cautious!”
Chef Zhao and Huo Qiniang chatted idly beside Li Hui, their conversation intermittent. After more than half an hour, a crescent-shaped glow suddenly burst from the entrance across the blood pool as a voice shouted, “Lin Xurih! This artifact was discovered by me, Shaodong; what right do you have to possess it?”
“Hahaha, what a joke! I got it first, so it’s naturally mine. Does the Flying Kite Sect consist of people like you, grasping at straws?”
“Hmph, your Cold Lake Sect is nowhere near our Flying Kite Sect! If you don’t hand over the artifact, you’re bound to end up without a place to die,” said a man bearing the Flying Kite Sect’s mark, releasing a flurry of flying needles with a flick of his wrist.
“Trivial skills! Not even as good as the crescent moon flying spear from earlier!” The black-clad youth on the other side scoffed, swirling his wide sleeves to create a mix of cold air and heat waves, the two swirling together creating powerful currents that knocked the flying needles to the ground, demonstrating clear superiority.
As the two fought more fiercely, the light patterns on their bodies flared, causing Chef Zhao to cower on the ground, trembling. He whimpered, “Oh my! These two guys must have at least seven or eight Spirit Motion Patterns. How tragic! Why am I suffering so?”
Li Hui frowned slightly; these two had interrupted his train of thought.
