Chapter 119
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Chapter 119: The Beginning of Transformation
Li Hui settled down on Artifact Mountain, where the stone house had a blood-red wall, seemingly carved with five figures. Each appeared to be waking from a nightmare, frozen at the moment of awakening. Three old men and two young men remained petrified, with skin glowing like metal, merging into the wall, looking quite terrifying.
"This is the Demon Wall!" Qian Duohai sighed, "This thing constantly reminds newcomers of what fate awaits them. When the merging begins, it will automatically strip away their clothing. It’s not so bad for male cultivators, but the female cultivators risk their lives trying to break through the blockade because there are many women from the town outside who have merged into the wall, their bodies shining brightly."
"Merging into the Demon Wall in their sleep?" Li Hui furrowed his brow, tapping the wall with his fingers and hearing a dull sound similar to knocking on a jar. This concept exceeded the teachings of the Jade Symbol Sect, and the more he thought, the more his mind became confused. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and turned to say, "Quickly gather artifact fragments and treasure fragments, and make a detailed list of supplies we can buy on the island. Remember to be thorough; resources are limited. The more I use, the less there will be for the following disciples of the Jade Symbol Sect."
"Ah? So urgent?" Qian Duohai stood up.
"There’s no time to waste!" Li Hui’s expression turned serious, "The true disciples saw me teleport, and they must be assembling teams to eliminate the monsters in the Chaos Cave, so once the teleportation array opens, a batch of Jade Symbol Sect disciples will definitely come. At that point, many will try to recruit them, even attracting the attention of cultivators from the Earth Island and Sky Island. If you have the ability, try to catch the attention of the Earth Island and Sky Island folks. We need to gather as many blood banana leaves as we can."
"Damn it! They say the teleportation array at the arch bridge opens every twenty days. That means we only have twenty days!" Qian Duohai panicked, no longer concerned about how Li Hui would create talismans but focused on monopolizing various talisman-making resources. What may seem inconspicuous now could skyrocket in price in twenty days; there’s a huge profit to be made.
As he thought of this, Qian Duohai hurriedly said, "Alright, you get to work. I’m going to check out the town."
As Li Hui stood on the stone cliff, watching Qian Duohai and his inseparable puppet leave, he pondered, "You’re quite cautious; perhaps that puppet is your true self? Swearing an oath doesn’t apply to yourself."
Li Hui turned and looked at the massive black stone mill outside the stone house.
This stone mill was enormous, almost two people tall, and required twenty large adults to embrace it. Extracting such a massive stone was no easy feat, let alone turning it into a grinding disc.
"Grinding with this mill won’t be as thorough as with the silver snake bracelet absorbing things. There must be a lot of artifact scraps accumulated around the mill; let’s see how much I can extract."
Saying this, Li Hui activated the Cloud-Brush Dragon Claw Technique.
The six Revitalizing Ginseng and Deer Antler Pills had helped quite a bit; the wounds on his chest and ribs had scabbed over, and his internal spiritual energy had recovered to about seventy to eighty percent, even his vitality slightly enhanced.
This time, as he used the Cloud-Brush Dragon Claw Technique, it felt vastly different from before. Dozens of claw-shaped phantoms flew out from the side; after grabbing, they did not shatter or vanish but circled back to grab again.
The Cloud-Brush Dragon Claw Technique felt the same, yet the level of its application was beyond comparison. Li Hui wondered if showcasing the dragon horns on his forehead while creating talismans could quickly increase the success rate for creating them.
The ground trembled lightly; countless years of accumulated soil surfaced, and aside from fine scraps, there were quite a few fragments.
The silver snake bracelet writhed around his wrist, suddenly raising its snake head to look at the mill, as if it were opening its mouth to suck in air. Suddenly, countless specks of light surged forward. Only then did Li Hui realize he had underestimated the true power; the real aid came not from the ground but from the immense mill before him.
After being ground by several previous artifact masters, many essences had remained within the stone mill, accumulating terrifying amounts over the years. Additionally, the mill’s ability to grind fragments of artifacts and treasures made it itself a large artifact, though the crafting method was very subtle, making it difficult for outsiders to discern.
In just a moment, Li Hui felt thirty-six acupoints in his body sting; he knew the silver snake bracelet had activated the power of the Golden Threshold Thirty-Six Symbols, although the sting was far less than before.
Now he didn’t lack Miao Jade, but his potential had already run dry.
Indeed, until the stinging sensation disappeared, his spiritual energy hadn’t surged through the acupoints. He felt as if his body couldn’t keep up with the rhythm; his heart was willing, but his strength was lacking. This was the downside of cultivating the Ideal Body, which was now emerging in him too early. But if he didn’t practice the Ideal Body, how could he escape the pursuit of the Essence Cultivators? In the chaotic cultivation world, many times it was hard to think long-term. All one could do was hope to survive in the moment!
“The way of heaven is to strive; if you don’t strive, you’ll die!”
This was Li Hui’s deepest realization after descending the mountain and entering the cultivation world.
Setting aside his musings, he waved his hand, releasing the nine heads, commanding, “Go gather banana leaves; the more, the better. Pile them outside the house.”
The nine heads hadn’t fully recovered, but their movements were mostly unhindered. They flapped their large ears and rushed off, wildly harvesting banana leaves across the mountains.
Upon returning to the house, Li Hui began to draw spirit talismans. Using the best talisman paper he had, while the silver snake bracelet had just finished a meal, he first illustrated the confirmed treasure cabinet using talismans.
“Buzz, buzz, buzz…”
As it hummed, the talisman brush’s tip glowed with purple light. The most basic, lowest-level Spirit Summoning Talisman formed nine patterns, and the nine patterns began to wildly transform.
First, they morphed into hook-shaped patterns; then a second transformation occurred into magatama shapes. Lastly, during the third transformation, the nine magatama patterns converged toward the center.
Li Hui was taken aback. To know that three transformations of a spirit talisman, and then breaking through would signify a treasure talisman. Without using top-tier talisman ink or any materials, he actually created a Spirit Summoning Talisman that was infinitely close to a treasure talisman. How incredible was that?
"Seize the opportunity; it’s now or never! Create the talisman!"
With the brush sweeping like a dragon or snake, his spirit resonated. Dragon horns emerged from his forehead, his left hand gripping a piece of medium-grade Miao Jade, he began to push the silver snake bracelet to its maximum potential.
He drew the following talismans: absorption talisman, spirit-eating talisman, guidance talisman, energy-gathering talisman, storage talisman, compression talisman, tracking talisman, inspiration talisman, atmospheric observation talisman, and qi regulation talisman…
All the basic talismans related to absorbing, purifying, and absorbing spiritual energy emerged one after another under Li Hui’s brush.
After drawing eighty incredibly powerful basic spirit talismans, the enhancement from the silver snake bracelet remained strong, so why hold back? He then proceeded to draw the Cloud-Brush Transforming Talisman, Universal Rain Talisman, Storm and Thunder Talisman, Absorbing Energy Talismans, and Searching Talisman and so on. Each of these began with nine patterns, but very few could transform three times, while most transformed only twice or once.
When the enhancement from the silver snake bracelet was reduced by half, Li Hui had to stop. Even though his spiritual energy consumption was small, he couldn’t handle the mental strain.
“Brother, brother, what a stroke of fortune!”
Qian Duohai burst into the stone house, panting, “I made contact with a laborer on Earth Island! Hahaha! Whatever amount of banana leaves you want, we can get, and we can mostly buy treasure fragments as well.”
