Chapter 137
Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/PazjBDkTmW
You can buy coins here to unlock advanced chapters: https://gravitytales.com/coins-purchase-page/
Chapter 137: Everything is Born to Nurture Talismans
All the practitioners in the Blood Phantasm Maze gathered at Cave Number 288, straining their ears to listen to the sounds outside.
At this moment, the Blood Phantasm Maze was free of blood energy and corpse energy. All the caves and tunnels were filled with grooves, and the stone walls were covered in red lines.
Every so often, triangular flags bearing unique symbols were inserted at intervals. If the disciples of the Jade Symbol Sect saw this, they would be shocked at such a vast arrangement dedicated to nurturing flags.
Li Hui sat in the center of Cave Number 33, continuously throwing spirit talismans into the blood pool before him.
First, he buried nine hundred and ninety-nine tracking talismans as a foundation, then used Blood Ignition Talismans and blood merging talismans as a base, and finally activated the large formation with the Dirty Soil Yin Shape Talismans and Burial Demon Spring and Autumn Talismans.
With Li Hui’s cultivation and skills, he naturally couldn’t create Dirty Soil Yin Shape Talismans and Burial Demon Spring and Autumn Talismans.
These two types of talismans lacked all connecting parts; their respective methods had already become incomplete. According to the records, they were acquired through the Jade Symbol Sect’s past exploitation from a talisman-making family, a bloodstained tale not suitable for outsiders to know.
The so-called dirty soil was the opposite of pure land, representing filth and murkiness.
Li Hui had the practitioners digging through mountains of corpses day and night to burn the remains. This was to use the Dirty Soil Yin Shape Talismans to imprint the entire Blood Phantasm Maze to create "confinement flags," while also absorbing significant amounts of corpse energy to form "sacrifice flags."
The Burial Demon Spring and Autumn Talismans were even more powerful; when combined with other spirit talismans and used in the nurturing flags’ formation, they could absorb blood energy to create "demonic flags" and "decayed flags."
The "decayed" in decayed flags implied both rotting and decay, becoming infected and aging as if countless years had passed. Could anything in the world withstand time’s erosion? If used well, such flags held a power not inferior to treasure talismans.
For today, almost all of the artifacts opened from the black iron box were used for this purpose, while others mistaken him for having an abundance of artifacts when, in fact, he had none.
The ground shook slightly as the nurturing flags’ formation began to take effect, completing the flags inserted at the nodes. After half an hour, Li Hui buried another nine hundred and ninety-nine tracking talismans. Then, he used Blood Ignition Talismans and blood merging talismans as aids, with Dirty Soil Yin Shape Talismans and Burial Demon Spring and Autumn Talismans as the main components.
These steps needed to be repeated five times. As for how many flags could be created, achieving thirty percent success at the thirty-seven thousand six hundred thirty nodes would be impressive, with very few decayed flags, while the confinement flags would surely be the most numerous.
“Go!”
Another set of talismans was buried, and in the previously dangerous, forbidden areas, and death zones of the Blood Phantasm Maze, including the teleportation array’s location, red light erupted from the formation as it crazily extracted energy, turning large stretches of land into ordinary soil.
No one knew how many years and efforts the Hongmo Sect had invested in creating the Blood Phantasm Maze, but at this moment, it was being destroyed by a mere outer disciple of the Jade Symbol Sect.
Sects like the Flying Kite Sect were all progressing, so how could the Jade Symbol Sect remain stagnant? In fact, after generations of accumulation, they had formed a wealth of ideas, just waiting for an opportunity to ignite a breakthrough.
Li Hui gradually began to touch on a concept called “everything is born to nurture talismans.” Many ancient texts naturally developed toward this direction, attempting to transcend material mediums, invoking the forces of nature and extreme environments to create talismans.
The flags were products of this attempt; they were related to talisman methods and formations, allowing for easy set up after being made, meanwhile combining the qualities of decrees and flags, consuming little energy, easy to arrange, quick to activate, and powerful in effect.
Unfortunately, recent generations of the Jade Symbol Sect had been conservative, placing insufficient emphasis on developing flags. When Li Hui studied talisman formations, he connected the dots and felt that flags held great potential, unknowingly opening a significant door.
In truth, arranging a nurturing flags formation was extremely simple and rudimentary, yet it could continuously erode extreme environments like conquering land. After more than a month of exploration and experimentation, he had further opened his thoughts and gained new insights.
“Success!” Li Hui shouted, and the blood pool before him erupted in intense flames.
The flames burned brighter and expanded swiftly outward. Soon, thousands of grooves blazed on the ground, starting to radiate throughout the entire maze at a faster speed.
Many flags shook, with the symbols on them twisting and contorting under the relentless impact of the waves of flames, shattering one after another.
More flames concentrated around the flags that had stronger resistance, swaying and shimmering, dancing gracefully, as if performing a ritual or celebrating!
About two hours later, Chef Zhao began urging everyone, “Hurry up! Move faster and bring me back the flags. Remember to retrieve broken flags as well; I’ll personally count them and see who dares to hoard them privately. Honestly, you won’t be able to use them anyway. Stop thinking about taking advantage; isn’t enjoying the Cleansing Blood Talismans enough for free? This will completely resolve the blood energy issue; living in the maze won’t be a problem.”
With a carrot-and-stick approach, a large number of flags were neatly piled up in front of Li Hui. The Yin-Yang Nine Heads showed great interest in the broken flags, and upon receiving permission, opened their mouths wide to consume them.
“Over eight thousand six hundred confinement flags!”
“More than three thousand nine hundred sacrifice flags!”
“Over a thousand four hundred demonic flags!”
“Four hundred twenty-three decayed flags!”
“Indeed, the confinement flags are the most common, while the decayed flags are the least. The flag creation rate exceeds thirty percent!” Li Hui grinned broadly. “Hehe, at least those artifacts weren’t wasted. But unfortunately, only by devouring magical treasures and fragments of treasures can I draw the monster-conjuring talismans; otherwise, I could have completed the last four Eight Patterns monster-conjuring talismans! Or maybe I can trade my Nine-Nine Scatter Yuan Gourd with Qian Qiu Yue for some artifacts?”
As he thought about this, Li Hui shook his head, “No way! That woman is too stingy; she not only won’t give me any magical treasures, but she’d also take the gourd away. In the end, I’d be drawing water with a bamboo basket; who would I argue with then?”
Just then, unexpectedly, the teleportation arrays used for supplying materials throughout the maze suddenly roared to life.
“What’s going on? It’s not time for supplies; why would the teleportation array activate?” Chef Zhao and Huo Qiniang sent someone to investigate. Since everyone who wanted to leave had already departed, the maze was filled with their own people, and the supplies coming in were pitifully few, prompting them to remove the guards.
While Li Hui waited for news, he packed the flags into his bag of treasures. Unexpectedly, Qian Qiu Yue was the first to arrive, with a grave expression saying, “People from the Hongmo Sect have come.”
“No way? Did I bring down the Blood Phantasm Maze?” Li Hui pointed at the Yin-Yang Nine Heads, and the magical dragon eyes appeared, quickly overlaying one another as his vision expanded in his mind.
When Qian Qiu Yue first saw the magical dragon eyes, she had been amazed, but now she was unfazed. Moments later, she exclaimed, “My goodness! They’re gathering troops; we shouldn’t stay here any longer! We need to run!”
“You can’t escape…” Qian Qiu Yue drew a silver long knife, gripping it firmly in her hand, saying, “The teleportation array is already closed. I’ve tried the secret passages; they are blocked from the outside. Prepare for battle!”
“What? You tried?” Li Hui’s heart sank, realizing his sluggish reaction was far behind that of a Condensed Essence Stage practitioner.
“Fool, your vigilance is so poor. It’s a miracle you made it this far! If I could leave, I would have done so long ago.” Qian Qiu Yue scoffed.
“Hmph, how long have I been here?” Li Hui feigned indifference, but inwardly he scolded himself, realizing the gap! Such a significant gap!
Not far from the two in another cave, red light suddenly splashed from the ceiling, and a figure fell from above with a thud, howling in agony, “Damn it, I am completely doomed! Damn, I’m done for! How could you snatch away the opportunity that old man gave me and throw me into the Blood Phantasm Maze? It’s over! It’s all over! How many slave cultivators can there possibly be here? This time, I’m finished!”
