Chapter 148
Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/PazjBDkTmW
You can buy coins here to unlock advanced chapters: https://gravitytales.com/coins-purchase-page/
Chapter 148: Shadows of Enemies from All Directions
The rough wheels creaked as they carried Li Hui forward.
He sat on the cart, leaning against the reddish-brown rocks, spreading out the carefully cut Blood Banana Leaves and waving his hand to draw a Failing Blood Talisman.
After days of continuous writing, he discovered that the Fortune Ascending Talisman indeed lowered the success rate for creating talismans. Drawing the Blood Merging Talisman and Failing Blood Talisman returned to their initial state.
Thinking about how using the treasure-level Fortune Ascending Talisman would drastically reduce the success rate to a heart-stopping extent gave Li Hui a headache. So, he could only seize the time to stockpile talismans, occasionally using the Yin-Yang Nine Heads to scout the area within a hundred miles and skillfully outline a route map for his subordinates.
The team expanded to over three thousand people. Although there were fewer than a hundred Concentrating Spirit stage cultivators, they became the main force in cracking the prohibitions and formations. With a large number of talismans distributed, they gained confidence. As they gradually cracked more low-level prohibitions, they became increasingly adept, significantly improving their pace.
Li Hui was completely immersed in talisman-making, his writing speed accelerating as if a Hundred Dragon Claw Phantoms had grasped the talisman brush, instantly drawing hundreds of Blood Banana Leaves. Fortunately, the box was filled with a large amount of spiritual energy, and both the Heavenly and Earthly Arrays continually attracted spiritual energy, keeping up with the consumption. If it were other Spirit Motion stage cultivators, they would have exhausted their strength after a few strokes while making talismans on such a large scale.
“Success, success, success!”
“Talisman, talisman, talisman!”
As the success rate for creating talismans soared, Qian Duohai’s Cow Shock Stone had already been consumed by nearly half.
Xiuhuan was greatly astonished, secretly contemplating, “New talents emerge throughout history! Who would have thought to combine the Cloud-Brush Dragon Claw Technique with talisman-making to wildly enhance the success rate? Hmm, was it a fortunate coincidence or the luck of the Jade Symbol? Who understands that talisman techniques are also cultivation methods? With him creating talismans over and over, the spirit talisman buried in his body hasn’t consumed at all but is instead slowly accumulating talisman power, waiting for the moment of transformation…”
A slight tremble occurred as the cart’s wheels sank half an inch into the ground.
Li Hui touched the dragon horn on his forehead; the earlier feeling was mysterious, as if he had broken through some limit, and even his dragon horn seemed to grow a little.
“Eh?” Xiuhuan was surprised but found it reasonable, saying, “Look at your right thumb; hasn’t the fingerprint become peculiar? Hand seals are divided into five categories: Wind and Thunder, Yin-Yang, Heaven and Earth, Spirit Lure, Vitality, Poison and Calamity, Seven Emotions, and Six Desires. Most talismans cannot escape this range. You have successfully established a connection with vitality. From now on, when using wind-based and blood-based talismans, you only need a fleeting thought, without even needing to use a hand seal.”
“Is this the connection of the talisman system?” Li Hui rejoiced in his heart and quickly looked at his right thumb. Indeed, the fingertip had changed, transforming into a kind of mark, but upon closer inspection, it seemed no different from a regular fingerprint.
“Good. There is always a return for effort; I must strive even harder!” The dragon claw phantom reappeared, and the cart continued to creak forward…
Seven days later, the team reached the edge of the forest sea, where towering ancient trees stood like a unique boundary, and the spiritual energy fluctuations were exceptionally vigorous.
Huo Qiniang had been standing beside the cart. At this moment, she stopped and reminded, “Young Master, we have arrived.”
The rough map left by Hongmo Zhengfang indicated that breaking through the forest sea would soon lead them to the outer ring of Wan Nest Island, where the formations were dense.
Li Hui put down his brush and said, “The Hongmo Sect requires outer disciples to reach the outer ring within two months, or else they will face annihilation from Wan Nest Island. This indicates that the timer begins the moment the cultivators set foot on the island. I wonder if the Spirit Motion stage cultivators haven’t entered the outer ring by that time; will they encounter misfortune?”
“We cannot take that risk! We must cross the forest sea. Furthermore, with a three-month deadline, both the periphery and the outer ring will collapse. The Hongmo Sect will not make mistakes in such a critical matter. The fourth and fifth locations for gathering fortune lie within the forest sea; command the team to head towards these two points.”
“Understood!” Huo Qiniang took the order. She and Chef Zhao had been making a great show of authority, gradually establishing their standing.
As they entered the forest sea, the monitoring range of the Yin-Yang Nine Heads rapidly shrank; some areas were cloaked in shadows and could not be observed through remote viewing.
Prohibitions and formations could generate strong interference. To be honest, once inside the forest sea, Li Hui felt satisfied to monitor most movements within fifty miles vaguely.
The cart could not continue forward and switched to human power to carry the reddish-brown rocks.
The lower the cultivation, the smaller the rocks they could carry. Higher cultivators carried larger pieces.
If Li Hui could store these reddish-brown rocks in a Storage Artifact, he would have long instructed Chef Zhao and Huo Qiniang to do so. Their uniqueness lay in the fact that they couldn’t be stored, and they were extremely hard; artifacts would leave no marks when striking them.
The records of the Jade Symbol Sect did not document them, and Xiuhuan could not discern what use they had, so they had no choice but to bring them along, intending to ask Qian Qiu Yue when they met.
Additionally, they found twenty fist-sized purple crystals, but their purpose was unclear. There was also an ancient command token, about half a palm in size, with a dark, broken surface, bearing the character “令” inscribed in oracle bone script. It had been found at the center of a large formation; however, the formation had long since become ineffective due to its age.
The first two days went smoothly, but by the third midday, Li Hui knew trouble was coming; countless figures encircled them from all directions.
“Qiniang, tell the team to shift two hundred zhang to the left and move two miles closer to the Red Land without stepping in. Use the Exotic Blood Talismans to mutate plants to create obstacles and be ready to deploy the confinement flags at any moment.”
“From where do the enemies come?” Huo Qiniang asked in alarm.
“From all directions, various strange beasts and creatures driven by demonic flames are preparing to encircle us. The incoming are not friendly; the friendly do not come. We are about to face the elite outer disciples of the Hongmo Sect.”
“Have they finally come? After cultivating soldiers for a thousand days, they will be put to use in an instant. If they do not have the heart to fight, they deserve to die.”
“Don’t say that; while others view these cultivators as burdens, I see them as my left and right arms. Many top sects are said to tame Dao soldiers using mountain spirit creatures as armies, but the cunning of mountain spirit creatures cannot compare to a human’s intelligence. As long as I can produce talismans on a large scale, I can eliminate any number of enemies! You will take charge of this battle.” Li Hui exuded confidence; he did not intend to intervene, having already determined the terrain for the battle and only needed to seize the opportunity to eliminate the enemy.
“Understood!” Huo Qiniang felt a bit nervous; the young master asked her to take charge. She remembered how just a few months ago, she had been busy with socializing and trying to entrap some male cultivators to support herself, while now, several months later, three thousand cultivators obeyed her commands. The drastic ups and downs of life filled her heart with emotion.
Not long after, the team began to march swiftly.
Li Hui did not trust anyone except Zhao the Fatty and Huo Qiniang. He knew in his heart that these cultivators were only temporarily united; once the environment and circumstances changed, their true colors would be revealed. Those who were heartless would be heartless; those who were vicious would be vicious. Cultivators are the most inherently fickle group; sometimes, even deep friendships cannot be trusted.
As long as they could stick together for now, that was enough…
Roars echoed around, followed by the trees collapsing, revealing many figures.
“Quick!” Red talisman light surged, and the vines entwining the trees and unknown shrubs grew wildly, quickly forming an insurmountable barrier.
“Confinement!” The talisman flags rustled in the wind, and many terrifying beasts outside the barrier turned into headless flies. Influenced by the Exotic Blood Talismans, they fought fiercely for blood, but this situation did not exceed the enemies’ expectations; they were prepared.
