Chapter 68
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Chapter 68: Rising Talent
As evening approached, Li Hui had the nine-patterned anomaly Spirit Sense Talisman affixed to his forehead, studying the items left behind by the King of the White Sea and those from Zheng Tianxiang’s belt when he suddenly felt a heat flood his body.
“Is it starting?”
“What a strong suction; all my spiritual energy is rushing toward the thirty-six major acupoints.”
“My aptitude should be low; it’s the silver snake bracelet amplifying the buried acupoint talismans that has opened the Dragon Claw pattern at the cost of my lifespan.”
There was no time to think further. After using the Blood Ignition Talisman, Li Hui had already weakened significantly. If he allowed them to continue drawing energy like this, he’d quickly turn into a dry husk.
He hurriedly took out Miao Jade, holding it tightly in his hand, and instantly felt his body regain some strength.
However, at this rate of extraction, anxiety gripped him. This situation was even more exaggerated than the time he continuously unlocked the third and fourth spirit markings. The third and fourth spirit markings had mutated into the Dragon Body pattern, a rare occurrence, so additional consumption was expected.
The question was, why was the consumption still so huge when it was time to unlock the fifth spirit marking?
Li Hui closed his eyes, focusing on his acupoints. Each time the Miao Jade turned to dust and fell, he promptly took out another batch to follow up. Based on previous experiences, it was impossible to improve without filling these acupoints.
As the spiritual energy entered his body, it didn’t wait to transform into controllable spiritual energy; it surged upward along his meridians, causing excruciating pain in thirty-six acupoints that nearly made him faint.
The waves of pain grew stronger and stronger, and he could only grit his teeth and persist. His determination to grow stronger remained unwavering; after facing the danger of the King of the White Sea, how could he fear a bit of pain? Self-cultivation required not only skill but also a strong heart.
“Ah!”
Li Hui yelled, clutching his head as the tearing sensation shot through him, piercing deep into his skull.
With every breath, he sweated profusely, and each breath felt like an eternity—and only when holding the Miao Jade did he feel some relief…
He couldn’t tell how much time had passed; more than a hundred pieces of Miao Jade had turned to dust. He had grown numb to the pain, sensing something struggling on his forehead.
“What’s happening? Am I not unlocking the Dragon Claw pattern in my legs?”
“Why is it on my forehead? Isn’t the forehead supposed to be activated when unlocking the seventh spirit marking?” Li Hui endured the pain and found a bronze mirror to take a look, gasping at the sight.
Two sword-like brows sprouted two shallow golden patterns, so faint it was easy to overlook them. They resembled deer antler velvet and gave the impression of young buds ready to bloom—too young! Too tender! Less than half an inch! His mind raced with a thousand angry thoughts.
“No way! After such a hard time, I only sprouted two little buds? And why do they look like deer antler patterns? Did I grow horns because I greedily snatched a dragon horn to eat? Or was it because the area of the mutated Dragon Body pattern was too large this time that the result was diminished?”
“Tseng!” Li Hui touched his forehead, feeling another sharp pain. However, this pain was different from the previous one; clarity erased all his confusion, as if clouds had parted to reveal the sun, providing him an elevated perspective where he saw countless symbols, countless ink marks, and countless ancient texts.
“What is this…”
This scene stunned Li Hui into silence as countless thoughts flooded his mind, like hundreds of teachers passionately instructing him, constantly reminding him. With careful consideration, the answers sprang forth like quotes from classic texts.
“It’s incredible!”
“It’s exhilarating!”
Before long, Li Hui felt his head thundering as if tens of thousands sat together arguing, with a strong “I am right, debate me if you disagree” atmosphere.
“Cough, cough! So all cultivation methods only lead to the Bosa realm, while an astonishing amount of miscellaneous books contain many strange ideas from ancestors, some of which contradict each other. My head hurts; stop the noise!” Just before he could spout reverse blood, as soon as the thought of stopping crossed his mind, the argument in his head ceased, and the deer antler patterns on his forehead stealthily disappeared.
He lay on his bed for a long while, recuperating from the effort, but he couldn’t suppress his excitement.
“Wonderful! I didn’t expect my fifth spirit marking to open the exceptionally rare Dragon Horn pattern. Ancient sages often exhibited phenomena upon birth, their talents shining bright. The Dragon Horn pattern with its double horns not only increases intelligence but also boosts soul power. Unfortunately, all I took was one dragon horn and a little dragon tail, missing out on a rare chance. But fortune has its reasons; eating too much would likely draw divine retribution.”
At this moment, Li Hui felt as if he possessed pearls of wisdom. He was transformed from the past, with his thoughts flowing freely, viewing the world from a height so profound that he could rival true disciples from the top sects of the Dalong Dynasty. With time, as he continued to ponder, he expected to validate and organize those texts in his mind, possibly even reaching a new height.
Reading a hundred times reveals its meaning. Although he wasn’t at the stage of reading those texts a hundred times yet, whenever he contemplated a question, entire passages leaped to mind, making everything incredibly convenient.
The only inconvenience was the sheer volume of those books. Many parts were casual musings, making it hard to discern truth from falsehood. Plus, the world experiences change; five hundred years could turn seas into mulberry fields, yet some texts dated back a thousand or even several thousand years.
Li Hui sat up, looking at the mixed-colored Miao Jade he had prepared just in case, and suddenly felt enlightened.
“I see now! So that’s how it is!”
“The mixed-colored Miao Jade requires some special techniques for refinement due to the blending of five elemental spiritual energies. The Miao Jade I used earlier with cotton fissures possesses cloud energy attributes, while the green Miao Jade has wind attributes.”
“Cloud energy and wind are quite similar, making them more suited for executing the Cloud-Brush Dragon Claw Technique. However, this means it’s unwise to use Miao Jade infused with Fire Spirit; the two would counteract each other, severely reducing the cloud energy’s effects.”
“Miao Jade is categorized into four grades: low-grade, medium-grade, high-grade, and supreme.”
“Low-grade Miao Jade is bead-like; medium-grade Miao Jade resembles tiles; high-grade Miao Jade resembles blocks. As for supreme Miao Jade, it seems rare even within the entire Daling Dynasty, with the predecessors of the Jade Symbol Sect only able to speculate, lacking definitive information.”
Just regarding Miao Jade, Li Hui’s understanding had elevated to a new level. Before he could appreciate the treasures left by the King of the White Sea, vibrations suddenly erupted from beneath him, and four lotus-shaped Dharma clouds appeared, rearing up as each cloud expelled a segment of cloud light.
In an instant, the four beams of cloud light converged together and gradually evolved into a fifth Dharma cloud.
Li Hui wanted to exclaim, “I’m not a monk! I’m not a monk! If it weren’t for my hair turning white and feeling that the temple could provide refuge, why would I subject myself to this? And yet, I’ve gained monk-like cultivation without doing anything, and as my spirit marking just reached the fifth one, immediately a fifth Dharma cloud has condensed!”
His gaze quickly fell onto his left arm. Li Hui suspected that his newfound monk-like abilities were likely connected to the golden pearl tightly gripped in his Dragon Claw. Despite the numerous texts in his mind, he couldn’t find the answer.
“Dragon Pearl? Sarira? Neither seems right! And it’s definitely not Buddha Treasure; just what is its origin?”
