Chapter 232

Chapter 232: Miao Jade of the Marsh Water

Ten days passed in the blink of an eye!

Yes, ten days, and Li Hui was still battling underground.

“Peh, peh, peh…”

“Ouch! It’s too pungent. Coming from the Fire Veins to the Water Veins, but there’s simply no connection to the seabed. Above is just soil veins, and digging randomly, it’s all sand and dust.”

The massive form created by the Yin-Yang Nine Heads moved like a fish swimming through the sandy waves. Li Hui thought that entering the earth veins would lead to encountering some Miao Jade veins. But aside from magma, salty water, and sand, there was absolutely nothing! Even the spiritual energy was erratic, barren beyond imagination.

Perhaps there might be a chance to find a vein, but that would be extremely difficult, not knowing how many thousands of miles he would need to burrow. When on Wan Nest Island, there was always spiritual energy filling the consumption, and leaving Wan Nest Island made him realize this was not the norm. He felt very out of place, like a fish thrown onto the shore, making it hard for the Heavenly and Earthly Arrays to nourish him.

“Damn it, once a rich man turned into a beggar. Sister Yu Zimao is so wise; since she can stay on the island, why leave at all? It’s just trouble for myself,” Li Hui muttered more than once, suddenly remembering something he had asked Guang Jin to do. He magically took out a few pearls, holding them in his arms and asking, “Has Ao Chonglin learned to speak yet?”

“Not yet! Don’t mention it; this idiot is missing a few screws. Even after eating the fruit of the Clear Spirit Cloud Tree, which opened up his throat, waiting for him to talk is a job for the next life!”

“Just have a little patience, alright? Chonglin’s head not being so bright can be a problem, but as time goes by, he should be able to say a few words.”

Guang Jin said irritably, “He’ll only learn to say one word, and that word is ‘hungry’! If you have spiritual sense deep inside the pearl, you’d hear him repeating that word thousands and thousands of times; it’s maddening!”

Li Hui scratched the back of his head. Ao Chonglin loved to eat electric-type spiritual objects, which were rare, so the best he could do was let him stay hungry.

“What about Ao Chongguang? Has he awakened yet?”

Guang Jin replied, “Not yet! But there are signs of awakening. The Lingfan Shura Bug is truly a good item, an extraordinary kind among spiritual insects. Its toxicity is extremely fierce, and it has stored a lot in the pearl. When he wakes up, he should be able to eat his fill, so there’s no need to worry about him.”

The gossamer was in a deep slumber, and it required him to hold the talisman brush and continuously make talismans to have a chance of waking it up.

Besides that, the Ice Butterflies that emerged from the Ice Silkworms occupied a Mysterious Water Pearl, but since he couldn’t take out Miao Jade to feed them, they would have to stay hungry too. Then there were the peach tree demons about to hatch and the accompanying insect demons along with the heavenly marrow worm, all slowly transforming into half-demons. It felt as if he had suddenly become a master of raising demons, but the problem arose—how could he feed so many mouths? He hadn’t thought about this burden before, but now, having left Wan Nest Island, all he could do was bitterly smile.

Li Hui touched his face and noted that he had shrunk a bit more. After eating a Morning Light Dusk Grass, he didn’t appear aged, but life energy was withering fast, and he had severely shrunk; his lifespan was nearing its end.

“Guang Jin, when do you think Yao’er will be born?”

“It will be soon, just in these few days.” Guang Jin looked somewhat worried as Li Hui’s condition deteriorated too quickly.

“Ha, if I miss it, then it’s my fate! According to legend, the Golden Jade Peaches come from the Yao Pool, so I named her Li Yao’er.”

At that moment, the Nine Heads suddenly burrowed into the mud and water, and Li Hui felt the Heavenly and Earthly Arrays move, greatly increasing their absorption of spiritual energy. After moving forward just a hundred zhang, he strangely regained the feeling from Wan Nest Island.

“There must be a Miao Jade vein nearby! ”

“No, change direction and burrow this way.”

The spiritual energy grew increasingly abundant as the Heavenly and Earthly Arrays pulled quickly, feeling like a traveler crossing a desert suddenly discovering a clear river.

“Boom…” The escaping light rushed into an underground cave.

Li Hui looked ahead and saw a huge stone wall emitting a faint white light, with many fragmented jade stones scattered like leaf veins.

The cave contained a lot of accumulated water, and underneath, similar jade stones also were scattered, emitting a faint white light. The Heavenly and Earthly Arrays swallowed the spiritual energy, and he felt the Jade Heart of the Earth Court in his forehead respond.

“This is Miao Jade of the Marsh Water!”

“If only I could find Wood Miao Jade as well,” Li Hui thought. He didn’t want to be too greedy; it was difficult enough to find Miao Jade veins, just seeing one made him feel incredibly lucky, though he was unsure of the reserves.

Compared to the Underground Cavern of the Purple Fortress on Wan Nest Island, this cave was too small. He activated the Heavenly and Earthly Arrays to draw out the spiritual energy as the jade stones trembled in unison.

Most of the jade stones were not Miao Jade; they were transforming towards Miao Jade. On average, every hundred jade stones produced one piece of low-grade Miao Jade, and even medium-grade was rare. But that was just the surface; if he dug inward at the right spot, there should be gains.

A large amount of white light gathered toward Li Hui; within the span of a tea’s brewing time, the fragmented jade stones turned to stone powder. The low-grade Miao Jade dimmed while the medium-grade Miao Jade stood out.

“Treasure Cabinet Array, activate!” Li Hui directed his intent towards the Jade Heart of the Earth Court, and immediately, light and shadow burst forth. In the blink of an eye, two hundred purple crystals floated, moving around his body and tracing mysterious paths.

The Jade Heart of the Earth Court and the Heavenly and Earthly Arrays began to exert their power, as a layer of faint purple light swept through the cave. Both the low-grade and medium-grade Miao Jade crumbled simultaneously into small fragments.

“Gudu, gudu, gudu…”

Underwater, gurgling sounds erupted as water burst forth.

“Spirit Spring?” Li Hui was overjoyed. The appearance of a Spirit Spring indicated that this Miao Jade of the Marsh Water vein was at least not a barren mine; it could even be considered a small mine, and perhaps there was a chance to find high-grade Miao Jade.

With a “clang,” the Ice Picking Short Sword plunged into the stone wall, releasing terrifying heat that spread out in all directions. Soon, it evaporated the accumulated water and baked the ground, hardening the mud quickly and causing cracks to form.

Many jade stones were exposed, but they could not withstand the extraction from the Treasure Cabinet Array.

As the purple crystals revolved around him, one hundred of them suddenly split in two, cracking down the middle, gradually returning to their complete form as they absorbed spiritual energy.

“Three hundred now!” Li Hui was astonished; the purple crystals increased in this way without any energy sensation, merely remnants of high-grade Miao Jade transforming into supreme Miao Jade?

Half an hour later, he could sense the source of spiritual energy was dwindling; most of it supported was medium-grade Miao Jade. Of course, he still needed to dig further, and that task would go to the Yin-Yang Nine Heads.

“Scatter, Nine Heads, and dig underground.” Li Hui commanded. As the light and shadow flickered, the nine heads spread out.

Next, they would be miners for a while, not expecting to collect much Miao Jade but simply to feed the Treasure Cabinet Array so it could officially activate. Stagnating like this was truly not a solution.

Two days later, Li Hui was no longer planning to leave. The purple crystals had increased from three hundred to eight hundred, but more importantly, his life energy had plummeted severely, and his form had shrunk dramatically. If it weren’t for the miraculous effects of the Morning Light Dusk Grass, he would’ve likely turned into a withered old man. Now, he understood that extending his lifespan was far more challenging than restoring it; only by having the Golden Jade Peaches tree transform into a demon to bear a rare life peach could he achieve this.

Li Hui looked up ahead; the peach tree he had placed in the cave had grown to over two zhang in height, and its demonic energy blended seamlessly, yet it still could not transform into a demon.