Chapter 317

Chapter 317: The True Manor Hides Rare Treasures

“The demon embryo is moving; is there something you desire here?”

“Don’t worry, it will come,” Li Hui smiled slightly, his body not feeling hot, indicating that the formations in the hall were within the tolerance of his Ideal Body.

After exploring the area, he obtained twelve magical artifacts and two treasured items, mostly serving decorative purposes. For example, the copper basin used for cleansing the face was also a treasured item with skin-enhancing effects, but it would break if used to hit someone, making it useless in battles; however, it could be sold to Female Cultivators.

With the silver snake bracelet, a favorite among foodies, on his wrist, he naturally couldn’t retrieve the artifacts and treasures himself, so he called Guang Jin to keep busy, sealing the treasured items in storage talismans and then enclosing those in a small box made from dragon scale gold, frost silver, and wind-milled copper in precise proportions, ensuring no issues arose.

He spent a large amount of Sect Points exchanging for materials for talisman-making; wasn’t it difficult to acquire several stacks of storage talismans? Now, with a handful of spirit talismans in his pocket and numerous methods at his disposal, he could say this was the happiest moment since his debut.

Clearly, the front courtyard and main hall had been thoroughly explored by past disciples, but what could the demon embryo want? Li Hui applied a Treasure Viewing Talisman to search the area, and his eyes suddenly sparkled.

“On the main hall beam, there’s a pair of scissors cleverly hidden without any protective formations, which is why no one has discovered them. What a woman’s heart is like a needle at the bottom of the sea—unpredictable!” Li Hui leapt and retrieved the scissors, which were simply sitting on the overhead beam, taken easily.

On the surface, they appeared to be nothing more than ordinary scissors used for needlework, devoid of fluctuations or treasure light. If they were valuable artifacts, the silver snake bracelet would have long taken them.

The demon embryo seemed a bit anxious, bouncing continuously, trying to imply something, and after a long while, Li Hui began to grasp its meaning.

“You want to come out? Should I cut the membrane?”

“Then I will cut it, just be careful,” Li Hui supported the fleshy ball and used the scissors to pierce in slowly, cautiously cutting open the membrane, somewhat dazed.

From the demon embryo emerged a blue crab.

Indeed! It was a crab, larger than normal crabs but still pitiably young among demons. Given that wind and cloud attributes should primarily manifest in bird-like demons, how could a crab possibly emerge?

“Hahaha, finally out!” The crab waved its claws and spoke, “Adoptive father, my name is Xie Xuan. My parents sealed the demon embryo too tightly to allow for speech or sound transmission. If it weren’t for this golden scissors, I might have remained trapped for a hundred years; how could I show filial respect to you?”

“Stop right there, who’s the elder?” Li Hui found it both comical and exasperating—he hadn’t even settled down yet and already had a pair of children!

“I acted improperly and spoke out of turn! Father, you are handsome and talented, charming and gifted, youthful and accomplished, moving swiftly; what else…”

“Enough, a little brown-noser, inheriting from your parents; looks like your education is lacking!” Li Hui shook his head and said, “A crab is a crab! Sooner or later, you’ll transform into human shape, and you do radiate strong wind and cloud aura; tell me, why is this scissors called the golden scissors?”

“I know, my parents once witnessed the unusual phenomena of the golden crow in the sea, which was, in fact, the emergence of a rare spiritual treasure called the Dragon Cutting Stone.”

Hearing “Dragon Cutting Stone,” Li Hui had an epiphany, but was even more shocked: “This scissors was made from metal refined from the Dragon Cutting Stone? It only takes a single strand of Dragon Gold to create a treasured item; why so extravagant?”

“It is said that this type of scissors can cut through dragon veins and ancestral veins, which were quite popular in ancient times, specially made to sever the fortunes of descendants,” the little crab explained timidly.

“Ah?” Li Hui looked up at the beam, scratching his head and thinking: “This doesn’t belong to the Hongluan female cultivator; someone must have wanted to cut her fortunes and hid it here to cause harm. Regardless, this scissors counts as an exotic treasure; it’s more useful to me than a treasured item.”

After safely storing the golden scissors, he proceeded to the side hall, collecting little. When he moved through the great formation to reach the backyard, Li Hui felt a mild heat on his body; fortunately, it was only a slight burning, and with caution, he was unharmed.

Within a short time, he discovered two spirit herb gardens; although the areas weren’t large, they were steeped in age, so he hurriedly set up Earth-Rending Talismans and tracking talismans.

Half an hour later, with a series of “Boom” sounds, the spirit herb gardens took root in the Mysterious Pearl’s realm. If an ordinary cultivator were to have discovered this place, they might only pick some fruits or remove a few rare plants.

Li Hui continued to explore, finally encountering a location that made him feel unbearably hot all over.

“I found it; everything set outside is to mislead onlookers, while the true living quarters and cultivation area are arranged elsewhere.” Even though he felt overwhelmingly hot, he plunged inside.

At first, there were no signs of anything unusual until he broke through to lean against the mountain wall of the backyard, where the wind howled, and the pressure suddenly intensified.

At that moment, the golden Ideal Body appeared behind him, and the dragon on the Ideal Body soared upward, moving faster and faster, passing through layer upon layer of restrictions and crossing several formation rings. By the time he halted, he had already entered the true Hongluan Manor.

Not knowing the purpose of these restrictions and formations, as long as he could enter and exit freely, wasn’t that sufficient? He wasn’t an array master, so who cares about four, five, or six!

He made it in! The speed of his Ideal Body on its own was already fast enough, and with an increase of tenfold, whether these formations or restrictions could detect any shadow was questionable.

It wasn’t extreme; ten times was more than enough!

Li Hui scanned the area and found that it spanned at least fifty acres, without buildings or spirit plants, entirely empty. However, on the bright yellow jade-stone floor were intricately carved array patterns, and only a few simple objects were arranged in the center.

Above him shone a dazzling light, revealing an ancient golden crow’s eye that glowed for six hours and rested for six hours. This had been noted in ancient texts and lost to time, yet the Hongluan female cultivator had managed to find one.

“What a treasure! With this ancient golden crow’s eye, the Mysterious Pearl spirit herb garden no longer needs to replace the Sheng Dou talisman for illumination.”

The real treasure that caught Li Hui’s attention was a grand jade bed ahead, ten feet long, nine feet wide, and three feet high; it looked more like an array disk than a bed.

If it weren’t for the light veil drapes and soft pillows and bedding on top, one might mistake it for a large array disk. Besides the jade bed, on either side stood a pair of floor lamps made of black cranes, and there was also a zither table with an ancient zither, nothing more.

Li Hui recognized immediately that the pair of black crane lamps was made from a mixture of Qian Yuan Black Gold and Phoenix Eye Copper.

“How extravagant! They actually used Qian Yuan Black Gold to make the lampstand. I spent so much effort acquiring a piece from the Grand Xuan Dynasty; had I known I could get one here, I wouldn’t have been so hasty!”

“Is that the Fuxi Zither?” Li Hui looked at the zither table.

The relationship of the Fuxi Zither to array masters was akin to that of an abacus to a bank manager, capable of various calculations and forecasts. A good Fuxi Zither was incredibly rare and could fetch a hefty price in exchange for many Miao Jade pieces.

“I didn’t expect to find Qian Yuan Black Gold!” Li Hui sat on the jade bed, thinking: “Well then, I can cultivate here for one night and further elevate my Ideal Body. While others may struggle to absorb the Qian Yuan Black Gold, with the treasure cabinet to regulate it, I should have the chance to reach the limit.”

At that moment, the jade bed gently trembled beneath him.

Looking around, the array patterns on the ground sparkled; initially, the glow resembled fine hairs, quickly expanding to the thickness of fingers, surging with incredible speed through the array patterns.

“What is this…” Li Hui was both shocked and delighted.