Chapter 474

Chapter 474: Secrets of the Demon Palace

“Moo moo…” The Bull Demon King Talisman swallowed the demonic flames and demon blood, instantly igniting its feet. However, it felt no discomfort; instead, it found itself invigorated, beginning to harmonize all its faults.

The Jade Symbol was growing, reaching nearly nine inches in length. After hitting the nine-inch mark, further growth would become difficult, requiring massive amounts of demon blood for each small advance.

Li Hui was very patient, recognizing that opportunities for a true transformation of the Jade Symbol were exceedingly rare. If it weren’t for his current mastery of talisman methods and his silver snake bracelet’s ability to absorb magical items, he wouldn’t have been able to inscribe talisman seals. Additionally, the Demon Palace had provided vast amounts of demonic energy to the Nine Cauldrons; otherwise, how could he have achieved such a transformation?

The Jade Symbol chimed lightly, growing to nine inches and six tenths before pausing slightly. Then the Bull Demon King opened its mouth wide and devoured, propelling the Jade Symbol to nine inches and nine tenths.

This talisman was on the brink of ascending to the Celestial Talisman level, yet it remained uncertain why it didn’t advance. Even after the Bull Demon King drained all the energy from the cauldrons, causing fine sparks to dance on the talisman’s surface, it still couldn’t cross the threshold to achieve transformation.

Li Hui shook his head, raised his hand, and offered the Nine Cauldrons to the Snake’s mouth, vanishing into the darkness.

Just as he left, six magic puppets entered the Bagua Hall, scanning the area suspiciously. One of them said, “How is this possible? Who has the ability to move the Nine Cauldrons without causing them to explode? Did those old ghosts from the Jin Tian Sect do it?”

“Impossible. They are restricted by the Yin Moon Dynasty. Even if they hinted at doing something, they wouldn’t be able to take action to move the Nine Cauldrons.”

“Then who could it be? How did they manage this?”

One of the magic puppets snorted coldly, “I don’t know. The energy within the demon lair has been chaotic. To obscure the existence of the Nine Cauldrons, we set up numerous tricks, but now they have become a burden, preventing us from investigating this person’s origins.”

“Damn it! This is infuriating; we can’t track down where the Nine Cauldrons went.” The six magic puppets exchanged glances, each as clueless as the other.

As for Li Hui? He had naturally known the magic puppets were coming, which is why he had taken precautions to avoid them in advance. They say that worrying can lead to chaos, and today he was no exception. Due to his concern for his sister-in-law’s safety, he had drawn closer to the battlefield, which ultimately put him in danger.

Dismantling the threat posed by the Nine Cauldrons was for his own safety; as for annihilating the magic puppets sent by the demon lair, he would leave that to the Summer Emperor! It wasn’t worth the trouble for him.

Zhao Yuxi had become much more cautious. As a wise and experienced old ghost, he knew the grim fate that awaited one who played tricks against the Daoist of the Jin Tian Sect, especially given that this young master looked anything but ordinary.

“Chirp, chirp…” The red-beaked Chach birds led the way, while Li Hui flew and asked, “The demon lair is an ancient magic palace ruin. I wonder how it got buried underground and why there’s such a huge inheritance gap. Old Zhao, was the demon lair like this when you were alive?”

“Ahem, it’s hard to look back!” Zhao Yuxi sighed deeply, “At that time, the magic palace had already collapsed underground. Some demon cultivators accidentally opened the palace and gained recognition of the doctrine, establishing the demon lair to gather disciples. At first, it was just a minor demon sect, but it grew rapidly, and by the time the Daxia sought to destroy them, they had already become a significant force.”

“Do you think the secrets in this magic palace have been completely unearthed?” Li Hui suddenly stopped.

“That goes without saying. Over thousands of years, how many powerful demons and capable individuals have emerged from the demon lair? Many of them have deep opportunities, and no secrets of the ancient magic palace would escape their scrutiny.”

“Oh? Is that so?” Li Hui smirked slightly, then suddenly plummeted, increasing his speed exponentially. He accelerated through the barriers, consuming the talisman power he had just gathered from the Nine Cauldrons using his silver snake bracelet.

As he reached a hundred times the speed of time, he simultaneously performed void escape, driving his Ideal Body with the Qi of Taiqing to maximize his acceleration.

Just how fast was this? Fast enough to catch up to a fleeting moment, entering a boundless and mysterious realm.

At that moment, the treasure cabinet expended a massive amount of spiritual energy, the talisman power within the silver snake bracelet nearly depleted, and the Seize the Day Talisman dimmed.

Without warning, a thunderous boom resonated in his mind, and Li Hui realized he had broken through the last few barriers. He quickly spun to slow down, but still couldn’t avoid the collision.

“Boom!” No matter how strong his body refinement was, this impact was too much. Li Hui coughed up blood, crashing into the mountain wall, causing numerous cracks to appear around him.

In that moment, the peculiarity of the Qi of Taiqing revealed itself.

Within mere moments, his body suffered no lasting damage, emerging unscathed and whole. However, replenishing the Qi of Taiqing was extraordinarily difficult; based on the operations of his profound skills, it would take him nights of meditative sessions to recover.

“Where is this?” Zhao Yuxi, having also felt the impact, took some time to recover.

Li Hui extricated himself from the rock layer and glanced back at the stone wall. He noticed three figures imprinted upon it, some deep, others shallow, evidently having rushed in at immense speed, unable to dissipate the force of their impact.

“I’ve left a fourth impression; I fell the deepest into the wall, indicating my timing was the worst!”

Zhao Yuxi gasped, “Breaking through restrictions by chasing time is simply unbelievable! Just how fast was that? You don’t need to be modest. Based on the traces left behind, it’s evident you are a renowned figure, at least Mid-Hongfa Stage.”

This old ghost’s judgment was not unfounded. From the damage left by the outlines on the stone wall, he quickly deduced much of the truth.

Li Hui examined the area, discovering it was not a celestial realm. High above, stone walls were embedded with many luminous pearls, casting a layer of soft azure-white light. In the distance, there was a light barrier resembling a skylight; he had just crashed through this “skylight.”

The space was not large, yet neither was it small—five hundred zhang in height and three thousand zhang in length and width. Four triangular ceiling walls slanted upward like a roof. Searching around, he located a distinctly sharp-angled stone pillar, less than two zhang high, with green markings, its center engraved with a single vertical eye radiating faint red light.

Such a large place for a single green-marked red-eyed stone pillar? However, considering that three people had previously entered, valuable items might have been taken by those who came before. Opportunities are like this—first come, first served; those who arrive late miss out.

Li Hui studied the stone pillar carefully and asked Zhao Yuxi, “Old Zhao, do you recognize this pillar?”

“Hmm, let me take a look—there’s something familiar about this pattern.” One good thing about Zhao Yuxi was his profound understanding of Daxia.

“Don’t be hasty; take your time. It seems quite lively outside. With my current state, once I go out, I might not be able to get back in.” Li Hui, facing the stone pillar, acted with caution. Instead, he found a spot to sit down and rest, circulating his profound skills to recover the Qi of Taiqing.

After a considerable time, Zhao Yuxi suddenly exclaimed, “Heavens! I know! This pillar represents the most mysterious proof that the practitioners from the Extreme Huan Continent once entered the Wutu Continent. This sharply angled stone pillar is called the Time Anchor, rumored to reverse time and reveal the past.”

“Reverse time to see the past?” Li Hui shook his head, “That seems useless; seeing the past won’t change it.”

Zhao Yuxi replied earnestly, “That’s not true. Even if we can’t change the past, being able to see it is still remarkable. It allows us to explore the secrets of important matters and trace their roots.”