Chapter 533

Chapter 533: Seven Days of Seclusion

The Illuminated Pattern Evil Worms emit a terrifying sound, and soon the adult worms with three pairs of wings swarm in. Upon seeing that all their food from the spirit herb garden has disappeared, they instantly become frenzied.

Chaos ensues; the sound of the worms spreads quickly, and before long, all the Illuminated Pattern Evil Worms know that someone has taken away their favorite Exorcising Trees.

Although the Yuan Chen Heavenly Mansion has multiple spirit herb gardens, the Exorcising Trees only grow in this particular garden, which has nurtured countless generations of mother bugs.

Now, this is quite a disaster. The swarm runs wild, searching for their enemies, and anyone who dares to intrude during this time will be in trouble. Just then, a group of cultivators tracking the disturbance arrives, directly walking into the danger.

“Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz…”

“Ah! Not good, how did these worms leave their activity area?”

“Run!”

Running is the right choice. Those who foolishly stay behind to resist will definitely not come out well, but in their panic, they blindly stumble into even more swarms.

Each Illuminated Pattern Evil Worm is akin to a calamity-level artifact, incredibly ferocious and capable of releasing evil energy that can taint artifacts. There is almost no way to counter them; one can only brave the attack and kill, provided they can withstand being buried alive by the swarm.

To put it bluntly, they are the number one insect of the Wutu Continent, especially the adult Illuminated Pattern Evil Worms, which move extremely fast over short distances, even Li Hui might not outrun them.

It is exactly this terrifying nature that causes so many cultivators outside the Yuan Chen Heavenly Mansion to hesitate.

At this moment, Li Hui leads everyone to the front of a grand hall, stepping up the white jade steps towards the hall’s entrance. The Ball looks up and gasps in astonishment, “The Cloud Palace? Just this signboard alone is a spirit treasure.”

“Stop! Do not enter the hall; rest right here in front of the doors.”

“Master, what is this place?”

“A place where one loses their head.” Li Hui raises his guard to glance into the hall, then quickly looks away, explaining, “The ordinary guards here have Myriad Forms Stage strength, and the golden-armored guards even exceed the Hongfa Stage. We are currently at the center of the Yuan Chen Heavenly Mansion, having taken a shortcut to reach this place.”

“Then we…” the formerly downtrodden scholar Deng Shuqing asks in confusion, “Master, please enlighten us on what we should do?”

“I will accelerate the flow of time, and you will practice in front of the hall. Learn talisman methods, integrate your cultivation methods, and refine your artifacts and spirit treasures, particularly mastering the ancient heavenly vessels. I still have three Xuanhuang Certainty Stones left; everyone can integrate what they have learned. After that, once the affairs in Golden Luan Cave are settled, Yao’er will lead the team to the Barbarian Nation’s border to attract the local barbarian tribes into the Mysterious Pearl. Afterward, you all be careful crossing back to Daxia to assist Prince’s Consort Wu Zhao. The Ball will also go, overseeing the overall situation; the Mysterious Pearl’s resources will be at your disposal. There is only one principle: prepare for battle to make yourselves stronger.”

“This…” The Ball says in shock, “You are pledging the entire sect to Wu Zhao, participating in Daxia’s power changes. Is that wise?”

“Not wise!” Li Hui shakes his head, “But there is no other choice. To grasp the future and realize ambitions, one must hold significant power. Our Heavenly Talisman Sect’s ambition is to produce a large number of talismans so that even common folk can use talismans to drive away ghosts, eliminate demons, and restore peace to the world!”

“Master is right! Drive away ghosts, eliminate demons, restore peace to the world!” Zhong Yuan rises and bows, feeling an exhilarating surge of passion, as if he has found meaning in his life.

“Drive away ghosts, eliminate demons, restore peace!” the disciples bow down, realizing for the first time from their teacher’s words that he passionately develops talismans to benefit the world.

Li Hui nods, “I took a risk gathering so many Exorcising Trees; using the leaves to make talismans can drive away ghosts. Cultivate diligently to distribute talismans across the world. Once this is done, I will first return to Mount Tai, which was formerly Zhuang Mountain, to establish our sect as its future base. Once this matter is resolved, I will briefly return to Mount Tai and then head back to Dalong.”

“Ah? Father, why are you going back to Dalong? Isn’t there a Jieyin?” Yao’er asks, puzzled.

“The Haotu Sect has a demon formation; I need to go down and check the situation! Additionally, National Master Qiao Tianxing of Dalong is related to Xun Zuoyuan; I have to see what he is really about,” Li Hui raises his hand to crush three Xuanhuang Certainty Stones, commanding, “Hurry and sit down to comprehend; I need to accelerate the flow of time. Three days and a half will be equivalent to a year; let those cultivators outside break the formation!”

The disciples quickly sit down, and the Ball and the demons close their eyes to practice.

Everyone knows this is Li Hui’s final effort to help his disciples and the demons enhance their strength before he allows them to be completely self-reliant, demonstrating his great determination by prioritizing the Heavenly Talisman Sect inside the Mysterious Pearl.

Li Hui supports a hundredfold time flow, effectively bringing everyone into seclusion. He gathers clouds to manifest large texts, using imprint talismans on blank pages, leaving no secret untold, transcribing all the talisman methods he learned over the years.

He spends one day inscribing a hundred thousand texts, altering any mistakes as he sees fit. Standing in front of the hall’s doors, more than a hundred days have already passed. The cultivators who entered Yuan Chen Heavenly Mansion have suffered heavy losses and summoned three Traveling Realm Great Powers to break through the challenges.

These three Traveling Realm Great Powers possess immense strength and clever methods, capable of temporarily suppressing the Illuminated Pattern Evil Worms. Tan Tiandi calculates Li Hui’s route perfectly, steadily pushing forward. However, as they traverse the spirit herb garden and step onto a straight corridor, the scenery suddenly shifts, and when they react, they are already at the ruined Drum Tower.

“Not good, be careful!”

Amid the buzzing, a red glow rises, striking like a flying sword from the sky. The cultivators draw their swords defensively, with clashing sounds ringing continuously. As a result, the sword cultivators all spit blood; their flying swords have shattered.

The terrifying kill moves follow one after another, and the remaining formations gather as if for a party. Tan Tiandi’s expression turns pale, clearly realizing he has been played.

Li Hui remains calmly secluded, taking the time to explain talisman methods and observations to everyone, detailing some strange techniques of cultivators, especially ghost and demon cultivators. At first glance, it’s hard to tell if they are human or ghost, and by the time the truth is revealed, one might already lose their head.

Hearing this, everyone feels heart-stopping fear and rushes to cultivate more intensely.

Three days and a half equating to a year swiftly passes, and in the blink of an eye, seven days have gone by, which is equivalent to two years of seclusion. Li Hui’s vision is exceptional; he always finds new directions for his disciples and the demons to develop and encourages them to try different things, so he feels no boredom. Coupled with the effects of the Xuanhuang Certainty Stones, their progress is truly rapid.

On the eighth day, with a ringing of a bell, a Traveling Realm Great Power raises an ancient bronze bell and locks onto the door of the Cloud Palace from afar.

The Ball senses something and rises, saying, “What should we do? The enemy is coming.”

Li Hui remains calm and composed, “No need to rush; the pressure exerted by the Yuan Chen Heavenly Mansion on Traveling Realm cultivators is severe. Otherwise, they would have released their Legal forms and already come here; we wouldn’t be able to cultivate in peace.”

“But they will come sooner or later,” the Black Mountain Old Demon says, wide-eyed and filled with trepidation.

“Alright, it’s time to enter the hall,” Li Hui stands up and tells Yao’er, “Send everyone back to the cave heaven, and you return as well. Do not show yourself for two days. Regardless of whom you hear calling, do not come out. There is a demon in this hall that may lure me into madness as a protector, and in a fit, I might kill anyone I see. If I slay you, I would be very saddened.”

“Ah?” Everyone is taken aback and hurriedly retreats into the Mysterious Pearl, gathering the ancient heavenly vessel, resolving firmly not to emerge for two days, no matter whose voice they hear.