Chapter 624

Chapter 624: Li Gui? Stabilizing Needle of the Sea

The dragon-headed giant finally stood up, though its figure was already somewhat hazy.

Even so, with a casual wave of his hand, Prince Moang unleashed sharp golden winds that caused the practitioners’ formations to collapse instantly. Li Hui was flung away, and while in mid-air, he narrowly avoided being bisected.

“Boom!” The sound echoed in his ears, and everyone staggered to their feet, disoriented and unsure of which way was which.

Just then, Prince Moang struck again. Tianyi and Tian Zhu floated in the air and quickly summoned two talismans that seemed to create their own worlds.

“Reversal of Heaven and Earth Talisman; the heavens turn to the earth, and the earth turns to the heavens—send the attack back!” Li Hui struggled to maintain his brawn, but the Celestial Talismans held by Tianyi and Tian Zhu took effect, causing Prince Moang to crash down, restoring him to his previous state before the attack.

The Reversal of Heaven and Earth Talisman not only made Prince Moang sit down but also caused his explosive second strike to hit himself, making his figure grow even dimmer.

The projections summoned by the weapon were formidable; what power would they attain if they entered the current world? Li Hui knew that Dark Immortals must possess extraordinary wisdom, far beyond the comparison with the projections before him.

“My lord, that talisman…” Tianyi and Tian Zhu paled; this was a Celestial Talisman, and it was slowly turning to fine sand and falling apart from the edges.

“Let’s go for broke!” Li Hui charged forward, using the nine-pronged steel fork like a sword, unleashing the No Return Slash of the Dao. With a heavy clang, the nine-pronged steel fork shattered into several pieces.

“Shattered… shattered?”

Nobody, not even Li Hui, could accept this outcome.

The nine-pronged steel fork had indeed broken, but the Dao-slaying sword’s power made the dragon-headed giant vanish without a trace, leaving a three-foot-long black sharp horn on the ground, which was a fragment of the triangular mace.

“Is it over? I didn’t expect my lord’s Sword Dao skills to be so brilliant,” everyone gazed at the fragment of the triangular mace, still feeling apprehensive as they gathered closer.

Li Hui’s right arm hung limply; in a critical moment, the nine-pronged steel fork had unexpectedly stacked the No Return Slash of the Dao nine times, but the rebound force was equally terrifying. His right arm was now broken, and he realized that the brawn he thought was powerful felt rather vulnerable.

With his right arm no longer functional and having used the Causal Law, a powerful assassination weapon, Li Hui reached out with his left hand to grasp the three-foot sharp horn. It felt even heavier than the nine-pronged steel fork.

“So heavy? If the complete triangular mace were here, how heavy would it be? It seems the immortals before the calamity of immortals placed great emphasis on body refinement, or perhaps the aquatic beings are just like that?”

The first attempt to lift the triangular mace failed, but on the second attempt, Li Hui mustered all his strength to finally raise it. However, he wondered if wielding such a short three-foot-long sharp horn in battle was a bit lacking.

“Short or not, it’s better than nothing! The key is that this thing is quite formidable! It can create such terrifying rebound force.”

Li Hui led the team to continue exploring, being even more cautious than before. Upon seeing powerful figures from afar, he quickly led the group to flee.

Thus, they persisted for three days. No treasures of the same level as the triangular mace appeared, but they did retrieve over a dozen items similar to blood coral, making for a fairly fruitful haul.

Riding this wave of fortune, more than ten individuals in the group reached the Hongfa Stage, beginning to condense their legal forms with expansive Dao techniques.

If they were in the Wutu Continent, these practitioners could tremble the ground with their steps. However, in the Heavenly Realm, especially in this Crystal Palace, they had to be extremely careful to survive in tight spaces and keep their legal forms well concealed to avoid any unexpected impacts that could shatter their spirit and disrupt their path.

On the fourth day, Li Hui crawled forward, carefully scouting ahead when he spotted a dragon-headed giant dressed in emperor’s robes in the distance.

“Who is that? Even more enormous than Prince Moang?”

Shrimp Ball, right beside Li Hui, quietly replied, “If I’m not mistaken, that must be the East Sea Dragon King, not just the East Sea of this Heavenly Realm, but the ruler of the East Sea across all worlds.”

“Really? Do you know what treasure lies ahead that has summoned the projection of this East Sea Lord?”

“It must be the Dragon Pearl that Grandpa Turtle often speaks of. Legend says it can bring the dead back to life and transform aquatic beings into dragon-kind. It’s also said that with this Dragon Pearl, one can rule the East Sea. My lord wouldn’t be planning to snatch this Dragon Pearl, would he?”

“Is it just a fragment or a scrap?” Li Hui had gathered only damaged treasures, and the only complete weapon, the nine-pronged steel fork, had shattered during the collision with the triangular mace.

Shrimp Ball answered matter-of-factly, “It’s definitely a fragment! Grandpa Turtle said finding even a bit of scrap is a stroke of luck, and it’s a miracle that a piece of the Crystal Palace ended up here.”

“Hmm, let’s mark the East Sea Dragon Pearl for now and think of a way later.” Li Hui transmitted a message, “I came to the Crystal Palace primarily to find Li Gui and haven’t found him yet. I’m feeling anxious. I can only let go and attempt to seize other treasures after I obtain Li Gui. Are you sure this is the right direction? We have to go around the East Sea Dragon King? I have two concealment talismans from the Hidden Talisman Sect, which are extremely valuable. They are powerful but can only last for Ten Moments, just enough for a round trip. If I go and don’t locate Li Gui, I’ll go insane.”

“Absolutely, this is the right direction,” Shrimp Ball nodded vigorously within the East Pearl.

“Good.” Li Hui waved for the practitioners to hurry up; he needed to use the concealment talismans. Within Ten Moments, they must bypass the East Sea Dragon King. If he used the second concealment talisman, there would be no hope of returning.

After three days of testing the waters, Li Hui had gained some insight about the projections summoned by these treasures. Generally speaking, the larger the figure, the more powerful they were, and the wider their triggering range. Take the East Sea Dragon King in the distance; one should avoid stepping within a thousand zhang. To be safe, they needed to keep a distance of twelve hundred zhang.

Li Hui led the team to sneak around the East Sea Dragon King. The aura of this dragon king was nearly “bordering” on the profound energies of other massive presences, so sharp eyesight was essential. A small mistake could lead to total failure.

The tension of the Ten Moments was maddening; they not only had to resist the fear of life and death but also endure the pressure on their spirits created by the East Sea Dragon King.

“Oh my, we finally made it past…”

Everyone knew they had evaded the “minefield,” but before they could catch their breath, they all fell flat on the ground in fear as an even larger figure appeared before them, nearly touching the ceiling of the Crystal Cave.

“Shrimp Ball, Li Gui wouldn’t be on that giant monkey, right? This… this is too big! Is he also an immortal?” Li Hui felt dizzy.

“Hmm, legend has it that this immortal is a Dao cultivator and the elder brother of the Third Prince from outside. Grandpa Turtle said he is a Dark Immortal who can challenge the Celestial Emperor, and he is also the Warrior Buddha. The staff in his hand is called the Stabilizing Needle of the Sea, and Li Gui is actually a fragment of that Stabilizing Needle. When intact, it could stabilize the sea; as a fragment, it can shape mountains, rivers, and naturally stabilize the spirit and soul.”

“Who came up with that name? How can they call that staff a needle?” Li Hui was no longer just dizzy; he suddenly felt his life was quite bleak.

After a moment of silence, Li Hui asked Shrimp Ball again, “Are there any beings in this treasure vault more powerful than this Dark Immortal?”

Shrimp Ball thought carefully for a moment before confidently asserting, “There shouldn’t be. Actually, I didn’t know that the broken piece of the Stabilizing Needle could summon this Dark Immortal. I always felt that this object was different from how Grandpa Turtle described it; it seems… it seems more complete.”

“Forget about it; I’ll move when I’m ready.”