Chapter 157

Chapter 157: Battling the True Disciples

On this night, the moon shone brightly. Lian Luosha put on her outer robe and stepped out of the tent, teasingly saying, “Oh, handsome Junior Brother, what brings you here with a few jugs of exquisite wine? Are you planning to get your Senior Sister drunk and do what Zhang Tianhua loves to do?”

Li Hui replied calmly, “What luck would I have for that? But to say I don’t have a few little thoughts would be abnormal! Clearly, Junior Brother is quite normal for knowing that Senior Sister is still awake! I came to chat and keep an eye out; there’s a big rat nearby that seems to be trying to prey on young maidens—it’s amazing how it has survived this long!”

“Giggle!” Lian Luosha playfully chided, “I love your serious jokes more than those of any gentleman or villain. Alas! Speaking of which, it’s unfortunate that Senior Sister is not lucky; I chose to cultivate that difficult technique. Otherwise, you and I might have ended up as partners, raising children together in a few years!”

Li Hui felt utterly embarrassed, saying, “Senior Sister, you tease me again! To be honest, I have today but not tomorrow. If it weren’t for a thread of hope pulling me along, I would have quietly found a place to wait for death.”

“Hmph, are you finally being honest?” Lian Luosha’s expression turned serious, “Your life hangs by a thread! Are you thinking that I didn’t notice? Not only did I see it, but Gao Yuhu definitely noticed as well. To say the least, all six of us outer disciples who are still alive today have some unique opportunities. Don’t be misled by how many people are surrounding you; among the six, you actually have it the hardest, forcibly gathering luck for yourself. Do you think that’s a good thing? You might gain some benefits short-term, but you’ve also taken on the karma of others!”

“What? Senior Sister can see this too?” Li Hui was greatly shocked.

“You fool! Don’t underestimate others. Among the tens of thousands of outer and inner disciples in the Jade Symbol Sect, how many survived the annihilation?!” Lian Luosha didn’t want to continue this topic; she picked up the wine jug and said, “Cultivators go against the heavens. Many times, being left with a thread of hope is already worth thanking the heavens! Come, let’s drink.”

“Sure! Wine with a kindred spirit is never enough; cheers!” Li Hui, who loved sneaking drinks since childhood, clinked cups with her and drank heartily.

As the moon rose high, the two, feeling a mutual bond, were engrossed in their drinking when they suddenly heard thunder sounds approaching, forming a terrifying roar: “Good, you six are all here! Just hand over your heads, and I will take the treasures from the scripture hall of the Jade Symbol Sect!”

“Yang Jueyu is here!” Li Hui stood up, realizing the opponent would come but not expecting it to be so soon. Through the Yin-Yang Nine Heads, he saw many figures—there were at least four hundred, and they were all Concentrating Spirit Stage practitioners.

Chef Zhao and Huo Qiniang awoke quickly and hurriedly dispatched people to confront the enemy.

Before long, the forest echoed with shouts of battle, and talisman lights and artifacts clashed.

Li Hui’s subordinates had passed their trials and skillfully used Blood Ignition Talismans and damage-dealing talismans, so the enemies not only failed to gain an advantage but found themselves suffering heavy losses instead.

The Concentrating Spirit Stage practitioners were stunned; their initial fervor soon faded, and their cultivation dropped. The persistent excitement quickly turned into a further decline. Who could handle burning blood like this? Before long, their cultivation plummeted while their energy rapidly drained, and the opponents grew more vigorous, while they could barely control their artifacts.

For Chef Zhao and Huo Qiniang, the strategy they used to instill in their fellow practitioners was simple: “pile up!”

This was the method of the Jade Symbol Sect, and since damage-dealing talismans were new types of talismans that had not yet revealed their effectiveness to the world, they could be used in conjunction with Blood Ignition Talismans. In the late stages of Concentrating Spirit, one might escape, but those in the early and mid-stages could hardly flee.

Li Hui’s cultivation was not high, but controlling numerous spirit talismans allowed him to easily overwhelm practitioners with higher cultivation levels. Now, nearly two thousand people replicated this advantage, catching Lian Luosha’s attention.

Yang Jueyu felt as if he were being choked, his arrogance swiftly disappearing.

Chef Zhao shouted, “Quick, clean up the battlefield!”

Everyone acted skillfully, rushing in and rifling through the fallen enemies. Once time was up, regardless of their gains, they immediately retreated in an orderly fashion from the area.

Li Hui tossed aside his wine cup and said, “Senior Sister Lian, let’s go! Today we worked hard all afternoon and finally found a safe spot near the Five Elements All-Destroying Flame Formation. If Yang Jueyu dares to come, let him taste the power of this formation.”

“Such a sly fox!” Lian Luosha chuckled, following the team’s retreat.

Yang Jueyu felt great anger, but Li Hui’s chosen camping location was too cunning. He did not cross the boundary line into the inner ring, so he commanded the Concentrating Spirit Stage practitioners to attack, not expecting such a venture to yield nothing in return.

“Yang, be calm!”

Standing beside Yang Jueyu were three Condensed Essence Stage practitioners. One had a pale face, long black hair tied with a white ribbon, and held a green jade flute, scoffing disdainfully, “Li Hui thinks he can escape just by hiding in the formation? He underestimates the true disciples of the Jade Symbol Sect. Good! Let’s have him and my magic puppets fight and see how amazing the ones made by the Hongmo Sect are!”

Hearing this, Yang Jueyu became intrigued and couldn’t help but probe, “Among my Jade Symbol Sect’s true disciples, who excels at crafting controlling talismans? I wonder how many walls they’ve dug from the Hongmo Sect?”

“Ha ha ha, not many,” the true disciple pridefully replied, “I’ll send over a hundred magic puppets first. They were once Condensed Essence Stage practitioners. They fell to the mid stage of Concentrating Spirit only because they became magic puppets, but their physique, endurance, skills, and methods remain at the initial Condensed Essence level. I heard the Hongmo Sect decided to use all their magic puppets for this island expedition, which is quite a bargain for me!”

Yang Jueyu felt jealousy rising but concealed it, nodding, “Good, let’s see what your skills can do, Junior Brother.”

Half a stick of incense later, Li Hui encountered the magic puppets for the first time.

Though the sky was dim, with the magical dragon eyes, the scenes reflected in his mind were clearer than during the day. The magic puppets appeared almost identical to normal practitioners, except they had star and moon marks on their foreheads. However, their arms were extremely thick, and their faces had no expressions.

Lian Luosha, who had her ways of viewing from afar, gasped, “Such a grand gesture! Right off the bat, a hundred initial Condensed Essence magic puppets! However, they have fallen to the full Concentrating Spirit stage, so their foundations must be unstable; otherwise, even as magic puppets, they wouldn’t have descended to such low cultivation.”

As these magic puppets neared the edge of the formation, Li Hui ignited the talisman light between his fingers.

The patterns on the magic puppets’ feet intertwined, and before they realized it, they had been drawn into the formation; the Five Elements All-Destroying Flame Formation began to activate immediately.

“Crack! Crack! Crack!” Brilliant electric light flashed, flames twisted around, illuminating the surrounding area for dozens of miles.

Yang Jueyu exclaimed, “Is that a Mystical Yellow Path Talisman approaching the Treasure Level? How is this possible? This talisman is inscribed in the Jade Symbol Sect’s regulations and kept separately by the Grand Elder and the sect leader. Master has never mentioned anything about it being imprinted in Li Hui’s mind.”

The true disciple gripped the green jade flute tightly, his lips twitching in disdain, “He does seem to have some tricks up his sleeve. Didn’t he have the Mystical Yellow Path Talisman? Good, let me see how many he can bring out.”