Chapter 219

Chapter 219: The Revival of the Brocade Ball

“Brocade Ball, you’re alive?”

“Hmph! You think so! I was about to ride the crane to the west and enter reincarnation, but you insisted on pulling me back. What’s so great about being a monster? In this life, I’m bound and have to serve the Jade Symbol Sect like a workhorse! If I could really reincarnate, I should…”

“Stop! Wake up! The talk of reincarnation is nothing but empty nonsense; there has never been a definitive conclusion in any ancient texts, and most of it is mere speculation. Even if you were lucky enough to be reborn as a human instead of a pig or a dog, what’s the current situation like? Some children die the moment they are born. Even if they struggle to survive, who’s to say they won’t end up serving a landlord as a workhorse?”

“Aiya! You jerk! Are you my natural enemy? You only say things that are disheartening.” The Brocade Ball was extremely annoyed.

“Hahaha, I’m just glad you’re back!” Li Hui felt delighted and comforted, “You used to be trapped in the Jade Symbol Sect and rarely went out, but now everything’s different. You can follow me anywhere! We’ll explore the world together, and I guarantee you’ll live freely. Now that you’re alive, let’s be happy!”

“Sigh! You don’t understand; I’m useless now. My memory has become so fragmented, and all those talisman methods I needed to pass on to you have been wasted. All the talismans I saved up have turned to ashes. Even Guang Jin, that little bald donkey, is far better than me now. How can I live on like this?”

“I get it now; you’re afraid Guang Jin will look down on you.” Li Hui quickly squatted down to examine the Celestial Tree Blossoming Branch, sneering, “When did you become so sensitive? Stop your pointless lamentations! Since you’ve come back to life, it’s time to work and compensate me. Quickly, tell me what’s going on with this thing?”

“Long ago there was the Celestial Tree, its crown reaching the heavens, the mother of all trees, the supreme among all woods,” the Brocade Ball answered concisely.

“Is it really that impressive?” Li Hui felt a bit of disbelief; could this branch rival the Jade Heart of the Earth Court? Excitement filled him.

The Brocade Ball doused his excitement with cold water: “This branch is already so weak it’s hardly conceivable. It can be sliced into pieces to make talismans. No, it’s better to enhance the quality of the talisman papers inside you. Using it to create talismans would waste something good…”

“Does it help in hatching the peach tree demon?” That was what Li Hui was most concerned about.

“It’s harmful rather than helpful,” the Brocade Ball replied firmly. “If you put the Celestial Tree Blossoming Branch and the peach tree demon together, the demon would crazily siphon off the demonic energy instead. The Celestial Tree was destroyed due to excessive cultivation, which is not without reason because it constantly gathers spiritual energy over countless years and has become an anomaly. It’s no easy feat to drain this Celestial Tree Blossoming Branch; a spiritual plant would need to strive for thousands of years to succeed.”

“So, using this branch makes it easy to cultivate a Celestial Tree Demon?” Li Hui’s heart flickered with ideas. If conditions allowed, drawing a monster-conjuring talisman wouldn’t be difficult for him.

“Don’t do that,” the Brocade Ball warned seriously. “The essence of the Celestial Tree is too powerful. Even if you hatch a Celestial Tree Demon, it won’t recognize you as its master. As I recall, there have been historical cases of someone attempting this, which resulted in a calamity of great magnitude. The celestial forces and laws abhor the Celestial Tree and do not wish for it to have even a single breath of life.”

“Now I see!” Li Hui exclaimed, “That’s quite profound! Just having this insight and understanding surpasses what I’ve obtained from the ancient texts and will save me a lot of trouble.”

“Pfft! What is this? Your brain only holds part of the ancient texts, but I have copied the archives of the Haotu Sect, so my knowledge naturally exceeds that of the Jade Symbol Sect. Even with my memory being fragmented, I can still manage to explain some things,” the Brocade Ball began to boast again, self-pride had long been a habit of his, especially in this area where he indeed had some skill.

This segment of the Celestial Tree Blossoming Branch was as thick as a human arm, buried underground for who knows how many years, yet it still had a few green leaves.

When Li Hui reached out to touch it, it seemed to struggle a bit.

Even though this branch was not a treasure comparable to the Jade Heart of the Earth Court, it could still enhance the quality of the Heavenly and Earthly Array talisman papers, which wasn’t bad at all. What truly made Li Hui happy was that the Brocade Ball had awakened—this was more important than any treasure he could acquire.

Li Hui left the massive pit when a pearl rolled over from the side, and Guang Jin shouted, “Quick! I took that big tree; the demon cultivators will soon realize something’s off and come back to check!”

Suddenly sensing demonic energy, Guang Jin exclaimed, “Oh, Brocade Ball, you woke up so quickly! I thought it would take at least a year and a half!”

“Hmph! My cultivation is transcendent, shaking the ancient and shining the modern, just gathering the demon soul again! It doesn’t take that long,” the Brocade Ball boasted without any hesitation.

“Just keep boasting! If it weren’t for the Dao Rhythm Residual Talismans from the Jade Symbol Sect searching souls, and for me guarding you, you would have lost a large amount of treasures, and just by chance accumulated enough fortune to struggle for your life, could you possibly be awake this quickly?”

“The Dao Rhythm Residual Talismans have appeared? Tell me what’s going on!” The Brocade Ball took this matter very seriously, but there was no time to linger. Li Hui hastily got ready to leave, not wanting to stay a moment longer.

The demon cultivators who had strayed from their path were now unlucky, failing to find the large tree that had been dragged away. Suddenly encountering a patch of man-eating flowers, they couldn’t escape in time and fell into a sea of flowers, infuriated and charging wildly.

Li Hui ran three miles before stopping abruptly, his heart alert: “There’s a huge formation surrounding this area, covering an unimaginable size; it’s not safe above ground or below!”

The Flickering Shadows behind him swayed like a compass, making it impossible to determine the direction.

“This is too dangerous; this is the core region of Wan Nest Island. Besides the territories of the strange beasts, it’s all formations—truly difficult to navigate!” Li Hui frowned, feeling the situation was quite tricky. Suddenly, he remembered Dugu Yi’s big knife and hurriedly asked, “Brocade Ball, Dugu Yi’s big knife inadvertently fell into my hands. Can I use it to forcefully carve a path?”

“Oh?” The Brocade Ball was surprised. This near-death experience had caused him to lose part of his memory and perspective abilities. He could see outside through the Mysterious Water Pearl without issue, but couldn’t see through the bag of treasures or the chain bag anymore.

Li Hui activated his Ideal Body to enhance his perception. Feeling unsafe everywhere, even the situation behind him changed, brewing a murderous intent silently.

“That Golden Silk Ring Knife…” the Brocade Ball pondered briefly, a plan forming in his mind. “I have a way! If you forcefully use this knife, there will be an unimaginable backlash, but you have Buddhist powers. If you can switch back and forth between spiritual energy and Buddhist light, you may be able to utilize the backlash.”

“Alright, it’s a way. I’ll give it a try.” Li Hui quickly took out the Golden Silk Ring Knife. As he gripped the hilt for the first time, he suddenly felt a cold, chilling killing intent spreading, and with a thought, he recited a Buddhist incantation. Petals of lotus flowers flew beneath his feet, “Ding ding dang dang” sticking to him, forming armor.

“Boom!” The surface of the big knife erupted with light. It turned out there were other cultivators who had touched it, secretly activating the talisman formation and talismans continuously, as if operating a winch and mechanism, determined to annihilate anyone who dared wield it.

Li Hui was delighted; the Brocade Ball’s insights were indeed extraordinary. The big knife reacted negatively to the spiritual energy but showed no reaction to the Buddhist power, and the gathered light on the knife surface became increasingly strong.

“Go!” The Buddhist light surged forward, finding a direction for the big knife to release its pressure, blasting forth a torrent of energy that stirred ripples in the formation. The Ideal Body swiftly adjusted, instantly locating a safe spot.

“Go!”

Li Hui was overjoyed; using the Golden Silk Ring Knife, he crossed the formation and kept moving farther away. However, shortly after he left, a tall copper vessel appeared in his place, like a ghost chasing him down.