Chapter 166

Chapter 166: Returning in a Disheveled State

The next day, Li Hui woke up as the sun was high in the sky, stretching and feeling refreshed, as if all his fatigue had been washed away overnight. Upon seeing the mountain of wine jars piled up in the tent, his face turned a deep shade of purple, and he howled, “Xiu Qiu, did you drink all my spiritual wine? All of it, all of it…!”

“Why are you shouting? You have the nerve to complain! This spiritual wine was disgustingly poor. Next time you better invite me to only the finest spiritual brews,” Xiu Qiu shot back arrogantly.

Li Hui felt relieved; this guy hadn’t changed, but they shared a bond from that drinking session. He quickly switched to a flattering tone, “Fair enough! Next time, I’ll definitely treat you to some fine spirit talismans.”

Pausing for effect, he added, “Ink Demon senior, you are like a long-lost elder in my sect! I feel like a hungry baby, having been starving for so long. With my success rate for creating talismans dumped into the ground, and no support from the sect, I’m almost out of talisman ink and paper! Just look at me, the most handsome and unique heir in history! Can I afford to be this poor? Is it appropriate to have no treasure talismans to uphold my appearance?”

“Didn’t hear you! Didn’t hear you! Didn’t hear you!” Xiu Qiu yelled. “Get lost, get lost, get lost!”

“I’m your very own!” Li Hui insisted resolutely. “How about this? Since you have a special someone in the sect, I’m willing to become her personal disciple! From now on, I’ll have a Master, and you can share a little of your affection for her with your disciple!”

“Get lost!” Yu Zimao roared.

Li Hui grinned, knowing he had to be thick-skinned to get by. Perhaps repeating this would ease Xiu Qiu’s inner sadness. He often advised the junior sisters that distracting oneself was a surefire approach.

“Wait! Before you go, send your disciple one talisman; something to aid in body refinement, perhaps using that Celestial Meteor God Iron. Such a small request; I’m even moved by my simplicity!”

“Are you not afraid of harming your foundation? You’ve only just nurtured your potential, and you’ll run out of stamina. No matter how marvelous your method is, it can’t withstand such strain,” Xiu Qiu replied, recognizing that Li Hui was cracking jokes. Unlike before, he felt closer to this little rascal than yesterday—perhaps because they were bonding over yesterday’s drinking escapade.

Li Hui forced a smile, “I’m scared, but I’d rather risk my foundation than lose my life! Hongmo Zhengfang mentioned that the core area of Wan Nest Island has teleportation arrays. Since the Hongmo Sect is aware of this, do you think they’d let anyone leave freely? They’re bound to have set up a tight net, and I just need a sliver of chance to fit through at a critical moment.”

“Only this once, no second chances.”

Xiu Qiu said, “I’ll really go to sleep now; otherwise, I’ll be pinpointed. Before I sleep, I’ll give you a Qi Yuan Decline Talisman I made in my spare time. Qi represents the heavens, and the Qi Yuan embodies the essence of the heavens, creating great phenomena. The Decline is powerful—it’s almost like self-destruction! If you want to practice body refinement, this talisman is the perfect aid. The denser the spiritual energy, the better the effect, as long as you can handle the pain.”

Li Hui took the bait, blinking, “Pain is no problem; give me a cloud-light serene talisman too!”

“Get lost! No more, figure out how to lessen the pain on your own!”

Just then, the Bamboo Box trembled, and three circles of light burst forth, quickly vanishing. Li Hui gasped, “Three halos, a top-grade treasure talisman?”

Xiu Qiu had already fallen asleep, using it as protection to avoid revealing their location.

“So this treasure talisman relies heavily on spiritual energy; I need to head to the Inner Ring as soon as possible,” Li Hui exclaimed, slapping his thigh. “Why did this guy fall asleep so quickly? I still haven’t asked if I can use Nine Patterns Three Exotics monster-conjuring talismans to replace the last six ordinary Nine Patterns monster-conjuring talismans!”

After calling a few times with no response, he decided to set this matter aside for now.

Just as he planned to check the odds and ends he had gathered from the great demon cave, he suddenly heard cursing, “You little thing, Li! I finally found you! Don’t you dare come to the Inner Ring! Damn it, how dare you stop me from using the Slave Seal? I was nearly stripped of my underwear in that fortress!”

This guy really couldn’t stand to not be mentioned. He had just brought up the teleportation array in passing after mentioning Hongmo Zhengfang, and now he was knocking at his door.

Li Hui stepped out of the tent, gripping a bundle of damage-dealing talismans in his left hand and a semi-artifact cleaver in his right. He puffed out his chest and raised his chin in warning, “Hongmo Zhengfang, this knife was given to me by Senior Sister Yue as a self-defense weapon! It has been infused with talisman power by a high-level demon cultivator, so come and test it if you dare! I know demon cultivators are tricky; even if I can’t kill you, I’ll make sure you lose half your life. Damn it, don’t push me to break the jar and let it break; I’d rather die than fall into the hands of the Hongmo Sect and become a magic puppet!”

“Boom, boom, boom…” Hongmo Zhengfang blasted through the Yin-Yang Nine Heads. If those damn things hadn’t ambushed him, he would have rushed into the tent, dragging the little rascal out like a chick by now.

The Yin-Yang Nine Heads continuously spewed out Blood Light, showcasing the power of the Blood Mouth Spitting Talisman. At the same time, dense green light emerged, forming countless green scales around them to block the bombardment of blood flames.

Li Hui felt a pang of regret. Just like that, the Yin-Yang Nine Heads consumed a massive amount of energy, so he hurriedly recalled them. When he finally focused on Hongmo Zhengfang’s figure, he couldn’t help but chuckle.

How unfortunate was this Condense Essence Stage Demon Cultivator? The left side of his head was burned beyond recognition, with no trace of his eyebrows or hair left. The right side was better off, but it was riddled with numerous small steel balls embedded in his flesh. His robe was tattered, looking worse than a beggar, with severe injuries all over his body, festering wounds oozing pus, and he was indeed close to losing his underwear.

“You’re still laughing?” Hongmo Zhengfang’s anger flared as he suddenly glanced behind Li Hui.

Unbeknownst to him, Qian Qiu Yue had appeared, still dressed as a man, exuding a poised and spirited demeanor.

Li Hui smacked his lips, feeling a bitter taste in his mouth. He thought, “This woman appears out of nowhere; does she have a special hobby? I’ve never heard her mention a partner. I wonder if a Late Condense Essence Female Cultivator being single is normal. You would think she’d want to get married; aren’t people in the countryside saying old maids have strange tempers?”

“What are you thinking?”

Qian Qiu Yue gave Li Hui a push. From the look in her eyes, she knew he was internally musing about her mysterious appearances! If she hadn’t come in time to support him, did he really think he could stop the other party with just the semi-artifact cleaver?

To be honest, the cleaver had been transformed by Xiu Qiu and really might cause them to perish together. It was no longer the same as before.

“Not cool!” Hongmo Zhengfang roared, venting his bad mood. “Ahhhh! I’m so unhappy! Damn Wan Nest Island, can’t I just quietly be a young master?”

After the roar, he floated down to face Li Hui, shamelessly reaching out for items: “Give me that cleaver, and throw in ten treasure talismans. No refusals! And how about five thousand Nine Patterns Three Exotics monster-conjuring talismans?”

This time was different from last; Li Hui had given up the Control Poison Decree and talisman flags last time to gain fortune from this future Giant of the Demonic Path. But now he didn’t have a Fortune Ascending Talisman on hand—what could he possibly give him? And looking at his miserable state, what fortune could he have left?