Chapter 176

Chapter 176: Fuyi Hall and Asking for Directions

With a loud bang, twelve blue light bands transformed into towering figures, five zhang high, resembling the deities worshipped in temples, some sitting upright and others baring their claws, gazing down at Li Hui.

Guang Jin was a bit startled, then quickly elated, “This Fuyi Hall has accumulated immense power. Young Master, you can ask twelve questions. Just make sure your questions aren’t too simple, or you’ll be wasting the opportunity!”

“For the first question, how do I enter the Earth Axis?”

The figure on the left abruptly opened its eyes and scanned the distance.

In no time, the figure exploded into thousands of petals, raining down to the ground. Simultaneously, numerous glowing characters in the hall flickered with light, as if they had exhausted their energy and dimmed instantly.

“Incredible!” Guang Jin exclaimed in surprise, “This question is terrifying! It depleted an entire layer of array power and faced tremendous interference, making accurate divination impossible.”

Li Hui, armed with the dragon horns and possessing a strong memory, had already memorized the glowing characters. He quickly pieced together a sentence: “To ask about the Earth Axis, seek the Oath. To enter the Earth Axis, hold the Jade Symbol.”

“Need to seek the Oath? So far, I only have one Oath-Bound Brother. As for the Jade Symbol, where can I find it? What a hassle!”

Thinking this, Li Hui asked, “For the second question, where should I search for my Oath-Bound Brother?”

What astonished Guang Jin and Li Hui was that the second towering figure shattered silently, even faster and more thoroughly than the first, revealing only two slightly glowing words: Southeast.

“The southeast direction? Directly pointing to the core of Wan Nest Island! Where is that brat Qian Duohai? He actually depleted an entire layer of power.” Li Hui sighed helplessly, then asked the third question, “Since I need to hold the Jade Symbol to enter the Earth Axis, how can I obtain the Jade Symbol?”

“Buzz, buzz, buzz…” The third figure vibrated, shrinking from five zhang to three zhang, and opened its mouth to emit several streams of auspicious light, illuminating the characters on the ground and walls.

“Origin Jade Symbol Sect Grand Elder Ge Yuntao’s divided soul is in a copper vessel.”

“The ninth true disciple Dugu Yi holds the Golden Silk Ring Knife.”

Li Hui murmured, “The targets are quite clear, but I can’t offend either of them. Is there any chance to team up with them?”

Setting aside that thought, Li Hui pondered for a moment before asking the fourth question, “Please enlighten me, once I gather the Nine Patterns monster-conjuring talismans, will I encounter troubles hatching the peach tree demon?”

The fourth figure appeared to open its eyes and looked toward the Bamboo Box. In an instant, it shrank to four zhang in height.

It was about to open its mouth and release auspicious light to indicate the characters, but suddenly closed its mouth again, reducing in size to three zhang. When it attempted to speak once more, it still remained silent, seemingly encountering some kind of obstruction.

What a strange occurrence! Guang Jin sighed, “Demons are anomalies of heaven and earth; they aren’t easy to interpret! Even during prosperous times, the quantity of Golden Jade Peaches that survive is limited, let alone cultivating a peach tree demon!”

“Wuu wuu wuu…” The fourth figure whimpered, seemingly unwilling to fade away, reaching towards the fifth figure. The fifth figure, responding, opened its eyes to grasp the sixth figure.

Soon, these towering glowing figures, connected one to another, held hands and opened their eyes together, their mouths swirling with auspicious light, yet they could not release it.

“Not good, the backlash is coming!” Guang Jin shouted.

Before Li Hui could react, the glowing figures exploded, igniting many characters that burned with layered colors attacking the deep purple light circle beneath their feet.

“Bang, bang, bang…” Twelve massive cracks appeared beneath him.

Guang Jin exhaled with relief, saying, “Fortunately, the hall has a protective mechanism! The deep purple light circle beneath you is extraordinary; it seems to have borrowed strength from the purple fortress to withstand the backlash.”

Li Hui looked down at the cracks, then up at the characters around him, murmuring, “In the end, it still worked, and an exceptionally detailed divination was made!”

“Besides needing the Nine Patterns monster-conjuring talismans, to hatch the peach tree demon, another obstacle must be overcome, which is to gather as much wood-type spiritual energy as possible.”

“At the moment it becomes a demon, there’s a chance to condense Golden Jade Peaches. The more abundant the wood-type spiritual energy, the better the obtained peaches will be. However, this companion peach is equally important; if I take it away, it will immediately fall into a deep sleep. Afterward, I must find the mother body and pick thirty-three Golden Jade Peaches to rebuild its foundation for it to possibly awaken.”

“There is one Golden Jade Peach Tree in Dalong, a spiritual plant of the Haotu Sect, aged four thousand eight hundred years. Every time it bears peaches, it invites high-level practitioners to gatherings, and over time it has become the top grand event in the cultivation world of the Daling Dynasty, leading to a series of auctions and transactions.”

“The Haotu Sect holds a revered status, long occupying the top position among the sects in the Daling Dynasty with countless resources. The peach pits used to hatch the peach tree demon likely come from that Golden Jade Peach Tree, but even if they sold me, I wouldn’t be worth thirty-three Golden Jade Peaches.”

“Forget it, one step at a time, I must survive first.” Li Hui shook his head and smiled wryly, thinking about needing to hold the Jade Symbol to enter the Earth Axis, and shook his head again with a chuckle.

With the sect’s fortune behind him, the embroidered ball indicated Grand Elder and that mysterious sect leader would soon seek him out! Charging in to negotiate cooperation would be impossible to achieve even with his toes.

Moreover, Dugu Yi specialized in wielding a big knife, and it was unexpected that it belonged to the level of a Jade Symbol; there was no way it could be brought out. Just thinking about it made his head ache.

“Then there’s my Oath-Bound Brother. It’s about time; I still need to ask you for the Earth Axis location.” Li Hui slapped Chef Zhao’s chubby face, summoning him like calling a soul, “Soul, return! Soul, return! Get up and get to work.”

“Ah! What’s going on?” Chef Zhao awakened leisurely.

“Nothing’s going on.” Li Hui pulled out a spirit talisman and said, “Here, use this Treasure Viewing Talisman to see if there are any treasures in the hall and let Qiniang sleep a bit longer.”

“Earlier, earlier…” Chef Zhao recalled the previous encounters with the devilish sound, as if he had tasted various forms of torture, causing his body to tremble involuntarily.

“Fool!” Li Hui gave the plump man a playful knock on the head and kicked him twice, saying, “It was just an illusion triggered by the devilish sound. Don’t dwell on that scene; hurry up and work.”

“Yes, yes, yes, I will get to work.” Chef Zhao dared not hesitate; whatever his boss asked him to do must be right.

After using the Treasure Viewing Talisman, Li Hui found sixteen ritual artifacts hidden in the nooks and crannies, all top-notch artifacts formed with Nine Patterns and enhanced three times, extremely close to becoming treasures. However, their designs were too ancient, and many had subtle cracks on their surfaces, making them look unappealing.

There were a Bagua compass, divining horn, spirit turtle shell, divine coins, and fortune crystal among these sixteen artifacts, all related to divination.

If they encountered an expert, these sixteen nearly-treasured divination tools could fetch a high price. Li Hui instructed Chef Zhao to keep them safe, advising that if they weren’t needed, it was better not to use them, as it would be a shame for the silver snake bracelet to consume them.

He employed the Dragon Claw technique and took Huo Qiniang away, thinking that if they could find so many top-tier artifacts in the second layer of the purple fortress, what would be waiting for them on the fifth and sixth layers? He couldn’t wait to discover what awaited.