Chapter 193

Chapter 193: Seizing the Opportunity

Outside the Purple Fortress had fallen silent. Millions of Demon Walls collapsed, reducing the defensive power of Wan Nest Island.

The Hongmo Sect’s actions had indeed yielded results; most formations and restrictions were affected, with many halos of restrictions dimming to the point of nearly dissipating. However, the truly important locations remained sealed.

Li Hui didn’t care about the state of the outside world as he rushed to the entrance. He spotted two Jade Symbol Sect members panting heavily, already awake.

Though they were not true disciples, they were Condensed Essence Stage practitioners and loyal subordinates of Dugu Yi.

“Greetings, gentlemen.” Li Hui smiled slightly, raising his hand to form dragon claw phantoms swirling around the two, catching glimmers of light.

“Let’s go!” The two were in terrible condition and dared not linger there. They quickly activated the Slave Seal to swap positions with their previously arranged Slave Cultivators.

It was a joke; these two cultivators were big fish, and there was no way Li Hui would let them go easily. His eyes were sharp as he used an immobilization talisman, causing gentle ripples to spread out, which caught the two off guard.

The Cloud-Brush Dragon Claw Technique continued to sweep through, grabbing and tearing.

Li Hui kept his distance, never getting too close. Who knew what hidden means these practitioners had? If they were at the Spirit Motion Stage, he would need to be even more cautious, especially since their power reached the Condensed Essence Stage.

He was an example himself; he had already surpassed standard understanding significantly and shouldn’t be viewed as an ordinary Spirit Motion Stage practitioner. For Condensed Essence Stage practitioners to catch him would be quite the challenge.

As he snatched their belongings one by one, the two Condensed Essence Stage practitioners burned with rage. Just as they decided to use their trump cards, Li Hui had vanished, unwilling to engage in a life-or-death struggle.

Moments later, he returned to the Twelfth Layer of the Purple Fortress. Before he could reach the array node, he saw the bodies of several cultivators with their heads swollen and faces purple from a poison-induced death. Many dark red beetles, as thick as arms, lay scattered on the ground around them.

“So these are the Lingfan Shura Bugs?” He realized that the embroidered ball had left a Fire-Moth-into-the-Flame Talisman as a trap for future arrivals. He hadn’t expected the Purple Fortress to be locked down, also suppressing these bugs.

The ground was littered with dead bugs, clearly having been killed while chasing the cultivators. Three-quarters of the Lingfan Shura Bugs had perished, and with the deployment of several damage-dealing talismans, the remaining beetles quickly met the same fate, perfectly compensating for the energy consumed in opposing the freezing with Blood Energy Talismans.

Even if the damage-dealing talismans weren’t very effective against the bugs, the silver snake bracelet had just received a boost, and the two Condensed Essence Stage practitioners at the Thirteenth Layer had already summoned their treasures to the Snake’s mouth. The results were naturally remarkable.

Hundred Dragon Claw Phantoms flitted past, carrying off a vast amount of light from the fallen bodies, and once the treasures from these practitioners were gone, it was finally Li Hui’s turn to gather items.

There was no other way; as long as the silver snake bracelet circled his wrist for a day, he wouldn’t get to touch any treasures or artifacts in this lifetime. However, there were benefits in his losses; he had come to accept this model. Without the support of the silver snake bracelet, he wouldn’t have been able to obtain so many spirit talismans and treasure talismans by surpassing the realms, nor would he have improved his success rate for creating talismans while saving countless resources unknowingly.

At this stage, obtaining treasures and artifacts was only useful for selling; in the end, he still had to convert them into talismans. Although their value would diminish, they were far more efficient and safe. Therefore, he was immensely grateful to his senior, Chen Mengde; if it weren’t for him harnessing the silver snake, he wouldn’t have made such progress today.

Li Hui began gathering bug carcasses. If it weren’t for the generous space in his Bamboo Box, he might not have been able to carry so many items!

He sped towards the Underground Cavern without his feet touching the ground, now that the Purple Fortress was in a defensive low phase. Many areas were gradually recovering, and he had to seize the opportunity to reap the benefits—there wouldn’t be another chance like this!

Entering the Underground Cavern, he quickly scanned the area without finding anyone.

Several large dark red beetles wobbled up, releasing a cloud of poisonous haze shaped like a spiritual banner. Just as Li Hui felt that things were getting difficult, he sensed a tremor from his bag of treasures.

“Huh? The poison dragon eel is alive?”

This was a pleasant surprise. The poison dragon eel had shown no reaction since its demon transformation, but now it suddenly awakened, releasing a faint demonic aura.

“Roar!” The poison dragon eel cried out as it burst from the bag, enlarging its form and lunging at the Lingfan Shura Bugs, frantically ripping and biting, but something felt off.

Li Hui watched for a moment, then shifted position, thinking, “It’s only acting on instinct to feed; it hasn’t truly awakened yet.”

Previously, guided by the embroidered ball, he had obtained Purple Essence Divine Water, mushroom roots, Soul Nourishing Water, pureblood spiritual ears, and Ghost Gel—this was quite a harvest.

Unexpectedly, just after two days, he had almost nothing left aside from a few jars of Purple Essence Divine Water and pureblood spiritual ears. His original plan was to refine talismans using mushroom roots and Soul Nourishing Water, but he had ended up either handing them to the Blue Snake to hinder its advance or giving them to Guang Jin to protect the soul of the embroidered ball. He hadn’t any Ghost Gel left either.

Opportunity was right before him; many areas in the Underground Cavern were now accessible since the formations and restrictions had temporarily dissolved. The Lingfan Shura Bugs were nearly wiped out, practically opening the vault to him; there was no need for politeness!

Li Hui’s dragon horns appeared as he slapped one talisman after another onto himself.

Treasure Viewing Talismans, Spirit Sense Talismans, Brocade Talismans, Spirit Insight Talismans, Sky Peeping Talismans, Treasure Viewing Talismans transformed into talisman light, causing a shimmering glow in his eyes.

Without the protection of formations and restrictions, everything in the Underground Cavern was laid bare!

“What a place! This is truly a treasure vault!”

Li Hui was astounded. “Sixty-four treasures are arranged with twelve Miao Jade platforms in position. And this is just one node; how many treasures and Miao Jade would be used in all the nodes on the island? After so many years, many formations have naturally nurtured spiritual plants, and there are many minerals and spiritual items born alongside them.”

Time was of the essence; he couldn’t be surprised any longer. He left the true disciples of the Hongmo Sect behind and transformed into a faint afterimage, dashing away.

The Yin-Yang Nine Heads spread out, under his mental control, to collect treasures. Li Hui rushed towards the Miao Jade platform and just as he reached the bottom of the platform, he grasped the Jade Cutting Sword, used expressly for mining Miao Jade.

“Miao Jade, oh Miao Jade, my need for Miao Jade is genuinely huge.”

“According to the embroidered ball’s information, I need at least fifty thousand pieces of low-grade Miao Jade, five thousand pieces of medium-grade Miao Jade, and five hundred pieces of high-grade Miao Jade.”

“Oh my! That’s the minimum! It seems that after the enhancements to the Heavenly and Earthly Arrays, considerably more Miao Jade is necessary to construct the treasure cabinet; I wonder how much Miao Jade I can pry from these platforms.”

Upon stepping onto the platform, Li Hui glanced around and found that there were no pieces of low-grade Miao Jade, only plate-like medium-grade Miao Jade, predominantly fire and metal type Miao Jade, neatly arranged around five-feet tall jade pillars.

The Cloud-Brush Dragon Claw Technique whipped up into the air, swiftly grasping the medium-grade Miao Jade, and he estimated there to be over three hundred weights.

In truth, there was much more than three hundred weights. The problem was that the great formation had been operating for many years, so a significant amount of Miao Jade had been consumed, and due to the Blue Snake damaging the formation veins on the Thirteenth Layer, a lot of Miao Jade had also been expended in emergency repairs.

After collecting the Miao Jade, Li Hui began to carve the jade pillars. Although these pillars were not Miao Jade, their green jade was still valuable. The top-grade blue marrow jade was the best for setting up formations, and with the right discerning practitioners, he could sell them for a hefty price.