Chapter 215

Chapter 215: The Terrifying Stone Forest

As soon as his feet touched the ground, Li Hui saw glowing eyes light up in all directions—purple, white, and gold—staring at him and sending a heart-stopping chill through his body. In a panic, he activated the Cloud-Brush Dragon Claw Technique to its highest state in the Spirit Motion stage, channeling golden patterns through his arms and legs.

At that moment, he broke through. The Cloud-Brush Dragon Claw technique is easy to learn but hard to master. Though he had used it before with success, now it blossomed into something dazzling. He scattered spirit talismans in waves, and the dragon claw phantom acted in his stead for the hand signs. Under the pressure of the eyes upon him, he couldn’t move, relying entirely on his mental thoughts.

“Swish, swish, swish…”

The talisman light ricocheted around the stone forest. Empowered by the silver snake bracelet, many of his spirit talismans no longer targeted a single enemy but encompassed a radius of several tens of feet, turning them into area-effect talismans.

In a short moment, Li Hui found himself at the threshold of the Ghost Gate.

The Sky Peeping Talismans and Treasure Viewing Talismans, meant for scouting, proved to be effective against these Nine Sky beasts, creating a brief window where they couldn’t lock on to him. Luckily, after plundering the Jade Symbol Sect members at the Purple Fortress, he had crafted some; otherwise, he would have been finished.

“I’m all in!”

Once freed, Li Hui felt like he was deep within the Nine Sky beasts’ lair. His Ideal Body faced significant restraint. The truly terrifying part was losing his sense of direction. He stepped back, only to find himself moving forward; he shifted left and ended up on the right, a bizarre occurrence that left him furious!

This was the first time he encountered such a situation; he had to throw out spirit talismans to clear a path.

“Swift, swift, swift…”

With the scouting spirit talismans combined with the Blood Rain Stinking Wind Talismans, these colossal beasts lost their minds, gradually resulting in biting and fighting, descending into chaos…

From the outside, the stone forest seemed small, but once inside, he realized it had the flavor of a hidden realm; it expanded greatly! Running straight would take a long time before hitting a wall, but the problem was, could he find the right direction?

Li Hui activated profound skills, causing a phantom image of his Ideal Body to appear behind him as he began to map the stone forest, slowly uncovering its patterns. The disorientation was due to constantly changing positions; as long as he grasped the patterns, he could move freely.

He encountered many Nine Sky beasts along the way, making it unusually difficult to find the exit. Each time he barely adjusted his positioning, the entrance would vanish and change, causing him a lot of frustration.

“I get it; it’s not that I foolishly ran to the Nine Sky beasts’ doorstep. It’s the influence of the formation and the surrounding terrain, like running through a ghost wall. If I can get out, I won’t get lost again, but if I don’t understand the patterns, I’ll loop back eventually.”

Li Hui continued to scatter spirit talismans, the power of the silver snake bracelet ensuring the Nine Sky beasts were truly confused. It would have been impossible for these strange beasts to be shaken by a low-level cultivator like himself; they didn’t fear those in the Condense Essence or Bosa stages.

Deep within the lair, there were surely terrifying creatures. Thankfully, he didn’t encounter any special characters on his way to find the exit; the talismans cleared his path without incident.

Based on the feedback from the Heavenly and Earthly Arrays, he felt the assistance from the silver snake bracelet starting to weaken, but thankfully, the reduction was slow.

The consumption speed of the Sky Peeping Talismans and Treasure Viewing Talismans was particularly fast, and he needed to save the remaining thirty Blood Rain Stinking Wind Talismans for emergencies, switching to the Exotic Blood Talismans and Failing Blood Talismans.

Although using them on a large scale could cause some chaos with the aid of the silver snake bracelet, the Nine Sky beasts’ resistance was formidable. They quickly suppressed anything outside the norm, making him increasingly anxious and forcing him to empty one bag of treasures after another, his confidence dwindling.

When Li Hui finally pinpointed the entryway and aimed to leave, he suddenly sensed an unusual fluctuation of spiritual energy and hastily retreated.

“Boom…” Just as he backed away, a claw the size of a house swept past, the force of the wind it stirred causing him pain.

A massive figure entered, and the entrance vanished again.

Li Hui felt furious! How could he be so unlucky? Just as he thought he’d escaped, a Nine Sky beast arrived, and from its size and form, he knew it wouldn’t be easy to handle.

While the other Nine Sky beasts stood on four legs and had arms, resembling lion-headed elephants with crab claws, this one was different. Its four thick legs had turned vaporous, allowing it to crawl low or rise upright, appearing even more imposing and grand.

This strange Nine Sky beast had eight-layered pupils, swiftly narrowing to lock onto the “little bug.”

Li Hui had gained some experience dealing with Nine Sky beasts, so before it could lock on, he unleashed all thirty remaining Blood Rain Stinking Wind Talismans without hesitation, followed by the scouting spirit talismans.

“Bang…”

To his utter shock, a thick mist of vapor rose from under the beast, dispersing most of the talisman light. It crouched low, swinging its claws toward him at terrifying speed.

“Oh my heavens!”

Li Hui was greatly surprised. The blood talismans were known for their poor defense, while the Sky Peeping Talismans and Treasure Viewing Talismans were scouting talismans that had no harmful effects, easily bypassing defenses—yet, the majority failed against this beast.

“Run…”

That thought was the only one left in his head. He activated the Cloud-Brush Dragon Claw Technique, scattering a large number of spirit talismans, triggering everything he had on hand without caring if it worked. He tilted his body, dodging the attack; it was too close, narrowly avoiding a disaster.

“Roar…”

The Nine Sky beast was still slightly affected, its pupils dispersing, unable to lock onto the little bug accurately. Seizing this fleeting opportunity, Li Hui’s form flickered and dashed away, escaping by the skin of his teeth.

He was free! Staying would mean death.

Luckily, the area was vast, and he grasped the rules of spatial alteration. Once he reached a safe place, he couldn’t help but smile wryly; he had very few useful spirit talismans left. The success rate of drawing Sky Peeping Talismans and Treasure Viewing Talismans was low, and he had only a limited supply, so after the frenzy, only two remained.

“Alright, I’ll use the last two myself! Let’s see if there are any treasures here.”

It then occurred to Li Hui to use the Sky Peeping Talismans and Treasure Viewing Talismans, slapping them to his forehead as he scanned the surroundings.

As expected, the shifting space distorted the images; before he could clearly identify the locations of the treasures, they would shift, making it impossible to pinpoint specific coordinates.

Using scouting talismans in the Nine Sky beasts’ den felt like self-torture; he navigated endlessly, leaving his head spinning. No wonder the Sky Peeping Talismans and Treasure Viewing Talismans worked against the Nine Sky beasts—they simply couldn’t keep up.

Li Hui proceeded with utmost caution, finally finding a thick stone wall in an out-of-the-way spot where Nine Sky beasts rarely passed. He hurriedly used the Ice Picking Short Sword to carve out a hiding hole, ducked inside, and closed the stone slab behind him.

He didn’t know how long he could hide like this, but right now he had no choice; he needed time to draw talismans, and only when prepared could he search for an exit again; otherwise, he would undoubtedly die here.

As he crafted the talismans, the silver snake bracelet emitted a gentle silver light. Li Hui was grateful he didn’t need additional illumination, knowing that this light was only visible to him and not to the Nine Sky beasts, making it much safer than using Sheng Dou Talismans.

Just as he focused on talisman-making, the Demon Cultivating Army began to advance, encountering the same difficulties, getting lost in their path, now facing the front of the Nine Sky beasts’ lair. Yet, the army had high-level demon cultivators in charge, who recognized the predicament and ordered an attack, instantly turning the stone forest into a sea of flames, and a great battle was about to erupt!