Chapter 217

Chapter 217: The Jade Heart as the Core of the Array

Li Hui mixed the Conch of the Ascending Record powder with Eternal Liquid, adding a bit of giant tree charcoal from the Heavenly Realm. After several painful adjustments to the proportions, he finally ground out a blue-black talisman ink.

He forcibly separated the purple crystal array and took hold of the Jade Heart of the Earth Court. Taking a deep breath to reach his optimal state, he began to swiftly paint the tracking talisman on its surface.

In truth, those seemingly basic talismans are not simple at all, as they relate closely to the Dao Traces’ origin. Conversely, more complex spirit talismans, enriched with continuous changes, have great power but drift farther from their source, potentially lacking in true potential.

Thus, the basics are fundamental; one should never try to build a high tower without a solid foundation.

The Jade Heart was not large, and the symbols Li Hui painted were even smaller than a fingernail. He often drew the same symbol dozens or even hundreds of times in the same location.

Continuously drawing and stacking the symbols, he would move on to a different area only once silver light had infused into the current symbol.

These symbols may seem chaotic, yet their arrangement was very deliberate, echoing the true formation of the treasure cabinet array. At first, Li Hui was cautious and meticulous, but as he gained experience, his strokes became confident and quick, never opting to skip a line for convenience.

When the silver light infused the tiny symbols, they began to emit a faint but extraordinary presence.

Li Hui’s confidence grew; the silver snake bracelet had just consumed a significant part of a treasure ship anchor, with its enhancement power at an all-time peak, while the Heavenly and Earthly Arrays constantly attracted vast amounts of spiritual energy. Otherwise, the purple crystals wouldn’t have undergone such unbelievable changes.

After spending two hours exhausting the Conch of the Ascending Record powder, he made the final stroke, and the Jade Heart emitted a resonating "hum," beginning to pulsate.

It vibrated, almost as if it were alive.

At the same time, large amounts of silver light flooded into the Jade Heart, causing Li Hui to perceive that the energy accumulation range of the Heavenly and Earthly Arrays was shrinking, indicating that the silver snake bracelet was consuming its enhancement power.

The tiny symbols on the Jade Heart deeply engraved themselves, gradually morphing to create the outline of the Dragon Roar Whisker Symbol.

This was exactly the sight Li Hui hoped to see, though the entire tracking talisman formation still lacked the final and most crucial step. He then picked up the talisman brush and began to draw on his forehead, between his eyebrows.

One inch inward from the eyebrows lies the ancestral acupoint, known as the innate acupoint, akin to building an eternal bridge between heaven and earth. As he painted symbol after symbol in layers, the silver snake bracelet burst forth with brilliant silver light.

"Vroom vroom vroom…" A faint buzzing spread, his forehead thumped, the Jade Heart thumped, the purple crystal array thumped—each resonating together, even the Heavenly and Earthly Arrays within his body felt the impact, with the treasure talismans pulsing vigorously.

Until the talisman ink ran out, Li Hui tossed away his talisman brush and closed his eyes to meditate. He felt that all around him, there was profound stillness; no matter how many deafening roars echoed from afar, they were shielded beyond a certain range.

After a long while, he opened his eyes, sensing unusual movements from the purple crystal array. Inside the Bamboo Box, it began to devour the storage space of the Xumi Bamboo.

“This is bad! The treasure cabinet needs to merge the storage space to stabilize the array. The Bamboo Box was indeed prepared as offerings for it, but it’s consuming too much! With the Jade Heart still outside, it’s already behaving so wildly. By the time the Jade Heart is integrated into the array, this Xumi Bamboo might not even be enough to fill in the gaps.” Li Hui felt an intense worry; the peach tree demon was in the box, nearing its last month, and he couldn’t just change locations at will. Moreover, there were many items stored in the box—where would he put them once fallen out? Drawing the tracking talisman seemed to have gone too far!

Wise people often overlook a small detail, and he had not anticipated that the purple crystal array would consume such expansive storage space, leaving the Bamboo Box increasingly cramped.

All available spaces vanished, corresponding with the Xumi Bamboo turning a grayish-white.

With his mental thoughts directing, the purple crystal array immediately detached from the Bamboo Box and flew out. Fortunately, the bag of treasures was empty, and it still contained a good number of treasure bags and chain bags, hoping they could satisfy this creature’s appetite.

The colors merged, and within moments, the bag of treasures and treasure bags were destroyed; the purple crystals needed vast space to stabilize the array, and the silver snake bracelet emitted a silvery glow, causing the Jade Heart to shudder violently.

“Eh?” A sensation arose in his heart; Li Hui realized that the silver snake bracelet was enhancing the power of the tracking talisman formation, and he quickly placed the Jade Heart at the center of the array for coordination. Instantly, a curved silver symbol appeared on his forehead, and the Heavenly and Earthly Arrays began to operate at an accelerated speed.

Suddenly, a dragon’s roar resonated, shattering the stone slabs covering the cave and crashing through the rocky layers, exposing the purple crystal array to the outside.

"Unbelievable!" Li Hui exclaimed in shock, thinking: “The Dragon Roar Whisker Symbol is showing its power! This stone forest is incredibly unique, seemingly possessing the nature of a cave heavens, and the treasure cabinet array is trying to forcibly devour the stone forest as an offering.”

He saw the stone walls rapidly closing in; the space within the stone forest became increasingly confined, and many Nine Sky beasts roared, thinking that the Demon Cultivating Army was causing trouble, rushing out to engage in battle.

The silver light released by the silver snake bracelet steadily diminished, and the Jade Heart floated before him, while the two hundred purple crystals scattered around, rotating rapidly around its body. Their movement pattern was intricately mysterious, like stars twinkling in the cosmos.

“This…” Before Li Hui could react, with a loud “bang,” the purple crystals converged towards the Jade Heart. As they swept across, they transformed into shimmering purple light that integrated into the heart.

Another “bang” echoed, and Li Hui howled in pain, feeling as if a thick nail had been hammered into his forehead. However, the nail failed to penetrate, and afterward, one loud sound after another struck him, leaving him rolling on the ground in agony.

Not knowing how long had passed, the stone forest began to collapse in many areas, and thousands of Nine Sky beasts rushed out, fiercely clashing with the Demon Cultivating Army.

Blood stained the Jade Heart as Li Hui trembled, reaching up to touch his forehead. He felt a slight bulge forming at the center of his brow and thought, “I hope my face isn’t ruined! While I don’t rely on my looks, I can’t disgrace my title as the handsome one. It wouldn’t be good to turn into a monster.”

It was truly frustrating for him, still thinking about these matters.

Struggling to rise, Li Hui’s face changed to one of despair. “This is bad! The Heavenly and Earthly Arrays are returning to their normal energy accumulation range, indicating that the silver snake bracelet has already exhausted all its enhancement power, and I haven’t even crafted the talismans yet! That was comparable to a mountain-sized treasure ship anchor—why was it consumed entirely? If the treasure cabinet had formed, it would be fine, but it hasn’t succeeded! I still need a lot of Miao Jade! I simply can’t afford that.”

The Jade Heart, pulled by the tracking talismans, unexpectedly merged into his forehead, taking on a strange form, yet not affecting his mind.

At this moment, Li Hui’s understanding of the treasure cabinet sharpened; the purple crystal array had stabilized, its arrangement resembling stars scattered widely, expanding to a stable space of about ten zhang in length, width, and height, making it convenient to utilize items. However, it couldn’t be used now as it was in a locked state.

After exhausting many precious materials to get to this point, he was one step from success, yet that very step rendered the treasure cabinet utterly useless and unable to assist him.

Suddenly a whooshing sound came from above, startling Li Hui. A massive Nine Sky beast was crashing down! If he couldn’t dodge in time, it would surely crush him!