Chapter 218

Chapter 218: The Two Thousand Year Old Spirit Tree

“Peh, peh, peh…”

Li Hui crawled out of the massive pit formed by the Nine Sky Beast, his mouth full of sand. The stone forest had completely vanished.

It shouldn’t have happened this way; the Nine Sky Beasts could have held on for much longer relying on the stone forest. The problem lay with the Treasure Cabinet Array. After being enhanced by the silver snake bracelet, the Jade Heart of the Earth Court and purple crystals had devoured too much of the stone forest’s space, while the Heavenly and Earthly Arrays played a significant role, allowing the coveted treasure cabinet to finally form, though he still lacked Miao Jade—he needed a lot more Miao Jade!

“Depending on the Heavenly and Earthly Arrays to operate on their own, five hundred years wouldn’t store enough spiritual energy. I guess I’ll have to try my luck at the Earth Axis and see if I can find Miao Jade veins,” Li Hui hurriedly turned around and pulled the Bamboo Box out of the pit.

Numerous Nine Sky Beasts fell from the sky, crashing into the ground and creating large pits. The Hongmo Sect employed terrifying means, with black iron shovels sticking into the bodies of the Nine Sky Beasts, making it impossible for them to struggle, their wounds showing signs of poisoning, releasing a foul stench.

Using poison wisely can resolve many issues.

Li Hui didn’t care; with the Jade Heart of the Earth Court pressing upon his forehead, all harmful toxins were blocked from his body. Moreover, concealed by the Treasure Cabinet Array, the aura of the Jade Heart was undetectable, making him much safer than before.

His pockets grew emptier; no amount of stored spirit talismans was enough to waste. The Primitive Shell Symbols and Yin-Yang Nine Heads were still recovering. Dugu Yi’s Golden Silk Ring Knife had not yet freed up time for him to study it, and the gourd tied to his waist was an unstable factor that he had no time to deal with. As for Ao Chongguang and other monsters, they were just fools and little demons; releasing them would surely drag him down.

Fortunately, the Ideal Body was fast enough, allowing him to quickly slip through the chaos, dashing through the battle zone.

This was so dangerous! Beasts fought fiercely in the air and on the ground, while Li Hui managed to dart through when a chance arose, sprinting past the legs of corpses, scrambling into the pit just as sharp winds roared overhead, with many demon cultivators brandishing their swords.

Once he was gone, he emerged from the pit, continuing to slip through without fear of getting dirty or tired, only fearing being discovered. There was no way the demon cultivators would let him live!

“Master, to the left, go left! There’s a Concentrating Peace Wood, a great treasure!” Guang Jin suddenly transmitted a message.

“Get lost! That direction is full of demon cultivators. If you trick me again, I’ll toss you away,” Li Hui rushed into the jungle, but not long after, he came back out and ran to the left.

“I told you to go left!” Guang Jin muttered.

“You didn’t mention that there were man-eating flowers ahead!” Li Hui replied while running, “Goodness, what kind of place is Wan Nest Island? Why are there so many strange things? It’s scarier than formations!”

“There are many desolate areas on land with no one around, hiding countless spiritual oddities and dangerous lands, no less than here,” Guang Jin spoke, changing the topic, “Let’s talk about the Concentrating Peace Wood! This wood can be used to make the Nine Cauldrons’ incense, which is beneficial for understanding Dao techniques and talisman methods.”

“Not going there. I have no place to put it; the box is full,” Li Hui crawled forward, straining to listen for sounds.

“There’s a Mysterious Water Pearl!” Guang Jin urged, “I can store all kinds of calming spiritual items here, the Concentrating Peace Wood has already been spiritualized, becoming a fully matured spiritual plant. Just bury the pearl under the tree, then use the Jade Cutting Sword to cut the plot, and you can transplant it quickly.”

“I exchanged fifteen pieces of Cow Shock Stone from Qian Duohai for the Jade Cutting Sword, planning to use them to increase the success rate for creating talismans in the future, so I can’t cut the plot,” Li Hui was adamant, not wanting to go; he didn’t care about any treasures right now and only wanted to focus on finding the Earth Axis.

“The Ice Picking Short Sword will work too. The Concentrating Peace Wood isn’t too tall; it’s only about six or seven feet,” Guang Jin continued to persuade him until finally, Li Hui was somewhat tempted.

The reason he felt tempted was that the Concentrating Peace Wood needed Wood spiritual energy to nourish its growth. But just when he found the right spot, Li Hui’s expression changed drastically.

“This is what you called six or seven feet high?”

A massive tree stood in the distance, its trunk thick enough for three people to embrace. This was nowhere near six or seven feet! It would require ten of those to match this one, and it would be exhausting to dig it up.

“Great! The Concentrating Peace Wood is hard to grow, and this tree has at least been growing for two thousand years; there must be Miao Jade underground,” Guang Jin seized upon Li Hui’s weakness, and that statement sealed the deal.

If Miao Jade was a weakness, then Wood Miao Jade was the ultimate weakness. Li Hui sprinted to the side to draw talismans, despite the dismal success rate, he buried himself in drawing, using up all his blank talisman paper and finally managing to create three Earth-Rending Talismans.

That’s right, just three! And they only had six patterns, using only high-quality talisman ink and yellow talisman paper. It was said that the success rate had dropped to an incredibly negative value; this was merely the heavens showing mercy, with a blind cat stumbling upon a dead mouse to make three, otherwise, it would be hard to create even one.

“This is maddening! I previously struggled too much in creating the Dragon Roar Whisker Symbol with tracking talismans, using up most of my blank talisman paper, and now I’m in a situation where even the smartest woman can’t cook without rice.”

Li Hui shook his head in a bitter smile, “Wait, I’m not the smart woman anymore! I’m almost crippled at this point. After the success rate hit zero, I used the Fortune Ascending Talismans several times, but obviously, it came at a cost; it dropped the success rate to its lowest point. If it weren’t for the silver snake bracelet holding on, I wouldn’t be able to make talismans in the future!”

Given the brutal environment, there was no denying that using the Fortune Ascending Talismans multiple times for the sake of survival was justified, and exploding the Heavenly and Earthly Arrays in a moment of life and death was normal.

Calculating the position accurately, he buried the Earth-Rending Talismans in a specific spot, then carefully hid nearby, waiting. When night fell, he prepared hundreds of tracking talismans and Dragon Roar Whisker Symbols.

Night descended as expected, and the distant surroundings gradually calmed down; most of the demon cultivators were cleaning up the battlefield.

The Nine Sky Beasts surely had valuable items, but Li Hui wasn’t interested at all. Previously, he stirred up trouble near the anchor; how could he escape the eyes of a high-level demon cultivator? So it was extremely dangerous now.

But danger was worth the gamble!

How easy was it for the Concentrating Peace Wood to grow to such a degree? Guang Jin said it was two thousand years old; even in the cultivation world, it would have gone through several generations of replacement, yet this tree continued to thrive.

Perhaps it was because the Nine Sky Beasts built their nest nearby that left it with fewer natural enemies and calamities. Nonetheless, Li Hui wanted to take it away and seize the chance to see what was under the tree.

With starlight filling the sky, the night felt cool as water…

Suddenly, a geyser erupted not far from the Concentrating Peace Wood.

*Crack, crack, crack…* The ground split open; this was the power of the Earth-Rending Talismans. However, without the silver snake bracelet’s enhancement, the effect was far from what he had anticipated, and the noise attracted several figures.

“Who goes there?” someone shouted from the sky.

*Boom, boom, boom…* The commotion escalated instantly, trees in all directions fell under tremendous force, creating a thunderous crash. At the same time, the sound of a dragon’s roar echoed, drawing power and ripping the Concentrating Peace Wood out of the ground, swiftly transporting it away.

“Over here, chase!” The whistling faded, and trees in the nearby forest kept collapsing one after another.

Li Hui, shrouded in the night, moved toward the huge pit left by the Concentrating Peace Wood, feeling the abundant spiritual energy within. He hurriedly slipped down to the bottom of the pit and saw a branch glowing faintly with green light.

“What is this?”

Without Guang Jin around, he unexpectedly heard a familiar voice reply, “That’s the Celestial Tree Blossoming Branch! Who do you think you are, using the Fortune Ascending Talismans recklessly while I’m not here?”

“Is it a brocade ball?”