Talisman Emperor

Early in the morning.

Om!

A wave of fluctuation came from outside the abode, and it woke Chen Xi up from his meditative state.

"Chen Xi, are you ready?" Chen Xi casually opened up the abode's restrictions and Ji Xuanbing's clear voice entered his ears.

Chen Xi was slightly stunned, and then he slapped himself on the forehead. He finally remembered that today was the day they entered the inner court.

"Wait a minute Brother Ji, I'll be right there." Chen Xi put the Yin Yang Fish King's Origin Bone away before leaving the abode. There was a trace of regret that flashed past his heart, yet he recovered his calm right after.

In this short period of a few days, he'd only gained an initial understanding of the Grand Dao profundities of Light and Darkness, and he hadn't completely comprehended then, let alone grasp them. So regrets couldn't be avoided.

When Chen Xi arrived outside the abode, he saw Ji Xuanbing wearing light golden feathered clothes and standing with his hands behind his back. Ji Xuanbing immediately smiled and moved over to welcome Chen Xi upon noticing Chen Xi's arrival.

"Come, all the students that passed through the inner court exam will participate in a 'freshman' ceremony. You have to mentally prepare yourself for it." Ji Xuanbing smiled as he spoke with Chen Xi, and then took the lead to flash towards the distance.

"Brother Ji, is there something I should pay attention to when entering the inner court this time?" Chen Xi chased up to him and asked curiously.

"No, it's just that the Dean of the inner court has a strange temper, and he'll use various methods to trample upon the new students entering into the inner court… Mmm, I meant temper them. To describe it in a nice way, it's the first class after entering the inner court." Ji Xuanbing took a deep breath before he shrugged and laughed bitterly. "No one can escape it."

Chen Xi was stunned. The first class? Tempering? This seems to be a display of power…

…

Amongst the five important areas of the academy, the inner court was undoubtedly the place where all the students in the outer court yearned to enter.

The inner court was situated at the core area of the academy, and it was established on a boundlessly vast basin that was surrounded by luxuriant mountains and soaring clouds. Numerous ancient buildings were scattered within it, and it was like a kingdom standing within a basin.

Unlike ordinary kingdoms, the inner court's arrangement conformed to the surroundings mountains, and it was like a work of nature.

In the sky, auspicious radiance swayed while five colored auspicious clouds gathered together; on the ground, red-crowned cranes fluttered, majestic white deer were vaguely visible, thin vines coiled around ancient trees, exotic flowers emanated jade radiance, numerous beasts moved about, orchids filled the various gorges in the surroundings, immortal herbs grew luxuriantly on precipices, ancient halls stood everywhere like the stars in the sky, and footpaths crisscrossed throughout like shuttles.

Such a scene seemed to surpass the beauty of nature, and it was like a supreme paradise for immortals.

When Chen Xi and Ji Xuanbing arrived here and saw this scene, they exclaimed endlessly with surprise in their hearts.

"Even my clan doesn't have such a paradise." Ji Xuanbing sighed with emotion.

He was from the ancient Ji Clan, yet he actually sighed with such words, and it obviously showed how divine the inner court was.

Chen Xi took a deep breath as well. He sensed the it wasn't just Immortal Energy that was dense and thick in the heavens and the earth, there were even the auras of Chaos, Primeval, Creation, Origin, and various others. It was even to the extent that he was able to sense the energy of auspicious karmic luck!

This was terrifying!

Perhaps only Dao Emperor Academy could produce such extravagance and create such a paradise for inner court students to cultivate in.

When the two of them sighed with emotion, a rough and deep roar that was like a thunderclap resounded abruptly — "Those two little brats over there, what's so interesting about a bunch of trash landscape? Quickly gather the fuck over here!"

A single sentence instantly destroyed the tranquil aura of this paradise.

Rumble!

This wasn't the end to it. Accompanying this roar that resounded through the heavens and the earth was two enormous mountains that suddenly appeared out of thin air, and they carried a violent force as they smashed down fiercely at Chen Xi and Ji Xuanbing.

The force was too violent to eh point it crushed space to the point it emanated rumbling bangs, and Ji Xuanbing and Chen Xi who were caught off guard could only resist it by relying on their reaction speed.

Bang! Bang!

The mountains exploded into pieces, causing rubble to shoot into the surroundings while dust and dirt suffused the air. On the other hand, even though Chen Xi and Ji Xuanbing didn't suffer any injury, they were covered in dust and dirt, and they were in an extremely embarrassing state.

Chen Xi's expression instantly sank, and he revealed a hostile expression.

"Don't get angry, it's Dean Chi Cangsheng!" Ji Xuanbing hurriedly warned Chen Xi via voice transmission when he noticed this.

Chen Xi frowned. Sure enough, he noticed that there was a flat platform that covered an extremely large area in the distance. There were many figures standing on the platform since a long time ago, and surprisingly, a short and thin old man was standing before those figures.

He had grey disheveled hair, wore a white monk's robe and a loose belt. His face was shriveled while his appearance was ordinary, and his eyes that seemed like two deep abysses were filled with a violent, arrogant, wild, and vicious aura. It caused the hearts of others to tremble from looking at him from afar, and it was like one was facing a monstrously ferocious beast from the barbaric times.

He was Chi Cangsheng, the inner court Dean of Dao Emperor Academy!

A senior of the academy that was renowned for having a wild and disagreeable temper and was irritable and arrogant. He'd resided in the inner court for countless years, and his strength was unfathomable.

Obviously, the roar from before had come from Chi Cangsheng, and the enormous mountains that suddenly smashed down upon Chen Xi and Ji Xuanbing were naturally the work of Chi Cangsheng as well.

This old fellow really is vicious and hot-tempered like Ji Xuanbing said. Chen Xi gritted his teeth in secret, and he finally had an initial understanding of the temper and ability of the inner court's Dean, Chi Cangsheng.

"Let's go over quickly. This first class… won't end so easily. You must be careful and exercise restraint. This old fellow doesn't care who you are or what identity you possess, nor does he care if you're right or wrong. When he decided to bash someone up, he'll absolutely not give it any consideration." Ji Xuanbing was heavy hearted as he swiftly flashed towards the platform with Chen Xi.

…

When Chen Xi and Ji Xuanbing arrived on the platform, many figures had already gathered here, and Zhao Mengli and Zhen Lu were surprisingly amongst them.

However, not a single person present here dared to talk with each other. All of them stood there silently with puckered lips, and many people carried heavy expressions between their brows.

Obviously, they were enduring extremely great pressure as they faced Chi Cangsheng who was renowned for being hot-tempered and vicious. Even the Dragon Dimension's Ao Zhanbei who was extremely arrogant had restrained his temper and stood there without making a sound.

Ji Xuanbing and Chen Xi exchanged glances when they saw this, and they stood obediently at the side of the crowd in silence.

I wonder what the first class held by this old fellow will be. He wouldn't be intending to use various different methods to teach all of us new inner court students a lesson, right? Chen Xi muttered in his heart. He noticed that an ancient stone stele that was an entire 300m tall stood at the side of the vast platform, and the stone stele was completely suffused with a layer of gentle and hazy golden radiance. Shockingly, the names of numerous inner court students were listed on its surface.

Chen Xi instantly came to an understanding. This is definitely another ranking of the academy, the Violet Ribbon Gold Rankings! Those that are able to be listed upon it are top existences amongst the inner court students.

Of course, inner court students were divided into two types. One type were at the Golden Immortal Realm, and there was a total of around eight hundred of them. The other type were at the Saint Immortal Realm, and there was a total of around three hundred of them. Even though both these types of students were cultivating in the inner court, they basically didn't interfere with each other.

The reason there were so few inner court students was because there were inner court students that left the academy every single year, and they either returned to serve in the sects they came from, went to hold a position in the Immortal Court, or went to wander the world and search for their own Grand Dao.

Moreover, the academy provided that after inner court students attained the Saint Immortal Realm and passed the academy's exam, then they only had two choices. They could either leave and wander the world themselves or assume the position of instructor in the academy. Of course, if one wanted to hold the position of instructor, then there were additional exams to pass.

Chen Xi's gaze moved up, and he instantly saw that the student ranked at the first position was surprisingly the Flaming Rain, Ling Qingwu!

The second was the Iron Abyss, Ye Tang.

These two names were both enveloped by a layer of a shimmering violet gold glow, and they emanated a dignified, terrifying, and blazing aura.

The names below them were only covered in a layer of gold light, and they didn't possess the violet glow that was filled with a trace of a dignified aura.

When the blazing sun rose, the violet qi came from the east!

Obviously, no matter if it was Ling Qingwu or Ye Tang, they were amongst the publicly acknowledged six great blazing suns of the Immortal Dimension, so they naturally seemed different from the rest.

However, Chen Xi was curious. Exactly what sort of assessment does one need to pass in order to become ranked amongst the blazing suns? Are Ling Qingwu and Ye Tang's names enveloped with a strand of violet light because they're blazing suns?

Before long, all forty seven students that passed through the inner court exam had arrived.

On the other hand, the vicious and deep gaze of Chi Cangsheng that stood in the distance swept Chen Xi and the others before he suddenly let out a weird and sly laughter that sounded hoarse and horrible like owls.

The hearts of everyone trembled upon hearing this while they revealed heavy expressions as if they were facing a great enemy. They were very clearly aware that the 'first class' was about to begin!

"Oh, I heard that a few little fellows amongst all of you performed very well in the Outerealm Battlefield. Who is it? Stand out so I can have a look!" Chi Cangsheng spoke with a hoarse voice, and his eyes swept coldly onto Chen Xi and the others.

Everyone was stunned. Does anyone even ask such a question? All of them felt that their performance wasn't bad, and they hesitate on whether they should stand out.

Chen Xi originally intended to stand out, yet he instantly dispelled this thought when he saw the reactions of everyone else. The one in the front usually bears the brunt of an attack, so it was better to coldly watch the situation unfold from the sidelines.

"Is there no one? Haha! All of you really are modest. How rare! Truly rare!" Chi Cangsheng laughed once more while his shriveled face was covered in disdain.

"Dean Chi, Chen Xi displayed the best performance in the Outerealm Battlefield this time. He crushed the students of all the other six academies and is worthy of being the first in the exam this time." Right when Chi Cangsheng's voice finished resounding through the air, Zuoqiu Jun suddenly bowed in the crowd, and he spoke with a clear voice and a sincere and respectful attitude.

This bastard is intentionally laying a trap for Chen Xi! Ji Xuanbing frowned while he glanced over out of the corner of his eye. Sure enough, he noticed Chen Xi's gaze had become piercingly cold at this moment. Obviously, Chen Xi had realized that Zuoqiu Jun harbored ill intent.