Talisman Emperor

The green robed young man appeared out of nowhere, and he possessed a simple bearing that caused one's heart to feel peaceful. He seemed like a clear lotus in water and possessed a vast aura that subdued the hearts of all.

But when he met the eyes of this green robed young man, it caused Chen Xi's soul to tremble in fear instead.

Within this pair of eyes that were clear like a pond, he saw magnificent landscape, the scene of the heavens and the earth collapsing at the end of the world, a boundlessly vast starry sky, raging and monstrous lava of hell…

These various phenomena seemed to possess thorough knowledge of the annals of time, contain the variables of the three dimensions, and deduce the change in time, and they caused one to have the tiny feeling of being pulled in and being unable to free one's self.

"Let me introduce myself. I'm called Dao Lotus, and I'm formed from a lotus petal of a divine lotus from chaos. I have no form or material body, and I'm only a strand of Divine Intent." The green robed young man smiled warmly, and his voice was clear and melodious like a bell, giving Chen Xi the strange feeling as if he was listening to the miraculous sound of the Grand Dao.

Chen Xi suddenly returned to his senses when he heard this, and then he cupped his hands and said, "Disciple Chen Xi, greets Senior."

This young man called Dao Lotus was formed from the lotus petal of a divine lotus from chaos. Even if he was merely a strand of Divine Intent, he still gave Chen Xi the feeling as if he was facing someone divine.

His bearing was countless times more formidable than Bing Shitian who was a Heavenly Immortal, and he was simply like a living fossil that had surely lived for countless years. So Chen Xi utterly didn't dare to take him as a young man.

Not to mention this was the core and vital place of the Nine Radiance Sword Sect, the source of all its Dao Arts. Since this young man resided here like the owner of this place, then his seniority was obviously extraordinary.

"There's no need to adhere to formalities. Our meeting is fate. Now that I speak of it, you can be considered to be the first disciple of the Nine Radiance Sword Sect I've met since I awoke from my closed door cultivation." Dao Lotus smiled as he beckoned towards Chen Xi.

Before Chen Xi could react, his entire body had instantly and naturally appeared within the pergola, and from the beginning until the end, he actually didn't arouse any thought of struggling!

He's too formidable. If he aroused killing intent towards me, then wouldn't I have perished on the spot long ago? Chen Xi was shocked in his heart. It was the first time he'd encountered this sort of situation, and he felt his body and mind didn't belong to himself and had completely submitted to every word and action of the young man in green robes.

Exactly what sort of cultivation is this to be able to control such power?

At this instant, Chen Xi felt as if he was facing a true god of the primeval times, and he was formidable to the point that Chen Xi was utterly unable to arouse any thought of going against him.

"Tell me, why did you come here?" Dao Lotus seemed to have seen through Chen Xi's thoughts, yet he didn't expose them and only smiled as he asked, causing Chen Xi to feel as if he was bathed in the breeze of spring.

"For the sake of searching for Dao Arts." Chen Xi answered truthfully. He had indeed wanted to obtain the strongest Dao Art to strengthen his own strength, otherwise, he wouldn't have spared no effort to ascend the top of the lotus platform and arrive here.

"Oh, then do you know what are Dao Arts?" Dao Lotus continued to asked with a smile.

"The art of utilizing the Grand Dao." Chen Xi pondered briefly before answering.

"Wrong!" Dao Lotus shook his head. "The art of utilization covers and contains everything. Ordinary people chopping firewood and birds building nests, both of them had an art of their own, but they aren't true Dao Arts."

When he spoke up to here, Dao Lotus raised his right arm as his white and slender fingers slightly pressed together, and then a verdant sapling appeared out of thin air. It grew ceaselessly, its stem growing greener, and its branches and leaves becoming even more luxuriant. In next to no time, a young and jade white lotus flower had bloomed slowly at its top. Its petals carried dew that emanated a refreshing and extraordinary aura, and it swayed about along with the wind.

After that, the leaves and flowers dropped, the stem withered, and it transformed into ash that vanished without a trace.

Even though the entire process occurred in a short time of a single breath, yet it displayed carefully and in detail how a lotus started to sprout, grow, bloom, wither, and vanish. The natural process from new life to death caused Chen Xi to be unable to refrain from being dumbstruck.

"This is a Dao Art, it's derived from nature, and the Dao must be obtained before being made into a technique. So it's called Dao Art." Dao Lotus smiled.

"Senior, see if my understanding is correct." Chen Xi pondered silently for a short while before he said, "At the heart of it all, it's derived from nature, because what is being comprehended is the myriad of things in nature, the Grand Dao profundities within the myriad of things in nature. Mastering a Dao Insight could be said as obtaining the Dao instead. As for how to make it into a technique, that's the core of Dao Arts."

"Not bad, not bad." Dao Lotus glanced at Chen Xi with a gaze of slight admiration, and then he said while nodded, "If you want to master Dao Arts, then you should understand how to execute a technique with your own Dao Insights."

"Actually, simply speaking, Dao Arts are only a higher level of martial techniques. The only difference between them is the execution of Dao Arts requires one to master a Dao Insight to the Advanced Realm, whereas martial techniques are like the foundation instead. One only had to have comprehended Dao Insights and one could cultivate them, and the final objective of cultivating martial techniques was for the sake of obtaining the Dao and using it in a technique."

"The ancient sages had once said, the actions of man affects the world, the movement of the world affects the Dao, and the Dao affects nature itself. Dao Arts can also be understood as the method of utilization Dao Insights as you've said."

Chen Xi seemed to be lost in thought and went silent when he heard this.

"Do you understand?" asked Dao Lotus.

"I do." Chen Xi nodded.

"How can Dao Arts be explained?" Dao Lotus repeated the question from before while full of interest.

"I can't say." Chen Xi scratched his head and was slightly embarrassed. When facing Dao Lotus, he seemed to have become a muddled child that had lost his previous composure. But, this sort of feeling caused him to feel extremely comfortable instead, and he had the natural feeling of having his nature released.

"Excellent! Dao can be Dao yet not Dao. If you're able to say, then it isn't a Dao Art." Dao Lotus clapped and praised. "The ingenuity in utilization depends on your own mind, and it must seem traceless and be achieved with great proficiency.

Chen Xi was astounded as he never imagined his answer that wasn't an answer actually obtained the praise of Dao Lotus, and this caused him to almost forget all the comprehensions of the truth of Dao Arts that he'd obtained earlier.

"Have you almost forgotten it?" Dao Lotus seemed to have seen through Chen Xi's thoughts, and he smiled with a sigh. "It's good if you have. Adhering too much to it will cause you to follow a fixed method instead, and what is gained from this can't make up for the losses."

Chen Xi was astounded once more.

Before he could open his mouth, Dao Lotus had said slowly, "You came here for Dao Arts, then let me see exactly how many Dao Insights you've comprehended."

As he spoke, Dao Lotus stuck out his hand to pat Chen Xi's shoulder.

Bang!

Chen Xi body suddenly emitted a wave of the rumbling of the Dao, and then numerous rays of multicolored lights gushed out onto the surface of his body.

The numerous rays of lights were like divine rays that weren't material or possessed form, yet they could be seen with the eye, and they emitted the aura of various and completely different Dao Insights.

"Five elements, Yin, Yang, wind, lightning, star, sky… There are actually 11 quintessence Grand Daos!" Dao Lotus said with slight astonishment, "No wonder you were capable of stepping foot here. Such natural talent was rare even during the primeval times."

After that, his brows raised as he was stunned once more, and then he said with surprise, "Sword Dao, Talisman Dao, Slaughter Dao, Obliteration Dao… Eh, this is actually the Devour Dao! Extraordinary, extraordinary!"

As he spoke, he couldn't help but raise his eyes to size Chen Xi up once more with a profound gaze that carried a wisp of amazement that couldn't be concealed, and he seemed as if he was surveying a peerless piece of fine jade that had just been unearthed.

Chen Xi was stared at to the point he felt slightly uncomfortable, yet he heaved a sigh of relief in his heart. How could he not be happy in his heart that he was able to obtain the acknowledgement and praise of an old senior like Dao Lotus?

But he was bewildered that Dao Lotus seemed to have not discerned that the Grand Dao Insights of Paramita and Oblivion that came from the six paths of reincarnation were amongst the Dao Insights he'd grasped.

Chen Xi came to an understanding after pondering briefly. At a very long time ago, he'd known that the Netherworld Register and Condemn Evil Brush in his possession belonged to the Netherworld Emperor that controlled the six paths of reincarnation. Moreover, the Netherworld Emperor had been annihilated by the gods of the three dimensions and vanished from this world in the end because of the Paramita, Oblivion, and another Dao Insight that was the most heaven defying, the Terminus Dao Insight.

Besides that, Chen Xi had once been warned that unless his strength was formidable to the point of being able to go against the three dimensions, otherwise he shouldn't comprehend the Terminus Dao Insight because it would only bring the calamity of death to him.

In other words, the Terminus Dao Insight was a taboo, and once it appeared, it was bound to draw boundless disaster!

It was precisely because of this that Chen Xi heaved a sigh of relief when he saw Dao Lotus actually hadn't see through all the secrets within him. But, he wasn't sure if Dao Lotus had really not detected it or had intentionally feigned ignorance…

"I'm extremely curious. Exactly how did you comprehend and grasp all these Grand Daos? Moreover, every single one of them are at the Advanced Realm. If it was an ordinary person, merely the Dao of Talismans would be sufficient to exhaust all their lifetime." After a short moment, Dao Lotus spoke slowly, and his expression had recovered its calm yet his eyes still contained a wisp of wonder.

"I…" Chen Xi opened his mouth, yet didn't know how to explain it.

"Oh, looks like there is probably many secrets in your possession." Dao Lotus revealed a spurious smile and an expression of understanding, and then he frowned and said, "But with this level of Dao Comprehension that you possess, it would be slightly difficult to choose a Dao Art."

"Why?" Chen Xi was stunned and asked with a puzzled expression.

"There are too many that are suitable for you." Dao Lotus sighed. "Every single one of the Dao Insights you've grasped are one of the top Grand Dao profundities of the world, so finding a Dao Art that's entirely suitable to you is naturally extremely difficult."

When he spoke up to here, Dao Lotus seemed to have thought of something, and he couldn't help but ask. "Exactly what path do you wish to take in the future? The Sword Dao? The Talisman Dao? Or the Slaughter, Obliteration, or Devour Dao? How do you intend to control the technique of Dao Insight or Dao Insight utilization?"

"Control?" asked Chen Xi.

"Exactly, control." Dao Lotus said, "Only by flawlessly controlling all the various Dao Insights you've grasped will you be able to exert your strongest might."

"To take you as an example, the Dao Insights are like your bones and limbs, so placing them in the correct positions isn't enough, and you still require an existence like your soul that's capable of controlling all these Dao Insights that form your body. Only in this way would you be able to achieve comprehensive mastery and flawlessly execute all the various Dao Insights you've grasped."

"In other words, I must choose a Dao Insight as the leader to command and direct all the other Dao Insights?" Chen Xi seemed to be lost in thought.

"Exactly. The saying that all streams lead to a single ocean is exactly based on this principle. When the Dao Insights you've grasped grow in number, you must have a Dao Insight to lead and control them, otherwise, it would be extremely difficult for you to bring forth your entire strength." Dao Lotus nodded.