Talisman Emperor

Hiss! Hiss!

This was a strange object the size of a chicken egg and completely rusted red in color. It seemed like metal yet wasn't, seemed like jade yet wasn't, and its surface had strands of dense blood qi coiled around it while emitting hissing sounds of corrosion.

It was like a piece of metal was being corroded, and it was emitting a fluctuation that caused one's heart to palpitate.

This object was left behind by the blood robed man after he perished, and it directly smashed open a bottomless hole in the ground upon its landing, causing it to seem extremely sharp and heavy.

At this moment, it was held up in the air above his hand by Chen Xi, and he was carefully inspecting it.

Strange, these strands of blood qi have actually interwoven together to form a strange talisman formation that's deeply branded into this object. It's utterly impossible to eliminate all this blood qi with ordinary methods. Chen Xi was surprised. He noticed with a single glance that the strands of blood qi on the surface of this thing were actually condensed like the Laws. They seemed to be fine yet were extremely condensed in reality, and they were interwoven together to form a talisman formation that caused it to be even more tough and condensed. With his current strength, he was actually unable to break through them.

Of course, it was a completely different thing if he used brute force.

Since the blood robed man had taken a fancy to this completely rusty red and strange object, it was obviously a type of treasure. Moreover, it was the only thing that the blood robed man had left behind, so Chen Xi couldn't bear to destroy it.

After that, a flash of inspiration arose in his heart as he recalled the miraculous effect of the nether spring water. But after pondering for a moment, he temporarily put this thought aside because if it were to fail, then this object would be completely destroyed. So it was better for him to see if the other bloodsouls possessed this treasure, and it wouldn't be too late to make a decision then.

After he briefly sized the surroundings up, Chen Xi moved forward once again.

The battle with the blood robed man caused his confidence to improve greatly, and he was roughly able to determine that his current strength allowed him to easily defeat ordinary 1st level Earthly Immortal Realm experts.

However, he didn't know where his limit was, but he really looked forward to it.

Chen Xi moved forward cautiously.

After the time for an incense stick to burn, Chen Xi suddenly stopped moving, and he was slightly bewildered. The bloodsouls in this 56th level of the sword cave seemed to be extremely scarce. Besides the blood robed man that I encountered earlier, I still haven't encountered a single one up until now!

This was very unusual because according to his understanding of the Bloodsoul Sword Cave, even though the strength of the bloodsouls increased while their numbers reduced the deeper one went, it wouldn't reduce to such an extent.

What has happened here?

Could it be that there was someone who was tempering himself here before I arrived?

Chen Xi frowned and pondered for a short moment before transforming into a ray of light that charged towards the next level.

The 57th level.

At the instant Chen Xi entered this level, he instantly circulated his True Essene because the pressure here was more than double the pressure at the 56th level, and it caused his entire body to feel heavy. He felt as if he was carrying a mountain on his shoulders, and it was extremely heavy.

He was just about to let out a breath of air before easing up the pressure, but his mouth had just opened up before instantly shutting back up. He was afraid that letting out a breath might make the internal and external pressure of his body to be imbalanced, causing his chest to be instantly crushed and suffer an injury.

Chen Xi sized up the surroundings and instantly noticed that if he didn't rely on the Eye of Divine Truth, then he would only be able to observe an area of 5km because his Divine Sense suffered an even greater restriction here.

This discovery caused Chen Xi to become even more cautious.

According to his predictions, as he moved deeper into the sword cave, the pressure would double at every single level, whereas the restriction his Divine Sense suffered would increase along with this.

Perhaps, only Earthly Immortal Realm experts that had comprehended Immortal Perception were capable of observing everything here.

Above the Divine Sense was Immortal Perception!

One could only grasp it after one experienced the Azure Lightning Tribulation of the 1st level of the Earthly Immortal Realm, and it was even more formidable than Divine Sense. But, most importantly, the detection of Immortal Perception was already capable of sensing the existence of the Laws of the Heaven Dao!

Just like how the Divine Sense of cultivators was capable of being used to comprehend the profundities of the Heaven Dao, the Immortal Perception of Earthly Immortal Realm experts had already started to be capable of touching and sensing the Laws of the Heaven Dao.

It was actually very normal that Divine Sense would be restricted here because the 55th level of the sword cave was a place only Earthly Immortal Realm experts were capable of arriving at. So the restriction suffered by cultivators of the Nether Transformation Realm that entered here would surely be numerous.

This wasn't related to cultivation and combat strength, and it was purely a restriction of cultivation realm.

Even if Chen Xi was currently capable of easily annihilating 1st level Earthly Immortal Realm experts, but since he suffered limitations from his cultivation, the effect of this place upon him would naturally increase greatly.

Once he figured out all of this, Chen Xi started moving towards the distance, and he stayed vigilant towards his surroundings while sensing the effect that the surrounding pressure had on him.

How slow! He quickly noticed that the speed the True Essence within his body circulated at had slowed down.

In the past, his True Essence would circulate at high speeds like a river that surged extremely swiftly once he activated his cultivation technique. But while he was within the 57th level of the sword cave, the speed his True Essence circulated had reduced by more than three times, causing every single step he took to be extremely difficult as if his meridians had been clogged up.

My body, soul, and True Essence are in a suppressed state. I might be able to arouse a great deal of my potential if I cultivated here… Chen Xi pondered for a moment, and he faintly understood some of the effects the pressure of the sword cave had towards one's cultivation.

It utilized extreme pressure to oppress one to the limit, causing one the improve even more quickly while at one's limit. Of course, too much pressure wasn't a good thing. After all, the potential of a person couldn't be squeezed out instantaneously, and there needed to be a limit because it was possible for one to suffer heavy injuries if the pressure was excessive, let alone improve one's strength.

But Chen Xi noticed that the decrease in speed of his True Essence's circulation wasn't a bad thing as well. Sometimes, circulating swiftly caused it to be easy for one to miss numerous tiny details, and it was like the actions of swallowing without chewing.

At this moment, when the speed of circulation slowed down, Chen Xi was able to clearly observe the tiny changes that occurred while his True Essence circulated, and every single circulation was actually slightly different.

Meridians and apertures densely covered his entire body, and because of the difference in their location, toughness, and broadness, the effect created by the circulation of True Essence through them was different.

For example, some meridians were beneficial towards speeding up the circulation of True Essence, yet because of the difference in their broadness, it was easily for fluctuations to arise in his True Essence. On the other hand, even though some meridians were fine, they had an irreplaceable effect towards the condensation of True Essence.

Even though these tiny discoveries were inconspicuous, it caused Chen Xi to realize that since the meridians and aperture in his entire body were fully inscribed with various talisman markings, he might be able to use them to improve the circulation of his True Essence…

Bang!

Right when Chen Xi was moving forward while in deep contemplation, a wave of enormous bangs that shook the area sounded out abruptly from the distance, and it seemed like a battle was being carried out in the distance.

Chen Xi swiftly raised his eyes and looked over there from afar. Sure enough, someone was a step ahead of me and came here to slaughter the bloodsouls…

Swoosh!

In the next moment, Chen Xi had transformed into a ray of light that flashed over.

He was very curious which elder of the sect was training here and was actually so ruthless to the point of clearing out the 56th level of the sword cave before coming to clear out the 57th level now.

"The first! I must reclaim my position as first! Kill! Kill! Kill!"

As he grew closer and closer, a wave of loud shouts entered clearly into his ears, and a wisp of a strange expression instantly suffused Chen Xi's face when he executed the Eye of Divine Truth and looked over.

A battle that shook the world was being carried out on the vast reddish brown ground in the distance.

A bloodsoul that was enormous like a mountain, seemed like a cow yet like a tiger as well, and had an enormous pair of wings was in fierce battle with a handsome young man in a dark purple colored Daoist robe and wore a fine belt made of soft metal that was inlaid with pearls.

He was originally a handsome young man with an ethereal and outstanding bearing. But at this moment, his hair was disheveled while he revealed a ferocious expression, and he was like a mad demon as he fought while bathed in blood. Moreover, his dark purple colored Daoist robe was covered in blood.

Chen Xi's expression was strange because of this. He'd originally thought that it was an Earthly Immortal Realm elder of the sect who was training here, yet never had he imagined that it would actually be this fellow.

What's wrong with him?

Why's he tempering his strength do desperately?

Chen Xi was able to discern that Chen Langya's aura was really much more formidable than before, and when he fought, his entire body emitted a formidable and oppressive aura.

His opponent was obviously a bloodsoul formed from a primeval fierce beast, Qiongqi, and it possessed extraordinary physical strength and ferocity. Its sharp claws flowed with bloody lights as it tore the earth apart, its speed was swift like it was teleporting, and it was extremely fierce and brutal. Moreover, its strength even surpassed the blood robed man Chen Xi had met earlier!

Chen Langya was actually able to fiercely battle it until now, and it obviously showed that he hadn't wasted these years doing nothing.

"Die! Fucking die! I, Chen Langya, am the true number one! I'm the strongest amongst the disciples on Divine Radiance Peak!" Chen Langya roared repeatedly while he attacked fiercely and ruthlessly, and he seemed to have imagined the Qiongqi was some enemy of his.

Chen Xi rubbed his nose. He knew that the enemy Chen Langya was imagining was probably himself. He truly never expected that losing the position of number one Core Seed Disciple on Divine Radiance Peak would actually upset Chen Langya so greatly to that point he still hadn't let it go after so many years had passed.

Actually, if one considered it in detail, there wasn't any great enmity between Chen Langya and Chen Xi. It was only that Chen Langya was too arrogant at the Sword Evaluation Hall that day and ordered Chen Xi about, causing Chen Xi to blast Chen Langya flying with a flick of his sleeve before overshadowing Chen Langya's reputation as well.

That was the first time they'd met each other, and they'd never met each other ever since. So how could Chen Xi know that this fellow was so obsessed with this?

Chen Xi shook his head and intended to leave.

However, right at this moment, another bloodsoul suddenly appeared in the distant battlefield, and at the instant it appeared, it joined forces with the Qiongqi to attack Chen Langya repeatedly!

This was a bloodsoul with an extremely strange appearance. It was like a completely blood red bag that had six legs, and four pairs of wings, but it didn't have a face. Its strength was extremely terrifying, and it was actually capable of spatial teleportation. It moved about within space and seemed like it was launching a sneak attack every time it attacked, causing others to be unable to find a trace of it or take precautions against it.

Instantly, Chen Langya revealed an expression of shock, fury, and even a trace of panic. Moreover, numerous bone deep injuries had appeared on his body within this instant, causing blood to spray in the air.

The situation had instantly become obvious, and Chen Langya was in imminent danger.

Most astounding to Chen Langya was after he crushed the teleportation talisman in his hand, it was actually of no effect! It seemed as if this area of space had been sealed up.

I was careless!

Another 2nd level Earthly Immortal Realm bloodsoul actually appeared. Could it be that I, Chen Langya, will perish here?

Dense unwillingness arose in Chen Langya's heart. He wasn't afraid of death but was extremely unwilling to die just like this because he still wanted to reclaim his position as number one and reclaim his former glory!

Bang!

The Qiongqi flapped its bloody wings and caused a thunderclap to resound out. In the next moment, it had already arrived above Chen Langya before its enormous claws tore down fiercely like the hand of a Fiendgod.

At the same time, the other strange looking bloodsoul emerged from the space behind Chen Langya, and it assaulted him without making a single sound…