Talisman Emperor

Virtue Energy was ethereal and unreal, and it couldn’t be grasped like the workings of the Grand Dao.

Chen Xi had never heard that Virtue Energy could be meticulously calculated into grades like magic treasures and medicinal pills. But he instantly understood what was going on when he withdrew his Virtue Plate.

The Virtue Plate was like a dark golden badge that was densely covered with countless fine and profound striations, and it was a strange treasure that recorded Virtue Energy.

The Talisman Dimension was filled with numerous Cosmos Beasts. Every single time one killed one of these Cosmos Beasts, one would obtain the corresponding Virtue Energy according to the strength of the beast, and the exact amount would appear on the Virtue Plate.

Besides that, there were numerous other methods to obtain Virtue Energy, like repairing a Talisman Tower, escorting merchant groups, completing the assignments of the Ninth Rank Hall, and so on and so forth, and all of them provided a corresponding amount of Virtue Energy.

Presently, after he experienced the slaughter from before, the surface of Chen Xi’s Virtue Plate didn’t seem to have change at all, but it had shockingly transformed from within.

If he inspected it with his Divine Sense, he noticed that the internal area of the plate was like a starry sky that contained countless stars, and it was densely covered by numerous tiny stars.

These stars were mostly dim and lusterless, and only a little over 30 stars were emanating a golden glow at this moment. Moreover, they effused strands of a dreamlike glow of Virtue.

According to Chen Xi’s estimations, these numerous stars that seemed to have been lit up represented his Virtue Energy, and the three stars of Virtue Energy that Elder Xue Ming spoke about was naturally very easy to understand.

In other words, he’d obtained a total of 30 plus stars of Virtue Energy from slaughtering those Cosmos Beasts, and he only had to exchange three stars of Virtue Energy within the Virtue Plate to obtain sufficient spirit liquids and Immortal Stones to replenish his strength from Elder Xue Ming.

This Virtue Plate is really miraculous. I wonder exactly which figure amongst the great figures that created the Talisman Dimension created it. It’s actually capable of recoding Virtue Energy in such an absolutely clear manner. No wonder it can be utilized as a currency… After he understood all this, Chen Xi couldn’t help but be surprised in his heart.

This caused him to recall the Equipment Emperor’s Dao Measuring Stone that was used to measure one’s Dao Insights and the Martial Emperor’s Warsoul Tablet that determined one’s combat strength and potential… Both of them possessed such a miraculous ability of turning the ordinary into the extraordinary.

    …

Even though it was deep within the night, Golden Mulberry Village was illuminated brightly with lanterns at this moment, and the entire village was filled with singing and laughter. All the villagers were excited to the point they were unable to fall asleep, and they’d gathered together to drink wine and celebrate, so waves of bright and roaring laughter frequently sounded out from amongst them.

At this moment, Chen Xi’s group of three had followed Elder Xue Ming to arrive at the side of the Talisman Tower.

There was a low sacrificial altar here, and it was constructed from rough limestone. The wall was mottled and lusterless, and it had existed for countless years, causing it to be suffused with an ancient aura.

The most astonishing of it all was that the surroundings of this sacrificial altar had mysterious patterns that seemed to be drawn with fresh blood. The striations of these patterns were profound, and one could faintly discern some flowers, birds, insects, fish, ancestors offering up sacrifices, the sun and moon cycling, and many other scenes.

When looked at from afar, these mysterious patterns seemed like the totems of an ancient clan, and it emanated a vast aura that was solemn, mysterious, and ancient.

The gaunt Xue Ming walked up the sacrificial altar and knelt three times and kowtowed three times on each occasion before withdrawing a stone blade from the pocket in his chest, and then he pricked open the tip of his finger and dripped out a few drops of blood. After that, he started gradually smearing the mysterious patterns on the sacrificial altar with his blood.

His expression was unprecedentedly solemn, reverent, and even carried a trace of fervor, and his actions were even extremely careful, gentle, and slow.

Chen Xi, Wen Tianxiao, and Yao Luwei were slightly puzzled when they saw this.

They were able to discern that this seemed like a type of ancient sacrificial rite, and it revealed a solemn and respectful feeling.

Om!

After a short moment, a strange fluctuation suddenly arose in the surroundings of the sacrificial altar, and the mysterious patterns drawn on the surface of the sacrificial altar started to glow before a barrier of light rose out abruptly. The light barrier was a vast starry sky, and a ruler floated below the starry sky.

This ruler was rectangular, smooth like a mirror, and suffused with a clear radiance. It actually gave others a strange feeling of fairness, definition, and the capability to measure everything in the universe. But right after that, this ruler vanished with a flash, whereas the area within the light barrier turned pitch black.

“The Heaven Discernment Ruler!” Even though it only appeared for a brief moment, it still caused Wen Tianxiao to exclaim with shock, and he seemed to have recalled something. “It really is like that. This ruler was born during the primeval times, and it’s a Chaotic Divine Artifact. It’s capable of measuring the height of the world and the principle behind everything. No wonder, no wonder!”

“Exactly, it’s indeed that treasure. Supposedly, it’s possessed by the Dark Emperor Yuan Xun. During the initial creation of the Talisman Dimension, the division of the Heaven Dao and creation of everything in the world was the contribution of this Heaven Discernment Ruler. I originally thought it was merely a rumor, yet I never imagined it was actually true.” The nearby Yao Luwei spoke slowly, and her clear eyes were suffused with a wisp of shock.

Heaven Discernment Ruler? Chen Xi was stunned because the words of Wen Tianxiao and Yao Luwei caused him to be extremely surprised as well. The Laws of the Heaven Dao in the Talisman Dimension is different from the other worlds, so it was actually the contribution of this Heaven Discernment Ruler?

He even felt that the reason this Virtue Plate was capable of meticulously calculating the energy of virtue was probably related to this Heaven Discernment Ruler as well.

Subsequently, Xue Ming took the Virtue Plates from Chen Xi and the others before he took a deep breath, and then he carefully placed all of them within the pitch black light barrier and sat cross-legged on the ground while muttering incantations. The incantations were strange and obscure, and he seemed to be an ancient incantation used to pray and offer sacrifice.

In next to no time, Xue Ming withdrew three jade bottles and the Virtue Plates from within the pitch black light barrier, and he gave them to Chen Xi and the others.

Chen Xi inspected it after he received it, and he noticed that thee stars that represented the energy of virtue had dimmed down, and only 29 stars were still lit.

On the other hand, the jade bottle was very exquisite as well. It was actually a storage magic treasure that contained an enormous amount of Immortal Liquid, and it was sufficient to allow an Earthly Immortal Realm expert that had completely exhausted his Immortal Energy to recover instantaneously.

This was the unique method of exchange in the Talisman Dimension. Due to the lack of spirit energy in the heavens and the earth, they could only utilize Virtue Energy to exchange for the spirit liquids and immortal stones they needed to replenish their strengths.

According to what Elder Xue Ming said, this sort of exchange would become even more simple once they entered a city, and they wouldn’t have to utilize an ancient sacrificial altar like this and exchange their Virtue Energy for immortal liquid through a sacrifice of blood.

But to Chen Xi, Wen Tianxiao, and Yao Luwei, merely the Immortal Stones they carried in their possession was sufficient for them to have no reason to worry about replenishing their strengths for a very long time.

Especially Chen Xi, the Dark Parasol Sapling within his main body was capable of ceaselessly replenishing his True Essence, so even if the Shaman Energy of his clone was completely exhausted, he would have no need to be worried at all.

But because his main body had utilized the Godslaughter Burst that day, it had harmed his quintessence, and his main body was still in closed door cultivation within the world of stars even until now. So it was incapable of being of any help in the short term.

Thus Chen Xi could only temporarily rely on Virtue Energy to exchange for immortal liquid and immortal stones to maintain his strength.

Unlike the spirit energy contained within spirit liquids and spirit stones, the Immortal Energy contained within immortal liquids and immortal stones was an energy of a higher level, and it was the quintessence energy of various energies in the world. Thus, not only could it replenish True Essence, it was similarly capable of being converted into Shaman Energy.

    …

When they left the sacrificial altar, Elder Xue Ming hesitated over and over again before he said abruptly, “Young Heroes, I wonder if you can help my Golden Mulberry Village with one more thing.”

His voice was cautious and carried a trace of begging tone.

“We came to slaughter Cosmos Beasts and earn Virtue Energy. How could we have so much time to help you? If this continues, then when would we be able to leave this place and enter Crimson Swallow City?” Wen Tianxiao frowned.

Xue Ming laughed bitterly and sighed. “All of you might not know but the Talisman Dimension was created at the frontline of the battlefield of the three dimensions, so the Cosmos Beasts here can never be completely annihilated. Moreover, new Cosmos Beasts would appear every seven days, so the threat is still present.”

Yao Luwei was surprised and said, “So in this way, a situation like tonight will appear once more in seven days?”

Xue Ming nodded with a distressed expression.

“Is the assistance you ask related to the repairing of the Talisman Tower?” Chen Xi spoke abruptly as he pointed towards the 30km tall tower.

“Exactly!” Xue Ming nodded repeatedly and said carefully, “Young Hero, I wonder if any one of you is skilled in talisman formations? To tell all of you the truth, so long as you’re able to completely repair the Talisman Tower, the Virtue Energy you’ll gain is even more than slaughtering over 10,000 Cosmos Beasts. Moreover, it’s sufficient to enter a city.”

“It actually provides so much Virtue Energy?” Wen Tianxiao eyes stared wide open, and then he revealed a regretful expression as he said, “Unfortunately, this Young Master only knows how to set up formations to kill enemies, and I don’t know how to create and repair formations.”

“I have slight knowledge of talisman formations. But if it’s repairing this 30km tall Talisman Tower, then I don’t know how long it will take…” Yao Luwei pondered briefly before she spoke.

Xue Ming was overjoyed. “It’s sufficient so long as you have slight knowledge. The Talisman Tower in the village is far from capable of comparing with the Talisman Towers in the cities and counties. If a Talisman Formation Grandmaster acted, then it can be repaired completely in half a month of time.”

Yao Luwei was stunned, and then she couldn’t help but shake her head. “My understanding of the Dao of Talismans is far from the level of a Talisman Formation Grandmaster, so I’ll probably be unable to accomplish it.”

As far as she was concerned, even if she were to be able to repair the Talisman Tower, it would probably require over a year of time, whereas if she solely relied on killing Cosmos Beasts, she wouldn’t even need a month before she might be able to obtain sufficient Virtue Energy to enter a city.

When both these methods were compared, she was naturally unwilling to do something that was strenuous and a waste of time like this.

Xue Ming’s delight instantly dimmed down greatly, and he sighed as he shook his head. “Forget it, I was thinking too much. I originally thought that those who came to the Talisman Dimension were mostly those that had studied talisman formations. Alas, I never imagined…”

He hadn’t finished speaking, but his regret and sense of loss was vividly displayed.

“Let me try.” The nearby Chen Xi was silent for a long time before he finally spoke.

He was pondering all the time earlier about why Senior Sister Li Yang would call the Talisman Dimension the holy land of talismans. After this period of observations, he’d finally faintly sensed that perhaps all of this was related to the Talisman Towers.

It was even to the extent that he suspected the various Talisman Towers in the villages, cities, counties, and probably even the imperial city’s Grand Deduction Tower were related to each other.

On the other hand, he came to the Talisman Dimension with the objective of ascending the Grand Deduction Tower!

“You?” Wen Tianxiao and Yao Luwei spoke simultaneously, and their voices carried a trace of surprise.