Talisman Emperor

In the dark space, Chen Xi sat cross-legged while a glow of wisdom flickered in the space between his brows.

In his mind, he was deducing the aura of the old man’s Sword Dao with all his might.

In terms of deduction ability, Chen Xi who utilized the Talisman Dao all year round had absolutely exceeded the scope of a Supreme Talisman Formation Grandmaster. This caused his deduction and understanding of everything in his surroundings to be much greater than other cultivators.

Even though he hadn’t attained the ability to ‘see through the essence of everything with a single thought,’ he was already capable of ‘recognizing a whole through observation of a part and discovering a myriad of secrets from a grain of sand.’

Just like this moment, along with his ceaseless deduction, the shape of a strand of sword qi gradually floated up into appearance within his mind. Even though it was extremely blurry, yet it already allowed him to grasp a trace of its imprint.

This imprint of a strand of sword qi was the Sword Dao executed by the old man in linen clothes. Even though it was merely a trace of an imprint, Chen Xi was confident that as he ceaselessly perfected this strand of sword qi, he would definitely have the chance to see through its true profundities!

“The 3rd trial of the test, begin!” In the dark space, the icy cold voice resounded once more.

Swoosh!

Chen Xi completely returned to his senses, and he appeared on the flat platform.

At this moment, his expression was calm while the vital energy in his entire body circulated to its limits without a sound, and his mind was completely clear.

Fear? Life and death? Test? The acknowledgement of the Dao Emperor’s inheritance? He’d discarded all of them, and only a single thought remained in his mind — defeat the old man!

The old man that stood opposite of him still had an indifferent expression as before. When he saw Chen Xi appear, he pointed the Snowdrain Immortal Sword in his hand towards Chen Xi from afar. It was just such an extremely simple action, yet a strand of terrifying and ghastly sword qi sprayed out.

Swoosh!

Space was slashed into pieces while the Grand Dao was broken apart. The sword qi was calm, yet it carried an imposing aura of being impossible to obstruct as it annihilated the world.

At this moment, even time seemed to have frozen.

The wisp of sword qi was reflected within Chen Xi’s black pupils, and then it appeared within his mind. It transformed into a wisp of an arc that was sharp like a bolt of lightning as it flashed!

Bang!

Pain that filled the soul surged throughout Chen Xi’s body. Without any exception, Chen Xi was ‘killed’ once more, and he once again experienced the great terror at the moment of life and death.

After that, he returned once more to the dark space.

However, he didn’t cry in pain this time, nor was he enraged, frustrated, or disgruntled.

As soon as he failed, he sat cross-legged and seemed to have forgotten the sharp pain that covered his body, and he instantly focused his mind and heart onto the wisp of sword qi that was reflected in his mind.

This time, Chen Xi was still unable to lock onto that wisp of sword qi. However, he was able to even more clearly inspect the wisp of sword qi’s trajectory, aura, and even a unique strand of the energy of will it possessed!

This caused him to feel excited.

The first sword strike allowed him to completely understand how formidable his opponent was.

The second sword strike allowed him to instantly become enlightened, and he started to deduce the strand of his opponent’s Sword Dao aura. It allowed him to discover a blurry shape in his opponent’s sword qi.

This third sword strike allowed him to finally experience even more profundities of that wisp of sword qi. Even though it was still blurry, this sort of improvement was sufficient to allow a wisp of hope to grow in Chen Xi’s heart, and he didn’t feel enraged and disgruntled like he did before because his opponent was too formidable.

Now, the only thing that caused Chen Xi’s heart to palpitate was still the terror that he experienced at the instant between life and death. The difference of life and death occurred in the blink of an eye, and it struck directly at his heart. No matter how he tried to consciously deal with it, it wasn’t something that could be completely disregarded in a short period of time.

After all, it was life and death!

Moreover, Chen Xi had clearly understood that when he was fearless of life and death, then perhaps it would be the moment he launched his counterattack.

…

“The 4th trial of the test, begin.”

“The 5th trial of the test, begin.”

“The 10th…”

“The 30th…”

“The 50th…”

Along with the passage of time, Chen Xi was ‘killed’ mercilessly over and over again, and he experienced life and death over and over again in an extremely short period of time.

If it was an ordinary person that faced this, then that person would probably be tortured by this terror one experienced in the instant between life and death to the point of having a mental breakdown. However, Chen Xi had a clear understanding of this a long time ago, and he placed his complete attention on deducing the old man’s Sword Dao, so the terror in his heart and mind hadn’t struck much of a blow to him.

However, that feeling was still like a fishbone caught in his throat, and it was difficult to swallow.

So it turns out that his Sword Dao has already attained perfection in the realm of Sword God…

So it turns out that the Sword Heart refers to acting freely according to the heart and not exceeding the rules yet without restrictions. Only by lacking restrictions would it be able to pass through life and death and command the Laws… This is the supreme profundity of the stage of perfection in the Sword God Realm!

So it turns out that will can be utilized in this way as well…

Every time he experienced ‘life and death,’ Chen Xi obtained various different comprehensions. Even though they were tiny, when these tiny comprehensions were accumulated together, they were sufficient to cause a qualitative transformation!

Presently, Chen Xi was waiting, he was waiting for the arrival of this transformation.

…

Outside the Ancient Dao Emperor Grounds.

The grey clothed and white haired Hua Jiankong stood proudly at the peak of Antiquity Mountain. His gaze was deep and terrifying, and it seemed capable of seeing through everything within the Ancient Dao Emperor Grounds.

“They’ve all entered the Eternal Tomb of Kings?” Two figures tore through the sky and arrived here. Shockingly, it was Wang Daolu and Zuoqiu Taiwu.

“Yes.” Hua Jiankong nodded.

“Oh, which tombs did those little fellows choose?” Wang Daolu asked curiously. After Chi Cangsheng entered into closed door cultivation, he was in-charge of all the affairs within the inner court, so he was acting in the place of the inner court’s Dean.

But obviously, his attention wasn’t at the inner court, and it was at the Ancient Dao Emperor Grounds instead.

It wasn’t just him. Presently, the gazes of many seniors had been silently paying attention to this place. However, they just didn’t make an appearance like Wang Daolu and Zuoqiu Taiwu.

After all, the Dao Emperor’s inheritance was hidden within the Ancient Dao Emperor Grounds, and the Dao Emperor was the founder of the entire academy. So his inheritance carried extraordinary meaning to the entire academy.

“Ling Qingwu chose the Grand Dao of Wood.”

“Nie Xingzhen chose the Grand Dao of Wind.”

“Gu Yueru chose the Grand Dao of Water.”

Besides Chen Xi and Ye Tang, Hua Jiankong had quickly provided information about the situation of the other students.

“Not bad. These little fellows are pretty smart. Amongst the three thousand tombs, the tombs that represent the five elements, Yin, Yang, wind, and lightning are the easiest to pass through.” Wang Daolu nodded with admiration.

Zuoqiu Taiwu that had kept silent all this while asked instead. “What about Chen Xi?”

As soon as these words were spoken, Hua Jiankong who’d maintained an indifferent and icy cold expression suddenly turned around and glanced at Zuoqiu Taiwu.

On the other hand, a wisp of curiosity appeared on Wang Daolu’s face.

Zuoqiu Taiwu’s expression didn’t change when facing this, and no emotions could be discerned from his extremely aged face. However, he was clearly aware in his heart that the reason Hua Jiankong had such a reaction was because practically everyone in the Immortal Dimension knew that Zuoqiu Kong had perished at Chen Xi’s hands.

On the other hand, Zuoqiu Linghong’s death was closely related to Chen Xi as well. It could be said that everyone in the Immortal Dimension had long since taken Chen Xi and the Zuoqiu Clan to be mutually hostile existences.

Now as a member of the Zuoqiu Clan, he took the initiative to ask about Chen Xi instead, so it would naturally arouse some other thoughts in the minds of others.

“Chen Xi entered the Sword Exalt’s tomb.” Hua Jiankong went silent for a short moment before he answered Zuoqiu Taiwu.

“What?”

“The Sword Exalt?”

“How could this kid be so stupid!? That’s the most dangerous tomb amongst the three thousand tombs! Since the ancient times until now, not a single person has passed through it!”

“I originally thought that this kid might be able to obtain the acknowledgement of the Dao Emperor’s inheritance this time. Now it would seem like…the situation is slightly bad.”

“Don’t be so pessimistic. Don’t forget that little fellow has created many miracles in the past. I on the other hand feel slight anticipation, I wonder whether he’ll be able to broaden our horizons once more this time.”

After Hua Jiankong’s voice resounded through the air, it wasn’t just Wang Daolu and Zuoqiu Taiwu who started discussing the matter, there were even numerous voice transmission passing through the surrounding space.

Obviously, they were the seniors within the academy that had been silently paying attention to the Ancient Dao Emperor Grounds.

“The Sword Exalt… It is indeed slightly difficult to deal with.” Wang Daolu frowned while his gaze glanced imperceptibly at Hua Jiankong. Because Wang Daolu was clearly aware that when Hua Jiankong entered the Ancient Dao Emperor Grounds all those years ago, Hua Jiankong had chosen the Sword Exalt as his opponent, and he failed in the end.

“It isn’t just difficult to deal with. He’s the one and only Immortal King amongst the three thousand tombs that has stepped into the Sword Monarch Realm. All those years ago, I fought him while at the Supreme Grandmaster Realm in the Sword Dao, and I lost at his hands, causing me to completely lose all chances of obtaining the Dao Emperor’s inheritance.” Hua Jiankong spoke calmly, and not fluctuations of emotions could be discerned from his voice. “However, it was precisely because of that experience that I was able to step into the Sword God Realm in one go after I returned from the Ancient Dao Emperor Grounds.”

Wang Daolu and Zuoqiu Taiwu were both slightly stunned when they saw him actually admit these past events, and they said in their hearts, This fellow is infatuated with the sword, yet even he wasn’t a match for the Sword Exalt, let alone Chen Xi?

“Ye Tang isn’t bad either. He chose the Master of the Blade Domain. No matter if he succeeds or not, perhaps he’ll obtain a breakthrough in the Blade Dao after he returns from the Ancient Dao Emperor Grounds.” Hua Jiankong spoke abruptly, and it caused all the seniors that were paying attention to this place to let out a wave of exclamations.

But it was very obvious that when compared to Ye Tang’s fight against the Master of the Blade Domain, all the seniors of the academy were clearly more interested in Chen Xi’s performance.

“How many times has he failed already?” Wang Daolu couldn’t restrain himself from asking this question.

“372 times.” Hua Jiankong went silent for a short moment before he answered.

“Over 300 times. That’s good, that’s good, he still has a chance…” Wang Daolu muttered.

“Ling Qingwu has already passed the test of the Eternal Tomb of Kings, and she has entered the area where the Nether Immortal’s Coffin resides.” Hua Jiankong shocked everyone as soon as he spoke, and he caused an uproar.

“That little girl really is extraordinary. Daoist Nun Jiang took a good disciple.”

“I heard that little girl has already advanced into the Saint Immortal Realm. I wonder if she and Chen Xi are compared, then exactly which one of them is more formidable?”

“Perhaps she might really be able to obtain the acknowledgement of the Dao Emperor’s inheritance this time.”

“It’s too early to speak of that. The Nether Immortal’s Coffin is densely covered in numerous supreme restrictions, and it’s said to be able to bury the world. It’s extremely difficult to pass through its test all by herself.”

“Yes, all those years ago, when the Dean passed through the Nether Immortal’s Coffin’s test, he’d worked together with that old phoenix and azure dragon in order to arrive at the Past Life Bloodpool. It’s slightly impossible by relying on the strength of a single person.”

Hua Jiankong remained indifferent towards all of this. His mind was placed on the Ancient Dao Emperor Grounds, and he was constantly paying attention to the changes in every single student.

Especially Chen Xi, he practically paid attention to Chen Xi at all times.

He was filled with anticipation that Chen Xi would be able to accomplish what he failed to accomplish all those years ago.