Talisman Emperor

Two years had passed since Chen Xi had started cultivating in seclusion.

Gu Yan and A’Liang had been waiting outside the Region Quintessence throughout this time.

If it was at any ordinary time, two years would be like a mere instant to existences at their realms of cultivation, and it would be utterly nothing.

However, in the Forgotten Grounds of Chaos, two years seemed to be extremely important and precious, and its significance far exceeded how it would be at any other place.

Because they’d been warned before they entered the Forgotten Grounds of Chaos that they only had 10 years of time, and these 10 years could at most be delayed for three more years. If they were unable to return within this period of time, then they would be forever unable to return to the Ancient God Domain!

If one counted carefully, then it hadn’t been just two years since they entered the Forgotten Grounds of Chaos, and it was almost three years instead!

In other words, no matter if they succeeded or not, they had no choice but to consider leaving in seven years from now.

However, Gu Yan and A’Liang weren’t worried.

Presently, Tu Meng had obtained a Region Quintessence and was cultivating in seclusion, whereas, Chen Xi was cultivating in seclusion as well. On the other hand, because of her cultivation, A’Liang didn’t have to give any consideration to obtaining Region Quintessence.

Only Gu Yan hadn’t obtained a Region Quintessence, so it wasn’t a huge problem.

At this moment, A’Liang and Gu Yan were silently hiding in the shadows. They held their breaths in concentration while they stared fixedly at the Region Quintessences in the distance.

A wisp of anticipation was obvious on their faces while their eyes grew even brighter before a strand of excitement that couldn’t be restrained appeared on their faces.

Because along with the passage of time, they’d clearly noticed that the Region Quintessence was shrinking incessantly as it was being ceaselessly refined and absorbed by Chen Xi. At this moment, there wasn’t much left of it, and it was even to the extent that they could faintly catch sight of Chen Xi’s figure!

At the moment this Region Quintessence was completely refined and absorbed, would that also be the moment that Chen Xi became a Region Lord?

Gu Yan and A’Liang looked forward to it.

“Hmm?” After merely a short moment, Gu Yan couldn’t help but frown, and he was slightly astounded. “Something seems to be off.”

“You noticed as well? Around 90% of that Region Quintessence has been refined and absorbed, but the Young Master actually shows no signs of breaking through.” A’Liang’s beautiful brows knit together as well, and she muttered, “Could it be that something unexpected occurred during this process of refinement and absorption?”

Gu Yan was slightly surprised and bewildered, and he seemed slightly anxious as he remained silent.

A’Liang couldn’t help but tightly pucker her cherry lips while seeming at a loss for what to do.

Before long, that Region Quintessence was completely refined and absorbed before their eyes. However, Chen Xi didn’t show any signs of advancement!

How could this be possible? Both of them were extremely shocked in their hearts and were unable to believe their eyes.

Logically speaking, once one refined and absorbed the quintessence of a region, then it would most likely allow that person to seize the opportunity presented by this to step foot into the ranks of Region Lords. This was general knowledge, and all the cultivators of the Ancient God Domain had experienced such a situation when advancing into the ranks of Region Lords.

But something unforeseen seemed to have… happened with Chen Xi?

Swoosh!

Before they could recover from their shock, they sat Chen Xi who sat cross-legged there suddenly stand up, and then his figure flashed and charged towards another Region Quintessence in the starry sky.

In the blink of an eye, he’d vanished completely.

“I understand now!” When he witnessed this scene, Gu Yan seemed to have attained sudden enlightenment, and he was excited in his heart. “This mysterious region has a total of nine Region Quintessences. Now, Martial Ancestral Uncle has merely refined and absorbed a single Region Quintessence, so he’s naturally unable to fully control this region!”

“So that’s how it is.” A’Liang’s eyes lit up, and then she heaved a long sigh of relief. “I just never imagined that while others would be able to advance into the ranks of Region Lords upon refining and absorbing a single Region Quintessence, but the energy contained within a Region Quintessence is actually unable to satisfy the Young Master’s needs. This is truly unexpected.”

“Haha!!” Gu Yan started laughing while his tone carried pride. “My Martial Ancestral Uncle isn’t someone that an ordinary cultivator can compare to. It’s exactly because his foundation in the Dao is extremely solid that he’s able to accomplish this. If it was any other cultivator, then merely refining and absorbing a single Region Quintessence would probably be that cultivator’s limit.”

“But….” A’Liang seemed to have thought of something, and her starry eyes suddenly focused as she said, “Based on what you said, doesn’t that mean that Young Master must refine and absorb all nine of these Region Quintessences in order to fully control the energy of this region?”

Nine Region Quintessences!

How enormous was the energy contained within this!

With Chen Xi’s foundation in the Dao and cultivation, would he be able to fully refine and absorb them?

Since the ancient times until now and throughout the history of the Ancient God Domain’s cultivation world, there practically hadn’t been a single instance!

It was too rare!

It could be said to be unprecedented!

The smile on Gu Yan’s face gradually vanished while he became anxious in his heart.

If it was said that Chen Xi could refine one, two, three, or even four Region Quintessences with his might, then Gu Yan would absolutely not doubt it at all.

However, if it was an entire nine… then Gu Yan’s confidence couldn’t help but waver, and he was slightly doubtful.

“If he’s unable to accomplish that, or the Young Master was only able to refine a portion of the Region Quintessences after trying his best, then wouldn’t it mean that he would be unable to fully grasp the energy of this region? If that occurs, then wouldn’t his advancement into the ranks of Region Lords be… be….” A’Liang grew more and more worried the more she spoke, and she didn’t dare to continue speaking.

This was an extremely cruel reality.

If one wanted to advance into the ranks of Region Lords, then one had to fully grasp the energy of a region. This was the key to success.

If it was at any other region, then perhaps the region merely possessed a single Region Quintessence, so one just had to refine and absorb it to fully grasp the energy of that region.

Even though this mysterious region before them possessed an entire nine Region Quintessences and could be said to be an unprecedented fortuitous encounter, fully refining and absorbing all nine in order to fully grasp the energy of this region was clearly too much more difficult when compared to an ordinary region.

It was even not exaggerated to say that once one failed, then one would probably lose one’s opportunity to advance into the ranks of Region Lords!

Once such a situation occurred, then it would mean that everything Chen Xi had done during these two years of time would be in vain!

This was what Gu Yan and A’Liang were the most worried about.

“A’Liang, what sort of person do you think my Martial Ancestral Uncle is?” asked Gu Yan.

A’Liang was stunned. She tilted her head sideways as she pondered for a long time, and then she said seriously, “Young Master is naturally not an ordinary figure!”

This was the simplest evaluation she could conclude on after giving it much thought. Because if she were to speak about it in detail, then she didn’t know how long she would have to go on talking.

Because in her opinion, Chen Xi truly possessed too many good points that were dazzling.

However, Gu Yan seemed to be very satisfied with this answer, and he spoke while his gaze burned with anticipation. “Exactly. An extraordinary person definitely possesses something extraordinary about him and would be able to accomplish extraordinary deeds. That’s why he frequently exceeds the expectations of others and surprises others!”

At this moment, Gu Yan seemed to have recalled all the miracles that Chen Xi had accomplished.

Would such a peerless figure be able to create an unprecedented miracle this time?

Gu Yan was filled with anticipation.

As if she’d been affected by Gu Yan’s feelings, A’Liang’s heart became calm while she felt confident as well, and she muttered. “Young Master will definitely be able to succeed….”

…

When he finished refining and absorbing the first Region Quintessence, Chen Xi had practically instinctively charged into the second Region Quintessence.

When he sensed that strand of familiar energy surging ceaselessly into his body once more, Chen Xi had a light feeling as if he was about to attain ascension into a higher plane.

He took a deep breath, concentrated, and maintained a slight empty state in his sea of consciousness, and then he circulated his cultivation at full strength once more. He started to contrate on refining and absorbing the energy.

Before long, the universe within his body felt swollen and full once more.

But in next to no time, it was controlled by Chen Xi.

This process continued in an endless cycle once more.

However, this time, as the amount of energy he refined and absorbed grew larger, the amount of energy Chen Xi refined and absorbed grew larger and larger while the quintessence energy he absorbed into his body grew more and more as well.

All of this caused the speed he refined and absorbed the second Region Quintessence to suddenly speed up!

One year later, the second Region Quintessence was completely refined and absorbed!

Swoosh!

Without any delay, Chen Xi entered the third Region Quintessence.

“His speed doubled. Martial Ancestral Uncle used two years of time when he refined the first Region Quintessence. But this time, he used a mere year. So long as Martial Ancestral Uncle is able to persist, then his speed of refinement and absorption would only increase!” Gu Yan who’d been constantly paying attention to the situation spoke swiftly while the anticipation in his heart grew. He had a feeling that even if his Martial Ancestral Uncle encountered difficulty during this process, it would absolutely not be now!

“Young Master will definitely succeed.” A’Liang muttered. Even she didn’t know how many times she’d repeated these words during the last year, but she hadn’t noticed at all because all her attention was placed on Chen Xi.

Another six months passed.

Chen Xi had been cultivating in seclusion within the region for three and a half years now.

During these six months of time, he’d fully refined and absorbed the third Region Quintessence!

Compared to the time he utilized to completely refine and absorb the second Region Quintessence, his speed had undoubtedly doubled again.

Three months later.

The fourth Region Quintessence was fully refined and absorbed.

One month later.

The fifth Region Quintessence was refined and absorbed.

However, when he started refining and absorbing the sixth Region Quintessence, Chen Xi’s speed had slowed down instead, and it seemed like he’d encountered some sort of difficulty.

This time, he used an entire six months to succeed.

When he started refining and absorbing the seventh Region Quintessence, Chen Xi’s speed grew even slower, and an entire year passed before he fully refined and absorbed it.

Gu Yan and A’Liang were silent throughout this year, and a wisp of anxiety that couldn’t be eliminated had surged into their hearts.

Both of them had discerned that it wasn’t Chen Xi’s ability that had weakened, and it was instead because he was on the verge of arriving at the limits of his body’s endurance. So, he was on the verge of being unable to accommodate anymore quintessence energy from the Region Quintessences!

Now, only the eighth and ninth Region Quintessence remain. So long as Martial Ancestral Uncle persists, then he would definitely be able to succeed. Gu Yan prayed silently in his heart.

Five years and four months have passed since Young Master started cultivating, and almost six years and a half have passed since we entered the Forgotten Grounds of Chaos. So, merely a little over three years remain until its time for us to return…. A’Liang calculated the time in silence. Presently, time was more or less a vital factor to Chen Xi, and it was extremely important!