Talisman Emperor
chapter-103

The gale howled violently and the sandstorm raged.

The Oceanic Desert, that stretched as far as the eye could see, was like a god with an irritable temper, venting out a bellyful of rage and resentment in a wanton manner. It was filled with the boundless force of destruction.

This place contained mysterious ruins that had been left behind since ancient times, terrifying restrictions that caused Rebirth Realm cultivators to enter but never return, and even spatial tears that swallowed everything.

This place was called the lands of death!

However, today a youth swiftly dashed within it like a gust of wind.

Astonishingly, the gale that was sufficient to tear open anything seemed to forever be unable to touch his body; wherever he passed, no matter how fierce and violent the wind was, it was as if the wind recognized one of its own kind. Like it had seen its companion, it would gently avoid him and open up a space sufficient for him to pass through.

The scene was extremely strange.

When faced with the gale that roared like a dragon, even a Rebirth Realm cultivator had to approach it carefully, yet this youth seemed as if he’d walked into his own backyard and was strolling idly. If this scene were to be seen by an outsider, they would surely be staring agape.

Unfortunately, only he was within this land of death now.

This person was naturally Chen Xi. He who’d mastered a complete Wind Dao Insight seemed as if he’d seen a strand of gentle breeze when faced with the surging gale, and he was completely unworried that anything would happen to himself.

This was the power of Dao Insight.

However, there was still sand in the wind. Those sand and dust were carried up by the gale and were like a rain of swords that shot out explosively, and they possessed a sharp and terrifying penetrative force. Chen Xi naturally didn’t dare to go against them and even didn’t dare to fly in the air, so he could only rely on the strength of the wind to dash wildly.

“Presently, my True Essence has dried up, but fortunately, my body is strong. Up until now, I’ve already dashed for almost 1,500km. If those six fellows had chased me, they’d have probably caught up to me long ago.” Chen Xi swiftly pondered as he dashed wildly. Although he wasn’t afraid of the surrounding gales, the Oceanic Desert contained numerous terrifying and dangerous restrictions, ruins, and spatial tears. He didn’t dare be careless in the slightest.

Just earlier, he’d seen a spatial tear that was 3km long, shaped like a long and narrow curved blade. The interior of the jet-black spatial tear was jet-black as well, black to the point it caused one’s heart to palpitate; So long as anything came within a distance of 5km from it, it would be swallowed completely by the spatial tear. There was no sound and no struggle; it was silent, yet terrifying.

“This won’t do, if I continue like this, there’ll surely be a time that my physical strength is completely exhausted. I must find a safe place to replenish my True Essence and recover my strength… Hmm? What’s that?” Chen Xi’s gaze unintentionally swept over and he suddenly noticed that an enormous black shadow had appeared extremely far in the distance of the surging sand. The shadow was 300m high and it stood upright without moving, seeming to not be a living thing.

When he went closer to take a look, it was actually a pitch-black stele that seemed like a sword that pierced through the sky. Even under the corrosion of the violent sands, the stele’s surface was still smooth and complete, and it was suffused with a cold light.

“Sword Tomb!” Chen Xi noticed two blood red words on the stele. The writing was unrestrained with strokes that were powerful, yet gentle, and a ghastly and sharp qi assaulted his face.

Hiss!

Chen Xi felt his entire body tremble. It was as if his bones were pierced by needles and his entire body went cold. A myriad of sharp swords that madly waved about even appeared within his sea of consciousness, causing the blood in his heart to surge as he saw stars dance before his eyes, and he almost spat blood. He hurriedly turned away his eyes and didn’t dare to take another glance.

“This writing contains terrifying true essence of Sword Dao. Although it’s only a mere strand, it’s filled with the matchless spirit of dominating and annihilating the entire world. I wonder which expert left behind this stele, as it’s even a hundred times more terrifying than the sword force on that note in the sword immortal’s abode!” Chen Xi was extremely astonished in his heart. He was truly unable to imagine what level of cultivation the person that possessed this level of sword skill had attained.

Thump!

Chen Xi sat before the stele, as he noticed that so long as the gale and sand approached within an area of 30m from the stele, they would be blasted to dispersal by a shapeless force. Hiding here just happened to allow him to avoid the assault of the sandstorm.

“I wonder why this Sword Tomb has appeared here…? Never mind, I’ll recover my True Essence first in the event that if I encounter another unexpected event, I’ll have the strength to withstand it.” Chen Xi breathed heavily for a short moment before sitting cross-legged, then he withdrew the octagonal containment bottle and inhaled deeply, causing a strand of spirit liquid to shoot out from the bottle.

Swish!

Chen Xi circulated the Ice Crane Technique, and the great lake in his violet palace that had long since dried up started to madly absorb the spirit liquid that poured into his body.

The octagonal containment bottle had already been replenished by 1.5 million kgs of spirit liquids. These spirit liquids were those he obtained by selling the spirit materials in the Misty Sea City’s Treasure Heaven Pavilion. Within this Oceanic Desert whose spirit energy had dried up, he didn’t have to worry about the problem of insufficient spirit energy.

A day passed.

Chen Xi awoke from his meditation, then opened his mouth and exhaled. A strand of airflow that was powerful and condensed shot out like an arrow, not dispersing for a long time. Obviously, within this entire night of bitter cultivation, his strength had improved.

“For the sake of obtaining the so-called treasures of the sword immortal’s abode, Su Dingyi’s group will surely not easily let me off. Since they didn’t enter the Oceanic Desert, then I presume they’re waiting for me outside.” Chen Xi stood up and stretched his limbs, then frowned. “If it’s like this, I can only hide in here unless I possess the strength to annihilate all six of them.”

“Hmm? What’s this?” Chen Xi finally noticed numerous pitch-black stones that were scattered on the ground. They were the size of a fingernail and entirely smooth, suffused with spots of luster. They were extremely alike to black colored jade and agate.

He’d bent down, intending to pick one up, when to his surprise, the instant his finger touched the black colored stone, a strand of sharp aura directly entered his skin. It was as if he was struck by lightning, causing his entire body to fiercely tremble.

“This is…” Chen Xi’s eyes sprang wide open as a wisp of pleasant surprise was gradually revealed on his face, and he couldn’t restrain his voice from starting to tremble. “It’s actually a Starsoul Meteorite!”

He’d once heard Ji Yu mention that during the primordial era, there was a type of treasure called the Starsoul Meteorite. Each piece had the core of the star that was developed within it, and it was found after the stars in the sky shattered. It contained baleful qi of the stars that was vast like the sea, and using a Starsoul Meteorite to refine the body possessed unbelievably miraculous effects.

The Universe Starslayer Bodyforging Arts Chen Xi cultivated absorbed the baleful qi of the stars to temper and refine the body, and it had already arrived at the perfection-stage of the Congenital Realm, only lacking a single step to advance into the Violet Palace Realm.

However, this step was like the divide between a mortal and the gods. According to Ji Yu, this step was like a natural chasm. Without the bitter cultivation and accumulation from the earlier stages, and without the strand of breakthrough opportunity that was illusory, he would utterly be unable to touch the edge of the Violet Palace Realm.

At this moment, as far as Chen Xi was concerned, the appearance of the Starsoul Meteorite was undoubtedly a breakthrough opportunity for his body refinement to advance to the Violet Palace Realm!

Swish! Swish!

Chen Xi’s hands were like spades that started digging, and Starsoul Meteorites that were completely round and suffused with a glossy light were gathered together one after the other.

Chen Xi stopped digging after the time for an entire incense stick to burn had passed, whereas beside him, the Starsoul Meteorites that were the size of a fingernail were piled into a 1.2m tall and 1m wide little hill, and a rough estimate would probably put them at least at 5,000!

“Cores of the stars! All of these are the essence of the stars, and a single Starsoul Meteorite is sufficient to match the baleful qi of the stars that I absorb from a month of bitter cultivation!”

“Once my body refinement breaks through to the Violet Palace Realm, I’ll be able to condense shaman markings and convert Shaman Energy. Most importantly, I’ll be able to break open the restrictions on the abode and enter within to meet Senior Ji Yu!” The jade pendant within the flesh on his palm was suffused with a layer of restriction. If he wanted to enter the abode, then he must attain the Violet Palace Realm in both body refinement and qi refinement.

Similarly, it was the lowest requirement for undertaking the first level of the Heavenpeak of Trails.

“There’s no one to disturb me here, and the sandstorm is unable to invade. It’s a superb place for cultivation. I’ll cultivate my body refinement to the Violet Palace Realm here, then enter the abode to meet Senior Ji Yu. If I’m able to pass the first level of the Heavenpeak of Trails, I presume I’ll be able to obtain various unimaginable gains and my strength will surely increase!” Chen Xi was exceedingly excited. With a swing of his sleeve, the Starsoul Meteorites on the ground were all stashed into his storage ring, then he sat down cross-legged with a Starsoul Meteorite held between his palms as he closed his eyes and circulated the Universe Starslayer Bodyforging Arts.

Rumble!

The cold and sharp baleful qi of the stars was like a liquid river that rumbled as it poured into his flesh and blood. It was like a myriad of savage steeds ramming him, and the enormous tearing force fiercely hammered his flesh, blood, and skin. His muscles, that were already condensed and tough, abruptly vibrated and shrunk as he madly digested this terrifying energy.

At the same time, a little energy of the stars fused into his blood, flesh, skin, and tendons, causing them to be suffused with a glittering and chilly sheen. They seemed like porcelain that had been tempered in the furnace for a long time, and were gradually becoming smooth and tough.

Whereas on Chen Xi’s back, strands of faint lines of markings appeared. They were vague and extremely blurry, appearing and disappearing on his back, and they seemed extremely mysterious.

Advancing in body refinement to the Violet Palace Realm required going through innumerable hardships and dangers, and it was one in a million. However, so long as one passed through this gate, then numerous shaman markings would condense on the skin of the entire body. These shaman markings condensed into various different shaman marking patterns depending on the cultivation technique.

For example, some body refiners that used the flames at the core of the earth to temper the body would possess shaman markings that formed a flame pattern, and it was able to absorb fire baleful qi to be converted into the shaman energy within the body.

Chen Xi tempered his body with the baleful qi of the stars in the universe. As long as he advanced to the Violet Palace Realm, star diagram shaman markings would condense on his skin, transforming the baleful qi of the stars into shaman energy; it was extremely profound.

The Violet Palace Realm of body refinement was similarly divided into nine levels. Condensing one star diagram shaman marking would represent the 1st star of the Violet Palace Realm, and condensing nine star diagrams would represent the 9th star of the Violent Palace Realm. Once he attained this realm, he would be able to open the shaman marking aperture and charge into the Golden Hall Realm.

However, to Chen Xi right now, what he needed was to first step into the Violet Palace Realm from the Congenital Realm. To a qi refiner, the development of the violet palace was the establishing of the Grand Dao’s foundation, whereas to a body refiner, the advancement to the Violet Palace Realm meant to establish the foundation for the body to become divine. The two each had their own merits, yet they both pointed straight to the Grand Dao and reached the same goal by different methods.

Chen Xi sat silently like this, clear of what happened both internally and externally as both internal and external cooperated with each other and he was completely unaware of the passage of time.

A month passed like this.

Cultivating continuously for an entire month caused the strength of Chen Xi’s blood, flesh, and skin to become more and more dense, and more and more nimble. His tendons were like jade. His flesh and blood condensed, becoming crystal clear as a misty and chilly lustre flowed within it. But he was unable to take the final step and make the shaman markings on his back, that were becoming clearer and clearer, condense together and form a star diagram pattern.

It was like he was unable to open an indistinct window.

However, he wasn’t anxious. Every time he cultivated to the point that his mood became restless, he would stop circulating his cultivation method and stand up. Then, he would walk around the Sword Tomb’s stele and inspect the towering monument that was almost 300 meters tall.

The material of this stele was neither gold nor iron, neither jade nor wood; its surface was smooth and pitch-black, and it emitted a strange energy that obstructed the assaults of the surrounding sandstorms and gales, causing it to seem extremely mysterious.

Chen Xi took advantage of his free time to inspect the two large words with strokes that were powerful, yet gentle on the stele. Every time, he would only look at it for the time of a few breaths, yet he was still able to gradually comprehend some things.

These two large words contained a supreme and terrifying true essence of the Dao of the Sword. Although it was only a mere strand of the aura of the Sword Dao, it caused Chen Xi to feel as if it was a vast sea that contained boundless profundity hidden within. It allowed him to widen his field of vision, and a feeling of reverence arose involuntarily.

Another month passed.

That day, Chen Xi was trying to fathom the strand of the true essence of the Sword Dao when a wave of shivering abruptly struck his heart. He faintly seemed to have grasped a strand of an opportunity to break through, and this feeling grew stronger and stronger.

Hu!

Chen Xi took a deep breath and didn’t hesitate any longer to sit down cross-legged before holding a Starsoul Meteorite in each hand and circulating his cultivation technique.