Talisman Emperor
chapter-68

Without freedom, there is no wind!

Chen Xi’s mind was immersed in a profound state, Dao existed within the boundless time of the world, and the Dao of Wind existed in the land, rivers, verdant grass, rocks… everywhere.

As the wind blew past a hill, the clouds and mist that were blown away were its shadows. As it blew past lotus leaves, that swaying posture was its traces. This was the aura of the Dao, the meaning of the Dao!

Chen Xi silently sat cross-legged atop the peak of the mountain and his handsome face carried a peaceful expression, yet his mind had followed the heaven and the earth, followed the wind that was dancing in the sky, he was soaring and seeking the wind.

Dao Comprehension!

Ji Yu stood in the distance, his clothed fluttering in the wind, and his gaze was profound like lightning as he looked at Chen Xi with a gaze that carried a trace of joy and delight.

The state of Dao Comprehension was something that could be encountered by luck but not sought after, but it would surely exist after sufficient accumulation was done. Without the diligent and bitter training in the earlier days, then even if one had the opportunity to encounter a bit of the essence of Dao, it would be extremely difficult to grasp it.

Only after one had accumulated various experiences would one be able to completely bond the mind with the heaven and the earth at the instant that good luck had arrived, and only then would one be able to learn and comprehend a trace of the existence of the Dao in their chaotic and unconscious state of Dao Comprehension.

The stars changed position, the bright moon rose and the vast sun set.

Along with the passage of time, strands of wind started to gather by the side of Chen Xi who sat cross-legged there, stirring his hair and stroking his face, gentle like a lover that had just been reunited.

“Shriek!” A vulture flew over from afar, its sharp gaze stared at the youth at the side of the precipice as if it was gazing at a delicious meal. As a wild bird that hadn’t developed intelligence yet, it didn’t sense the strands of dangerous aura atop Chen Xi’s body. It was extremely hungry and had been this way for a long time, to the point it utterly didn’t care to consider much. With a plunge, it swiftly charged downwards, opening its sharp claws to fiercely grab at the youth.

When it was still 30 meters away from Chen Xi.

Hiss!

It was like a hurricane had appeared out of thin air, the swift and fierce trail of wind contained the energy of heaven and earth and it instantly completely minced the vulture into fine pieces. Due to the wind being too dense and sharp, the fresh blood that splattered out was also pulverized into balls of bloody mist, and then it was blown by the wind to vanish without a trace. From the beginning until the end, not a shred of the smell of blood escaped, and if speed hadn’t attained an extremely terrifying level, it would have been utterly impossible to do this!

“He has comprehended it. His strength has already obtained a qualitative change, and I’m afraid it won’t be long before he’s able to pass the 1st level of the Heavenpeak of Trials. Whereas I… I’m afraid it would be difficult for me to leave the Manor in the future.” Ji Yu’s expression was complicated with a trace of absentmindedness, then it was replaced with an expression of staunchness. “I’ve already helped him enough. With his current strength and mentality, he’s completely capable of taking care of himself. Continuing to stay by his side would only impede his path of the Grand Dao…”

At dawn seven days later, the vast sun had risen into the sky and light illuminated the world.

Chen Xi, who sat cross-legged on the side of the precipice, opened his eyes, and the corners of his mouth revealed a rare trace of a smile.

Whoosh!

In the next moment, Chen Xi didn’t seem to move, yet his figure had already appeared in midair, and a pair of wings that were condensed from a gale seemed to have appeared out of thin air behind him. He instantly tore through the sky, willfully soaring in the air, and under the rays of the morning sun, that figure that whirled about like a bolt of lightning and broke open countless streams of air within the clouds seemed like a dreamlike figure.

Wind!

Freedom!

Chen Xi’s figure had become even swifter, even freer and easy, and his entire body was like fluttering wind, possessing an indistinct trail causing his figure to be difficult to find.

——

Cultivating deep in the mountains while isolated from the world causes time to pass by unknowingly.

Three months of time had passed in a flash. From the anxiousness and uneasiness from the very beginning, Mu Kui’s mood had gradually become tranquil.

The Aqua Cavern’s Black Ape King hadn’t appeared after a very long time, and this caused Mu Kui to be even more firmly convinced that Xiong Pi was deceiving him and deceiving Senior Chen Xi. That Li Hu wasn’t the trusted subordinate of the Black Ape King at all, because if the Black Ape King was one who sought revenge for the smallest grievance, then how could he allow Senior Chen Xi to live for three months?

One mountain cannot house two tigers? Nonsense!

Mu Kui held a wine jug as he cozily leaned in front of the abode and ceaselessly drank to his heart’s content. He liked these sort of days, quiet and peaceful. Senior Chen Xi was holding down the fort atop the mountain. He didn’t have to worry that the other greater demons nearby would come disturb or swallow up his territory.

Whoosh!

A figure appeared out of thin air with a speed that was like teleportation, and it scared Mu Kui to the point his body went stiff and the wine jug in his hand fell with a clank. When he focused and glanced over, it was shockingly Senior Chen Xi.

Mu Kui couldn’t help but feel a burst of embarrassment. I’m probably in an extremely sorry state right now, right? However… Senior Chen Xi’s speed is truly too swift! He appeared before me in the blink of an eye, who wouldn’t be scared half dead?

“Prepare a brush and a dish of ink for me.” Chen Xi entered the abode as soon as he finished speaking.

“Oh, alright, wait a moment, Senior.” Mu Kui stomped on the floor and got up, then started preparing swiftly, yet he was secretly curious in his heart. What does Senior Chen Xi want to do?

——

Within the abode, Chen Xi removed a book from his storage ring, it wasn’t a cultivation method, but was instead the little gains and experiences he obtained from cultivating.

After pondering for a long time within his mind, Chen Xi took up the brush and dipped it into the ink, then slowly wrote out all the experiences and changes in his thoughts while he cultivated during this period of time.

“His brush technique is free and graceful, yet its aura is powerful and sharp; every word he writes is exquisitely written, providing a lifelike picture. Your improvement during this period of time is indeed extremely great.” After Chen Xi finished writing, Ji Yu floated in the air when he appeared and nodded as he assessed.

Chen Xi didn’t even raise his head before taking out a piece of paper, then swiftly writing a line of words with a ‘swish’ and passed it to Ji Yu.

Since the day he cultivated the movement technique and sword technique, Ji Yu had requested that he take a day from every month for self-examination, to comprehend the changes in his strength and to summarize his combat experience.

These papers that were used to write self-examinations were called by Chen Xi as the Self-Reflection Diary.

“Don’t write this sort of thing in the future again.” Ji Yu stopped reading and passed the paper back to Chen Xi. “Self-examination is for the sake of urging your improvement and to avoid deviating from the right path. Now that you’ve already established your Dao Foundation and have truly stepped onto the road to immortality, there’s already no meaning in writing these things. What you need to do is comprehend the Heaven Dao and stay true to your heart.”

“Comprehend the Heaven Dao and stay true to my heart…” Chen Xi repeated it and seemed as if he’d thought of something. He only came back to his senses after some time, then he recalled a question that he was puzzled about right now and asked right away. “Senior, may I ask how my current strength is, and how is it compared to other Violet Palace Realm cultivators?”

“What do you think?” Ji Yu answered with a question.

Chen Xi thought for a moment then shook his head. “I’ve only fought with Li Huai who was at the Violet Palace Realm, moreover, I was only at the perfection-stage of the Congenital Realm at that time. I’m really unable to make an accurate estimate in this aspect.”

Chen Xi was indeed unable to make an estimate of his own combat strength, as strictly speaking, he had two methods of combat, after all. One method was the School of Fiendgod Body Refinement that relied on the strength of his body to conduct close quarter battles; the other method was the School of Qi Refinement that after experiencing these past few days of bitter training had already become capable of executing a sword technique and movement technique at the Dao Insight Stage. However, due to lacking combat with Violet Palace Realm cultivators, his combat strength was sometimes strong and sometimes weak, so it wasn’t easy for him to come to a conclusion.

“Killing ordinary Violet Palace Realm cultivators is like killing chickens and monkeys!” Ji Yu spoke shocking words.

Even if Chen Xi was mentally prepared since long ago, he still couldn’t help but feel a burst of astonishment. Like killing chicken and monkeys? Could it be that I’m already formidable to this extent?

“Are you extremely surprised? You should know that your sword technique already contains a strand of Dao Insight, and an ordinary Violet Palace Realm cultivator would only be at the unity-stage. Solely in terms of sword technique, your strength has already surpassed most Violet Palace Realm cultivators.

“Moving on to your cultivation.”

“In the aspect of qi refinement, you already possess the attainment of the 1st star of the Violet Palace Realm, and the Ice Crane Technique is exquisite and ingenious. As far as I’m concerned, it’s also a precious qi cultivation technique, but unfortunately, it only records the technique of cultivation for the nine levels of the Violet Palace Realm. Even then, regardless of if it was might or volume, your True Essence is far from something an ordinary Violet Palace Realm cultivator is able to compare to.” Ji Yu spoke with fervor and assurance, then he revealed a trace of regret. “Unfortunately, your diligent training in the Martial Dao has instead caused you to neglect body refinement. If you’re able to attain the Violet Palace Realm in body refinement and condense a star diagram from shaman markings, your strength would increase by at least 20%.”

“Of course, relying on your soul’s current Perception Force, it’s already sufficient for you to cultivate this soul attack technique, Godly Illusion. If you’re able to completely master it, your chances of winning against an enemy would increase a great deal.”

Ji Yu quickly returned to normal and continued to analyze Chen Xi’s combat strength for him. “All in all, your current strength ought to be able to go against a cultivator with a cultivation around the 5th star Violet Palace Realm.”

“5th star Violet Palace Realm? Continuously leaping four levels?” Chen Xi gasped, as he was slightly unable to believe it.

Ji Yu said seriously, “However, you had better not look down on Violet Palace Realm cultivators. It’s a fundamental leap from the Congenital Realm to the Violet Palace Realm, and Violet Palace Realm cultivators are already able to utilize graded Magic Treasures. These fellows have numerous skills and are adept at various different ways of attack, like formations, puppets, spirit flames, techniques… In the hands of these Violet Palace Realm cultivators, they’re all able to display monstrous might.”

“After saying so much, you actually only have to remember one thing, there’s a varying level of strength amongst Violet Palace Realm cultivators, and there are plenty of people who are able to annihilate a 9th star Violet Palace Realm cultivator with a cultivation at the 1st star of the Violet Palace Realm. There’re even Violet Palace Realm cultivators that are able to kill Golden Hall Realm cultivators!”

Chen Xi gasped, he suddenly felt that after listening to Ji Yu’s explanation, he’d instead become even more confused.

“What’s there to be surprised about? Didn’t you kill a Violet Palace Realm cultivator at the Congenital Realm? At that time, you hadn’t established your Dao Foundation yet, and you were unable to fly in the air or control Magic Treasures.” Ji Yu seemed to understand Chen Xi’s feelings and he said with a smile, “After saying all this, I only want to remind you, never underestimate any enemy, but don’t be afraid of battle. If you can’t win, then run, it’s no big deal. Some experts were chased after by others, and slowly, bit by bit, in the end they instead wiped out all the people that chased after them.”

Chen Xi’s mind slightly eased up and he couldn’t help but jest. “The fleeing ability of that fellow is surely extremely formidable, otherwise, he would have been surrounded and annihilated long ago.”

“It was indeed. I remember that expert seemed to be surnamed Han, and people gave him the nickname ‘Speedy Han,’ but unfortunately, that was a figure from before the primordial era.” Ji Yu’s eyes revealed an expression of recollection as he sighed with deep emotion, then he changed the topic and said, “I suggest you spend your time on body refinement and the cultivation of your soul from today onwards. Once your body refinement attains the Violet Palace Realm, you ought to be able to pass the 1st level of the Heavenpeak of Trials.”

The 1st level of the Heavenpeak of Trials?

Chen Xi lowered his head to glance at his palm, and under his skin and flesh, the pattern of a jade pendant could be indistinctly noticed.

Numerous scenes silently slipped past his mind. His mother, Zuo Qiuxue, leaving behind her spiritual brand and Star Secret Realm; the surging river that Senior Ji Yu hid himself in, the dark and precipitous Heavenpeak that stood at the center of the river and towered into the clouds…