Talisman Emperor

As he headed all the way north, the Desolate Manku Qi grew more and more heavier.

At the beginning, there seemed to be light strands of mist drifting through the heavens and the earth, yet as he moved further and further towards the north, the Desolate Manku Qi had transformed into a thick mist that enveloped every single inch of space like miasma. So, entering into it was like entering a boundless ocean.

This qi was extremely terrifying. It contained an unfamiliar form of the imposing aura of the Heaven Dao, and it pressured the soul and caused others to feel as if they’d fallen into a swamp.

Chen Xi and the others had once approached this place a few days ago. However, they didn’t explore deep into this area because the Desolate Manku Qi here was too thick, and it was covered in danger. So, it was extremely easy for them to suffer a mishap here.

Yet now, that summon that arose in Chen Xi’s heart was faintly pointing towards the depths of this area that was enveloped by Desolate Manku Qi.

He didn’t hesitate to continue forward. However, he’d obviously become much more vigilant when compared to before.

Swish!

Strands of Desolate Manku Qi that were thick like water surged in both directions away from him as he travelled through this area. It was like he was flying amidst a grey colored ocean of clouds with zero visibility. Even with Chen Xi’s formidable senses, he was actually unable to detect an area of less than 500km.

Everything seemed to be so deathly silent, yet Chen Xi became even more vigilant. Sometimes, the unknown was equivalent to danger, and he didn’t dare be careless.

After the time for an incense stick to burn, Chen Xi suddenly stopped moving, and a wisp of surprise flashed through his eyes.

In the scope of his senses, there were numerous formidable and obscure auras arising from the area around 500km ahead of him. Obviously, many cultivators had actually entered this place.

This caused Chen Xi to instantly utilize the Daoseal Mark and conceal his entire aura. At the same time, strands of voice transmissions were clearly captured by him.

“We’ve already traversed a distance of over 5,000km, yet we’ve come up empty handed until now. Is the information we obtained fake?”

“Impossible! According to my Grandfather, someone had indeed obtained an eighth-grade King Rank Ancestral Dao Root from this place.”

“Hmph! Then tell me exactly who obtained it!”

“I can’t say because it involves a great figure in the Imperial Region. But I dare swear that it’s absolutely true!”

“Forget it. Let’s continue searching for a while. If we still come up empty handed after that, then let’s immediately turn around and leave. For some unknown reason, I feel even more nervous the further we go.”

“Me too. I keep having the feeling that this place is too strange. Everyone, be careful. Let’s retreat immediately at the slightest sign of something being off.”

……

The sounds of discussion stopped abruptly while the aura of those cultivators had vanished. Obviously, they’d already departed and continued deeper into this area.

An eighth-grade King Rank Ancestral Dao Root? Chen Xi seemed to be lost in thought.

Since the day he’d entered the Ancestral Root Grounds until now, Chen Xi had found numerous Ancestral Roots, and he’d even seen numerous seventh-grade Ancestral Roots that had already been taken away by others. However, he’d never seen an eighth-grade King Rank Ancestral Dao Root.

At that time, Chen Xi was curious whether there weren’t any eighth-grade Ancestral Dao Roots in the Ancestral Root Grounds. But now it would see like it wasn’t the case.

As it was said the seventh-grade was the Monarch Rank, the eighth-grade was the King Rank, and the ninth-grade was the Emperor Rank. Ancestral Dao Roots that had attained such levels weren’t inferior in rarity to a ninth-grade Emperor Rank Ancestral Dao Root.

If Ancestral Roots that could produce eighth-grade Ancestral Dao Roots really existed here, then it could be considered to be an extraordinarily great fortuitous encounter.

When he though up to here, Chen Xi felt slightly stunned. He’d come here because a trace of a feeling had arisen in his heart, and he’d noticed the energy of that summon from before was coming from here.

Yet now, he’d coincidentally heard such a piece of information. Could it be that both of them are connected?

Eighth-grade Ancestral Dao Roots and the mysterious summon…. Chen Xi pondered deeply for a long time yet was unable to figure anything out. He could only shake his head and stop thinking about it.

He didn’t waste any more time, and he continued flying forward.

Just as those cultivators had said during their conversation, it wasn’t long before Chen Xi felt a trace of faint terror in his heart. It seemed as if some terrifying killing intent was laying dormant amidst the Desolate Manku Qi that seemed like a boundless expanse of mist, and it was waiting for him to give his life away.

Clang!

The Talisman Armament let out a low howl as it silently entered into Chen Xi’s palm. His gaze was like a bolt of lightning while his face carried a wisp of chilly and murderous expression.

After continuing forward for a short while, Chen Xi’s eyes suddenly narrowed. Right at this moment, a wave of shrill cries resounded from the depths of the boundless mist in the distance.

“Shit!”

“It’s ancient ancestral god corpses!”

“Flee!”

The shrill cries merely continued for a few breaths of time, and then they stopped abruptly before everything fell into deathly silence. It seemed extremely strange, and it caused one’s hairs to stand on end.

Chen Xi’s expression became slightly solemn as well, and he’d sensed a trace of the smell of blood coming from the air.

Ancient ancestral god corpses? Before he’d entered the Ancestral Root Grounds, Chen Xi had heard that it was filled with dangers, and the most dangerous were the ancient ancestral god corpses.

These ancient corpses were the product of the souls left behind by the gods that perished here countless years ago. These souls had absorbed countless amounts of Desolate Manku Qi, and their strengths were comparable to experts at the Universe Enlightened Ancestral God Realm.

Of course, they were comparable to Universe Enlightened Ancestral Gods and weren’t actual Universe Enlightened Ancestral Gods. In other words, these ancient corpses were much more formidable than ordinary Domain Enlightened Spirit Gods, and they already possessed the might of a Universe Enlightened Ancestral God!

During these days that he was in the Ancestral Root Grounds, besides the battles and struggles with other cultivators, Chen Xi had encountered all sorts of dangers on more than one occasion. These dangers were mostly present near every single Ancestral Root.

For example, the ferocious beasts and corpses that resided in the vicinity of every single Ancestral Root. If one wanted to seize the Ancestral Dao Root within it, then one couldn’t avoid having to kill these ferocious beasts or corpses first.

However, these dangers weren’t really great, so they naturally couldn’t compare to true ancient ancestral god corpses.

Yet now, ancient ancestral god corpses might actually exist in the depths of this boundless mist, so the danger posed by this was obvious.

At this moment, even Chen Xi didn’t dare be careless, and he’d even determined that those cultivators that let out shrill cried had probably suffered calamity.

Normally speaking, when danger appears in this Ancestral Root Grounds, then Ancestral Roots would mostly be nearby. Based on this inference, doesn’t this mean that an eighth-grade Ancestral Dao Root might really exist in the depths of this area? Chen Xi pondered deeply for a moment. In the end, he decided to continue forward and explore to the end.

After a short moment, Chen Xi stopped moving once more. There were numerous corpses scattered on the ground before him. Some had their necks crushed, some had their heads blasted apart, some had even been torn into pieces, and it was an extremely horrifying sight.

The blood of gods gurgled and tainted the group. These cultivators had obviously perished not long ago, and their corpses still carried a strand of residual warmth and Divine Energy.

However, their divine artifacts had vanished. This discovered caused Chen Xi’s expression to become even heavier. What did this mean? It meant that these ancient ancestral god corpses possessed a certain amount of intelligence, and they knew how to gather divine artifacts for their own use!

The only thing that caused Chen Xi to feel fortunate was that he didn’t notice any Spirit God Exalts amongst the corpses. In other words, the strengths of all of these cultivators was still a distance away when compared to Spirit God Exalts.

If a Spirit God Exalt had perished here, then Chen Xi would absolutely not hesitate to turn around and leave because he didn’t dare take such a risk so easily as well.

Eight top-rate cultivators were killed in one go. Moreover, based on their injuries, there were at least four ancient corpses that attacked at the same time…. Chen Xi deduced silently. Unfortunately, he was utterly unable to determine exactly how formidable the strength of these ancient corpses were based on the scene before him.

Hmm? Chen Xi’s heart twitched abruptly while a strong wisp of the feeling of danger arose in his heart. He practically instinctively activated the Daoseal Mark and silently left this place.

Swish!

A wave of fluctuation arose in space, and then a tall figure appeared. It was completely covered in damaged bronze armor, had a stiff and ghastly pale face, two blood red pupils, and was filled with a ruthless and ghastly aura.

As soon as it appeared, its entire body emanated a strand of thick and seemingly material aura of death. It transformed into numerous black colored circles of light that flowed around its body.

When looked at from afar, it seemed like a person yet wasn’t a person, and seemed like a ghost yet wasn’t a ghost as well. It was like a zombie, and it was extremely horrifying.

It seemed to have noticed something and swept its gaze towards the surroundings, yet it came back empty handed. After that, a wave of croaking that sounded like metal rubbing together sounded out from within its throat, and it was an extremely ear piercing sound.

In the end, its figure flashed and vanished soundlessly.

Looks like that thing is an ancient ancestral god corpse. Its aura really is extremely formidable. If I hadn’t utilized the Daoseal Mark earlier, then I would have almost been noticed by it…. After a short moment, Chen Xi’s figure floated out into appearance, and his eyes emanated a cold glow. Earlier, he’d been hiding at the side while silently sizing it up, and he’d roughly determined that the aura of the ancient ancestral god corpse was actually completely on par with a Spirit God Exalt!

As for exactly how formidable it was, he could only determine that after he fought it.

After pondering silently for a long time, Chen Xi withdrew the Copper Coin of Treasurefall and held it between he cracks of his left fingers. When he finished doing this, he held the Talisman Armament in his right had as he continued forward.

Because he possessed the Daoseal Mark, he didn’t have to worry about being noticed by the ancient ancestral god corpses, and it allowed him to avoid the possibility of suffering a surprise attack.

However, Chen Xi still didn’t dare be careless. The Ancestral Root Grounds was covered in unusualness, and it could be said to be filled with killing intent, so even his nerves couldn’t help but tense up here.

Sure enough, just as Chen Xi expected, he’d noticed the traces of ancient ancestral god corpses on more than one occasion as he continued forward. They either moved around by themselves or formed groups of three to five. They drifted through the boundless mist like spirits, and their auras were extremely obscure and faintly showed signs of fusing into one with the Desolate Manku Qi in the heavens and the earth. So, if one didn’t examine carefully, it would be utterly impossible to notice them.

Exactly what exists here? Why are there so many ancient ancestral god corpses here?

As he continued forward, such questions couldn’t help but surge into Chen Xi’s heart, and he had an even deeper feeling that this place was unusual.

After another 10 minutes passed.

Suddenly, a wisp of dazzling blue light could be faintly seen amidst the dense mist in the distance. It was brilliant like a bolt of lightning, and it seemed to be extraordinarily striking.

That’s….

Chen Xi’s heart shook fiercely. An eighth-grade Ancestral Root!

Ancestral Dao Roots were divided into nine grades, and the divine light they emanated was divided into black, white, crimson, orange, yellow, green, azure, blue, and violet. So, a blue colored beam of divine radiance would surge from an Ancestral Root that produced an eighth-grade Ancestral Dao Root!

If he wasn’t mistaken, then an eighth-grade Ancestral Dao Root definitely existed in the distance!

Swoosh!

However, before Chen Xi could even feel excited, a wisp of sharp and ghastly energy suddenly and silently tore through space before it swiftly slashed down forcefully towards his back.

Chen Xi’s eyes narrowed. The Talisman Armament in his hand seemed as if it had eyes, and it moved swiftly like a river of stars that flowed in the opposite direction.

Bang!

It blocked this attack and caused divine radiance to erupt!