Talisman Emperor

A’xiu grinned as she patted her hands together and said, “Alright, we just have to wait for the good news from Blackie.”

Chen Xi frowned and pondered for a long time before he finally recalled that the completely dark, four inch long, and chubby silkworm was surprisingly the Treasure Emperor Silkworm!

It was given to him by a disciple called Fang Ren that had a hobby of nurturing beasts, and he’d passed it to A’xiu.

He never imagined that after just a few years had passed, not only had A’xiu nurtured it to the point of becoming chubby, she even gave it such a terrible name, Blackie…

After all, the Treasure Emperor Silkworm was a rare worm from the primeval times. Even though its combat strength wasn’t great, it was born an expert of finding treasures. Moreover, some secret treasures and precious objects that even Divine Sense was incapable of sensing was unable to escape its sense of smell!

In other words, if one was able to possess such a rare worm from the primeval times, one would be able to find various secret treasures, secret realms, medicinal herbs, precious ores, and so on and so forth without even having to move!

The value of such a rare worm from the primeval times was utterly immeasurable, and it was like a tree that one could shake money off. So, it would be a loss to exchange it for anything…

But Chen Xi still had some doubts towards the ability of the Treasure Emperor Silkworm because he possessed the Eye of Divine Truth that was capable of seeing through reality and the truth behind everything. Even he was unable to notice any unusualness in this Ghost Domain, let alone a tiny silkworm?

A’xiu seemed to be very confident towards Blackie instead, and she said, “Even though Blackie hasn’t matured yet, there isn’t any treasure in the Mortal Dimension that’s capable of escaping his detection.

“Oh? Blackie can even cultivate?” asked Chen Xi.

He had utterly no knowledge of the Dao of Taming, and he’d never come into contact with anything related to this. So when he heard that a tiny worm like this was capable of growing, he couldn’t help but be slightly curious.

“Everything in the world has a spirit, and since it’s so, they naturally can cultivate. A Treasure Emperor Silkworm like Blackie is extremely rare even during the primeval times. Unfortunately, he’s too difficult to raise,” said A’xiu.

“How…difficult?” Chen Xi was shocked in his heart. Just from the fact that it was capable of making A’xiu feel it was difficult to raise, Chen Xi knew how extraordinary the Treasure Emperor Silkworm was.

“I’ve already used up over 100 types of precious treasures that are worth around 10 plus Immortal Artifacts just to feed him.” A’xiu replied in a carefree manner. “If you want him to advance any further, then you probably have to find some treasures in the Immortal Dimension.”

Hiss!

Chen Xi couldn’t help but gasp. Merely feeding him used up precious treasures worth over 10 Immortal Artifacts? If anyone else said this, Chen Xi would surely think that person was exaggerating.

But when these words were spoken by A’xiu, its truth was unquestionable.

Fortunately, I gave this little fellow to A’xiu at that time. Otherwise, my wealth would be utterly insufficient to even fill the cracks between its teeth… Chen Xi felt extremely fortunate in his heart.

Meanwhile, A’xiu suddenly beamed and said excitedly, “Let’s go! Blackie seems to have noticed something!”

As she spoke, she pulled on Chen Xi’s sleeve before vanishing in a flash. 

    …

This was an ordinary gorge. The gorge was barren, and a thick layer of dark haze and miasma drifted within it, causing it to seem extremely ghastly.

Blackie lay before a bare rock wall in the depths of the gorge, and his body moved about while he seemed to be burning with impatience.

Chen Xi and A’xiu saw this scene when they arrived here.

“Is there something special behind this rock wall?” Chen Xi was stunned. As he spoke, a vertical eye split open between his brows and emanated a strand of jet black light. He saw that the area behind the rock wall was completely dark, and his gaze passed through the gorge if he looked even further behind. There was nothing notable at all, let alone a treasure.

A’xiu took out a spirit fruit and tossed it to Blackie instead before she walked forward and patted the rock wall repeatedly.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

The rock wall cracked and fell, causing dust and dirt to suffuse the air.

After that, an ethereal door that seemed like ripples suddenly appeared behind the rock wall, and it was faintly visible as if it didn’t really exist!

Chen Xi was instantly stunned. Earlier, his Eye of Divine Truth hadn’t noticed this door!

“This is Boundless Chaos Divinelight. It was born from within the chaos at the beginning of the world, and you’ll be able to see it once your Eye of Divine Truth attains the realm of ‘seeing through all technique.’ Right at this moment, the tiny cauldron that had been silent for a long time spoke abruptly. “But, this light has always been grasped in the possession of the Xeno-race, and it’s lost to the three dimensions. I never imagined that I would actually be able to see it here. Strange.”

Chen Xi had a deeper feeling that this place was extraordinary when he saw this door had actually aroused the attention of the tiny cauldron. Perhaps, the vast and mighty Xeno-race army came for this? And it contains the so-called ‘relic’ of the Xeno-race?

“Let’s go, there are surely numerous treasures inside.” A’xiu’s eyes glowed brilliantly, and she was already slightly impatient.

“Wait! Can you be a little bit careful?” said Chen Xi angrily.

Swish!

A’xiu seemed as if she didn’t hear him, and she stretched out her hand and grabbed, causing a rift to be torn open on that door that was condensed from Boundless Chaos Divinelight. After that, she grinned as she said, “What’re you afraid of with me here?”

Chen Xi was stunned, and then he sent a voice transmission to the tiny cauldron. “Is this thing not dangerous?”

“The consequences of you touching it even slightly is death.” The tiny cauldron replied mercilessly like its usual style, and it didn’t carry any emotion.

The corners of Chen Xi’s mouth couldn’t help but twitch while he sighed in his heart. Everyone else thinks I’m a freak, but when compared to A’xiu, I’m simply like a dwarf in the presence of a giant.

Meanwhile, A’xiu had already gone in.

Chen Xi hesitated briefly before stepping into the door after her.

    …

This was a vast hall that was held up by fiery red stone pillars at both sides, and there was a total of 36 pillars. Every single pillar was extremely thick and large, and it was 300m in height. The surface of the pillars had flowers, birds, insects, fish, mountains, rivers, the sun, and the moon carved on them, and the dense lines on the pillars seemed to contain a faint glow flowing through them.

Rumble!

When Chen Xi arrived here, the nearby wall of the hall split open abruptly before a figure charged over swiftly. The figure’s body surged with a fiery red glow, and it slashed down at Chen Xi with a blade.

Chen Xi’s brows raised. For safety’s sake, his wrist shook before the Talisman Armament drew out a shocking arc of light in the sky before it crossed the fiery red figure.

Crack!

The fiery red figure’s head was slashed off, and it rolled on the ground.

It was actually a wooden head. Its eyes had two unknown gems that flickered with a crimson glow set within them, and the glow it emanated gradually dimmed as if it had lost its vitality.

A puppet?

Chen Xi’s gaze descended onto the body, and it was similarly made of wood. The body of the puppet wore a fiery red armor that was closely woven like fish scales, and it flawlessly merged with every single joint of the puppet, causing it to seem like a layer of skin covered on the puppet.

“Interesting, interesting.” A’xiu stood with her hands behind her back while she moved around the puppet and observed it without end. Her eyes were bright and shiny, and she seemed as if she’d noticed something novel.

“Isn’t this just a puppet? What’s there to pay attention to?” Chen Xi couldn’t refrain himself from asking.

Through the attack from before, he noticed that the strength of this puppet was indeed formidable, and it was comparable to a Rebirth Realm cultivator. But it was a puppet in the end, and it seemed to be not worthy of A’xiu paying such attention to it. Could it be that she hasn’t seen a puppet in the past?

“This isn’t an ordinary puppet. It’s a Soul Combat Puppet created by Ghostcraft crafters for themselves.” A’xiu squatted on the ground before pressing her fingers together to form a blade, and then she cut open the body of the headless puppet and revealed its insides. “Look, the combat puppet’s body contains meridians, apertures, and even a Dantian, internal organs…”

Along with her guidance, Chen Xi noticed that the thing called a Soul Combat Puppet by A’xiu was really densely filled with layer upon layer of meridians and apertures. But most of them were extremely damaged.

Especially its Dantian. Even though it was completely empty, if he sensed it carefully, he was still able to notice a trace of faint True Essence still remained within it.

This discovery caused Chen Xi to be instantly shocked, and he noticed the difference between a puppet and a Soul Combat Puppet.

It was common knowledge that the Dao of Puppets was roughly similar to the Daos of Taming, Culinary, pill refinement, and equipment refinement. Strictly speaking, puppet masters relied on various spirit materials, formations, and mechanisms to construct this type of tool.

Puppets were just like humans, and they were capable of doing anything under the control of the puppet master so long as they were filled with sufficient spirit stones. Regardless of entering into battle, killing one’s enemies, or even pouring tea, it was capable of everything.

But unlike humans, puppets didn’t have a consciousness, and they were completely controlled by someone. Moreover, they were unable to cultivate, so the higher the strength a puppet possessed, the more precious the spirit materials utilized to create it would be while the more difficult it would be to control because it required an extremely powerful Divine Sense to support it.

Amongst the 10 great immortal sects of the Dark Reverie, the Southern Mountain Equipment Sect was an extraordinary sect that was renowned for puppets, mechanisms, and formations. According to rumor, the formidable puppets it created were even capable of going against Earthly Immortal Realm experts!

On the other hand, a Soul Combat Puppet was different. Even though it was constructed from various spirit materials as well, it possessed meridians, apertures, a Dantian, and various other organs within its body, causing it to be perfect.

According to Chen Xi’s estimation, this thing was surely capable of cultivating by itself and possessing its own consciousness!

Sure enough, A’xiu had already cut open the severed head of that combat puppet in the next moment, and she pointed to a certain part of the head as she said, “The soul of a Soul Combat Puppet is stored between the brows and hidden within its sea of consciousness. But the only difference it that its sea of consciousness is created from a treasure called Soulcleanse Jade Crystal.”

When she spoke up to here, A’xiu chuckled and said, “I played with many Soul Combat Puppets when I was young. Unfortunately, they’ve all been destroyed. I never expected I would actually be able to see one here.”

Only now did Chen Xi understand why A’xiu knew so much about this, and he couldn’t refrain from asking. “Why were they destroyed?”

“This is something created by the Outerealm’s Ghostcraft Clan, and it’s not tolerated by the Heaven Dao of the three dimensions, so it naturally had to be destroyed. Otherwise, if I were to be caught, then it would be troublesome.” A’xiu shrugged and spoke in a helpless tone.

The Xeno-race!

It was as if a bolt of lightning suddenly shot past Chen Xi’s mind, and he instantly confirmed that the Xeno-race mobilized such a large force to invade Swallow Kingdom precisely for the sake of this place!

This wasn’t the most important point. The important point was that he suddenly recalled what his Senior Sister Li Yang had said. Those Xeno-race aren’t really a race that didn’t belong to the three dimensions because they were actually members of the three dimensions all those years ago, and they were driven out of the three dimensions because of a Dao struggle.

On the other hand, a Soul Combat Puppet that was something only possessed by the Xeno-race actually existed here, and this undoubtedly proved that what his Senior Sister Li Yang said wasn’t just a groundless rumor!