Talisman Emperor

The treasure vessel swiftly flew through the sky, and less than an hour later, the continuous mountain range vanished as the surrounding scene had changed.

An extremely far expanse of clear skies with a setting sun that was red like blood hung in the air.

A boundlessly vast earthen yellow ground covered as far as the eye could reach, whereas, extremely far away was the outline of a lofty city that had appeared on the horizon. It glowed with towering golden lights and was beautifully decorated, and its entirety seemed to have been constructed from pure gold, causing it to be extremely grand and magnificent. Behind it was the vast Oceanic Desert that was like a boundless sea, with howling sandstorms that were strong like dragons.

When looked at from afar, the grand and enormous city stood towering in the yellow sky and sea of sand, and as he heard the surging sounds of the piercingly cold wind in the heaven and earth it was like listening to the sound of a signal fire and battle drums, causing one’s blood to boil. It seemed as if he’d arrived at a frontier battlefield that was filled with shining spears and armored horses, and he wished for nothing more than to shed his blood and lay down his life to expand the country’s borders and conquer the world.

This was Oceanic City.

In the exceedingly vast area of the southern territory. If it was in terms of vastness and grandeur, Oceanic City was absolutely number one. Moreover, there were numerous precious ore veins distributed near Oceanic City, and they produced great amounts of Sulfur Sand, Scorching Sungold, Forget Steel, and other equipment refinement materials of high value. All of these materials were required to refine profound-rank Magic Treasures and many merchants from the northern barbaric lands, central plains, and eastern sea would come to Oceanic City to open up a branch to purchase the various specialty products of Oceanic City. Because of this, commerce in this place was extremely flourishing and prosperous.

Unlike Dragon Lake City, Oceanic City didn’t prohibit cultivators from flying in the air, thus when Chen Xi arrived here, he saw countless amounts of moving lights, figures, treasured carriages, and various types of flying Magic Treasures flying about endlessly in the sky of the enormous Oceanic City, and they were covered with revolving multicolored lights and the qi of treasures, causing them to be extremely gorgeous.

This is Oceanic City. It’s a nice place, as expected. Chen Xi sighed with emotion as he put away the treasured vessel and chose to walk into the city in a low profiled manner.

Tantai Zixuan and the others naturally didn’t have any objections, and as soon as they entered the city, a wave of sound that was noisy like tidewater instantly gushed towards them.

“The Han Clan is truly ruthless. I heard the thousands of clansmen of the Tantai Clan were almost slaughtered to the end and blood flowed into rivers, it was truly a tragedy.”

“Hmph! Even if the Han Clan didn’t make a move, the other powers would probably have made a move. After all, the Tantai Clan controlled the number one trading company of Oceanic City, the Treasure Control Company and possessed a land of treasures bestowed by the heavens like the Emeraldcloud Gorge, and it’s simply like a piece of plump meat. It had drawn the covetous thoughts of the various great powers long ago, and it isn’t strange that the Han Clan made a move.”

“Indeed, the Han Clan made a great move this time, they actually invited a great Rebirth Realm cultivator to deal with Tantai Hong, and after this battle, the Tantai Clan will probably be eliminated from Oceanic City.”

“It can’t be, right? I heard that Tantai Hong didn’t die and instead obtained external assistance that successfully repelled the Rebirth Realm cultivator, and he’s now planning and preparing to counterattack the Han Clan.

“True and false mixed together, who can guess the actual truth? But, in another few days, we’ll naturally be able to easily discern who won and who lost.”

In Oceanic City, many people moved up and down, yet all of them were discussing the battle between the Han Clan and the Tantai Clan, some were excited, some were shocked, and some sighed, causing the city to seem exceedingly noisy.

Hearing this news as soon as she entered the city caused Tantai Zixuan’s countenance to instantly go exceedingly pale and frightened, and she was unable to restrain the anxiety in her heart any longer and said hastily, “Fellow Daoist Chen Ke, I have urgent business to attend to at home, please allow us to take our leave first, and we’ll carry out a trade with you in the future.”

Chen Xi nodded and didn’t say anything, because no matter whose clan an incident like this occurred in, they’d probably be unable to sit still either. Not long after Tantai Zixuan and the others left, Chen Xi started to casually browse through Oceanic City.

Practically all the buildings in Oceanic City were constructed from Sulfuric Goldust, and they were high, magnificent, dazzling, and resplendent. People moved up and down along the spacious streets like interweaved streams. There were the most ordinary Congenital Realm cultivators that walked on the ground and carried out honest business and served others; there were also Violet Palace Realm cultivators that were superior and flew about in the air.

There were even some Golden Hall Realm cultivators that were important figures and were escorted by a large number of henchmen.

There were many Golden Core Realm cultivators as well, yet Rebirth Realm cultivators were still rarely seen.

After all, Rebirth Realm cultivators had statuses that were even higher than the Patriarch of some ancient clans, and some were even the leader of a sect, thus they normally wouldn’t appear in public.

Most attention drawing of it all was that within the streams of people that moved about busily was no lack of cultivators from outside the southern territory that wore strange clothes. Some were the noble Young Masters from the central plains that had large fluttering sleeves that were overflowing with an ancient style, some were the ferocious young men from the northern barbaric lands that bared their chests and hung bone rings on their ears, some were extraordinary youths from the eastern sea that wore assorted necklaces of pearls, jades, and feathered hats… The common characteristic of these people was their appearance was extremely young, and their auras were extremely formidable. Practically all of them were at the Golden Core Realm, and when they walked in the crowd, they seemed like giants amongst dwarfs, causing them to seem exceedingly conspicuous.

“I heard that for the sake of participating in the Allstar Meeting five years from now, the experts of the younger generation from the northern barbaric lands, central plains, and eastern sea have most chosen to come to Oceanic City to enter the Oceanic Desert, that’s called the land of death, to temper their strength. Now that I’ve seen them, they really are phoenixes and dragons amongst men that possess extraordinary bearing. They’re truly a cause for envy!”

“Yeah, I’m afraid there aren’t many Golden Core Realm experts below the age of 30 in our entire southern territory. Compared to them, the strength of our southern territory cultivation world seems… to be slightly weak.”

“Alas, there’s nothing we can do about this. Since a few thousand years ago, our southern territory has fallen behind the other places of the Darchu Dynasty. So many years have passed, yet this gap is still ceaselessly deepening, and it truly causes one to be rather helpless. I heard the Wanderingcloud Sword Sect’s Supreme Elder Bei Heng had once participated in the Allstar Meeting a few thousand years ago, yet he didn’t even enter the top 100. Isn’t it disheartening?”

“You don’t say. I wonder if an expert of our southern territory’s younger generation would participate in the Allstar Meeting that’s held five years from now? Would that person be able to fight his way into the top 100? Right, I heard that Chen Xi, who obtained the first rank in the Hidden Dragon Rankings a few years ago, is an extraordinary expert. I wonder if he’ll participate in the Allstar Meeting five years from now?”

“Chen Xi? No matter how good his natural endowments are, would he be able to advance to the Golden Core Realm in a short few years? Don’t think blindly, I’m afraid he has no fate in participating in the Allstar Meeting this time.”

Chen Xi couldn’t help but feel a wave of helplessness when he heard the surrounding crowd was actually discussing him. Could it be that all these fellows look so unfavorably upon me?

“Chen Xi, you must work hard and strive to advance to the Golden Core Realm. Not only must you participate in the Allstar Meeting, you must even fight your way into the top 10 and fiercely slap these people in the face. Let’s see if they dare underestimate you again.” Ling Bai spoke via voice transmission, and his voice revealed a wave of displeasure.

Chen Xi smiled and neither agreed nor disagreed, yet he said in his heart, “Not only will I enter the top ten of the Allstar Meeting, it’s even more important to enter the Primeval Battlefield and obtain the qualification to enter the Dark Reverie!”

“Fellow Daoist, are you waiting for the wind season of the Oceanic Desert to pass three days from now and enter into the Oceanic Desert to undergo training and tempering? Why don’t you stay and cultivate at our Treasure Heaven Pavilion to recuperate and build up your strength? Our Treasure Heaven Pavilion can provide you with various information about the Oceanic Desert.”

Chen Xi walked aimlessly on the street, and when he passed a towering and elegant pavilion, the female attendant that stood at the entrance to greet guests drew customers over with an eager tone.

“Hmm?” Chen Xi glanced at these female attendants with graceful figures that wore uniforms of fine silk gauze and possessed beautiful appearances. All of them were twined with spirit energy and possessed a cultivation at the Violet Palace Realm. If it was in Pine Mist City, figures like this would absolutely be the distinguished guests or respected figures at the level of Elder in the various powers. But now, they were only attendants in the Treasure Heaven Pavilion, and it caused one arouse a myriad of emotional sighs in one’s heart.

After that, Chen Xi abruptly recalled that when he returned from the depths of the Southern Barbaric Mountain Ranger, he’d once sold off a batch of materials in the Misty Sea City’s Treasure Heaven Pavilion, and he’d even obtained a Violetgold Treasure Heaven Token.

“Alright.” Chen Xi nodded.

Duanmu Ze had once said that behind the Treasure Heaven Pavilion was the Imperial Clan of the Darchu Dynasty, it possessed enormous influence, and its establishments covered the entire Darchu Dynasty. It didn’t just purchase rare and precious treasures, it also sold and bought information, medicinal materials, materials, and held a variety of enormous auctions. Residing in the Treasure Heaven Pavilion allowed one to acquire guaranteed safety, as even if a Rebirth Realm cultivator wanted to kill you, the cultivator had to wait for you to leave the Treasure Heaven Pavilion.

However, the price to stay in the Treasure Heaven Pavilion was extremely expensive. A single day cost over 50 kilograms of spirit liquid, and even an ordinary Golden Core Realm cultivator was unable to bear the cost.

There was even a VIP Room that cost 500 kilograms of spirit liquid per day, and it was indeed capable of causing one to stop at the sight of it. However, this VIP Room was prepared for distinguished guests, and normal people were utterly unable to enter.

“Senior, may I know your name?” When she saw Chen Xi indicate he wanted to stay in the Treasure Heaven Pavilion, the gazes of the beautiful female attendants lit up, and they beamed and even changed the way they addressed Chen Xi.

“I’m Chen Ke, and I indeed want to head to the Oceanic Desert to train and temper myself.” Chen Xi smiled and followed behind these female attendants to enter the Treasure Heaven Pavilion.

The Treasure Heaven Pavilion of Oceanic City was decorated with glittering articles of gold and jade, and it was spacious and vast. Its floor was covered in Deepsea Aquamarine Sand, its tables and chairs constructed from Azure Incensewood, treasured lamps hung high, incense burners emitted smoke that coiled up, and screens piled layer upon layer on each other. Every corner of the Treasure Heaven Pavilion emitted a refined and noble aura, and it was luxurious to the extreme.

“Senior, you’re probably not from Oceanic City, right? I presume you don’t know much about the Oceanic Desert. Our Treasure Heaven Pavilion provides a variety of information, do you want to take a look?” A female attendant smiled cheerfully as she asked.

Chen Xi said with interest, “What do you have? Let’s hear it.”

“For example, the information about some secret realms and abodes in the Oceanic Desert, which place is dangerous, which place you shouldn’t go to, and it’s even to the extent that so long as you want to know of something, we can provide the information to you.”

“Hmm, alright.” Chen Xi thought for a moment, then he withdrew the Violetgold Treasure Heaven Token and passed it over. “Prepare a VIP Room for me, then bring over all the information that’s related to the Oceanic Desert.”

Violetgold Treasure Heaven Token!?

When they saw this command token, the gazes these female attendants shot at Chen Xi was instantly different, it transformed from the respectful gaze from before to dense reverence, and it seemed like the gaze of a subject when facing the king.

“Senior, you’ve come just at the right moment. My Treasure Heaven Pavilion just happens to have a single VIP Room remaining, please follow me.” A female attendant spoke respectfully.

“Wait! That VIP Room has been occupied by my Young Master! That Golden Hall Realm kid over there, you should swiftly leave so as to avoid offending someone you shouldn’t offend!” Right at the instant Chen Xi was about to leave with the female attendant, a group of people walked in from the entrance of the Treasure Heaven Pavilion. A tall young man in gorgeous clothes, two young girls, and there were even four black clothed henchmen following by the young man’s side. The one that spoke was precisely one of the black clothed henchmen, and his voice was filled with disdain.