Talisman Emperor

In Pine Mist City, the rear courtyard of the Chen Clan Mansion.

Chen Xi’s entire body was covered in bandages as he crawled up on the bed within a spacious and elegant room, and he’d finally awoken after being unconscious for two months.

After experiencing a struggle for life and death, the space between his brows was covered with a composed and collected expression now, and as his eyes opened and closed, his gaze was deep and carried along a trace of a unique unrestrained feeling.

Actually, his body that seemed to be tall and emaciated wasn’t weak in the slightest. His muscles that had their outline drawn out from the bandages that coiled around him tightly were clearly defined and angular, as if they was made from iron, and they were filled with an indescribably explosive force.

After limping two steps in the room, Chen Xi was already panting for breath, and these were scenes of extreme loss of vital energy and blood and the injury of one’s quintessence, yet he shook his head and didn’t feel much depression in his heart.

The medicinal strength of the Sky Jadeliquid pill was too overbearing and powerful, and he’d swallowed two successively, causing the meridians in his entire body to practically shatter inch by inch. Even his Dantian had suffered a heavy injury, causing it to be empty and dried up without the slightest bit of True Essence.

Fortunately, the damage to his Dao Foundation wasn’t serious, and so long as he slowly recuperated, he could completely recover. He planned to let another two days pass and wait for his body to almost recover before going into closed door cultivation to repair his Dao Foundation.

Chen Xi pushed open the room door and arrived in the courtyard.

This courtyard wasn’t any different to the courtyard in an ordinary person’s house; its surroundings were filled with verdant and luxuriant plants, and there was even a flower garden at the side that was filled with a few dozen types of extremely delicate and charming flowers. Amongst them included a few types of camellias that were a beautiful blood red color, and they seemed extremely like Red Spider Lilies, the Paramita Flowers.

Groups of blue, yellow, and azure butterflies fluttered gracefully amongst these flowers, and they were indescribably lively and charming under the sunlight, causing everything in the surroundings to become tranquil and beautiful.

Chen Xi extremely enjoyed this type of feeling, as it had been very long since he’d felt so tranquil like this. Since he was young, every single moment was a race against time. Supporting his family, taking care of his grandfather, providing for Chen Hao to go to school and practice in the sword… Everything relied on the support from the tiny bit of spirit stones he earned from crafting talismans. Even though these days were hard, yet they were smooth and steady. But after he’d obtained the jade pendant and the Abode, his fate started to become turbulent.

Participating in the Southern Barbaric Nether Domain trials, entering into the depths of the Southern Barbaric Mountain Range, being chased after to the Oceanic Desert, participating in the Hidden Dragon Rankings… Every single experience was filled with slaughter and blood, and killing intent and danger was buried within them. That feeling was as if he was a fugitive seeking for refuge in the world, wandering from place to place without a home to settle down, causing his nerves to be tense all the time as he stayed vigilant against various dangers that might arrive.

This feeling was extremely tiring.

Yet now, as he sat upright in the Chen Clan courtyard that belonged to him, in his dazed state, he felt he had a place to settle down. This feeling caused him to feel peaceful from inside to outside, and it felt comfortable.

If there was no disputes and no hatred, how nice would it be to silently stay in the clan like this and watch the clan rise slowly… Chen Xi stood before the flower garden as he lightly sighed in his heart.

He knew that this peacefulness was only temporary to him, and only by working hard to cultivate and becoming stronger would he be able to guarantee that the entire Chen Clan would be peaceful. Only by becoming even stronger could he allow the Chen Clan to rise slowly in peace and stability, and establish a clan that remained eternal.

Only in this way could grandfather have a smile in the netherworld, right?

Instantly, Chen Xi’s heart became firm once more as his path was bound to never be peaceful.

Crack!

The entrance to the courtyard that wasn’t locked was opened, and Chen Hao walked in.

“Brother, how are you feeling now?” Chen Hao felt extremely happy as well when he saw his older brother standing before the flower garden while filled with spirit. After his big brother woke up a few days ago, he’d completely heaved a sigh of relief, and he was now concerned about when his older brother’s body would recover completely.

Chen Xi smiled. “It’s alright, I just wanted to look for you.”

Chen Hao’s brows raised and asked. “For what?”

“Your birthday is in another few days, right? I have a present to give you.” Chen Xi smiled, and as he spoke, an iron sword had appeared in his hand. The sword’s body contained extremely vast Righteous Dao Insight and glowed faintly as if a long river of history flowed within it and recorded the changes and turmoil in the mortal world.

“I obtained this sword from the Baleful Fiend Burial Grounds, and it ought to be a divine weapon of the Confucianist Sects of ancient times. The Righteous aura on it is vast like the ocean, and it just happens to be suitable to your Righteous Sword Dao.” Chen Xi had already passed the iron sword over as he spoke.

Chen Hao received the sword, yet didn’t inspect it impatiently. Unknowingly, a few tears had appeared in the corners of his eyes. Never had he imagined that even after so many years and when even he was about to forget his own birthday, his older brother still remembered, and Chen Xi had even taken the trouble to prepare a present for him.

This caused him to recall his youth. Due to his family’s financial situation being impoverished, his family lived in extremely hard circumstances. But no matter what, every time his birthday arrived, his older brother would prepare a present for him as if performing a magic trick. Even though they were only some small toys, yet he’d always remembered it until now.

Most saddening to him was that his older brother had never celebrated his own birthday, not even once, and it was even to the point that even he didn’t remember exactly when his older brother’s birthday was.

Chen Hao wasn’t a person that like to shed tears, conversely, besides when he was before his grandfather and Chen Xi, he’d never shed tears during all these years, no matter how great a setback or suffering he encountered.

Yet now, he just felt like crying. He felt as if he was still a little child before his older brother and was protected by his older brother in every aspect, and all the suffering was endured by Chen Xi alone, whereas, he himself instead sat idly by and enjoyed the fruits of Chen Xi’s suffering.

“Quickly test the might of this sword.” Chen Xi patted Chen Hao’s broad and firm shoulders, and only now did he notice that Chen Hao was already as tall as him.

“There’s no need. A present given to me by you is the most precious in the world to me, and even an Immortal Artifact can’t compare to it.” Chen Hao carefully put away the iron sword and smiled.

Chen Xi went silent as he’d heard these words many times. When he was young, Chen Hao would say this every single time he gave Chen Hao a present. Yet never had he imagined that now when Chen Hao was so old, Chen Hao would still be like a child, and it caused him feel both emotional and reminiscent in his heart.

“Father.” Right at this moment, a clear and childish voice sounded out abruptly from the entrance to the courtyard.

Chen Xi was stunned, and when he raised his eyes to look, he saw a little fellow around the age of one that had a strong appearance stumbling as he stood by the side of the entrance, whereas, Feng Lengcui was standing by the little fellow’s side with a smile on her face.

“This is your son?” Chen Xi looked at his younger brother with a gaze filled with shock.

“I forgot to tell you. Lengcui was already pregnant when we left the Wanderingcloud Sword Sect, and she gave birth to Yu’er not long after we returned to Pine Mist City.” Chen Hao rubbed his head and spoke slightly embarrassedly.

“Chen Yu?” As he muttered, Chen Xi couldn’t endure his pleasant surprise any longer, and he started laughing heartily as he opened his arms as spoke to the little fellow. “Yu’er, come, let your Uncle hug you!”

The little fellow blinked his eyes and was obviously slightly afraid of this Uncle that was covered in white colored bandages, and he indecisively looked towards his mother beside him.

“Quickly go over! That’s your Uncle. Yu’er, you must remember to listen to your Uncle.” Fei Lengcui smiled gently as she encouraged little Chen Yu.

“Mmm, Yu’er will obey Mother.” The little fellow nodded as his little feet stumbled along to walk towards Chen Xi in a slanted manner. He wasn’t even one year old after all, so he walked unsteadily, and coupled with him walking in a slight rush, he tripped when he was just about to arrive by Chen Xi’s side. Instantly, he fell forward, scaring him to the point he instantly closed his eyes.

But in the next moment, the little fellow was already embraced by a pair of large hands. It was Chen Xi who’d tightly embraced the little fellow in his arms, and he smiled to the point his eyes narrowed to become two lines as he spoke repeatedly without end. “Yu’er, good Yu’er. My Chen Clan has a worthy successor. Grandfather will sure be happy if he knows about this in the netherworld…”

“Uncle, there’s so much blood on you.” Little Chen Yu pointed at the bloodstains that tainted the bandages and said seriously, “My Father said that men bleed but do not shed tears. After I grow up, I want to be just like Uncle and bleed a lot of blood, yet absolutely not shed tears.”

The little fellows completely mistaken way of expressing himself caused Chen Xi to laugh loudly, and he liked this strong looking little fellow even more. With a thought in his heart, he withdrew a medicinal pill. “Yu’er, this is a present Uncle has for you. Promise Uncle that you’ll eat it after you grow up, alright?”

This medicinal pill was the size of little Chen Yu’s fist, completely crystalline and translucent. Numerous dazzling divine lights gushed about within it, and there were even numerous faintly discernible dragon roars sounding out from within it. It was precisely the Dao Insight Origin Pill that contained the Grand Dao of Earth.

Chen Hao and Fei Lengcui were greatly shocked when they saw this medicinal pill, and they were in disbelief. “This is a Dao Insight Origin Pill? Big Brother, this is too precious. This won’t do, you can’t give this present to him.”

Both of them hurriedly refused Chen Xi’s gift. The value of a Dao Insight Origin Pill was absolutely beyond estimation. Moreover, it was a rare treasure that could only be chanced upon by luck. So how could they agree when they saw Chen Xi wanted to gift this thing to their son that wasn’t a year old?

“Yu’er, do you like it?” Chen Xi disregarded them instead and asked the little fellow directly.

“I like it. It’s like candy, yet candy isn’t as big and beautiful as this.” Little Chen Yu’s eyes flickered as he looked curiously at the numerous lights that flowed endlessly on the surface of the Dao Insight Origin Pill, and he felt it was extremely interesting.

“Then I’ll give you this candy, alright?” Chen Xi grinned.

“This won’t do. Father told me that there are no gains without pains. Yu’er can’t accept this candy.” Little Chen Xu obviously coveted it extremely, yet he tilted his head to ponder deeply for a long time before shaking his head and refusing in the end.

“Alright, then help Uncle massage his shoulders, and you’ll have rendered service to me. Then this candy is yours. How about it?” Chen Xi did indeed like this little fellow too much. During the period he embraced the little fellow, he’d already more or less understood the little fellow’s foundation and natural talent, and it was absolutely the very best. So long as the little fellow cultivated diligently in the future, he would be an extraordinary young talent as well.

Little Chen Yu didn’t hesitate any longer and swung his tiny fists to help massage his Uncle’s shoulder, and his expression was extremely serious, causing him to be indescribably cute in Chen Xi’s eyes.

After teasing the little fellow for a while, Chen Xi passed him over to Fei Lengcui and let her carry him out of the courtyard.

“Brother, that Dao Insight Origin Pill is too precious, yet you’ve given it to him just like that, this…” Chen Hao still felt that it wasn’t proper and spoke out.

Before Chen Hao could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Chen Xi. “Do you know how those genius figures that are famous in the world are fostered? All of them had the sects and clans behind them utilized various medicines while they were young to help clear the impurities within their bodies and develop their bodies, allowing them to establish a solid foundation that’s beyond the imagination of ordinary people. Only in this way would they be able to advance vigorously in their cultivation and leave everyone else far behind them. My actions of giving this Dao Insight Origin Pill to Yu’er is nothing.”

Chen Hao opened his mouth yet didn’t say anything further as he’d already discerned that his older brother had made up his mind, and continuing to advise Chen Xi was of no use.

The two brothers chatted for a while more, and then Chen Hao bid his farewells and allowed Chen Xi to rest properly when he saw a wisp of exhaustion gush into appearance between Chen Xi’s brows, whereas, he himself had instead gone to deal with some matters of the clan.

Chen Xi nodded in his heart as he looked at Chen Hao’s figure that left hastily. He’d already discerned that Chen Hao already possessed the ability to undertake responsibility on his own, and coupled with the Grand Qi Atomic Sword Formation that protected the clan. So long as it wasn’t an Earthly Immortal Realm expert that invaded the Chen Clan, the formation was sufficient to deal with everything.

“Perhaps I can leave with my heart at ease once my strength recovers…” Chen Xi pondered for a long time before walking back into his room, and then he sat cross-legged on the bed and a jade slip that was coiled in golden light was placed before him.

Even though he was temporarily unable to cultivate, yet he could seize this opportunity so comprehend some cultivation techniques, whereas, this cultivation technique jade slip before his eyes was shockingly the Half-step Dao Grade martial technique from Qian Yuan’s Treasure Vault — The Grand Obliteration Fist!