Talisman Emperor

The Sky Key was 30cm long and clear blue like the sky. Its surface was covered in numerous mysterious talisman markings, and it emanated spots of starry azure brilliance that were extremely resplendent.

At this moment, the little gold bear used it as a sword and slashed out with it, causing the entire key to suddenly erupt with a myriad of rays of clear radiance that whistled out and directly blasted the palm away!

Bang!

An enormous and muffled bang resounded out while the deathly grey palm that was coiled with the decaying aura of death dispersed with a rumble, and it transformed into strands of the deathly qi that was actually completely crushed by this strike and dissipated into nothingness.

Chen Xi watched this scene with a lingering fear in his heart after escaping death. Never had he imagined that the little gold bear was so extraordinary to the point that the energy of sin that even a great figure from outside the three dimensions was helpless against would be crushed with a single strike from it.

Swoosh!

Before Chen Xi could recover from his shock, the little bear had suddenly transformed into a ray of flowing light that appeared before the thatched house, and its paws formed seals repeatedly.

Numerous mysterious talisman markings poured out from his hand and actually completely sealed the tiny gap revealed on the door once again.

“That scared me to death. The source of sin almost escaped.” After finishing all this, the little bear heaved a long sigh of relief, and its paws patted its chest while it revealed an appearance of having a lingering fear.

Chen Xi stared blankly at this because he was utterly unable to connect this charmingly naïve little golden bear with a ‘peerless expert.’

After all, that scene from before was simply too terrifying, and even he didn’t possess the slightest ability to resist. But the little bear had merely utilized a single strike to shatter that palm. So exactly how formidable was the little bear’s strength?

“Amazing! Truly amazing!” Chen Xi couldn’t help but sigh with emotion.

“Senior Brother is too kind.” The little bear chuckled, and it seemed to be slightly embarrassed from being praised and used its chubby paws to scratch its head repeatedly.

“What’s…your name?” Chen Xi asked curiously.

“Master named me Huang Man’er. My Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters call me A’Man.” The little bear answered in frankly.

“A’Man.” Chen Xi nodded, and then he said, “Right, why do you keep calling me Senior Brother?”

He was really curious because he could be sure now that the little bear was undoubtedly an inheritor of the Sky Dao Palace. But why did A’Man call me Senior Brother the moment he met me?

Could it be because of the Sky Key?

Sur enough, the little bear answered like it was a matter of course. “Master instructed me that the person who arrived here with the Sky Key in hand would surely be my Senior Brother.”

He paused for a moment and continued. “Master also asked me to wait here until Senior Brother came because only the Sky Key in Senior Brother’s hand would be able to open the Heaven Imprisoning Dao Shackles on my neck…”

As he spoke, he slapped himself on the head and cried out. “Aiya! How could I have forgotten to open it up? Senior Brother, wait a moment. I’ll chat with you after I’ve opened up this damnable lock that has locked me for countless years.”

The words of the little golden bear, A’Man, were very…illogical. He spoke everything that came to mind, and it caused Chen Xi to be puzzled. Up until now, Chen Xi still hadn’t figured out the sequence of events.

But he could be sure that this little fellow before him ought to have stayed here for a very long time, and it was for the sake of awaiting the ‘Senior Brother’ that his master mentioned.

It just so happened that Chen Xi possessed the Sky Key, and he naturally became this ‘Senior Brother.’

When he recalled Qian Yuan’s Treasure Vault in the depths of the Darchu Dynasty’s Oceanic Desert, the figure of the Suanni with peerless divine might that he’d seen there, and the aged and grand voice he’d heard there, a flash of insight couldn’t help but flash within Chen Xi’s mind. The owner of that Qian Yuan’s Treasure Vault couldn’t be A’Man’s Master, right? And that Suanni might have been A’Man’s real senior brother?

“In the long primordial age and the brilliant years that passed, I lived and grew, wildly and ferociously, and I finally obtained a good teacher that bestowed education upon me. He passed down extraordinary techniques to me and taught me Daoist scriptures, allowing the roots of my intelligence and Dao Foundation to finally become established and live up to the expectations in the heart of my Master, and I shed tears of gratitude because of this.”

    …

“My home, my roots, both are the Sky Dao Palace. Since this life is ending, I’ll repay Master in my next. Oh! Respected Master, don’t forget this useless disciple.”

The voice of that Suanni before its vanished seemed to resound once more in his ears. Every single word was resolute and powerful, and firmness that was impossible to be worn away was revealed within its grief.

Chen Xi inadvertently recalled the scene from all those years ago. The divine beast Suanni swept through all the experts, yet at the end, when it heard the aged voice, it transformed into a young youth in Daoist Robes who had his hair coiled into a bun, and the young youth was incinerated within raging flames and vanished completely from the heavens and the earth.

For no reason or rhyme, a wisp of a complicated feeling surged out into his heart.

All those years ago during the trip to Qian Yuan’s Treasure Vault, countless cultivators had entered the treasure vault and experienced three tests, and countless casualties had occurred during the tests. But when the tests really ended, everyone noticed that all the cultivators who’d perished during the tests actually didn’t die, and they’d been concealed by the great ability of the divine beast Suanni.

It was from that moment onward that Chen Xi was attracted to the Sky Dao Palace because the treasure vault it left behind rewarded the Dao to those who were fated, yet it didn’t have any intention to harm others. Such broad-mindedness was something that could really be called the bearing and disposition of a great sect!

He still remembered that he’d once sworn on that day. If I’m able to obtain the contents of the Sky Dao Palace’s secret vault in the future, I’ll surely establish a sect and rebuild the Sky Dao Palace, allowing its flame to be passed down and exist forever in the heavens and the earth!”

Crack!

A clear sound resounded out as the little gold bear, A’Man, opened up the golden little lock on his neck.

Roar!

When this treasure called the Heaven Imprisoning Dao Shackles by him was opened, this charmingly naïve little bear suddenly looked up into the sky and roared like a thunderclap that shook the world.

Instantly, his 30cm tall figure emanated peerlessly terrifying Immortal Energy, and with a rumble, his figure actually rose steadily to transform to a height of 30km in the blink of an eye!

At this moment, A’Man was like a demonic bear that was from the primeval times. His eyes were like two crimson red lakes that reflected everything within the world, and it seemed like so long as he was willing, he could pierce through the sky with a raise of his hand and pluck the stars and moon from it!

Chen Xi was shocked as he looked up at this figure that was even taller than a mountain and seemed like a great Fiendgod that stood towering in the world., and he was completely unable to imagine that the muddleheaded little fellow from before had transformed into this.

Since he possesses such a terrifying imposing aura, exactly how formidable is his cultivation?

“Oh, I forget that Master said I can only reveal my true form in battle. Otherwise, I’ll be capture by bad people.” A’Man spoke with a droning voice, and then his figure shook as he swiftly transformed back into his 30cm tall appearance.

Captured by bad people…

Chen Xi was speechless. Which bad person in this world would dare to capture you?

“Senior Brother, let’s go.” A’Man’s chubby figure leaped up onto Chen Xi’s shoulder, and his paws embraced Chen Xi’s neck like a flurry toy that hung there before he said with a comfortable expression, “I haven’t eaten in so many years. Senior Brother, bring me to go have food.”

“…” The corners of Chen Xi’s mouth couldn’t help but twitch fiercely because he recalled Ling Bai, Bai Kui, and A’xiu, and it seemed like there was never a lack of gluttons by his side.

“We really should leave.” Chen Xi took a deep breath as he glanced at the thatched house Daoist temple before turning around and heading up the stairway to the Dao Platform, and he didn’t continue staying here any longer. 

    …

Crack!

When Chen Xi and A’Man left, the Heaven Imprisoning Dao Shackles that A’Man had left on the ground was suddenly suffused with a wisp of golden brilliance, and it flew up as if it possessed intelligence of its own and tightly locked up the door of the thatched house.

“Dammit!!!” Suddenly, an extremely low and hoarse roar sounded out from within the thatched house. “Huang A’Man, do you think you can trap me with the Heaven Imprisoning Dao Shackles? Just you wait, you damnable idiot! I’ll surely break out of here when the upheaval of the three dimensions arrives, and I’ll annihilate everyone from your Sky Dao Palace!”

The voice revealed boundless rage, resentment, and unwillingness before returning to silence in the end.

Rumble!

On the ancient yet ordinary Dao Platform, the door that led underground vanished silently, and it was impossible to notice a trace of it any longer.

The river of Yin and Yang, the four sacrificial altars, and the eight palaces in the surroundings of the Dao Platforms erupted with strands of clear and misty divine brilliance at practically the same moment, and it shot into the sky!

At the same time, the lofty peak that was shaped like the head of a dragon and the vast river that was shaped like the character ‘道’ in the outside world both surged with a beam of light that shot into the sky and was suffused with divine radiance, causing an area of 50,000kms in the surroundings to be illuminated.

It was like a vast divine miracle had descended, and it instantly drew the attention of all the cultivators nearby, causing all of them to converge their gazes over there.

However, the blazing glow was too dazzling, and it completely drowned out the entire surroundings, causing even the Immortal Perception of an Earthly Immortal Realm expert to find it impossible to see through the events happening within the radiance.

After a short moment, the radiance dispersed, and everything returned to normal.

However, to everyone’s horror, the ‘道’ character shaped river and dragon head shaped mountain had actually vanished into thin air! An only a barren and rocky ground remained there.

What exactly occurred here?

In these past few days and along with the news of the treasure map in Wen Tianshuo’s hands being spread, it had drawn numerous experts from all over to come here. All of them firmly believed that if the Sky Dao Palace’s treasure vault existed, then it would surely be near the river shaped in the form of the character ‘道’.

Yet now, before they could unearth any inside information, the river and mountain had actually vanished into thin air, so how could they not be shocked?

Could it be that the Sky Dao Palace’s treasure vault has been obtained by someone? 

Everyone couldn’t figure it out no matter how they wracked their brains.

Only a small group of people faintly guessed that all of this might be closely related to Chen Xi. After all, Chen Xi had just annihilated all the Earthly Immortal Realm experts of the Heavenflow Dao Sect a few days ago, and then it drew out the Immortal Emissary, Bing Shitian, at the end!

On the other hand, since Chen Xi entered the ‘道’ character shaped river that day, he’d vanished completely. All of these tiny clues seemed to faintly show that all the phenomenon that had occurred before them seemed to be related to Chen Xi.

Of course, all of this was only a guess, and no one dared to confirm that all of this was really related to Chen Xi.

Outside the Sky Dao Abandoned Mountain.

Chen Xi withdrew his gaze and asked. “A’Man, was that phenomenon related to you?”

The little gold bear was snoring on Chen Xi’s shoulder, and he spoke drowsily when he heard this. “Oh, it wasn’t me. It’s related to the Heaven Imprisoning Dao Shackles, all of this is…” 

As he spoke, his head tilted, and he fell asleep.

Chen Xi was helpless as he knew it was simply more difficult than ascending the heavens to find out anything from this simple-minded little fellow.

Nevermind, I’ll go to Corona City first and see how that Junior Marquis of Marquis Wen’s Estate is now… Chen Xi shook his head and pondered briefly before he decided, and then his figure flashed as he headed towards Corona City.