Talisman Emperor

It was a gorge that was completely barren.

A violent battle had obviously just occurred here. The rocks had crumbled, the ground had split apart, and there were numerous corpses scattered all over the ground, causing the ground to be dyed with blood.

At this moment, there were over 10 black clothed guards around a young woman.

This young woman was around the age of 11 or 12. She had a clear and young appearance, clothes that were rather gorgeous, and a graceful bearing that carried an oppressive aura of nobility. She was obviously not an ordinary person with a single glance.

On the other hand, all the guards by her side had skilled gazes and were filled with capable auras. They were absolutely not weaklings.

Especially the leader of the guards. He had a thin figure, a cold and rigid face, and his entire body was enshrouded with killing intent. The sword he carried in his hand was still dripping a string of blood.

Besides this, there was a black colored carriage stopped far away from the gorge, and it was pulled by a majestic black panther.

“Tu Fang, clean up the traces with some others, don’t leave any traces behind.” The thin and rigid guard instructed before he turned around and said to the young woman, “Young Miss, there’s no need to be alarmed. We’re already not far away from Darkcliff City, and we’ll naturally be completely safe once we arrive there.”

The young woman nodded and said in a low voice, “I’ll be troubling Uncle Gu Tian.”

“It’s my duty, it’s no trouble at all.” Gu Tian shook his head with a cold and rigid expression. When he spoke up to here, he seemed to have noticed something, and his eyes narrowed as he suddenly shouted with a low voice. “Who is it? Come out here!”

Clang!

When he spoke, he’d already withdrew his sword, and it flickered with sword qi and flowed with cold lights as he pointed it towards the distance.

The guards by the young woman’s side instantly seemed as if they were facing a great enemy, and they withdrew their weapons.

In the distance, Chen Xi walked out from behind the rocks with an upright expression. He didn’t intend to conceal his tracks in the first place, so continuing to sneak about would only cause it to be easier for him to be misunderstood.

“Fellow friends, I mean no harm.” Chen Xi walked over slowly and stopped 3km away from them because he knew that it would surely draw the vigilance and counterattack of the guards if he went any closer.

The reason was extremely simple, he’d noticed a long time ago through his observation that this group seemed to be pursued. Every single one of the emanated dense killing intent and extreme vigilance.

Perhaps he didn’t have any ill intent, yet once he was misunderstood by them, then they would probably enter into a battle, and that wasn’t something he was willing to see happen.

When they saw it was just a handsome young man, the expressions of the guards eased up, and only Gu Tian who was in the lead still maintained a cold expression as he said in an icy cold voice, “Friend, you’re not welcome here. Please leave quickly!”

Chen Xi was stunned and nodded as he said, “Alright, but…”

“But what?” Gu Tian frowned as he interrupted Chen Xi, and his expression was filled with vigilance.

All of the guards were slightly bewildered because they clearly sensed that Chen Xi’s aura was around the Golden Core Realm at most, and an existence like this was someone any single one of them could kill casually.

But based on Commander Gu Tian’s expression, he seemed as if he was facing a great enemy instead, and this was unusual.

“Can you give me a map before I leave? I can exchange for it with other things.” Chen Xi’s expression remained warm as he spoke seriously.

A map? Everyone was stunned, and one of them couldn’t help but ask. “Hey, you wouldn’t be lost, right?”

Chen Xi thought for a moment and felt that being lost wasn’t a bad excuse, so he acted embarrassed as he said, “To tell you the truth, I’m indeed lost.”

Everyone was instantly amused. How old is he, yet he’s lost? This fellow is really weird.

The atmosphere unconsciously became much more relaxed.

Gu Tian acutely noticed the change in the atmosphere, and he couldn’t help but frown while the vigilance in his eyes grew instead of reducing. He stared fixedly at Chen Xi as if he was pondering about an extremely difficult question.

“Uncle Gu Tian, he’s so pitiful to be lost alone in the Bloodbasin Hardlands. Why don’t we bring him along?” The young woman spoke with a low voice.

“Young Miss, he…” Gu Tian was about to refuse, yet he couldn’t help but soften when he encountered the young woman’s gaze of anticipation, and he pondered deeply for a moment before he nodded in the end. “Alright.”

The young woman smiled happily and said to the distant Chen Xi, “Big Brother over other, come with us. This is the Bloodbasin Hardlands, and there isn’t a map at all.”

Chen Xi’s impression of the young woman instantly became better, and he smiled while he cupped his hands. “Thank you, Young Miss.”

The young woman smiled lightly before turning around and returning into the black colored carriage, and she vanished out of sight.

“Friend, no matter who you are, don’t blame me for being merciless if you dare arouse any ill intent towards my clan’s Young Miss!” Gu Tian’s gaze was like a blade that swept Chen Xi’s coldly, and his voice carried a strong sense of warning.

“I’ll remember that.” Chen Xi nodded, and he wasn’t annoyed by this.

Gu Tian’s brows knit together even more tightly when he saw Chen Xi remaining unmoved no matter what he said, and he spoke with a deep voice. “Looks like I’m unable to drive you away no matter what. Since it’s like that, there’re some things that I have no choice but to warn you of.”

“Go ahead and speak frankly,” said Chen Xi.

“With your discerning ability, you’ve probably noticed that our situation is very dangerous, and it can be said that we’re facing various dangers at all times. Once you’re affected by it, we’ll be unable to spare any energy to rescue you!” Gu Tian warned word by word. “Now, you ought to understand your own situation. There’s still time for you to leave now.”

Chen Xi smiled. “Even though it’s dangerous, it’s better than being lost here.”

Gu Tian was stunned. He stared fixedly at Chen Xi for a long time before he said no further, and he turned around and shouted at the other guards. “Liven up and carry on!”

The group moved through the gorge and headed towards the distance.

All along the way, Chen Xi acutely noticed that this group was extremely experienced, and they moved forward with extreme speed while burying all traces on the path behind them.

There was also another guard that played the role of a scout and investigated the situation ahead. They could be said to be well trained and had obviously experienced the baptism of many battles, causing them to seem extremely capable and experienced.

Of course, their strengths weren’t very formidable in Chen Xi’s opinion. Those guards were all at the Nether Transformation Realm, whereas only the guard leader, Gu Tian, was at the 3rd level of the Earthly Immortal Realm.

But Chen Xi was surprised because this group didn’t choose to fly, and they walked purely by foot, causing it to seem extremely unusual.

After all, according to the speed of an Earthly Immortal, one could instantly arrive 5,000km away, and even if Gu Tian teleported all of them along with him, it was still be countless times swifter than purely moving on foot.

Looks like this place called Bloodbasin Hardlands probably has some secrets of its own… Chen Xi seemed to be lost in thought.

The group stopped when it was almost dusk, and they set up camp in a dense forest.

Perhaps they’d received the orders of Gu Tian because practically no one would talk with Chen Xi, and they revealed cold and distant appearances. So Chen Xi would naturally not bring trouble upon himself.

On the contrary, it was the young woman that was rather curious towards him. As soon as they stopped at this moment, she walked over to Chen Xi’s side and sat on a rock before she said, “I’m Cui Qingning, what about you, Big Brother?”

Chen Xi smiled. “Chen Xi.”

“Big Brother Chen Xi, how did you get lost in the Bloodbasin Hardlands?” Cui Qingning said, “This is a dangerous place in the Netherworld, and it’s filled with various terrifying dangers. If it wasn’t for the sake of avoiding…”

“Young Miss!” Gu Tian suddenly reminded from the side.

Cui Qingning was stunned, and then she stuck her tongue out and said, “Oh, I forgot about maintaining secrecy.”

Gu Tian couldn’t help but shake his head.

Chen Xi started chuckling without end instead. This young woman was obviously not experienced in the way of the world, and she was pure and kind.

Chen Xi had experienced so much that merely the words ‘maintain secrecy’ coupled with what the young woman had said earlier allowed him to roughly determine a  vague idea of the situation.

This group was surely avoiding the pursuit of some enemy, and they had no choice but to risk entering this Bloodbasin Hardlands for the sake of utilizing the dangers that filled this area as cover and seize the opportunity to escape.

Of course, if they had any other choice, then they probably wouldn’t enter this place. The reason was extremely simple, a dangerous environment could be used as cover, yet it would also harm one’s self as well.

“Right, you haven’t told me how you got lost.” Cui Qingning had jade white skin, and she focused her pair of pure and clear eyes that were like black gems at him.

Her appearance was young yet carried beauty that couldn’t be disguised. Unfortunately, her figure was slim while her countenance was slightly pale, causing her to seem as if she was greatly ill.

“I came here by accident, and I didn’t know what place this was at all.” Chen Xi couldn’t help but laugh with self-ridicule. “If I didn’t encounter all of you, then I wouldn’t even know the name Bloodbasin Hardlands.”

“Big Brother Chen Xi, you’re not from the Netherworld?” Cui Qingning was surprised.

Needless to say, this pure young woman had the acute sense of smell that innately belonged to women as well, and she instantly made a close guess.

Chen Xi didn’t conceal it and said, “Exactly.”

As soon as these words were spoken, it instantly drew the attention of Gu Tian. He walked over and said with a frown, “No wonder I felt your aura was unusual. So in this way, you’re from the Mortal Dimension?”

“Exactly.” Chen Xi nodded. He noticed that Gu Tian’s expression seemed to have eased up greatly, and he instantly thought in his heart. Looks like he was vigilant against me earlier because he felt my aura was slightly unusual.

Gu Tian frowned and pondered deeply for a long time when he saw Chen Xi admit it, and then he turned and left.

“The Mortal Dimension? That’s a nice place. I heard it’s much more fun than the Netherworld.” Cui Qingning’s eyes lit up while she revealed an expression of yearning and anticipation.

Chen Xi smiled and said, “It’s actually the same.”

Cui Qingning seemed to have thought of something, and she pursed her lips before she said with disappointment, “It’s not the same, the Netherworld is too chaotic. There’s slaughter and battles everywhere, and I don’t like it.”

Chen Xi was stunned, yet he didn’t know what to say because the entire Mortal Dimension was beset with war now as well. 

“Night is about to arrive! Quickly! Pack everything up and take precautions carefully!” Right at this moment, Gu Tian suddenly spoke with a low voice, and his expression was stern and revealed a wisp of seriousness.

Chen Xi raised his head to glance at the sky. Through the layers of branches and leaves, he was faintly able to notice that a moon that flowed with a bloody glow had suddenly appeared in the dark sky, and it was gorgeous yet horrifying.

A blood red moon hung in the sky while a shapeless fluctuation that oppressed the soul enveloped the heavens and the earth just as the blood red moonlight did, and everything in the world seemed to have fallen into deathly silence at this moment.