Talisman Emperor

The Cui Clan.

Before the ancient and mottled limestone sacrificial altar.

Cui Zhenkong stared fixedly at the young woman that returned from the secret realm in the ancestral grounds.

Even if he’d already cultivated to the Saint Immortal Realm, Cui Zhenkong still couldn’t help but be slightly shocked when he sensed the aura emanated by the young woman before him.

What pure energy of judgment!

A trace of a dazed feeling surged within Cui Zhenkong’s eyes. He’d only heard of such an aura during the instructions and teachings of his seniors when he was young, and it was the first time he’d truly encountered such a feeling.

The aura was icy cold, murderous, emotionless, and indifferent, it was like a blade in the possession of the Heaven Dao, and it intended to judge the world and distinguish between black and white, right and wrong!

Cui Zhenkong was clearly aware that this was the energy of judgment! It was the most supreme existence within the inheritance left behind by the ancestor of his Cui Clan!

In the past, the Ancestor, Cui Jue, held the brush of judgment and controlled the book of life and death, and he determined sins and judged between good or bad throughout the Netherworld. Besides the Netherworld Emperor, could anyone else compare to him?

Time zipped by and after the Ancestor left, the forces of the Cui Clan fell into a state of decline, and the glory from all those years ago had already become a memory that was impossible to rebuild.

What was the reason? 

It was none other that no one was capable of comprehending the profundities of Judgment!

This was a regret that couldn’t be wiped off from Cui Zhenkong’s heart, and it was the source of disappointment and a feeling a sense of loss in all the seniors and ancestors of the Cui Clan.

Fortunately, Cui Qingning’s appearance allowed Cui Zhenkong to see hope once more, and he saw an opportunity to rebuild the clan’s former glory!

So he didn’t hesitate to sacrifice the lives of his clansmen to set up a brutal and cold situation, and it was all for the sake of tempering Cui Qingning’s disposition. Moreover, for the sake of being able to allow her to transform swiftly, he wouldn’t even hesitate to pay any price.

Now he’d finally succeeded!

Cui Qingning didn’t disappoint him. At such a young age, she’d successfully activated the ancestral grounds and obtained the inheritance of the Ancestor, allowing her to grasp the profundities of Judgment that had been lost in the boundless years…

All of this caused Cui Zhenkong to be extremely excited, and his clear and icy cold eyes couldn’t help but reveal a wisp of fervor. He seemed to have seen the entire Cui Clan become overlord of the Netherworld under Cui Qingning’s lead and reclaim the supreme glory of the clan from the past!

Cui Qingning stood there silently, and she seemed to have not noticed the excitement in Cui Zhenkong’s heart.

Compared to before, her bearing had changed greatly. Her young face had become even calmer and more indifferent while her body was coiled by strands of mysterious and unfathomable aura that was murderous and merciless.

Looking at her from afar caused the hearts of others to be unable to help but palpitate slightly and feel a wisp of terror.

“Good! Good! Good!” After a short while, Cui Zhenkong cried out with the word ‘good’ three times, and his expression revealed boundless excitement and a wisp of dense delight and doting before he said with an amiable smile. “Qingning, have you grasped the inheritance?”

Cui Qingning nodded and said, “The Ancestor’s inheritance is extensive and profound. Even though I’ve comprehended it completely, I still have to spend time to slowly comprehend and grasp it completely.”

Cui Zhenkong laughed heartily and patted her on the shoulder before he said, “Good! From tomorrow onwards, you’ll head to Immortal Swan Cave with me to enter into closed door cultivation. There’s no need for you to pay attention to anything else, and you’ll take control of the position of Patriarch and the Punishment Bureau once you complete your closed door cultivation!”

Cui Qingning puckered her lips and didn’t feel any excitement, she was still calm, indifferent, and solitary.

This caused Cui Zhenkong to feel even more gratified and delighted, and he couldn’t help but say. “Qingning, do you have any other requests? Feel free to speak of them. Ancestor will agree to them all!”

“Grandfather, I don’t have any other request, and it’s enough for you to help Big Brother Chen Xi rescue his wife.” Qingning spoke slowly.

Cui Zhenkong’s face stiffened when he heard this, and his face gradually darkened before he said with a frown, “That kid didn’t know what’s good for him. I already agreed to lend him a hand, but unfortunately, he didn’t appreciate my kindness in the end.”

Cui Qingning was stunned, and she raised her eyes to glance at Cui Zhenkong’s expression before she puckered her lips and didn’t say anything further in the end.

Cui Zhenkong consoled. “Qingning, set your mind at ease and enter into closed door cultivation. I will naturally lend a hand when that kid returns to yield and admit his mistakes.”

Cui Qingning sighed faintly before her figure floated off into the air like a gentle while lotus flower, and she left swiftly.

Cui Zhenkong’s expression became slightly gloomy when he saw this because he never expected that little fellow who was rude and didn’t know what was good for himself would actually possess such an important position in Cui Qingning’s heart.

But he didn’t think he’d done anything wrong. Chen Xi was only a peak sovereign at the Earthly Immortal Realm. Perhaps Chen Xi could create great storms in the Netherworld, yet in the eyes of figures like himself, Chen Xi was no different to an ant from the mortal world.

“Alas, this little girl, Qingning, is still too young. Perhaps she’d forget that little fellow after a few years pass…” Cui Zhenkong shook his head and disapproved.

Om!

Right at this moment, a shapeless fluctuation suddenly stretched out from the sacrificial altar, and the secret realm in the Cui Clan’s ancestral grounds was activated once more.

Practically at the exact same time, a flowing light flew out from within, and it flashed and vanished while Cui Zhenkong was unprepared.

What happened? Cui Zhenkong’s face sank, and he was surprised and bewildered. With his cultivation at the Saint Immortal Realm, he was actually unable to make any reaction against that wisp of flowing light, and this was slightly unusual.

This is…

When Cui Zhenkong looked towards the secret realm, his entire body froze while his pupils dilated because the inheritance treasure left behind by his clan’s ancestor had actually vanished!

Cui Zhenkong seemed as if he was struck by lightning, and his face darkened without end. That was the inheritance of his clan’s ancestor, the foundation of his Cui Clan, and its value was even greater than the Netherworld Disk!

Now, it had actually vanished right beneath his eyes!

Instantly, Cui Zhenkong’s entire body trembled violently while his beard fluttered with rage, and he was like an ancient ferocious beast that had been infuriated as he roared towards the sky. “Who is it!? Which bastard actually dared to come cause trouble in my Cui Clan!?”

His voice was like thunder from the nine heavens, and it shook and rumbled throughout the Cui Clan Estate and resounded through every inch of space in Violetsilk City.

“What’s happened?”

“The Ancestor is furious!”

“Who’s so audacious to actually offend the Ancestor?”

The entire Cui Clan was restless, and they looked at each other.

On this day, the entire Violetsilk City fell into chaos, and it was filled with Cui Clan members that had murderous looks on their faces as they patrolled the city and seemed to be willing to dig three feet into the ground just to find what they were looking for.

This continued for an entire month before this storm finally calmed.

Moreover, supposedly, the Cui Clan’s Ancestor was furious and was angered to the point he almost fainted on many occasions because a cherished treasure had been lost.

This had also become a joke in the Netherworld.

Everyone was guessing exactly who’d stolen the treasure and was capable to cause a Saint Immortal to fall into such a state.

“Big Brother Chen Xi, was it you? Are you punishing me? Or my clansmen?” Within a secret realm in the Cui Clan Estate, Cui Qingning sat crossed legged on the ground as she stared blankly and silently. A sort of innate intuition told her that this matter seemed to be greatly related to Chen Xi.

But she didn’t tell anyone because she hoped she would be able to meet Chen Xi one day, and perhaps this matter would be a good opportunity. 

As for how infuriated Cui Zhenkong and those clansmen of the Cui Clan were because of this matter, she didn’t care at all.

Because from the moment she was pursued with killing intent until she returned to the clan, she wasn’t who she used to be any longer…

“The day will come where I’ll offer a humble apology. I only hope…that you’ll be able to forgive that little girl from all those years ago…” A strand of faint sighs reverberated in the empty secret realm. In the next moment, the wisp of sadness between Cui Qingning’s brows vanished completely, and it transformed into eternal coldness, indifference, and calmness.

The Heaven Dao was unfathomable, and fate carried countless secrets as well.

A single decision or a single thought might affect one’s entire life.

When Cui Qingning looked down upon the entire Netherworld as the ‘Blade of Judgment, the Queen of Blood’ and recalled the past, the only thing she felt fortunate was that when she embodied judgment all those years ago, she made this seemingly immature and firm decision.

Because this decision was the reason she was able to look down upon the Netherworld. 

    …

The clock of time turned back to the day the Cui Clan’s inheritance treasure was lost.

Within a desolate gorge outside Violetsilk City.

Om!

A wisp of jet black light flashed and silently surged into Chen Xi’s sea of consciousness, and it didn’t draw Bei Ling’s attention at all, causing it to seem extremely mysterious.

Rumble!

Shockingly, that wisp of jet black light was a fragment of the River Diagram.  As soon as it entered his sea of consciousness, it merged with the other four fragments of the River Diagram that floated there, and then it emanated a boundless and strange fluctuation that surged and rumbled endlessly like a tide.

The fifth River Diagram fragment had fused together in his sea of consciousness!

At that instant, Chen Xi felt his soul tremble from delight and excitement while his entire body felt as if it was immersed in a strange ocean of the Dao. He had no desires, and it felt tranquil and natural.

This sort of state continued for the time for an entire incense stick to burn.

When Chen Xi opened his eyes, he’d already grasped a completely new Dao Insight — Judgment!

This was a rare Grand Dao profundity that possessed the might of judgment and was extremely murderous and emotionless! Judgment was for the sake of distinguishing between black and white, good and evil, so how could it have any emotion?

Especially surprising to Chen Xi was that after he grasped the profundities of Judgment, the Condemn Evil brush that had always been silent and unmoving within the Buddha’s Pagoda in his body actually faintly emanated a trace of an indescribable aura.

It seemed as if it was calling out and yearning to be held in his hand.

Swish!

Before he could understand everything that was going on, the Netherworld Register moved and opened with a droning sound, and then it opened to the third page. After that, row after row of obscure and profound words charged into his mind.

Bang!

It felt as if someone was pouring and passing down a technique to him, and Chen Xi didn’t have the slightest chance to refuse.

The Seven Moves of Judgment —

Yin Yang Division!

World Judgment!

Evil Annihilation!

Good and Evil Judgment!

Right and Wrong Discernment!

Laws Exist In Everything!

Blade of Order!

Numerous profound and unfathomable profundities of this Dao Art appeared in his heart down to the slightest detail, and it was vast and complicated like an ocean as it washed through Chen Xi’s understanding.

He was immersed within it and became completely oblivious to himself.

The nearby Bei Ling couldn’t help but be slightly stunned when she saw Chen Xi had actually fallen into a deep level of comprehension, and she bit her cherry lips while feeling amused and speechless.

“This fellow clearly said he wanted to help me vent my anger, yet now, he actually fell into a state of comprehension. He really is…” Bei Ling shook her head and stopped thinking about it.

But right at this moment, a furious howl that shook the heavens suddenly sounded out from the distant Violetsilk City, and it revealed boundless rage and killing intent as if that person’s very life had been lost.

“Cui Zhenkong! Why…would he be so furious? Could it be…” Bei Ling was astounded, and she lowered her head and glanced at Chen Xi. “Looks like it was surely something this fellow did. I never expected that he would actually succeed…”

Her voice was low while her moist and curved lips were suffused with a wisp of a smile that couldn’t be restrained, and it caused her cold and peerlessly beautiful face to be dazzling and resplendent.