Talisman Emperor

The Temporal Grand Dao was just like the other two Supreme Grand Daos of space and life and death, they were divided into countless branches.

For example, Prediction of Time that could deduce the future, or Time Backtrack that could return something to its original state, or various other branches like the Shadow of Time, Time Layer, Time Freeze, Time Acceleration, and so on and so forth.

Merely based on their names alone, it was obvious that the energy of time definitely deserved its reputation as being one of the three supreme Grand Dao Laws.

Ordinary Saint Immortals only had to comprehend a trace of the profundities of these three supreme Grand Dao Laws before they could break through and advance into the Half-step Immortal King Realm.

On the other hand, if one desired to advance into the Immortal King Realm, then the precondition was fully grasping these three supreme Grand Dao Laws.

In other words, if Chen Xi merely intended to advance into the Half-step Immortal King Realm now, then he just had to grasp a single branch when comprehending the Temporal Grand Dao.

On the other hand, the other two supreme Grand Dao Laws were the same as well.

…

Within the Realm of Time, the time vortex was suffused with a translucent glass-like glow as if revolved and fluctuated above Chen Xi, and it emanated strands of seemingly material energy of time.

At this instant, his entire body seemed to suddenly undergo a transformation.

His snow white hair gradually became jet black.

His face that was suffused with an aged and experience aura started to reveal a young, tender, and fair glow.

It was even to the extent that his vitality and lifespan which had been washed away by more than 50% started to swiftly recover at an unbelievable speed.

In merely the time of a few breaths, Chen Xi's appearance returned once more to its original state. His vitality was exuberant, his vital blood was abundant, his vitality surged vigorously, and his vital essence roared like a dragon!

Swoosh!

Chen Xi that was originally standing still in deathly silence had finally opened his eyes for the first time in twenty years. His gaze was like a bolt of lighting as it tore through space, and it was filled with an oppressive might.

At this moment, his appearance was just like before, yet his bearing was completely different. He seemed like a rock within the ocean of time, and no matter how the powerful and boundless waves of time washed at him, it was unable to move him at all.

Time was unable to age his appearance any longer.

Time wasn't merciless any longer.

Time was like a striation branded on his palm, and it had fused with his body a long time ago.

Time was unable to restrict his past, present, and future any longer!

"Time!" Chen Xi muttered with a tranquil expression, and the scene within his eyes changed in an illusory manner while a deep sheen of wisdom flowed within them. He seemed to be able to see through the shroud of time and lay eyes on the quintessence of the world.

Hiss! Hiss!

He suddenly flicked his sleeve. In an instant, a few thousands of strands of sword qi appeared out of thin air, and they shot out from all sorts of different directions at the same time.

It seemed like Chen Xi had split into a few thousand figures that attacked at the same time from all directions.

"The Shadow of Time!" Outside the Realm of Time, Hua Jiankong's eyes sparkled while he was extremely shocked.

Once one grasped this branch of the Temporal Grand Dao, one could control time and form shadows, thus instantaneously overlapping thousands of strands of sword qi that shot out from all directions. This force was formidable because it was completed at the same time and shot out like an overlapped shadow, so it could be considered as unbelievable and astounding.

All those years ago, Yun Fusheng relied on this to make a name for himself.

Swish!

Chen Xi stretched out his hand and grabbed. The thousands of strands of sword qi that shot out explosively suddenly sped up in midair, and they were more than two times faster than before. It was rather beyond expectations, and it could take others by surprise.

"Time Acceleration!" Hua Jiankong was shocked once more in his heart upon witnessing this scene. He finally realized that Chen Xi didn't return empty handed in these twenty years of time, and Chen Xi had instead comprehended two branches of the energy of time!

However, before Hua Jiankong could recover from his shock, he saw Chen Xi make a move once more, and Chen Xi respectively executed two completely new branches of time, Time Remodeling and Wheel of Time!

"This fellow…" With Hua Jiankong's aloof and indifferent disposition, he couldn't help but be moved at this moment, and he gasped. In twenty years of time, he comprehended four different branches of the energy of time! There's probably only a few in the entire three dimensions that can compare to him, right?

Especially the Wheel of Time. Amongst the numerous branches of the Temporal Laws, it's a top-rate terrifying existence.

Once it's executed, time is like a wheel. No matter how one struggles, one will only be lost in the wheel of time, causing one's life and death to be entirely grasped in his hands!

Swish!

Meanwhile, a wave of fluctuation arose in the Realm of Time before Chen Xi's figure emerged from within it, and it jolted Hua Jiankong awake from his shock.

"Senior." Chen Xi cupped his hands and spoke.

Hua Jiankong restrained his thoughts and couldn't help but ask in the end. "To…what extent have you comprehended the Temporal Grand Dao?"

Chen Xi thought for a moment and answered truthfully. "I can only be considered to have just learned the rudiments of it. If it wasn't for the consumption of my lifespan during comprehension being too quick, then perhaps I would still be able to comprehend even more."

As he finished speaking, he couldn't help but feel a wisp of regret in his heart.

Just like he'd said, while he was within that strange state of comprehension, he sensed all sorts of energies of time, and they formed a dense mass of more than a thousand types.

Unfortunately, it was precisely because the consumption of his lifespan was too terrifying and his vitality was being washed away at a horrifying rate that he could only comprehend four types of branches amongst them in the end, and they were respectively the Shadow of Time, Time Remodeling, Time Acceleration, and Wheel of Time.

Even though his lifespan and vitality had recovered to its initial state now, if he wanted to continue comprehending it, he was unable to return to that strange state of comprehension any longer.

"Extraordinary." Hua Jiankong gave Chen Xi a rare word of praise when he heard this.

"This is all thanks to Senior for bringing me into the Realm of Time, otherwise I would definitely be unable to grasp such might in a short period of time." Chen Xi answered with a smile on his face.

"Twenty years have already passed now. Will you continue to comprehend the energy of time, or will you start comprehending the Grand Dao Laws of life and death?" asked Hua Jiankong.

"Twenty years?" Chen Xi was stunned. He'd never imagined that after a single comprehension of the Dao, twenty years would have passed swiftly when he opened his eyes once more!

This caused his heart to tense up. Twenty years! What has happened in the outside world during this time?

"These are the jade slips that little girl from the Xuanyuan Clan sent here over the years." As if he'd seen through Chen Xi's thoughts, Hua Jiankong flipped his palm before over ten jade slips appeared on it, and then he passed it over to Chen Xi.

Chen Xi was stunned, and he didn't hide anything and immediately started reading through them.

The content of the jade slips was very simple. It recorded everything that occurred within the Zuoqiu Clan for the past twenty years in detail. The most striking piece of information amongst all of this was that Zuoqiu Feiming's faction had suffered the forceful and bloody suppression of the current Patriarch, Zuoqiu Feng.

Moreover, this suppression was still continuing. According to the information that A'Xiu received, if nothing unexpected happened, then Zuoqiu Feiming and the others would definitely be overpowered by Zuoqiu Feng within a hundred years of time!

Chen Xi was naturally clearly aware that the reason his mother, Zuoqiu Xue, was able to live safely until now was because she possessed the support of Zuoqiu Feiming and the others in the Zuoqiu Clan.

Now, these people had suffered the forceful and bloody suppression of Zuoqiu Feng, and it caused Chen Xi's heart to be unable to help but feel slightly heavy. He was very clearly aware that the situation his mother, Zuoqiu Xue, was in had started to turn bad.

Chen Xi became especially vigilant because according to the information provided in the jade slips from A'Xiu, it was very likely that the external assistance Zuoqiu Feng relied on was from the Sovereign Sect.

If this was true, then it meant that if Chen Xi wanted to take revenge on the Zuoqiu Clan, he couldn't avoid facing the threat of the Sovereign Sect.

"The Sovereign Sect… Zuoqiu Feng… They've actually started to work together. Why has this happened? Could it be for the sake of dealing with me?" After he finished reading the contents of the jade slips, Chen Xi couldn't help but fall into deep contemplation.

He took a deep breath after a long time, and he discarded all the distracting thoughts in his mind and stopped thinking about it.

Chen Xi was very clearly aware that he was preparing his plan to take revenge on the Zuoqiu Clan, but at the same time, the Zuoqiu Clan was carrying out intense plans to deal with him and even his mother, Zuoqiu Xue.

Presently, it seemed like an actual conflict hadn't erupted between them yet. However, they were actually making the best use of every second they had to make all sorts of preparations!

"Senior, I intend to comprehend the energy of life and death right now." In the end, Chen Xi made his decision. The current situation hadn't arrived at a critical state yet, so he intended to strengthen himself as soon as possible.

It wasn't just that, he still had to wait for a situation that was beneficial to him to arrive. Because it was absolutely impossible for him to attain his wish of taking revenge on the Zuoqiu Clan by himself.

This meant that he had to wait for Shi Yu, Xiangliu Li, Dao Yao, Sun Wuhen, Pang Du, and the other Immortal Kings to emerge from their closed door cultivations. He had to wait for the inner court's Dean, Chi Cangsheng, the Ancestor of the Phoenix Clan, Zhao Taici, and the Ancestor of the Dragon Dimension, Ao Jiuhui, to re-emerge into the world as well…

At that time, he would be able to rely on the strength of these great figures to launch a swift attack at the Zuoqiu Clan!

"It's impossible to find any traces of the energy of life and death. However, there's an extremely direct method to allow you to experience its profundities. But this process is slightly cruel, so are you sure you want to start comprehending it right now?" asked Hua Jiankong with an extremely serious expression.

"What method is that?" Chen Xi was stunned, and he couldn't help but feel slightly fearful in his heart. Exactly how terrifying is it that even Hua Jiankong feels it's a cruel method?

Hua Jiankong answered. "Life and death. If you don't experience life and death, how would you be able to understand its profundities? You remember your experience in the Eternal Tomb of Kings, right? If you want to comprehend the energy of life and death, then the process is roughly similar to challenging the Sword Exalt, but it'll be even more bloody and cruel."

He wasn't terrifying Chen Xi intentionally, and it was instead because the Life and Death Laws were one of the three supreme Laws. Moreover, if one wanted to comprehend it, it was even more difficult and dangerous than comprehending the supreme Laws of time and space.

Chen Xi pondered deeply for a long time before he finally said with a smile, "Senior, please guide me."

Hua Jiankong glanced at Chen Xi before he said, "Come with me."

As soon as he finished speaking, he flicked his sleeve and brought Chen Xi along as he instantly vanished.

When Chen Xi's field of vision recovered, he'd already arrived at a strange and chaotic world. Everywhere that met the eye was covered in mist, and he was unable to sense anything at all.

"This is the Boundless Barrier, and there are eighteen profound barriers of life and death set up within it. Every single profound barrier is like experiencing the cycle of life and death. If you're able to persist until the end, then perhaps you'll be able to comprehend the profundities of life and death." Hua Jiankong spoke with an extremely serious tone from the side. "Remember. Life and death changes constantly. You absolutely must not become obsessed within there!"

Chen Xi's heart shook, and then he took a deep breath and nodded.

When he saw this, Hua Jiankong stopped hesitating, and he pressed his fingers together before forcefully tearing open a rift in the chaotic world. It was like the bloody mouth of an ancient ferocious beast had suddenly opened wide, and it instantly swallowed Chen Xi's entire body…