Talisman Emperor

Chi Qingying had led an army of a few thousand Dao Defiants when he travelled to Mist Forest, but he was the only top-rate expert at the Ninth Star Region Lord Realm.

Such arrangements naturally seemed very peculiar.

As the Dao Defiants that had been at war with the Divine Protector Clans for countless years, they were extremely aware that the Divine Dao Protector Clans would definitely dispatch the strongest Region Lord from every single clan to participate in the Battle of Dao Protectors.

In other words, there wasn't a single existence below the Ninth Star Region Lord Realm amongst the forces of the Divine Dao Protector Clans.

But it was exactly under such circumstances that Chi Qingying's enormous army didn't have a second Ninth Star Region Lord besides him. This made those participants from the Divine Dao Protector Clans to easily feel doubt and disdain towards the true strength of the Dao Defiants.

What exactly did the Dao Defiants intend to do?

Could they be thinking that just Chi Qingying and a huge group of weaklings would be sufficient to kill the Ninth Star Region Lords from the Divine Dao Protector Clans?

No one paid attention to this, and it was even to the extent that the participants from the Divine Dao Protector Clans who were moving through the forest weren't even aware of Chi Qingying's existence.

…

Swoosh!

After he confirmed that weren't any of those strange and mysterious trees in the vicinity, Chen Xi's figure flashed onto the crown of an ancient tree, and then he restrained his aura and concealed himself.

Next, he withdrew the enormous 'Bizarre Nest' and inspected it carefully for a long time before he felt into deep thought.

A short while later, Chen Xi seemed to have made some sort of decision, and he removed the seals on it with a wave of his hand before he carefully stabbed the Talisman Armament into one of the holes.

Hiss!

There was an embryo-like object within this hole as well. As soon as it was broken open by the Talisman Armament, a strange sound emerged from within it, and it was like a sharp cry of pain.

After that, a strand of grey colored foul energy stretched out and shot onto the Talisman Armament.

Chen Xi didn't stop it and observed silently instead. Unlike the ray of foul light from before that had assaulted him, this strand of foul energy was clearly extremely weak, and it could only creep slowly on the Talisman Armament.

Even though it was only a single strange, yet it emanated a savage and bloody aura that assaulted the face. Moreover, it even carried an evil and sinful energy. As soon as it started creeping on the Talisman Armament, it wriggled incessantly and emanated an extremely shocking corrosive force.

Even the Talisman Armament which was a treasure that completely surpassed most precious Natural Spirit Treasure actually couldn't avoid trembling and droning a little.

Chen Xi stopped hesitating when he witnessed this. Dazzling and blazing violet gold radiance coiled around his palm as he took the foul energy in his hand.

It started to struggle violently and even emanated a wave of sharp and ferocious hissing. It actually seemed as if it was alive and possessed intelligence.

Bang!

Chen Xi exerted strength with his palm, and the foul energy was crushed into pieces. However, it transformed into a few hundred finer rays of light that shot off incessantly in all directions with the intention of struggling free of Chen Xi's grasp.

However, it was in vain, in the end, and they were quickly destroyed completely.

Even though he saw that the foul energy really could be destroyed, Chen Xi was able to feel any happiness in his heart. He'd determined that it was a strange form of life, and it was still in its infancy. However, it possessed an extremely strong and tenacious life force.

Chen Xi had given it a test just now. He's utilized a strength that was sufficient to kill a Sixth Star Region Lord with ease yet was merely able to annihilate this little thing that was still in its infancy. So, it was obvious how terrifying they would be once they were fully grown.

Chen Xi thought for a moment before he started to carry out further tests with the 'Bizarre Nest', and he utilized a different method with every test he carried out.

For example, the energy of his soul, his strength in body refinement, talismans, and even various different Divine Daos.

However, he still hadn't found a single method to kill these strange life forms even after he killed more than half of them.

But as he continued his tests, Chen Xi grew even more certain of a single thing, and it was that these little things were alive. They were just in their infancy and didn't possess sufficient strength to undergo a transformation.

On the other hand, it was the 'Bizarre Nests' beneath the dark red ancient trees that nurtured them.

For example, this single nest in Chen Xi's possession was nurturing an entire 136 embryo-like life forms!

Besides that, there were numerous similar dark red ancient trees throughout the entire forest, and this meant that more and more nests would be nurtured. Once their numbers increased, the embryo-like life forms nurtured within them would multiply exponentially as well.

Based on such an inference, it was bound to be a horrifying number.

The only thing he felt fortunate about was that these life forms required a huge amount of energy to complete their transformation and emerge from the nest, so it restrained their ability to swarm out in mass.

For example, the ray of foul light which launched a surprise attack against Chen Xi earlier had been one of those embryo-like life forms which had completed its transformations after it absorbed the Sin Executioner's corpse.

Wait! In next to no time, Chen Xi realized that something was off. Because he'd annihilated dozens of Dao Defiants all along the way, and there were even a few Region Lords amongst them.

Since those corpses were scattered through the forest, they were bound to be absorbed by the Bizarre Nests!

In that way, even more life forms within the nests would complete their transformation successfully.

A wisp of worry appeared in Chen Xi's heart when he thought up to this point.

Earlier, he'd been constantly wondering why the Dao Defiants would be so weak after he annihilated all of them with ease.

Now, he had a completely different understanding of it when he thought about it.

Because it was very likely that the Dao Defiants who he'd killed were merely cannon fodder, and the main reason they'd been dispatched into the forest wasn't to kill enemies but to provide energy to these embryos to complete their transformation!

Once those embryos transformed successfully, then they would become extraordinarily ferocious and formidable. Moreover, their methods of attack were mysterious and ruthless while they themselves were extremely difficult to kill!

The Dao Defiants are truly ruthless. They are practically sacrificing their own in order to obtain even stronger forces. The Battle of Dao Protectors being carried out this time is really not as simple as the battles of the past…. Chen Xi even thought about how similarly mysterious and strange existences might even be present outside the forest, and it was bound to be an unimaginable disaster if they were utilized against the participants from the Divine Dao Protector Clans.

Of course, Chen Xi couldn't be bothered to care about their fate. Everything he was doing now was merely for the sake of getting accustomed to his environment as soon as possible and reduce the danger it posed to him.

Most importantly, the knowledge he obtained from these strange events provided him a better idea of everything within the Spring of Sin, and he'd eyes peeked into the true secrets of the Order of the Heaven Dao here.

After all, even though the Order of the Heaven Dao in the Spring of Sin was extremely evil and dark, it was still a portion of Godsbane Heaven in the end.

So, it was definitely completely beneficial and not harmful at all if Chen Xi gained a better understanding of it.

…

As thoughts flashed through his heart, Chen Xi's hands didn't slack off at all. There were over 10 more life forms within the nest, and he still had some divine treasures that he hadn't tested against the embryo-like life forms.

The Overarching Heaven Net was useless.

The Netherworld Register was useless.

The Condemn Evil Brush was useless.

…

Clang!

After a long time of probing, when an ancient blood red sword appeared within Chen Xi's grasp, a strand of an indescribable feeling of yearning instantly surged into Chen Xi's heart from the sword.

Pu!

This feeling of yearning was so strong and seething that it was like a howl of desire that came from time immemorial. In an instant, the surface of the blood red sword flashed with light, and then the last six life forms immediately vanished as if they'd evaporated into thin air.

All of this caught Chen Xi off guard, and he couldn't help but feel surprised and move his gaze onto the blood red ancient sword in his hand.

The sword was over a meter long, completely bright crimson red like blood, and its body was branded with numerous simple and exuberant lotus flowers. Every single one of these lotus flowers had strands of chaotic energy drifting about them. The energy sometimes transformed into an old man wearing ancient clothes and a tall crown who read scriptures while shaking his head; and sometimes transformed into a beautiful young woman that danced about while displaying a sword technique in numerous different poses.

But if one looked carefully, then it felt like one was within a vast, terrifying, and bloody battlefield. The gods were roaring furiously, the saints were crying with sorrow while a rain of blood rained down from the sky, and the earth was covered in bones!

It was the Dao Calamity Sword!

A secret treasure that had been passed down by the Chaotic Divine Lotus, inherited by the Nine Radiance Sword Sect in the Dark Reverie, and was in the joint possession of Evil Lotus and Dao Lotus.

But a series of events led to it falling in Chen Xi's hands.

This sword had no definite level of quality, and its might was even far inferior to an ordinary divine artifact if utilized in a head-on battle. At the very most, it was on par with an Immortal Artifact.

It was exactly because of this reason that Chen Xi had kept this sword away and hadn't utilized it until now.

However, Chen Xi was very clearly aware that it possessed unimaginable potent abilities to suppress members of the Sovereign Sect in battle!

It was the one thing that countered their strength as any energy of calamity would be easily absorbed by this sword and transformed into its own strength.

According to rumor, this sword was the biggest reason why the Sovereign Sect had schemed against the Chaotic Divine Lotus all those years ago when it stepped foot onto the peak of the Grand Dao and intended to seek the Ultimate Path.

However, Chen Xi hadn't expected that it would actually act unusually at this moment!

If he wasn't mistaken, then those six remaining life forms had been seized by the sword.

The facts were exactly as Chen XI thought. At this moment, the Dao Calamity Sword was emanating waves of light howls. It seemed to be cheering were extreme enjoyment, causing a frightening and brilliant blood red glow to flow and rippled through its body.

Obviously, it had absorbed the energy within those six life forms!

Bang!

After it lose all the embryo-like life forms, the Bizarre Nest seemed as if it had lost all its vitality and instant transformed into power.

However, Chen Xi couldn't be bothered to pay any attention to it. All his attention was converged onto the Dao Calamity Sword in his hand, and he was able to clearly sense that the sword was emanating emotions of extreme yearning and delight.

There hadn't been such a huge reaction from the Dao Calamity Sword even when it went against the energy of calamity from the Sovereign Sect!

Could these strange embryo-like life forms be the source of energy that this sword urgently yearns for?

Such a thought had appeared in Chen Xi's mind while he had a deeper understanding of the secrets possessed by this treasure which the Chaotic Divine Lotus left behind.

Just like Fuxi, Xuan, the Divine Dark Parasol Tree, the Ant Exalt, and all three Netherworld Emperors, the Chaotic Divine Lotus was a Savior of this era as well.

It was born within the Chaos of the three dimensions and possessed supreme might. So, how could a treasure left behind by such a legendary figure be ordinary?

It wasn't ordinary at all. At the very least, while its might wasn't great and couldn't even compare to Divine Artifacts, but it possessed a unique ability, and that was its ability to counter the inheritance of the Sovereign Sect!