Talisman Emperor

Book Ten — Path Of Blood Through The Netherworld

A violet colored sun hung far above the lead grey sky, and its dim sheen dyed the world in a dusky color.

Wind was whistling and wailing as if it was weeping and complaining, ghastly and gloomy.

When Chen Xi opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was such a scene. A lead grey sky, a dim violet colored sun, and wind that was gloomy and emanated the sounds of wailing.

Where is this? Chen Xi was stunned. He wanted to stand, yet his entire body was limp and extremely weak. He exerted a great deal of strength before sitting up cross-legged while gasping for breath.

He knew that this was the side effect from executing the Godslaughter Burst, and it was caused by the overuse of the Blood Essence in his body. It was even to the extent that his lifespan was greatly consumed.

I'll probably need a few months of time to recover my entire strength this time… Chen Xi sensed the situation within his entire body, and he couldn't help but frown while he raised his head to size up his surroundings.

The heavens and the earth here were unlike the world familiar to him. Thick lead grey clouds and a violent sun hung in the sky, and the air flowed with various gloomy airflows that gave him an extremely oppressive feeling.

Moreover, he was currently located at the banks of a river, whereas a thin jungle that was extremely ordinary lay ahead of him and didn't emanate the slightest aura of danger.

This caused Chen Xi to heave a sigh of relief, and he thought in his heart. Could it be that this is the Netherworld?

If it was in terms of the most mysterious in the three dimensions, then it was surely the Netherworld because it was extremely difficult for the living to know exactly what the Netherworld looked like.

But there were many legends about the Netherworld in the Mortal Dimension.

According to legend, the souls of dead beings in the world would enter the Netherworld, take the path of the Nether Springs, pass the River of Forgetfulness and the Bridge of Helplessness, drink a bowl of soup from Granny Meng[1], and then enter the six paths of hell to be reincarnated according to the good and evil deeds the soul committed in the past.

Moreover, there were various other mysterious and terrifying places in the netherworld like the City of the Wronged, the Gates of Hell, the 18 levels of Hell, the Bloody River of Sin, and so on and so forth.

There were numerous great figures that were in control of the Netherworld like the five Ghost Emperors, the ten Kings of Hell, Kṣitigarbha, and so on and so forth. But all of these were legends that were spread in the mortal world, and it was impossible to discern if they were true.

Chen Xi's understanding towards the Netherworld was merely from these legends, so he was unable to determine if the place before his eyes was the Netherworld or not.

I wonder where Xiuyi is now…? Chen Xi pondered silently for a long time and couldn't help but sigh lightly while his eyes flashed with a wisp of icy cold killing intent.

Bing Shitian's clone had clearly been annihilated by him on that day, yet the Netherworld Disk appeared abruptly and swept Qing Xiuyi away, causing Chen Xi's actions to fail on the verge of success.

All of this was surely caused by someone who'd colluded in secret with Bing Shitian, allowing that person to make him and Qing Xiuyi be separated at the last moment.

No matter who you are, so long as I find you, I'll surely kill you without showing any mercy! Chen Xi muttered

"That was the Netherworld Disk, a Saint Artifact in the six paths of hell, so only a great figure in the six paths of hell is capable of controlling it." The tiny cauldron spoke abruptly.

Chen Xi frowned and said, "So in this way, it was really a great figure in the Netherworld that colluded with Bing Shitian to seize Xiuyi at the last moment?"

The tiny cauldron went silent for a moment before it said, "Yes, it can't be wrong because you're in the Netherworld."

When it spoke up to here, the tiny cauldron's voice revealed a rare trace of an apologetic tone and said, "I'm sorry, I didn't expect the Netherworld Disk to appear in the last moment. Otherwise, such an incident wouldn't have occurred."

Chen Xi shook his head and interrupted the tiny cauldron. "There's no need to blame yourself."

"Don't worry. Since I owe you a favor, I'll surely get that woman of yours back this time." The tiny cauldron seemed to still feel sorry, and it said, "The Netherworld Disk appearing in the Mortal Dimension is a taboo on its own. Since they dared to break the balance, then I won't have any further scruples."

Chen Xi took a deep breath and said, "Then thank you very much, Senior."

He was completely ignorant towards the Netherworld, and his body was weak at this moment. So he temporarily had to rely on the strength of the tiny cauldron.

Perhaps it was because the tiny cauldron had decided to assist Chen Xi, so the tiny cauldron subsequently took the initiative to tell Chen Xi some details about the situation in the Netherworld.

According to what the tiny cauldron said, even though the Netherworld was merely a single world, it was boundlessly vast and almost without end. It exceeded every world in the Mortal Dimension and was even on par with the territory of the Immortal Dimension.

The existence of the Netherworld was for the sake of reincarnating all the living beings in the world. It was filled with boundless spirits, souls, and ghosts. But besides all of these, there were numerous clans that existed in the Netherworld as well.

There was a variety of such clans, yet they were collectively addressed as 'Nether Clans.'

The existence of Nether Clans was no different to humans or the myriad of clans from the Primordial Era. The only difference was that they lived in the Netherworld.

For example, the great figures that controlled the Netherhell were practically all from the Nether Clans, whereas, the Netherhell was an organization that controlled the Netherworld.

This organization was divided into the Gates of Hell, the Nether Springs Path, the Bridge of Hopelessness, and the Six Paths of Hell.

The five Ghost Emperors controlled the northern, western, southern, eastern, and central Gates of Hell. All the dead souls from the mortal world would first appear at the Gates of Hell when they entered the Netherworld.

After that, they would be drawn to the Nether Springs Path from the Gates of Hell, and the master of the Nether Springs Path was called the Nether Springs Grand Emperor.

The Nether Springs Path delivered the souls past the Bridge of Helplessness, and they were received by the Nether Clan disciples of Granny Meng Hall before being brought into the Six Paths of Hell. After that, they would undergo reincarnation after they were judged based on various karmas like virtue, kindness, sin, evil, and so on and so forth.

Something worthy of mention was the Six Paths of Hell was an extremely complicated organization.

Even though it was divided into the Asura Path, God Path, Human Path, Ghost Path, Hell Path, and Beast Path, there were numerous organizations that controlled the Six Paths of Hell. For example, the Ten Kings of Hell, the Officials of Hell, the Penal Officers of Hell, the Punishment Officers of Hell, and so on and so forth. They respectively managed different duties, and their duties were clearly divided.

However, according to the tiny cauldron, the Netherhell was the core lifeline of the Netherworld, and it was originally completely under the authority of the Netherworld Emperor and there weren't so many organizations at all.

But along with the fall of the Third Netherworld Emperor, the entire Netherworld underwent an abrupt change. The kings of hell and ghost emperors fought for supremacy, yet there was no one who could ascend to the position of Netherworld Emperor, causing the entire Netherhell to be split up and controlled by various different great figures, and it formed the current situation in the Netherworld.

Simply speaking, the Netherhell was like an enormous dynasty where most of the authority in the world was converged, and there were various organizations under its command that allowed it to control the entire Netherworld.

At this point, Chen Xi had a rough understanding on the entire Netherworld.

"So in this way, I have to head to the Six Paths of Hell to rescue Xiuyi?" asked Chen Xi.

"Exactly. But don't act impatiently right now. The Netherworld I know was from too long ago. Presently, so many years have passed, and there's probably many new arrangements that have appeared in it. It's best to understand the situation clearly first before planning and taking action." The tiny cauldron answered.

Chen Xi nodded and said, "Right, so long as we find out who controls the Netherworld Disk, we'll be able to drag out the person behind the scenes, and we'll be able to rescue Xiuyi!"

Three days later.

Chen Xi woke up from his meditation, and he couldn't help but frown without end as he sensed the situation within his body.

Even though he possessed the assistance of the Dark Parasol Sapling, the recovery of the injuries in his body was still too slow. Up until now, he'd only recovered his strength to around the Golden Core Realm, and he was utterly incapable of executing some formidable techniques he possessed.

This wasn't a matter of the amount of Immortal Energy he possessed. The key was that the Godslaughter Burst had overused the spirit, energy, essence, and other such quintessence energies related to vitality, and he was unable to recover it in a short period of time.

Chen Xi shook his head and stopped thinking about it.

After that, he had a flash of inspiration and suddenly thought of something, and a jade white book appeared with a flip of his palm.

The jade white book was shrouded in mist and completely icy cold, and it emanated a strange aura that was vast like the ocean. There were only two words written on its surface with impressive and meticulous writing that emanated a strong aura of fairness, impartiality, and solemnness — Netherworld Register.

On that day, it was the aura of the Netherworld Disk that had touched the Netherworld Register within the Buddha's Pagoda, causing it to bring him into the Netherworld.

"It really is different from before!" Chen Xi sized it up briefly before he noticed the Netherworld Register was different from before. The jade white surface of the book emanated a suction force that swallowed strand after strand of Netherworld Energy in the air.

It felt as if it had found food that could replenish its strength, and it caused the Netherworld Register that was unbearably hungry to become intolerably impatient.

"This is the supreme treasure in the possession of the Third Netherworld Emperor, the Netherworld Register?" The tiny cauldron spoke at this moment with a tone that didn't conceal its admiration. "According to legend, the profundities of Terminus that caused the gods of the three dimensions to be filled with fear is stored within the Netherworld Register. I wonder if it's true."

Chen Xi was stunned because this was the first time that he'd heard this.

"Unfortunately, its strength is even more severely depleted than me. If you want to open it and inspect what is recorded within it, then it probably has to absorb enormous amounts of Netherworld Energy."

"So that's how it is." Chen Xi seemed to be lost in thought. He'd noticed a long time ago that strands of strange energy surged in the heavens and the earth within the Netherworld. The energy was icy cold, ghastly, and revealed an aura that caused one's soul to tremble, and it was probably the Netherworld Energy.

Actually, Netherworld Energy was a type of spirit energy, but it was only produced in the Netherworld.

"You have to watch out. Don't expose this treasure for now, otherwise you'll probably become a prey that all the great figures of the Netherworld wouldn't allow themselves to miss." The tiny cauldron warned.

Chen Xi naturally understood this principle. A man's wealth is his own ruin by arousing the greed of others, and it was an accurate principle in the entire universe.

After all, this was the inheritance treasure of the Third Netherworld Emperor, and it was absolutely a supreme treasure that the great figures of the Netherworld dreamt off and were unable to refuse!

Suddenly, an exclaim of surprise faintly entered into Chen Xi's ears from afar.

"There's someone in the distance!" Chen Xi and the tiny cauldron spoke at the same time.

What did somebody being in the distance mean?

It meant that they were able to find out their exact location in the boundlessly vast Netherworld.

1. Granny Meng resides at the center of the Bridge of Helplessness that's used to cross the River of Forgetfulness, and she gives all souls a bowl of soup that caused them to forget before they can be reincarnated.