Talisman Emperor

Outside the city wall, the ground was cracked with corpses all over, and the charred ground covered an entire expanse of 500km, drawing an incomparably tragic scene while strands of violent aura of lightning shrouded the skies and added an air of slaughter to the surroundings.

Within this atmosphere of complete silence, only Chen Xi stood towering and alone on the city wall, causing him to seem extremely striking. In practically an instant, the winged silver wolf caught sight of Chen Xi.

Hmm? That human cultivator is…

Instantly, it seemed as a gap had been opened on the seal of memories that were in the depths of his heart, and a long lost feeling of familiarity gushed into his heart. This Golden Core Realm greater demon was stunned and stopped in midair as his jade green eyes stared straight at Chen Xi.

"Stop, stop! I admit defeat! I beg you, Senior, spare my life! Spare me!"

"Now, do you still want to eat me?"

…

"Oh, I heard that Winged Silverwolves possess a strand of the bloodline of the divine beast of ancient times, the Lunarwood Wolf. Is it true?"

"Yeah… It's true. But the bloodline of this lowly one is mixed to a great extent. My father was an Azurewing Windwolf, and my mother was a Winged Silverwolf, so, I'm unsure if I possess the bloodline inheritance of the Lunarwood Wolf."

"Oh, so you're a cross breed. But you gave yourself the name Mu Kui, I presume that you desire extremely to possess formidable strength like the Lunarwood Wolf, right?"

"Senior really possesses an insightful gaze that's like a torch, it truly causes this lowly one to have extreme admiration. The admiration within my heart is like a surging river…"

…

"You didn't think of fleeing yourself?"

"How could I do that? I've said before that I would follow by Senior's side for my entire lifetime!"

"If I ask you to flee, then flee! So long as you're alive, that's more important than anything! There's a qi refinement cultivation technique of mine within here, take it."

"Don't worry Senior, not only will I live on, I'll become stronger!"

…

"Master, I don't hate you for not bringing me along this time. Once my strength becomes strong, if you still won't keep me by your side, then I'll have to slit my throat and take my own life…"

…

A variety of familiar recollections gushed into his mind like a storm. The numerous familiar voices, the numerous scenes that were imprinted in his heart, they seemed as if they'd just happened yesterday, and were so fresh and so vividly reflected before him. The towering figure that stood on the city wall, that familiar appearance. Could it be real?

"Aowu!" The winged silver wolf howled into the sky, its deep howl seemed as if it was venting the excitement in its heart, and it contained an indescribably complicated feeling as it tore through the sky and reverberated in the heavens and the earth.

On the city wall, Chen Xi was similarly stunned as he'd recognized the identity of the winged silver wolf, and a rare strand of excitement arose within his heart.

Mu Kui!

Isn't this fellow the first demon beast I encountered when I entered the depths of the Southern Barbaric Mountain Range?

At that time, I even forcibly occupied his Abode!

In midair, the winged silver wolf had already transformed into a young man with a robust figure and piercingly bright eyes. Wasn't it exactly Mu Kui? At this moment, his pair of jade green eyes already held a trace of tears.

——

Reuniting after being apart for a long time had caused both Chen Xi and Mu Kui to have a bellyful of things to say, so the man and demon sat on the city wall, drinking wine as they started chatting freely.

Chen Xi finally understood everything that had occurred in the depths of the mountain range from Mu Kui. It turned out that after he'd taken away the River Diagram Fragment that suppressed the depths of the mountain age, a tremendous change had occurred there in the recent years.

In the countless years in the past, because of the existence of the River Diagram Fragment, no matter how shocking the natural talent of the demon beasts in the depths of the mountain range was or how long they'd cultivated for, they would be incapable of breaking through from the Violet Palace Realm. For example, the Profound-vision Old Turtle King, the Nine-tailed Fox King, the Black Ape King, the Thunderhawk King, and the other existences that dominated in the depths of the mountain range were only at the perfection-stage of the Violet Palace Realm at that time.

But along with the River Diagram Fragment being taken away by him, the cultivations of the demon beasts in the entire depths of the mountain range had repeatedly advanced in a short few years of time, and some demon beasts that possessed a trace of the bloodline of an ancient divine beast had even leaped an entire three realms into the Golden Core Realm from the Congenital Realm within a single year!

But Chen Xi was still surprised. Why would the River Diagram Fragment suppress a place like the depths of the mountain range? Could it be that there's some secret behind this?

"Presently, the depths of the mountain range can no longer be compared to its previous state. There are roughly ten plus Golden Core Realm demon cultivators, over a thousand Golden Hall Realm demon cultivators, and there are even more Violet Palace Realm demon cultivators, over 10,000 in number, causing the competition and battles there to become even more horrifying than before. Fortunately, Master had once passed down a qi refinement technique, Ice Crane Technique, to me in the past, and coupled with my bitter cultivation all day and night, I'd advanced to the Golden Core Realm as well, so I didn't suffer the bullying of other demon cultivators." Mu Kui drank a mouthful of strong wine as he spoke with emotion.

Even though Mu Kui spoke lightly of it, Chen Xi knew instead how difficult it was to survive amongst the numerous demon-kind, and besides sighing with emotion, he couldn't help but ask. "What about above the Golden Core Realm? Could it be that no demon cultivator attained it?"

"There were, but they'd already left the depths of the mountain range. Master, you know them as well, it was the Nine-tailed Fox King and Profound-vision Old Turtle King. If it wasn't for you having killed the Black Ape King, the Thunderhawk King, the Azure Python King, the Dark Wyrm King, and the Roc King, I'm afraid they'd have already attained the height of the Rebirth Realm by now." Mu Kui replied.

Chen Xi came to a sudden realization. These seven Demon Kings were already the overlords of a portion of the depths of the mountain range and possessed the bloodline of ancient divine beasts. They'd lived for at least a few thousand years and some had even lived for over 10,000 years, causing their accumulation of strength and experience to be extremely shocking. So, it was logical and reasonable for them to attain the Rebirth Realm within a few years.

"Then why are all of you charging out of the depths of the mountain range and invading human cities?" After staying silent for a long time, Chen Xi still raised this question in the end. Presently, he and Mu Kui had a relationship of Master and Servant in name, but in reality, they'd already stood in hostile camps, so they'd always been avoiding this question. But they had to face what they had to face, otherwise, if this continued on, it wasn't good for any one of them.

Mu Kui instead seemed as if he'd known since long ago that Chen Xi would ask this, and a trace of helplessness and slight terror that was concealed extremely deeply flashed within his eyes as he sighed. "We had no other choice but go into battle with human cultivators."

"Why?" Chen Xi frowned.

Mu Kui gulped down a few mouthfuls of strong wine consecutively before taking a deep breath and saying slowly. "Because an ancient Fiendgod has awoken in the depths of the mountain range."

Ancient Fiendgod!

Chen Xi was stunned and was extremely shocked in his heart. Ancient Fiendgods lived in the primordial era and its kind could even be traced back to the time of the absolute beginning of the world. These Fiendgods were born with boundless physical strength, with heights comparable to mountains, and their strength was sufficient to burn seas and pluck stars out of the sky, allowing them to command the heavens and the earth. At the time before the three dimensions were split apart, they were the sovereigns of the various worlds, the supreme lords, whereas, humans were only their vassals at that time and possessed a status that was even inferior to demon-kind.

However, along with the prospering of humans and the appearance of numerous almighty figures that shook the world, the supreme status of these Fiendgods was destroyed. Moreover, they gradually retired from the stage of history. But even then, the illustrious fame and might of the Fiendgods had been passed down for eternity. Even until today, the mention of the word Fiendgod still caused extreme reverence and fear in the hearts of all.

Moreover, the School of Fiendgod Body Refinement cultivation technique was learned by human experts from ancient Fiendgods, and the influence of the Fiendgods in the myriad of worlds in the heavens was obvious from this.

The reason they were called Fiendgods was that this race was born as the children of gods with the bodies of fiends, and they possessed unbelievable Divine Abilities. This was the source of the name Fiendgod that was passed down until now.

But in the current cultivation world, this race was ordinarily called ancient Fiendgods for the sake of differentiating them from devil sect cultivators and the cultivators of the Dao of Immortality.

Presently, there was actually an ancient Fiendgod that had awakened in the depths of the mountain range. The shock in Chen Xi's heart was obvious, but he realized a problem right after. The River Diagram Fragment's appearance in the depths of the mountain range wouldn't have been for the sake of suppressing this ancient Fiendgod, right?

"How strong is the strength of this ancient Fiendgod now?" Chen Xi asked.

"It ought… It ought to be more or less comparable to an Earthly Immortal Realm expert?" Mu Kui rubbed his head and said, "I've never seen his true strength as well. But I once heard the other demon cultivators say that the strength of this ancient Fiendgod had suffered from extremely severe weakening over the boundless years. Presently, its strength is merely a ten-thousandth of its prime.

"Amazing, a ten-thousandth of its strength can already compare to an Earthly Immortal Realm expert. Only a terrifying existence like an ancient Fiendgod would possess such terrifying strength!" Chen Xi simply didn't dare imagine height the strength of this ancient Fiendgod had attained at its prime.

After that, he muttered in his heart. We're in huge trouble this time. With the ancient Fiendgod in charge, not to mention Pine Mist City, it wouldn't be a problem for the demon beast army to sweep through the entire southern territory!

"That what do you plan to do in the future?" Chen Xi took a deep breath and asked slowly.

"I'll naturally follow by your side, Master." Mu Kui didn't even think about it before replying without the slightest hesitation. "Master, my strength is even higher than yours now. I won't be useless any longer while following by your side, so you must not reject me again."

Chen Xi was extremely moved as he looked at the expression of hope within Mu Kui's eyes. Demons were indeed more ferocious, cunning, and dangerous than humans, and they possessed exceedingly blind worship towards strength. But indisputably, once they chose to submit, their loyalty would be even a hundred times stronger than humans and one would absolutely not have to be worried about being betrayed.

Mu Kui before Chen Xi was a living example. According to his current cultivation, his strength was already sufficient to be on equal footing with Chen Xi, and the only reason he pledged his life to follow by Chen Xi's side was because of his loyalty.

"Alright! You'll follow by my side from today onwards." Chen Xi didn't argue about it and spoke seriously.

"Really?" Mu Kui was dumbstruck. He originally thought that Chen Xi would reject him once more, and he would have to use his own life to force Chen Xi to agree.

"Of course. Let's go, we'll go to my home first." Chen Xi smiled and patted Mu Kui on his shoulder before turning around and flashing towards the city.

I'm going to Master's home… Mu Kui pinched his own arm. When the feeling of pain proved that all of this was real, Mu Kui's heart was instantly filled with happiness, causing his face to glow, and he smiled from ear to ear. If it wasn't for him being afraid of disturbing Chen Xi, he wished for nothing more than to let out a long howl into the sky to vent the excitement and delight in his heart.