Chapter 3792: The Emperor Talisman
The Emperor Dust Palace was situated on the northern coast of Southern Continent, facing the boundless sea. It was majestic and imposing, with countless talisman patterns floating in the space, indicating the extreme danger of this place.
This Emperor Dust Palace was reconstructed from the Evil Emperor Underground Palace. It was planted with many divine trees, such as the Sword Ancestor Divine Tree, the Crow's Foot Silver Tree, the Great Hazel Tree... each one had extraordinary value, coveted even by Divine Kings and Divine Venerables.
However, no one dared to harbor any greedy thoughts.
Only because the master of Emperor Dust Palace was one of the most fearsome taboos in the current universe, having killed more than one All Heavens.
The title "Emperor Dust" was given by Chi Yao.
Initially, Zhang Ruochen thought the character "Emperor" was too overbearing and was unwilling to use it as his title.
But Chi Yao said, with your current cultivation and the forces you control, you can no longer keep a low profile. No one sees you as a junior anymore.
Since that's the case, why not be high-profile and display an ambition to swallow the universe?
All cultivators under heaven admire the strong!
To the south of Emperor Dust Palace was the Time Divine Temple.
This palace and temple were both shrouded in thunderstorm, with misty water vapor.
Zhang Ruochen sat under the Sword Ancestor Divine Tree, holding a foot-tall white jade figurine in his hand.
Using his spiritual power to activate it, dense black light spots immediately appeared on the white jade figurine.
Each black light spot was a profound and mysterious talisman pattern.
Moments later, because there were too many black light spots, the white jade figurine directly turned into black jade.
From the inside out, from the outside in, the talisman patterns were densely packed, countless, as if it were a jade figure condensed from talisman patterns.
This was the Emperor Talisman!
The former Talisman Emperor!
The Emperor Talisman was given to Zhang Ruochen by the leader of the Netherworld Evil Cult, through the Evil Emperor's descendant Xian Chaoji, in exchange for the opportunity to follow Zhang Ruochen in cultivation.
At the same time, it was also to secure a future for the Netherworld Evil Cult.
The Emperor Talisman was placed inside a blackwood box, given to the Evil Emperor by Ling Yanzi.
In fact, the Netherworld Cult Leader had no idea what was inside the box, because he hadn't even been able to undo the restrictions the Evil Emperor had placed on it.
He only knew it was something both Ling Yanzi and the Evil Emperor valued greatly.
It was only after ten thousand years, when Zhang Ruochen's cultivation had greatly advanced, that he slowly refined the restrictions on the blackwood box.
Chi Yao, wearing a wrapped deep garment, walked over step by step, with twenty layers of heavenly realms faintly visible above her head, and smiled, "If the Netherworld Cult Leader knew the blackwood box contained the Emperor Talisman, he would definitely regret it so much he'd cry and beat his head. How is it? Is the Emperor Talisman really as powerful as the legends say?"
Zhang Ruochen said, "The Emperor Talisman requires spiritual power to activate. With my current eighty-eighth level spiritual power, even when I activate it, I still feel that many talisman patterns inside the jade figurine haven't awakened... it's like... endless."
With the sundial activated for ten thousand years, Zhang Ruochen had only cultivated for one eon inside it, and most of that time was spent on making up for his shortcomings.
For example, spiritual power and various divine abilities and secret techniques.
Of course, even with normal hard cultivation, spending an eon of time to cultivate spiritual power to the eighty-eighth level would still be as difficult as reaching the heavens.
Zhang Ruochen had relied on the Paradise World.
The Saha World has three thousand realms, where one can experience three thousand lifetimes of suffering to temper the spirit, strengthen the will, enhance the soul and insights, thereby achieving a massive increase in spiritual power.
And the Paradise World also has three thousand realms, where one can experience three thousand lifetimes of bliss.
People can often endure suffering and thus become stronger through adversity.
But in bliss, it's very easy to fall into depravity.
Chi Yao said, "Does it require ninetieth level spiritual power to fully activate the Emperor Talisman?"
"The Emperor Talisman is the pinnacle work of the Unconfused Ancestor. This talisman might be even more extraordinary than we imagine," Zhang Ruochen said.
The Fallen God Island Lord was already considered the strongest in spiritual power in the current universe, but he was only at the ninety-third level, still far from the Spiritual Power Half-Ancestor.
One could imagine how brilliant the Unconfused Ancestor, whose spiritual power exceeded the ninety-sixth level back then, must have been.
Zhang Ruochen said, "If my guess is correct, this Emperor Talisman was seized by Ling Yanzi from Yinyue Tian. Because only Yinyue Tian entered the Evil Emperor Underground Palace before us."
"You mean, the Emperor Talisman isn't invincible?" Chi Yao said.
Zhang Ruochen nodded and said, "It's a mixed blessing! The fact that Yinyue Tian used it against Ling Yanzi shows that the Emperor Talisman's power is definitely extraordinary. And the fact that Ling Yanzi was able to take it away indicates that the Emperor Talisman has flaws and must be used cautiously. Talismans, after all, are external paths, not one's true strength."
Chi Yao said, "I'm very curious, why did Ling Yanzi give the Emperor Talisman to the Evil Emperor back then? Just because the Emperor Talisman belonged to the Huan Realm? Returning it to its original owner?"
Zhang Ruochen's expression became much more serious as he picked up the opened blackwood box.
Inside the box, there was also a paper slip.
"I think perhaps this is the real message Ling Yanzi wanted to convey," Zhang Ruochen said, taking the paper slip and slowly unfolding it.
On the paper slip, there was a diagram imprint.
It was a palm-sized black disc, densely covered with lines, along with countless tiny characters and patterns that were indistinguishable to the naked eye.
At the center of the disc, there was a white needle.
Chi Yao frowned and said, "This is the Celestial Pivot Needle! Ling Yanzi placed the imprint of the Celestial Pivot Needle inside this blackwood box and gave it to the Evil Emperor. What does this mean? What message is she trying to convey?"
Zhang Ruochen was also thinking, "According to what Xian Chaoji said about the timing, when Ling Yanzi gave the blackwood box to the Evil Emperor, the Great Venerable had already gone missing. After that, Ling Yanzi also disappeared and never appeared in the world again."
"Perhaps Ling Yanzi had discovered some important information, but couldn't speak directly, afraid that the heavenly secrets would be perceived."
"Or perhaps she was telling the Evil Emperor that using the Celestial Pivot Needle could deduce something?"
"When the Evil Emperor was young, he traveled with the Great Venerable and Ling Yanzi for a period of time. Where did they go? Maybe it's related to this."
Chi Yao asked, "Does Xian Chaoji know?"
Zhang Ruochen shook his head and said, "Both she and the Netherworld Cult Leader know very limited things. Clearly, this matter is of great importance, and the Evil Emperor didn't dare tell them."
Chi Yao said, "You controlled the Celestial Pivot Needle for a period of time, right? Do you have some understanding of this divine artifact?"
Zhang Ruochen couldn't help but recall the figure of Gong Nanfeng and said, "This is indeed an extraordinary divine artifact. It knows everything under heaven, and its deduction ability, in some aspects, is not inferior to a Perfectly Round and Flawless One. Huh..."
"What did you think of?" Chi Yao asked.
Zhang Ruochen thought of what Gong Nanfeng had said to him back then.
Gong Nanfeng had said that the artifact spirit of a divine artifact could exist for dozens of eons, or even longer.
Because the artifact spirit could split off more than ninety percent of its spirit, cultivate a physical body, and use it to endure the eon calamity.
Meanwhile, the other part of the spirit would fall below the divine realm, sleeping inside the divine qi, to avoid the perception of the eon calamity.
Once the eon calamity passed, it would cultivate back to the divine realm.
Out of trust in Gong Nanfeng, Zhang Ruochen had never deliberately or seriously probed the interior of the Celestial Pivot Needle before.
Perhaps the message Ling Yanzi wanted to convey to the Evil Emperor was hidden inside the Celestial Pivot Needle?
No.
Ling Yanzi wasn't trying to pass a message to the Evil Emperor; she was trying to pass it to the Great Venerable, who had gone missing at the time.
She herself must have had something important to do immediately, so she could only give the blackwood box to the Evil Emperor, asking him to give it to the Great Venerable.
Unfortunately, the Great Venerable never returned.
Zhang Ruochen said, "It seems necessary to make a trip to the Destiny Temple."
"I think this secret is extraordinary and must not be told to anyone. Even when probing the Celestial Pivot Needle, you must not leave any trace. The waters of the Destiny Temple are deeper than anywhere else in the world," Chi Yao said, thinking for a moment before adding, "Perhaps you can go consult Tai Shang. Tai Shang knows far more secrets than we do."
"It's time to return to the Kunlun Realm," Zhang Ruochen said, putting the Emperor Talisman and the paper slip back into the blackwood box, setting up restrictions, and sealing it.
Chi Yao looked at Zhang Ruochen with a strange expression and said, "Are you preparing to leave the Heavenly Court?"
Zhang Ruochen nodded and said, "My ten-thousand-year agreement with the Heavenly Venerable has been fulfilled. Moreover, over the years, although all realms of the Heavenly Court have benefited from activating the sundial in the Time Divine Temple, the biggest beneficiaries are still the so-called Kunlun Realm faction."
After Xiu Chen Heavenly God's cultivation was exposed, Zhang Ruochen could no longer hide the fact that he was activating the sundial in the Time Divine Temple.
To avoid being attacked by the masses, he used the method of the Truth Divine Temple to allocate the slots for entering the sundial to cultivate to all realms of the Heavenly Court.
But Zhang Ruochen was not Xumi Saint Monk, nor was he the Time Overlord. The sundial could only accommodate a limited number of cultivators, especially those above the divine realm.
As a result, each major world received very few slots and very little cultivation time, and these were all for the younger generation.
Over time, the various worlds naturally became increasingly dissatisfied.
Especially after the Dragon Lord revealed his Indestructible Infinite realm cultivation, this dissatisfaction reached its peak.
Zhang Ruochen had already felt the pressure from all realms. If he didn't leave, he would become the target of public criticism.
What was even more frustrating was that the Hell Realm's dissatisfaction with Zhang Ruochen was even stronger.
Ren Huan Heavenly Venerable, Feng Tian, Qingtian, Jiusi Yitianhuang, Luo Yan Great Emperor, Desolate Heaven Hall Master, Blood Absolute Clan Leader... either sent people to deliver letters to him, inviting him to the Hell Realm.
Or they directly threatened him, telling Zhang Ruochen that if he chose the Heavenly Court Universe, the Hell Realm would have no place for him.
As the clan leader, as the hall master, Blood Jue War God and Desolate Heaven held high positions and had to put the interests of their clans first; they were already beyond their control.
Of course, they also told Zhang Ruochen in their letters that they respected his choice.
When Zhang Ruochen agreed to help his grandmaster protect the Kunlun Realm for ten thousand years, and when Zhang Ruochen reached a mutually beneficial agreement with Hao Tian, he had actually anticipated reaching this point.
How could he have it both ways between the Heavenly Court and the Hell Realm?
Doing so would actually be a path to death.
Only by truly breaking away from the Heavenly Court and the Hell Realm and becoming independent could he forge his own path.
Of course, this path would inevitably be very difficult.
The Thunder Clan was a precedent.
Zhang Ruochen deeply understood that he couldn't follow Lei Fa Heavenly Venerable's path and offend both the Heavenly Court and the Hell Realm to death. He said, "Yao Yao, you announce on my behalf that from today onward, I will no longer serve as the Grand Elder of the Space Divine Temple and the Grand Elder of the Time Divine Temple. My cooperation with the Heavenly Venerable has ended."
"Is it necessary to add that last sentence? It might offend the Heavenly Venerable," Chi Yao said.
"It is necessary! The Heavenly Venerable wants to tie me to the Heavenly Court's chariot and completely cut off ties with the Hell Realm, but that's not a good thing for us. In fact, the existence of the Kunlun Realm faction has already become a tail too big to wag for the Heavenly Palace. When two tigers appear on one mountain, some things are no longer within the Heavenly Venerable's control," Zhang Ruochen thought for a moment and added, "Don't worry, with the Heavenly Venerable's magnanimity, this alone won't offend him."