Splitting the Heave

“Patriarch Kou has a Spirit of Spring?” Shang Xia was excited after hearing the news but he also felt a slight headache coming.

It wouldn’t be easy getting something from Kou Chongxue! One couldn’t look at things on the surface level and think about the many times Shang Xia had met with Kou Chongxue. He might have obtained a strand of sword qi from Kou Chongxue, but that was his reward after making huge contributions to the institution! Shang Xia wasn’t delusional enough to think that he had a great relationship with Kou Chongxue just because of their few meetings.

As such, Shang Xia didn’t think that obtaining the Spirit of Spring from Kou Chongxue would be easy.

Shang Ke seemed to have seen through his thoughts and laughed, “Leave the matter of the Spirit of Spring to me. I’ll go look for information regarding the other three spirits too.” 

Shang Xia felt a huge weight lifted off his chest after hearing what his Grandpa Ke said. He might have some friendship with several Martial Extermination Realm cultivators, but at the end of the day, he could only be considered a member of the younger generation to them. He wasn’t truly qualified to talk to ask them for favors or anything else.

Things were different if the Shang Clan Patriarch were the one to do it. The authority and prestige he had was on a whole other level compared to Shang Xia.

Moreover, Shang Xia had already expected that he would need to rely on the Shang Clan to collect the Spirit of the Four Seasons.

All of a sudden, Shang Xia seemed to have thought of something. He recalled the time when he first met Kou Chongxue. The area that was flourishing with life seemed to contain several precious herbs too.

“Grandpa Ke, if you manage to request for the Spirit of Spring from Patriarch Kou, can you also ask if he has a piece of Jade Peach Blossom that can be harvested in the Spring?” Shang Xia asked.

Staring at him with a confused expression, Shang Ke wondered out loud. “Jade Peach Blossom? That’s not a rare herb at all.” 

“Yeah. And it has to be harvested in the Spring.” Shang Xia added.

“Oh, alright!” Shang Ke laughed. “Special herbs are usually harvested in special seasons or at special times. It’s more than likely that he harvested them in the Spring or sometime during the rainy season…” 

As they conversed, they quickly approached the Observation Peak. The Observation Peak was located almost eight hundred miles away from the spatial tunnel that led back to the Tongyou Institution. The entire region was pretty flat, and there wasn't much forestry surrounding it. From the top of the Observation Peak, one could enjoy an unobstructed view of up to ten miles away. Even though it wasn’t as majestic and intimidating as the original Tongyou Peak, times were different. As of that very moment, the Tongyou Institution wasn’t the weakest faction in the battlefield between the two worlds.

They laid down several simple but large scale formations in the area for the time being in order to prevent the Observation Peak from shifting due to the changes in space in the battlefield between the two worlds. Naturally, improvements to the formations would be done given more time.

Even though the structures that had been built since they established themselves were made in a rush and were pretty flimsy, the area seemed to bustle with activity. It gave off a different vibe when compared to the air of oppression that had existed on the Tongyou Peak.

After the two of them arrived, Shang Ke casually pointed at the area where the Shang Clan had set up base for the time being before dumping Shang Xia to his own devices. In the blink of an eye, he disappeared.

When Shang Xia went over alone, he discovered that the territory the Shang Clan controlled was far from what they had on the Tongyou Peak. Obviously, that meant that there was no Shang Clan Pavilion for him to live in. There were only several hastily built houses that were surrounded by simple wooden boards that acted as fences.

Even though he had returned, Shang Xia didn’t see any Martial Intent Realm cultivators of the clan. Instead, he ran into his Uncle Quan.

Seeing as Shang Xia had returned safely, Shang Quan revealed an expression filled with excitement and he explained, “Our clan sent many disciples out to do battle but you’re the only one who hasn’t paid us a visit. Now that you’re back, everyone can finally be at ease…” 

“I came back with Grandpa Ke… Oh yeah, why isn’t there anyone else around here?” Shang Xia chuckled in response.

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“Since the battle ended, everyone other than those who were killed or heavily injured managed to gain quite a bit. Moreover, it’s rare for so many experts to be gathered in a single region in the battlefield between the two worlds and many of them formed groups to go on adventures. There are also many who are making deals and forming connections with each other. Most of the time, the Martial Intent Realm cultivators of our Shang Clan won’t be here. I’m the only one responsible for taking care of our land.” A helpless smile appeared on his face after he explained the situation.

Hearing what Shang Quan said, Shang Xia started to feel a burning sensation rushing up his chest. He wanted to join the others too and he couldn’t be more ready to take part in a trade gathering like the one he attended back in the Tongyou City. After all, he had quite a lot of goodies on him.

Shang Quan also managed to see through Shang Xia’s thoughts and he laughed heartily, “What’s the matter? Do you also wish to head out there and join the rest?” 

Coughing lightly, Shang Xia brought out an item from his Embroidered Cloud Case and handed it over to Shang Quan. “Unce Quan, I chanced upon this and would like you to have it.” 

“For me?” Shang Quan laughed happily while rubbing his palms together. He received the scroll from Shang Xia and opened it slightly to scan its contents. The moment he did, a look of shock appeared on his face. “Pine Smoke Purple Scale Ink! This… This is a rank three talisman ink formula! Where did you get this?” 

“I got it from a friend. Uncle Quan, you should start researching the formula soon. After all, I’m waiting for you to produce a batch or two so I can use them for my talismans.” Shang Xia smiled.

“No problem! I wasn’t able to make rank three talisman ink in the past because I didn’t have a recipe for any of them. With this, I’ll definitely be able to create a few batches.” Shang Quan promised. He also seemed to have thought of something and he spoke while carefully keeping the scroll. “This ink made me think of something. Not long ago, the members from the Talisman Hall came to ask if you would join them as soon as possible.” 

Shang Xia’s achievements as a rank three Talisman Master weren’t a secret. The Tongyou Institution had sent invitations to him again and again. Unfortunately, Shang Xia didn’t have the time to do it before.

Shang Xia laughed in response, “What a coincidence. I was planning on negotiating something with them. Looks like I can take one less trip there.” Pausing for a second, he continued, “Oh yeah, Uncle Quan, why are they in such a rush?”

“They probably don’t have enough people.” Shang Quan gestured around him and said, “Look! There are basically no defenses around our Observation Peak. They need to complete the grand formation as soon as possible. I even heard that in order to hasten the speed of laying down the formation, the members of the Formation Hall and Talisman Hall have been working together. They need a large amount of talismans and the Talisman Hall is truly lacking in manpower right now. They need all the help they can get.” 

Sniggering under his breath, Shang Xia muttered, “Actually, I’m not really interested in creating talismans for them to lay down the formation right now.” 

That wasn’t him trying to avoid responsibilities. At the moment, he was at the peak of the Martial Intent Realm. All he wanted to do was to locate all the necessary herbs to create his advancement medicine. Moreover, he just received some news about world origin being on the Yuxi Peak and he didn’t wish to waste his time in the Talisman Hall.

Shang Quan added, “The Talisman Hall passed the order. As long as you are willing to join them as quickly as possible and promise that you won’t spread their inheritance to anyone else, They’re willing to give you all the inheritance regarding talisman making the institution possesses.”

Gasping in shock, Shang Xia looked at Shang Quan and exclaimed, “Are you serious?” 

When he saw Shang Quan nodding, Shang Xia started to fall into deep contemplation.

With the condition they were giving him, Shang Xia started to think about the various spatial artifacts that he didn’t wish to open with brute force.

One of them came from Sima Zhanxing and two of them came from direct disciples from the Changbai Holy Land. He was truly looking forward to the treasures they contained.

He knew that the Bamboo Void Breaking Talisman was part of the inheritance possessed by the institution. It was able to break apart any form of restriction and that would allow the contents of those spatial artifacts to not be damaged.

“I’ll take a short break and head over immediately. Oh right, who’s the head of the Talisman Hall at the moment?” Shang XIa asked.

“It’s the head of the Scripture Depository, Chief Zhang Haogu.” Shang Quan replied.

“Oh? Looks like I can’t possibly mess around anymore… Forget it, I’ll head over in a bit. I’ll be able to ask Senior Zhang about some matters too.” Shang Xia frowned a little after he spoke. “Wait, this doesn’t seem right. Instructor Zhang is the head of the Scripture Depository, why is he the head of the Talisman Hall too? He hasn’t entered the Martial Extermination Realm for a long time and he should be holding the fort back at the Tongyou Institution. Didn’t he not join the war?” 

Shang Quan raised an eyebrow and asked, “You don’t know? Even though we won and killed two Martial Extermination Realm experts from the Azure Spiritual World, more than ten of our own experts received heavy injuries. Two of them were slightly wounded. Even Deputy Patriarch Yun Jing wasn’t able to leave the war unscathed. Those heavily injured experts have already left the battlefield between the two worlds to recover in the city. The gap was quickly filled by Zhang Haogu and Gu Shou.”

“Luckily, the battle is over. The Martial Extermination Realm experts of both sides won’t engage in large scale battles anymore. Otherwise, things might get ugly.” Shang Quan sighed.

Shang Xia’s feelings mirrored what Shang Quan was feeling at the moment.

It was true that the Tongyou Institution experienced a huge increase in strength in the recent times. However, their foundations were definitely shallow. 

There might be ten Martial Extermination Realm experts on the side of the Tongyou Institution the moment the war started, but five of the ten were merely first layer Martial Extermination Realm experts.

Two of them were in the second layer, and they were Liu Qinglan and Shang Lubing respectively. However, they broke through recently!

Yun Jing was the only third layer Martial Extermination Realm expert among them but her opponent was Yan Su’er, a fourth layer Martial Extermination Realm expert. In the end, she was injured and forced to leave the battlefield between the two worlds.

If not for the fact that Shang Xia, the biggest anomaly in the war, was present, no one knew how things would have ended. Of course, he relied on a lot of luck as well when he killed Sima Zhanxing and Huang Yunxiang, but luck had always been a part of life.

Now that he learned about Zhang Haogu’s presence in the battlefield between the two worlds, Shang Xia didn’t remain in the Shang Clan’s territory for long. He quickly ran over to find the instructor.

Zhang Haogu was extremely happy to see him. After all, he discovered Shang Xia when the youngster returned with Shang Ke.

He thought that Shang Xia would need to enter seclusion for a period of time. After all, Shang Ke had already started looking around for the Spirit of the Four Seasons and Zhang Haogu thought that they were preparing for Shang Xia’s breakthrough. He was already prepared for Shang Xia to not show up for some time.

Who would have thought that the youngster would be rushing over to look for him?

“This old man is really heartened to see that you have rushed over to join the Talisman Hall.” A look of admiration flashed through Zhang Haogu’s eyes when he looked at Shang Xia. However, he chuckled bitterly the next moment. “I won’t hide our situation from you even if you laugh at us for this. We’ve been extremely busy and I’ve been stressing about the formation the whole time. Moreover, those annoying brats from the Formation Hall have been pestering me everyday now. Now that you’re here to help me, I can finally relieve myself of a lot of pressure. After all, rank three Talisman Masters are a precious commodity!” 

“This disciple came a little late. Instructor Gu, please let me know if you need me to do anything.” Shang Xia naturally wouldn’t go straight to the point and start bombarding Zhang Haogu with questions the moment they met. Of course he had to play along with the old instructor before raising his requests. 

After hearing the sigh of relief coming from Zhang Haogu, a crafty smile appeared on Shang Xia’s face as he asked, “Oh right, actually, I wanted to ask you to clear some doubts I have while I’m at it.” 

Out of the many seniors in the institution that he had access to, Zhang Haogu was the most knowledgeable one. As he had been giving out pointers and teaching people for a long time now, Zhang Haogu didn’t find Shang Xia’s request irritating. “Go ahead. I’ll tell you whatever I know!” 

“Instructor Zhang, have you heard of the Spirit of the Four Seasons?” Shang Xia got straight to the point.

“Spirit of the Four Seasons?” Zhang Haogu was slightly taken aback as he looked at Shang Xia again. He didn’t expect Shang Xia to ask something like that. After some time, he finally continued, “Other than high-leveled blacksmiths, not many people will pay attention to things like that! Are you planning to make a divine weapon?”