Splitting the Heave

It didn’t take long for Shang Xia to familiarize himself with the Talisman Hall with Zhang Haogu’s introductions. 

The two other rank three Talisman Masters, Gong Hang and Fan Yuanhui, quickly stood beside Shang Xia to run him through the tasks they were assigned to do. 

After getting a basic rundown on the area, Shang Xia couldn’t help but ask the question that had been stewing in his heart for some time now. “Why do we need to make a Formation Talisman? Activating a Formation Talisman might be quick, but it won’t last for long. A Formation Talisman alone is too weak and will be prone to destruction due to its formless nature. If we’re really pressed for time, why don’t we create talismans and seal them in jade or gold? At the very least, using beast skin or wood would allow the talisman to be much more durable than a Formation Talisman.” 

Gong Hang and Fan Yuanhui stared at each other for a second before turning to look at Zhang Haogu in unison. Their reactions were the same as Shang Xia as they tried to look for an answer.

Clearly, the two of them were equally as curious.

Zhang Haogu chuckled bitterly and explained, “We don’t have time on our side. Laying down a grand formation like the one back on the Tongyou Peak isn’t really feasible at the moment.” 

“Is the Azure Spiritual World about to attack us again?” Shang Xia gasped. No one could blame him for thinking like that. After all, the Tongyou Institution relied mostly on luck to gain the upperhand when they fought their way back to the battlefield between the two worlds. The members of the Azure Spiritual World might not be willing to accept the loss and allow them to do as they wished.

Moreover, it was no secret that the Tongyou Institution’s strength was weakened after the war. The departure of many Martial Extermination Realm experts was no secret. To the Azure Spiritual World, the Tongyou Institution was like an empty fort!

The Changbai Holy Land might be shameless and the four great races of the Liao Continent might have a bone to pick with them, but everyone had to admit that their foundations were terrifying. It wouldn’t be a problem to send out a few more Martial Extermination Realm experts into the battlefield between the two worlds to wreak havoc.

If that were to happen, the Tongyou Institution would truly be in trouble. They would be forced into a corner and they would have to defend themselves desperately with whatever they had!

That was most likely the reason they were trying to lay down a large scale formation as soon as they could. It didn’t matter how they did it. 

“Yeah. We thought about that.” Zhang Haogu didn’t deny it, but he quickly followed up, “But that’s not the main reason.” 

Perhaps it was because Gong Hang and Fan Yuanhui were present, but Zhang Haogu stopped there. He didn’t go into details, but Shang Xia had his guesses. 

The conversation continued among the four of them but a young cultivator approached them in a hurry. 

“Instructor Zhang, Teachers…” The youngster appeared before them before long and greeted three of them.

Before taking on his position as the head of the Scripture Depository, Zhang Haogu was a well received instructor in the institution. Many disciples knew him and called him by his past title. Also, Gong Hang and Fan Yuanhui were rank three Talisman Masters and have taught in the institution. Some of the younger disciples and teachers received their teachings in the past and that was how they were addressed.

Staring at Shang Xia, the young cultivator was too stunned to speak.

Shang Xia glanced at the newcomer and found him slightly familiar. They seemed to have entered the Tongyou Institution at the same time and they were actually classmates.

However, the time Shang Xia spent in the institution was far too little and he didn’t know which outer division the disciple came from. He didn’t even know the other disciple’s name.

An awkward feeling overcame Shang Xia and he could only chuckle helplessly while avoiding the disciple’s gaze. Now that the two of them were meeting again, Shang Xia was already in the Upper Division. Who would have thought that this Upper Division Disciple would also be feeling uncomfortable?

In less than two years, the once leader of the outer divisions had already turned into a legend!

Actually, the disciple who came had also reached the Upper Division. That was how he was able to report to Zhang Haogu anyway. Regardless, things were a little awkward at the moment due to the fact that even though their statuses were almost the same, one of them was a mere messenger while the other could joke around with Zhang Haogu and the two rank three Talisman Masters.

Seeing as the disciple was getting distracted, Zhang Haogu frowned slightly in displeasure. “What’s the matter?” 

The young cultivator snapped back to reality and made his report. “Instructor Zhang, Teachers, The Formation Hall came over to ask us to hurry up. They said that even if we’re unable to create the Formation Talisman, they hope that we can complete one set of auxiliary talismans.”

The expressions of the high-leveled experts present immediately twisted in distaste.

“What the hell! Do they think it’s that easy to create thousands of talismans?!” Gong Hang, who looked the most easily annoyed out of them all, yelled.

Zhang Haogu waved his hand casually to stop Gong Hang from saying any more. He looked at the disciple who came and spoke in an even tone, “How many talismans do they need this time?” 

“This… According to Teacher Chu Jia, the Formation Hall’s preparation to lay down the core of the formation should be complete. As long as we complete another 24 rank three talismans, 108 rank two talismans, and 500 rank one talismans, they should be able to complete the initial process. When that’s done, we can start crafting the rest to supplement the construction of the main formation.” The disciple completed the report.

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On the side, Fan Yuanhui snorted coldly, “Hmph, the Formation Hall actually sent the little lass over this time. What’s her problem? Is she trying to make our lives difficult?” 

Gong Hang sneered at the side, “The formation we’re planning to lay down should be similar to the one around the Tongyou Peak. Of course the Formation Hall knows what they have to do. They probably made preparations to complete the formation core a long time ago. Now that we’re changing the main protection formation to a Formation Talisman, we’re the ones doing the bulk of the work. We have to produce thousands of talismans all of a sudden. Obviously, we won’t be able to keep up immediately! What is the point of hurrying us all day long?” 

“No matter what, completing the grand formation is of utmost importance. Since they’re completing the foundations of the formation, we’ll just give them the talismans they need.” Zhang Haogu muttered.

After he spoke, he turned to Shang Xia and smiled, “Moreover, we have another rank three Talisman Master now. We should be able to speed up our production soon.” 

When they heard what he said, Gong Hang forced a smile to remain polite while Fan Yuanhui shook his head doubtfully.

Luckily, Zhang Haogu didn’t seem to notice the look on their faces as he addressed the disciple who came over to make the report. “Please go over to the Formation Hall and tell Teacher Chu Jia that we heard her request. We’ll complete one set of auxiliary talismans soon.”

Acknowledging Zhang Haogu’s orders, the disciple turned to take his leave.

When the disciple was gone, Zhang Haogu turned to look at the three of them and revealed a bitter smile. “Looks like we’ll have to depend on the three of you  no.” 

Gong Hang was the oldest of the three rank three Talisman Masters present and the talismans he made were also of the highest quality. He quickly took on the position of their leader and mentioned, “Let’s not waste any more time. I’ll work together with Teacher Fan to start on the production of rank three talismans. Talisman Master Shang, do you need to familiarize yourself before you begin?” 

SHang Xia chuckled in response, “Nope. Since we are in a hurry, I can start immediately.” 

Gong Hang nodded and continued, “Alright. Since that’s the case, we’ll have to trouble you to start with several rank two talismans.” 

Raising his eyebrows in surprise, a strange light flashed through his eyes but he didn’t say anything else.

Instead, it was Zhang Haogu who spoke up. “Huh? He’s a rank three Talisman Master. Why don’t you get him to craft rank three talismans? Didn’t Chu Jia say that we need 24 rank three talismans for the first batch? Didn’t the two of you only complete ten or fewer of them?” 

Gong Hang maintained a smile on his face, but the look in his eyes was one of mockery when he looked at Shang Xia. It was as though he was trying to tell Shang Xia to not waste resources when it came to crafting talismans. 

Unlike Gong Hang, Fan Yuanhui didn’t seem to be afraid of offending Shang Xia as he sneered, “Heh, we believe that Young Talisman Master Shang managed to craft a rank three talisman, and we admit that he’s a genius for being able to do so at such a young age. However, we need to take success rate into account. Even though the Formation Hall isn’t asking for so many talismans at the moment, it’s not easy to craft a single rank three talisman. If we waste too many resources, the formation around our Observation Peak might not be completed on time.” 

How could Shang Xia not understand that the two of them were looking down on him, especially after what Fan Yuanhui said.

The two rank three Talisman Masters might seem polite to him on the surface, but they were doubting his abilities as a rank three Talisman Master! They might have thought that the Shang Clan provided him with a ton of resources in order for him to improve, allowing him to become a rank three Talisman Master despite his low success rate in crafting talismans.

They even thought that he joined the Talisman Hall in order to gain more resources from the institution.

Rather than allowing him to waste resources, they might as well send him off to craft rank two talismans. In their eyes, it didn’t matter if Shang Xia had a low success rate in crafting rank three talismans. The kid was a rank three Talisman Master no matter what and crafting rank two talismans shouldn’t be a problem for him. They could save resources used for rank three talismans and greatly increase the production of rank two talismans, killing two birds with one stone!

At least, that was what they thought.

A deep frown could be seen on Zhang Haogu’s face and even though he was extremely displeased with their attitude, he couldn’t deny that they had the Tongyou Institution’s interests at heart.

Moreover, even Zhang Haogu himself hadn’t seen Shang Xia in action before.

All of a sudden, Shang Xia chuckled in amusement, “Oh right, how many rank three talisman papers do the Talisman Hall have?” 

Gong Hang could hear the indignation in Shang Xia’s voice, but he couldn’t care too much. When he saw how Zhang Haogu was staring at him, he couldn’t help but reply, “We have 29 pieces of rank three talisman paper and there’ll be more coming soon. From the standard of our talisman paper makers, they should provide us with 6 to 7 pieces after some time.” 

Zhang Haogu’s eyes widened slightly and he asked, “Are we running out of resources already?” 

Gong Hang wanted to grumble about the allocation of resources and how it was slowing them down, but Shang Xia interrupted him before he could say a word. “How rank tree talismans have we completed?” 

With the sudden interruption, Gong Hang was really getting annoyed with Shang Xia but he couldn’t snap at the youngster as Zhang Haogu was still present. He could only sneer softly, “We completed 8 talismans in total…”

“Oh.” Shang Xia muttered and started to think out loud. “We need 24 talismans for the first batch and since you already completed 8 of them, we need 16 more. Since we have 29 more pieces of rank three talisman paper and there should be 6 to 7 more of them coming, we’ll have around 34 pieces…” 

Turning to Zhang Haogu, Shang Xia chuckled, “Formation Talismans are a little easier to create compared to talismans of the same level. We should be able to complete the 24 talismans with the resources we have.”

“Oh?” Zhang Haogu’s eyes lit up after hearing what Shang Xia said.

“Humph! You’re overestimating yourself!” Fan Yuanhui snapped suddenly.