Splitting the Heave

The three talismans were eventually passed to Zhang Haogu.  

As the Martial Extermination Realm expert who was temporarily in charge of the Talisman Hall, Zhang Haogu was obviously able to tell if those talismans were real. However, he still turned to Gong Hang and Fan Yuanhui to ask, “What do the two of you think about this/” 

?! What were they supposed to say?

A bitter smile appeared on Gong Hang’s face as he realized that he had thoroughly offended Shang Xia with everything that he said before when the youngster threw out the three pieces of Formation Talisman. 

With Shang Xia’s current status, nothing could be worse than someone looking down on him and suspecting that he had cheated by swapping out the talismans for completed ones. When Gong Hang mentioned that the talisman papers provided by the Talisman Hall were marked earlier, he had already made the assumption that Shang Xia wasn’t the one who created those talismans. 

As a rank three Talisman Master himself, Gong Hang was more than capable of telling if a talisman was freshly created or not. The markings on the talisman paper wouldn’t matter! 

Moreover, those markings left on the paper weren’t used to see if Shang Xia was cheating in the first place. They were there to ensure that disciples or other members of the institution didn’t try stealing the talisman papers to sell them to external cultivators. 

Hastily, Gong Hang tried to salvage the situation. “Haha, the new generation will always surpass the old. They have reached the standard of a rank three talisman and they can definitely be used. Looks like I was too ignorant previously. I apologize to Young Master Shang for the disrespect I have shown.” 

After he spoke, this old Talisman Master whose head was filled with white hair, gave Shang Xia a deep bow. 

Jumping in fright, Shang Xia didn’t know how to respond.

“This… Teacher Gong, it’s nothing much! If you do this…” Before Shang Xia could complete his sentence, he saw Fan Yuanhui cupping his fists and doing the same.

“Teacher Fan, this… Teachers, I can’t take this!” Helpless, Shang Xia could only turn to Zhang Haogu with a pleading gaze.

To be really honest, Shang Xia was truly feeling a little irritated when they suspected him of cheating earlier. He even thought of storming off in a huff after showing them the completed talismans. After all, the Talisman Hall was the one who came begging him for help. They were the ones who needed to come up with the talismans for the grand formation and in Shang Xia’s words: This granddaddy here doesn’t need to put up with this!

However, all the words became stuck in his throat the moment Gong Hang lowered his head. All the anger in his stomach disappeared in an instant.

Zhang Haogu eventually broke the silence and chuckled softly, “Gong Hang, Fan Yuanhui, there’s no need for this. I didn’t think he was able to complete the talismans. After all, it’s good for youngsters to suffer some setbacks in their lives. I thought that it would be great even if he managed to complete a single talisman! Who would have thought that he would give us such a huge surprise?” 

Turning to Shang Xia, Zhang Haogu continued, “Hehe, you really shocked us this time. I hope you won’t bear a grudge because of this. After all, you will need to work together with Teacher Gong and Fan to finish up all the talismans we need.” 

Since Zhang Haogu had already spoken, there was nothing much left for Shang Xia to say. He nodded obediently in response, “This disciple understands. I’ll do my best.” 

A smile appeared on Zhang Haogu’s face and he seemed gratified with Shang Xia’s reply. He then followed up quickly, “Alright, I’ll get someone to send another six pieces of rank three talisman paper over.” 

Turning to Gong Hang and Fan Yuanhui, Zhang Haogu asked again, “So, what do you two think of this?” 

With things progressing up to that point, Gong Hang wasn’t going to obstruct Shang Xia any longer. Instead, he heaved a sigh of relief. “It’s a great idea. To be honest, the Formation Hall has been pestering us a little too much lately. Both Teacher Fan and I didn’t get much time to rest. With Talisman Master Shang taking over a portion of the responsibilities, the pressure on us will be alleviated. At the very least, we’ll be able to take longer breaks to recover our divine sense.” 

Fan Yuanhui’s gaze also landed on Shang Xia and he asked seriously, “You completed three Formation Talismans in 25 days. Will you be able to withstand the exhaustion?” 

Shang Xia understood that Fan Yuanhui had his interests at heart when he asked the question, but the question still sounded a little off-putting. Regardless, he chuckled in response, “I’ll be fine. I might be a little tired, but after taking a short break for 3 to 5 days, I should be ready to craft more talismans.” 

Fan Yuanhui nodded slightly and no longer spoke.

“It’s good to be young! Your extraordinary talent is also really amazing!” Gong Hang quipped at the side. No one knew if he was admiring Shang Xia’s talent or envious of his young age, but it seemed as though his praise was sincere.

All of a sudden, Zhang Haogu slapped his forehead and chuckled bitterly, “Oh right! I completely forgot about that! You need some time to recover your divine sense! Alright, we’ll begin the next cycle in 5 days! One month would have passed since you started on the first batch, just like what we agreed on!” 

“Sure.” Shang Xia nodded in response.

The limit for most rank three Talisman Masters was six attempts in a single month and that was why they agreed to the bet previously. 

However, that was the limit for normal rank three Talisman Masters. The exhaustion Shang Xia was feeling was much less than what he portrayed.

After all, he completed the talismans several days ago. There was also the matter of him only attempting the crafting process 5 times. 

That was also before taking into account Shang Xia’s terrifying recovery speed…

With everything decided, Gong Hang seemed to have thought of something and he brought up another question. “Talisman Master Shang’s addition will greatly benefit our Talisman Hall, however…” Gong Hang stared at Zhang Haogu, Fan Yuanhui, and Shang Xia before he continued, “It’s just that all our resources were calculated according to how much Teacher Fan and I would use. With Talisman Master Shang added into the mix, our resources will deplete at a much quicker rate. If the institution isn’t able to keep up, I’m afraid there won’t be enough resources for us to craft talismans.” 

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Zhang Haogu was also feeling a headache coming as he didn’t know how to solve the problem on such short notice.

At the end of the day, the Tongyou Institution’s foundations were truly too shallow. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be in such a mess.

After thinking about it for some time, Zhang Haogu asked, “What do we lack the most?” 

“Talisman paper.” Gong Hang replied without a shred of hesitation. “Our supply of Talisman Paper isn’t enough. In the 20 odd days that passed, Talisman Master Shang used a total of 6 pieces. Both Teacher Fan and I used 5 pieces each and our talisman hall only managed to produce 6 pieces in total. Right now, we are only left with 19 pieces of rank three Talisman Paper. From what I heard, the ingredients used to make rank three talisman paper have been used up and we might need a period of time before the institution manages to resupply us.” 

Fan Yuanhui added, “Actually, rank three talisman paper isn’t all we’re lacking. We’re running out of rank two talisman papers too.” 

A deep frown appeared on Zhang Haogu’s face and he muttered, “If we’re really out of choices, we can only start buying them from elsewhere.”

That might be an idea, but the Tongyou Institution would definitely be paying out of their noses if they tried to acquire the talisman papers from elsewhere.

Hearing the problem, Shang Xia gasped slightly as he thought of something. He turned to Zhang Haogu and asked, “Instructor Zhang, do you remember the place I told you about where I found the Spirit of Wind?” 

“What about it?” Zhang Haogu raised an eyebrow in confusion.

Shang Xia quickly revealed the presence of the ancient tree and the Stormy Lightning Leaf that grew on it along with the matter of Ren Huan’s desire to join the Talisman Hall.

As soon as he heard what Shang Xia said, Zhang Haogu nearly broke out laughing. “Are you telling me that Ren Huan, a talisman paper maker, not only wants to join our institution, but he also has a batch of ingredients used to craft rank three talisman paper?! What are you waiting for? Call him over and process his application! We’ll make a detailed investigation of his background after we deal with this matter. However, for him to be able to join our Tongyou Institution in this expedition, the Outreach Division should have done their fair share of work. His identity shouldn’t be much of a problem.” 

Shang Xia nodded and thanked Zhang Haogu. “This disciple will contact him immediately and tell him to head over here as soon as he can.” 

“Oh right. You can tell him that we’ll compensate him for the Stormy Lightning Leaves and anything else he might provide.” Zhang Haogu added.

When he was done speaking to Shang Xia, he turned to the other two and asked, “What do you think?” 

When they heard the news about Ren Huan, the two of them were clearly much more relieved. After exchanging a glance, Gong Hang chuckled, “This is definitely a pleasant surprise, however…”

A helpless chuckle escaped Gong Hang’s lips when he saw Zhang Haogu’s gaze on him. “It’s just that the Stormy Lightning Leaves will make great rank three talisman papers that boost the properties of lightning and wind. It’s a waste for us to turn them into Formation Talismans…” 

“Since time is of the essence, we can only take the loss…” Fan Yuanhui sighed softly after hearing what he said,

However, Shang Xia quickly added, “Why don’t we tell the Formation Hall about this and get them to add the properties of wind and lightning into the grand formation? Otherwise, it will truly be a waste of more than 30 Stormy Lightning Leaves.”

Zhang Haogu and Gong Hang stared at Shang Xia like they were seeing a crazy monster, but Fan Yuanhui agreed immediately. “I think that’s a good idea! We’ve been taking instructions from the Formation Hall all this time and they’re doing whatever they want. Now, it’s time for them to come up with something new.” 

Fan Yuanhui’s sudden approval of Shang Xia’s idea truly caught him by surprise. Before he could say anything else, Zhang Haogu chimed in. “We’ll talk about this after we see Ren Huan.” 

With everything settled, there was no longer a need for the four of them to be gathered together.

Gong Hang and Fan Yuanhui immediately returned to their secret chambers to continue their talisman crafting process, and Zhang Haogu started to take his leave. No matter what, Zhang Haogu was a Martial Extermination Realm expert and he was the head of the Talisman Hall. Not only was he responsible for the safety of the Observation Peak, but he also had to take care of the resource gathering process of the Talisman Hall. He could be said to be the busiest out of all of them!

At the moment, Shang Xia was the person with the most free time on his hands, especially after getting a 5 day break. 

Seeing as Zhang Haogu was about to leave, he quickly stopped the instructor. “Instructor Zhang, do you know where the spring water used to complete our ink comes from? Also, do you know when the spring was formed?” 

Glancing at Shang Xia suspiciously, Zhang Haogu muttered, “There’s an age requirement?” 

Zhang Haogu was no amateur cultivator. He had been through many things and he understood that Shang Xia wouldn’t say something if it held no purpose. Of course, he wouldn’t force Shang Xia to reveal the true reason behind his question if the youngster wasn’t willing to talk about it.

“Yes. This disciple needs a pot of Hundred Year Old Inexhaustible Spring Water.” Shang Xia continued.

Zhang Haogu laughed heartily in response. “You’re a lucky one alright. There’s a spring located in the mountains behind the institution and it definitely existed for more than a hundred years.”