Splitting the Heave

“Aunt, is our Azure Origin World lacking in spiritual beasts or something?” Shang Xia asked after Shang Xi and Shang Quan’s conversation came to an end. He tossed out a really interesting question, surprising everyone.

Without raising her head, Shang Xi asked, “Who told you that?” 

“When I was in the Thousand Leaf Mountain Range, I couldn’t find many wild beasts, much less spiritual beasts. That’s not all. Even in the Taihang Mountains, I failed to find traces of any spiritual beasts! The only difference between the Taihang Mountains and the Thousand Leaf Mountain Range was that the Taihang Mountains housed a lot more wild beasts…”

Chuckling in amusement, Shang Xi explained, “Did you come to your conclusion after exploring the Thousand Leaf Mountain Range and the Taihang Mountains?” 

Grunting once, Shang Xia continued, “Well, there are many spiritual beasts in the battlefield between the two worlds. However, it probably has to do with the environment there. I also noticed some spiritual beasts in the Cloud Water Gorge. That’s also a special region and it might have something to do with the Abyssal Secret Region. Other than that…”

Shang Xi laughed lightly and didn’t say much more. Instead, Shang Quan spoke up at the side, “Actually, there are lots of spiritual beasts in our Azure Origin World. Before our worlds collided, they loved populating secluded regions like our You Continent. There were even more of them in those mountain ranges. There were so many spiritual beasts that they could rival our human population!” 

Speaking of seniority, Shang Quan did indeed know a lot more than Shang Xi. 

“Why…” Shang Xia paused for a second before he continued, “Is this because of the collision of our worlds?” 

Shang Quan nodded slowly. “That’s right. During the collision, more than two thirds of our You Continent was thrown into chaos. Those beasts relied on their superior instincts to tell them that a disaster was about to strike and they started to migrate to the south before it happened. Because of that, the northern region of our Azure Origin World experienced large scale beast tides. In the end, not a single spiritual beast remained in the Thousand Leaf Mountain Range. A huge number of them even left the Taihang Mountains!” 

“A huge number of them?” Shang Xia asked.

“Yeah. More than half of the spiritual beasts left!” Shang Quan continued, “After running to the south, they didn’t return even after the situation calmed down. Those that remained in the Taihang Mountains weren’t a match for the experts who populated the area soon after and were quickly killed. After that, the Taihang Mountains became populated with scattered cultivators, bandits, and all sorts of cultivators. That was how your Third Aunt managed to establish herself and find a place to grow the Eighteen Horsemen of the You Continent.” 

“So that’s what happened…” Shang Xia muttered to himself. Seemingly having thought of something, he followed up, “So, after the beasts ran south, wouldn’t that make the southern region…” 

“That is why the continents in the south never had any goodwill for us. Even though the collision of our worlds is what caused the beasts to run down south, they quickly found another target to blame… Hehe…” Shang Xi piped up all of a sudden.

“I see!” Shang Xia basically understood what Shang Xi left unsaid. From the looks of it, when Shang Ke and Shang Pei went down south to obtain the herbs he needed, their journey wasn’t as smooth as he had thought.

“Why are you asking about spiritual beasts anyway?” Shang Xi muttered.

Pulling out a gray pouch from his sleeves, Shang Xia pulled out a white bone brush that was close to a feet long. 

Originally, the brush was a high-grade treasure. However, there was a long crack that extended 3 inches along the body of the brush. Because of that, the brush could no longer be classified as a high-grade treasure. It was only a mid-grade treasure at best, and the Talisman Master who used it would have to waste a lot of inner qi during the crafting process because it would leak through the crack.

However, neither Shang Xi nor Shang Quan could be bothered with the brush at the moment. They stared at the gray pouch that Shang Xia pulled the brush out from. Their eyes widened in fright and they gasped, “Spatial… Spatial Pouch?!” 

Shang Xia was taken aback by their reaction.

“Where the hell did you get that?!” Shang Xi asked immediately.

“How big is it?” Shang Quan followed up before Shang Xia could answer Shang Xi’s question.

Thinking for a second, Shang Xia replied, “I asked Changfeng City Lord Bu Jingshuang for a favor to make it… It should contain 7 to 8 cubic feet of space.” 

The best Spatial Pouch out there contained 10 cubic feet of space. As such, the one Shang Xia was holding was of a pretty high grade.

In the Tongyou Institution, only the deputy patriarchs and above were able to use Spatial Pouches. Even so, most of them were of the lowest grade and could only contain 5 cubic feet of space.

After playing around with Shang Xia’s Spatial Pouch for some time, Shang Xi and Shang Quan were so engrossed in it that Shang Xia had to wave the brush in his hand about. “Aunt Xi, Uncle Quan, I was planning to get ideas from you to see where I can obtain the bones of high-level spiritual beasts. I wish to repair this brush!” 

“Oh…” Shang Xi spoke casually while flipping the pouch around in her hand, “Don’t waste your time on this brush. The Talisman Hall sent someone down here to tell us that they had obtained a fully intact high-grade brush. The only person who has the qualifications to use it is you, the rank four Talisman Grandmaster of the institution.” 

“When did they send someone over?” Shang Xia wondered to himself. He could guess that the brush came from one of those inheritance light balls Kou Chongxue or Ji Wenlong obtained from the Abyssal Secret Reigon and he continued, “They might say that I can make use of it, but it won’t belong to me at the end of the day.” 

Shang Xuan continued, “I already kept aside the bones of spiritual beasts for you a long time ago. However, I don’t think your problem can be solved because you have some raw materials. You need a proper craftsman to repair the brush.” 

Nodding slightly, Shang Xia understood what he had to do.

“Oh yeah, how long are you planning to say this time?” Shang Xi asked all of a sudden.

“Who knows? I’ll head over to the institution tomorrow to take a look. However, I don’t think I’ll be able to remain here for a long time.” Shang Xia replied before taking out several rare treasures he obtained in the Taihang Mountains. He handed them all to Shang Quan.

Most of the treasures there were obtained from the Jingxiu Peak. After all, Duan Liufeng had managed the place for tens of years. He gathered many treasures, and Shang Xia basically plundered the most precious of them when he tore through the protection barrier previously. The greatest loot he obtained was the batch of Hundred Flowers Spiritual Brew and a strand of extermination origin.

After handing the lesser treasures to Shang Quan, Shang Xia brought out the boulder from the Abyssal Secret Region that was used to hold the Abyssal Blade and the Abyssal Emptiness Talisman inheritance. He also took out several treasures Shang Pei had entrusted him to bring back to the clan. They were valuables she had collected in the two or so years during her time in the Taihang Mountains.

Looking at Shang Xia who brought out several Embroidered Cloud Cases, Shang Xi joked, “What the hell is this?! Which great family did you rob to get all of these?” 

Shang Xia chuckled in response. She wasn’t exactly wrong. Actually, he plundered 2 different factions to get his hands on so many treasures. One of them was the Jingxiu Peak, and the other was the Abyssal Sect.

Storing the main boulder in the Shang Clan treasury, Shang Xia left a few palm sized pieces for himself to experiment with. He had some ideas about talisman crafting and those small pieces would be enough to test them out.

Taking out the portion of the Abyssal Emptiness Talisman inheritance that contained the method of crafting talisman ink, he handed it over to Shang Quan personally.

“Rank four ink?!” Shang Quan stared at Shang Xia in shock.

Even though he could be considered a talisman ink craftsman, Shang Quan knew that he wasn’t exactly very talented in the field.

He barely managed to craft rank three talisman ink because of his cultivation level and position in the Shang Clan. He had broken through to the Martial Intent Realm some time ago and he could be considered an expert in the You Continent. However, he knew how limited his talent was. 

After entering the Martial Intent Realm and being recognized as a core member of the Shang Clan, he relied heavily on their support to craft rank three talisman ink. In order to complete his studies in crafting rank three ink, he used nearly 5 portions of resources before he crafted his first batch.

Without the power of the Shang Clan, Shang Quan would never become a rank three talisman ink craftsman!

However, Shang Xia had brought out the recipe for rank four talisman ink before he had even mastered the way to craft rank three ink!

“I… I really can’t do this!” A troubled look appeared on Shang Quan’s face as he admitted.

Shang Xia had become a rank four Talisman Grandmaster, and Shang Quan thought that his nephew was asking him to craft rank four talisman ink so that he could start crafting talismans.

Luckily, he was greeted with a bout of laughter from Shang Xia. “There’s no rush to create the rank four Abyssal Talisman Ink. Uncle Quan, you can focus on creating rank three Abyssal Talisman Ink for now.” 

Heaving a sigh of relief, Shang Quan suddenly thought of another problem. “Do I have to make rank three Abyssal Talisman Ink specifically?” 

Previously, Shang Quan had been racking his brains to study the creation of another type of rank three talisman ink. If he had to start crafting another type, he would waste all his efforts!

By the time their conversation got to that point, Shang Xi had already scanned through the inheritance. She was ready to store the entire inheritance in the Shang Clan Treasury, but she asked, “Are you planning to craft the entire series of talismans?” 

Shang Xia nodded in acknowledgment. “Yes, but not really… It’s true that the Abyssal Talisman Ink is extremely suitable for me to craft talismans in the series, but it can also be used for other talismans. Of course, if I craft Abyssal Talismans with Abyssal Talisman Ink, I would be more likely to succeed!” 

Shang Xi understood the situation, and Shang Quan could only release a bitter laugh. “I’m just afraid that I will end up wasting your resources…” 

Shang Xi shook the Abyssal Emptiness Talisman inheritance in her hand and muttered, “Oh yeah, are you going to give the institution a copy of this?” 

“No matter what, the intuition had their eyes on the Abyssal Secret Region. I have to give them a portion of my gains no matter what, especially an inheritance like this. Of course, any treasure I obtained before the appearance of the Abyssal Secret Region, like on the Jingxiu Peak, has nothing to do with them…” Shang Xia muttered.

“When are you planning to head over to the institution anyway?” Shang Xi followed up with another question.

“Should I go over tomorrow?” Shang Xia asked tentatively.

“Maybe not. You wouldn’t be able to leave easily once you return to the institution. Just stay in the clan for several more days. Use up all the talisman paper we gathered so far before returning to the institution!” Shang Xi quickly came up with another plan for him. Obviously, she wanted to make use of the time when he was still in the Shang Clan Manor to craft as many talismans as he could.

Ever since Shang Xia first became a Talisman Master a long time ago, Shang Quan had been gathering talisman paper on his behalf.

After Shang Xia became a rank two Talisman Master, Shang Quan started nurturing the Shang Clan’s own talisman paper craftsman.

However, Shang Xia’s speed of improvement was too damn quick. He didn’t take long to become a rank three Talisman Master. The moment that happened, the Shang Clan basically poured all their resources into the talisman paper craftsman they were planning to nurture in hopes that he would be of use to Shang Xia.

Who would have thought that Shang Xia’s improvement in the way of talismans wouldn’t slow down in the slightest? It advanced as quickly as his cultivation and before anyone could blink, he had broken through!

By the time Shang Xia crafted his first Golden Sun Inferno Talisman and became a rank four Talisman Grandmaster, the talisman paper craftsman the Shang Clan was nurturing had barely started making rank two talisman papers!

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The Shang Clan was both elated and helpless at the speed of Shang Xia’s growth. 

By the time dawn broke the next day, Shang Xia managed to give the institution an excuse that he had to rest for a couple of days because of his tiring journey back to the You Continent. Shang Xi took his place and ran to the institution to obtain the high-grade Purple Bamboo Brush!