Splitting the Heave

On the second day, the Talisman Hall broke out into a flurry of activity.

As the only rank four Talisman Grandmaster in the Tongyou Institution, Shang Xia had to prepare rank four talismans for other talisman masters to study. The news of that started to spread and the members of the Talisman Hall got really excited.

From top to bottom, batches of the best resources were delivered to Shang Xia’s secret chamber. 

However, Shang Xia wasn’t back in his secret chamber to personally pick up the delivery. He was currently chatting with Zhang Haogu in the Scripture Depository.

“I thought that you would be stationed in the battlefield between the two worlds” Shang Xia muttered while being led deeper into one of the secret chambers of the Scripture Depository.

“It’s more than enough for us to leave Ge Qingzhu there. The cooperation between our institution and them is at a crucial point right now and no one will try messing around. The battlefield between the two worlds is extremely safe and the situation there is really stable.” Zhang Haogu explained while opening one of the cases in front of Shang Xia.

Watching how Zhang Haogu placed the inheritance of the Abyssal Emptiness Talisman into the case before sealing it up, Shang Xia sighed, “I didn’t feel like this the last time I came here. I didn't think that the Scripture Depository is one entire structure that was contained in a separate space. Is it actually connected to the Tongyou Mysterious World?” 

Zhang Haogu chuckled softly but didn’t reply. He eventually sighed softly before changing the topic. “I didn’t think that the institution would be able to gain one more rank five inheritance…” 

“It’s just a rank five talisman inheritance. How can it be compared to Patriarch Kou’s rank five martial art and sword art?” Shang Xia asked.

Unable to help himself, Zhang Haogu pointed at Shang Xia and chided playfully, “Damn brat, are you doing this on purpose?! Do you know how precious a rank five inheritance is?! It’s the greatest inheritance we have in the world! Every single bit of it contains the essence of our Azure Origin World. If you’re looking down on a mere rank five talisman inheritance, do you have a rank five advancement formula or something?” 

Of course this granddaddy here has a rank five advancement formula!

Obviously, Shang Xia wasn’t going to say something like that. If he really did, he would probably poke a hole through the skies and cause a massive problem for the institution. When that happened, even Kou Chongxue was going to get a headache.

Shrugging his shoulders and putting on a nonchalant expression, Shang Xia snorted, “Damn it! How do you know I won’t get my hands on a rank five advancement formula in the future?!” 

Other than the Abyssal Emptiness Talisman, Shang Xia also passed down the Four Essence Abyssal Wine to the Scripture Depository.

The advancement medicine came from the Abyssal Secret Region and even though he got his hands on it, he decided that he should share it with the institution.

Shang Xia decided to hand over most of the things he learned from the Abyssal Secret Region. How they would split up the treasures like the Abyssal Blade and stuff in the future would be left up to Shang Xia’s negotiations with the institution. However, formulas and inheritances were left behind before anything else.

When he was done, the two of them finally left the secret chamber and Zhang Haogu reactivated the defensive mechanisms and formations.

When they were finally back in the Scripture Depository, Zhang Haogu seemed to have thought of something and asked, “Oh, I heard you were planning to craft talismans in the Mysterious World?” 

Shang Xia knew that Zhang Haogu wouldn’t bring up something like that for no reason and he continued, “Instructor Zhang, is something the matter?” 

“I’m afraid your progress might not be too smooth… You need to prepare yourself.” Zhang Haogu muttered after thinking about it.

Laughing involuntarily, Shang Xia asked, “What’s the matter? Is there someone who will try to stop me?” 

“Is it really that difficult to stop you outside the Tongyou Mysterious World? I know that you don’t really give half a shit about Liu Zhiyuan. I heard about what happened back in the Talisman Hall yesterday. However, you need to remember that he’s a deputy patriarch at the end of the day. You’re a Talisman Master of the Talisman Hall and even if you have already become a rank four Talisman Grandmaster, you have to follow the rules set by the institution! You can’t do anything you wish, even if you’re Kou Chongxue!” Zhang Haogu warned.

A look of contemplation appeared on Shang Xia’s face and realizing that Shang Xia understood his meaning, Zhang Haogu turned to leave.

He didn’t expect to be stopped by Shang Xia’s cry coming from behind him, “Instructor Zhang, is Fan Yuanhui an acquaintance of yours?” 

Without turning around, he chuckled, “Nope, that old fellow, Gong Hang, is my old friend. I don’t know Fan Yuanhui all that well.” 

Looking at Zhang Haogu’s leaving view, Shang Xia muttered to himself, “So that’s the case…” 

…

When Shang Xia returned to the Talisman Hall, he saw Ren Huan standing before his secret chamber and he laughed happily, “Brother Ren, what’s the matter?” 

Ren Huan retrieved a ledger from his sleeves and quickly replied, “All the good stuff in the Talisman Hall has been gathered. Fan Yuanhui and Lou Zizhang instructed me to tell you to let them know if you need anything else. As long as you give the command, someone will prepare the items you need.” 

Shang Xia looked at the ledger and revealed a look of shock. “We actually have 14 rank four talisman papers? That’s a lot!” 

Was 14 rank four talisman paper really a lot? Not at all. In fact, it was far too lacking when compared to the amount Shang Xia required.

One couldn’t think back to his experience in the Shang Clan where he crafted 3 rank four talismans with 6 pieces of talisman paper. His condition there and luck was amazingly good, resulting in such a high success rate.

According to Shang Xia’s estimations, he would have to raise his success rate to around 30 percent before he could be considered a qualified talisman master. That success rate wasn’t considered too high, but it was enough to ensure that he would have many customers even if he didn’t possess the support of a superpower.

The 14 pieces of rank four talisman paper on the table truly didn’t look like much now that he had to craft different types of rank four talismans.

Back when he just became a rank four Talisman Grandmaster, Gong Hang handed over 7 pieces of rank four talisman paper to him. Back then, that was definitely all the rank four talisman paper the Talisman Hall had. 

Since the time Shang Xia went down to the Taihang Mountains, several months had passed. The Talisman Hall actually managed to gather 14 pieces of rank four talisman paper and their efforts were commendable.

Rank four talisman paper wasn’t cabbage that grew at the side of the road. Even if they had enough material to craft them, it wasn’t easy to do so.

Ren Huan forced a bitter smile and continued, “Previously, Brother Shang might have taken away all the rank four talisman paper we had, but we still had a portion of resources used to make rank four talisman paper. In the past few months, all rank three talisman paper craftsmen joined hands to make rank four talisman paper. The institution also went outside to purchase rank four talisman paper at a high price. That's how we gathered 14 pieces of rank four talisman paper.” 

Shang Xia gasped softly before looking at Ren Huan in delight. “Brother Ren, have you become a rank four talisman paper craftsman? Did you personally craft any of these?” 

The bitter smile on Ren Huan’s face didn’t fade as he whispered, “4 of these talisman papers came from me. 6 of them were crafted by everyone else and the remaining 4 were bought from outside the institution. Today, I can probably say that I have crossed the barrier to become a rank four talisman paper craftsman. I still need to thank Brother Shang for all the help. Otherwise, a newcomer to the institution like me wouldn’t be given a chance to craft rank four talisman paper to reach my current level… After all, the resources that went to waste were too much!” 

Shang XIa roared with laughter in response. “Nonsense! It’s great news! No matter what, Brother Ren is a rank four talisman paper craftsman. I would feel a lot more assured when crafting talismans. Otherwise, I won’t know if I will be able to get my hands on more talisman paper when crafting talismans and won’t be able to completely immerse myself.” 

Ren Huan waved and sighed, “Actually, we brought out almost all our resources at this point. If you wish to use more than 10 rank four talisman papers to craft talismans in the future, you might not find a chance to do it.” 

“What do you mean?” Shang Xia asked.

“In order to craft the rank four talisman papers, almost all the beast skins of the rank four spiritual beasts in the battlefield between the two worlds had been taken out. That is why we had the guts to try making rank four talisman paper in the first place. After all, those skins were basically half completed rank four talisman paper in the first place. The process of crafting became much easier than before. We won’t get the chance to obtain so many rank four spiritual beast skins in the future.” Ren Huan explained.

“Moreover, the process to craft rank four talisman paper is extremely complicated. It’s extremely reliant on the skills of the craftsman and I am the only one who is confident in my skills. That is why I dare to call myself a rank four talisman paper craftsman.” 

Ren Huan completed his explanation with the simplest terms he could think of, but Shang Xia could hear that the entire process wasn’t as easy as he had described.

Not only did Ren Huan have to care about his skills, he didn’t possess any help from the other members of the Talisman Hall due to his status.

Shang Xia’s reputation wasn’t going to help him back then.

If not for the fact that Shang Xia gave him a chance and brought him up to Gong Hang and Fan Yuanhui back then, he wouldn’t have even been given an opportunity to craft talisman papers!

Ren Huan’s explanation caused Shang Xia’s heart to regain its original calm, and the excitement of crafting talismans was starting to fade away.

After thinking for a moment, Shang Xia brought out a bamboo scroll that was filled with words and handed it over to Ren Huan. “Oh right, is there someone in the institution who can craft rank four talisman ink?” 

Ren Huan, who barely received the bamboo scroll, felt his hands trembling as he nearly lost his grip.

It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from "pawread dot com".

“Rank four talisman ink?!” Ren Huan yelled. Lowering his head to look at the scroll in his hand, he raised his head and sighed, “This… Our Talisman Hall never had a recipe for rank four talisman ink!” 

This time, it was Shang Xia’s turn to be taken aback. “Then… Would it be possible for several rank three talisman ink craftsmen to work together to craft rank four Abyssal Ink?” 

“It’s going to be difficult! Talisman paper is different from talisman ink in the first place. I might not be a talisman ink craftsman, but I know a thing or two. I’m afraid not many people will be able to do it!” Ren Huan muttered after thinking about it for a second.

Shang Xia knew that he was acting a little too hastily and he could only whisper to himself, “Since that’s the case, I’ll just leave the recipe for the ink in your care.” 

“Sorry?” Ren Huan jumped in fright and tried to return the bamboo scroll. “This is too precious…” 

Shang Xia reached out his hand to stop Ren Huan. “Brother Ren, I might not remain in the institution for too long. I might not return too often in the future either. Even so, I hope that I can maintain my position and not be restricted by anyone in the future. Brother Ren Huan, I require your assistance.” 

Shang Xia’s intentions were clear. He wanted to use Ren Huan’s status as a rank four talisman paper craftsman now to pull even more experts over to his side in order to solidify his backing in the Talisman Hall!