Splitting the Heave

Standing in the middle of the hall, Shang Xia looked around after handing over his 14th talisman. Of the 35 pieces of rank four talisman paper he used, he managed to craft 11 unique talismans and 3 repeated ones for a total of 14.

Even though several months had passed since Shang Xia started crafting talismans in the Tongyou Mysterious World, the rumors that surrounded his talisman crafting spree didn’t seem to stop. 

…

Of the 14 talismans that Shang Xia crafted, he had long decided to leave behind those that came from the institution’s inheritance. Deep down, he and everyone else present knew that the 14 pieces of talisman papers provided by the Talisman Hall would never be enough for him to craft all the talismans he did. They weren’t even enough to craft the 8 talismans recorded in the institution’s inheritance.

Because he used the talisman papers that had been given to him by the various factions and his friends, he was bound to owe some of them favors. However, now that he managed to craft so many talismans, leaving a portion of them in the institution would allow him to transfer a portion of the burden of favor to the Talisman Hall. 

Everyone present knew what Shang Xia’s intentions were if he chose to leave the talismans in the Talisman Hall for future generations of experts to study, but it was an open plot. The Talisman Hall would gain an exceptional amount of benefits and they were open to accepting Shang Xia’s favor.

Now that he had settled the Talisman Hall, it was time to return all the favors he received. 

Other than the 8 talismans that came from the institution, he had 6 more rank four talismans on him. Of them, he had 2 Abyssal Void Shattering Talismans, one Golden Sun Inferno Talisman, a Thousand Yang Sword Talisman, an Extermination Lightning Attracting Talisman, and a Spiritual Protection Substitution Talisman.

Of course, there were a bunch of rank two and three talismans he crafted before working on the rank four ones and those weren’t given to the institution.

Thinking back to the talisman papers he received, other than the 14 from the Talisman Hall, he received 21 from different sources. When he first gathered them all, he was even worried that all the rank four talisman papers in the You Continent had been swept clean.

Looking at a list he made for the source of the 21 pieces of rank four talisman papers, Shang Xia decided to return the favor by giving them 1 rank four talisman for every 3 talisman papers he received from them. The worth would be adjusted to however many pieces of rank four talisman papers they gave him.

There was also no question about it. He wouldn’t have enough rank four talismans to go around and he decided to replace them with 2 to 3 rank three talismans depending on the situation.

With the plan in mind, Shang Xia brought out the Thousand Yang Sword Talisman and went to visit Liu Zhiyuan, the current patriarch of the Liu Clan and the head of the Warehouse Division in the Tongyou Institution.

Because Liu Zhiyuan and Zhang Haogu had been vying for their authority in the institution, Shang Xia was almost dragged into their power battle in the past. Luckily, he managed to remain neutral because of his personal strength and prestige. Liu Zhiyuan decided to give in and he came over to express his goodwill to Shang Xia by giving him 3 pieces of rank four talisman papers.

Things might have been concluded between them on the surface, but Shang Xia knew that there were many underlying manners that he had to follow. Even if they ignored their status in the institution, the Liu and Shang Clans were great clans of the Tongyou City. They had to keep up appearances on the surface and Shang Xia was a crucial part of the show this time.

When Shang Xia paid his visit to the Liu Clan Manor, Liu Zhiyuan welcomed him enthusiastically. After a bunch of formalities, Shang Xia handed the rank four Thousand Yang Sword Talisman over as a signal of his goodwill and they parted ways happily.

Next came the Ji Clan. Shang Xia went to deliver a Golden Sun Inferno Talisman as thanks for their support. 

The last of the great clans Shang Xia visited was the Yun Clan. The Yun Clan delivered 4 pieces of rank four talisman papers when Shang Xia said that he was going into seclusion, more than any other faction. In the end, Shang Xia gifted them with an Abyssal Void Shattering Talisman along with 2 other rank three talismans he crafted personally.

When he was done visiting the 3 great clans, Shang Xia didn’t need to personally show his face to the rest of the factions anymore. He could send someone in his stead to give his thanks.

Even though rank three talismans couldn’t be compared to rank four talismans, Shang Xia’s compensation rate made up for the difference. He would give them 2 rank three talismans for every rank four talisman paper they provided him. At the end of the day, one rank four talisman was somewhat comparable to 6 rank three ones and Shang Xia felt that his rate of compensation was fair. For most Martial Extermination Realm experts, using a rank four talisman was a waste of heavenly resources. 

The moment one tossed out a rank four talisman, they would lose it forever. At the very least, getting rank three talismans from Shang Xia made up for the difference in quality with quantity. Of course, having a rank four talisman would make all the difference when it came to a life or death situation… But that was another problem that honestly didn’t affect Shang Xia.

He might have given the other great clans rank four talismans as thanks, but he didn’t plan on substituting the rest of his favors with rank three talismans. 

There were exceptions to every rule and one of them was Ge Qingzhu who was stationed by the institution in the battlefield between the two worlds. He might have only given Shang Xia two pieces of rank four talisman papers back when Shang Xia wanted to enter seclusion, but he assisted Shang Xia a lot during his quest to craft his Four Seasons Samsara Brew in the past. He even gave Shang Xia a piece of the Nine Petaled Lotus Root which had the ability to take on some damage in Shang Xia’s stead. It was a treasure that directly contributed to Shang Xia’s escape from Feng Yezi back in the Cloud Water Gorge. 

Because of that, Shang Xia especially left behind an Extermination Lightning Attracting Talisman that was one of the strongest rank four talismans he made for Ge Qingzhu. He looked for Shang Tai personally and requested him to hand the talisman over to Ge Qingzhu when he entered the battlefield between the two worlds again.

Next came Zhang Haogu of the Scripture Depository. The old master had given Shang Xia a lot of pointers and guidance. Shang Xia understood that he had to express his goodwill for the old master and he decided to give Zhang Haogu a piece of Spiritual Protection Substitution Talisman in case anything happened.

Speaking of old friends, Bu Jingshuang was also one of those Shang Xia was extremely grateful for. The old man who helped him since they were preparing for the War of the Tongyou Mysterious World sent over 2 pieces of rank four talisman papers when he heard Shang Xia’s intentions. Unfortunately, Shang Xia didn’t plan to give him the last rank four talisman. 

One of the reasons behind his actions was his reluctance to give away his last piece of rank four talisman. Next, Bu Jingshuang couldn’t be compared to either Ge Qingzhu or Zhang Haogu. Not only did Shang Xia not owe Bu Jingshuang much, it was the other way around. 

If one had to mention who was the most qualified to take on the role of the Changfeng City Lord, Shang Xia would rank way higher than Bu Jingshuang. One could even say that Shang Xia was the one who gave Bu Jingshuang the position of the Changfeng City Lord.

Because of their unique relationship, Shang Xia looked for Shang Quan to request for him to hand over 4 rank three talismans in appreciation of his contributions.

The next person who was on the list was Ren Huan, and with the relationship between the two, Shang Xia knew that there was no need for him to give the fatty a rank four talisman. Ren Huan wouldn’t be able to make use of it to its fullest no matter how hard he tried. Giving him several lower-ranked talismans would benefit him a lot more.

After he was finally done, Shang Xia was left with 1 rank four Abyssal Void Shattering Talisman and a bunch of rank two and three talismans.

The reason he kept the Abyssal Void Shattering Talisman wasn’t because of other reasons. He was merely curious about the limits of the talisman.

One couldn’t think that Shang Xia understood everything there was about the Abyssal Void Breaking Talisman even though he had crafted a few of them. He didn’t know the true extent of the talisman’s power and he had a sneaking suspicion that if he managed to uncover the truth of the Abyssal Void Shattering Talisman, he would be pointed in the correct direction of the Abyssal Emptiness Talisman in the future. The gates of a rank five Talisman Grandmaster would slowly open before him.

Unfortunately, he had no idea where to even start.

Pondering endlessly over the Abyssal Void Shattering Talisman, Shang Xia felt that the secret had to do with the Abyssal Talisman Paper he was supposed to craft it on. The Abyssal Void Shattering Talisman he kept for himself was crafted with rank four Abyssal Ink, but he didn’t make it from Abyssal Talisman Paper.

The Talisman Hall had basically been emptied out by Shang Xia during his talisman crafting spree, and Shang Xia felt that they wouldn’t be able to provide him with any rank four talisman papers in the near future, much less Abyssal Talisman Paper.

Having spent a larger half of the year in the Tongyou Mysterious World to craft talismans, Shang Xia felt an unprecedented sense of loss when he saw that he was only left with a single rank four talisman. 

A quick look at "pawread dot com" will leave you more fulfilled.

It might look like a massive loss, but Shang Xia knew that it was a trade off for his improvement in the way of talismans.

During the entire process, he also managed to make strong progress in his cultivation and he refined his Four Seasons Samsara Art to a whole new level. He could tell that he wasn’t far off from reaching the large completion stage of his secret art, and that was a blessing indeed.

His personal cultivation also improved. Even though it wasn’t that obvious as cultivation tended to stagnate slightly in the Martial Extermination Realm, Shang Xia could tell that he had grown stronger.

There was also the matter of world origin in the Tongyou Mysterious World. It might not be enough to tempt Shang Xia’s Crimson Soul Tablet to start devouring wildly, it was enough for Shang Xia’s comprehension of his Twenty Four Solar Terms Divine Blade Art. That was the name of his rank four martial arts, and it was making slow progress.

Those weren’t all. Shang Xia actually gained a little knowledge on how to craft talisman seals. His progress in it might be the smallest of all of them, but there was still progress nonetheless.

At the very least, he managed to carve a seal out of the chunks of rock to create a prototype of the seal he had in mind. It was able to stamp out rank one talismans, but the time those talismans could be maintained was short. It would quickly lose its effect and those rank one talismans it produced weren’t of much use.

…

With Santa Shang Xia giving out all the goodies he had, he didn’t expect Liu Zhiyuan and Zhang Haogu to come looking for him so soon. 

The battle for power between the two of them seemed all the more obvious with the rest of the higher-ups of the institution missing. Of course, one had to know that Liu Zhiyuan was the one who had been launching an offensive to take back his authority in the institution. He wanted to have a larger say in the institution and the only person in his way was Zhang Haogu.

Now that the two of them had paid him a visit, Shang Xia felt a sense of pride filling his heart. However, he also seemed to understand that they had their reasons for doing so.

“The patriarch passed down his instructions. You are to head for the Beyond Heavens Pavilion as soon as possible!” Liu Zhiyuan got down to business the moment he saw Shang Xia. He sounded exceptionally serious.

Staring at Zhang Haogu who also had a serious expression on his face, Shang Xia understood that the situation wasn’t as casual as he had hoped it would be. It seemed as though things were pretty serious.

“When should I leave?” Shang Xia asked.

“Right now. We need to head to the Tongyou Mysterious World right now!” Zhang Haogu muttered.

Shang Xia didn’t ask anything about how to head over to the Beyond Heavens Pavilion. Instead, he followed the two of them obediently.

The moment they emerged from the Talisman Hall, Liu Zhiyuan waved his hand and hid their presence. Throughout their journey to the Tongyou Mysterious World, no one noticed them.

Kou Chongxue’s order arrived right after Shang Xia emerged from seclusion and if someone told him it was a coincidence, Shang Xia would smash his head into a block of tofu to kill himself. 

When they entered the Tongyou Mysterious World again, Shang Xia was quickly brought to an unknown location by the two of them.

Standing at the side, Zhang Haogu explained, “You will learn that our Tongyou Mysterious World is broken up into different regions. Unlike the Coral Forest which was split into four different regions, our Tongyou Mysterious World is a lot larger and it’s split up like a pyramid. We’re in the bottommost region at the moment and it’s further split up into 3 different areas. Martial Intent Realm disciples of the institution would train there from time to time as they are unable to come into contact with world origin. The area they train in contains dense heaven and earth qi but that’s about it.” 

“Heading above the 3 areas, we’ll arrive at the region Martial Extermination Realm experts of the institution train in. It’s further split into two parts and one of them is used for seclusion. The other can be used to craft talismans, advancement medicine, or formation testing. Experts can even craft weapons there if they’re talented enough. World origin is mixed into the heaven and earth qi and they’re useful for Martial Extermination Realm experts like us.”