Splitting the Heavens - Chapter 1080: The New Observation
After he returned to the Starry Pavilion, Zhou Mingdao received news of his return and brought another 5 sheets of rank six talisman paper and a new rank six ink stick.
“The Pavilion Master is elated after hearing that you managed to complete the talisman. Unfortunately, he’s in seclusion after receiving new insights in his cultivation and is unable to meet anyone for the time being. He ordered me to fully support your efforts and you can inform me if you need anything else.” Zhou Mingdao bowed respectfully.
To that, Shang Xia burst into laughter, “Pavilion Master Tong is too kind! I have to trouble Deputy Pavilion Master Zhou in the future then. However, I don’t have any requests for the time being. As long as there is enough talisman paper, talisman ink, I’m good…”
Zhou Mingdao sighed with emotion, “True Immortal Little Shang is truly of noble character. I’m afraid if anyone else is in your place, they would have already requested a bunch of treasures… Sigh… Right, why am I even saying this…”
Zhou Mingdao knew that he had a slip of the tongue and quickly changed the topic.
Shang Xia felt like he caught something from what Zhou Mingdao said, but he simply chuckled and didn’t say anything else.
After exchanging some pleasantries with Zhou Mingdao and speaking about several interesting matters he noticed in the city, he returned to the quiet chamber. He prepared to continue crafting rank six Formation Talismans.
With hidden thoughts filling his mind, the 11th year of the Spirit Luxuriant Calendar rolled about.
According to the agreement he made with Tong Yutang in the past, he needed to craft 7 talismans in total. He still needed to make 6 more.
After taking 3 days to adjust his condition, Shang Xia prepared to start his second attempt. With the experience of crafting it once before, the process was much smoother than before.
Even so, his sixth attempt… The first attempt after successfully crafting the first talisman… ended in failure.
Crafting talismans was an intricate task to begin with and the requirements were extremely high. Moreover, the talisman was of amazing quality, and the difficulty of making it was similarly high.
The acute precision needed to control one’s essence qi, and the sudden depletion during the crafting process, along with the intense concentration needed… Even as a True Immortal, Shang Xia found it too taxing on himself.
Even with a divine brush, all his efforts would go to waste if he was just a little careless.
Fortunately, he had already been prepared to fail and he managed to calm himself quickly. After adjusting his mental state, he prepared for his next attempt and quickly started his seventh try. This time, he failed after completing a good 50 percent of the talisman.
Making mistakes halfway and failing due to some minor problems was the most devastating way to mess up. Fortunately, he was no newbie Talisman Grandmaster and after rearranging his thoughts, he returned to his peak state after 6 days.
Along with his eighth attempt, everything went smoothly and he didn’t mess up too badly during the process. He managed to craft the second talisman required.
Emerging from seclusion, Zhou Mingdao, who heard the news, quickly ran over to greet him. However, he found it strange that Shang Xia emerged so much quicker than before.
“True Immortal Little Shang, this…” Zhou Mingdao asked with a trace of suspicion. He was worried that Shang Xia failed 5 times in a row and had to emerge from seclusion because he had no other choice.
Even though he received orders from Tong Yutang to support Shang Xia with everything they had as long as he was able to craft 7 talismans, he would still feel a little heartache if Shang Xia destroyed 5 sheets of rank six talisman paper without succeeding once.
After all, those were rank six talisman papers they were talking about! The Starry Pavilion might be a behemoth when it came to resources, but they weren’t able to waste so much rank six talisman paper like that!
Shang Xia chuckled softly in response before taking out another scroll under Zhou Mingdao’s shocked gaze. “Fortunately, I managed to succeed once. I was pretty lucky and I completed it in 3 attempts. However, the talisman is still a little too complicated for me right now and I am not confident in crafting more with the remaining talisman paper. I planned to leave seclusion for the time being. Deputy Pavilion Master Zhou, I have to trouble you to replenish the talisman papers I used.”
Zhou Mingdao carefully received the second Formation Talisman from Shang Xia before turning to look at the remaining talisman paper in the room. He inspected his surroundings before muttering softly, “True Immortal Little Shang, there’s no need to worry. I’ll replenish them immediately!”
Shang Xia didn’t think that Zhou Mingdao would mess with him and after watching him leave, Shang Xia also decided to return to the Spirit Luxuriant World for some time.
The Spirit Luxuriant World established themselves on the Star Beast Nest and started coming into contact with the Spirit Faith World for a good half a year at that point, and the spatial gate leading to the Star Beast Nest had already been shifted by the many Formation Grandmasters of the Spirit Luxuriant World to one of the floating continents outside the heavenly screen while laying down heavy protection around it.
Even though some time had passed, the Spirit Faith World clearly hadn’t let down their guards. However, the interaction between both worlds had increased in intensity and both sides were already starting to trade rank five spiritual treasures with each other. They also managed to obtain precious treasures not seen in each other’s world during the process.
…
After secretly returning to the institution, Shang Xia didn’t discover Kou Chongxue’s presence. In fact, he didn’t even notice a trace of the old man’s clone!
“Don’t tell me this old fellow ran away again…” Shang Xia mumbled to himself while mocking Kou Chongxue. However, he understood that Kou Chongxue wouldn’t be so irresponsible. If he wasn’t able to find Kou Chongxue in the institution, that could only mean that the patriarch was hiding in the Tongyou Elysium.
His return didn’t alarm anyone and he simply sent a voice transmission to the deputy patriarchs as a quick greeting before entering the Elysium.
By then, Chu Jia had already started planning for the rank six formation that would cover the Tongyou Institution and the Tongyou Elysium.
However, her current skills were only at the peak of a rank five Formation Grandmaster. Even though she had the qualifications to lay down a rank six formation with the Five Element Ring that was already a Formation Divine Weapon, the scale required to cover the Tongyou Institution and the Elysium wasn’t something she could complete in a short time. Taking tens of years wouldn’t be surprising.
Shang Xia didn’t see Chu jia, and he thought that she should probably be taking charge of the Formation Hall to lay down the foundations of the rank six formation. As such, he was in no rush to look for her. What he was more interested in was what Kou Chongxue was doing in the Tongyou Elysium.
As soon as he stepped into the Tongyou Elysium, he was discovered by Kou Chongxue.
“Huh? Why are you back now? Did you complete the talismans the Starry Pavilion requested?” Kou Chongxue asked with slight confusion. “Didn’t you say that the inheritance is pretty strange and it wouldn’t be easy to craft?”
Shang Xia appeared beside Kou Chongxue the next second and his gaze landed on the Heaven Supporting Jade Pillar that was a Star Observatory!
“Wait? There are 2 of them? They can already make use of the Star Observatory?” Shang Xia didn’t answer Kou Chongxue’s question and he instinctively sent his divine soul over to the Star Observatory. He could feel the power of starlight gathering and he questioned, “Aren’t we being a little too hasty?”
“We already have 2 rank three Astronomers! Moreover, they even managed to discover something!” Kou Chongxue chuckled in amusement.
“Oh? What did they find?” Shang Xia’s interest was piqued instantly.