Splitting the Heavens

Chapter 641: Shang Xia’s Confidence

Trying his hand at creating a rank two talisman seal, Shang Xia chose the simplest rank two talisman he knew. It was also the one he was the most familiar with.

He decided to craft a rank two Golden Sword Talisman Seal.

Unfortunately, the creation of the Golden Sword Talisman Seal wasn’t smooth at all. Even though he had the experience of making 4 rank one talisman seals previously, how could they compare to the difficulty of a rank two talisman seal?

Shang Xia might have prepared himself for failure, but when the slab in his hand crumbled after he crafted a quarter of it, he felt a wave of heartache.

Summarizing his failure, he tried again. This time, he completed a third of the seal before it shattered.

Not discouraged at all, Shang Xia picked out another smaller fragment that fell off the Impaled Stone to start another attempt.

Even though progress seemed slow the third time, Shang Xia was confident he would succeed. In fact, he became even more sure of the path he had to take.

In the past, Shang Xia was like a blind fly that was making random attempts at crafting talisman seals. Everything was foreign to him, but now that he succeeded in crafting rank one talisman seals, he was no longer as clueless as before. All he needed to do was to build on what he had learned and refine his methods.

Unfortunately, his third attempt at crafting a rank two Golden Sword Talisman Seal ended midway. When he completed half of it, someone thumped urgently on the door to his room.

Helpless, Shang Xia could only stop for the time being. When he opened the door, he saw the other 5 members of the Tongyou Institution staring back at him. Shocked by their sudden appearance, he noticed the looks of fright, and surprise on some of their faces. Of course, there were also some who stared at him sternly.

“Everyone, this… Did something happen?” Shang Xia raised an eyebrow in surprise. He had no idea what was going on.

Liu Qinglan opened her hand all of a sudden and revealed several stone fragments. They seemed to be the remnants of the Stimulation Talisman Seal Shang Xia handed over to Chu Jia earlier.

“Did you make this?” Liu Qinglan asked seriously.

Shang Xia glanced at Chu Jia who was hiding behind Liu Qinglan at the moment. When their gazes met, he broke into laughter. “Yup! I was messing around and… Did all of you come because of that?”

“We’ll talk more inside.” Liu Qinglan muttered before barging into his room with the others behind her.

Obviously, Shang Xia didn’t dare to stop her. He moved to the side quickly and allowed her to pass. Shang Xia looked at everyone as they streamed in and noticed that even Yun Yichen had a solemn expression on her face. Seeing as how both she and Chu Jia had come, Shang Xia knew that they probably closed the Tongyou Hall for this.

By the time he turned around after everyone walked past him, he noticed that Liu Qinglan had picked up his half-completed rank two Golden Sword Talisman Seal. She was playing with it as she examined it closely.

Everyone else looked at the many other broken shards on the table.

“Are all of you… Are you here for the talisman seal?” Shang Xia was surprised at how quickly they noticed the importance of the treasure.

“Are you already starting to craft rank two talisman seals?” Liu Qinglan asked while holding the Golden Sword Talisman Seal.

A chuckle left Shang Xia’s lips. “I merely started with rank two ones. I haven’t been able to make a rank two talisman seal yet.”

“Oh? Wouldn’t that mean that you have more rank one talisman seals?” Liu Qinglan asked.

With a wide grin on his face, Shang Xia brought out a rank one Wind Arrow Talisman Seal and the other Stimulation Talisman Seal. “If we include the one you’re holding, these are all I have. Crafting a rank one talisman seal is too much of a waste. I only managed to make 2 of them before starting on rank two ones.”

Frowning, Liu Qinglan stared at the shards on the table and asked, “Did you experience many unsuccessful attempts?”

Shang Xia forced a smile in response. “There shouldn’t be much problem when it comes to the theoretical part of crafting them. My skills are the problem here.”

Heaving a sigh of relief, Liu Qinglan nodded slowly. However, her expression turned even more serious. “Do you know… Do you know the significance of these talisman seals?”

Before Shang Xia could say anything, Liu Qinglan continued, “After I discovered the talisman seal Little Chu was playing with, I tested it on a piece of rank one talisman paper. There was no need for a talisman brush and I’m no Talisman Master. Even so, all I did was to imbue some inner qi into the seal and a piece of rank one Stimulation Talisman was created!”

Shang Xia was surprised by the fact that Liu Qinglan actually had talisman ink on her to test it out, but other than that, he wasn’t too shocked. After all, he knew what he made.

One had to know that he was the only Talisman Grandmaster, or Talisman Master among them. Strictly speaking, he should be the only one who had talisman ink.

Liu Qinglan could see that Shang Xia wanted to say something, but she didn’t give him the chance as she added, “Of course, a rank one talisman seal won’t affect the big picture if it’s revealed to the world. However, do you know the implications when ordinary cultivators can start churning out talismans with the seal in hand?”

“If a rank one talisman seal can appear, there will definitely be rank two talisman seals in the future. There might even be rank three, or rank four talisman seals! Who’s to say talisman seals of a higher level wouldn’t appear? If news of this were to spread, the entire world would be in an upheaval. Countless people with bad intentions will start hunting for you!” Liu Qinglan paused to catch her breath. She seemed to be reprimanding Shang Xia, but he could tell that she was merely concerned for his safety. Anyway, she wasn’t done. “Since you have already taken that step, you should keep the talisman seals a secret. How can you give Chu Jia the talisman seal without telling her the various implications if news of it were to leak?! Do you know how much trouble you will be in if word of this gets out there?”

Chu Jia couldn’t help but stick her tongue out while still hiding behind Liu Qinglan.

Contrary to how they thought he would act, Shang Xia revealed a massive grin. “Instructor Liu, relax! It won’t be easy for anyone to copy my methods or learn how to craft them.”

With her eyes widening in shock, Liu Qinglan snapped at him. “What the hell are you talking about? The runes are clearly visible on the talisman seal! Do you think any Talisman Master out there won’t understand what you had carved? There’s always a taller mountain out there. You’re not the only Talisman Grandmaster in our Azure Origin World and the Azure Spiritual World. You can’t be overconfident..”

Looking at Shang Xia, Liu Qinglan eventually calmed down and muttered, “Are you sure they won’t be able to replicate it easily?”

Shang Xia held up one of the seals and explained with a smile, “Instructor Liu, you might not know this, but the stone it’s carved on is really unique. I called it the Impaled Stone as it was used to contain the Abyssal Blade I obtained back in the Abyssal Secret Region. I haven’t found anything similar to it and I played around with other materials only to discover that there’s nothing similar enough to produce a talisman seal.”

He continued, “Of course, it’s not safe to only rely on the material to keep the talisman seals a secret. The world out there is massive and we can’t be sure that the Impaled Stone is one of a kind. It might not be easy to find a material like it, but there's always a possibility. Regardless, the technique used to craft the seal is unique. Currently, it’s something only I know as I developed it myself. Even if others wish to replicate it, it won’t be easy. They won’t be able to make another talisman seal just by copying the carvings on it.”

After hearing his explanation, Liu Qinglan felt much more reassured. She finally laughed, “It’s great that you’re so confident. After all, it always pays to be more careful.”

Shang Xia nodded while maintaining a wide smile on his face.

Seeing the crafty grin that was forming on his face, Liu Qinglan’s eyes widened in shock. “Were you planning to sell it so people would learn about talisman seals?!”

“Well… As long as talismans made from the seals are used, the secret will be exposed sooner or later. Moreover, it’s not like no one will think of this eventually. They just haven’t thought of a way to do it.” Shang Xia muttered.

“It doesn’t matter! Just keep it a secret for as long as we can. Moreover, you haven’t even produced a rank two talisman seal yet.” Liu Qinglan growled. “For you to take the seal out now… Are you planning to sell it to make a fortune during the trade fair?”

Shang Xia forced a smile. “Looks like I can’t keep anything from you. Even though I received a lot of support from the clans and the institution, I can’t sit still after learning how much the 3 super factions made. I wasn’t confident in obtaining much from the trade fair with the limited funds I have and decided to sell some talisman seals.”

Before Liu Qinglan could blow up at him, Shang Xia added hastily, “Instructor Liu, please rest assured that no one will be able to learn the method of crafting a talisman seal. The method is truly unique to me and even if anyone went down the road of crafting talisman seals, they will have to come up with their own way of doing it.”

Understanding that there was no changing his mind after hearing what he said, Liu Qinglan could only sigh softly, “Since you’re so sure about it, we should come up with a proper plan…”

…

When Liu Qinglan and the others left, they brought away the other rank one talisman seals he made.

Shang Xia continued to work on his rank two Golden Sword Talisman Seal. However, he no longer had a feel for it now that he had stopped. In order to start work on it again, he had to regain the feeling he had. The strength he used earlier, along with the location of every stroke. He also had to pay attention to the speed of which he used when making each movement. The process would be extremely complicated.

Moreover, he hadn’t completed a single rank two talisman seal. Not too long after he started again, his inner qi failed to resonate with the chuck in his hand and it crumbled to dust.

Despite the failure, Shang Xia seemed to have gained a lot. Because of how he stopped halfway, he had to think back to every stroke he made on the seal. Looking back, he realized there were many areas in which he could make an improvement.

Trying again, Shang Xia chose a chunk of stone that was an inch and a half wide. It was 1.5 times the size of the original chunks he used, and the thickness of it was a nice 7 centimeters instead of the 5 previously used.

Compared to a rank one talisman seal, a rank two talisman seal was much harder to craft. However, if someone who had no idea what they were doing were to look at them, they would only see that the runes on a rank two talisman seal were much more complicated and packed together. They would have no idea how much more difficult it was to craft.

Since that was the case, Shang Xia decided to make it a little larger. He would have more room to work with, and the difficulty of crafting it would be slightly reduced.

Just like that, the fourth attempt at crafting a rank two Golden Sword Talisman Seal was a success.

The only difference was that the change increased the cost of making the seal. After all, he would quickly use up all the chunks that fell off the main stone at the rate he was going. One had to know that even Shang Xia had no idea where to go looking for a second Impaled Stone after using it all up.

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