In the Tongyou Mysterious World…

There were many secret chambers that had been arranged for experts of the institution, and Shang Xia chose one of the quieter ones.

As he completed the last stroke with his Purple Bamboo Brush, Shang Xia carefully kept his second piece of Abyssal Qi Resistance Talisman in a spirit restraining case.

Carefully washing off the remaining ink on his brush, Shang Xia heaved a sigh of relief.

He used rank two Abyssal Ink to complete a rank three Abyssal Qi Resistance Talisman. Even though the ink wasn’t up to standard, it was nothing in the face of Shang Xia’s skills. It wouldn’t affect his success rate by much.

The piece of Abyssal Qi Resistance Talisman he just created could allow cultivators under the Martial Extermination Realm to fly through the air. Even if Martial Extermination Realm experts used them, they would be able to feel significant effects.

Shang Xia spent nearly 2 months in the Tongyou Mysterious World since the time he entered. During the time that passed, Shang Xia didn’t immediately start crafting rank four talismans. Instead, he immersed himself in crafting rank one, two, and three talismans to prepare himself.

He wasn’t dragging things out on purpose. Instead, he was planning to ensure he was in his peak state before crafting any rank four talismans. He wanted to use the chance to craft low-leveled talismans in order to get used to the surroundings in the Tongyou Mysterious World.

Naturally, no one would complain about having too many talismans. Especially those that Shang Xia had already created. 

Walking across his room, several fragments of used talisman paper could be seen.

There was a small wooden table not too far away in the corner and several engraving tools sat on its surface. There were several larger pieces of racks that came from the boulder that contained the Abyssal Blade in the Abyssal Secret Region sitting close to the tools and some dust could be seen in the area.

Even though he had already become a rank four Talisman Grandmaster and his cultivation had reached the Martial Extermination Realm, Shang Xia found it a little difficult to achieve a 100 percent success rate even when making low-ranked talismans.

When crafting his Abyssal Qi Resistance Talisman, he used 3 pieces of talisman paper only to craft 2 of them.

Naturally, his first time making those talismans was also a part of the reason he failed.

…

Those carvings on the table were inspiration he received after seeing the Abyssal Seal in the past. He wanted to carve a talisman seal onto those pieces of rocks but it was clearly not as easy as he had thought. He had an idea of how to do them, but during the actual process, the rocks shattered time and time again.

Opening the restrictions in his secret chamber, Shang Xia eventually emerged from within. Looking at the Tongyou Mysterious World, Shang Xia felt a lot more refreshed after being cooped up in his secret chamber for so long.

As he took several deep breaths and circulated his Four Seasons Extermination Origins, he felt dense heaven and earth qi and world origin rushing into his body. It didn’t take long for his exhausted inner qi to be replenished.

That was how special the Tongyou Mysterious World was.

Not only did it contain dense heaven and earth qi, it also contained world origin. It was extremely suitable for high-level experts to cultivate.

What was more important was that the Tongyou Mysterious World was located in the Azure Origin World and they were basically connected. High-level experts would be able to create their own martial arts or comprehend their divine intent all the same with the help of the world origin. They could even deduce incomplete advancement formulas like what Ji Wenlong did!

A Mysterious World could be considered a separate space that existed in the world, and any improvements would turn them into the Tongyou Paradise. It was rumored that there was something called the Heavenly Cave above that level but it was something Shang Xia hadn’t heard of before.

In the time that he spent in the Tongyou Mysterious World, Shang Xia had been using most of his time to familiarize himself with talisman crafting. However, he also spent a significant amount of time cultivating.

Because of that, he could feel himself growing stronger. In fact, the time required for him to complete one cycle of inner qi circulation had also shortened.

The latter was much more important to Shang Xia. Even though his improvement with it seemed extremely small and he wouldn’t have detected it without a keen sense of observation, it was something he desperately needed.

The improvement would benefit a cultivator after accumulation for a long time and it was one of the most remarkable aspects of the Tongyou Mysterious World.

From what Shang Xia learned, there were only 3 Martial Extermination Realm experts who were cultivating in the Tongyou Mysterious World. They were Yuan Zhan, Qian Sitong, and Song You. With Shang Xia, there were no other Martial Extermination Realm experts in the Tongyou Mysterious World at that time. Other than them, there were only Martial Intent Realm experts who had completed their second divine sense transformation or above.

Of the 4, Shang Xia was the only one there to craft talismans. Of the other 3, Yuan Zhen was there to consolidate his foundations. Qian Sitong and Song You both suffered some problems when cultivating. Qian Sitong suffered some internal injuries during his cultivation but Song You suffered cultivation deviation. 

Qian Sitong was trying his best to recover while Song You was on the verge of having his cultivation regress.

When Shang Xia was immersing himself in the Tongyou Mysterious World, a streak of light tore through the skies and landed in his hands. It was a transmission talisman and he read through its contents instantly. He drew a horizontal line through the air in front of himself and connected itself to the entrance of the Tongyou Mysterious World in an instant.

“Hahaha, Martial Nephew, I hope I didn’t interrupt you with my sudden arrival!” A warm voice rang in his ears and a man who was slightly older than 30 stepped through the spatial tunnel. The void contained in the Tongyou Mysterious World was much weaker than the Azure Origin World, and experts in the Martial Extermination Realm were able to control them to a much greater extent.

Shang Xia cupped his fists and greeted, “Martial Uncle Yun, I wonder what brings you here today?” 

Yun Yichen chuckled in response. “I heard that you don’t have enough rank four talisman papers when crafting talismans. Even though our Yun Family’s foundations aren’t that deep, the great families of our Tongyou City should help each other. I can’t sit by and watch you work without enough resources. I brought 4 pieces of rank four talisman papers for you. Even though it’s not much, I hope you can accept it.” 

“How can I…” Shang Xia responded instinctively.

With his expression turning indifferent, Yun Yichen muttered, “What’s the matter? Martial Nephew Shang, do you think it’s too little?” 

“Of course not!” Shang Xia yelped. “If my crafting journey goes smoothly, I’ll give you a rank four talisman when everything is done.” 

Yun Yichen couldn’t help but break into smiles. “Martial Nephew Shang, what’s the meaning of this? I only hope these talisman papers can help you out a little. I don’t expect a rank four talisman in return!” 

“Martial Uncle Yun, say no more. Otherwise, I wouldn’t accept these talisman papers.” Shang Xia insisted. 

Yun Yichen muttered with a little embarrassment, “This… This… Look… You make it seem like I’m here to get a rank four talisman from you!” 

Shang Xia replied with a straight face, “Even if you wish to ask for a rank four talisman, all you need is to provide a rank four talisman paper. You really lost out big time now!” 

“...” 

After sending Yun Yichen away, Shang Xia looked at the four pieces of rank four talisman papers in his hand before keeping them with the rest.

At that moment, the number of rank four talisman papers Shang Xia had in his secret chamber was far from the original 14 the Talisman Hall gave him. There were a total of 35 rank four talisman papers ready for him!

When the news of Shang Xia entering the Tongyou Mysterious World started to spread, the scene that played out with Yun Yichen happened several times.

Ji Yu of the Ji Clan sent 3 pieces of rank four talisman paper and Zhang Haogu personally gave him 2 pieces. Ge Qingzhu got someone to send over 2 pieces from the battlefield between the two worlds and Bu Jingshuang of the Changfeng City sent 2 more pieces. Zhao Fengchun of the Zhao Family brought 1 on orders of Zhao Hengchun, and Huo Wuji, the deacon of the protection division sent another piece. Sun Haiwei, an Instructor of the Outer Division of the Tongyou Institution, also got someone to send another piece over.

Every single one of those rank four talisman papers can be considered a favor they were doing him. Only the Liu, Ji, and Yun Clans sent relatively more rank four talisman paper and Shang Xia promised all of them a piece of rank four talisman.

Shang Xia expected that some people would send him rank four talisman paper in return for a favor or two, but he didn’t expect to receive so many.

One had to know that even the Talisman Hall only managed to gather 14 pieces of rank four talisman paper for him.

Shang Xia couldn’t help but sigh to himself. He definitely underestimated the power of the other superpowers of the You Continent!

He might have owed a lot of favors because of the talisman papers, but he had to admit that he would be able to improve a lot because of them.

One had to say that the collective ability of the experts of the You Continent truly soothed Shang Xia.

Not only did they provide him with the pressure to do better, he was also starting to feel a sense of excitement when it came to crafting talismans. The feeling caused Shang Xia to feel tons of motivation. He could finally not worry about the resources and go all out when crafting talismans!

With the excitement and stimulation he felt, Shang Xia returned to his secret chamber and activated the restrictions. He fully immersed himself in the process of talisman crafting.

He knew that a chance like this wouldn’t come by often and with a strange feeling in his heart telling him it's the best time to craft talismans, he didn’t hesitate to do so. Without any intention to save resources, he immediately brought out rank three Talisman Ink.

That was one of the best batches of ink the Talisman Hall provided and he dipped his Purple Bamboo Brush into the ink while counting something with his left hand. The image of the ink slab on his table remained in his mind as he started the crafting process. 

Shang Xia’s attention was placed on his brush and talisman paper before him and without taking a break for 3 days straight, he used a fifth of rank three ink to complete his first rank four talisman, the Spiritual Protection Substitution Talisman.

With his opening success, Shang Xia took a day to rest before capitalizing on the feeling that was still flowing through his veins to start his second attempt.

This time, he was going for a rank four talisman called the Space Shattering Golden Blade Talisman. It was his first time crafting the talisman and it didn’t come as a surprise after his first attempt ended in failure after half a day.

Despite the failure, Shang Xia immersed himself in the strange state he was in, and taking a break of half a day, Shang Xia started another attempt. 

This time, he failed after one entire day of drawing the talisman.

Falling deep into contemplation, Shang Xia’s left hand danced about as he made his calculations.

After another day had passed, Shang Xia picked up his Purple Bamboo Brush and the process of crafting the Space Shattering Golden Blade Talisman ran perfectly through his mind. 

3 days later, Shang Xia successfully crafted a new type of rank four talisman, the Space Shattering Golden Blade Talisman!

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