“Did you take a look at the information in the jade pendant?” Kou Chongxue spoke the moment he saw Shang Xia. From the time Shang Xia left previously, it seemed as though the patriarch hadn’t moved a muscle.

With a weary heart, Shang Xia sighed, “Yeah, I saw it.” 

Kou Chongxue looked at the helpless expression on Shang Xia’s face and broke out into hysterical laughter. It was as though he was relishing in Shang Xia’s misfortune.

Glaring at the patriarch who was nearly doubled over in laughter, Shang Xia snapped, “Don’t tell me you called me here to laugh at me.”  

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Waving his hands casually, a ray of light shot towards Shang Xia. 

He might not know what the item was, but he knew that Kou Chongxue wouldn’t actually harm him. Reaching out, the ray of light started to condense in his palm. “This…” 

Shang Xia looked at the cluster of soft light that had appeared in his hand and noticed that it was merely several specks that were emitting a soft glow. He felt a strange sense of attraction to it and something clicked in his mind. Excitement filled his heart as he raised his head to look at Kou Chongxue again.

“That’s right. This is Star Essence. It’s something that you need to repair your Abyssal Blade.” Kou Chongxue confirmed his guess. “But… You better not get too excited. How much do you think this small bit of Star Essence will help? Do you know how long I had to stay out there in order to obtain this?” 

His second sentence was like a bucket of cold water that was splashed over Shang Xia’s head. Even though he was prepared for it, hearing that the amount of Star Essence wasn’t enough from Kou Chongxue really stung.

With the small amount of Star Essence he had, he wouldn’t be able to do much to his Abyssal Blade. Moreover, from what Kou Chongxue was saying, he had been gathering Star Essence for some time now…

“Ever since I discovered this jade pendant in the Taihang Mountains, I have been risking it all to collect Star Essence from beyond the heavens. It’s been close to half a year but I only managed to obtain so little.” Kou Chongxue paused for a moment before he continued, “Of course, this might be because I didn’t venture too far. The efficiency of collecting Star Essence might have been greatly reduced because of that…” 

Shang Xia sighed helplessly, “It’s alright. If it’s that difficult to gather Star Essence, why would you give them all to me?” 

“Hmph, I was only afraid you wouldn’t recognize Star Essence if you ran into it in the future.” Kou Chongxue snorted derisively.

“Patriarch, do you mean…” Shang Xia hesitated for a moment as he asked. 

He was interrupted by Kou Chongxue before he could finish. “It is difficult to extract Star Essence from beyond the heavens, but that doesn’t mean you can’t plunder them from other cultivators. It’s also possible that someone will obtain Star Essence without knowing what it is and you can trade it with them or something…” 

With his spirits all perked up, Shang Xia asked, “Patriarch, do you know if any other ancestors have Star Essence on them?” 

“How the hell would I know? Do you think I have great connections everywhere in the Beyond Heavens Pavilion? Or do you think all the Martial Dipper Realm Ancestors in our Azure Origin World have the ability to travel beyond the heavens to harvest Star Essence? Even if they do, do you think they have nothing better to do than to waste their efforts to gather Star Essence they may or may not be able to use?” Kou Chongxue snorted in contempt. As he mocked the other Martial Dipper Realm Ancestors, he didn’t forget to make himself look good.

Raising his thumb, Shang Xia said something that Kou Chongxue was fishing for. “Guess you’re a pretty fucking awesome old man…” 

Once he said that, it seemed as though the conversation of Star Essence had ended. Kou Chongxue started to talk about something else, “How is your cultivation these days in the Beyond Heavens Pavilion? Have you gotten used to the environment here?” 

Shang Xia seemed like he adapted to the Beyond Heavens Pavilion not too long after he arrived and his inner qi wasn’t showing any signs of going out of control. However, that was only what it looked like on the surface. He might have been forcefully suppressing his inner qi and Kou Chongxue wanted him to properly familiarize himself with the environment before calling for him. After several days of cultivation, Shang Xia could finally say that he had completely acclimatized to the surroundings.

“Is something the matter?” Shang Xia asked.

“Obviously… It’s the matter about talisman crafting. Didn’t my clone already explain everything?” Kou Chongxue stated casually.

Helpless, Shang Xia could only respond accordingly, “Even if I want to craft rank four talismans, I need rank four talisman paper to do so! You’ve been here the whole time and you might not know about the situation back in the You Continent. I probably emptied out the You Continent of rank four talisman papers with what I did in the Tongyou Mysterious World. Even the greatest chef can’t cook a good meal without rice…” 

“Are you sure you wiped the collection of rank four talisman paper clean?” Kou Chongxue muttered strangely.

“Do you think I can benefit from lying to you or something?” Shang Xia muttered. Before he could continue, he saw the crafty smile on Kou Chongxue’s face and his heart skipped a beat. “Patriarch Kou, don’t tell me that you…” 

Kou Chongxue ignored him and gestured into the air beside him. “Old Man Ji, come here!” 

Once again, a storm of heaven and earth qi appeared on the platform and Ji Wenlong’s clone appeared. He held a bunch of items in his hand and he casually waved his hand to toss it over to Shang Xia.

“Since our institution produced our own Talisman Grandmaster, Patriarch Kou and I have been looking for rank four talisman paper. You said that the You Continent was out of rank four talisman paper, but you forgot about us!” Ji Wenlong glanced at Kou Chongxue after speaking. “It’s true that his connections in the Beyond Heavens Pavilion aren't too good… The matter of gathering rank four talisman paper fell on my shoulders…” 

With the subtle slight from Ji Wenlong, Kou Chongxue could only shoot him a dirty look before revealing a self mocking smile.

Receiving the item from Ji Wenlong, Shang Xia discovered that it was an Embroidered Cloud Case that looked pretty large on the outside. However, it only contained 1 cubic feet of space. Despite that, it seemed to contain some special uses and Shang Xia quickly peeked at its contents. 

“Hey! That’s a lot of stuff!” Shang Xia yelled. He noticed 30 rank four talisman papers, a block of solid rank four talisman ink, and other items that he would need when crafting talismans. Even the miscellaneous items looked pretty precious.

Ji Wenlong explained, “Back when you kicked up such a ruckus in the Tongyou Mysterious World, the entire city went crazy looking for rank four talisman papers. The two of us heard about it and you seem to forget that a bunch of Martial Extermination Realm experts went to the foreign continent. The treasures they have on them should be the best of the best among those in the You Continent.”

Shang Xia nodded his head slowly in response.

Pointing at the case in his hand, Ji Wenlong continued, “Of the 30 pieces of rank four talisman papers in there, we got a good half from them. Of the other half, your Patriarch contributed 5 pieces from his personal collection. I obtained the rest from other members of the Beyond Heavens Pavilion.” 

Shang Xia thought about it for a second before speaking. “I managed to improve because of the talismans I crafted back in the Tongyou Mysterious World. With a one-third success rate, I should be able to craft 10 rank four talismans.” 

“12.” Kou Chongxue, who hadn’t said anything for some time finally spoke up.

He directly set a target for Shang Xia this time and he didn’t seem to be taking no for an answer.

“What?” Shang Xia stared at him in fright. A look of displeasure appeared on his face. “That would mean that I would have to succeed 40 percent of the time! How long has it been since I became a rank four Talisman Grandmaster? Aren’t you just making things difficult for me?” 

Any rank four Talisman Grandmaster would be confident enough to craft talismans for others once they achieved a one-third success rate. 

A success rate of 40 percent might seem small, but it was an exceptional increase for a rank four Talisman Grandmaster. Every percent they raised their success rate was harder than becoming a rank four Talisman Grandmaster from a rank three Talisman Master.

One could even say that it was a cause for celebration if a Talisman Grandmaster raised their success rate by even a little bit! 

Even though Shang Xia improved tremendously since he last crafted rank four talismans, he wasn’t confident enough to say that he could reach a success rate of 40 percent.

“Alright. I won’t change the minimum requirement for you. However, I can promise you that any talisman you craft after the twelfth will belong to you.” Kou Chongxue muttered. 

Shang Xia pouted in response, “You’re just dangling a carrot in front of me to mess with me. It’s still a 40 percent success rate we’re talking about here!” 

Ignoring Shang Xia’s complaints, Kou Chongxue continued, “Hah? Are you acting indignant with me right now? You used the institution’s resources to practice your talisman crafting art and you even crafted all the talismans you knew other than those recorded in the institution. Do you think I’m stupid or something?” 

“That’s because I was trying to leave behind an example of every talisman for them to take reference to…” Shang Xia tried to argue.

Snorting derisively, Kou Chongxue continued, “Don’t think I don’t know anything about crafting talismans. You don’t have to leave any examples behind for anyone now that you’re crafting talismans. You just need to craft those you’re the most familiar with. This old man doesn’t believe that you can’t achieve a 40 percent success rate when crafting all the talismans you’re good at!” 

Shang Xia wanted to say something else, but Ji Wenlong coughed softly at the side, “Ahem, Dao Comprehension Incense…” 

What the fuck does this have to do with the Dao Comprehension Incense?!

That was what Shang Xia thought, but he couldn’t say it in front of the two of them. Unfortunately, his gaze betrayed his thoughts. 

Ji Wenlong continued, “Yeah, yeah, if the Dao Comprehension Incense can only be used like how you used it, it won’t be called the Dao Comprehension Incense. When it is used, the Dao Comprehension Incense might seem effective for a set period of time. However, its lingering effects are what deserves praise.” 

Seeing the look of contemplation on Shang Xia’s face, Ji Wenlong’s explanation didn’t stop there. “If I’m not mistaken, your improvement in all aspects seemed really smooth after you used the Dao Comprehension Incense… It might not be as obvious as when you used the Dao Comprehension Incense, but it should be much smoother than if you cultivated previously, right?” 

Shang Xia thought back to everything that happened and realized that Ji Wenlong was correct. Ever since his recovery session in the Taihang Mountains, he has experienced an all-rounded improvement. 

Seeing the look on Shang Xia’s face, Ji Wenlong knew that his prediction was spot on and he chuckled, “That was why your improvement in the way of talismans was so terrifying. Right now, you might have already achieved a 40 percent success rate. We need you to verify that for us.” 

Kou Chongxue added from the side, “You drank my Dao Comprehension Tea in the past and you should understand the difference between the tea and the incense.” 

Shang Xia knew that nothing he said would matter anymore and obtaining any more benefits from the two of them was a pipe dream now that they had given him so many talisman papers. He quickly came to a decision. “All of you have already said everything that should be said. I would be rude. I’ll do my best!” 

“At least you know what’s good for you…” Kou Chongxue snarled before waving his hand like he was chasing a fly away.