Splitting the Heavens

Chapter 808: Five Element Evasion Talisman and Rank Five Art

Chapter 808: Five Element Evasion Talisman and Rank Five Art

Now that the ball of lightning was created, that could only mean that the Lightning Bird had started its breakthrough.

It was obviously impossible for it to complete the advancement immediately, but Shang Xia couldn’t protect it forever.

Back then, Shang Xia told the Lightning Bird to bring its flock of Mutated Rain Swallows to the Thousand Leaf Mountain Range in order to keep an eye on the region. They would also take note of any spiritual beasts capable of entering the fifth rank.

He didn’t think that the first spiritual creature who would break through to the fifth rank to be one that listened to his commands!

After thinking about it a little more, it seemed as though the Lightning Bird’s breakthrough wasn’t as unreasonable as it seemed.

Compared to the various rank four beasts hiding in the Thousand Leaf Mountain Range, the Lightning Bird hadn’t been a rank four spiritual beast for long. However, It had the strong support of its entire flock, along with Shang Xia and the Tongyou Institution.

When calm finally returned to the area, Shang Xia laid down several protection restrictions around the Lightning Bird before leaving.

On his way back, he started to think about the possibility of creating different movement arts based on the five elements.

Everything seemed too much to think about at once, and even after returning to the Thousand Leaf Mountain Range, he failed to come up with anything.

When he passed the Rocky Cliff Mountain, Shang Xia specifically paid a little more attention to the situation there. He wanted to see if there would be any changes to the flock with the absence of the Lightning Bird and 3 new rank four spiritual birds among them.

Who would have thought that he actually discovered something different? There were countless tiny holes on the tallest peak of the Rocky Cliff Mountain created by the Mutated Rain Swallows, and the bird flapping its wings at the very peak at the moment wasn’t Yan Ni’er or the other Mutated Rain Swallow who advanced to the fourth rank. Instead, it was Yan Lei, the little Lightning Bird!

The little brat was taking the chance when his father was breaking through to the fifth rank to claim to be the king of the flock!

That caused Shang Xia to realize something. If the Lightning Bird failed to advance and died in the process, it was likely the flock would disband.

Yan Lei might also be a Lightning Bird, and he had Yan Ni’er’s support, but he might not be able to control the flock of birds.

Actually... Even if the Lightning Bird succeeded and could return to command the flock of Mutated Rain Swallows, as Yan Lei grew, he had 2 options. He would either challenge the Lightning Bird for the position of the leader of the race, or he would split off from them. Shang Xia felt that the latter was more likely to happen, and the Tongyou Institution was also hoping for that to be the case.

After all, that was the rule of the bird race as they grew stronger.

Yu Duhe actually brought up the matter in the institution a long time ago.

Shang Xia didn’t mind it initially as he felt that what Yu Duhe said might not come to pass. However, now that he had observed Yan Lei and the rest, he felt that it wasn’t a mere possibility anymore. In fact, it was something that was bound to happen.

Perhaps he should actually start preparing for the flock of birds to split up.

Taking away the connection Shang Xia personally had to the Lightning Bird and its family, the entire race of birds still possessed great importance to the Tongyou Institution and Shang Clan. No matter what, they weren’t willing to watch as the flock separated and caused huge losses.

Shang Xia stared at Yan Lei who was flaunting its achievements on the peak of the mountain with a deep gaze before disappearing from the Thousand Leaf Mountain Range without alerting the rest.

When he returned to the Tongyou Institution, he immediately went to the Talisman Hall.

The first thing he did was to summon Ren Huan. When he arrived, Shang Xia asked, “Brother Ren, do you still remember the place we first met?”

“How can I not? Back then, we met at the valley with the strange wind in the battlefield between the two worlds. Even though the battlefield between the two worlds no longer exists, the strange region still does. Right now, it’s close to the northern border of the You Continent.” Ren Huan laughed.

Shang Xia continued to ask, “Does it still produce extermination qi?”

Ren Huan chuckled, “There would be traces mixed into the wind that pours out from time to time. The institution stationed an expert there and the moment any trace of extermination qi is detected, they would collect it all. Right now, that region has turned into a source of extermination origins for us.”

He paused slightly before he continued, “Actually, the valley entrance with the strange wind isn’t the only thing that’s still there. Even the strange tree that produces leaves with the properties of wind and lightning still stands tall beneath the cliff.”

“Why did you suddenly think of asking something like that today? You might be a Martial Dipper Realm expert, but you experienced a lot back then... Are you thinking about the past?” Ren Huan chuckled.

In the institution, only Ren Huan could joke with Shang Xia like that.

Rummaging about his sleeves, Shang Xia eventually found a seemingly broken pouch and handed it over to Ren Huan.

Examining it carefully, Ren Huan stared at a massive hole extending down one side of the pouch and he couldn’t help but wonder, “Is there... Is there something special about this broken pouch?”

Sighing helplessly, Shang Xia explained, “The broken pouch you’re playing with is the pouch Feng Yezi always carried around with him.”

Ren Huan’s hands trembled instantly and he quickly tightened his grip, fearing he would drop it. He praised immediately, “As I was saying, how can something from Brother Shang be some useless old pouch? Hmm... Brother Shang, you spoke about the extermination qi produced from the entrance to the valley... Are you thinking of using it to repair the pouch?”

What a joke! To be a weapon that a Martial Dipper Realm expert carried around day and night... At the very least, the pouch would be a pseudo divine artifact!

Shang Xia nodded in response. “Yeah. I inspected the material the pouch was made of and I discovered that different types of wind extermination qi were infused in every single thread that it was made from. I thought about the place back then. Whether or not the bag can be fixed... Brother Ren, everything is up to you now.”

Ren Huan couldn’t stop the silly grin from spreading on his face. The pouch might be damaged, but Shang Xia even thought of a way to repair it!

After Feng Yezi’s death, everything he had was basically destroyed. The only thing he left behind was the half-destroyed Wind Pouch and the Hidden Wind Fate Dipper.

If not for the fact that Shang Xia forcefully maintained his Five Element Space back then for a short period of time and had his divine will operating to the limit, the Hidden Wind Fate Dipper might have gotten away...

When Ren Huan left, Shang Xia once again gave an order as the head of the Talisman Hall. It was to gather every single talisman inheritance that was related to movement arts. Even though no one knew what he was doing, none of them dared to ask. They could only follow his orders.

Just like that, another year passed and the 861st year of the Divine Martial Calendar rolled around. Shang Xia might still be cooped up in the Talisman Hall, but he didn’t ask about anything that was going on. Not many people knew what he was doing either.

Seeing as the once a year trade fair was about to take place on the Three Unity Island, everyone in the Talisman Hall was thrown into a frenzy. After all, their part during the trade fair was indispensable.

Who would have thought that during the critical moment, the head of the Talisman Hall would emerge from seclusion and start to summon a bunch of rank one Talisman Disciples into the Tongyou Paradise? After some time, they would be sent out in a state of disorientation.

The other Talisman Masters in the Talisman Hall quickly started to make their inquiries but those who were brought into the Tongyou Paradise didn’t know much either. All they knew was that the hall master was getting them to test out new talismans. The entire process frightened those who took part in it. They would be buried in the ground or tossed into a pool of water. Sometimes, they were required to jump over blazing basins. They might be required to drill into a piece of wood or to slam into metal carpets. The more they learned, the weirder it became.

Not too long later, Shang Xia started to grab rank two Talisman Masters.

Because of his actions, everyone in the Talisman Hall was starting to feel some fear. There was a strange atmosphere in the air. Even though entering the Tongyou Paradise was something they could only wish for, an unsettling feeling filled their hearts after hearing what happened to the rank one Talisman Disciples.

The operation of the Formation Hall was starting to be affected. There wasn’t a need to mention the rank three Talisman Masters. Even the 2 rank four Talisman Grandmasters were starting to let their imaginations run wild as they tried to guess what Shang Xia was doing.

More than a month passed like that, and the rank two Talisman Masters reemerged. Those who were brought in were called over by the others to ask about what was going on.

This time, they were finally able to paint a clearer picture. According to them, the hall master was creating a new talisman. He seemed to have deduced a new secret art from it, and it’s related to movement arts.”

“Back then, why were they talking about so many strange ways the experiments were carried out?” That was what Lou Zizhang cared about. He had a sneaking suspicion that Shang Xia would eventually call upon him to jump over a basin of fire or something.

One of the rank two Talisman Masters replied, “That’s because their cultivation wasn't sufficient to do much. He had to do that in order to gain inspiration. Most of us were in the Martial Extremity or Martial Intent Realm. We don’t have to do any weird things like that...”

After getting his answer, Lou Zizhang felt a lot more reassured.

Several more days passed, and Shang Xia gave another order to summon several rank three Talisman Masters into the Tongyou Paradise.

Those who went in seemed to understand what Shang Xia was up to, and they were a lot more accepting than before. They were suddenly interested in what Shang Xia had created, and there was even a trace of anticipation as they entered the Tongyou paradise.

Due to the disturbance in the Talisman Hall, the operations of the Tongyou Institution had been disrupted. Qian Sitong, who was in charge of the trade fair, personally headed over to ask about their progress.

The mid to high-grade talismans of the Tongyou Institution had already made a name for themselves in the trade fair. With them, the Tongyou Institution would gain quite a lot during each trade fair.

The Tongyou Institution would use them to trade for a lot of cultivation resources they required!

With Shang Xia’s actions affecting the output of the Talisman Hall, Qian Sitong was under huge pressure.

Unfortunately, Lou Zizhang and Fan Yuanhui were powerless when it came to matters regarding the hall master. When Qian Sitong heard that the reason behind their poor output was Shang Xia, he could only slink away quietly.

After some more time had passed, the rank three Talisman Masters who were summoned returned.

Lou Zizhang and Fan Yuanhui, who thought that those rank three Talisman Masters would gain quite a bit from their time with Shang Xia, saw looks of fear in their eyes. There were even some among them who suffered heavy injuries.

“What’s going on?! What happened in there?” Fan Yuanhui asked.

One of the rank three Talisman Masters muttered powerlessly, “You’ll know once you head in. He’s waiting for you in there right now.”

Fan Yuanhui couldn’t even ask anymore when another rank three Talisman Master sighed, “The hall master is doing really unconventional things in there. We might not have a high enough cultivation level, or our insight into talisman crafting isn’t good enough. We have no idea what he’s doing. Deputy hall masters, you might know what he’s thinking if you go in there.”

Seeing how they weren’t able to get any useful information from them, Lou Zizhang and Fan Yuanhui knew that their unavoidable fate had arrived.

As the deputy hall masters of the Talisman Hall and Martial Extermination Realm cultivations, they obviously had the qualifications to enter the Tongyou Paradise.

It didn’t take long for them to find him and he broke the silence with a tone that showed he had been reflecting on his actions. “I was too hasty and thought that I would be able to create a rank five movement art just because I developed a new rank five talisman. I didn’t think I would run into so many obstacles. There were even times when they were placed in danger. I hope I didn’t scare any of you.”

Fan Yuanhui laughed, “So you’re coming up with a new movement art. It’s no wonder so many things happened... It’s just simply unavoidable.”

He continued with a sigh, “There have been cases of heavy casualties in the other factions when they did some testing for new talismans... How many lives are lost every year because of mistakes made during the crafting process? Right now, our Talisman Hall hasn’t even lost a single life. There are some with injuries, but there’s no need to think too much about it.”

Shang Xia was afraid the 2 of them misunderstood him and he laughed helplessly, “It’s not really the case. Since I dared to let them test it out, I would have methods to ensure they stayed alive. As for the injuries those rank three Talisman Masters suffered... That was because I succeeded!”

Lou Zizhang and Fan Yuanhui were immediately confused.

Shang Xia stared at them before waving his sleeves. Several rays of light fell and landed on them.

“This is a new Five Element Evasion Talisman I came up with. Right now, it only reaches up to the third rank. After one reaches the Martial Intent Realm, they can use it as they wish. Martial Extremity Realm cultivators would be able to use them with some special methods.” Shang Xia muttered.

Lou Zizhang finally seemed to understand what was going on and he muttered, “So... Were those special methods burying them and drowning them?”

“Originally, I didn’t need to make it so complicated. It was just that I wanted to make sure everything went smoothly and made use of several more extreme methods...” Shang Xia chuckled.

Fan Yuanhui held a scarlet rank three Evasion Talisman in his hand and activated it. The talisman turned into a blaze and he disappeared along with it.

“Huh?” Lou Zizhang gasped. Even with his senses, he couldn’t tell where Fan Yuanhui went after he disappeared! That was a rank three talisman they were talking about, and he was in the Martial Extermination Realm!

Moreover, he was a rank four Talisman Grandmaster no matter what. His understanding of talismans was vast, and he knew exactly what it meant for the rank three Evasion Talisman to be able to avoid the senses of a Martial Extermination Realm expert.

The next second, he felt a strange rush of energy coming from below and before he could move, Fan Yuanhui bore out from the ground below and gave him a good scare.

Lou Zizhang couldn’t be bothered by Fan Yuanhui’s antics at the moment as he stared at Shang Xia with a look of amazement. “This... Is this the Five Element Evasion Talisman?! Do you only have them in the third rank?”

Shang Xia sighed helplessly, “I was planning to lower the standard of the talisman to the point where even rank two Talisman Masters will be able to craft them. However, the use of Martial Intent is an unavoidable process. Not only would crafting this talisman require a rank three Talisman Master, but they would also have to be in the Martial Intent Realm.