Chapter 1048: Second Tier Six Direction Realm

Actually, the opportunity for Shang Xia to step into the second tier had long arrived.

It was especially so when he was crafting Space Calming Talismans. Even though the principle behind the talisman was an embryonic form of a domain, it allowed him to better understand what his domain really was.

After crafting batch after batch of talismans, he had long since reached the peak of the first tier in the Six Direction Realm. He had a better understanding of his domain, and he could step through the gates of a second tier True Immortal any time he wanted.

He suppressed his cultivation as he had been crafting talismans the whole time.

When he was finally done, the tired Shang Xia naturally couldn’t immediately step into the second tier. As such, he delayed it a little more.

Now that he heard the request from the Starry Pavilion, he decided to become a second tier True Immortal before anything else. Even crafting the Six Harmonies Teleportation had to be delayed.

In the Elysium, Shang Xia’s cultivation went smoothly. After stepping into the second tier, Shang Xia quickly consolidated his foundations.

Due to the cover of the Elysium, along with Shang Xia’s control over the power of the world in the You Continent, his advancement didn’t cause a massive disturbance.

Even though there were still slight fluctuations in the skies above the Tongyou City, none of the True Immortals could be sure if Shang Xia had advanced.

The second he fused his Void Origin with his domain and became a second tier True Immortal, Shang Xia discovered that his abilities increased drastically.

If his biggest achievement as a first tier True Immortal only allowed him to use his Void Origin to influence his domain, becoming a second tier True Immortal meant that his Void Origin was completely merged with it. As long as he had the intention, he would be able to release any techniques in his domain! The power it contained would also increase as he grew stronger.

Everything went pretty smoothly and he didn’t experience any sort of obstacle in his cultivation, but by the time he consolidated his foundations, several months had passed. When he left seclusion, the 10th year of the Spirit Luxuriant Calendar rolled about.

There was news from Star Origin City about Kou Chongxue occasionally, but no one actually knew where the patriarch really went in the year he was missing.

Shang Xia had been in the institution the entire time, but he spent most of his time in seclusion or crafting talismans. Even so, it wasn’t as though he had no idea what was going on in the outside world.

No matter how hard the other factions tried to keep the information of their True Immortals a secret, Shang Xia still managed to catch wind of some news. He knew that Huang Jinghan had left the Spirit Luxuriant World, and even Lu Wuzi had headed to the Star Origin City in secret several times. Even though he went 2 to 3 times, he never stayed in the city for long.

There were also rumors going around that Zhang Xuansheng and Yang Taihe created clones like they did in the past to head to Star Origin City. Even Li Jidao managed to comprehend the technique and create clones.

Li Jidao had been a second tier True Immortal for some time. As he also played a big part in the defense of the world, the assimilation of the Azure Flame World gave him a huge blessing. His cultivation took a large step forward and he was probably close to the peak of the second tier. Splitting off a clone at the Martial Void Realm shouldn’t be a problem for him.

“Looks like no one has remained idle... No one is willing to keep themselves cooped up in our Spirit Luxuriant World...” Shang Xia muttered to himself.

Why didn’t he try to head out to Star Origin City or into the vast sea of stars?

It was too bad the damn old man from the Tongyou Institution ran faster than him and no one could find his tracks. Shang Xia also just broke through, and he hadn’t grasped the ability to split off a clone. Since he couldn’t get a hold of Patriarch Kou, he had no choice but to stay in the institution for the time being.

Fortunately, it wasn’t as though he was wasting his time.

After leaving seclusion, he first went to look for Deputy Patriarch Yun Jing who was stationed in the city.

Since Chu Jia was still running around to make the Five Element Ring into a Formation Divine Weapon, she was nowhere to be seen.

With nothing else to do, Shang Xia decided to inform Ren Huan that he would begin his attempt to craft the rank six talisman.

𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Ren Huan quickly ran over to the Talisman Pagoda after he heard the news to hand Shang Xia a bottle of talisman ink.

“I managed to obtain this bottle from the Starry Pavilion. They only agreed to the trade because it’s you...” Ren Huan mumbled.

Opening the cap, a strange fragrance emerged from the bottle and it made anyone who smelled it feel a lot more relaxed and carefree.

Shang Xia couldn’t help but mutter softly, “Looks like the Starry Pavilion takes the rank six talisman extremely seriously. This makes me even more curious... What type of rank six talisman do they need for the Pavilion Master to be willing to pay such a huge price...”

He seemed to be directing his question at Ren Huan, but how could Ren Huan know anything about it?

A rank six talisman inheritance, 4 sheets of rank six talisman paper, and a bottle of rank six ink. Shang Xia had everything he needed to craft a rank six Six Harmony Teleportation Talisman and the only thing he was missing was a divine brush.

The White Bone Brush might have been modified by Ren Bainian in the past, and the quality of the brush was a lot better than before, but it was still no divine artifact.

As for the other high-grade brushes the institution had... They obtained several more since then, but the Purple Bamboo Brush was still best for making all sorts of talismans. It didn’t have any special properties, but that made it adaptable to any talisman he was planning to craft.

There were 2 other high-grade brushes. One of them came from the Azure Flame World, and the other was purchased in Star Origin City.

When Shang Xia was crafting rank five talismans, he had been rotating between the White Bone Brush and the Purple Bamboo Brush. He was accustomed to using them and didn’t wish to use brushes he wasn’t familiar with.

Moreover, after he was done crafting talismans, he handed the brushes to Ren Huan so that the other Formation Grandmasters in the Talisman Hall could use them.

Now that he was planning to craft the Six Harmony Teleportation Talisman, Ren Huan brought them back.

“Let’s hope these brushes will hold out...” Shang Xia looked at the brushes that were maintained by Ren Bainian and sighed.

In recent years, Ren Bainian basically became Shang Xia’s personal talisman brush maintenance crew.

...

With the Talisman Pagoda being sealed off once again, everyone was sent away and Shang Xia was the only person left inside.

On the highest floor of the Talisman Pagoda, Shang Xia quietly adjusted his condition and mental state. At the same time, his divine soul encompassed the entire pagoda.

A Talisman Pagoda was a type of inheritance treasure that would prove to be of great help to Talisman Grandmasters. After Shang Xia’s divine soul covered the pagoda, they seemed to become one and he could feel his state of mind becoming a lot clearer. In the pagoda, his senses would also be heightened and he would be able to think a lot faster. Even the talisman brush became a lot more nimble in his hand.

Back when Shang Xia crafted 56 rank five talismans, the Talisman Pagoda also proved to be of great help. From a certain perspective, the way he interacted with the Talisman Pagoda was an elementary form of the level of Inner Fusion which allowed him to easily step into the second tier of the Six Direction Realm.

With everything ready, Shang Xia finally unfurled the scroll-like rank six talisman paper in front of him.

Even though he went through the crafting process countless times in his mind, he couldn’t help but feel a little nervous now that he was actually trying to craft the rank six talisman.

The rank six talisman ink shone a deep purple and there were specks of light sparkling on the tip of his brush after he dipped it into the ink.

Carefully brushing the tip against the table to align the hair of the brush, Shang Xia felt that the inkstone in front of him was scraped heavily with some sort of metal brush.

He merely adjusted the condition of the brush earlier and the inkstone was already damaged. It seemed as though the high-grade inkstone in front of him would be ruined after a few more attempts.

Fortunately, Ren Huan managed to get his hands on talisman ink that had already been prepared. If he obtained an ink stick that Shang Xia would have to grind on his own, the inkstone would probably be unable to withstand the process!

Getting rid of all the random thoughts in his mind, Shang Xia carefully split his attention to control the position the brush would land and the amount of inner qi he needed to use, along with the integration of his inner qi and the talisman paper before him.

Since it was the Six Harmony Teleportation Talisman, Shang Xia naturally needed to pour his Six Direction Qi into the talisman paper while ensuring it melded perfectly. Otherwise, how could it be called a rank six talisman?

Once again, cultivation was truly the root of everything.

It wasn’t as though it was impossible to craft a higher grade talisman than one’s cultivation realm, but without the abilities of a Martial Void Realm expert, there was no way for a Martial Dipper Realm expert to craft a rank six talisman.

As Shang Xia had a half-complete talisman as his reference, everything went pretty smoothly when he replicated what he already studied.

By the time he completed the runes that he could reference from the half-completed talisman, he didn’t feel his movements turning sluggish. He could tell that his deduction for the rest of the talisman was pretty accurate.

Of course, he was only just getting started.

For him to be able to complete the rest of the talisman, it showed that he already possessed the capabilities to become a rank six Talisman Grandmaster!

The only thing he was worried about at the moment was the consumption of his inner qi.

A rank six talisman was far more complicated than a rank five talisman, and even though everything went smoothly so far, nothing was set in stone until the talisman was complete.

He managed to finish half the talisman, but 5 days had already passed.

During one of the key transitions in his stroke, something went wrong. It might have something to do with his failed interpretation of the talisman, or he might have made a simple mistake due to the consumption of his inner qi and his mental exhaustion.

Whatever it was, a surge of energy emerged from the tip of the brush and blew the talisman paper into pieces. It even caused space to fracture in the pagoda and almost the entire region was filled with spatial fluctuations.

Fortunately, when it failed, the defense mechanisms around the pagoda were activated. Restrictions upon restrictions flared to life and stopped all spatial fluctuations. It got rid of the remnant energy and a light screen even covered Shang Xia to protect him from harm.

A soft sigh escaped his lips. Reaching out to scatter the light screen around him, he made a quick gesture and the space around him returned to normal.

He couldn’t help but think about what went wrong, and eventually, his gaze landed on the White Bone Brush.

Cracks filled the body of the brush and its tip was severely damaged.