Chapter 1810: Talisman Seed and Choice

A single Myriad Tinted Cloud Talisman successfully pushed to the seventh rank by Shang Xia had demonstrated its power to both Shang Xia and Kou Chongxue during the test, leaving them highly satisfied.

However, once they returned to the Essence Luxuriant World, the two went their separate ways to attend to their own matters.

Kou Chongxue was preparing to break through to the second star, while also working on developing the second form of his rank seven sword technique.

As for Shang Xia, although he was not far from reaching the fourth star of the Seven Star Realm, the leap was a major threshold. It was as difficult as the breakthrough from a low-level True Immortal to a high-level True Immortal. It was certainly not something that could be accomplished quickly.

Therefore, Shang Xia focused most of his energy on perfecting his rank seven arts.

Previously, in his battle with Yan Yu, Shang Xia had used the first form of his self-created Seven Stars Mace Technique, Shattered Starry Skies, which proved impressively powerful. That success filled him with confidence in developing the second and third forms of the technique.

Of course, aside from his personal cultivation, the effectiveness of the rank seven Myriad Tinted Cloud Talisman made him look forward to crafting more of it.

But the creation of rank seven talisman paper was exceedingly difficult. The core material, Star Devouring Silk, came from the Star Devouring Silkworm, whose numbers were limited and still required time for breeding and metamorphosis. As a result, the supply of talisman paper was temporarily cut off.

Even though Shang Xia wanted to continue refining his talisman crafting skills and increase the success rate of crafting rank seven talismans, he couldn’t do shit if he didn’t have the resources.

In the meantime, many Talisman Masters at the Talisman Hall, after benefiting from the unintended opportunity Shang Xia had created, were left with more questions and confusion, frequently coming to him for guidance.

Shang Xia could patiently respond to the first few times, but as more and more of them came seeking guidance, he began to grow weary. So, he informed several deputy hall masters that he would hold 3 lectures in the coming month, during which he would also allocate time for answering questions.

Once the announcement spread, Shang Xia finally regained his peace... But not for long.

A few days later, Ren Huan personally came to visit. However, he didn’t bring a new rank seven talisman paper. Instead, he brought a large stack of rank five and rank six talisman papers.

"Have you forgotten that you promised to help craft 4 sets of rank five Talisman Seeds and 2 sets of rank six ones?" Ren Huan laughed as soon as he saw Shang Xia.

Shang Xia was slightly taken aback. He really had forgotten about his promise.

"You’ve already picked out the candidates to make them? Did you clearly explain the risks involved to them?" Shang Xia asked.

Ren Huan explained with a wry smile, "It’s been months. The institution now has over 10 True Immortals and nearly a hundred elite Martial Dipper Realm experts. Picking 6 of them wasn’t that hard."

Shang Xia suddenly realized that nearly 3 months had passed since he tested the talisman with Kou Chongxue at the edge of the calm space around the Essence Luxuriant World.

As he reached out his hand, he said, "Let me see the list. I can probably deduce all the sub-talismans each of them needs, but you will need to tailor the talisman paper they require.”

Ren Huan smiled. "You already reminded me about that earlier, so rest assured. The Talisman Hall has a good stockpile of materials for rank five and rank six talisman papers. Making dozens of sheets for customization won't be a problem!"

Shang Xia nodded and glanced down at the list. The first name he saw was a familiar one.

"This... Huo Wuji? Isn’t he only at the third element of the Martial Dipper Realm? Why is he also cultivating a Talisman Seed?"

In Shang Xia’s memory, when he first met Huo Wuji, the man was still in the Martial Intent Realm.

Despite his rough appearance, Huo Wuji had always been known for his fairness and justice. His upright character earned him a strong reputation throughout the institution.

Ren Huan explained from the side, "Huo Wuji was one of the original deacons in the institution’s Protection Division. Now, he's now the most senior deacon still active."

"Over the years, as the institution rapidly rose in strength, many veterans gradually fell behind or suffered greatly in wars. But Deacon Huo has just barely managed to keep up, though it’s clearly been a struggle."

"Because of this, he’s never made it into the institution’s upper ranks, but his post has remained unshaken. With his seniority, he’s even known as ‘the institution’s first deacon’ now."

"But in recent years, Deacon Huo has felt increasingly powerless. He’s mentioned several times that his potential is exhausted, and he might have to step down soon."

"It was right around then that your Talisman Seed initiative was announced, and it gave him a glimmer of hope. He came to me immediately to sign up."

Shang Xia listened to Ren Huan’s long-winded explanation and looked up. "So you’re afraid I’ll refuse to make the talismans for Deacon Huo?"

Caught, Ren Huan wasn’t embarrassed. He simply smiled. "Actually, the news spread from me, and the institution's higher-ups have been following it closely. They’ve already helped me reject a bunch of unqualified and overly ambitious applicants. But everyone supported Deacon Huo’s case, hoping he could stay in his position longer and maybe even use the Talisman Seed to become a True Immortal."

Shang Xia chuckled. "Even if none of you made such an effort, I wouldn’t have refused Deacon Huo. He’s a true veteran of the institution and has served it faithfully for years. Of course I should do something for him."

Shang Xia then looked over the names of the other 3 Martial Dipper Realm cultivators on the list. Though none had the same seniority as Huo Wuji, each had contributed to the institution, showing that Ren Huan had chosen his candidates with fairness.

For Shang Xia, rank five Talisman Seeds were really just for practice. It wasn’t too difficult to make them.

In fact, if he were willing to invest the time, he could produce the necessary talismans for not just 4, but 40 of them.

What would be more of a challenge were the rank six Talisman Seeds.

Among the True Immortals selected by Ren Huan, the first was Yuan Qiuyuan, the institution’s rank six Grand Stargazer.

The second candidate caught Shang Xia slightly off guard. It was none other than True Immortal Gao Qin.

"True Immortal Gao Qin was personally chosen by Patriarch Kou..." Ren Huan explained to Shang Xia.