Chapter 2095: Everything Is Ready

With the special talisman ink for the Winding Stream Diversion Talisman prepared, the crafting process posed little difficulty for Shang Xia.

After one failure, he made slight adjustments before successfully producing two of the talismans in succession. He chose to use one of them as part of his Talisman Seed.

But just as Ren Huan had warned, even with only three attempts, the wear on Shang Xia’s brush was equivalent to crafting 30 ordinary rank seven talismans. His divine brush, though nourished by his Big Dipper Ster Origin, and his inner qi during the crafting process, was nearly at the edge of ruin.

He decisively stopped crafting after three attempts.

“What’s the situation over at the Spirit Frost World with the Giant Ape King?” When he emerged briefly from seclusion, Shang Xia immediately seeked out Kou Chongxue to ask.

Kou Chongxue frowned in puzzlement. His response soon came. “Isn’t your External Avatar stationed there? Why are you asking me?”

Shang Xia slapped his forehead and chuckled, “Ah, I lost my head. It seems the Giant Ape King hasn’t made any movements yet.”

Kou Chongxue laughed, “When you and I became Sages, even with the blessing of the Heavenly Field, we entered seclusion for a long time. The Giant Ape King’s transformation will surely be slow. Not to mention... It’s a spirit beast king. It’s not the same species as us. Since there is no bad news, everything should be going fine.”

Shang Xia nodded slowly.

But Kou Chongxue noticed something strange about his reaction and he asked, “What’s wrong?”

With a wry smile, Shang Xia recounted his talisman crafting process before speaking again. “I have only two divine talisman brushes. One is nearly ruined from making the Winding Stream Diversion Talisman. I thought if the Giant Ape King had already become the Giant Ape Emperor, I would be able to use its hair to make a few more brushes. After all, using the hair of a rank seven beast emperor to craft a talisman brush would make it much more durable...”

“You...” Kou Chongxue sighed helplessly. “You are now one of only two grand completion level Sages in our Heaven Observation Star Region... Every move you make is watched closely, and yet, you’re planning to pluck hairs from an ape?!”

In truth, Shang Xia’s talisman brushes had been in use for years and were badly worn. They were damaged beyond repair.

After all, almost no one in the Chaotic Sea of Stars crafted Seventh-Tier talismans as frequently as Shang Xia.

Still, it was true, he needed a higher-quality brush, at least comparable to his Seven Star Mace.

“How are the affairs of the Heavenly Fields lately?” Though Shang Xia seldom paid attention to the Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field, he could already guess the rough state of things from Kou Chongxue’s aura.

Sure enough, Kou Chongxue smiled. “The Spirit Yue World is nearly taking shape. We preserved a portion of the Essence Yue World’s Will, which is speeding up its formation. With its foundation and the heritage of the survivors of the Essence Yue Heavenly Field, it may not be long before it becomes a Spirit World. With their ascension, we will possess five Spirit Worlds.”{

“As for the two continents we integrated into the Essence Luxuriant World, things are progressing well. But complete assimilation with our World’s Will may still take years.”

Shang Xia smirked. “Oh? By then, your cultivation might rise to the fifth star!”

Kou Chongxue quickly waved his hand and refuted. “No. It’s better to take things one step at a time. Such rapid advancement makes me uneasy.” Pausing slightly, he continued, “Still, in the past two years, several high-level True Immortals were born in our world and the Spirit Worlds. Many more have reached the Martial Void Realm. Our Heavenly Field is rapidly closing the gap with those ancient lineages.”

Shang Xia wasn’t surprised. The Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field had been steadily growing.

With the blessing of the World’s Will, everyone who took part in the various battles gained a lot.

Those native to their Heavenly Field grew the most, while newly integrated outsiders had to first receive the recognition of the World’s Will.

During that process, their progress was stunted, sometimes for years. Some even regressed in cultivation. Those who were unlucky saw a complete collapse in their cultivation, their path forever severed.

That was the inevitable pain one would have to endure for the growth of a Heavenly Field.

It also widened the gap between cultivators native to their Heavenly Field and outsiders, a gap that would last decades or centuries with little chance of closing.

Those in the upper echelons had to take care of the problem with a little more caution. If balance was lost, conflict between both sides could arise and be exploited.

With Shang Xia and Kou Chongxue present, the collapse of the Heavenly Field was unlikely, but mishandling could still slow their growth.

After speaking with Kou Chongxue, Shang Xia returned to craft the second talisman, the Heavenly Peak Suppression Talisman.

Though it required no special talisman paper or ink, its difficulty was immense, demanding the highest mastery of talisman crafting.

That was why Shang Xia saved it for after the Winding Stream Diversion Talisman.

As expected, though he had ran through the process countless times in his mind, his first two attempts failed, wasting two sheets of rank seven talisman paper.

Fortunately, the growth of the Essence Luxuriant World had been rapid. The flourishing trade and successive wars had brought them abundant resources. Otherwise, Shang Xia would have been distressed at the loss.

After adjusting his mental state after his second attempt, he succeeded on his third try. His fourth attempt failed again, but on the fifth he produced another.

Still dissatisfied, Shang Xia saw many flaws in the crafting process. He attempted it four more times, producing two more talismans.

Only after crafting his fourth Heavenly Peak Suppression Talisman did Shang Xia feel content. He prepared to craft his Talisman Seed to be placed in the World Origin Source of the Essence Luxuriant World to be nurtured.

All that was left was to wait.