Chapter 561: Substitution Talisman

After Chu Jia explained the situation to Shang Xia, they chatted a little while more. After exchanging cultivation pointers, Shang Xia seemed to have thought of something. “Instructor Chu, you’ve been in the institution longer than I have. Do you know the Weapons Hall has any high-ranked talisman brush?”

“High-ranked talisman brush? Those blacksmiths there would be hard-pressed to craft a mid-grade brush. There isn’t a need to think about a high-grade one! Otherwise, the Talisman Masters of the institution wouldn’t be so desperate to treasure a mid-grade brush…”

Of course, the Weapons Hall wasn’t as shoddy as Chu Jia had made it out to be. It was possible for them to craft a high-grade weapon if they went all out.

However, a high-grade brush was comparable to a peak high-grade weapon. It would be close to something of a pseudo divine weapon and even though the blacksmiths of the institution were good, crafting ordinary high-grade weapons was their limit.

Pausing slightly, Chu Jia asked, “What’s the matter? Are you planning to get your hands on another? Isn’t the Purple Bamboo Brush the Talisman Hall received from Patriarch Kou not good enough? Didn’t he get it from the Abyssal Secret Region?”

“Of course not! The Purple Bamboo Brush is the most important treasure of our Talisman Hall. If I actually spoil it, Talisman Master Gong will most definitely hold me accountable and go all out to deal with me!” Shang Xia replied.

Pressing her lips together, Chu Jia sneered, “Him? Heh, he won’t try to hold you accountable. Well, he wouldn’t but there will be someone who will try. He’ll probably get those under him to risk their lives to deal with you.”

Shang Xia chuckled and brought out his White Bone Brush. “I’m asking because of this. This brush was a high-grade weapon but because of the damage it suffered, it can only display the power of a mid-grade weapon. Also, the difference between the Purple Bamboo Brush and this White Bone Brush is that this brush belongs to me.”

When he was one, Shang Xia took out 2 White-Jade Bone Hairpins. “I thought that I would only be able to fix this brush with the bones of high-leveled beasts and extremely rare treasures. I didn’t expect to fight with an expert of the Spirit Abundance World and obtain this pair of White-Jade Bone Hairpins. After examining the material, I feel that it’s compatible with the brush. That was why I thought of fixing it…”

Staring at the pair of hairpins, Chu Jia couldn’t help but gasp in surprise, “Damn! You’re actually willing to fork out so much! These hairpins are high-grade treasures to begin with. In order to fix a high-grade brush, you plan on destroying a pair of high-grade treasures?!”

Shang Xia chuckled in response, “It doesn’t matter if they’re destroyed. They’re just high-grade treasures at the end of the day…”

Tutting instinctively, Chu Jia stared at Shang Xia from the corner of her eye and sneered, “You’re really a lucky guy alright… From what we learned, Ren Bainian knows how to repair weapons. You should look for him if you wish to fix your brush…”

“Who? Ren Bainian?!” Shang Xia nearly yelled out loud as he revealed a look full of shock.

His reaction wasn’t because he looked down on Ren Bainian, but the Manyu Continent was truly too lacking in terms of heaven and earth qi. Cultivation was difficult, and the inheritance cultivators of the Manyu Continent could receive was deteriorating at a rapid pace. Even if people managed to leave behind their inheritances, no one would be able to work on them. It was hard to believe that a Barbaric World lacking in weapons would allow Ren Bainian to be adept at working with them.

“You better believe it… Both of us might understand the current situation of the Manyu Continent, but have you thought about it another way? If you’re a cultivator of the Manyu Continent and your weapon has been heavily damaged, would you choose to look for ways to repair it or look for a new one?” Chu Jia explained.

“Oh… That’s why… I understand now!” Shang Xia muttered. With the current situation in the Manyu Continent, if there was one thing they actually made improvements in, repairing weapons would definitely be one of them. After all, the difficulty of repairing weapons was much lower than finding a new one!

As the sayings go, you’ll use something till it's old, and keep using it till it spoils. Patching it up, you’ll still be able to use it for some time. Even though some weapons had been greatly worn down, it was still passed down in the powers of the Manyu Continent. The reason they could still use those weapons was because of the amazing ways the experts used to repair them.

After learning that it was possible for his brush to be fixed, Shang Xia was ecstatic.

Chatting a little more, Chu Jia finally got ready to take her leave. Before she actually did, she seemed to have thought of something and reminded, “Oh right, there’s one thing our great Talisman Grandmaster Shang probably doesn’t know yet. I heard that someone went over to Deputy Patriarch Shang to arrange a marriage. I think she’s probably trying to marry her granddaughter off to you!”

Giggling softly, Chu Jia left without turning her head. Shang Xia stared at her as a dumbfounded expression hung on his face. When he finally regained his senses a moment later, he released a mirthless chuckle. He understood that what Chu Jia said was true, but there was no way his grandfather would agree.

That was because Yan Su’er was still someone from another world! Even if their worlds were about to merge, it wasn’t complete.

…

When Ren Bainian knew that Shang Xia had sent him an invitation to meet, he quickly rushed over to the small mountain Shang Xia was cultivating on.

When he arrived and saw how the mountain experienced all four seasons simultaneously, he failed to hide his shock.

Even though he felt that he had already overestimated Shang Xia’s strength, he realized that he was wrong.

“How long has it been…” Ren Bainian recalled how he was accepted into the Tongyou Stronghold on the Manyu Continent. It was because of Shang Xia’s introduction and during that time, the strength Shang Xia displayed was barely at the level of a third layer Martial Extermination Realm expert.

The moment he stepped onto the mountain, he understood that unless a cultivator stepped into the large completion stage of the Martial Extermination Realm and achieved absolute control over their extermination origins, they would never be able to do something like that.

Reaching his conclusion, Ren Bainian even started to doubt himself. He couldn’t believe how quickly Shang Xia had improved.

When he finally met Shang Xia, all his doubts were dispelled. When he felt the unfathomable aura the kid exuded that gave him a sense of pressure, he knew that his doubts were unnecessary.

Shang Xia didn’t beat about the bush and handed the brush and hairpins over to Ren Bainian. There was a trace of anticipation in his voice as he asked, “Senior Ren, do you think if there is a chance for this weapon to be restored?”

Looking at the pair of high-grade White-Jade Bone Haripins before him, Ren Bainian felt his eyelids twitching uncontrollably as his heart started to ache intensely.

That was a pair of high-grade weapons! Shang Xia wished to use them to repair a single talisman brush!

Finally forcing a smile from his stiff face, Ren Bainian chuckled, “Young Master Shang, are you sure you’re not kidding? These hairpins are more than enough to repair your brush, but to use 2 high-grade weapons to fix a brush, this…”

Shang Xia waved his hand nonchalantly in response, “All I wish for is to restore the brush. Nothing else is of concern. Senior, feel free to do as you wish with the rest of the materials.”

Seeing as Shang Xia was serious, Ren Bainian also became solemn as he accepted the task. “Young Master Shang, you can rest assured. In 2 months at most, I will definitely return with a high-grade brush! If everything goes smoothly, I’ll be able to finish it in a month!”

Ren Bainian was someone who knew how to read the room. Since he accepted the task, he knew that there was no reason for him to remain and he took his leave.

Now that he was gone, Shang Xia could consolidate all the gains he made in his cultivation.

From the time he left the Tongyou Stronghold, many things happened. First, he joined hands with Youshang to slay Su Jinyuan of the Spirit Abundance World.

Their gains were plentiful after the battle. Even though Youshang left to disguise himself as a member of the Spirit Abundance World and took a lot of emergency supplies, Shang Xia managed to get his hands on a battleaxe, made a copy of the Flying Sword Art and Object Controlling Art, and he also obtained Su Jinyuan’s record of his cultivation journey.

In the past, Shang Xia had been extremely focused when training in his martial arts. Back in the Martial Realm, he only practiced 2 palm arts. In the Yin Yang Realm, he trained in the way of the sword. In the Triple Command Realm, Shang Xia focused on the Shang Clan’s Providence Spear. Now that he entered the Four Constellation Realm, he developed a blade art on his own.

The reason he only used one type of martial arts in each realm was that he didn’t wish to be distracted. Also, he understood that the way of cultivation passed down in the Azure Origin World wasn’t perfect. Most of the time, all their martial arts were based on the raw use of their inner qi. The purity of one’s inner qi was also different from the others depending on what type of secret and martial arts they trained in. That was why Shang Xia placed great emphasis on the martial arts he chose. He didn’t wish to affect the purity of his inner qi by training in a crappy technique.

After entering the Four Constellation Realm, things took a slight shift. Shang Bo, Yun Jing, Youshang (Huang Yu), and even Kou Chongxue had given him pointers on more than one occasion. They taught him that after entering the Martial Extermination Realm, he should focus on the exploration of the use of world origin rather than his inner qi.

There were countless possibilities when discovering the uses of world origin and it was a path one could never find the end of. However, the main use of the exploration was to look for ways to improve themselves so as to strengthen their techniques or secret arts.

Most experts in the Martial Extermination Realm would train another martial art after refining their second extermination origin. That way, they would be able to learn more about the use of world origin.

The reason why Shang Xia wasn’t following what other people did was because of several reasons. One of the main reasons was that he wanted to create his own rank four martial art. He couldn’t afford to be distracted by other techniques. Of course, his unique way of breaking through by refining 4 extermination origins at once was another reason.

The latter point was why Kou Chongxue and the others didn’t continue pelting him with advice. They wanted to see how far he could go and if it was possible for him to pioneer a different path of cultivation.

Shang Xia might be their human lab rat and he might feel a trace of annoyance due to that, he managed to receive a lot of assistance from the institution. Cultivation resources were given to him in large amounts and treasures he might require were supplied endlessly. Despite the trace of irritation in his heart, he had to admit that obtaining so many resources for free was pretty satisfying.

Looking at the copies of the Flying Sword Art and Object Controlling Art he copied from Su Jinyuan, Shang Xia came up with another idea. He wanted to look more into it. His divine perception extended much further than cultivators of the same realm, and he wanted to use those arts to capitalize on the advantage he held.

Those were the gains he obtained from killing Su Jinyuan, but that wasn’t all he had. He managed to obtain a Spirit Binding Rope from Wang Guan who used it against Yan Su’er.

The Spirit Binding Rope had really unique properties. It was pretty similar to Liu Qinglan’s Nine Segment Whip but the Spirit Binding Rope focused on restraining one’s opponent whereas Liu Qinglan’s whip placed an emphasis on offensive abilities.

Next came the loot he obtained after killing Lin Chai. Other than the pair of White-Jade Bone Hairpins, Shang Xia also managed to obtain a complete talisman inheritance for the Substitution Talisman!