Chapter 680: Competed Rank Three Talisman Seal?

“Origin Jade?!” Shang Xia questioned the evaluation given by the Crimson Soul Tablet. What did the treasure have anything to do with the five elements?

Did Chu Jia mess it up?

The moment she saw the hesitant look on Shang Xia’s face, Chu Jia’s voice rang in his mind. “I might not understand what the Five Element Jade you’re talking about means, but from your description, I felt that it has to be some sort of treasure that can contain the different elements.”

She snatched the Origin Jade away from Shang Xia and continued, “I learned from how essence crystals and fate dipper fragments were made before creating it like how I would lay down a formation. However, it hasn’t been refined by the various elements. To put it simply, this is merely an empty container. If you wish to store the various elements, you will have to do it yourself.”

She tossed the Origin Jade into the air again and returned it to Shang Xia after her explanation.

Playing with the treasure, Shang Xia pressed his lips together and he didn’t know what to say.

After all, he wasn’t too sure about the five elements and how they interacted with each other. How was he supposed to explain the concept to her?”

It was an impressive feat for her to create the piece of Origin Jade with what he told her back then.

Moreover, from what the Crimson Soul Tablet had shown, it wasn’t impossible for the Origin Jade to become the Five Elements Jade he required.

The five elements he required were the Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth elements. However, it seemed as though the Origin Jade was able to store more than those.

𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Whatever the case, Shang Xia would have to test it himself.

If it could truly store more elements, wouldn’t that mean that the Origin Jade was superior to the Five Elements Jade he wanted?

After thinking about it, he turned to Chu Jia and spoke. “I hope that you can keep the creation method a secret for now.”

He might have asked her to keep it a secret from the others, but he said it in front of Kou Chongxue.

Covering her mouth, Chu Jia giggled softly. “Relax. I created this ‘Five Elements Jade’ with my own abilities. No one other than myself knows how to make it. Moreover, it’s not really possible for me to make another one anyway. Unless another world is destroyed and you manage to find more of those impure shards that came from the World’s Will…”

Shang Xia chuckled with amusement and patted the treasure in his hand lightly. “This treasure isn’t the Five Elements Jade. I think you should call it the Origin Jade. It sounds a lot more appropriate.”

Actually, Shang Xia never expected the treasure he needed to break through would be man-made! Well, whatever it was, at least there was progress.

Also, he seemed to have learned something else from what she said earlier. Chu Jia seemed to have grasped the crafting process of essence crystals. She even managed to use the method in her art of formations.

…

Shang Xia might have agreed to craft rank five talismans back then and enter the Celestial Remains with Kou Chongxue, but after they left, he threw all his effort into crafting rank three talisman seals.

He seemed to be enlightened after his conversation with Kou Chongxue and he discovered what he was missing. He had a whole perspective and he immediately started to work on it.

His new method seemed to be a little clumsy and it exhausted a huge amount of his energy, but there was no doubt that he managed to make huge progress.

At the very least, he was nearly able to complete carving the seal that he had only been able to craft a portion of before.

That was right. He was only missing one last rune before it was complete.

Holding the talisman seal that was 3 inches long and 3 inches wide, a grave expression could be seen on his face.

Not too far away, there were 2 talisman seals that seemed to be complete. However, if one looked carefully, it was filled with cracks and looked like defective products.

When Shang Xia looked at them, a pained look flashed across his eyes.

Other than the main boulder he kept, he didn’t have many pieces of the Impaled Stone he obtained back in the Abyssal Secret Region.

He knew that the moment he completed the final rune, the talisman seal in his hand would follow in the footsteps of the others.

He might have made great progress in the way he could craft rank three talisman seals, but without the final rune, he would never be able to complete it.

“There has to be something I’m missing… Spirituality, sentience… I haven’t tried letting a Martial Intent Realm cultivator imbue their divine sense into it. Am I supposed to make this talisman seal possess its own spirit?” Shang Xia wondered to himself. If that was the case, wouldn't that make the talisman seal akin to a divine weapon?

That was a rank three talisman seal they were talking about. It was something that had a definite lifespan. If he truly made it into something like a divine weapon, the gains wouldn’t make up for the losses!

Shang Xia forced a laugh before keeping the incomplete talisman. He hoped to be able to complete it one day.

Several months had already passed since he tried crafting rank three talisman seals, and he finally headed over to the Beyond Heavens Pavilion with Chu Jia.

They arrived at the pavilion that wasn’t too far away from the Void Abyss like before and Kou Chongxue had been waiting for them. Ji Wenlong was also present, but Shang Bo was nowhere to be seen.

Even though Shang Xia was at the grand completion stage of the Martial Extermination Realm and was the strongest expert in the institution under the Martial Dipper Realm, he still had no idea where the Martial Dipper Realm Ancestors of the institution had gone.

With the fusion of their world and the looming threat of the invasion by the Spirit Abundance World, the ancestors of the Tongyou Institution seemed to be preparing something in the dark. Their movements became wildly irregular and no one had any idea what they were doing.

“Did you craft your rank three talisman seal?” Kou Chongxue asked the moment he saw the kid.

According to Kou Chongxue’s plan, he was supposed to start crafting the rank five talisman right away.

However, he seemed to have gained some inspiration from their conversation and he resumed crafting his rank three talisman seals.

Shang Xia could understand Kou Chongxue’s sense of urgency when it came to exploring the Celestial Remains, and he understood how important it would be for Kou Chongxue and the Tongyou Institution. However, the flash of inspiration was something he couldn’t ignore and he chose to focus on it.

He could only shake his head in embarrassment when he heard Kou Chongxue’s question. He took out the incomplete talisman seal and muttered, “It’s a shame. I came all the way and I’m lacking the final rune. I am unable to complete carving it…”

After he spoke, Shang Xia described the general process of crafting the rank three talisman seal. At the same time, he spoke about his guess that it might be similar to a divine weapon.

When he was done, he sighed, “This is just a rank three talisman, but if it turns out to be similar to a divine weapon, our loss will far outweigh the gains. I can only choose to stop here and see if there’s anything more I can do in the future.”

Kou Chongxue and Ji Wenlong didn’t say anything after his explanation. Instead, they glanced at each other meaningfully.

A moment later, Ji Wenlong eventually broke the silence, “If you truly complete the rank three talisman seal with your method, how many times can it be used before it’s destroyed?”

Shang Xia was slightly taken aback and he fell into contemplation. He replied after some time, “I might not have completed the talisman sea, but the material used is several times more than rank one and two talisman seals. Moreover, rank three talisman seals can only be created when supplemented with divine sense. Creation of a rank three talisman wouldn’t actually cause too much damage to the seal and if everything goes smoothly, we should be able to use it a hundred times or more.”

Ji Wenlong nodded in response. “Let’s call it a hundred rank three talismans then. Before you became a rank four Talisman Grandmaster, how many rank three talismans can the Talisman Hall create?”

Shang Xia thought for a second before shaking his head. “I don’t know.”

Sighing softly, Ji Wenlong muttered, “Go ahead and craft it. The worth of your talisman seal might far surpass what you estimate. After all, we’ll be able to craft rank three talismans without a rank three Talisman Master. The worth of that is definitely comparable to that of a divine weapon.”

Kou Chongxue chuckled at the side, “Don’t bother about the cost of crafting a talisman seal. When you’re done, you should be able to learn more about it and familiarize yourself with the process. Try to make it easier then. If you are truly able to craft talisman seals higher than the third rank, every faction can store 3 to 5 of them in their treasury. They will definitely become inheritance treasures of whichever faction possesses them. You only seem to be thinking about rank three talisman seals right now. Are you thinking of mass producing them to exchange them to essence crystals or something?”

“Wait a second. 3 to 5 pieces of talisman seals? How can we produce so many of them so quickly? Those factions that truly require them will never be able to get their hands on those talisman seals anyway. Those holy lands out there might not lack rank three Talisman Masters, but they will definitely lust over the talisman seals. They probably wish to get their hands on it to try to recreate them. They probably only need a talisman seal or two to do so. We can’t make so many of them!” Ji Wenlong interjected.

At that moment, Shang Xia also realized something. He seemed to be thinking about it the wrong way.

Whenever he was crafting talisman seals, he would take into account the cost of it by the size of the rock he was using. In fact, there wasn’t much left and there was no way he could mass produce those talisman seals in the future. What he needed to do wasn’t to care about the cost of creating them. Instead, he should be thinking of how he could craft higher ranked talisman seals before he used up all the materials he had.

Kou Chongxue looked at Shang Xia who was deep in contemplation and laughed, “What’s the matter? Do you need some more time to complete the talisman seal? I can give you a little more time if that’s what you need.”

“No.” Shang Xia shook his head in response. “I definitely need more time to complete the rank three talisman seal, but I was too hasty. We should start preparing to craft the rank five talisman. After all, I’m looking forward to that more than anything.”