Splitting the Heavens

Staring at the void where Kou Chongxue had vanished, Shang Xia couldn't help but chuckle softly.

In truth, although the Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field was moving further away from the Four Essence Heavenly Field, the original location of the Star Origin Dao Field was still within range of their Heavenly Field amplification.

Even if Shang Xia left the Heavenly Field, Kou Chongxue could still return easily. Whether Shang Xia personally remained behind or not didn't really matter.

Since there had been no updates from Ren Huan regarding the production of rank seven talisman paper, Shang Xia found himself unexpectedly idle.

Of course, it wasn't as if he had nothing to do. In fact, across the Essence Luxuriant World, from the Tongyou Institution to the other factions... Any cultivator with even a bit of ambition was currently busy with something.

However, at the Tongyou Institution, though the atmosphere appeared hectic, the operations were highly organized. Everyone performed their respective duties efficiently.

Because of the strange sense of organization, Shang Xia, who had always operated outside its system, suddenly felt oddly out of place.

He carefully considered all the areas within the institution that might need his help. The first was the Star Ships and Spirit Arks under construction at the Star Dock, but that was already under Chu Jia's supervision. He even sent a clone there. There was no need for his true body to go.

As for patrolling the Heavenly Screen... He handed off the duty to his other clone.

Another potential area of need was the Talisman Hall. He could host a lecture on the dao of talismans, which would certainly cause a stir not just in the Essence Luxuriant World but even across the Heavenly Field, sparking a grand event in Tongyou City.

But unless necessary, he clearly had no interest in such fanfare.

As for continuing to craft talismans... The stockpile of talisman papers above the sixth rank had just been depleted. He had no real interest in crafting anything below that.

There was, however, one other significant task. It was the construction of a Dao Field in the You Continent.

Initially, there had been some disagreement between Shang Xia and Kou Chongxue regarding the location, debating between the You Continent and the Jiao Continent.

However, once Shang Xia withdrew his soul from the You Continent, the decision was finalized. The Dao Field would be built in the You Continent.

The construction approach would also take a safer route. They would upgrade the existing Tongyou Elysium.

This plan was finalized after incorporating suggestions from various sources, including Su Chi, Gao Qin, Zhuo Gudao, and Sage Jin.

Once the Tongyou Elysium was upgraded to a Dao Field, the Essence Luxuriant World would gain a slot to build another Elysium. The Tongyou Institution had no intention of keeping it. They would open it up for competition among other sects.

Speaking about the number of Elysiums... Since their ascension 14 years ago, the number of Elysiums the world could support had reached 11, of which the Tongyou Institution built two in Five Pillars City and Tongyou City.

They might have made the decision, but they had just started to gather resources.

Though building on the existing Tongyou Elysium saved a significant amount of resources, the overall requirements were still massive.

At the same time, the institution had to continue building the Heavenly Field, large and super Star Ships, and even Spirit or Essence Arks. It was a bottomless abyss.

Since neither the institution nor the Essence Luxuriant World intended to strip the land bare like the Essence Hong Heavenly Field had, the construction of the Tongyou Dao Field would inevitably be a long-term endeavor.

With everything in the institution and the Essence Luxuriant World running smoothly without his intervention, Shang Xia, an exalted Sage, suddenly found himself with no place to apply his strength.

Without disturbing others, he quietly returned to the top floor of the Talisman Pagoda.

However, he wasn't there to craft talismans. He had no interest in that at the moment. Instead, he recalled something, something that only he could possibly accomplish.

It was the creation of Talisman Seals!

Ever since he had successfully crafted a rank five Talisman Seal several years ago, he hadn't given the matter any further attention. He hadn't crafted another, nor considered the possibility of upgrading it to the sixth rank.

Now that he had some rare free time, Shang Xia thought it was the perfect moment to evaluate whether creating a rank six Talisman Seal was feasible.

He retrieved some of the materials stored in the Talisman Pagoda to practice. After crafting a few seals to regain his touch, he began designing a rank six Talisman Seal and identity the materials required.

But as soon as he began, Shang Xia realized a serious problem.

Unlike rank five Talisman Seals, rank six Talisman Seals required origin qi to be used in the crafting process. The divine soul of a True Immortal was required. In other words, to use a rank six Talisman Seal, the user would have to be in the Martial Void Realm.

That severely restricted who could use such Talisman Seals.

Worse yet, if rank six Talisman Seals could only be used by True Immortals, it would greatly reduce their value.

After all, the whole point of Talisman Seals was to streamline and accelerate talisman crafting. And talismans were vital tools for cultivators to overcome higher-level opponents.

If rank six Talisman Seals were limited to True Immortals, they wouldn't be very useful.

There was another key issue, the extreme exclusivity. If a rank six Talisman Seal was successfully created and used by a True Immortal, it would be attuned to their origin qi and divine soul. Attempting to pass it to another True Immortal would likely lead to rejection.

That further diminished the seal's universality.

"It's too early to worry about all that. For now, I just need to successfully craft a rank six Talisman Seal." Shang Xia smacked himself on the forehead, realizing he was getting ahead of himself.

He hadn't even produced a single prototype, and here he was fretting over the broader applicability of rank six Talisman Seals.

As with every new tier, he followed his established approach. He had to start simple.

Among the 20 or so talismans he had mastered, Shang Xia decided to begin with the most basic of them all. A Formation Talisman.

Even if successful, such a seal would be a major resource drain.

But crafting the very first rank six Talisman Seal was all that mattered.

However, he quickly ran into a deadlock. He couldn't find any rank six spiritual material suitable for engraving the seal.

The original Impaled Stone that had inspired his idea was nearly depleted. Though a few core pieces remained, their quality was too poor to support a rank six Talisman Seal.

He tested several other rank six spiritual treasures, but without exception, all attempts ended in failure. He wasted countless rare resources.

Just as he was growing aimless and unsure of what to do next, Ren Huan sent him a transmission. His batch of Star Devouring Silk had yielded four sheets of talisman paper. It was an impressive achievement!

Only then did Shang Xia realize that two months had already passed while he had been experimenting with rank six Talisman Seal materials.

He immediately shelved the Talisman Seal project and began preparing crafting Reignition Talismans as soon as Ren Huan delivered the talisman papers.

Strictly speaking, four sheets of rank seven talisman papers wouldn't be enough.

Shang Xia made some simple calculations. First, he needed one Reignition Talisman to verify his prior theories. Second, he needed at least another to attempt his breakthrough into the fifth star. Finally, he needed one more to be nurtured in the World Origin Source to become a Talisman Seed.

As such, he needed three completed talismans to achieve his goals.

With only four sheets of rank seven talisman paper, crafting three Reignition Talismans seemed unlikely.

"I can only hope the Star Devouring Silk's natural compatibility with my Big Dipper Star Origin will improve the success rate. If so, the result should surpass the previous one." He mumbled to himself.

Dipping his Holy Artifact-level brush into the specially prepared ink made with his blood, he started to focus as his brush landed on the sheet of rank seven talisman paper.

Having attempted the talisman three times before and succeeded once, it was noticeably easier.

Throughout the process, Shang Xia could clearly feel the harmony between his Big Dipper Star Origin, the talisman paper, and the talisman ink. The smooth synergy allowed his strokes to flow with greater control and confidence.

Yet even with his advantages, when he had completed about 70 to 80 percent of the runes required, a small slip caused a resonance that triggered a chain collapse. In a flash, the talisman paper disintegrated into stardust.

Fortunately, Shang Xia reacted swiftly, containing the destruction. Unlike past failures, it didn't cause a heavenly phenomenon across the institution.

Rather than discouraging him, the failure filled Shang Xia with confidence he never felt before.

After a short rest, he immediately began his second attempt at the Reignition Talisman. This time... He completed it in a single continuous flow.