Chapter 678: Kou Chongxue’s Visit
“What a joke! How the fuck can they consider that a way to break the battle formation?! Do you think other people will deploy their battle formation and remain motionless for other people to harass them till they’re exhausted? Who would show off their battle formation to their opponents before the battle for others to think of a way to break it?”
“We can either use the battle formation when we’re facing stronger opponents or catch them by surprise in the middle of a huge battle. This isn’t a battle formation that is reliant on the surrounding terrain… We can also move it however we wish. If not for the fact that the contest is held on the platform, everyone would have scattered and run the moment the battle formation took shape. Do you think anyone will be stupid enough to rush straight into it?”
“...”
When the competition drew to a close, the excitement it brought about eventually dissipated.
The most talked about topic after the end of the competition wasn’t the champions, the elite team from the Contribution Division. If they weren’t the most interesting topic, the second placed Outreach Division definitely wouldn’t be. Instead, it was the team from the Fifth Class that was placed fourth!
To be more exact, they should be more interested in the Extremity Yin Yang Formation used by the Fifth Class of the Inner Division!
Even though there was a lot of controversy behind the Extremity Yin Yang Formation, there was no doubt that after the competition, it had already established a strong foothold in the institution.
Not too long after the end of the competition, be it the Inner, Upper, or the various Auxiliary Divisions, experts from all of them gathered in the Fifth Class of the Inner Division to request their teachings.
Naturally, Shang Xia wouldn’t reject them all. During his free time when he wasn’t trying to craft talismans seals, he resumed his duties in the Inner Division. He didn’t go about promoting his lessons and he merely continued his duties as arranged by the institution.
He would usually hold a class every 3 days or so and Liu Qinglan tried assigning him other tasks in the meantime. However, he used the excuse that he was at a critical phase of crafting his rank three talisman seals to reject them all.
Liu Qinglan knew the meaning behind those talisman seals and didn’t push him further. She allowed him, a Talisman Grandmaster and a top-tier expert at the grand completion stage of the Martial Extermination Realm to teach a single class in the Inner Division.
In actuality, Shang Xia didn’t even use a lot of time for his lesson.
After all, an unexpected monster came knocking. Shang Xia didn’t think that Kou Chongxue would make a personal appearance to look for him one day.
Watching the patriarch play with a half-complete rank three talisman seal, Shang Xia got over his initial shock and chuckled, “Patriarch Kou, you seem very free… How did you find time to come all the way to my place to bother me?”
Kou Chongxue glanced at him from the corner of his eye and sneered, “Your place? Are you dumb? This old man here built the Tongyou Institution from the ground up. Everything here belongs to me! Where the hell can’t I go?”
It wasn’t Shang Xia’s first time interacting with Kou Chongxue, and he was pretty familiar with the patriarch’s temperament. He knew that the patriarch loathed it when others acted with deference and too respectfully with him. Shang Xia chuckled in response, “Patriarch, you seem a lot more relaxed now that my grandpa has entered the Martial Dipper Realm.”
“Relaxed?” Kou Chongxue mocked. However, he quickly shook his head and changed the topic. “You’ll understand after you enter the Martial Dipper Realm.”
“Patriarch Kou, is there something you need from me?” Shang Xia asked.
Tossing the half-complete rank three talisman seal to Shang Xia, Kou Chongxue continued, “There have been people investigating the origin of the rank one and two talisman seals in the Three Unity Island. Go talk to everyone who was on the island that day and tell them not to say anything.”
Shang Xia chuckled in response, “There’s no need to worry about that. Instructor Liu already briefed everyone back on the island. None of us will leak anything related to it.”
Kou Chongxue nodded slowly before pointing at the talisman seal Shang Xia was working on. “How is it going? Doesn’t seem to be going too well…”
Shang Xia forced a smile and responded with a nod of his own. “I didn’t think too much into it previously… It’s completely different from rank one and two talisman seals.”
“I have no knowledge regarding talismans, but this rock you’re using seems pretty unusual. Did it come from the Abyssal Secret Region?” Kou Chongxue raised an eyebrow curiously.
Shang Xia nodded in response and was slightly taken aback by his reaction. “Patraich Kou, have you not seen anything like it before?”
“There are countless treasures in the worlds… How could I have seen them all?” Kou Chongxue chuckled out loud.
“Patriarch Kou, will you be able to keep a lookout for something like this in the future? I called it the Impaled Stone because of the way I found it, and it seems to possess the ability to nourish the soul. Hmm… Soul…” A thought flashed through Shang Xia’s mind when he spoke about it and he seemed to think of something.
Kou Chongxue didn’t say anything after noticing Shang Xia’s reaction. He simply grabbed a few rank one and two talisman seals from the pile on the table and started stamping them on talisman papers to entertain himself.
Shang Xia eventually snapped back to reality.
Staring at the bunch of rank two talismans he created with the seals, Kou Chongxue coughed twice before addressing Shang Xia. “Did you think of a way?”
“I thought of something, but I can only determine its feasibility after doing some tests.” Shang Xia smiled.
Kou Chongxue turned a little more serious. “Oh right, you caused no small ruckus by coming up with that battle formation in the Inner Division. Anyway, you better break through to the Martial Dipper Realm soon.”
Shang Xia knew that Kou Chongxue wouldn’t tell him something like that for fun and he wondered out loud, “Patriarch Kou, do you think I will be in danger?”
Ignoring him altogether, Kou Chongxue shot another question his way. “How long till you can break through anyway?”
A helpless smile appeared on Shang Xia’s face. “I’m still lacking a water attributed spiritual treasure and a fate dipper essence related to the water element… However, those aren’t things I can obtain just because I want to. Even if another trade fair is held, I might not be able to gather them…”
A rare expression of contemplation appeared on Kou Chongxue’s face and Shang Xia naturally didn’t bother the patriarch.
After some time, he sighed. “I came here to look for your help on some matter. Now that I think about it again, I might need you to take part in it too…”
“May I ask what the matter is about?” Shang Xia turned serious after hearing the patriarch speak.
“How confident are you to craft a rank five talisman?”
Shang Xia was greatly taken aback by the sudden question. “This… Disciple hasn’t tried crafting rank five talismans!”
“I know that you have a rank five talisman inheritance on you. Isn’t it called the Abyssal Emptiness Talisman? I refuse to believe you didn’t try playing around with it in your free time.” Kou Chongxue muttered.
Shang Xia extended his hands out with his palms facing the sky and muttered, “Simulating it in my mind and actually crafting it are 2 different concepts. Moreover, I am limited by my cultivation at the moment and the probability of me crafting one at my current level is close to 0.”
“What if I help you with all my might?” Kou Chongxue growled.
“Patriarch, do you mean…” Shang Xia was shocked by the sudden suggestion.
A sharp gaze landed on Shang Xia and Kou Chongxue sighed, “Kid, do you remember the time a few years ago when I was severely injured?”
“Of course I do. You brought my grandpa to look for some sort of treasure and was surrounded by a group of experts and was injured as a result. That led to several crises that nearly destroyed the institution…” Shang Xia replied.
Nodding slowly, Kou Chongxue continued, “I plan on heading there again. However, it’s going to be different this time. Instead of opening the celestial remains normally, I plan on barging my way in!”
He paused slightly before he resumed talking, “I was planning to go alone, but I’m afraid I might have to bring you along this time.”
Shang Xia thought for a moment and responded, “Patriarch Kou, do you mean that you will need the Abyssal Emptiness Talisman to force your way into the celestial remains?”
“Nonsense. I wouldn’t need to force my way into it if I had the Abyssal Emptiness Talisman. I might be 70 percent sure I will be able to break through the barrier with my abilities, but that will cause too much of a ruckus. The others will definitely be able to detect it and might even gather around the exit to attack me when I emerge. If you are able to craft the rank five Abyssal Emptiness Talisman, it will be much easier for us to enter silently. I should be able to bring you along with me like how I brought your grandfather back then.” Kou Chongxue explained.
“Is the Celestial Remains really special?” Shang Xia asked.
“If I’m not mistaken, it should be the remains of a destroyed Elysium.” Kou Chognxue muttered.
“Elysium?!” Shang Xia gasped, “Could there be another power other than the Eternal Sect, Divine Capital Sect, and Northern Sea Mystic Sect that possess their own Elysium? Why haven’t I heard of it before?”
“Could it have existed before the Divine Martial Calendar?” Shang Xia seemed to have thought of something.
Kou Chongxue was shocked by Shang Xia’s sudden outburst but he quickly chuckled, “Looks like you’re pretty sharp. You actually thought about the time before the Divine Martial Calendar.”
“... However…” Kou Chongxue’s tone changed all of a sudden, “Did anyone say that the Elysium had to belong to our Azure Origin World or the Azure Spiritual World?”
Ignoring the look of astonishment on Shang Xia’s face, he continued, “When I brought your grandfather into the Celestial Remains back then, he managed to refine his extermination origins. The Grand Silk Silver Sand Fate Dipper he used to step into the Martial Dipper Realm also originated from the Celestial Remains.”
“You might obtain the treasures and fate dipper essence you require in there…” Kou Chongxue concluded.
Shang Xia couldn’t help but ask, “Patriarch, wouldn’t the Celestial Remains be explored by a bunch of others a long time ago, If it’s really the remains of an Elysium, both worlds would have sent their experts in the Sixth Order of the Primary Realm over, no?”
Kou Chongxue snorted coldly in response, “Right. Firstly, who on earth told you that there has to be an existence at the Sixth Order of the Primary Realm for them to possess the power of one? Secondly, even if those factions had those old monsters who refuse to die in the Sixth Order of the Primary Realm, do you really think they can step out from their respective Elysiums?”
A half-snort half-sigh escaped Kou Chongxue’s lips the next moment. “There’s no need to mention those in the Sixth Order of the Primary Realm. Even their Martial Dipper Realm experts might not be able to leave the boundary of their respective continents…”
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