Chapter 662: Talisman Inhertiance
As the best Talisman Grandmaster in the Talisman Hall, Shang Xia knew he couldn’t take all the credit to reach his current level. It was true that he relied on himself and his talent, but he never would have received enough resources without their full support.
Ever since he became a Talisman Grandmaster, he hadn’t settled down to focus on passing down some skills to the members of the Talisman Hall. He had been extremely busy running all over the place to deal with matters or crafting high-leveled talismans alone.
The only time he actually shared his knowledge was during the exhibition he held some time ago, and if one looked at it from an objective perspective, he was truly undeserving of the title of the best Talisman Grandmaster in the Talisman Hall.
Now that Fan Yuanhui and Lou Zizhang came knocking, Shang Xia decided that he had to fulfill his duties. As such, he agreed immediately.
The news of Shang Xia holding a public talisman crafting session quickly spread through the institution. It didn’t take long for it to also reach the rest of the city.
Many people used all their connections in order to enter the Talisman Hall on the day of the session so that they could watch it for themselves, but it seemed as though things were no longer like before. The Talisman Hall’s stance was firm that the matter of the public talisman crafting session was an internal event. As it involved the secrets of talisman crafting, they strictly forbade anyone not from the institution from taking part. Even members of the Tongyou Institution wouldn’t be allowed to enter the venue if they weren’t members of the Talisman Hall.
The effects rippled and caused a huge wave to rip through the institution. Even the various instructors and deacons were alerted to the situation. Eventually, a Martial Dipper Realm Ancestor, Deputy Patriarch Ji Wenlong, had to personally step out to state that no one would be able to interfere with the matters of the Talisman Hall because of the matter before everything started to calm down.
When the world out there was pretty much on fire, Shang Xia was carefully analyzing the method to craft rank four talisman formations.
That was right. One of the examples he would be using during the demonstration would be the creation of a rank four Formation Talisman!
With his current achievements in the way of talisman crafting, he was quite sure he would be able to craft an elementary talisman like the rank four Formation Talisman.
Of course, he couldn’t be completely sure. At the end of the day, he would be crafting it for the first time. He would have to craft it in front of so many people, and he wouldn’t dare to say for sure he could succeed.
There were also several other concerns behind his decision to craft the rank four Formation Talisman. The true meaning of the session was to raise the standard of the Talisman Masters present.
From the current situation in the Tongyou Institution, they had several rank four Talisman Masters. The others were merely rank two Talisman Masters or rank one disciples who just started their journey in talisman crafting.
Due to their limited abilities, they wouldn’t be able to learn much if Shang Xia started crafting high-level talismans on his own as they would fail to see through the intricacies.
As such, he didn’t plan to craft the other rank four talismans he knew. After a rank four Formation Talisman, he would craft talismans of other ranks. While demonstrating the process of crafting rank one, two, and three talismans, he would also include their respective Formation Talismans as the foundation of whatever he was teaching.
The reason was to show off the true fundamentals of talisman crafting.
Also, he was fine teaching them the fundamentals. He wasn’t worried that anyone would be able to steal his unique talisman crafting techniques from his short display as without pointers from him, no one would be able to understand his thought process. Demonstrating the techniques was one thing, but he would never share the true way he went about crafting talismans. Even if anyone else tried to mimic his actions, they wouldn’t come into contact with the essence of it.
That was the reason he was fine with holding a public talisman crafting session.
Of course, with his current skills and accomplishments as a Talisman Grandmaster, even if the others could mimic a small portion of his abilities, they would already improve by a lot.
…
As Talisman Masters required a peaceful environment when it came to crafting talismans, the Talisman Hall was filled with an aura of tranquility.
However, things were slightly different as the peace was broken with a massive congregation of Talisman Masters in the area.
Every single one of them, including disciples and craftsmen who made talisman paper, taliman ink, and any other talisman related items, were gathered in the main hall.
They filled every inch of space with the exception of an area in the middle.
Whispers filled the air, but despite them trying to keep their volumes down, they couldn’t hide the excitement on their faces. From time to time, they would peek at the central area.
The only thing there was a sturdy wooden table. Talisman paper, talisman ink, and everything else he would need had already been prepared. There was also an incense burner filled with spirit stabilizing incense.
Talisman Master Gong, who hadn’t been crafting talismans in recent years had already arrived. He was their Hall Master, and he was flanked by Fan Yuanhui and Lou Zizhang, the other rank three Talisman Masters.
Other than them, there were 3 other rank three Talisman Masters. One of them was a member of the institution, but he wasn’t a part of the Talisman Hall. The other came from the Ji Clan and the last was a Talisman Master who was crafting talismans for a living in the Tongyou City.
Even though the session was supposed to be a private event and Shang Xia rejected many people’s requests to be a part of it, he agreed to let the 3 of them attend.
With looks of anticipation all around, Shang Xia walked into the Talisman Hall. The hall that used to be bustling with excitement fell silent in an instant.
As he made his way over to the table, Shang Xia could feel the heated gazes thrown his way.
Arriving at his table, Shang Xia first turned to Talisman Master Gong and the rest of the rank three Talisman Masters and cupped his fists in greeting.
There were only 6 of them in total, but no matter which one of them he referred to, they were definitely older and more experienced than him. In terms of age and their study into the way of talisman crafting, they could be considered his seniors.
Of the 6, other than Talisman Master Gong, the others hastily cupped their hands to return his greeting.
Shang Xia swept his gaze across the rest of the hall before chuckling, “I received a lot of help from the Talisman Hall in recent years. However, I haven’t done much in return. I am really lucky to be able to hold this session today and hope to share some of my knowledge with you. I truly wish that all of us will be able to improve together.”
Shang Xia’s introduction caused everyone to stare at each other in shock as none of them knew how to respond.
Ignoring what they were thinking, Shang Xia immediately grabbed a random brush and rank one talisman paper. A smile appeared on his face as he said, “Now, I’ll start from the most basic of talismans, the rank one Formation Talisman…”
As strange looks appeared on the faces of many Talisman Masters, Shang Xia seemed to casually make his first stroke on the talisman paper before explaining the process of crafting a rank one talisman. What he spoke about was the fundamentals and basics of talisman crafting.
There were countless types of expressions in the crowd when he started his explanation.
There were some who were listening closely, and there were others who were thinking about something else. There were some who were trying to calm down to watch the demonstration, while there were also others who didn’t seem to care about the basics. Of course, there were those who watched in anticipation.
No matter what they felt at the moment, they forced themselves to maintain their calm. After all, Shang Xia was a super expert at the grand completion stage of the Martial Extermination Realm and an amazing Talisman Grandmaster.
Despite their attempts to show their respects, the vibe in the hall quickly started to turn strange.
Clearly, Shang Xia could feel the difference. But did he care? Obviously not. He continued to draw on the rank one talisman paper while speaking about his technique and the fundamentals of talisman crafting.
As a rank one Formation Talisman was easy to craft, it didn’t take long for him to complete the process.
He didn’t pause as he started on the rank two Formation Talisman immediately.
A rank two Formation Talisman was a lot more difficult to craft than a rank one Formation Talisman, but as Shang Xia’s fluid strokes landed on the talisman paper, many Talisman Disciples who were aspiring to become a rank two Talisman Master placed their full attention to his teachings.
Teaching with the same style, Shang Xia drew his runes on the talisman paper while talking about whatever he could think of. He spoke about problems that came with talisman crafting or mistakes one might make and how to prevent them. Everything flowed like water.
That wasn’t all. During the entire process, his brush landed with extreme accuracy. He made the simplest strokes possible and there was no flair to his technique. Everything was as simple and ordinary as possible.
Those who came in order to see an impressive display of talisman crafting could only feel disappointment in their hearts.
From the start, everything Shang Xia spoke about were things they had learned before. Not many found it interesting or new, and Talisman Masters in the crowd even thought that there was nothing impressive about what Shang Xia was doing.
Was it really that easy to become a Talisman Grandmaster?
That was most likely the thought running through a lot of minds at the moment.
There wasn’t any technique he came up with, and neither was he teaching them his insights. Amazing techniques were nowhere to be seen, and all of them were watching the simplest and most basic way of talisman crafting. They felt that everything he was doing was merely a product of practice and they could easily replicate it.
There were even several Talisman Masters who started to shake their heads in disappointment as they felt that attending the session was a waste of their time.
With his powerful divine perception, Shang Xia could naturally detect what was happening. However, he didn’t seem affected in the slightest. He continued his demonstration. At that point, he was only interested in teaching those who were really interested in the art of talisman crafting. There was no need to care about the expectations the others had of him.
As he completed the second talisman, he swapped out his brush for a mid-grade brush. Taking out a piece of rank three paper, he dipped his brush in some ink as he prepared to demonstrate how he would craft a rank three talisman.
The crowd that used to be excited and anticipating his demonstration was no longer as enthusiastic as before. When he started to craft the rank three talisman, many of them thought that he would continue to use the low-grade brush and lower-grade ink to show off his skills. After all, it wouldn’t be difficult for him to do something like that.
Shang Xia seemed to be doing whatever Talisman Masters at that rank would do, which provided the most accurate representation of the current situation.
With the start of the demonstration of a rank three talisman, Shang Xia didn’t change his approach. There were some in the crowd who tuned out what he taught earlier but started to realize what was happening.
Shang Xia was using the most fundamental talisman, the Formation Talisman, of each rank, to explain the basics of talisman crafting! He seemed to be outlining the talisman crafting inheritance the institution could use!
That was right. He seemed to be establishing a complete set of talisman crafting inheritance, and he was showing them off during the public talisman crafting session!
It was something the Tongyou Institution had planned to do for a long time, but never had the ability to accomplish!
In Shang Xia’s hands, the institution’s goal was taking shape.
Those who seemed disinterested during the demonstration earlier started to turn solemn. Lower-leveled Talisman Disciples and craftsmen might still be slightly confused, but those who had been paying attention the entire time would definitely receive the greatest benefit from the demonstration.
On a platform close to the central table, Talisman Master Gong, the true respected authority of the Talisman Hall, was feeling a buzz in his heart that was slowly getting out of control.