Lin Xuan clapped his hands and pointed to either side of the courtyard.
"Don't just stand there. Everyone, wait by the wooden tubs while I divide up this whale rubber."
Tang San and the other boys obediently went around the courtyard wall to the open space on the left.
Xiao Wu smiled at Lin Xuan, then took Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong by the hands and led Dugu Yan and the others to the right.
Lin Xuan picked up a Fine Steel Short Blade from the stone table. With a slight movement of his palm, a Blazing Fire Talisman appeared out of thin air.
Crimson flames leaped from within the Talisman Paper, enveloping the enormous lump of whale rubber.
The originally hard whale rubber quickly softened under the blazing flames, releasing a rich fragrance.
Lin Xuan wielded the blade with flying speed, flicking his wrist repeatedly as he precisely sliced the half-melted mass into eleven equal portions.
The batch of whale rubber Ye Mengyao had sent was nearly twenty thousand years old and plentiful. Its cut surfaces glistened with oil, and there was enough for everyone's first body tempering.
Lin Xuan touched his Soul Tool Ring with a fingertip, and eleven pale yellow Clear Mind Talismans appeared in a neat row on the stone table.
He raised his hand and slapped one into the center of his brow, instantly clearing his mind.
Then he gathered six portions of whale rubber and six Clear Mind Talismans, hurried around the courtyard wall, and held them out to Ye Mengyao.
"Aunt Ye, sorry for the trouble, but could you give these to Rongrong and the others?"
Ye Mengyao accepted the tray. As her fingertips brushed the faintly glowing yellow paper, confusion surfaced in her eyes.
"Lin Xuan, what is this paper?"
"Try it,