Chapter 909: Elder, We Have No Money Left!

Instructor Chao instantly gestured an invitation, ushering Elder Renkui into his seat.

He sneered, "Shopkeeper, if this gentleman's divinations all prove true later on, you won't back out of your word, will you?"

"Certainly not!" Gu Tingyun spoke up. "This Cosmic Cipher Divination Machine is arranged, operated, and transformed strictly according to the cycles of the cosmic cipher. If you can accurately predict even one or two outcomes to recoup the money spent on immortal coins, what harm is there in considering it a free trial?"

Elder Renkui laughed. "You shopkeeper, relying on having learned a bit of the divinatory arts, yet you fail to realize... there are always skies beyond skies, and people beyond people. Instructor Chao, buy me five hundred immortal crystals' worth of coins."

"Right away." Instructor Chao hurriedly went to purchase the coins.

And at this moment, Elder Renkui waved his hand. "By my estimate, I need only divine correctly three to five times, and this shop of yours will be mine."

Taking the box of immortal coins handed over by Instructor Chao, Elder Renkui was seen pinching the coins one by one and stuffing them into the slot: "One coin... two coins... three coins..."

"Mm!" After quite a while, Elder Renkui finally nodded, looked at the coin count displayed on the screen, and said to Gu Tingyun beside him, "Watch closely now!"

Elder Renkui was seen drawing from his storage artifact a strange, vessel-like device that resembled a clay urn but possessed numerous apertures. Then, into that clay urn, he threw eight small bronze swords of varying shapes.

Subsequently, his fingers formed incantation gestures, and his mouth mumbled incantations.

As his incantation gestures shifted, a patch of celestial spiritual light lit up in succession within each hollow aperture upon that venerable artifact, looking just like a scattering of stars, which was truly startling.

Immediately following, with a sharp swoosh, stream after stream of sword shadows flew out from those apertures, bringing along streaks of seven-colored spiritual light. The eight small swords also hovered in the air along with it, amidst the rising and steaming dense mists, seemingly transforming into a grand panorama of rivers, mountains, and swords.

At this moment, let alone the people nearby, even the crowd that was currently watching the dancing machine over there was drawn by this dazzling, seven-colored light.

"Hiss...! I never expected that I, this instructor, would actually have such an opportunity to witness the Elder personally manifest the Divine Celestial Deduction Art!" Instructor Chao exclaimed in shock. "This is an ancient, long-lost divine art used to divine the movements of heavenly secrets!"

"What!?" A divine art like this was something almost none among the surrounding crowd had ever heard of, but judging from this spiritual light and the purity of this celestial spiritual qi, the cultivation of the person manifesting this art was absolutely as lofty as a mountain to be looked up to.

Just then, someone cried out in surprise, "Could this be the divinatory method created by Tianjizi, the legendary immortal of the ancient era?"

"To think there is still someone who recognizes it," Elder Renkui said with satisfaction. "However, I have merely learned the superficial skin and hair of it."

"In the legends, it is said that learning even a modicum of its surface allows one to glimpse three-tenths of the heavenly secrets..." That person added hurriedly, "Old gentleman, you are truly far too modest."

And at this moment, Elder Renkui spoke no further, but instead gently stroked his long beard, meticulously calculating the hexagram signs within his mind. After a long while, he finally spoke, "Judging from the results of the divination... the Great One engenders golden dew, the east brings great fortune, gold... a bell... that's right!"

Elder Renkui was seen with eyes gleaming with sharp, golden light as he slapped his palm heavily onto that bell: "Bell! Five hundred!"

The next instant, accompanied by a burst of peculiar bell chiming, a patch of white spiritual light lit up within the screen, circulating in all directions inside the screen like fireflies. The fruits within the screen also flashed with various colors of light along with it, as celestial mist rose, appearing truly like immortal fruits. The flashing light on the screen reflected upon Elder Renkui's face, painting it in a haze of celestial clouds.

The surrounding crowd also broke into a flurry of discussion:

"I wonder what sort of artifact this is, to be so miraculous."

"To think it can actually run divinatory arts, though I wonder whose divinatory art is more powerful."

"Mine, of course!" Elder Renkui slapped the table, a face full of absolute confidence.

That streak of spiritual light was seen spinning round after round within the screen. Every time it spun to the bell, Elder Renkui, thinking it was about to stop, was just preparing to stand up and announce the result to everyone when he saw that streak of spiritual light immediately spin past it again.

After tossing and turning several times...

"Ai-ya! Stop! Stop for me!" Elder Renkui instantly ground his teeth in vexation. "Why hasn't it stopped yet?!"

"Old gentleman, do not panic," Gu Tingyun spoke up hastily at this time. "This cosmic cycle must run for several rounds before it will come to a halt."

"Tsk!" Elder Renkui's expression instantly grew impatient. "What panic?! Could it be you think my divination could be wrong? Mere stalling!"

A face full of disdain.

Just at this moment...

"It's slowing down!"

"It's about to stop! It's about to stop!"

At this time, let alone Elder Renkui and Instructor Chao, even all the onlookers watching from behind followed suit, staring intently at the screen, staring fixedly at that circulating spiritual light within the screen.

"It's stopped! It's stopping!" That streak of spiritual light was seen growing slower and slower, until finally it was three squares away from the bell Elder Renkui had chosen.

Two squares!

One square!

"It's a hit!" Instructor Chao shouted loudly on the spot. "The Elder's Divine Celestial Deduction Art has indeed reached the pinnacle of perfection."

He extended a thumb to the chuckling Elder Renkui and said, "It is practically as if Tianjizi's demeanor of yesteryear has reappeared..."

Before his words were finished, suddenly that streak of spiritual light within the screen was seen not to have stopped, but moved forward one more step.

"Ding-dong!"

It stopped!

"!!??"

Everyone present stared with piercing eyes at the two of them, only to see that the two of them also looked at the others with faces full of bewilderment, and then looked at the screen.

Elder Renkui almost leaped up from his seat. "This... what is going on here?!"

"Could it be... the hexagram sign was erroneous?!"

"This...???"

Just then, that person in the crowd spoke up, "Old gentleman, though these future events have traces to follow, they are also fickle and unpredictable. This divination just now can be said to have been extremely close, which proves that this Divine Celestial Deduction Art is already a miraculous skill. I think as long as you divine another hexagram and calculate it meticulously, it will surely succeed."

Just then, Gu Tingyun also said, "If you are not certain enough in your divination, you can also choose two to three options. More choices mean more hits."

"What 'more choices mean more hits'!?" Elder Renkui glared at him angrily and said, "Do you have so little faith in my divinatory arts?!"

Very soon, he divined another hexagram. This time, he was clearly much more meticulous and much more patient.

Throughout the entire arcade hall, soon only a burst of sounds could be heard...

"Watermelon! Watermelon! Watermelon!"

"Lemon! Lemon! Lemon!"

"Ah—! Ya!"

"What a pity, to miss by just a tiny bit! Again!"

"Apple this time! Stop, stop! Stop!"

"Hahahahaha! It hit! Do you see that! I hit it! Won five hundred coins! Wait until I hit it a few more times, and this shop of yours will be gone!"

"Papaya! Papaya!"

"Ai! Just a bit off again! Again!"

"Hahaha! Hit it again!"

After a whole night had passed...

"Instructor Chao." Elder Renkui gently stroked his long beard. "How many times have I hit today?"

"Ten times plus three, thirteen times in total."

"Five hundred coins at the least per time, over a thousand at most. Now, are we able to buy out this entire shop?" Elder Renkui sat before the Cosmic Divination Machine, flicked his Daoist robe, and said placidly.

"Elder... we are already... out of money!"

"Ah—!!??"

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