Chapter 93: Fortune Telling

The fortune-teller, a cultivator of roughly Lu Yang’s age, caught the youth’s gaze and offered an explanation tinged with a faint note of complaint. “There is no choice. People nowadays have lost all faith in the art of divination. They go about shouting that their destinies are theirs to command, not the heavens’. It is no easy feat to earn a meager living.”

“Some prefer to use the Eight Trigrams to read fortunes, so I prepared an Eight Trigrams compass.”

“Some wish to gauge their luck in gambling, so I prepared dice.”

“Some believe that analyzing characters yields the most accurate results, so I prepared the four treasures of the study.”

“Some feel that tossing copper coins works best, so I prepared nine large coins.”

“And then there is this crystal ball. This is a trend that has lately emerged from the East Sea. People enjoy having their fortunes read through crystal balls, so I even made a trip to the East Sea to learn a trick or two.”

“Furthermore, while this crystal ball can tell fortunes on the surface, it can covertly play brief recordings underneath. One tool earns two streams of income.”

“So, how about it? Would you like to choose a method and have a reading? If it proves inaccurate, no fee is required,” the fortune-teller enthusiastically promoted his services.

Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou eyed the fortune-teller suspiciously, their guards raised. Lu Yang could not shake the feeling that this man was far from simple, acting as though he had discerned something deep within them.

Man Gu, encountering a fortune-teller for the very first time, found the entire affair rather amusing. “Could you read mine?”

A faint smile curled at the corner of the fortune-teller’s mouth. “Of course. May I ask which method the guest would prefer, and what it is you wish to divine?”

After a moment of thought, Man Gu, considering himself a Confucian cultivator, spoke up. “Character analysis, then. I shall write a character, and you can divine whether I am capable of becoming a Great Confucian scholar.”

“Please.” The fortune-teller practicedly arranged the four treasures of the study, inviting Man Gu to set down his brush.

Man Gu’s brush flew across the paper, swiftly inscribing a single character.

The fortune-teller tapped the table and let out a long, sharp intake of breath. “This character of yours...”

“Is there a problem?” Man Gu asked hurriedly.

“Your handwriting is terribly hideous. What character is this supposed to be?”

“Ru.”

“...” The fortune-teller composed his feelings and began to analyze. “Ru means suppleness, a term once used for magicians. It is composed of the radical for ‘person’ and the phonetic component ‘xu’.”

“Your physique is robust, appearing utterly indestructible, yet in truth, you possess a soft heart. You lack a firm mind of your own, believing whatever you hear and resembling whatever you study.”

“Look further at the component ‘xu’, with ‘rain’ above and ‘yet’ below.”

“As the saying goes, when clouds rise into the sky, they await the proper time to shed rain. This signifies that in the future, you will be needed by the world.”

“And this radical for ‘person’ stands firmly at the side. It implies that not only will you become a Great Confucian scholar, but you will also become a Great Confucian scholar of an entirely new form.”

Upon hearing that he would become a Great Confucian scholar, joy bloomed across Man Gu’s face.

His proficiency in Confucian studies ranked dead last under the Fourth Elder. Although the Fourth Elder did not mind, advocating that education should be provided to all without discrimination and claiming he was merely unawakened—and that once he attained enlightenment, he would instantly enter the Confucian Dao with boundless prospects.

Yet Man Gu had always lacked self-confidence. Now, with the fortune-teller’s analysis declaring he would become a Great Confucian scholar, his confidence was instantly restored.

He truly possessed great potential after all!

“Ah, right, there is one more thing.”

“What is it?”

“Practice your handwriting more when you return.”

“Oh.”

“Do you require a copybook? I happen to have one right here. Why not take it? This is a necessary expense on your journey to becoming a Great Confucian scholar.”

Finding the man’s words reasonable, Man Gu purchased the book.

Seeing Man Gu finish his reading, Lan Ting found it immensely entertaining and wished to try it herself. Sitting down, she inquired, “I wish to know whether my future achievements will be higher in formations or in talismans? Let us use the crystal ball to divine it.”

She had been studying formations recently and found her interest in them seemed to surpass her interest in talismans.

Lan Ting was currently debating whether she should alter her field of specialization.

The fortune-teller raised the crystal ball, aligning it with Lan Ting. He rubbed his hands over it repeatedly, chanting under his breath, “Heavenly spirits, earthly spirits, crystal ball, manifest your power quickly! Heavenly spirits, earthly spirits, crystal ball, manifest your power quickly!”

Upon seeing the result displayed within the crystal ball, the fortune-teller was utterly dumbfounded. “Uh, in the future, you will write formations upon talismans, merging formations and talismans into one?”

The fortune-teller cast a bizarre look at Lan Ting. What sort of eccentric thinking was this? This female cultivator possessed a beauty unmatched in the world, so why did her train of thought differ so drastically from ordinary people?

Lan Ting tilted her head in thought, feeling that what the fortune-teller described was not entirely impossible, and promptly paid the fee.

Now it was Meng Jingzhou’s turn. He raised an eyebrow. “You wouldn’t happen to be a disciple of the Heavenly Secret Sect, would you?”

The Heavenly Secret Sect was the preeminent divination sect in the Central Continent, having once deduced the exact time the ancient grand era would reappear.

The Heavenly Secret Sect placed the utmost importance on karma, and ordinary methods of concealing one’s identity were utterly useless before them.

A disciple of the Heavenly Secret Sect needed only a single glance to discern an individual’s background and origins.

Perhaps this fortune-teller had already realized the four of them hailed from the Dao Seeking Sect and the Laurel Fairy Palace.

“Haha, junior brother, you have surely mistaken me. I am but a wild crane among leisurely clouds, a mere idle person. How could I possibly be a disciple of the Heavenly Secret Sect?”

Meng Jingzhou fell silent for a moment before drawing a scroll of a blood covenant from his identity jade pendant. “Three hundred years ago, the Grand Elder of the Heavenly Secret Sect borrowed an immense sum of top-grade spirit stones from our Meng family. Later, unable to repay it, he hid himself away in his grotto, claiming to the outside world that he had entered death-seclusion.”

“Our Meng family went straight to your Heavenly Secret Sect to demand the debt. Your Sect Master established a blood covenant, swearing it would be repaid, and decreed that any direct descendant of the Meng family who encounters a disciple of the Heavenly Secret Sect may use this covenant to demand repayment from them.”

“Would you care to test the might of this blood covenant?”

Lu Yang had heard rumors that the Meng family was the creditor to the entire world; it appeared those words were indeed true.

With a loud thud, the fortune-teller fell straight to his knees, clutching Meng Jingzhou’s leg while weeping bitter tears. “Big brother Meng, leave a line of mercy so we may face each other amicably in the future!”

“Our Heavenly Secret Sect is so impoverished we cannot even afford to support our disciples, forcing us down the mountain to fend for ourselves. If I, Luo Bu, possessed any wealth, I would hardly have fallen so low as to resort to cheating and swindling here!”

“Setting up a stall here even requires a fee, and I cannot even afford that stall fee!”

The fortune-teller, Luo Bu, cried poverty. “Look at this jacket of mine. It has been patched and mended for several years, and I have no money to replace it!”

Meng Jingzhou rolled his eyes. This jacket had clearly undergone sacrificial refinement and was of considerable value.

“I did not expect you to repay the money. Stand up first.” Meng Jingzhou forcefully wrenched his leg free. “Read the fortunes of the two of us for free, and I shall forgo causing you trouble. Remember, no lying!”

“Hahaha, that is no difficult task.”

“Come, come, come. Divine my fate, and see what my future achievements will be.” Lu Yang extended his hand, permitting the Heavenly Secret Sect disciple, Luo Bu, to read his palm.

Luo Bu let out a hearty laugh, possessing his usual confidence within his own field of expertise. “A common question indeed. Well then, let me take a look.”

Unexpectedly, Luo Bu’s eyes widened in sheer shock. He sprang to his feet, a look of absolute disbelief upon his face, and stumbled backward several steps until his back hit the base of the wall.

“You, you, what is the meaning of this fate of yours? It is completely shrouded in mist, and in the future, you will entangle karma with several immortals!”

Luo Bu discovered that even while plagued by the karma of immortals, Lu Yang could still move about freely, entirely unaffected.

Yet that was not the most terrifying part.

The truly terrifying part was that Luo Bu also discovered Lu Yang would become a massive scourge upon the cultivation world in the future, spreading the distinct atmosphere of the Dao Seeking Sect across the entirety of the cultivation world!

The atmosphere of the Dao Seeking Sect was already absurd enough. If the entire cultivation world were to be assimilated by it, how could anyone survive!

He must absolutely avoid any karmic entanglement with such a person!

Luo Bu secretly lamented his bitter luck. Seeing that the four of them hailed from the five great immortal sects, he had taken them for four fat sheep to swindle for some quick coin. He had never imagined that among them was an existence like Lu Yang, whom one must absolutely never cross paths with!

No, looking closely at the palm lines, it was not Lu Yang alone who would spread that foul atmosphere throughout the cultivation world; there was another individual cooperating with him.

That other individual was...

Luo Bu turned his gaze toward the grand creditor, Meng Jingzhou.

"Run, hurry!"

Without a single word, Luobu cast his escaping spell, abandoning the table entirely as he took to his heels. "I—I—I never saw you today!"

If he lingered for even a couple more glances, he feared his very life would be cut short right here.

Before the four could even react, Luobu had already vanished into thin air.

Lu Yang blamed Meng Jingzhou, "It must have been you demanding the debt that scared him away."

(End of Chapter)