Proof, Once More

Jingxing twirled the Cloud-Washing Ink-Tracer between his fingers. "So, we're currently in a state of truce?"

"You can interpret it that way." But as long as Polka Kakamond finds a way to understand the "abnormality" in Jingxing, she will definitely take action to send Jingxing away from this moment.

After saying that, she jumped off the windowsill, her candy-colored clothes flashing in the lamplight before disappearing.

Jingxing watched Polka Kakamond leave, then lowered his head and resumed painting. However, just moments before he had been painting meticulous flower-and-bird paintings, but now he had switched to bold and unrestrained splashed-ink landscapes.

"I still haven't gathered enough intelligence." Jingxing put down his pen, went to Fu Xuan's room, and knocked.

The door opened quickly, as if she had been waiting for Jingxing's visit for a long time. The room was lit, and a piece of paper covered with writing was spread out on the table, densely packed yet clearly organized.

Jingxing glanced at it and found that it was a war record about the Third War of the Denizens of Abundance.

"Are you reviewing the performance?" he asked.

"Hmm." Fu Xuan flipped the paper over and placed it on a paperweight. "To change history, it's impossible to do it all at once. We have to start from small things and gradually influence the overall situation."

"It seems you're serious."

"Of course," Fu Xuan, his previous hesitation gone, his tone becoming resolute, "Jingxing, I don't know what Polka Kakamond and you talked about, but you don't have to help us. You can just stay here and treat it as a vacation. And please don't stop our attempt."

"In fact, Miss Polka Kakamond didn't intend to stop you," Jingxing shrugged. "It seems she felt you couldn't affect Nous's calculations."

"Is that so?" Fu Xuan breathed a sigh of relief. "We had no intention of affecting the Omniscient Heavenly Lord; we simply wanted to try and make amends for our regrets."

Jingxing looked at the paper that was being pressed down and asked, "Miss Fu Xuan, if you may, could you tell me about your regrets?"

He absolutely did not believe that the death of their master alone would make these two risk offending the Nous.

Fu Xuan pulled out a chair and gestured for Jingxing to sit down. "If we're going to talk about this, we'll have to start from my childhood."

She tapped the table twice lightly, as if organizing her thoughts.

"As you know, this is my hometown." Fu Xuan said softly as he recalled, "The Fu Clan has been astrologers for generations. In my generation, the divination results showed that I would become the Diviner. After the Family reported this result, I was able to become a disciple of the current Yuque at the Diviner Palace."

"The elders of the Family have always revered Master as a god, and I have constantly imagined what kind of otherworldly figure he would be." Fu Xuan said, his lips twitching as if he wanted to laugh, but he didn't. "But the first time I met Master under the Cloud-Gazing Mirror, he was wearing a worn-out flight suit, sitting cross-legged on the ground with an unremarkable demeanor. He looked completely ordinary."

She paused for a moment.

"I still remember the question my master asked me that day." Fu Xuan lowered his gaze to the battle record, "'When the divination is complete, and only two different outcomes remain—inauspicious or extremely inauspicious—what would you choose?'"

"Between the two evils, choose the lesser one," Jingxing blurted out.

"But what if, from a human perspective, we cannot weigh the importance of things?" Fu Xuan and Jingxing exchanged glances.

Miss Diviner stared at him and pressed, "What if a choice deemed inauspicious leads only to failure, but a choice deemed extremely inauspicious offers a glimmer of hope?"

"If it concerns me personally, I would choose the latter to gamble on a chance of survival," Jingxing thought for a moment and replied. "If it concerns millions of people, I might choose the former. After all, the cost of gambling for a chance of survival in this situation is too high."

"So the general at the time also chose the former," Fu Xuan said with a smirk. "I asked my master at the time, 'Nothing in this world is certain, how could the Diviner be so sure, as if everything was bound to happen?'"

"Even though I was already familiar with the art of divination at the time, I never believed that the results of divination were unchangeable."

"But I still Remembrance my master's answer vividly—'Sometimes, there is only one path in life from beginning to end. Everything is predestined.'"

Jingxing was taken aback. He thought of the calculations of the Nous. The Jade Abacus technology of the Xianzhou was, in a sense, in perfect harmony with His actions.

Could the so-called "predestination" possibly be the future trajectory calculated by the Nous?

However, Jingxing suppressed this thought in his heart and remained silent, simply continuing to listen to Fu Xuan's narration.

"I must admit, studying here has been the happiest time of my life so far. I would argue with my master about fate versus free will, about Formation calculations versus human choice... Although we could reach a consensus most of the time, there was one thing we could never convince each other of." Fu Xuan's voice trailed off, "When people believe that Formation predicts will inevitably come true, doesn't choice become a mere formality? There's no need to think anymore; they just need to keep divining and then act according to the results—what's the difference between them and puppets on strings?"

"I will not accept this development." Fu Xuan clenched his fist.

Jingxing noticed that Fu Xuan had changed his self-reference at this moment.

"Indeed, if everything is done according to divination, what about people's free will?" he echoed.

"Yes, but my master always disagreed with my statement. He even said that he accepted me as his disciple because of the results of divination." Even though many years have passed, Fu Xuan is still indignant when he mentions this matter.

"Ah..." Jingxing put himself in the teacher's shoes. If his teacher hadn't valued his talent but instead took him as a disciple because of "destiny," it would have been quite a blow.

"My master even said that his fate was destined to end in my hands." Fu Xuan said, her teeth clenched. "What does he take me for? Does he think I'm some shameless scoundrel who's so blinded by greed for power and position that I've betrayed our sect?"

Jingxing pondered to himself, "But the former Grand Diviner of Yuque did indeed die in the war, so it seems that it is indeed related to Fu Xuan?"

"To prove that divination results can be altered by humans, I left my hometown and traveled to Luofu to join the Divination Commission." Fu Xuan lowered his head. "A hundred years have passed in the blink of an eye, and now this war has begun."

"The divination results indicate that maintaining a defensive posture offers a sliver of hope. An offensive strategy, however, guarantees no victory. But where does that hope lie?" Fu Xuan shook his head. "I simply can't figure it out."

"After that..." Fu Xuan didn't want to continue, "I proposed a way to turn defeat into victory and was willing to personally bear the consequences, but the general refused."

"The one who will bear the consequences for you is..." Jingxing had already guessed what would happen next.

"So from that moment on, I could only convince myself that fate always has only one path." Fu Xuan's eyes were burning. "But because of you, my Senior Sister and I have a chance to prove ourselves again."

"I will prove that even though the Aeon have set an irreversible fate, human free will can always break through the net of heaven and earth."