Reaping Fame and Fortune

~

"Watch out!"

They only had time to cry out before instinctively throwing up their defenses...

Yet they had not expected this formation to be even more ferocious and powerful than before. Their hastily raised defenses were like paper, collapsing in an instant.

The many measures they deployed in their panic were utterly useless. They could only watch helplessly as the terrifying fluctuations of the formation completely swallowed them.

"Ah!!!"

Boom!!!

A scream, accompanied by a deafening explosion, carried far, far away.

At the same time, the earth shook and the mountains trembled.

Even Lin Fan and the other two, who had already fled some distance, could feel it clearly.

"Hiss!"

"What a formidable formation."

Fan Jianqiang looked into the distance, his face full of shock. "Second Elder, your divine might is unmatched! Judging by their screams, they must have all been blasted to death by your formation, reduced to ashes and scattered to the wind."

Lin Fan's mouth twitched, and he nearly burst out laughing.

Though he barely held it in, it was extremely uncomfortable.

Wu Xingyun blinked, traces of bewilderment flashing across her beautiful face.

She was even beginning to question her life.

It was true that she had set up formations, and quite a few of them at that.

She could also basically confirm that the formations had been activated—the screams from those people just now were proof enough.

But, but...

That shouldn't have happened!

Judging from the vigorous fury in those people's roars earlier, even if they had been injured, their wounds should not have been serious. Moreover, her formations were linked in chains, one nested within another.

Logically, once one formation was triggered, all of them should have activated at the same time and relentlessly slaughtered the intruders.

But since they had withstood the first wave and begun breaking the formations, they should not have suddenly failed halfway through and been killed by the formations she had set up.

Besides...

That violent explosion just now had made the earth quake even from so far away!

Since when did the formations she had set up possess such power?

How did I not know that?!

Yet those voices were still the voices of those people.

And from afar, the site of the violent explosion did not seem to differ from where she had laid her formations.

She grew even more confused, unable to figure out where things had gone wrong.

But Fan Jianqiang before her continued praising her without pause, to the point that Wu Xingyun was almost beginning to float on air.

She could not help but think to herself: Could it be that my understanding of the Dao of formations has risen to a new level?

Or perhaps I made some mistake in the chaos of the moment while setting them up, yet by some strange twist of fate, it made the formations even more astonishing?!

Unable to make sense of it no matter how she thought, she could only explain it that way.

She hid her confusion and embarrassment. "Ahem. This old woman has studied the Dao of formations for many years. Though I cannot be called particularly formidable, I can still... suppress and kill a few petty rats without difficulty."

Yet even she did not quite believe what she was saying.

Lin Fan was inwardly delighted.

"Just as I guessed. This guy is definitely the Gou Sheng type!!! I don't know whether he's the protagonist yet, but there's no doubt he's Gou Sheng. Even if someone like this isn't the protagonist, bringing him into the sect would bring enormous benefits!"

And he really knew how to put on an act~!

Fan Jianqiang was especially cooperative. "Second Elder, mighty indeed!"

"In the future, this disciple must learn from you as well..."

Wu Xingyun: "Ahem, ahem."

This was so awkward.

Yet she could not show it. She had to put on an unfathomable air...

Which made it even more awkward.

But what exactly had happened?

As she hurried along, she could not help recalling every detail from when she had set up the formations. Yet no matter how she pondered it back and forth, she could never figure out what had gone wrong.

She was even more baffled.

It was at this moment that, after lavishly praising her, Fan Jianqiang suddenly took out his tools from his storage bag. "Sect Master, Second Elder, this disciple has suddenly received a flash of inspiration. I wish to cast another divination and make some deductions."

"Make yourself at home."

Here it came, here it came—they were starting again.

Lin Fan did not stop him. Instead, he stood to the side, cheerfully watching him perform.

Having received permission, Fan Jianqiang did not hesitate in the slightest and immediately began his work.

A moment later, terror appeared on his face.

"Huh?!"

"Sect Master, Second Elder, the hexagram shows great misfortune—an omen of great calamity! The very worst lot!"

Lin Fan was not surprised in the least.

"Hmm?"

Wu Xingyun, however, was slightly taken aback. "The hexagram shows great misfortune? This... this old woman has also dabbled in divination. Judging by the hexagram just now, should it not be 'Lei Huo Feng'?

The Feng hexagram signifies abundance and magnificence, a fitting reward for one's name.

The upper trigram is Zhen, thunder; the lower trigram is Li, lightning—'thunder and lightning arriving together.'

Thunder is heard by the ear, lightning seen by the eye.

What is heard is illusory; what is seen is real.

What one hears is 'reputation'; what one sees is 'achievement.'

This hexagram can be interpreted as gaining both fame and fortune.

Even if it is not a hexagram of great fortune, it is still a rare auspicious one, is it not?"

A hexagram promising both fame and fortune, and he called that great misfortune?

After hearing the Second Elder's explanation, the corner of Lin Fan's mouth twitched slightly.

But when he remembered that the one saying this was a member of the Gou Sheng school, he was able to let it go.

What was the Gou Sheng school?!

A 98 percent chance was practically the same as certain death!

A mere auspicious hexagram, rather than one of great fortune—what difference was there between that and certain death?

So it was understandable... my ass!

How exactly were people like this wired?!

Lin Fan grumbled inwardly.

Fan Jianqiang froze, secretly realizing that things were bad.

He muttered to himself, "Why does the Second Elder know a little about everything?"

"Shouldn't elders from such a small sect be shallow in knowledge and know very little? Yet she even understands divination. This... won't be easy to bluff my way through!"

"A miscalculation!"

"If I'd known, I should have prepared another explanation. But now..."

"What should I do?"

Fortunately, he reacted swiftly.

"Second Elder, there is something you do not know."

"This hexagram was not cast for us, but for... the other pursuers."

"And precisely because of that, an auspicious hexagram is a hexagram of great misfortune for us! If they gain both fame and fortune, then wouldn't we..."

"So that was it?!"

The Second Elder was astonished.

"Is there a way to break it?"

She truly had dabbled in divination, but only dabbled.

She could read hexagrams, but when it came to breaking them, she was powerless.

"There is!"

Fan Jianqiang immediately nodded and declared with absolute certainty, "Second Elder, your attainments in formations are so profound. Earlier, you laid down a few formations and wiped out a portion of the enemy. Since that is the case, why not do it once more?!"

"Once those who come later discover traces of the formations, they will naturally assume that those sneaking ahead have already triggered them. Who would imagine that even the cautious can only remain cautious for so long?

Who would imagine that formations could still be hidden in a place so far away?"

Wu Xingyun blinked. "Set up formations once more?"

"Set them up once more!" Fan Jianqiang nodded heavily.

"Fine!"

Though she did not know what had gone wrong, the formations she had laid down earlier had certainly worked. Since that was so, what harm was there in doing it again?

They immediately descended. Wu Xingyun could no longer afford to feel pained over the expense and got to work at once.

Fan Jianqiang clutched his stomach again. "Ow, I was so frightened just now that I came over halfway through relieving myself. Now that there's a bit of time, this disciple's stomach pain is becoming unbearable again."

Lin Fan did not know whether to laugh or cry. He merely looked at him with a half-smile. "Go on."