Asking for an Auspice (5K)

Beneath City 98, the Earth Vein rippled chaotically, but now they formed a sentence that was quite conspicuous.

Zhao Xing quickly picked up on the information transmitted by the Earth Vein fluctuations.

He opened his eyes and looked up.

"Old Chen is trying to summon the local earth god," Zhao Xing chuckled.

Stomp your foot and you'll go up by yourself, isn't that just like summoning the local earth god for a question?

Believe it or not, there really are temples dedicated to the land god and Mountain God Temple in the interior of the Great Zhou. However, this method is considered impolite and is generally only used by high-ranking officials.

If a minor official dares to use such a person, he will be beaten.

"Stop shouting, I'm coming." Zhao Xing looked at the golden ripples emanating from above and immediately manipulated the Earth Vein to reply.

He then gathered up everything in the cave, burned it, and used his Divine Swift Guard it.

"What's the rush? I've only slept for a few hours."

Chen Shijie said, "The spies sent out by Wen Shaoyang's troops have returned one after another. After the intelligence is gathered, Captain Liao plans to convene everyone to discuss how to proceed with the next battle."

As they walked, Zhao Xing asked, "Where did Wen Shaoyang's scouts go?"

Chen Shijie said, "The furthest point in the northeast is Crooked City in West String Territory, and the furthest point in the southeast is Soul Offering Pass."

"Guanbao?" Zhao Xing's eyes narrowed. He had been to this place in the illusion, and it was there that Wen Shaoyang's troops were trapped. "Has anything happened to the scouting party?"

"No, why do you ask that?" Chen Shijie noticed Zhao Xing's unusual behavior and immediately asked.

"Nothing, just asking," Zhao Xing said. "Isn't the Soul Offering Pass guarded by an elite force from the Sacred Spirit Royal Court?"

"Yes." Chen Shijie nodded. "So Wen Shaoyang's men didn't get too close. That place is too yin, and the Yin Soul are rampant, making it difficult to sneak over and gather intelligence."

"However, judging from what Captain Liao said, he wants to attack Soul Offering Pass first," Chen Shijie said.

"What are you thinking?" Zhao Xing asked.

"I don't have any ancestors I'm particularly attached to," Chen Shijie said calmly. "So I think I can play either one."

Zhao Xing nodded slightly. He knew that Chen Shijie was an orphan. His parents had died long ago. He had an uncle and aunt as relatives, but they were estranged and had long since severed ties.

Zhao Xing asked this question mainly because the soldiers of the Great Zhou all had a natural aversion to the Sacred Spirit Royal Court!

Because the Sacred Spirit Royal Court, one of the Four Great Royal Courts, is skilled at controlling ghosts.

They often tear open the weak points of the Yin Realm, releasing a large number of Yin Soul that transform into ghost soldiers and generals of the Sacred Spirit Royal Court.

The Yin Realm is quite special: entering the Yin Realm from the Great Zhou region and entering the Yin Realm from the Southern Barbarians may take place in the same place.

This has led to the Sacred Spirit Royal Court sometimes capturing the souls of the dead from the Great Zhou.

This greatly impacted the ritual and music system and the Yin Spirit system of the Great Zhou.

From a purely emotional perspective, the Sacred Spirit Royal Court's actions are tantamount to "controlling your ancestors."

How the hell can you tolerate this?

Of course people will hate you!

"Among the Four Great Royal Courts, the Golden Feather Royal Court has the most tribes, with a relatively complete range of professions such as Insect Witch, Blood Witch, sorcerers, and warriors, and their equipment is also less different from that of the Great Zhou."

"The Purple Dragon Royal Court is skilled in beast taming, and the exotic beasts they raise are very ferocious. Because large-scale climate changes often occur in the Southern Barbarians region, it is practically a natural arena for ferocious beasts. They don't need to be specially raised; they can be tamed."

"The Blazing Light Royal Court is the hardest to fight. It's vast and sparsely populated, and it has natural beasts like the Baboke Insect to help it. Fighting them is like playing whack-a-mole."

"The Sacred Spirit Royal Court is the most disgusting. After a battle, their combat strength is almost not lost because their main soldiers are ghosts, which can be replenished in an endless stream. In fact, after the first battle, you may find that your former comrades who died have risen up and become your opponents in the second battle."

Zhao Xing said, "Now, heading west on the eastern front, we will encounter support troops sent by different royal courts, because the Golden Feather Royal Court intends to defend the Fire Demon Tribe's territory... mainly the precious land of the Qinggang Mining Area."

"Personally, I don't want to fight the Soul Offering Pass either, because we don't have that many Priest."

Neither Liao Rulong's Wen Shaoyang's troops had many Priest.

The vast majority of the commanders are warriors, and they have a large number of warriors under their command, while Priest are relatively few. This is the current situation in the army.

The Priest profession is more difficult to train than the Agricultural Official. At the time of the Ten Yang Grotto-Heaven, there were more than 10,000 candidates for Agricultural Official who were being trained.

But what about the Priest? There are only a little over two thousand.

When we were in Gucheng, there were just over five hundred minor officials in Agricultural Official, and only forty or fifty officials in charge of Priest.

That's how the clergy are; it's not something that can be trained on a large scale just because you can train them.

Is there an army capable of attacking the Sacred Spirit Royal Court?

Of course there is. The Illusionary Seclusion Grotto Heaven, one of the Five Great Grotto Heavens, is the exclusive garrison of the Illusory Nether Army. This Grotto-Heaven has only one army, and its commander, the Illusionary Nether Marquis, is Fourth Grade Divine Sacrifice Office.

The vast majority of members of the Illusory Nether Army are combat-type Priest.

After Zhao Xing arrived at the council hall and expressed his thoughts, Xia Jing continued:

"It's not a question of whether we want to or not, it's a matter of having to fight."

"The defensive line at Soul Offering Pass has been extended considerably. The loss of Fire Dragon Pass has enraged the Golden Feather Royal Court, which has deployed the reinforcements sent by the Sacred Spirit Royal Court to defend the eastern front."

"It is now October 13th. The Sacred Spirit Royal Court's army has gained a firm foothold, and its defenses are much stronger than before."

Zhao Xing shook his head inwardly. Originally, the three armies would set off after resting at Fire Dragon Pass, as the defenses Soul Offering Pass were not that strong.

However, the matter of Qian Shougang caused a delay of about ten days, which gave the Golden Feather Royal Court the opportunity to mobilize its troops.

But that's the unpredictable nature of war; no one can say for Wishful.

Of course, ultimately, it's because they have fewer people on their side; after conquering Fire Dragon Pass, they need to rest and expand their army.

"Could we cooperate with the Illusory Nether Army?" Wen Shaoyang offered his opinion. "With the Illusory Nether Army, we'd have a much better chance of breaking through the Soul Offering Pass defenses."

Liao Rulong hesitated and said, "The Illusory Nether Army is a strong army ranked over 200th, and their main force is on the northern front with the Beginning Origin Army, Red Cloud Army, and Primal Glory Army. They may not be willing to abandon cooperation with strong armies and come to us."

Xia Jing laughed and said, "Main force is impossible, but transferring 20,000 to 30,000 people might be feasible."

"Oh?" Liao Rulong asked, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

Xia Jing pointed at Zhao Xing: "Didn't Zhao Xing kill Qian Shougang near West String Territory earlier?"

"What does this have to do with me?" Zhao Xing wondered.

"Our standoff with the Black Dragon Army has terrified the commander of West String Pass," Xia Jing said. "The four men —Qi Yuan Army of the Beginning Origin Army, Yi Yue of the Primal Glory Army, Nangong Ye of the Illusory Nether Army, and Pang Zheng of the Beginning Origin Army —originally planned to attack West String Pass."

"They had feigned defeats several times in an attempt to lure out the commander of West String Pass. They had been working on this for over a month and were starting to see some hope, but it was ruined by the unexpected incident involving Qian Shougang."

After hearing Xia Jing's words, Zhao Xing was speechless.

Good fortune may be the harbinger of misfortune, and misfortune may be the harbinger of good fortune.

Killing Qian Shougang delayed things, making the Soul Offering Pass defense line more difficult to attack, but now there's a possibility of cooperating with the Illusory Nether Army. It's hard to say whether it's good luck or bad luck.

"Are they willing to cooperate?" Liao Rulong asked hesitantly.

It wasn't that he felt inferior; it was simply that the Illusory Nether Army was indeed ranked much higher than the Divine Might Army, and even higher than the Tigron Army.

In the last Military Realm Legion Grand Military Exercise, the Divine Might Army ranked over 500th, while the Illusory Nether Army ranked over 200th.

They can occupy an entire Grotto-Heaven as their base, and their numbers and strength far surpass those of the Divine Might Army.

"Let's give it a try," Xia Jing said. "If it doesn't work, we'll just fight it ourselves. If everyone agrees, I'll write to ask."

"I agree," Wen Shaoyang stated.

"Agreed." Liao Rulong nodded as well.

"Agreed." Zhao Xing had nothing to object to. Right now, there were more meat than wolves, so it wouldn't be a bad thing for several strong armies to cooperate.

Xia Jing and Liao Rulong invited Nangong Ye of the Illusory Nether Army to bring his men to the Fire Dragon Pass war zone.

Nangong Ye was immediately tempted after receiving the invitation.

They had originally intended to use Fire Dragon Pass as a route, but it was inconvenient for them to ask.

Even so, discussing cooperation was not without its challenges.

Because the Illusory Nether Army led by Nangong Ye has been fighting in alliance with the Primal Glory Army Yi Yue the Qiyuan Qi Yuan Army under the Beginning Origin Army for a long time.

However, the Divine Might Army only invited his detachment.

Well, if it were just Nangong Ye going there, he would definitely be in a subordinate position. Even though it was a strong army, its numbers were not as many as the combined forces of the Divine Might Army, the Black Armor Army, and the Sea Pacifying Army.

Therefore, Nangong Ye requested that the two allied forces, Zhaoyuan Beginning Origin Army and Primal Glory Army, be included as well.

However, in this way, their numbers are not much less than the combined forces of the Divine Might Army, the Black Armor Army, and the Sea Pacifying Army, and in terms of strength, they are even stronger than the combined forces of the three armies.

Liao Rulong, Xia Jing, Wen Shaoyang, and others were also unhappy.

Although it's called cooperation, bringing them on board will inevitably have an impact when fighting breaks out later.

Therefore, this kind of cooperation is really difficult to arrange if the relationship is not usually very good.

Zhao Xing didn't care about any of that. He didn't participate in the communication at all. Time was precious, and he would probably have to return to Ten Yang Grotto-Heaven next March.

He needs to practice the secret techniques he learned from the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion as soon as possible.

As for military achievements, you can accumulate them later; it's the same thing.

"Commander Jiang, please do me a favor."

"Brother Zhao, don't be so formal, just call me Brother Jiang," Jiang Ming said with a smile. "What can I do for you? Just tell me."

"The Sea Pacifying Army is on the Canglan River. They must catch a lot of strange beasts like river turtles and tortoises, right?" Zhao Xing asked.

"Yes, of course!" Jiang Ming spread his arms wide. "And it's quite large."

"Is it good?" Zhao Xing asked.

"It depends on how you cook it," Jiang Ming. "Turtle meat is generally tougher, and we Sea Pacifying Army don't usually eat the meat; we only use it to make soup."

"What, buddy, you want to try something new?"

Zhao Xing laughed and said, "Yes, I've never eaten that kind of spirit turtle before. I wonder if Brother Jiang could get some?"

Jiang Ming clapped his hands and said, "That's easy. Do you want any more river or seafood? If you do, I'll get them for you. There are quite a few delicious things in the sea..."

When Zhao Xing spoke to Jiang Ming, the latter immediately agreed.

Even a spirit turtle that has reached a certain grade is not a difficult task for the Sea Pacifying Army.

To curry favor with Zhao Xing, Jiang Ming even dispatched the fastest ship to the Canglan River to tow a boatload of Zhao Xing -like exotic beasts, numbering as many as one or two thousand.

When Zhao Xing boarded the ship, he was astonished.

There are very few Ninth Grade; most are Eighth Grade turtle-like beasts, and there are even Seventh Grade spirit turtles!

"Is that enough?" Jiang Ming. "If not, we can ask. I'll have the brothers on the river catch some more."

"That's enough, that's enough." Zhao Xing nodded quickly. He only wanted to use the spirit turtle to practice his magic, not because he actually liked to eat it.

"Okay, then call my ship if you need anything, and I'll dock here." Jiang Ming was very generous.

Thank you.

After Jiang Ming left, Zhao Xing used his Wind Art to pull out an Eighth Grade river turtle from the cabin and placed it on the guillotine on the deck.

"Pfft~"

The guillotine fell and immediately severed the glans.

"Go!"

Zhao Xing's Golden Light struck under the Turtle Shell, and the tortoise flesh and bones beneath it rapidly shrank.

All the blood in the turtle is concentrated on its Turtle Shell and absorbed by Turtle Shell.

This is the "Practicing the Hexagram" method in the Tortoise Coin Divination Art.

They extracted the blood and marrow of the spirit turtle, using them all to nourish its Turtle Shell.

Once the tools for divination are prepared, they can be used as a basis for divination.

"The Blood Refining Method is the simplest and most brutal refining method, but the deduction carriers refined by this method generally don't last long."

"A more advanced method is the Soul Refining Technique, which involves extracting the blood, marrow, and soul of a spirit turtle."

"There's also the Spirit Cultivation Method; there's no need to kill the Spirit Turtle."

"But this is just practice; I can't handle anything too complicated."

Following the instructions in the Tortoise Trigram Art, Zhao Xing infused blood and marrow into the Turtle Shell.

Soon, the shell of this Rank Eighth Grade spirit tortoise began to emit a dark red light.

"Now that the divination has been completed, I can use various methods to perform the divination."

"One method is a simple way to predict good or bad fortune, which involves carving words on the Turtle Shell." Zhao Xing carved "Great Fortune," "Medium Fortune," and "Small Fortune" on one side of the tortoise shell.

On the other side, the characters for Great Misfortune," "Medium Omen," and "Minor Misfortune" are engraved.

"Afterwards, the tortoise Turtle Shell is burned. The side with the most cracks represents one's personal fortune, and the length of the cracks represents the duration of this divination."

Zhao Xing pointed his finger, and the Heavenly Fire Technique was activated.

A wisp of flame instantly enveloped the tortoise shell, burning it.

After burning for fifteen minutes.

A slight rattling sound came from the tortoise shell.

"Click click click~"

Once the cracks stopped forming, Zhao Xing stopped calcining and took a closer look.

"The cracks are most numerous on Xiao Ji's side, spreading across four shield plates and reaching a depth of one inch, meaning the cracks lasted for four days."

"There is a crack on one side of Zhongji, less than an inch deep, which extends to a shield-like area. Zhongji was born within four hours."

"Although there are many cracks on the side with Minor Misfortune, there is not a single large crack. There are no cracks on the Medium Omen or Great Misfortune."

"This means that my luck has been good recently. The crack is long because I am on the battlefield, and it is normal that it lasts a long time."

Zhao Xing interprets the hexagram.

Asking about good or bad fortune is relatively simple, but asking about his own fortune is even more difficult to get any answers. Derivation Three's good fortune is not just empty talk.

Zhao Xing slaughtered ten Rank Eighth Grade spirit turtles, and after asking them a hundred times, the answers were basically the same.

More good than bad.

As Zhao Xing continued his cultivation, the auspicious and inauspicious omens displayed on the Turtle Shell became increasingly accurate.

After practicing for several hours, he not only achieved results but also experienced certain sensations in his mind.

Zhao Xing glanced at the panel.

[Fire Refined Turtle Divination - Auspice: Intermediate Level Seventh-Turn.]

[Efficacy: Burning tortoise shell patterns to divine good or bad fortune, and to foresee impending misfortune or good luck.]

The Tortoise Coin Divination Art is a complete set of magical techniques.

This question is just the simplest way to ask about good or bad fortune, and it's rather general.

However, it is better than the "Chinese Almanac" issued by the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Because the almanac of the Great Zhou was all about Evil Aversion Almanac; it could not be used to inquire about good fortune, only to ward off misfortune.

Moreover, they are all passively triggered and cannot be used actively.

"What are you doing?" Long Xiao carried the Mountain Cat onto the boat. "Heaven Defier has been looking for you for a while."

"What does Heaven Defier want with me? Didn't we just eat breakfast this morning?" Zhao Xing asked.

Long Xiao was speechless. "Look at what time it is now?"

Zhao Xing internally observed the Five Elements biological clock, then gave an awkward smile.

"Sorry, I got so engrossed in practicing my martial arts."

Before I knew it, six hours had passed.

No wonder the Mountain Cat looked a little resentful.

"Practicing martial arts?" Long Xiao looked at the Turtle Shell with suspicion. "What kind of martial arts are you practicing with a tortoise?"

"Have you ever heard of Spirit Turtle Inquires Auspice?" Zhao Xing asked. He wasn't afraid of people knowing.

Grand Ancestor merely made a cut, not killed the fortune-telling profession. In other words, whether officials or commoners, everyone was allowed to dabble in and experiment with fortune-telling.

However, the official sources don't provide cultivation manuals, and the Grand Ancestor's "Great Vow to Establish the Dao" has locked down the path to advancement, so no matter how much you practice, you won't achieve anything significant.

Such methods are not even subject to the strictest scrutiny as the Soul Capturing Straw Figure.

The Soul Capturing Straw Figure is forbidden to be practiced within the Great Zhou territory; it can only be practiced on the battlefield, and even then, it must be reported.

"Oh? You can do this too?" Long Xiao immediately became interested. "How's your practice going?"

"It's alright, you can ask about good or bad fortune in the short term," Zhao Xing said. "But it's not always accurate, do you want to give it a try?"

"Sure," Long Xiao said, "Let's ask for good fortune."

"?"

It feels like this is an insult.

After a moment's thought, Zhao Xing said to Long Xiao, "Give me a drop of blood."

Long Xiao drew a line across his palm with his fingertip, and blood seeped out.

Zhao Xing used a gust of wind to discover that Long Xiao's drop of blood was quite heavy.

His blood and qi are as strong as mercury; he truly deserves to be called a sword cultivator among martial artists. His physique is indeed powerful.

"Hiss~"

Zhao Xing used the blood of the Long Xiao to smear on the tortoise shell, drawing auspicious and inauspicious symbols on both sides.

It was then fired with Heavenly Fire.

"Click click click~"

Cracks appeared, accompanied by a series of popping and crackling sounds.

Zhao Xing's expression changed slightly.

Why is there such a commotion?

Could it be that...

"Why are you looking so sullen?" Long Xiao asked. "Don't scare me."

When the flames subsided.

Upon closer inspection, Zhao Xing's composed expression instantly transformed into a smile.

Cracks were densely distributed in the "Great Fortune" area, and the cracks were deep and short.

On the side with the ominous sign, there were very few cracks, similar to those on Zhao Xing Xingce's own.

Good heavens, it's actually auspicious!

But where does the auspiciousness of the Long Xiao come from?

It's a little late today, so I'm recommending a book to a friend, "The Dao Lord Begins with Alchemy," the link is below.