Fortune-Telling

The fortune teller was a cultivator about the same age as Lu Yang. Noticing Lu Yang's gaze, he explained with a hint of complaint, "There's nothing I can do. Nowadays, people don't really believe in fortune telling. They keep saying things like 'My fate is in my own hands, not in the heavens.' It's not easy to make a living."

"Some people like to use the Eight Trigrams for fortune telling, so I prepared an Eight Trigrams compass."

"Someone wanted to predict their gambling luck, so I prepared dice."

"Some people believe that character divination is accurate, so I prepared the Four Treasures of the Study (writing brush, ink stick, inkstone, and paper)."

"Some people think that tossing coins is the most effective method, so I prepared nine large coins."

"And this crystal ball, it's a trend that's become popular in Donghai in recent years. People like to use crystal balls to tell fortunes, and I even went to Donghai to learn how to do it."

"Moreover, this crystal ball can not only tell fortunes on the surface, but also secretly record videos, allowing you to make money twice with one tool."

"How about it? Want to have your fortune told? If it doesn't work, you don't have to pay," the fortune teller enthusiastically promoted himself.

Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou looked at the fortune teller with suspicion and wariness. They had a feeling that the fortune teller was not simple and seemed to have seen through something.

One day, Man Gu encountered a fortune teller and found it quite interesting. "Could you tell my fortune?"

The fortune teller smiled slightly, "Alright, may I ask which method you'd like to use, and what you'd like to have divined?"

After thinking for a moment, Man Gu decided that he could be considered a Confucian scholar, so he said, "Let's do a character divination. I'll write a character, and you can tell me if I can become a great Confucian scholar."

"Please." The fortune teller skillfully arranged the writing implements and invited Man Gu to begin writing.

With Man Gu strokes, Man Gu wrote a single character.

The fortune teller tapped the door and let out a long hiss, "Your handwriting..."

"What's the problem?" Man Gu asked hurriedly.

"Your handwriting is terrible, what kind of character is this?"

"Confucianism."

"..." The fortune teller composed himself and explained, "A Confucian scholar is gentle and mild, a term used to describe a diviner. It is composed of the radical 'person' and the phonetic component 'need'."

"You are physically strong and seem indestructible, but in reality you have a soft heart, lack your own opinions, and readily accept whatever you hear and imitate whatever you learn."

"Look at the word "need" again, "Yu" is on the top and "ER" is on the bottom."

"The saying 'clouds above the sky, waiting for rain to fall' means that you will be needed by others in the future."

"The character for 'person' stands to the side. It means that you can not only become a great Confucian scholar, but also a great Confucian scholar in a new form."

Man Gu was overjoyed to hear that he could become a great Confucian scholar.

His Confucian scholarship was among the worst in the Fourth Elder's school. Although the Fourth Elder didn't care, advocating education for all, he said that the man was just unenlightened and that once he was enlightened, he could enter the path of Confucianism and have an immeasurable future.

But Man Gu was always insecure. Now, after the fortune teller analyzed his situation and said that he could become a great Confucian scholar, he regained his confidence.

I still have a lot of potential!

"Oh, right, there's one more thing."

"What?"

"Practice your calligraphy more when you get back."

"Oh."

"Do you need a calligraphy practice book? I happen to have one here. Take it; it's an essential expense on your path to becoming a great Confucian scholar."

Man Gu thought the other person's words made sense, so he bought a copy.

Lan Ting found the barbarian's test Man Gu interesting and wanted to try it herself, so she sat down and asked, "I want to know whether my future achievements will be higher in formations or talismans. Let's use the crystal ball to find out."

She hasn't been studying formations lately, and seems to be more interested in them than talismans.

Lanting is considering whether to change her area of specialization.

The fortune teller raised the crystal ball towards Lanting, rubbed it repeatedly with his hands, and chanted, "Heavenly spirits, earthly spirits, crystal ball, please show your power! Heavenly spirits, earthly spirits, crystal ball, please show your power!"

The fortune teller was dumbfounded when he saw the result displayed by the crystal ball. "Uh, you're going to write the formation on the talisman in the future, combining the formation and the talisman into one?"

The fortune teller's gaze at the Orchid Pavilion was strange. What kind of bizarre way of thinking was that? This female cultivator was absolutely stunningly beautiful, so why did her way of thinking differ so much from ordinary people?

Lan Ting tilted his head and thought about it for a moment. He felt that what the fortune teller said was not impossible, so he readily paid the money.

When it was Meng Jingzhou's turn, Meng Jingzhou raised an eyebrow and asked, "You wouldn't happen to be a disciple of the Tian Ce Sect, would you?"

The Tian Ce Sect, the foremost divination sect in the Central Continent, once predicted the time when the High Antiquity great era would reappear.

The Tian Ce Sect places great emphasis on cause and effect; ordinary methods of concealing one's identity are utterly ineffective in front of the Tian Ce Sect.

A disciple of the Tian Ce Sect can discern a person's background and origin with just a glance.

Perhaps this fortune teller could tell that the four of them came from the Ask Dao Sect and the Moon Laurel Immortal Palace.

"Haha, junior brother, you must be mistaken. I am a free spirit, a recluse. How could I possibly be a disciple of the Tian Ce Sect?"

Meng Jingzhou paused for a moment, then took out a blood pact from his identity jade pendant. "Three hundred years ago, the Supreme Elder of the Tian Ce Sect borrowed a huge amount of top-grade Spirit Stone from our Meng family. Later, when he couldn't repay them, he hid in his cave abode and claimed to be in seclusion."

"Our Meng family went to your Tian Ce Sect to collect a debt, and your Sect Master signed a blood pact, saying that he would definitely repay it. Moreover, any direct descendant of the Meng family who encounters a disciple of the Tian Ce Sect can demand repayment from the disciple based on the blood pact."

"Would you like to test the power of the blood pact?"

Lu Yang had heard that the Meng family was the creditor of everyone in the world, and it seemed that this was true.

The fortune teller knelt down with a thud, grabbed Meng Jingzhou's leg, and wept bitterly. "Brother Meng, please spare me, so we can meet again in the future!"

"Our Tian Ce Sect is so poor that we can't even support our disciples. We're being sent down the mountain to fend for ourselves. If I, Luo Bu, were rich, I wouldn't have to resort to swindling and cheating here!"

"Setting up a stall here requires a stall fee, and I can't even afford that!"

The fortune teller, Luo Bu, cried out in poverty, "Look at this mandarin jacket I've worn for years, patched and mended, and I still don't have the money to buy a new one!"

Meng Jingzhou rolled his eyes. This mandarin jacket was obviously refined and was quite valuable.

"I don't expect you to pay me back. Get up first." Meng Jingzhou forcefully pulled his leg out. "Give us both a free fortune telling, and I won't bother you anymore. Remember, don't lie!"

"Haha, this is not difficult."

"Come, come, have my fate read and see what my future holds," Lu Yang said, spreading his hands and inviting Luo Bu, a disciple of the Tian Ce Sect, to read his palm.

Lob laughed heartily, displaying his usual confidence in his area of expertise. "That's a common problem, let me take a look."

To everyone's surprise, Lob's eyes widened, he suddenly stood up, his face full of disbelief, and stumbled back several steps until he reached the base of the wall.

"What's going on with your fate? It's all so unclear. In the future, you will have karmic connections with several immortals!"

Luo Bu discovered that Lu Yang, despite being entangled in the karma of the immortals, could still move freely as if unaffected.

But that's not the scariest part.

The most terrifying thing is that Luo Bu also discovered that Lu Yang would become a major scourge in the cultivation world in the future, spreading the spirit of the Ask Dao Sect to the entire cultivation world!

The Ask Dao Sect's atmosphere is already outrageous enough; if the entire cultivation world were assimilated by the Ask Dao Sect, how could anyone survive?!

You absolutely must not get entangled with this kind of person!

Luo Bu secretly groaned. He thought the four people were all from the Five Great Immortal Sects, four fat sheep that he could easily swindle and make some money from. He never expected that there was someone like Lu Yang among them, someone he absolutely could not associate with!

No, judging from palmistry, it wasn't just Lu Yang who spread bad influences throughout the cultivation world; there was another person cooperating with him.

The other person is...

Luo Bu looked at Meng Jingzhou, the major creditor.

Run!

Without a word, Luo Bu used his escape technique, not even bothering to tidy up the table, and ran away, shouting, "I... I... I haven't seen you today!"

He feared that if he looked any longer, he might lose his life here.

Before the four could react, Lobu had already made his escape.

Lu Yang blamed Meng Jingzhou: "It must be because you were asking for money that you scared them away."