Ancestral Land Broken Bone

"Master Su?"

Seeing Su Li's expression change from time to time, his emotions clearly stirred, Hua Ziyan called out to him softly.

"Master Su, there's still a lot of hope for the Yin Yang Harmony Method. Please don't give up."

Hua Ziyan spoke gently, trying to comfort him.

Su Li was just about to reply when he suddenly heard Hua Ziyan's inner thoughts in his mind: Looks like Master Su knows that even with little sister Yu Xi's constitution, the odds are still slim.

The heavens must have given Master Su all the talent there was, making him exceptionally gifted at deduction, but leaving him lacking in other areas.

I still can't let Master Su find out about this.

Master Su probably only knows that his talent is terrible, but he doesn't know that he actually has no talent for this at all...

Of course, it's also possible that Master Su really is helping a friend, and his friend just happens to be in this situation...

Su Li's breath caught. His face darkened.

Then he pulled up Hua Ziyan's Life Archive and looked at her current thoughts.

Sure enough, it was exactly what she'd just been thinking!

"Fuck me..."

"Well, this is awkward..."

If he hadn't checked her Life Archive, he wouldn't have learned about those thoughts, and could have simply ignored them. They wouldn't have hurt so much.

But now, as long as someone's words didn't match their thoughts, could he actually hear those thoughts directly?

Was this system even human?

Fine. Once I unlock the Heavenly Secrets Mall and grow stronger, I'll teach her a lesson.

Su Li thought to himself.

"Mm. My friend's talent is abysmal, but I think there must be some way to cultivate. All right, go take care of something else. I need a moment to collect myself."

Su Li was somewhat dispirited and sent Hua Ziyan away.

Hua Ziyan seemed reluctant to leave, but Su Li couldn't be bothered to spare her another glance—she was too fake!

Women were no match for a system!

Once Hua Ziyan had left, Su Li immediately said in his mind, "Lightblue, open the Heavenly Secrets Mall."

A faint virtual panel, shimmering with a violet spiritual glow, appeared before Su Li.

The panel looked like a shop built around a bookshelf. At that moment, a ball of violet light hovered quietly on one of its shelves.

Inside the light were five copper coins radiating an ancient aura, strung together by five threads of different colors to form a pentagram.

The five threads were colored according to the five elements and their directions: east was wood, whose color was azure; south was fire, whose color was red; center was earth, whose color was yellow; west was metal, whose color was white; and north was water, whose color was black.

Five Emperors Ancient Coin (price: 3000 Heavenly Secrets Value): Contains the Three Cycles and Nine Periods. The Five Elements are complete within its spatial design. It can ward off evil, dispel baleful intent, gather treasure, and attract wealth.

Su Li was a little surprised, and a little disappointed.

There were no miraculous pills like the Marrow Cleansing Pill that could let him ascend to greatness in a single step.

But this Five Emperors Ancient Coin seemed pretty useful too.

Without hesitation, Su Li bought it.

Then he immediately used his refresh opportunity to refresh the Heavenly Secrets Mall.

Refresh the Heavenly Secrets Mall for 100 Heavenly Secrets Value. Confirm?

"Confirm."

Refreshing only cost 100 Heavenly Secrets Value. That was fairly reasonable, and Su Li felt much better.

After the refresh, a ball of green light appeared in the Heavenly Secrets Mall, its color so vibrant it was a joy to behold.

Within the green glow floated an ancient, yellowed book. Four archaic seal-script characters shimmered across its cover: Introduction to Metaphysics.

Introduction to Metaphysics (price: 1000 Heavenly Secrets Value): After purchase, you will master its contents completely and gain introductory-level knowledge of metaphysics.

Su Li froze, wondering if he'd somehow refreshed the wrong thing.

Still, the book's appearance reminded him of what the system could do. Clearly, this knowledge would be useful.

At the very least, it would help him fool people—no, make his deductions seem more convincing.

It only cost 1000 Heavenly Secrets Value, which wasn't much. He'd buy it!

He'd made a killing this time. He could afford to be generous. Money was no object!

As soon as he bought it, the pleasingly green light shot toward the top of Su Li's head, plunged straight through his crown, and disappeared.

The next instant, a flood of knowledge surged into his mind like a raging torrent. His brain began to feel swollen and prickling with pain.

The sensation came quickly and went just as fast. In a little over ten seconds, Su Li had recovered.

But when he looked around again, all sorts of knowledge about feng shui and metaphysics came pouring into his mind.

At that moment, it was as if he'd suddenly awakened from a deep slumber. He seemed to have become far more learned and talented.

"Sure enough, I, Su Li, am a truly brilliant and handsome man!"

Su Li thought smugly to himself.

"Find the dragon and locate the acupoint; feel for gold and read the bones. Judge fortune and calamity, command the transformations of the five elements!"

"This time, I really seem to have gained some ability to make deductions."

"But these things seem like they'd work in Huaxia. In this peculiar world, I've transcended the Three Realms and am not bound by the Five Elements. I wonder if any of it will still work."

As he thought, he once again tried to refresh the Heavenly Secrets Mall in his mind.

Refresh the Heavenly Secrets Mall for the second time for 1000 Heavenly Secrets Value. Confirm?

Lightblue's newly displayed panel made Su Li's mouth twitch.

A tenfold increase?

Damn! Even the sweetest thing in the world wasn't this damn ruthless!

"Forget it. I'll hold off on another refresh."

Su Li looked at the pitiful 2840 Heavenly Secrets Value he had left and suddenly realized that, for all his swagger, he was actually broke.

He had to save some Heavenly Secrets Value to use the Control Future function. If he spent it all, it would be very difficult to earn a large amount again.

As far as Su Li could tell, there were two ways to earn Heavenly Secrets Value: direct association and indirect association.

Direct association meant that something changed in the life of someone whose Life Archive he had checked. That would earn him more Heavenly Secrets Value.

Take this time, for example. If he'd met Hua Yunxiao, spent a large amount of Heavenly Secrets Value to check Hua Yunxiao's Life Archive, then intervened to help Hua Yunxiao avoid a deadly calamity, he might have earned well over fifty or a hundred thousand Heavenly Secrets Value!

By the same logic, if he'd checked Mu Yuxi's Life Archive, the "cap" on what he could earn from Hua Yunxiao this time would probably have been even lower.

Su Li silently closed the system panel.

Overall, Su Li was quite satisfied with the result.

He had never been a greedy person.

Of course, if the benefits he'd gained this time had been multiplied a hundred or a thousand times, that would have been perfect.

"Wanli Holy Land, this mountain range... Hm? The mountains form a 'bow.' The bow of this holy land points inward—an omen of great misfortune! Farther away, the mountains form a bow and arrow—another omen of great misfortune! From the side, the mountains coil like a crouching dragon, but the dragon's spine is broken. This is a feng shui formation of a dead dragon!

"A holy land like this can easily bring about the deaths of its core members. It also spells a desperate, beast-trapped struggle for the development of the whole sect!"

"I hope I'm not mistaken!"

Su Li rubbed the Five Emperors Ancient Coin, his expression growing more serious.

Then he sensed something faintly and abruptly looked northwest.

A middle-aged man in a purple robe was riding the wind toward them.

Behind him was Yun Wanchu, that craven who feared death.

Su Li's first thought upon seeing the middle-aged man was: handsome! Almost one-tenth as handsome as him!

His second thought was of the faint mark at the man's brow, shaped like a segment of a bone finger.

"Ancestral Land Broken Bone? Has the bone of his ancestor been tainted? Or has someone used it for some evil purpose, bringing complete calamity upon his descendants?

"Right, he's Hua Yunxiao. Almost the entire Hua Clan he belongs to was wiped out! Holy shit, this feng shui metaphysics stuff really might work!"