As the direct disciple of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion, hailed as its future Pavilion Master, Zhuge Qingchen had never heard of divination or the art of deduction.
Naturally, he was already filled with anticipation.
"Mystic Master Zhuge."
"Master Su, please don't be so formal. We're about the same age, so why not treat each other as brothers? If you don't mind, you can call me 'Xiao Qing.'"
Zhuge Qingchen took the initiative to ingratiate himself.
Su Li was just about to reply when he suddenly heard Zhuge Qingchen's inner thoughts: If I say that, Master Su will surely be modest and then call me 'Brother Qing.' With his accomplishments, he'll sooner or later make a name for himself throughout the world. By then, I'll have plenty to brag about.
Besides, once I've gotten on good terms with Master Su, how hard could it be to win over Fairy Li or Imperial Lord Hua?
If I can learn a few tricks from Master Su, my master will definitely think even more highly of me.
Master Su himself comes from a humble background. He has no connections and no powerful force backing him. If he calls me 'Brother,' I'll accept him as my dear little brother. Then I can use my authority to get him an honorary elder position at the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion or something. That way, no one will dare bully him...
Hearing these thoughts, Su Li replied very readily, "Well, I don't mind taking you on as a little brother. But if I teach you some divination, you'll count as a half-registered disciple of mine.
"You have talent, but you're wasting all your energy on Imperial Lord Hua and his daughter. If you keep this up, you'll never amount to anything. Not only will you disappoint me, but your master will probably be sorely disappointed too.
"If you end up mediocre and make a fool of yourself, I might even refuse to acknowledge you as my registered disciple..."
Su Li ruthlessly smashed every one of Zhuge Qingchen's beautiful dreams.
And so, Su Li gleefully raked in another windfall.
[Reasoning to Convince, exposing Zhuge Qingchen's hypocritical nature, gained 998 Heavenly Secrets Value.]
"Master Su..."
Zhuge Qingchen was nearly sick with frustration. He felt that the sincere feelings in his heart had been mercilessly trampled by Master Su's words.
Su Li, however, was delighted. Smiling, he patted Zhuge Qingchen's soot-black shoulder and said, "All right. Since you're so sincere, I'll accept you as my little brother. Xiao Qing, huh? That name..."
He wasn't too fond of the name.
Whenever he thought of Xiao Qing, he thought of Bai Suzhen; whenever he thought of Bai Suzhen, he thought of Fahai, then of the mighty Heavenly Dragon, and then of "Fahai, you don't understand love"...
Su Li shuddered and immediately said, "Let's not go with 'Xiao Qing.' I'll call you... Qingdi. And from now on, don't call me Master Su. It's too formal. Just call me 'Brother Li.'
"As for divination, reading faces, finding dragon veins and locating acupoints, you can watch me do it. Whether you learn anything is up to your own fortune."
As he spoke, Su Li glanced at the system panel. Sure enough, another message had appeared.
[Reasoning to Convince, exposing Zhuge Qingchen's hypocritical nature, gained 438 Heavenly Secrets Value.]
Zhuge Qingchen didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He hadn't expected all his careful plotting to come to nothing.
Still, at least he'd made friends with Master Su. Little brother or not, they were brothers now.
"Brother Li."
"Mm, Qingdi."
"Brother Li, would you be interested in taking an honorary elder position at the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion?"
"No."
"Well, if you're interested, I can use my authority as Young Master to help— Hm? Brother Li, why aren't you interested?"
"Do I really have to spell it out? I don't want to get too close to you. People who get too close to you meet a miserable end. The people you knew early on—haven't you noticed that the trees growing over their graves are now so huge they blot out the sky? Haven't you noticed that even your master doesn't want to spend time with you?"
"Brother Li, the way you speak is really... really one of a kind."
"Right? I think so too. But you'd better not imitate me. The moment you walk out of this mountain gate, someone will beat you up."
"Heh, why would I imitate such a way of speaking?"
"You say you don't want to, but why is your heart so honest?"
"Qingdi, don't you think I'm exceptionally handsome and charming?"
"Heh, Brother Li, when it comes to looks, you're still a fair bit behind me."
"Qingdi, then why do you sound so sour?"
"Brother Li, let's talk about deduction instead. I can't take this anymore..."
Su Li babbled on, getting Zhuge Qingchen to put on one face in public and another behind people's backs, then "reasoning to convince" him.
The results were absolutely incredible.
After nearly half an hour of conversation, Su Li noticed that Zhuge Qingchen had visibly lost weight. His complexion had turned sallow, and dark circles had appeared around his eyes.
Su Li opened Zhuge Qingchen's Life Archive and took a look. The fixed aspects of his fate, such as "Heaven-Sent Opportunity," hadn't changed. But the fluctuating aspects, which had included things like "Deep Love, Shallow Fate," had become "deficient qi and blood, depleted spirit, excessive indulgence, kidney water drained dry..."
Su Li was completely baffled.
Just then, another message appeared on his system panel.
[Reasoning to Convince, exposing Zhuge Qingchen's hypocritical nature, gained 3 Heavenly Secrets Value.]
As soon as the message appeared, Zhuge Qingchen's steps turned unsteady. His complexion grew even more sallow and pale. He looked just like someone who had overindulged.
"I can't do it, I can't do it, Brother Li. Talking to you is exhausting. I feel more tired than after helping Imperial Lord Hua deduce things for three days and three nights. Maybe it's because I overexerted myself earlier, helping you work out a solution. I... I can't take it anymore. I'll meditate for a while. When you're ready to tell fortunes, call me."
The dark circles around Zhuge Qingchen's eyes had grown even deeper, like a panda's.
Su Li quietly calculated that in this half hour, he had gained a full 19,438 Heavenly Secrets Value from Zhuge Qingchen!
Could there really be such a serious drawback?
Had Zhuge Qingchen been completely drained?
Why hadn't Hua Yunxiao, Hua Ziyan, and Mu Yuxi shown any signs of trouble, despite Su Li getting plenty of Heavenly Secrets Value from them?
Su Li rubbed his nose, suddenly finding the whole thing rather interesting.
He turned around, only to discover that Zhuge Qingchen had disappeared.
Hm?
Where was he?
Su Li reflexively looked down. Zhuge Qingchen was sprawled on the ground, foaming at the mouth, his body twitching.
He'd said he was going to meditate, but he hadn't even managed to sit cross-legged before collapsing. He hadn't even had time to take a pill.
"That's pretty impressive. Is he ruined?"
"Looks like I can't keep shearing the same sheep until it drops dead... Was I a little too harsh?"
Su Li's conscience hurt just a tiny bit, so he gave himself a little reprimand. "Forget it. Once he recovers, I'll stop when I get to around ten next time. I'll leave him enough breath to live."
Su Li wisely gave himself a thumbs-up for his mercy and kindness.
"Whoosh—"
Just then, a streak of auspicious clouds came hurtling from the distance.
When the streak of clouds landed, it transformed into Yun Wanchu.
But after Yun Wanchu landed and was about to speak, the sight of Zhuge Qingchen left him startled.
"Master Su, this... What happened to Mystic Master Zhuge?"
"It's nothing. He overexerted himself with his deductions. Just let him recover for a while."
"Gasp... His potential has been overtaxed. Even his kidney water has dried up... So deduction really is this terrifying..."
Yun Wanchu murmured to himself. Then he immediately bowed deeply and said with reverence and gratitude, "Master Su, I'll never forget your great kindness!"
"It's nothing. You brought what I asked for, right?"
"Master Su, it's all here."
"Good. Let me have a look."
Su Li carefully examined the stalks and was quite pleased.
As expected of someone as greedy for life and fearful of death as Yun Wanchu, he had selected stalks of impeccable quality. There wasn't a single flaw to be found.
Su Li sorted the stalks into categories, then took fifty from each category and removed one from each group.
This represented the saying, "The Great Dao gives birth to fifty, of which Heaven derives forty-nine."
Though Su Li had no idea whether this method would even work in this world.
Once he'd finished, Zhuge Qingchen's complexion had improved quite a bit.
Yun Wanchu hadn't just left Zhuge Qingchen sprawled on the ground, foaming at the mouth. While Su Li was cutting the stalks, he had taken out a spirit medicine and fed it to him.
Now Zhuge Qingchen had caught his breath and finally woken up.
"Ugh, I'll never force myself to perform deductions again. Thank goodness this happened beside Brother Li, and thank goodness it was in the Wanli Holy Land. If I'd been outside, I might've been left to rot in the wilderness, or even had my bones ground to dust."
Zhuge Qingchen was grateful, too.
He'd learned his lesson the hard way.
Su Li was unconvinced. Heh, you just hadn't met me sooner. If you'd met me earlier, you'd have been ruined ages ago.
"Mm, as long as you're all right. I'm ready now and can tell Old Yun's fortune whenever you are."
Su Li didn't call him "Holy Lord Yun" anymore. Just "Old Yun" was enough to leave Yun Wanchu startled... no, overwhelmed with flattery and overjoyed.
"Brother Li, you're so good to me. Truly. At first, I'll admit, I didn't think much of you. Especially after I found out you'd rejected my deductions about my father-in-law... No, I mean, about Imperial Lord Hua. I disliked you even more.
"Though you helped Imperial Lord Hua avoid the 'Heaven-Sent Monument' calamity, which changed my opinion of you and made me recognize your abilities, I still wasn't convinced.
"Now I finally know that compared to a small-minded fellow like me, you're the one with the broadest heart and the most open mind."
Zhuge Qingchen was so moved he could hardly speak. He kept running out of breath and couldn't finish a single sentence.
Now, his words finally matched his heart.
"Mm, being able to recognize your own problems is a good thing, kiddo. Also, don't do any deductions for a while. Get some proper rest and take plenty of top-grade pills to replenish your energy! Once you've recovered, we'll have a good discussion about deduction."
Su Li said with a smile.
"All right, Brother Li."
Zhuge Qingchen was so moved that he was close to tears.
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