Soon, Hua Yunxiao returned as well. He planned to invite Zhuge Wuwei, the Pavilion Master of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion, to personally inspect the matter of Wanli Holy Land and the ancestral grounds of the Hua Clan.
For the time being, he had not yet asked Su Li for permission.
At that moment, after learning that Su Li was going to divine Yun Wanchu's fortune, Hua Yunxiao stood off to the side with keen interest, watching closely.
"Brother Li, why did you choose so many different kinds of stalks? Is there some particular reason?"
Zhuge Qingchen asked earnestly.
"Those that grow for one year represent the Dao giving birth to One. One gives birth to Two, Two gives birth to Three, and Three gives birth to all things."
Su Li answered without even thinking.
"Hiss—"
Su Li's words stunned Hua Yunxiao, Yun Wanchu, and Zhuge Qingchen on the spot.
All three drew in a sharp breath, their hearts trembling!
This was the Great Dao!
This was the Ultimate Dao!
"Those that grow for nine years represent nine, the utmost number."
"Those that grow for forty-nine years represent this: the Great Dao is fifty, yet Heaven's derivation reaches only forty-nine. Just like the number of stalks, one is missing from fifty. It represents the One that has escaped, the transcendence and the variable hidden within Heaven's secrets..."
"Those that grow for fifty-nine years represent the supremacy of the Nine-Five..."
"Those that grow for ninety-nine years represent the supreme Nine-Nine, the true ultimate Dao of Heaven and Earth."
"Those that grow for a hundred years represent the fullness of the mortal world and its beautiful wishes: flowers blooming in profusion, perseverance through a hundred setbacks, a happy marriage lasting a hundred years, a long life of a hundred years, a good name that endures for generations, and so on. The symbolism of a hundred is that when things reach an extreme, they must reverse; when adversity reaches its limit, fortune turns; the greatest ordinary person is like a sage, and the greatest sage is like an ordinary person..."
Unconcerned by the three men's astonishment, Su Li continued, "To divine a fortune, you first need to understand the Trigram Symbol. A hexagram has six lines, and each line can be either yin or yang..."
"The Great Expansion has fifty numbers, of which forty-nine are used. Divide them into two to symbolize the two forces; set one aside to symbolize the Three Powers; count them by fours to symbolize the four seasons; return the odd stalks to the fingers to symbolize intercalary months. There are two intercalary months in five years, so the stalks are returned twice before the next casting. Heaven is one and Earth is two; Heaven is three and Earth is four; Heaven is five and Earth is six; Heaven is seven and Earth is eight; Heaven is nine and Earth is ten. There are five Heavenly numbers and five Earthly numbers; the five positions correspond and each has its partner. The Heavenly numbers total twenty-five, the Earthly numbers total thirty, and together the numbers of Heaven and Earth total fifty-five. This is how change is formed and spirits are set in motion..."
Using all these stalks, Su Li divined as he explained.
Unfortunately, no matter how brilliantly he spoke, Hua Yunxiao and the others were completely baffled.
They didn't understand a word, but that didn't stop them from finding it profoundly impressive and admiring Su Li.
After finishing the divinations, Su Li also took the opportunity to divine for Hua Yunxiao and Zhuge Qingchen.
Judging by the various results, the best effect didn't come from the one-year stalks or the hundred-year stalks, but from the ninety-nine-year stalks.
So Su Li discarded the other stalks, keeping only the one that had grown for ninety-nine years.
This spirit herb was called the Nine Nights Spirit Sunflower. Its appearance resembled a graceful young woman with a flower still in bud.
It was an extremely cold-natured spirit medicine, used to transform the quality of a Nascent Soul. It was incredibly precious.
The entire Wanli Holy Land had only six plants in total, and this time, they had dug up an entire one just to divine a fortune.
Once cut, these stalks became true cold yin stalks, or, for short...
Cold stalks.
Su Li had Yun Wanchu cut them into fifty one-inch segments for future divinations and deductions.
The Trigram Symbol showed that Yun Wanchu was truly fortunate. Having escaped the calamity of the Heavenly Town Soul Stele, his future achievements were boundless.
Zhuge Qingchen's originally heaven-defying fate, by contrast, was fraught with hardship. It was as though the road ahead was covered in thorns.
It wouldn't be fatal, but it would be enough to leave him so depressed he spat blood.
As for Hua Yunxiao, the Trigram Symbol showed that his future was utterly dark.
Su Li divined several more times in a row, but the results barely changed. It was still all darkness.
Then Su Li used the Life Archive to check Hua Ziyan's birth details and divined for her as well.
The result went without saying.
Before meeting him, Su Li, Hua Ziyan's Trigram Symbol had been a shade of pink.
After meeting him, it had turned from pink to black.
Her Trigram Symbol was now darker than anyone could imagine, with no future to speak of.
Su Li rubbed his chin and pondered for a moment before trying to divine Mu Yuxi's fortune.
But just then, a faint stinging sensation suddenly arose in his brain.
At the same time, a queasy discomfort welled up in him, leaving him feeling irritated and on the verge of vomiting.
"This... divining fortunes really does take a heavy toll!"
Su Li's heart tightened as he realized he couldn't do this recklessly. He had to show restraint, or the consequences would be serious!
Yet this also filled him with delight, because it meant that divination and the like actually worked in this world!
That meant the systems of knowledge from his past life—even abilities like feng shui—could all be put to use!
If feng shui worked, could it be cultivated to its ultimate level, allowing one to move mountains, fill seas, summon wind, and call rain?
Even if it wasn't that heaven-defying, could the methods of the Pre-Qin Qi Cultivators—the things about refining essence into qi and refining qi into spirit—be used?
Or could he combine the knowledge systems from his past life and create an entirely new cultivation system suited to himself?
"Master Su."
From Su Li's grave expression, Hua Yunxiao sensed that something was wrong.
When Su Li came back to himself, Hua Yunxiao called out softly.
"It's nothing. Although your fate and Trigram Symbol are both terrible, Senior Hua, as long as I'm here, I can help you defy Heaven and change your fate!"
Su Li's voice brimmed with confidence.
"Brother Li is absolutely right," Zhuge Qingchen said. "Take the Heavenly Town Soul Stele incident at noon, for example. The Imperial Lord was originally supposed to suffer a calamity, but now he's avoided it, hasn't he? The future isn't set in stone. Once it's divined, it can be affected in all sorts of ways, bringing about corresponding changes..."
Hua Yunxiao said, "In this life, one should live when it is time to live, and die when it is time to die. I'm not particularly concerned about my own future. It's just that..."
As he spoke, Hua Yunxiao glanced at Zhuge Qingchen and said, "Forget it. You already knew quite a bit about Ziyan's situation. I suppose it can't be kept from you any longer...
"From the Heavenly Blood Ancient Clan directing Yinshang Cave Heaven to assassinate Ziyan, it's clear that the matter has already been exposed. Master Su was able to deduce it, and Mystic Master Zhuge has already made some guesses. The other mystic and spirit masters may well be able to figure it out, too."
He sighed and continued, "But Ziyan is still young—only seventeen—and she bears such a heavy fate-calamity. If I died, I wouldn't be able to rest in peace! What is my poor daughter supposed to do?"
Hearing this, Yun Wanchu said in alarm, "My lord will not only avoid death, but will surely reach the legendary realms of Nascent Soul Transformation, Spirit Transformation, and Divine Transformation, prove the Dao of Creation, and raise the prestige of our Hua Clan!"
Hua Yunxiao gave a bitter smile, his expression tinged with melancholy.
But the expression lasted only an instant.
In the next moment, he had regained his calm and composure. "No matter what, I will remember Master Su's great kindness for all eternity.
"Master Su, since you're so concerned for the safety of that friend of yours... I happen to have a nine-star Spirit Artifact battle armor, the Wind Spirit Dust Avoiding Armor, along with several powerful top-grade Spirit Artifacts and protective seals.
"To refine this spirit armor, one needs only gather a thread of spiritual energy and a trace of soul power.
"Even if you can't fully connect with it or control the Wind Spirit Dust Avoiding Armor, its basic defense is still astonishing, despite being only a top-grade Spirit Artifact!
"The Wind Spirit Dust Avoiding Armor contains a spirit-gathering array. It can gather spiritual energy and temper the body at any time.
"So even if you can only channel a trace of spiritual energy, you can still use some basic spirit items.
"For example, offensive seals, protective seals, and talisman arrays. I've already refined all of these into the Wind Spirit Dust Avoiding Armor.
"Combined with the spirit-gathering array inside, these things can be activated with just a trace of spiritual energy to guide them.
"And if it comes under a powerful attack, the seals can draw spiritual energy from the spirit-gathering array and activate on their own. Their protective effect will be many times stronger..."
After finishing, Hua Yunxiao took out a palm-sized, square object that looked like spirit jade.
This was clearly the Wind Spirit Dust Avoiding Armor he had mentioned.
Su Li was immediately tempted.
"This really is a good thing!"
"Hua Yunxiao really is sincere—he even thought of a solution like this!"
Su Li sighed inwardly, full of emotion.
"Imperial Lord Hua, these things are certainly excellent, but Brother Li's friend is still a mere mortal. He can't yet escape the calls of nature. What should he do when he needs to relieve himself? If he's in a hurry, he won't be able to take this armor off!"
At this point, Zhuge Qingchen cautiously voiced the concern in his heart.
He even pictured a scene in his mind: Master Su Li was chatting and laughing with Fairy Li when he suddenly needed to relieve himself. But the spirit armor wouldn't come off, and all the products of nature ended up caught inside the Wind Spirit Dust Avoiding Armor—or tumbled out from beneath his robes and landed beside Fairy Li's spirit boots, steaming...
It was a very aromatic thought.
So much so that Zhuge Qingchen instinctively backed away a few steps, putting distance between himself and Su Li.
The scene suddenly fell silent.
Hua Yunxiao was initially taken aback, then froze on the spot. Clearly, he had considered everything except the calls of nature. After all, he hadn't done that sort of thing in nearly a thousand years.
Yun Wanchu's breathing hitched, and his expression grew quite colorful as well.
But he was sensible enough to keep quiet, lowering his presence instead. With his keen sense for danger, he knew this was the time to keep his head down!
The air seemed to carry a very particular scent—the scent of a storm about to break.
Many thanks to my longtime reader of over ten years, "A Dull Blade Sharpened for Ten Years," for the 1,000 Qidian coins! My deepest gratitude!
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