"Holy shit!"
Su Li jolted, nearly scared into cardiac arrest!
It reminded him of the shadow left by those terrifying Flash horror stories from his past life, where a ghastly face suddenly popped onto the screen!
But back then, it had only been a prank. It wasn't necessarily all that scary.
Right now, though, Su Li could feel it for real: a pair of bloodshot eyes, vicious and sinister beyond belief, were fixed on him!
With what he knew now, he didn't think this was just an illusion!
Su Li's face darkened. He hadn't expected that impersonating a Heavenly Secrets Master would provoke such an outrageously powerful being.
Su Li took a deep breath and silently recited, "Thus have I heard... Good men and good women who set their minds on unsurpassed, perfect enlightenment: how should they abide, and how should they subdue their minds? Bodhisattvas should dwell nowhere when practicing charity..."
After reciting that passage, Su Li switched to another: "Namo Amitabha..."
Then he switched again: "Mighty Heavenly Dragon, World-Honored Ksitigarbha, Buddhas of Prajna, Prajna Bamakong..."
Even after all that, he was still cold all over, as if something were pressing down on him and leaving him unable to breathe. Su Li immediately focused, held his breath, and silently recited, "Boundless Celestial Venerable..."
Then: "The first, second, third, and fourth of the nine seals, all soldiers arrayed and marching forward..."
Then: "Heaven and earth have no bounds, the profound heart upholds the law, the Nine Heavens unleash their power, shaping forms in every direction, purple-cloud divine thunder!"
He continued: "Heaven and earth possess righteous qi, which takes myriad forms..."
At last, Su Li even silently recited the Song of Righteousness.
Before he knew it, that cold, heavy, sinister, oppressive feeling had vanished without a trace.
"Phew—"
Su Li let out a long breath. Only then did he notice how clammy he felt: he was drenched in cold sweat.
The Five Emperors Ancient Coin in his hand gave off a faint warmth. Its energy dispelled some of the icy chill and gradually steadied him.
"I don't belong to this world. The laws of this heaven and earth don't affect me. I'm a true outsider to fate! Demons, monsters, ghosts, and ghouls—there's no need to pay them any mind!"
"From now on, they should be the ones afraid of me!"
After reassuring himself, Su Li looked at Fang Yueheng standing before him.
Fang Yueheng was still looking at him expectantly, his big eyes bright with sunshine and youthful vitality.
"I just made a deduction about your situation. It's very bad."
Su Li's expression turned grave as he spoke solemnly.
"Please, Master Su, don't hold back. Give me your guidance."
Fang Yueheng didn't doubt him for a moment. He bowed, his manner utterly sincere.
Just then, Hua Ziyan quietly walked over and used her sleeve to wipe the cold sweat from Su Li's forehead. "Master Su, if you're tired, there's no need to rush. Take your time."
Mu Yuxi followed after Hua Ziyan.
Both women were still wearing purple gauze dresses today. They looked especially graceful and striking, beautiful as immortals.
Su Li looked away and turned back to Fang Yueheng. "I'll cast another trigram for you."
With that, he took out the Five Emperors Ancient Coin and a Nine Night Spirit Sunflower Cold Stem, then cast a trigram for Fang Yueheng on the spot.
There was no need to examine the Trigram Symbol. It was unmistakably a sign of great misfortune!
Not only was it a dire omen, but the entire divination was shrouded in wisps of dark, murky energy.
Even Fang Yueheng felt a powerful sense of dread and unease at the strange aura.
Su Li pondered for a long while without immediately giving the details. Instead, he instinctively looked at the others present.
After his gaze swept across the gathered young talents, it settled on Zhuge Qingchen.
Then, as if he'd thought of something, his expression eased.
"Qingdi... You seem in good spirits today."
Su Li's sudden greeting made Zhuge Qingchen's breath catch. At the same time, he instinctively felt that something terrible was coming.
"Surely Brother Li isn't about to ask me to guide him through a deduction?"
At the thought, Zhuge Qingchen felt cold all over and nearly dropped to his knees. Ever since he'd overexerted himself with a deduction yesterday and started foaming at the mouth, he'd developed a terrible mental scar. He never wanted to help anyone make a deduction again!
Even if he couldn't avoid it, he'd have to wait a while—until his mental wounds had completely healed before trying again!
But now, with Su Li staring at him, his scalp prickled.
"No, no, I'm not in good spirits at all today. I haven't recovered yet, either. I need three days of rest—no, half a month—before I'll be back to normal!"
Zhuge Qingchen shook his head like a rattle drum.
"To keep me from asking you to try a deduction, you're pretending to be weak? Acting like you're completely spent? You represent the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion!"
Su Li had heard the contradiction between Zhuge Qingchen's words and his thoughts. He exposed him at once and harvested a full 580 points of Heavenly Secrets Value on the spot!
He's recovered pretty well!
Su Li thought to himself.
He intended to seize every opportunity to harvest Heavenly Secrets Value.
After having a wave of Heavenly Secrets Value harvested from him, Zhuge Qingchen immediately felt sleepier and more depressed.
Before, he'd only been pretending to be weak. Now, he really was struggling to keep up. He actually felt rather feeble.
"I really can't do it now. I think watching you make deductions takes a huge toll on my energy and spirit. That just goes to show how astonishing your attainments in divining the secrets of heaven are, Brother Li."
Zhuge Qingchen spoke weakly. In just that short while, the dark circles around his eyes had deepened, and bloodshot lines had appeared in them.
Hearing such high praise for Su Li from a top-tier Heavenly Secrets Master like Zhuge Qingchen only made the anticipation in Fang Yueheng's eyes burn brighter.
As for fear? That didn't exist! Fang Yueheng had never known fear, not once in his life.
Not far from Fang Yueheng, Yun Qingxuan, Yun Qinghong, and the others also looked at Su Li with shining eyes. Their anticipation only grew.
"Fang Yueheng's situation involves Fang Yueyu and the infant soul behind him! Fang Yueheng is only at the second level of the Golden Core Realm, so he isn't strong. Fang Yueyu appears to be at the late eighth level of the Foundation Establishment Realm, but his actual strength has reached the fourth level of the Golden Core Realm. Even so, dealing with him wouldn't be difficult. The problem is that infant soul behind Fang Yueyu—it's lived for more than nine thousand years! That's terrifying!"
"More importantly, that thing seems to have its eyes on me. Could it tell that I was looking at it through the system's Life Archive?"
"What kind of ability is that? How powerful is it? Can it affect me across such a vast distance?"
"Zhuge Qingchen is a true child of destiny, a darling of fate! What would happen if I had him go with Fang Yueheng to deal with this problem? Would he die?"
Su Li opened Fang Yueheng's Life Archive again and looked it over, but nothing had changed.
He then checked Fang Yueheng's Life Archive once more, only to find that the Heavenly Secrets Value needed to view his future was enormous. He gave up on the idea.
Su Li had also worked out a few rules: if he didn't step in and interfere with something, people's Life Archives barely changed. Whatever was supposed to happen in the future would definitely happen!
But if he did interfere, their Life Archives would undergo some subtle changes. Those changes would adjust at any moment in the present, but the information in their future Life Archives wouldn't refresh constantly.
Only after the Heavenly Secrets Value was settled would the Life Archive for the next seven days refresh.
In other words, Su Li had opened Fang Yueheng's Life Archive for the next seven days, and it showed what would happen during the seven days after this particular point in time.
Before the value was settled, checking it repeatedly would always show the same information.
However, if a fundamental change occurred, or something significant happened that affected the future, he'd have to spend Heavenly Secrets Value to check the future Life Archive again.
Of course, he could also check it indirectly through someone else's connection. For example, he'd confirmed Hua Yunxiao's death tribulation through Hua Ziyan's future Life Archive earlier. That was exactly the sort of thing he meant.
"Qingdi, from now on, don't leave Fang Yueheng's side until the afternoon of the day after tomorrow."
Su Li suddenly spoke to Zhuge Qingchen.
Zhuge Qingchen froze.
Fang Yueheng, Hua Ziyan, Yun Wanchu, and the others also looked confused. What connection could there be?
"Fine! Since you've asked me yourself, Brother Li, I'll do it!"
Zhuge Qingchen promised on the spot.
Su Li nodded, then took out six cold stems and cast a quick divination using King Wen's sixty-four hexagrams.
This time, Su Li cast the Wind over Mountain, Gradual hexagram on the spot. Its Trigram Symbol was 'oo×o××' (see the bonus illustration at the end of the chapter).
The direct interpretation of the hexagram's judgment was: The phoenix alights on Mount Xiqi, and cries out several times to summon the sages. Heaven sends King Wen to lay the foundations of his cause; wealth and glory endure for eight hundred years.
This was a supreme auspicious hexagram!
In terms of its meaning, it represented: A handsome bird is fortunate to escape its cage, leave calamity behind, and display its power. At last, good fortune arrives; it may roam at will, east, west, south, or north.
This was a composite hexagram, with Gen below and Xun above. Gen represented the mountain, and Xun represented wood. A tree on a mountain grew gradually, and as it grew, so did the mountain. This was a process of gradual advancement, hence the name "Gradual." "Gradual" meant "progress," advancing step by step rather than rushing forward!
In other words, as long as Zhuge Qingchen—the man who seemed to bring death to anyone he followed—went with Fang Yueheng through this calamity, Fang Yueheng wouldn't just survive. He'd gain immense blessings and a heaven-sent opportunity!
This was freaking ridiculous!
"With a hexagram like this, all we have to do is play it safe and we win by doing nothing! I'm in!"
"Didn't Hua Yunxiao and Hua Ziyan both have death tribulations this time? Perfect. I can exaggerate the danger of this calamity..."
"Whether I make it big or not depends on this one shot!"
Su Li stared at Zhuge Qingchen, his eyes gleaming. He'd already thought of a way to break through the impasse!
Before you continue