Copper Trigram Immortal Master

"I must have caught it from the people in the group. Their chat logs are fun to read, but I really should leave in a little while. Otherwise, I'll end up becoming just like them—once my cousin checks that prescription and confirms whether those supplements could poison someone, I'll leave." Song Shuhang thought to himself.

Really, they were just a bunch of strange people in a chat group... and he had been added for no apparent reason. Song Shuhang could have simply ignored whether they lived or died.

But he kept feeling that if he knew the "pills" they were taking were poisonous, he had to try to talk them out of it. Whether they listened to his advice or not, he at least needed to have a clear conscience.

Yes, a clear conscience.

Whether they listened was their business, but whether he warned them was his.

After returning to his dorm, Song Shuhang logged into his chat app and sent his cousin Zhao Yaya a copy of the list of medicinal ingredients.

"Sister Yaya, hypothetically, if all the ingredients above were put in a medicinal pot and simmered into a paste, could the resulting mixture kill someone who ate it? Please check for me when you have time."

He pressed Enter and sent the message. Then Song Shuhang leaned back in his chair and let his mind go blank.

Unlike him, his cousin Zhao Yaya was already doing her university internship and rarely went online. Sometimes she only logged on once every few days, so it was perfectly normal for a message to go unanswered for a week or so.

If possible, Song Shuhang would rather not have asked this question online.

After all, some things were less likely to cause misunderstandings when discussed face-to-face. What if his cousin thought he wanted to take this medicine himself, and he wasn't there to clear things up? He was afraid his mother might fly over to check on him.

Today, though, he felt increasingly close to being "assimilated" by the people in the group. Sure enough, while their chat logs were entertaining, it was better to leave sooner rather than later.

Since he had never spoken up in the group or formed any friendships there, he wouldn't have much to miss when he left.

Even so, his fingers involuntarily moved toward the bottom-right corner of the screen and opened the Nine Provinces Number One Group.

Habits were surprisingly easy to form. It had taken him only ten days to develop the habit of checking the group every day.

As it happened, some members were online.

Northern River's Loose Cultivator: "A-Qi, the tribulation transcendence is over, right? Little Sixteen advanced, didn't she?"

That message had been posted over ten minutes ago, but Su Clan's Seven still hadn't replied.

"Could something have gone wrong with the tribulation lightning?" Soft Feather of Spirit Butterfly Island asked. This time, she was using the account herself, rather than her father. Although the young woman had only recently joined, her sweet manner had already helped her get acquainted with several of the members who frequently chatted.

She knew that cultivators could never underestimate any tribulation lightning. No matter how weak it was, a moment of carelessness could lead to serious trouble.

"Probably not. A-Qi is there. If anything went wrong with mere third-grade houtian tribulation lightning, he could forcibly scatter it," Northern River's Loose Cultivator said.

Still, Su Clan's Seven's continued silence left him uneasy.

Just then, a username Song Shuhang had never seen before popped up. It was "Copper Trigram Immortal Master": "Don't worry just yet. Let this immortal master perform a divination, and we'll know the outcome."

Northern River's Loose Cultivator fell silent for a moment before replying, "All right."

Apparently, this fellow called Copper Trigram Immortal Master was playing the role of an immortal master who told fortunes?

Only two or three minutes later, Copper Trigram Immortal Master appeared again. "Haha, everything's fine. My divination yielded the best possible fortune—great luck and prosperity. Su Clan's Seven and his junior are definitely all right. We can just wait for Little Sixteen to come challenge us!"

The best possible fortune—that should put them a little more at ease, right? Divination isn't something to take seriously, but sometimes it really can offer a bit of comfort, Shuhang thought.

Yet after hearing the result, Northern River's Loose Cultivator showed no joy. Instead, he fell silent.

A moment later, he posted a wry-smile emoji. "Looks like something really did happen to Little Sixteen, which is why A-Qi hasn't come online. Is anyone near H City? Could you go check on A-Qi and see if he needs help?"

Mad Saber Three Waves popped up and sighed. "Since the Divination Immortal predicted great luck and prosperity, something really must have gone wrong. But I'm a long way from H City. Even if I wanted to rush over, it would take several days."

"?" Soft Feather was puzzled.

"Soft Feather, there's something you don't know. This immortal master's divinations have never been right. If he predicts great luck and prosperity for you, you'd better get ready, because you're absolutely screwed—disaster is coming. On the other hand, if he predicts calamity or something, you can breathe easy, because you're probably about to hit a lucky streak. If one day he predicts a world-ending catastrophe and eternal damnation for you, you can go ahead and throw a victory party, because that means you're about to walk outside and pick up an immortal artifact!" Mad Saber Three Waves explained.

Northern River's Loose Cultivator rubbed salt in the wound. "From another perspective, the Divination Immortal really is an excellent diviner. Just reverse his predictions, and you'll basically have the right answer."

Copper Trigram Immortal Master: "..."

He desperately wanted to scream himself hoarse in protest. Unfortunately, his entire life was filled with embarrassing evidence against him, leaving him agonizingly torn.

"By the way, Miss Soft Feather, may I ask when your father plans to go home? He's been a guest at my place for quite a while now. Doesn't he miss home, or his lovely, beautiful daughter?" Mad Saber Three Waves had learned his lesson this time and didn't say anything that courted death.

"Of course, Senior. I'll ask Dad for you when I have time," Soft Feather replied politely, but it was nothing more than an empty promise. She hadn't said when she would ask, nor had she agreed to tell her father to come home.

Mad Saber Three Waves had lived long enough to become thoroughly shrewd. How could he fail to recognize that Soft Feather was brushing him off? And so, Brother Three Waves's eyes grew moist again.

"Any lurkers in H City?" Northern River's Loose Cultivator tagged everyone in the group.

The lurking members surfaced one after another, then all posted head-shaking emojis. China was enormous, and there were only so many people in the group. They couldn't possibly all be clustered together.

The Jiangnan Region, where Song Shuhang lived, did border H City, but he didn't know Su Clan's Seven. Besides, he felt his mind was still clear enough that he couldn't possibly join the guys in the group in searching for someone who had disappeared while "transcending a lightning tribulation," then been declared "in trouble" based on a fortune-telling session.

After all, he hadn't been assimilated yet.

Just then, Soft Feather of Spirit Butterfly Island spoke up again. "I'm planning to go to J City to take care of something. I'll fly to Jiangnan Airport first, then head to J City. The Jiangnan Region is next to H City, so if you need any help, you can contact me anytime... I'm not familiar with H City, but if you need help, I'll do everything I can."

"That's wonderful," Northern River's Loose Cultivator replied.

Passing through the Jiangnan Region? That girl from the group is coming here? Song Shuhang blinked.

Northern River's Loose Cultivator said happily, "I'll find a way to contact A-Qi. If he needs help, I'll get in touch with you, Soft Feather."

He and Su Clan's Seven were very close. They had been friends who had faced life and death together even before joining the Nine Provinces Number One Group. Now, Copper Trigram Immortal Master's divination had left Northern River's Loose Cultivator rather unsettled.

It was easy to stay calm when something didn't concern you. Once it did, composure went out the window.

At that moment, the group owner, True Lord Yellow Mountain, appeared and offered some reassurance. "Northern River, don't worry too much. With A-Qi there, never mind third-grade houtian tribulation lightning—even fourth-grade xiantian tribulation lightning couldn't do anything to him."

"That's true." Northern River's Loose Cultivator sighed. "Actually, I wasn't worried at first. It was only mere third-grade houtian tribulation lightning, after all. But Copper Trigram Immortal Master's best-possible-fortune prediction of great luck and prosperity suddenly had me scared out of my wits."

"..." True Lord Yellow Mountain.

"..." Mad Saber Three Waves.

Northern River's Loose Cultivator made such a good point that neither of them had anything to say.