Lan Ning's Prophecy

Lan Ning? Prophecy?

Xia Ming deliberately walked over and said, "The academy's beauties are pretty nice, aren't they?"

"Of course! You have no idea how many knockout beauties came with this year's new students. Look, look at this one—those long legs, tsk tsk... And this one, cold as frost yet soft as boneless silk, the way those little feet walk is simply overflowing with charm... Absolute treasures among treasures!" Old Lan Ning drooled as he leered at the crystal ball. His exaggerated display left Xia Ming speechless.

This old lecher and Tang Ge really would make a perfect pair.

Lan Ning suddenly came to his senses, realizing he had let something slip. He raised his head and gave Xia Ming an embarrassed look.

When he saw that it was Xia Ming, his eyes lit up. He swiftly put away the crystal ball, so fast that Xia Ming was dumbfounded. "Ah, student, I was just looking everywhere for you. I was only using the crystal ball to check your location just now." Lan Ning's excuse was painfully clumsy, and Xia Ming nearly laughed inside.

Yet Xia Ming was also a little puzzled. "Why were you looking for me?"

"Hehe, student, if I'm not mistaken, your name is Xia Ming, right? What a tongue-twisting name." Lan Ning said with a smile, but no matter how Xia Ming looked at it, Lan Ning's smile seemed full of ulterior motives.

Xia Ming frowned. "You know my name?"

When he had gone up to test his talent that morning, Xia Ming had deliberately not given his name. It seemed this sleazy Lan Ning had investigated him.

Lan Ning waved a hand. "Student Xia Ming, don't be so resistant. What's wrong with a teacher showing concern for his students? Especially a student with talent as outstanding as yours, like a star in the night..."

Xia Ming inwardly mocked him. Concern for students? The ones you care about are those pretty female students! Xia Ming truly could not understand why such a disgraceful old pervert had become a teacher at Azure Flame Academy, even if he was only a visiting professor.

"Well then, esteemed teacher, if there's nothing else, I'll be leaving first." Xia Ming put heavy emphasis on the words "esteemed teacher" and gave a soft snort.

Lan Ning warmly sidled up and grabbed Xia Ming. "Student Xia Ming, don't be such a killjoy. I happen to need your help with something!"

"Hm?"

Xia Ming looked at Lan Ning in confusion.

"Student Xia Ming, you've been assigned to Azure Cloud Pavilion, right?" Lan Ning chuckled slyly.

"That's right. Why?"

Lan Ning slapped his thigh, his face brimming with excitement. "Azure Cloud Pavilion is the sacred ground where this academy's beauties are most concentrated! How can your reaction be so calm? Please deliver this letter to your mentor, the Flame Rose—Miss Freya. Within it rests the deep longing I feel for her..."

Lan Ning took out a fiery-red envelope, densely covered in all kinds of declarations of love. Phrases like "earth-shattering," "until the seas run dry and the rocks crumble," and "a handsome man and beautiful woman, a match made in heaven" filled the page, making cold sweat stream down Xia Ming's back. He only felt that it was... a real pain in the balls.

Before Xia Ming could speak, Lan Ning produced several more multicolored envelopes as if performing a magic trick.

"Not just Miss Freya—there's also Christina, Audrey... Oh, right, and Miss Loulan, the new first-year student."

Xia Ming swore that at this moment, he sincerely wanted to slap that whole stack of envelopes right into the old pervert's face.

"Sorry, I can't help you with that. Teacher, you should find someone else." Xia Ming could not be bothered with this old lecher. He had even less of a bottom line than Tang Ge. Tang Ge might be a smooth talker, but he had always claimed that Freya was his goddess. At least he was relatively devoted.

Lan Ning still blocked Xia Ming's path. The lecherous look faded from his face, and he became much more serious.

"Enough, Student Xia Ming. I won't beat around the bush anymore. I've actually been looking for you because I have serious business." Lan Ning's expression turned solemn, his eyes burning as he stared at Xia Ming—this youth possessed peerless talent. He was a big fish, and Lan Ning could not let him get away!

Xia Ming paused, finding it strange. "What serious business do you have with me?"

Lan Ning did not seem to be faking it, which secretly puzzled Xia Ming.

Lan Ning bared his teeth in a grin, and that scheming smile immediately gave Xia Ming a bad feeling.

"Kid, I am a great prophet."

A prophet?

The so-called prophets of this world were vastly different from street-corner frauds like fortune-tellers and diviners. Prophets were extraordinarily mysterious and rarely walked among the common people. They could foresee the course of the future—though only in broad terms.

These mysterious prophets held an extremely lofty status across the continent, enjoying great honor and prestige, not inferior even to powerful magicians.

"You're a prophet?" Xia Ming's face was full of disbelief.

Noticing Xia Ming's suspicious gaze, Lan Ning was like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. His face flushed red as he shouted, "You may doubt my character, but you absolutely must not doubt my [Grand Prophecy]! Fine, I'll make a prediction for you right now!"

"Even if you are a prophet, what does that have to do with seeking me out?" Xia Ming sneered.

Lan Ning grew excited. "It has everything to do with it! With talent like yours, don't you want to know what you'll achieve in the future? Don't you want to grasp the unknown, seek fortune and avoid misfortune?"

Hehe, Student Xia Ming, once you witness my great prophecy, I refuse to believe you won't take the bait!

Xia Ming looked at Lan Ning with interest and nodded. "All right, then. Give me a prediction."

"No problem!" Provoked by the disbelief all over Xia Ming's face, Lan Ning picked up the crystal ball and prepared to divine Xia Ming's future. Then his hand suddenly paused, and he rubbed his face as he said shamelessly, "Well, Student Xia Ming, you know that every use of prophecy is an enormous drain on a prophet. Shouldn't you, you know... show some sincerity?"

Lan Ning rubbed his thumb and forefinger together in a gesture asking for money...

Old lecher, old swindler!

Xia Ming gave a cold snort, turned, and prepared to leave.

"Wait!"

Lan Ning panicked. He grabbed Xia Ming and said with a fawning smile, "I'll do one reading for you free of charge—but only this once. I'll be charging from now on!" Lan Ning's mental abacus clattered away. With this kid's terrifying talent, once he took the bait, he would be a huge fish. No matter what, Lan Ning could not let him go!

As long as he could get in with this brat, his talent meant that his future accomplishments would surely be limitless. Befriending him would be like securing a long-term meal ticket!

Xia Ming was somewhat surprised. He was not asking for money and was still so certain of himself. Could this Lan Ning really be some hidden master beyond the world?

"Sure. Let's give it a try."

Following Lan Ning's instructions, Xia Ming placed both hands on the crystal ball, his mind utterly still and clear.

The crystal ball began to light up bit by bit, radiating an indescribable brilliance.

"Eh?" Lan Ning frowned, his long, sharp face darkening as cold sweat beaded on his forehead. In astonishment, he said, "Little Brother Xia Ming, your fate is truly rare and astonishing!"

Xia Ming curled his lip. This was obviously the classic opening line of some street con artist—something about an "astonishing fate" or "a bloody calamity."

"Is there a problem?"

Cold sweat streamed down Lan Ning's face as he muttered, "This is the first time I've ever seen a fate like yours. An ordinary person's fate begins at birth and lasts until death. But... but your fate has no first twenty years at all! It only starts being counted from your twentieth year. This, this..."

Lan Ning's eyes widened. Could the fellow before him be an undead being? There was not the slightest trace of the first twenty years of his fate, as though he were a person who had appeared out of thin air!

The moment Lan Ning said this, Xia Ming was startled.

Lan Ning was right!

Xia Ming had only transmigrated here at the age of twenty, which meant that before then, he had not belonged to this world at all! Naturally, the first twenty years of his fate were completely blank!

Xia Ming began to believe in Lan Ning's divination.

"Then, can you predict my future fate?" Xia Ming asked.