Turtle Shell Divination

"This is..."

Yu Chen cut open Transforming Serpent's belly and found a piece of turtle shell in its abdomen. The shell was not large, nor was it particularly thick; clearly, it had not belonged to some ancient turtle. Yet its surface bore strange patterns, and it radiated faint wish-power, protecting it from being digested by Transforming Serpent.

"Witch script? No, these patterns are somewhat different from ordinary witch script. They are closer to seal script, only cruder and more ancient." Yu Chen stroked the patterns on the turtle shell, carefully sensing the wish-power within.

His exceptionally high spirituality began to show its effects at that moment, and Yu Chen vaguely sensed a strand of intent.

"Wind and rain, harvest, pray..."

After deciphering the meanings represented within the wish-power, Yu Chen understood that this was material for turtle-shell divination—a turtle shell specially used for divination and prayer.

Yu Chen had learned a little of turtle-shell divination back when he was in the Snake Tribe, but there were few suitable spirit turtles around the tribe, and their techniques in this regard were terribly underdeveloped. Ever since he had begun learning the witch's path, he had only seen the old Snake Witch perform it twice, and both attempts had failed. As for after he took power, he had never personally performed turtle-shell divination.

Therefore, all Yu Chen could tell from the turtle shell before him was that it had never been used. As for its origins—whether it had been used to pray to the gods of heaven, the deities of earth, or the ancestors, to seek blessings or divine answers—he could not tell.

But one thing was certain: whoever had lost this turtle shell must have been frantic.

After all, turtle-shell divination was an exceedingly ancient method of prayer and divination, requiring a great deal of preparation beforehand. As far as the divination shell itself was concerned, it had to be carefully selected before the witch script was branded onto it, and after the script was carved, it needed to be worshipped for a period of time.

Once the witch script branded upon it had absorbed enough wish-power, the shell would be scorched in a specific flame. Spirituality would drive the principles of the art, striking the turtle shell and causing cracks to form around the witch script, from which one could judge fortune and misfortune, as well as whether the prayer had succeeded.

Put plainly, this thing was difficult to make, difficult to preserve, and highly specific. There was basically no chance of having a spare.

And divining wind, rain, and harvest at this time was likely for the impending planting season. Even in Yu Chen's original Snake Tribe, it would have been too late to make another turtle shell for divination in such a short time.

Thus, after finding such a turtle shell in Transforming Serpent's stomach, Yu Chen had initially been very confident. Even if he could not stay in the other party's tribe to rest and recover, he figured he could at least glean some information from them.

But to his helplessness, he could not find that tribe at all.

He circled the edge of the mountains from Transforming Serpent's memories several times, crossing eight or nine mountains back and forth, yet he did not detect even the faintest trace of human presence.

Something isn't right! Vaguely sensing where the problem lay, Yu Chen activated his cheat ability and was shocked to discover that the information recorded by its map function formed only the terrain of three mountains standing side by side.

Yu Chen half-closed his eyes and stood there in thought for a while. In the end, he chose to return to the lake where Transforming Serpent had lived. He chanted the Purify Heaven and Earth Spell, cleansing the bones and foul air left behind by Transforming Serpent, and established a new ritual ground.

The environment where Transforming Serpent had lived was actually quite good. Its concentration of spiritual essence surpassed that of Yu Chen's original ritual ground, and the place was quite suitable for snake cultivation as well.

While staying there, aside from his daily cultivation, several snake-related ritual implements in Yu Chen's possession received a degree of nourishment. Snake Shadow Banner in particular had undergone several alterations since Yu Chen's last dungeon world.

First, he had integrated the spell restrictions he learned in that dungeon world and refined a great many poisonous substances into it. After it was sealed by the ghostly qi of the Crow Totem, Yu Chen had also treated that ghostly qi as a kind of poison and incorporated it into the banner.

As a result, although Snake Shadow Banner had become more powerful, its aura had grown somewhat muddled. Whenever used, it brimmed with heavy yin qi and surging ghostly qi. One look was enough to tell that it was no good thing.

Yu Chen took advantage of this period to refine it anew. Then he placed it in the center of the lake where Transforming Serpent had lived, allowing it to draw in the surrounding water vapor and purify its essence, slowly fusing its ghostly qi, poisonous qi, and mist qi into one.

From time to time, he also went out to gather the essence of clouds and rosy vapors amid the mountains and rivers, the spiritual vitality of grass and trees, and the snake saliva of venomous snakes lurking nearby. Following the transformations of yin and yang, life and death, he mixed them together and repeatedly refined Snake Shadow Banner.

During this time, Yu Chen repeatedly used his cheat ability to correct and perfect the corresponding spell restrictions, little by little replacing the role the snake witch script had played within it.

Two months later, Snake Shadow Banner had been utterly transformed. Its staff became neither metal nor wood, while its banner cloth became neither cotton nor hemp, carrying a faint metallic sheen. Other than the rows of snake patterns upon its surface, it was almost impossible to recognize its original appearance.

Yu Chen summoned it into his hand and gave it a light shake. A multicolored haze, neither quite mist nor not mist, flowed out from it. As Yu Chen rotated his wrist, the haze either transformed into phantom snakes that slithered everywhere, or became like a long whip, lashing and coiling as he pleased. Most importantly, after Yu Chen's repeated refinement, the poison within had become intensely corrosive. Should an ordinary person be tainted by even the slightest bit, they would turn into pus and blood before long.

Why do I still feel that something is off? Why does this thing not seem like something I ought to use? Yu Chen looked at Snake Shadow Banner, whose appearance had risen by more than a level, but he could not shake the feeling that something was wrong. Yet when he thought it over carefully, he could not say what it was.

In the end, Yu Chen set that thought aside and turned to studying the turtle shell.

Two months had already passed since he obtained the thing. Planting season had long since gone by, and the turtle shell, once quite important, had lost its original purpose. More importantly, the wish-power within it had also begun to dissipate.

Seeing that no one had come for so long, Yu Chen began studying the changes in the turtle shell. At the same time, he activated his cheat ability to extract the leaking wish-power and the traces within.

As his research deepened, the words wind and rain, harvest gradually took shape within Yu Chen's sea of consciousness. Along with them came new insights into related talisman arts, especially the talismans for praying for rain, borrowing wind, controlling wind, spreading mist, and praying for clear skies.

Speaking of praying for rain, borrowing wind, controlling wind, spreading mist, and praying for clear skies, all of these were among the Seventy-Two Earthly Fiend Arts. Back in the previous dungeon world, Yu Chen had gained some insight into them through Black Snake's transformation into a flood dragon.

Unfortunately, his insight at the time had still fallen short, and he had failed to activate the corresponding Earthly Fiend Arts.

Instead, they had been extracted by talisman water and turned into individual talisman methods.

Now, observing the four characters for wind and rain, harvest on the turtle shell, which resembled witch script, Yu Chen immediately gained fresh insight in this area.

And as he observed the remaining patterns concerning prayer and supplication, Yu Chen's spirituality stirred and became exceptionally active.

Moved by inspiration, Yu Chen took a spirit turtle living in Transforming Serpent's lake—whether it had been stored food or something else, he did not know—and took its shell. He branded the words wind and rain onto it, supplementing it with his own mind power and mana, then divined the weather changes around this area over the coming days.

As flames scorched the turtle shell, Yu Chen's spirituality merged with a certain power between heaven and earth along with the burning fire. It was an extraordinarily profound sensation.

Yu Chen only felt that his spirituality was somewhat out of control—or rather, driven by some force—as it continuously struck against the turtle shell. Every collision caused changes in the witch script, and slowly, crack after crack appeared along the edges of the words wind and rain.

Sorry, I just realized I had set the time wrong. After thinking it over, I changed it to exactly ten o'clock; the remaining update will proceed as usual. Also, thanks to Mugwort 1 for the Qidian Coins, Snowball 8 for the 10,000 Qidian Coins, Pretty Girl 99 and Zhu Hao 1 for the 1,000 Qidian Coins, Only Me, Walking Alone for the 200 Qidian Coins, and Magical Moe and Chu Liuxiu for the 100 Qidian Coins.