Nine Chapters on the Secrets of Divination

[Is this what that elder sister of yours left behind?]

Sitting cross-legged on a meditation cushion in the main hall, Li Boyang tilted his head to look at Xiluo atop the clay statue.

Big Girl crouched quietly beside Li Boyang, holding a scroll of gorgeous silk entirely at odds with this era's productive capabilities.

Densely packed writing was engraved across that silk.

"That's right. This is what my elder sister left behind, and it's also the only way to break this deadlock right now."

Gently licking her paw, Xiluo spoke with a languid expression.

[Is this a martial arts manual? Or some Divine Ability or Law Technique?]

Reaching up to scratch his head, Li Boyang asked with considerable curiosity.

"A martial arts manual? A Divine Ability or Law Technique?"

This time, it was Xiluo's turn to lower her head in surprise and look at Li Boyang below.

"Although I don't know what you mean by a martial arts manual..."

"Divine Abilities are usually innate, and Law Techniques are secrets never passed on to outsiders. How could they possibly be recorded in writing?"

Hearing this, Li Boyang opened his mouth speechlessly, momentarily at a loss for what to say.

Xiluo's explanation had completely overturned his understanding of Divine Abilities and Law Techniques.

Fortunately, Xiluo paid no mind to Li Boyang's nonsense and continued explaining.

"My elder sister was the witch of the Huai River over a thousand years ago, born with the ability to reach through heaven and earth and know heaven's decrees."

"That scroll, Nine Chapters on the Secrets of Divination, was the book she used in her daily life to record myriad phenomena, heavenly timing, clouds and rain, mountain configurations, earth veins, Fate Principles, physiognomy, Auspicious Omens, and Ominous Baleful Intent."

"As for the black fog spreading out of Black Cloud Marsh, let's set aside its source for now..."

"Since that black fog can spread beyond Black Cloud Marsh, it must be drawing on the power of heavenly timing, mountain configurations, earth veins, or even clouds and rain."

"If you can understand Nine Chapters on the Secrets of Divination, you'll naturally be able to disperse that black fog too."

As she said this, Xiluo's tone was full of confidence.

Xiluo had unconditional trust in her elder sister-the witch of the Huai River from a thousand years ago.

"Then there's the matter of the Curse on you..."

"My sister sealed that Ruifu herself, so naturally, all sorts of information about it are recorded in there too."

"If you want to resolve the hidden danger of that Sha Qi, this book is your only lead."

Only after hearing this did Li Boyang reluctantly let the matter drop, abandoning the idea of getting a martial arts manual for nothing.

But this inevitably raised another question in Li Boyang's mind.

[I can't read!]

[I don't understand a single character written on this.]

Li Boyang was telling the truth.

Although he was exceptionally gifted, that did not mean he could master an entirely unfamiliar script without a teacher.

Yet when Li Boyang looked at Xiluo again,

he was astonished to discover that she seemed to be avoiding his gaze, whether intentionally or otherwise.

[Wait, don't tell me you can't read either?]

A vague realization dawning within him, Li Boyang opened his mouth wide in surprise.

"What's so strange about me not knowing how to read!?"

After a brief silence, Xiluo, driven into embarrassed anger by Li Boyang's stare, shouted loudly.

"I'm a spirit of the mountains!"

"Why should I know your human writing?"

"Anyway, I've given it to you. Whether you can read it is none of my business!"

Before her words had faded, Xiluo turned and vanished from Li Boyang's sight, as though she had never appeared.

[So... she really is illiterate?]

Only after a long while did Li Boyang let out a rather speechless sigh.

"Um..."

Just then, Big Girl, who had been sitting obediently to one side all this time, raised her hand.

"Um... actually... I can read..."

Looking at the eager expression on Big Girl's face, Li Boyang finally realized what he had just overlooked.

Big Girl did indeed know how to read, because her father had once been the village scholar.

Before abandoning his wife and daughter, her father had taught Big Girl to read.

Unfortunately, after leaving the village, her father had never returned, leaving mother and daughter to live in the village on their own.

Although Big Girl did not recognize all that many characters,

through a mixture of guesses and deductions, she still helped Li Boyang roughly understand some of Nine Chapters on the Secrets of Divination.

Yet whether it was because the written language had evolved over the past thousand years or because Big Girl misread too many characters,

Li Boyang could only say that he had barely grasped the broad outline of Nine Chapters on the Secrets of Divination.

He still had quite a long way to go before he could truly understand this scroll.

As its name suggested, Nine Chapters on the Secrets of Divination was actually a way of understanding the world, devised a thousand years ago by the witch of the Huai River based on her own Heavenly Mandate Divine Ability.

Setting aside those mysterious theories of ghosts and gods devised to make everything fit together,

Nine Chapters on the Secrets of Divination broadly divided all things in the world into nine categories: myriad phenomena, heavenly timing, clouds and rain, mountain configurations, earth veins, Fate Principles, physiognomy, Auspicious Omens, and Ominous Baleful Intent.

Of these, the Chapter on Myriad Phenomena served as the general framework for Nine Chapters on the Secrets of Divination.

As far as Li Boyang personally understood it, although the concept of "myriad phenomena" sounded rather abstract,

at its core, it was actually somewhat similar to the "Tao" Laozi mentioned at the beginning of the Tao Te Ching.

Of course, the witch of the Huai River did not possess the Dao Ancestor's understanding of the essential nature of things.

Thus, the "myriad phenomena" she expounded on were relatively simple and blunt, without any particularly high barrier to understanding.

At the very least, Li Boyang, who had studied dialectical materialism, analyzed and understood the concept of "myriad phenomena" quite easily.

However, in this world where supernatural powers truly existed,

since the witch of the Huai River had dared to place the Chapter on Myriad Phenomena before the other eight chapters, she naturally had her reasons.

After briefly introducing her understanding of the world,

the witch of the Huai River had left twelve patterns resembling indecipherable scrawls on the last page of the Chapter on Myriad Phenomena.

From the witch of the Huai River's account, along with Xiluo's occasional supplementary remarks, Li Boyang learned the true nature of these twelve scrawled patterns.

They were not some unknown script, but rather maxims imbued with mysterious power.

They were like the Taoist talismans and Buddhist Law Seals of his previous life.

Written in a particular way on particular materials, these maxims could reproduce powers similar to those of people with Divine Abilities, achieving the effect of commanding gods and enslaving ghosts.

Only by thoroughly understanding these maxims could Li Boyang study the remaining eight chapters of Nine Chapters on the Secrets of Divination in greater depth.

Otherwise, even if Li Boyang truly understood the contents of "Heavenly Timing," "Clouds and Rain," "Mountain Configurations," "Earth Veins," "Fate Principles," "Physiognomy," "Auspicious Omens," and "Ominous Baleful Intent,"

the world would merely gain another human who knew heaven's decrees, rather than one who could truly defy heaven and change fate.

Through this, Li Boyang finally understood the witch of the Huai River's true identity-she was a born prophet and an expert in divination.

The "divination" in Nine Chapters on the Secrets of Divination meant precisely the fortune-telling that people understood it to mean.