The World-Governing Qi Observation Method
"What powerful Divine Intention."
Chen Cuo came outside the mountain gate and faced his opponent across the air, his previously relaxed expression gone.
He had arrived on the momentum of victory and probed with his "spirit," but it had vanished like a clay ox sinking into the sea, that wisp of "spirit" plunging into an unfathomable abyss.
No wonder the Three Lives Pavilion had ranked him eleventh.
But powerful Divine Intention alone was not enough to rank eleventh on the Hidden Dragon Ranking. It did not carry the oppressive feeling of facing a Primal Core cultivator.
After Blood Exchange, the gap between realms was enormous.
And as for Chen Cuo, he believed he had few rivals in Divine Intention.
He feared none but the Weapon Lord!
His gaze swept in all directions. People from every renowned faction under heaven had come to watch the battle.
They had not come for him, but for Xu Fan.
As his senior brother Fu Yuanwu had requested, he would find out just how strong Xu Fan, an inheritor of a Celestial Person's legacy, truly was, and whether he deserved to rank eleventh.
He had comprehended the Seven Sea-Overturning Saber Forms and remained at the Divine Intention Peak for several years. He needed a battle to find an opportunity to step into Primal Core.
Even if Fu Yuanwu had said nothing, he would have challenged the geniuses at the top of the Hidden Dragon Ranking after defeating Shen Guan!
Clang!
The Wave-Slaying Saber slid from its sheath and pointed straight at Xu Fan, who stood with his hands behind his back, clad in silver-white robes. Saber Intention spread out with it.
"On Divine Intention alone, you don't deserve to rank above me."
Only after sensing it did he understand why Han Tianling had deserved his death.
But Xu Fan had been cultivating for too short a time. Not even two years had passed, so it was unlikely he had reached Primal Core.
Even the Weapon Lords, with the cultivation insights of their predecessors, had to break through one step at a time. No one could ascend to heaven in a single step.
No matter how gifted a person was, they still had to temper and solidify their foundation in Qi and Blood and Blood Exchange before choosing to enter Innate.
Only then was there a chance of touching the threshold of a Land Immortal.
There were many great Primal Core cultivators under heaven, yet even after five hundred years of accumulation, fewer than a hundred Land Immortals appeared on the Earth Ranking compiled by the Three Lives Pavilion.
That showed just how difficult it was. The vast majority at Primal Core Peak could not cross that threshold in their entire lives.
The current Xu Fan lacked the seamless, unified quality of a great Primal Core cultivator.
"Make your move."
Xu Fan's expression was calm as True Qi circulated around him, and the True Intentions of the supreme yin and supreme yang emerged.
The sight astonished the experts from every faction.
None of them had expected Xu Fan to be only at Innate Major Accomplishment.
"What?!"
Yang Haitian shot to his feet, staring in disbelief at Xu Fan before the mountain gate, his lips slightly parted, utterly incredulous.
Xu Fan had never fought in front of him, and with his formidable Divine Intention and his killing of Han Tianling, there was no way he could be an Innate Grandmaster, however one looked at it.
How could a Grandmaster possess Divine Intention?
It was simply unheard of.
Could there be something special about the Celestial Person's legacy Xu Fan had obtained?
Those Weapon Lords could forcibly wield the Divine Abilities of Celestial Person Divine Weapons, but he had never seen one develop Divine Intention while still at Innate.
That meant Xu Fan had not even been at Innate Major Accomplishment before this?
"Innate Major Accomplishment?"
"How could an Innate Grandmaster have Divine Intention?"
Xia Qianqian of the Clearwater Sect widened her eyes and murmured to herself, her understanding completely overturned by the sight.
"...As unbelievable as it is, Xu Fan is in serious trouble."
Lan Ci was shocked at first. After recovering, she shook her head slightly, even less optimistic about the duel.
True Qi and True Essence were worlds apart in both quality and quantity.
That alone put Xu Fan at an enormous natural disadvantage.
It was now unlikely that he could win, or even avoid an utterly humiliating defeat.
"This really is surprising."
"Just how did an Innate Grandmaster come to possess Divine Intention?"
Huang Tianfu shrugged.
Though surprised that Xu Fan's cultivation was only at Innate Major Accomplishment, he was more interested in the matter of his Divine Intention.
What special method had the Yin Moon Celestial Person possessed?
"I didn't expect the Three Lives Pavilion to make a misjudgment too, putting someone at Innate Major Accomplishment in eleventh place."
Tie Shan shook his head slightly.
The outcome of this battle was already decided. The gap was too great.
Chen Cuo was no Han Tianling, after all.
The Three Lives Pavilion probably did not know Xu Fan's true cultivation either, judging him solely by that one battle and the powerful Divine Intention he had displayed.
Only after taking his Celestial Person's legacy and his previously rapid progress into account had they placed him eleventh.
Or perhaps they wanted to use this to see the true strength of a Celestial Person's inheritor?
"Putting him eleventh was indeed inappropriate, but he won't necessarily lose against Chen Cuo."
True Essence circulated through Huang Tianfu, and a faint light seemed to flicker in his eyes. It was the Imperial Astronomical Bureau's supreme art, the World-Governing Qi Observation Method.
It could discern mountains, rivers and earth veins, the turning of the Dipper and the shifting of the stars.
It could observe the fates of all living beings and the fortunes of dynasties.
It followed the Qi movements of heaven and earth and drew on a dynasty's fortune to cultivate.
He had not looked at Xu Fan's fortune before because his Divine Intention was powerful, and they were both Divine Intention Great Grandmasters. If he was not careful, he might suffer a backlash.
Besides, Xu Fan was suspected of possessing a Celestial Person's legacy. There was no need to look to know that heaven favored him and that his fortune would be no lower than cyan.
Now, however, there was a vast gap between their cultivation levels, and Huang Tianfu had advanced another step, so he felt tempted to peer at Xu Fan's fortune.
The world lost its color in his eyes, revealing the colors of fortune on everyone around him.
Apart from most of the Mystic Yang Sect's disciples, who bore the white fortune representing the countless ordinary people,
the experts from the other factions mostly had crimson, a grade higher, though its shade varied from person to person.
Anyone who became a leading expert naturally had some fortune.
Above crimson was the yellow fortune of a few individuals. All of them were great Primal Core cultivators, and most had crimson mixed into their yellow.
"Bai Lianxin?"
His gaze fell on the woman in the white dress, whose yellow fortune bore a tinge of cyan. He paused in surprise, then quickly looked away.
He could sense neither her presence nor her Divine Intention, which meant Bai Lianxin had entered Primal Core.
If he displeased her, there would likely be trouble.
Fortunately, everyone else was focused on Xu Fan and paid no attention to his use of the World-Governing Qi Observation Method to observe their fortunes.
When his gaze fell on Chen Cuo, he saw pale yellow fortune, along with wisps of black.
He turned his gaze to Xu Fan and froze. The casual look on his face gave way to astonishment and disbelief.
"No fortune? How is that possible?!"
Terrifying waves surged in Huang Tianfu's heart as he stared fixedly at the figure bearing not the slightest color of fortune.
In all the time since he had mastered the World-Governing Qi Observation Method, he had never heard of anyone without fortune!
All people had "Qi," and all people had "spirit"!
These were things everyone possessed from birth, with no exceptions!
"That's impossible, isn't it?"
Even the fortune of a Land Immortal or a Half-Step Celestial Person could be observed; it would merely result in death by backlash.
The same went for Weapon Lords. Even if they possessed a Celestial Person Divine Weapon, their fortune could still be observed. His master had never mentioned anything like this.
"What's impossible?"
"What did you see?"
Hearing Huang Tianfu's words, Tie Shan glanced over, wanting to know what he had seen with the World-Governing Qi Observation Method.
Anyone who obtained a Celestial Person's legacy was bound to have heaven's favor. Could Xu Fan's fortune be even higher than cyan?
"I... can't tell what his fortune is."
Huang Tianfu had begun to doubt whether his own cultivation of the method was lacking, and deliberately looked at the others again.
He closed his eyes and shook his head helplessly.
Everyone except Xu Fan had fortune.
Black, white, crimson, yellow and cyan.
Black represented misfortune, while white represented the ordinary people among the countless masses.
The other three grades all belonged to leading experts or geniuses whose names shook the world.
"You can't tell?"
Tie Shan whipped his head around in disbelief.
The World-Governing Qi Observation Method came from the current head of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau, an expert even among Land Immortals. How could it be wrong?
"I don't know either."
Huang Tianfu gave a helpless, bitter smile, wondering whether his cultivation of the method was lacking. Why else would the result be like this?
"Never mind. Fortune isn't everything, nor is it unchanging."
Tie Shan shook his head slightly, looked at the two men in the air and said calmly:
"If Xu Fan can't overcome this, he may die here."