Fate

Wenying Pavilion, Room A.

This is Zhang Xuezhou's third time here.

The Jiazi Room occupies the smallest area in Wenying Pavilion, but it houses the most complete and upscale collection of books.

Ordinary cultivators all yearn for the Class A room, but once inside, it is extremely difficult to learn real skills.

Lacking sufficient knowledge, lacking the ability to discern, or without guidance, and lacking sufficient foundation in cultivation, it is almost impossible to cultivate to a very high level by relying on a high-level secret manual of the Jiazi Room.

For example, Zhang Xuezhou obtained the secret manual of Huangsha Sect a long time ago. If Dong Zhongshu hadn't corrected it, his haphazard learning would have been just imitation, and even if he had mastered the Technique Method, their power would have been relatively weak, making it difficult to use them in competitions among cultivators of the same level.

Alternatively, one could overturn the Realm Technique and rebuild the Yellow Sand Sect's doctrines to adapt the Technique Method. Not to mention the difficulty of changing sects, it would be extremely difficult to learn and advance on one's own.

The higher one's cultivation level, the more fixed one's cultivation path becomes, making it almost impossible for them to abandon their current path to learn a cultivation method with uncertain outcomes.

Various factors make the "A" house seem wonderful, but in reality, it is not as good as one might imagine.

Even the many top-ranking retainers of the King of Huainan's Household maintained their own cultivation advantages, relying more on the content of the top-ranking rooms to expand their knowledge or to fill in any gaps in their understanding.

Without a sufficient foundation, it is almost impossible to seek out a doctrine and begin a new path of practice.

Zhang Xuezhou was no exception.

He pursued the development of the art of movement because he had a sufficient foundation, and had even developed a physical form of movement, which is why he came to the Jiazi Room to seek out the "Honglie".

Without sufficient background knowledge, his visit to the Jiazifang to watch "Honglie" would be a wasted trip.

Nevertheless, Zhang Xuezhou still felt that he had gained relatively little from the content of many volumes of "Honglie".

He read very quickly, but he memorized a lot of the content, and his comprehension was far superior to that of ordinary people.

"The techniques in 'Honglie' are incomplete and lack a clear beginning!"

After flipping through it once, Zhang Xuezhou felt that the book "Honglie" mentioned by the King of Huainan was missing something.

Even if it is lavishly decorated, and may even contain witchcraft techniques related to luck, "Honglie" lacks the most fundamental foundation for building luck-based techniques. Ordinary people who obtain "Honglie" cannot possibly achieve success in cultivation.

"Only those with a basic understanding of movement techniques can take over!"

The "Honglie" lacks the most important element, the "Condensation of Fortune," and does not explain how to obtain the fortune to propel one upward.

Only emperors and feudal lords are suitable to practice the "Honglie" technique, and this book even contains many techniques for emperors.

"Lei Bei and the others lacked the basic skills, so how did the King of Huainan teach these people?"

Zhang Xuezhou had many questions in his mind.

He was fortunate that Crown Prince Liu Qian was generous and did not limit his time in the Jiazi Room; otherwise, Zhang Xuezhou would not have had time to think at all, and he would not have had enough time to even finish reading "Honglie".

The content of "Honglie" is extremely complex, involving inner, outer, and middle chapters. It covers strange and unusual creatures, ghosts and spirits, High Antiquity history, philosophical explanations, and the contents of Yin and Yang, Mohism, Legalism, Confucian School, and Daoism, making it incredibly complicated.

This is vastly different from the cultivation techniques of a single school of thought.

One thousand people reading "Honglie" will each gain something.

Zhang Xuezhou focused his attention on the art of manipulation, and also extracted thousands of theories about the cultivation of manipulation techniques from the "Honglie".

He felt that he had gained some new insights after mastering the art of manipulation.

"You've probably gained nothing from reading again!"

Only when he heard a sound behind him did Zhang Xuezhou quickly turn around.

He saw the King of Huainan standing not far away, also holding a bamboo scroll of the "Honglie" text.

"People often talk about fate, but no one truly understands it," said the King of Huainan. "If one doesn't understand the principles of fate, one will come into this world in a daze and die in a daze, never understanding why one's fate is the way it is!"

"Thank you for your guidance, Your Majesty. How can I understand my own destiny?" Zhang Xuezhou asked, bowing respectfully.

The King of Huainan replied in self-reflection, "This is the same principle as Zengzi's saying, 'I examine myself three times a day.' Only by truly understanding yourself and then comprehending your pursuits can you see your destiny and know how you will live your life!"

"You mean we can only change our fate if we understand our own destiny?" Zhang Xuezhou asked.

"Indeed," the King of Huainan nodded, "If one cannot even understand fate, there is no need to talk about changing it!"

"I've heard that practitioners of the physiognomy school can see through the river of time and know the future," Zhang Xuezhou said. "Does this mean they can see through fate?"

"Oh?"

The King of Huainan had only intended to offer Zhang Xuezhou a word of advice out of pity, but he hadn't expected Zhang Xuezhou to be so quick-witted.

"You're right," the King of Huainan nodded. "If one could see the river of time, such a fortune teller would already be able to see through the principles of destiny. You probably want to consult such a fortune teller to see through your destiny and then seek to change it, but how easy is it to find such a fortune teller!"

"I know a fortune teller like that!" Zhang Xuezhou whispered.

"Do you recognize one?" the King of Huainan asked urgently. "Who?"

"This man's name is Yao Yuanguang," Zhang Xuezhou replied. "Some people call him the number one fortune teller in the Southern Jambudvipa Continent; he should be able to help me with my destiny!"

"The number one fortune teller... the number one... where did you come to know Yao Yuanguang?" the King of Huainan asked urgently.

"He was still in Yangxin County a little over a month ago," Zhang Xuezhou said, shrugging. "Now I don't know where he is!"

Yangxin County!

The King of Huainan almost dropped the book "Honglie" in his hand before going to invite Yao Yuanguang.

Zhang Xuezhou is right; Yao Yuanguang is indeed a master of physiognomy, and a top-notch one at that.

It is difficult for an ordinary person to meet Yao Yuanguang, and it is even more difficult to have Yao Yuanguang tell their fortune.

Zhang Xuezhou made it sound so easy, but finding Yao Yuanguang was extremely difficult; even Yao Yuanguang was someone you could only dream of King of Huainan.

The thought that Zhang Xuezhou knew Yao Yuanguang but hadn't yet asked Yao Yuanguang for help in changing his fate made his heart ache.

"It's extremely rare for an ordinary person to have such good fortune, but it's also rare to see someone so utterly useless after squandering their talents!"

Considering that Zhang Xuezhou had offered so much yet gained nothing in return, and that he had met Yao Yuanguang but had not asked for his help, the King of Huainan felt that Zhang Xuezhou's fate was indeed strange.

"It's all for naught!"

If the King of Huainan were to choose a single word to describe Zhang Xuezhou, he could only categorize him as someone who "put up with nothing."

The other person's life was like finding a piece of gold on the roadside, then not recognizing its value and happily selling it for two and a half taels of silver, without ever having any use for digging out the gold.

"If you understand your destiny, how can you change it?" Zhang Xuezhou asked.

"How do you know he understood destiny?" The King of Huainan calmed himself and asked, "Have you seen him?"

"He told the fortune of a powerful cultivator named Nezha," Zhang Xuezhou thought for a moment and said, "That was several years ago. He predicted that Nezha would die in twenty years, his Law Treasure bell would be shattered, one of its two wheels would be destroyed, and his spear would be broken. Wouldn't you call that seeing through fate?"

"Nezha... this is actually Nezha's destiny!"

Zhang Xuezhou's unrestrained words undoubtedly stirred up a huge storm in the heart of the King of Huainan.

As times decline, few people know about things that happened hundreds or even thousands of years ago.

But the King of Huainan had read countless books; he was well-versed in hundreds or even thousands of years of history, and he was also aware of Nezha, the number one fighter in the Immortal Court. Not to mention that Zhang Xuezhou also mentioned Nezha's many Law Treasure.

This is a top-ranked cultivator in close combat within the Immortal Court, whose past conquests of the mortal realm were known for their unstoppable violence.

If even the lives of such people are in danger, it can only prove that the Immortal Court will undergo great changes in about twenty years, and even great cultivators like Nezha will suffer losses.