Little Six?
Fu Xiangfeng's heart skipped a beat. When he turned to look at Fu Henghua, he barely managed to hold himself back.
Henghua hid behind his feather fan, equally baffled.
How had even the Mysterious Subtle Sect heard of his name?
The Golden Direction Water Region and Dragonreach Waters were separated by the Flame Waters and Bai Cang.
So, he waved his feather fan and said softly, "Senior knows my younger brother? I am Fu Tongjun. I am close in age to my brother Henghua; we grew up together from childhood and are closest of kin."
Fu Xiangfeng, Xiaoyu, and Hengshou all fell silent.
Hold it in, hold it in. Don't show weakness. Don't let the cat out of the bag.
Yet upon hearing Fu Henghua falsely call himself "Fu Tongjun," the three of them were both annoyed and amused.
Fu Tongjun was the daughter of Fu Henghua's Seventh Uncle, born in the same year, month, and day as Fu Henghua. But because of their ranking, they had often fought as children, and their relationship was exceptionally poor.
And now he had actually taken the initiative to borrow her name for a lie?
Zhou Xiao said, "I do not know him. This old man merely heard people in the sect mention that he possesses the Fu Family's inherited 'Heaven-Penetrating Wisdomheart.'"
Cultivation lineages could always reap benefits from their bloodlines. Aside from "Wind Resonance," a bloodline secret art that everyone in the Fu Family knew, later generations would occasionally awaken some portion of their ancestors' talents.
Speaking only of Cypress Sovereign Hall, there were six types: Wisdom Heart, Sword Bone, Dragon Tongue, Phoenix Speech, Spirit Sight, and Double Pupils.
Henghua said coldly, "Wisdom Heart? Henghua's awakened innate talent is Phoenix Speech, commonly called 'bird talk.' It is usually of no use."
Fu Xiangfeng, who had genuinely awakened Phoenix Speech, felt insulted.
What was wrong with Phoenix Speech? Though it really was not very useful, he could understand the speech of all kinds of spirit birds, and he had once obtained a fated connection with a phoenix because of it.
"Little brother, there is no need to be on guard. This old man bears you no ill will. Within our Mysterious Subtle Sect, only three people know of the Wisdom Heart matter."
That was not a small number, all right?
Fu Xiangfeng's face darkened as he secretly heightened his guard.
Though the six talents had no inherent distinction of superiority or inferiority, the lineage clearly valued Wisdom Heart and Spirit Sight more highly.
Wisdom Heart represented innate wisdom and comprehension. It excelled at Dharma performance and calculation, making its bearer an ideal candidate to cultivate the Heto Calculation Canon. Legend had it that if one deduced the Eight Trigrams from the Great Dao of Hetu Luoshu, one could ascend to immortality on the spot.
Spirit Sight was spiritual intuition and divination. Its bearer could see the past and future, sense Mystic Sight, and dream beneath the stars. It was likewise an excellent talent for cultivating the Heto Calculation Canon's arts of deduction and divination.
Among the sixth generation of Cypress Sovereign Hall, apart from Fu Henghua possessing Heaven-Penetrating Wisdomheart, only Fu Yaozhen, fourth in rank, had awakened "Spirit Sight." Because of this talent, she had been taken away early by a reclusive master to cultivate.
Henghua recalled that a Mysterious Subtle Sect elder had come to accept disciples back then, probing with questions.
Zhou Xiao smiled. "That was this old man's senior brother, the chief disciple of the Mysterious Subtle Sect's master. The reason he went to your family to accept a disciple was indeed the 'Wisdom Heart.'"
"Then that is strange. Before that senior came to Coiling Dragon Island to accept disciples, Henghua spent every day lingering in the library and had never left the island. How did your sect learn of the Wisdom Heart?"
The Fu Family had concealed Fu Henghua's Wisdom Heart tightly, publicly claiming that he was skilled in "Phoenix Speech." When Henghua was young, he had even specifically learned a little crude bird talk from Fu Xiangfeng.
"He once helped a cultivator of our Mysterious Subtle Sect."
That happened? Why did I have no impression of it? Before that senior came to Coiling Dragon Island, had I met someone from the Mysterious Subtle Sect?
Fu Henghua muttered to himself inwardly, but his expression remained unchanged as he continued to inquire.
Zhou Xiao said, "Dong Moyang. Does this name ring a bell, little friend?"
Fu Xiangfeng and Fu Henghua looked at each other and saw the confusion in one another's eyes.
Who was that? Never heard of him.
"Eldest Senior Brother?" Fu Xuanxing interjected. "Eldest Senior Brother came to Dragonreach Waters?"
The two Fu brothers still looked utterly bewildered.
Only when Fu Xuanxing gestured and said, "Eldest Senior Brother has a red heavenly horse. He likes to wear multicolored clothes, and his sword is called Yunli—"
Henghua said, "That madman who ran three laps around Coiling Dragon Island naked with the Yunli Sword on his back?"
Fu Xiangfeng said, "Father's drinking companion?"
Henghua and Fu Xiangfeng suddenly remembered.
Several decades ago, someone had indeed visited Coiling Dragon Island. It was said that he was Fu Xuanhe's friend. After losing a bet to Fu Xuanhe, he ran naked around the island and even drew a crowd of onlookers.
"So it was him. His name was Dong Moyang?" Henghua's expression was complicated.
"I remember him. Back then... Henghua had only just begun reading and memorizing incantations, and he said a few things to him. Afterward, he suddenly went into seclusion."
"Junior Nephew Moyang gained that opportunity and glimpsed the gate of the Golden Core Realm. Not long after returning to the sect, he forged a Great Dao Golden Core. He was also the one who informed us of the Wisdom Heart matter and asked Senior Brother to accept a disciple. But the Fu Family obstructed it, so it ultimately came to nothing."
Zhou Xiao said, "According to Junior Nephew Moyang, Fu Henghua possessed exceptionally high comprehension, and the Fu Family intended to cultivate him along the path of a Dharma Performer. If he has not squandered his talent all these years, then after obtaining a great quantity of Soul Formation cultivation arts, perhaps he may be able to help Brother Fu create a Soul Formation secret art."
Deduce it himself? Indeed, if he had enough Soul Formation cultivation arts, it was not impossible to consider.
Henghua suddenly rose. "Brother, you and Xiaoyu attend to Senior. I'll leave for a moment."
He ran to the stern and took out red copper coins to begin divining.
Zhou Xiao's realm was lofty, and he also carried a Demonic Beast within him. Henghua could not calculate his tribulation, but he could still calculate the fates of himself and those around him.
"He... what is he doing?"
Fu Xuanxing watched Henghua's manipulations with a face full of confusion.
"He is divining fortune and misfortune, but that spell... the Nine Mysterious Heavenly One Divination Art?"
There was something strange in Zhou Xiao's eyes.
Where had this boy learned the Heavenly Yi Sect's deduction art?
The Heavenly Yi Sect had also been founded by disciples of the Supreme Mystery Sect who remained outside. This lineage inherited the Supreme Mystery Sect's secret arts of calculation. Like the Mysterious Subtle Sect, renowned for its mastery of yin-yang true essence and qi arts, it was located in the Golden Direction Water Region. The two were practically brother sects and had an exceedingly close relationship.
Fu Xiangfeng stood to one side. "Little Six likes reading, and... and he is very close to Henghua. What is strange about him knowing a calculation art?"
Zhou Xiao silently thought: Heavenly Yi divination was indeed nothing much, merely one of the Heavenly Yi Sect's signature divination arts. It only offered the hope of cultivating the Supreme Mystery Sect's secret Grand Profound Star-Setting Fate-Reversal Art, which could defy heaven and change fate, even bringing the dead back to life.
Two quarters of an hour later, Henghua calculated a few clues.
"The 'trouble' upon Senior Zhou Xiao absolutely cannot be taken on. But we can travel with him for a stretch."
If they took on that trouble, Fu Xiangfeng and Henghua would be dead ten times over with no chance of life.
But as long as Zhou Xiao lived, he himself would bear the trouble. As fellow travelers, they would face far less danger.
"If we travel together, then before I enter Turtle-Burial Reef to avoid my tribulation, I will face several groups of pursuers—Xiaoyu, bring me a dou of millet!"
Wind carried the sound, and Xiaoyu hurriedly brought a dou of millet from within the boat.
Henghua cut his finger and drew a circle in blood. Then he grabbed the millet and scattered it toward the sky, breathing out a mouthful of Creation True Qi.
"Set!"
The millet scattered with the wind, and seven grains landed inside the circle.
"Another strange life-measuring contraption? It seems to carry the flavor of prayers and incantations."
Watching Henghua calculate, Zhou Xiao thought inwardly: Is this boy really not some secret disciple the Heavenly Yi Sect accepted outside? How did he know every strange and bizarre fortune-telling method? Wasn't the Fu Family's foundational divination art the Heto Calculation Canon?
Seeing the seven grains of rice, Henghua was still uneasy. He scooped up a handful of clear water and performed a water-divination art.
It still showed seven groups of pursuers.
Finally, he brought out a begonia flower from inside the cabin and used flower divination to verify it.
"Seven groups of people. It is confirmed. And they are entangled with my Foundation Establishment tribulation, with fortune and misfortune split fifty-fifty."
Life and death each held half the odds.
Should he gamble on it?
Just then, a piercing roar erupted behind the spirit vessel.
Henghua looked up. A purple lightning sphere raced like wind and lightning, about to catch the spirit vessel.
With his right hand, he drew a talisman in the air and pointed beneath the water.
"Water-Mist Mirage, Dewglow Veiling Heaven."
Waterlight suddenly rose. Hazy mist and dewdrops formed a vast net, blocking the lightning sphere.
At the same time, Henghua used Heavenly Wind Sword Qi with his other hand. Sword Qi softer than Fu Xiangfeng's and utterly devoid of offensive force adhered to the mist-and-dew net.
The cultivator within the lightning sphere swiftly stopped, carefully observing the net of mist and dew.
He could sense wisps of gang-wind Sword Qi hidden within the water net.
"Though weak, the wind spirit power attached to the water net is extraordinarily pure. If I carelessly crash into it, would that not be like ten thousand swords piercing my heart? Better be cautious."
The cultivator revealed himself. Watching the water net hang from heaven into the water and stretch endlessly on, he abandoned the idea of detouring and poured all his strength into a thunder art.
"Open up for me!"
Lightning surged like a ferocious tiger, tearing the water net apart with one claw.
That easy? Wait, where was that wind spirit Sword Qi?
Suddenly, a gust of wind rose. The shattered water net rolled up hazy mist, and three identical spirit vessels sailed across the water.
Seeing the three vessels, the cultivator hesitated.
He could tell it was an illusion, but which vessel was real?
"Mirage Tower Illusion Art."
Watching Henghua cast his art at the stern, Zhou Xiao praised him lightly. "Using the water net's mist and dew as a medium, then borrowing the chance when the opponent shattered the water net to lay down the mirage. Little friend, your timing was exquisite, and you know many arts as well."
"Senior."
Henghua returned to the bow. "Senior's injuries have not healed. Naturally, I do not possess the ability to heal you either. What I can do is ease your pain and seal the scattered core essence in your body into hidden acupoints. The whole process will take roughly three days. After three days, Senior may retain Foundation Establishment, perhaps the True Flame Realm. No, by the terminology of your Golden Direction Water Region, it would fluctuate between the third and fifth layers of Foundation Establishment."
The classification systems of the various water regions differed.
Dragonreach Waters preferred to divide the nine layers of Foundation Establishment into three realms, while the Golden Direction Water Region preferred to divide them into the first through ninth layers.
"Of course, if you possess some secret art that can preserve your Foundation Establishment Perfection and let you recultivate your Golden Core Realm on your own, then pretend I said nothing."
Zhou Xiao gave a bitter laugh. "If this old man had such a secret art, I would not have fallen into such a state."
Looking again at the golden needles on his body, the elder pondered. "The Seven-Star Essence-Sealing Qi-Recovery Method is certainly exquisite, but it can only help this old man lock down his core qi. It cannot truly heal my wounds or extend my life. This old man's condition is more severe than little brother imagines."
"I understand. Your meridians are all severed, and your dantian has been destroyed. Fortunately, Senior is a Golden Core Cultivator and has already formed a Yin Spirit. Your Yin Spirit is now forcibly controlling your fleshly body; otherwise, you would have long since fallen unconscious and awaited death."
Henghua said, "The one who injured you to this extent is either in the Golden Core Realm or has reached Soul Formation. In any case, we brothers cannot afford to provoke them.
"But for these three days, we can travel with you. After three days, I have another method that can help prolong your life. Roughly..."
Henghua estimated, "Nine days should be achievable, at least."
"This old man is a dying man, yet you can forcibly extend my life by twelve days?"
"Twelve days at the least."
Zhou Xiao lowered his head in thought.
Twelve days would be enough for him to personally go to Firegate Island and destroy the Demonic Beast.
But could this boy truly help him live for twelve days? Even a direct disciple of the Heavenly Yi Sect could not accomplish that, could he?
"You are going to such lengths. What do you want?"
"I will administer needles to Senior for three days. Each day, Senior will teach three Soul Formation secret arts, nine in total. Later, pass them on to Henghua. I hope that with his talent, he can deduce a cultivation art for Grandfather."
Henghua wore Tongjun's identity as naturally as a second skin, without revealing the slightest flaw.
"Three per day?"
Zhou Xiao shook his head. "Too few. This old man only has a few days left anyway, so I will teach you as much as possible. How much you can learn depends on your own ability, but I will not pass on the Mysterious Subtle Sect's core methods."
Before you continue