Chapter 1390: The Tragic Old Feng

Zhang Xuan’s face twitched as he stood stunned, rooted to the spot, unsure what to do. He couldn't decide whether to retract his hand or not.

Talent or no talent, that's one thing... but why did it explode?

I only used a little Heaven's Path True Qi for disguise and leveraged some power from the Library. I didn't unleash anything else...

Elder Feng had brought out that item earlier, treating it like a precious family heirloom. For it to just explode into powder like that... surely, he'd be furious enough to fight me to the death?

As he stood there at a loss, the elder, who moments ago had been smiling, now stood before him. The old man's face twitched incessantly as he stared at the shattered tortoise shell on the ground, seemingly beside himself with rage.

"Teacher..."

Yu Chen had not anticipated this outcome and was too frightened to speak.

Others might not have fully understood the item's importance to his teacher, but Yu Chen knew it intimately. Its sudden pulverization was like a direct blow to the old man's life.

"My tortoise shell..."

True to form, Elder Feng's hand trembled as he reached out, caressing the scattered fragments on the ground. He seemed to age countless years in an instant.

"Elder Feng, he didn't do it on purpose. How about... I find someone to help you glue it back together? Look, it already had so many cracks and was about to break anyway. Last year, I met a craftsman in Chen Family Village whose work is exquisite, and his prices are fair and honest. I could introduce him to you..." Luo Xuanqing offered comfort.

"Pfft!"

Elder Feng could no longer hold it in and spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Cough, cough..."

Zhang Xuan rolled his eyes at his brother-in-law, utterly speechless.

If you can't offer comfort, then don't, alright?

A tortoise shell of this caliber is incredibly precious. Gluing it back together... would that even help?

"Elder Feng, since it's already shattered, there's no need to be sad," Zhang Xuan said sincerely after a moment's thought. "It's just a tortoise shell. Tomorrow, I'll catch a few more tortoises for you. You can have as many as you like, and the meat can even be stewed into soup..."

"Pfft! Pfft!"

Elder Feng spat out even more blood.

"Or perhaps, I could make another one for you..."

Seeing that his attempts at comfort only made the other party spit more blood, Zhang Xuan was at a loss for words.

He had just touched it, incidentally generating a book in the process. Although this tortoise shell possessed a long heritage and was of a high caliber, it also had numerous flaws. With enough effort and the collection of sufficient books, it should be possible to recreate an identical one, or even one of a higher level!

With this thought, he re-entered the Library mentally, intending to further research the possibility of replicating the tortoise shell, when he heard Yu Chen's anxious voice from the side.

"Teacher..."

His voice trembled, tinged with extreme panic.

Hearing the urgency in his cry, the deeply sorrowful Elder Feng turned his head.

"Look..."

Yu Chen pointed upwards.

Elder Feng hastily looked up, and his pupils immediately constricted.

Seeing their peculiar expressions, Zhang Xuan and the others also looked up. What they saw left them all involuntarily dumbfounded.

The tortoise-shell shaped roof above them now displayed enormous cracks, slowly spreading upwards. The runes and formations designed to stabilize it were utterly useless, as if they had encountered an irreversible force.

"How can this be?"

Forgetting about spitting blood, Elder Feng clutched his head.

The Saint Xi Tortoise Shell exploding could be attributed to its ancient age and frequent use for divination, perhaps leading to punishment from the Heavenly Dao. But this... this roof, built with immeasurable manpower and resources, was incredibly sturdy. Even a full-force attack from a peak Saint 8th Realm expert wouldn't damage it. How... how could it be collapsing too?

"Stop!"

He roared, lunging his hand upwards.

He hoped to halt the formation's collapse and preserve this centuries-old foundation.

However, despite his True Qi surging upwards, it failed to alleviate the collapse of the formation and the building. It was as if an unknown, irresistible force was at work, beyond human ability to counteract.

In the face of such power, even a Saint 9th Realm expert was nothing more than an ant.

Crack! Crack!

Unable to withstand it any longer, a series of rumbling sounds followed as countless rocks plummeted from above. The many diviners who had been meditating were all startled, their eyes snapping open as they scrambled to escape.

Zhang Xuan and the others found themselves in a dilemma, unable to flee or stay. They had no choice but to unleash their True Qi, forming protective barriers to block the falling debris.

Crash!

Dust rose as the already ancient tortoise-shell shaped building crumbled into ruins in less than a minute. All the various formations it contained were completely destroyed.

"This..."

Zhang Xuan blinked, "Isn't this too flimsy? If it were an ordinary person, wouldn't they be crushed to death instantly?"

The exterior of the tortoise-shell building was quite appealing, but it turned out to be impractical. Fortunately, their cultivation was strong; otherwise, if it had hit an ordinary person directly on the head, they wouldn't have survived.

"Pfft!"

Trembling once more, Elder Feng spat out another mouthful of blood.

"Teacher, what exactly happened?"

Yu Chen rushed over, looking at him with deep concern, terrified that his teacher might be so heartbroken he would die on the spot.

"It must be a backlash from the Heavenly Dao..."

After a moment to compose himself, Elder Feng slowly recovered, exhaling a breath as he gazed at the ruins, his face filled with sorrow.

"A backlash?"

Yu Chen was puzzled.

"Diviners, by seeking opportunities and prying into the mysteries of heaven and earth, are naturally abhorred by the Heavenly Dao. However, we employ special techniques to shield our aura, preventing detection... It seems that method suddenly failed just now, and the Heavenly Dao's might erupted from within, causing all this..."

Elder Feng spoke slowly after a moment of hesitation.

As a nine-star diviner, even though the tortoise shell's shattering was peculiar and the building's collapse felt wrong, with careful deduction, he could still grasp some understanding.

Any profession, when cultivated to its peak, will invite the envy of heaven and earth. Just like the Out-of-Body Tribulation and the Void-Breaking Tribulation, these are punishments from heaven and earth for powerful individuals.

Diviners, by peering into the Heavenly Dao, are even more susceptible to punishment. However, their preventative measures are usually very thorough. It's like certain establishments where, if the police arrive, money and people are hidden beforehand. If it's purely for entertainment and doesn't involve gambling, even if no one is caught, the violation isn't considered too severe.

This profession, capable of such prying, naturally took extensive precautions. They never dreamed that, despite layers of defenses, they would still be discovered. Not only was the tortoise shell destroyed, but the entire Divination Hall of the Saint Son Temple, a foundation built over tens of thousands of years, was utterly ruined...

Clutching his chest, Elder Feng was filled with profound heartache.

Zhang Xuan's eyebrows twitched.

He had assumed it was merely due to the tortoise shell and the building being flimsy. He never dreamed it was connected to the Heavenly Dao.

He had just used it to investigate the tortoise shell, and it shattered... then he used it to calculate if it could be carved, and the hall collapsed...

Could this entire situation truly be related to his actions?

If so, he bore a significant responsibility.

His face flushed then paled. Just as he struggled to find an explanation, he saw Elder Feng give a wry smile and look over.

"Master Zhang, you don't need to blame yourself! This matter has nothing to do with you. Perhaps our Divination Hall has been negligent recently and failed to divine certain matters, which led to such drastic changes. Under normal circumstances, although our profession requires careful words and actions and attention to the harmony of the Heavenly Dao, the profession itself is quite safe."

"Safe?" Zhang Xuan breathed a sigh of relief, seeing that the other party wasn't blaming him.

He definitely couldn't mention that matter. Since the other party hadn't discovered it, it was best to play dumb and maintain a low profile.

As for the other party's losses, he could simply find another excuse to compensate them.

"Indeed, what you witnessed was merely an accident. This kind of situation happens perhaps once in ten thousand years..."

Fearing that the genius he had finally encountered might be deterred, Elder Feng quickly explained, "If you don't believe me, look at the Scripture Pavilion over there; it's perfectly fine."

With that, he pointed to one side.

Following his finger, Zhang Xuan looked and indeed saw a building standing nearby. Despite being connected to the massive tortoise shell structure, it remained unaffected. Rows of bookshelves lined the room, and while dust billowed elsewhere, this place was clean as new.

"Are all these your scriptures?"

Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up.

As long as he read books, he could condense Heaven's Path cultivation techniques. Having put the other party in such a predicament, he could now compensate them.

"Yes!"

Elder Feng nodded, a sense of pride evident in his voice. "Our Divination Hall in the Saint Son Temple, though far fewer in number than other professions, is by no means inferior in terms of cultivation techniques and secret manuals. Although the Saint Xi Tortoise Shell was accidentally damaged, you can still test your innate abilities by reading and studying..."

Previously, when Zhang Xuan had wanted to read and study to determine his suitability for the profession, Elder Feng hadn't agreed, finding it quite troublesome.

Now that the Saint Xi Tortoise Shell was shattered, testing was impossible. He could only resort to this most primitive method.

"Alright then, I'll take a look first..."

Hearing he could read freely, Zhang Xuan breathed a sigh of relief. Before he even reached the building, his eyes swept over the books. Simultaneously, he secretly whispered in his mind, "Flaws!"

Boom!

Before his words even faded, the books before him instantly ignited and turned to ash as if scorched by a great fire. In the blink of an eye, the entire building, just like the tortoise shell earlier, developed massive cracks.

Within a few breaths, it collapsed, similarly turning into a pile of ruins.

"The Scripture Pavilion..." His face flushed once more, and Elder Feng spat out another mouthful of blood, appearing utterly frantic.

What on earth was happening? How could the Divination Hall suffer one calamity after another in the blink of an eye?

If it were just one incident, he could attribute it to a failure in concealing their aura, leading to discovery by the Heavenly Dao. But three consecutive times... even he was at a loss for an explanation.

Zhang Xuan's mouth twitched again, "Could it be because... I looked at the books?"

If he hadn't been certain before, this time, after merely glancing at the books, the library collapsed, which all but confirmed his suspicions.

He turned to look at the somewhat dazed elder, his heart filled with profound regret. "Elder Feng, Elder Feng, Elder Feng..."

He called out three times consecutively, but received no response. His sense of apology deepened. Just as he was about to check closely, wondering if the elder was too devastated and had suffered a vital injury, a thick bolt of lightning appeared from nowhere and struck directly upon the elder's head.

Crack!

Elder Feng collapsed to the ground.

"Elder Feng, you..."

Zhang Xuan's mouth twitched, and he quickly stepped forward.

Bang, bang, bang, bang!

The lightning engulfed the elder, leaving only one foot exposed, twitching uncontrollably outside, its shoe having been shaken off.