Chapter 212: Ask a Fortune (5K)

Beneath City No. 98, the earth's energy fluctuations were chaotic, but now they had formed a clear message, making it very conspicuous. The information transmitted by the earth's energy fluctuations was quickly perceived by Zhao Xing.

He opened his eyes and looked up.

“Old Chen is summoning the Earth God,” Zhao Xing chuckled softly. A simple stomp of the foot would send him up, which was indeed like summoning the Earth God for a consultation. Indeed, in the inland regions of the Great Zhou, there genuinely were temples dedicated to Earth Gods and Mountain Gods. However, this method was considered impolite, and typically only high-ranking officials would use it. Lower-ranking officials who dared to use it would be beaten.

“Stop calling, I’m here,” Zhao Xing said, looking at the golden ripples emanating from above. He immediately manipulated the earth's energy to send a reply. He then tidied up everything in the cavern, burned it all away, and ascended using his divine movement technique.

“What’s the rush? I’ve only slept for a few hours.”

Chen Shijie replied, “The scouts dispatched by Wen Shaoyang’s unit are returning one after another. Once the intelligence is gathered, Commander Liao plans to convene a meeting to discuss how to proceed with the battle.”

As Zhao Xing walked, he asked, “Where did Wen Shaoyang’s scout unit go?”

Chen Shijie said, “To the northeast, they reached Qu City in Xixian Territory. To the southeast, they went as far as Jihun Pass Fortress.”

“Pass Fortress?” Zhao Xing’s eyes narrowed. He had been to that place in a vision, and Wen Shaoyang’s unit had indeed been trapped there. “Did anything happen to the scout team?”

“No, why do you ask?” Chen Shijie noticed Zhao Xing’s unusual tone and immediately inquired.

“Nothing, just asking casually,” Zhao Xing replied. “Isn’t Jihun Pass guarded by an elite unit of the Holy Spirit Royal Court?”

“Yes,” Chen Shijie nodded. “That’s why Wen Shaoyang’s men didn’t get too close. The Yin energy there is too strong, and malevolent spirits run rampant, making it very difficult to infiltrate for intelligence gathering.”

“But from what Commander Liao said, he wants to attack Jihun Pass first,” Chen Shijie added.

“What do you think?” Zhao Xing asked.

“I have no ancestors worth worrying about,” Chen Shijie said indifferently. “So I think attacking any unit is fine.”

Zhao Xing nodded slightly. He knew Chen Shijie was an orphan; his parents had died early on. He had relatives, an uncle and aunt, but they were malicious, and he had long since severed ties with them.

Zhao Xing asked this mainly because the soldiers of the Great Zhou had a natural aversion to the Holy Spirit Royal Court! Among the Four Royal Courts, the Holy Spirit Royal Court specialized in controlling ghosts. They often tore open weak points in the Underworld, releasing large numbers of malevolent spirits, which they transformed into ghost soldiers and generals for the Holy Spirit Royal Court. The Underworld was peculiar: entering it from a Great Zhou region might lead to the same location as entering it from the Southern Barbarian lands. This meant that the Holy Spirit Royal Court sometimes captured the deceased souls of those from the Great Zhou. This greatly impacted the Great Zhou’s ritual and music system, as well as its Underworld deity system. From a purely emotional standpoint, the Holy Spirit Royal Court’s actions were tantamount to ‘controlling your ancestors.’ How could anyone tolerate that? Naturally, they incurred hatred!

“Among the Four Royal Courts, the Golden Feather Royal Court had the most tribes. They had a wide array of professions, including insect shamans, blood shamans, sorcerers, and strongmen. Their equipment was also not far behind that of the Great Zhou.”

“The Purple Dragon Royal Court excelled at beast taming. Their tamed exotic beasts were very fierce. Because the Southern Barbarian region often experienced large-scale seasonal changes, it was practically a natural breeding ground for ferocious beasts. They didn’t even need to specially raise them; they just needed to subdue them.”

“The Fiery Radiance Royal Court was the hardest to fight. Their territory was vast and sparsely populated. With natural exotic beasts like the Barbock Worm aiding them, fighting them was like playing whack-a-mole.”

“The Holy Spirit Royal Court was the most disgusting. After a battle, their combat strength suffered almost no losses. This was because their primary soldiers were ghosts, which could be replenished endlessly. You might even fight one battle and then find your fallen comrades from earlier rising to become your opponents in the next.”

Zhao Xing said, “Now, moving west from the eastern front, we will encounter support troops sent by various royal courts. The Golden Feather Royal Court intends to defend the Fire Demon clan’s territory… primarily the valuable Qinggang mining area.”

“Personally, I don’t want to attack Jihun Pass, because we don’t have that many priests.” Neither Liao Rulong’s unit nor Wen Shaoyang’s unit had many priests in their ranks. Most of the main generals were martial artists, and the majority of their subordinates were also martial artists. Priests were relatively few in number, which was the current situation in the army. The profession of priest was difficult to cultivate, even harder than that of agricultural officer. At the Ten Yang Grotto-heaven, there were over 10,000 reserve agricultural officers undergoing training. But what about priests? There were just over 2,000. In Gucheng, there were just over 500 junior agricultural officers, but only forty to fifty priestly officials. That was the nature of divine professions: they couldn’t be cultivated on a large scale just because they could be cultivated.

So, were there any armies capable of fighting the Holy Spirit Royal Court? Of course there were. Among the Five Grotto-heavens, the Illusionary Ghost Grotto-heaven was the exclusive garrison for the Illusionary Ghost Army. This Grotto-heaven housed only this one army, and its commander, Marquis Illusionary Ghost, was a Rank-Four Ghost God Priest. The vast majority of the Illusionary Ghost Army members were combat-oriented priests.

Once Zhao Xing arrived at the council hall and voiced his thoughts, Xia Jing interjected: “It’s not a matter of whether we want to now, but that we must fight.”

“The Jihun Pass defense line has been extended significantly from its original length. The loss of Huolong Pass infuriated the Golden Feather Royal Court, leading them to position the Holy Spirit Royal Court’s support troops on the eastern front for defense.”

“It’s already October 13th now, and the Holy Spirit Royal Court’s army has already established a firm foothold. Their defensive line is much tighter than before.”

Zhao Xing shook his head inwardly. Originally, the three armies were supposed to set off immediately after resting at Huolong Pass, and the defenses along Jihun Pass weren't that strong. But the incident with Qian Shougang caused a delay of about ten days, giving the Golden Feather Royal Court an opportunity to deploy troops. However, these were the variables of war, and no one could predict them. How could everything always go as planned? Of course, ultimately, they still had too few people on their side. After fighting at Huolong Pass, they needed to rest and expand their army.

“Can we cooperate with the Illusionary Ghost Army?” Wen Shaoyang proposed his idea. “If we have the Illusionary Ghost Army, we’ll have a greater chance of breaking through the Jihun Pass defense line.”

Liao Rulong hesitated, saying, “The Illusionary Ghost Army is a powerful force, ranked over two hundred. Moreover, their main force is on the northern front with the Zhaoyuan Army, the Danxia Army, and the Yuanhua Army. They might not be willing to abandon their cooperation with other powerful armies to come to us.”

Xia Jing chuckled, “Their main force is unlikely to come, but perhaps we could get them to send twenty to thirty thousand troops.”

“Oh?” Liao Rulong was puzzled. “What makes you say that?”

Xia Jing pointed at Zhao Xing. “Didn’t Zhao Xing kill Qian Shougang near Xixian Territory earlier?”

“What does that have to do with me?” Zhao Xing wondered.

“Our confrontation with the Black Dragon Army severely frightened the commander of Xixian Pass,” Xia Jing explained. “Qi Yuanjun and Pang Zheng of the Zhaoyuan Army, Yi Yue of the Yuanhua Army, and Nangong Ye of the Illusionary Ghost Army – these four individuals were originally planning to attack Xixian Pass.”

“They had feigned defeat several times before to lure out the commander of Xixian Pass. They had been working on this for over a month and had started to see some hope, but the unexpected incident with Qian Shougang ruined it.”

After hearing Xia Jing’s words, Zhao Xing was speechless. Fortune lies hidden in disaster, and disaster lurks within fortune. Killing Qian Shougang caused a delay, making the Jihun Pass defense line harder to attack. But now there was a chance to cooperate with the Illusionary Ghost Army. It was hard to say whether it was good luck or bad luck.

“Will they agree to cooperate?” Liao Rulong hesitated. It wasn’t that he was being insecure, but the Illusionary Ghost Army truly ranked much higher than the Divine Might Army, even higher than the Tiger-Jiao Army. In the last grand military exercise of the soldier world, the Divine Might Army was ranked over 500th, while the Illusionary Ghost Army was ranked over 200th. The fact that they could exclusively occupy a Grotto-heaven as their base meant their numbers and strength far surpassed the Divine Might Army.

“Let’s try,” Xia Jing said. “If it doesn’t work, then so be it; we’ll fight on our own. If everyone agrees, I’ll send a letter to inquire.”

“Agreed,” Wen Shaoyang stated.

“Agreed,” Liao Rulong also nodded.

“Agreed.” Zhao Xing had nothing to object to. Now, with many battles to be fought and not enough strong forces to tackle them, having more powerful armies cooperate could only be beneficial.

Xia Jing and Liao Rulong invited Nangong Ye of the Illusionary Ghost Army to bring his forces to the Huolong Pass battle zone. Upon receiving the invitation, Nangong Ye was immediately interested. This was because they had already considered passing through Huolong Pass, but found it awkward to propose it. However, even so, negotiating the cooperation was not smooth sailing.

Because the Illusionary Ghost Army led by Nangong Ye had already been cooperating with Yi Yue of the Yuanhua Army and Qi Yuanjun of the Zhaoyuan Army for a long time. However, the Divine Might Army had only invited his specific unit. How to put it? If only Nangong Ye were to go, he would undoubtedly be relegated to an auxiliary role. Even though his was a powerful army, their numbers were not as great as the combined forces of the Divine Might Army, the Black Armored Army, and the Garrison Army. So, Nangong Ye requested that his allied units from the Zhaoyuan Army and Yuanhua Army also be included. However, if that happened, their combined numbers would be almost equal to the Divine Might Army, Black Armored Army, and Garrison Army combined, and in terms of strength, they would even surpass the three combined armies.

Liao Rulong, Xia Jing, Wen Shaoyang, and the others were not pleased. Although it was called cooperation, bringing them over meant that subsequent military operations would inevitably be affected. Therefore, this kind of cooperation, if relations were usually lukewarm, was truly difficult to arrange.

Zhao Xing didn’t concern himself with these matters. He didn’t participate in the discussions at all. Time was precious; he estimated he would have to return to the Ten Yang Grotto-heaven by March next year. He needed to quickly practice the secret techniques he had learned from the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets. As for military merits, he could earn them later just the same.

“Commander Jiang, a favor, please.”

“Younger Brother Zhao, don’t be so formal. Just call me Elder Brother Jiang,” Jiang Ming said with a chuckle. “What is it? Just say the word.”

“The Garrison Army is on the Canglan River,” Zhao Xing asked. “You must catch quite a few river turtles, softshell turtles, and other exotic beasts, right?”

“Yes, of course!” Jiang Ming said, spreading his hands. “And very large ones too.”

“Are they tasty?” Zhao Xing asked.

“Depends on how they’re prepared,” Jiang Ming replied. “Turtle meat tends to be tough. Our Garrison Army generally doesn’t eat the meat; we only use it to make soup.”

“Oh? Younger Brother, do you want to try some?”

Zhao Xing chuckled, “Yes, I’ve never eaten those spiritual turtles. I wonder if Elder Brother Jiang could get some for me?”

Jiang Ming clapped his hands and said, “That’s easy to arrange. Do you want any other river or sea delicacies? If you want them, I’ll get them for you. There are still quite a few delicious things in the sea…”

As soon as Zhao Xing mentioned it to Jiang Ming, the latter immediately agreed. Even ranked spiritual turtles were no difficult feat for the Garrison Army. To curry favor with Zhao Xing, Jiang Ming even specially dispatched the fastest ship directly to the Canglan River to tow back a boatload of turtle-like exotic beasts for Zhao Xing, numbering between one and two thousand.

Zhao Xing went aboard the ship and saw them. “My goodness.” Rank-Nine ones were rare. Most were Rank-Eight turtle-like exotic beasts, and there were even some Rank-Seven spiritual turtles!

“Is this enough?” Jiang Ming asked. “If not, just say so; I’ll have the brothers on the river catch more.”

“More than enough, more than enough,” Zhao Xing quickly nodded. He only wanted the spiritual turtles to practice his spells, not because he genuinely liked eating them.

“Alright then, if you need anything, just call this ship of mine. It will be docked here for you,” Jiang Ming said, very generously.

“Thank you.”

After Jiang Ming left, Zhao Xing cast a wind spell, pulled a Rank-Eight river turtle out of the ship's hold, and set it on the guillotine on the deck.

“Thwack!” The guillotine fell, immediately severing the turtle’s head.

“Go!” Zhao Xing projected a golden light beneath the turtle’s shell. Immediately, the flesh and bones beneath rapidly withered. All the blood within concentrated on the turtle shell, to be absorbed by it. This was the ‘Oracle Training’ of the Turtle Coin Divination method. The blood and marrow of the spiritual turtle were extracted, all used to nourish the turtle shell. Once the divination object was refined, it could be used as a foundation for divination.

“The Blood Refinement Method is the simplest and most crude refining technique. However, the divination medium refined by this method usually doesn’t last long.”

“A more advanced method is the Soul Refinement Method, which extracts the spiritual turtle’s blood, marrow, and soul.”

“There’s also the Spirit Refinement Method, which doesn’t require killing the spiritual turtle.”

“But for now, I’m just practicing. I can’t handle anything too complex yet.”

Following the instructions in the Turtle Divination Method, Zhao Xing infused the blood and marrow into the turtle shell. Soon, the shell of the Rank-Eight spiritual turtle began to emit a dark red glow.

“Now that the divination medium is complete, I can use various methods for divination.”

“One is a simple method to predict fortune and misfortune, which involves carving characters onto the turtle shell.” Zhao Xing carved ‘Great Auspice,’ ‘Medium Auspice,’ and ‘Minor Auspice’ on one side of the turtle shell. On the other side, he carved ‘Great Omen,’ ‘Medium Omen,’ and ‘Minor Omen.’

“Then, the turtle shell is burned with fire. Whichever side has more cracks indicates the individual’s fortune. The length of the cracks indicates the duration of the divination’s effect.”

Zhao Xing extended a finger, and activated the Heavenly Fire spell. A wisp of flame immediately enveloped the turtle shell, incinerating it. After a quarter of an hour of burning, faint sounds emanated from the turtle shell. “Crack, crack, crack!” Once the cracks stopped forming, Zhao Xing ceased the burning and looked closely.

“The side of ‘Minor Auspice’ has the most cracks. The cracks spread across four scutes and are one inch deep, meaning the effect will last for four days.”

“The side of ‘Medium Auspice’ has one crack, less than an inch deep, spreading across one scute, indicating that medium good fortune will arise within four hours.”

“Although there are many cracks on the side of ‘Minor Omen,’ none of them are major cracks. The ‘Medium Omen’ and ‘Great Omen’ sides have no cracks.”

“This means my recent fortune has no major dangers. The extensive cracking is due to being on the battlefield, so a long duration is normal.”

Zhao Xing interpreted the divinatory symbols. Predicting fortune and misfortune was relatively simple. Asking about his own fortune yielded little meaningful information; how could the luck of someone who has mastered Derivation Three be merely an empty reputation?

Zhao Xing slaughtered ten Rank-Eight spiritual turtles and consulted them a hundred times, with largely similar results. Good fortune outweighed misfortune. As Zhao Xing continued his cultivation, the fortunes and misfortunes displayed on the turtle shells became increasingly accurate. After practicing for several hours, he began to have certain intuitions at the same time the results appeared.

Zhao Xing looked at his panel.

Fire-Refined Turtle Divination · Fortune and Misfortune: Mid-tier, Seventh Revolution.

Effect: Burns turtle patterns to divine fortune and misfortune, revealing immediate good and ill omens.

The Turtle Coin Divination Method was a complete set of spells. This current method was only the simplest way to inquire about fortune and misfortune, and was relatively general. However, it was better than the almanacs issued by the Great Zhou. Because the Great Zhou’s almanacs were all for warding off misfortune; they couldn’t predict good fortune, only avert disaster. Moreover, they were all passively triggered, and could not be actively used.

“What are you doing?” Long Xiao walked onto the boat, carrying the mountain cat. “Aotian has been looking for you for a while.”

“Why is Aotian looking for me? Didn’t we just eat breakfast?” Zhao Xing asked.

Long Xiao was speechless. “Look at what time it is now?”

Zhao Xing checked his Five Elements biological clock, then gave an awkward smile. “My apologies, I got too absorbed in my training.” Without realizing it, six hours had passed. No wonder the mountain cat looked a bit resentful.

“Training?” Long Xiao looked at the turtle shell in confusion. “What kind of training involves turtles?”

“Spiritual turtle fortune-telling, have you heard of it?” Zhao Xing asked. He wasn’t afraid of others knowing. The Grand Ancestor merely took a swing of his blade; he didn’t eliminate the profession of fortune-telling. This meant that both officials and commoners were allowed to research and tinker with it themselves. However, the government didn’t provide cultivation manuals, and with the Grand Ancestor’s ‘Grand Vow of Establishing the Dao’ in place, the paths to advancement were sealed off. No matter how much you practiced, you couldn’t achieve anything significant. Such methods were even less strictly regulated than soul-binding straw effigies. Soul-binding straw effigies were prohibited from being practiced within the Great Zhou, only allowed on the battlefield, and even then, required reporting.

“Oh? You know this too?” Long Xiao’s interest was immediately piqued. “How’s your practice coming along?”

“It’s decent. I can predict short-term fortune and misfortune,” Zhao Xing said. “But it’s not always accurate. Do you want to try?”

“Sure,” Long Xiao replied. “Let’s ask for a good omen.” It almost felt like he was being insulted.

Muttering inwardly, Zhao Xing said to Long Xiao, “Give me a drop of your blood.”

Long Xiao grazed his fingertip across his palm, and blood seeped out. Zhao Xing swept it up with a gust of wind and found Long Xiao’s drop of blood surprisingly heavy. His vital energy and blood were like mercury, truly befitting a sword cultivator among martial artists. His physique was indeed powerful.

“Sizzle, sizzle,” Zhao Xing used Long Xiao’s blood to smear it onto the turtle shell, drawing the symbols for fortune and misfortune on both sides. Then he calcined it with Heavenly Fire.

“Crack, crack, crack, crack!” Cracks appeared, and crackling sounds emerged. Zhao Xing’s expression subtly changed. Why was the commotion so loud? Could it be that…

“Why the long face?” Long Xiao asked. “Don’t scare me.”

Once the flames dissipated, Zhao Xing looked closely, and his somber expression immediately turned into a smile. He saw countless dense cracks distributed in the ‘Great Auspice’ area. The cracks were deep but short. On the side of ill omens, there were very few cracks, similar to when Zhao Xing had divined for himself.

“My goodness, it’s a great auspicious omen!” But where did Long Xiao’s great auspicious omen come from?