Chapter 88: Fortune Telling

The fortune teller was a cultivator roughly the same age as Lu Yang. He noticed Lu Yang's gaze and explained with a hint of complaint: "There's nothing I can do. People nowadays don't really believe in fortune-telling. They keep shouting 'My destiny is mine to control, not heaven's,' and so on. It's not easy to make a living."

"Some people like to use Bagua for divination, so I have a Bagua plate ready."

"If someone wants to divine their gambling luck, I have dice."

"For those who think character divination is accurate, I keep the Four Treasures of the Study on hand."

"And if someone believes throwing coins is most effective, I have nine large coins ready."

"Then there's this crystal ball. It's a recent trend from the East Sea; people like to use crystal balls for divination. I even went to the East Sea to learn how to use it."

"What's more, this crystal ball can tell fortunes on the surface, but secretly, it can also play small videos. One tool, two ways to earn money."

"So, how about it? Want to pick one and have your fortune told? No charge if it's not accurate." The fortune teller enthusiastically promoted his services.

Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou eyed the fortune teller suspiciously. They felt a surge of wariness, as the fortune teller seemed to be not simple, as if he had seen something.

Man Gu, encountering a fortune teller for the first time, found it quite interesting. "Can you tell mine?" he asked.

The fortune teller's lips curved into a slight smile. "Certainly. Which method would you like to use, and what do you wish to divine, honored guest?"

Man Gu thought for a moment, considering himself a Confucian cultivator, and said: "Character divination, then. I'll write a character, and you can tell me if I can become a Great Confucian."

"Please." The fortune teller skillfully arranged the Four Treasures of the Study and invited Man Gu to write.

Man Gu's brush moved swiftly, writing a single character.

The fortune teller tapped the paper and then hissed loudly. "Your character..."

"Is there a problem?" Man Gu asked anxiously.

"Your handwriting is so ugly. What character is this?"

"Ru (Confucian)."

The fortune teller paused to compose himself, then began his interpretation: "'Ru' means 'gentle'; it's a term for a scholar. It derives from the radical 'human' and has the phonetic component 'xu'."

"Your body is strong, seemingly indestructible, yet you possess a gentle heart. You lack your own strong opinions; you accept whatever you hear and become whatever you learn."

"Now, looking at the character 'xu', it has 'rain' on top and 'and' below."

"As clouds gather in the sky and rain falls when needed, this signifies that you will be needed by others in the future."

"The 'human' radical stands beside it. This means you will not only become a Great Confucian but a new kind of Great Confucian."

Man Gu's face lit up with joy upon hearing he could become a Great Confucian.

His Confucian scholarship was among the worst under the Fourth Elder. Although the Fourth Elder didn't mind, advocating for education without discrimination, and said Man Gu simply hadn't achieved enlightenment yet, believing that once he did, he would instantly enter the path of Confucianism with immeasurable prospects.

However, Man Gu had always lacked confidence. Now, with the fortune teller's interpretation affirming his potential to become a Great Confucian, he regained his self-assurance.

He still had great potential!

"Oh, and one more thing."

"What?"

"When you go back, practice your calligraphy more."

"Oh."

"Do you need a calligraphy copybook? I happen to have one here. Take it; it's a necessary expense on your path to becoming a Great Confucian."

Man Gu felt the fortune teller made a good point and bought a copybook.

Seeing Man Gu finish his divination, Lan Ting found it quite amusing and wanted to try it herself. She sat down and asked: "I want to know if my future achievements will be greater in formations or talismans. Please use the crystal ball for this."

Recently, she had been learning formations, and discovered that her interest in formations seemed to surpass that in talismans.

Lan Ting was considering whether to change her area of specialization.

The fortune teller raised the crystal ball, aimed it at Lan Ting, rubbed his hands repeatedly, and chanted: "Spirits of heaven and earth, crystal ball, reveal yourself quickly! Spirits of heaven and earth, crystal ball, reveal yourself quickly!"

The fortune teller stared, dumbfounded, at the result displayed in the crystal ball. "Uh, in your future, you'll write formations onto talismans, merging formations and talismans into one?"

The fortune teller looked at Lan Ting with a strange expression. "What an unconventional idea," he thought. "This female cultivator is peerlessly beautiful, yet her way of thinking is so different from ordinary people."

Lan Ting tilted her head, pondered for a moment, felt that what the fortune teller said was not impossible, and promptly paid.

It was Meng Jingzhou's turn. Meng Jingzhou raised an eyebrow. "You wouldn't happen to be a disciple of the Heavenly Policy Sect, would you?"

The Heavenly Policy Sect was the foremost divination sect in the Central Continent. It had once calculated the time for the re-emergence of the Ancient Great Era.

The Heavenly Policy Sect emphasized causality the most; ordinary methods of concealing one's identity were useless in front of them.

A Heavenly Policy Sect disciple could discern a person's background and origin with just a glance.

Perhaps this fortune teller had seen that the four of them were from the Dao Inquiry Sect and the Moon Laurel Immortal Palace.

"Haha, my junior brother, you must be mistaken. I am but a carefree hermit, a simple idler. How could I possibly be a Heavenly Policy Sect disciple?"

Meng Jingzhou fell silent for a moment, then took out a blood contract from his identity jade pendant. "Three hundred years ago, a Grand Elder from your Heavenly Policy Sect borrowed a huge sum of top-grade spirit stones from my Meng family. Later, unable to repay, he hid in a cave dwelling, claiming to be in seclusion."

"When my Meng family went to your Heavenly Policy Sect to collect the debt, your Sect Master established a blood contract, stating that it would certainly be repaid, and that any direct descendant of the Meng family who encountered a Heavenly Policy Sect disciple could, according to the blood contract, demand repayment from that disciple."

"Would you like to test the power of the blood contract?"

Lu Yang had heard that the Meng family was everyone's creditor; it seemed this statement was not false.

The fortune teller plopped to his knees, clutched Meng Jingzhou's leg, and burst into tears. "Brother Meng, please be merciful! We might meet again someday!"

"My Heavenly Policy Sect is so poor we can't even support our disciples, forcing us to go down the mountain and fend for ourselves. If I, Luo Bu, had money, I wouldn't have stooped to swindling people here!"

"Setting up a stall here requires a fee, and I can't even afford that!"

The fortune teller, Luo Bu, lamented his poverty. "Look at this mandarin jacket I'm wearing," he sobbed. "I've been patching it up and wearing it for years; I don't even have money for a new one!"

Meng Jingzhou rolled his eyes; that mandarin jacket was clearly a consecrated item, worth a fortune.

"I don't expect you to repay the debt. Get up first." Meng Jingzhou forcefully pulled his leg free. "Tell us two fortunes for free, and I won't bother you anymore. Remember, no lying!"

"Hahaha, that's no problem at all."

"Come, come, tell me my fate, and what my future achievements will be?" Lu Yang held out his hand, allowing Luo Bu, the Heavenly Policy Sect disciple, to read his palm.

Luo Bu chuckled, displaying his usual confidence in his specialty. "That's a common question. Let me take a look."

Unexpectedly, Luo Bu's eyes widened. He suddenly stood up, a look of disbelief on his face, and stumbled back several steps until his back hit the wall.

"Y-y-your fate... what's going on? It's completely hazy! In the future, you'll be entangled in karma with several immortals!"

Luo Bu realized that Lu Yang, despite being entangled in karmic ties with immortals, could still move freely, as if unaffected.

But that wasn't the most terrifying part.

The most horrifying thing was that Luo Bu also discovered Lu Yang would become a major scourge in the cultivation world in the future, spreading the Dao Inquiry Sect's ethos throughout the entire cultivation world!

The Dao Inquiry Sect's ethos was already outrageous enough; if the entire cultivation world were to be assimilated by it, would anyone be able to live normally?!

He absolutely could not get entangled in karma with someone like this!

Luo Bu cursed silently. He had seen that all four of them were from the Five Great Immortal Sects, four fat sheep he could easily swindle for some money, but he never expected Lu Yang, an existence he absolutely couldn't get involved with, to be among them!

Wait, his palm reading indicated that it wasn't just Lu Yang spreading this unhealthy ethos throughout the cultivation world; another person was cooperating with him.

And that other person was...

Luo Bu looked at his big creditor, Meng Jingzhou.

Run!

Without another word, Luo Bu activated an escape technique, not even bothering to pack up his table, and ran away as fast as he could. "I-I-I haven't seen any of you today!"

He was worried that if he looked any longer, his life would end there.

Before the four of them could react, Luo Bu had vanished.

Lu Yang blamed Meng Jingzhou: "You must have scared him off by demanding money."