Divination

"Taishi Ran, you deduced this was the Pavilion Master's intention based on merely these two points?" The middle-aged fat man stared at Taishi Ran's handsome, striking face, suspicion gleaming in his beady, squinted eyes. "You ought to know what ambushing and slaying a direct blood relative of Xu Yinhe entails. Unless there is definitive word, I will never take part in this." Hearing this, the hunchbacked elder gently thumped his cane on the ground. "This elder brother agrees with Brother Zhou." Meanwhile, the middle-aged graceful woman at his side remained silent. Yet the meaning in her gaze was equally plain: Unless concrete proof was provided, she would not obey either. The stakes were simply too high. If they were merely going to assassinate a scion of an ordinary prestigious clan, the two points Taishi Ran had raised would naturally suffice. The trouble was, the person they were being asked to kill now was a direct blood relative of the foremost clan in the world today. Although they all originated from the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion in essence and shared common interests, they were simultaneously independent individuals, and their respective sects each had their own stances. It was difficult to say whether such an affair would be exposed. If it were exposed... Did they intend to openly tear away all pretense? And if they didn't, who would be thrown out to take the fall? In a monumental matter of such far-reaching consequences, had it been a direct command from the Pavilion Master, they would not refuse—nor could they. However, if it was merely the deduction of the Pavilion Master's First Venerable, then the matter was well worth reconsidering. Looking at the three cornering him, Taishi Ran let out a soft laugh, his voice smooth and deep: "My friends, "With the great tribulation looming and the Pavilion Master unable to divine the future, has this Heaven Pavilion Token in my hand lost its authority over you?" "..." Everywhere his gaze swept, the other three averted their eyes. Ever since its decline ten thousand years ago, the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion had remained hidden in the shadows to bide its strength. Yet the limitations of operating in the dark had also prevented the Pavilion from establishing itself as a single unified sect to consolidate all subordinate powers under a strong, centralized authority. After all, if your territory grew too grand, the imperial family would turn their blades upon you. Hence, to conceal itself and avoid outside suspicion, the power structure of the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion somewhat resembled the feudal ennoblement system from ten thousand years ago when dynasties first formed over the realm. Within these enfeoffed sects, the sect masters, elders, and other leaders held absolute authority, but in secret, these top echelons answered directly to the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion Master in the shadows. The Heaven Pavilion Token was the very token the Pavilion Master used to mobilize the sects under his command. Because of this ennoblement structure, many high-ranking figures within the subordinate sects had harbored notions of casting off the Pavilion to become masters of their own fate. Yet all of them soon learned why the sects of ten thousand years ago had laid siege to the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion. Almost all had been discovered beforehand by the clairvoyant Pavilion Master. Some received warnings, while others were cast aside into obscurity. As eras shifted down to the present day, these sect leaders enfeoffed by the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion had essentially abandoned any thought of breaking free. Even now, with the great tribulation approaching and the Pavilion Master unable to divine the future, ten thousand years of indoctrination and a terror engraved into their very bones meant they only dared to cut minor corners on peripheral matters. Yet when it came to assassinating a direct scion of the Prime Minister's Manor, even when Taishi Ran brought out the Heaven Pavilion Token to pressure them, the three refused to yield. After a brief silence, the hunchbacked elder bowed his head and said in a heavy voice: "Venerable Taishi, this matter is of utmost gravity. If you insist on going your own way, this old man implores you to allow us to contact the Pavilion Master for confirmation." His form of address had shifted, his voice turning strictly formal and resolute. "Phew..." With a soft sigh, Taishi Ran rubbed between his brows and lowered his voice: "There are some matters where it is inconvenient for the Pavilion Master to step forward personally. Since you insist, I shall disclose one more detail: that blood relative of Xu Yinhe is connected to this great tribulation." "The great tribulation?!" The middle-aged fat man gasped in shock, his slit-like eyes opening wide as he stared at Taishi Ran. "Is that true?" The others looked toward Taishi Ran at the same time; even the woman surnamed Luo in the black gown showed a flicker of uncertainty in her eyes. She had not heard Taishi Ran mention this either. Ten thousand years had passed, and the Luo clan had long broken free of the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion's control. But as one of the former Seven Clans of the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion, they still retained many ancient records regarding the great tribulation of the world. Consequently, she was intimately aware of how terrifying the tribulation was. If even someone from the Luo clan, who had escaped the Pavilion's grasp, reacted this way, there was no need to speak of the other three who had remained under its rule. Constant immersion and conditioning had instilled in them an almost PTSD-like dread of the world's great tribulation. Under everyone's scrutiny, Taishi Ran chuckled softly: "A single drop of ink that stained the entire world black. Calling that person the inception of the world's great tribulation is by no means an exaggeration." "..." His words were met with silence, save for the golden afterglow of the setting sun and the howling chill of the wind sweeping across the summit. After a long while, the middle-aged fat man stroked his chin. "Put that way, it does make sense." Pausing for a breath, he asked again: "Yet in such a monumental matter, why would the Pavilion Master be so secretive, resorting to hints for you to act, Brother Taishi?" A touch of helplessness surfaced on Taishi Ran's face. "That person is connected to the Lady Saintess. It is inconvenient for the Pavilion Master to intervene personally, so naturally, I can only play the villain." Hearing this, peculiar expressions crossed the faces of the three. Soon, however, they understood. After all, given that man's peerless bearing, it was only natural for a young Saintess to develop romantic feelings. The middle-aged fat man smiled amiably: "If that is so, it seems we have wronged you, Brother Taishi." With his concession, the middle-aged graceful woman and the hunchbacked elder also nodded in assent. The clear, cool eyes of the woman surnamed Luo reeled in her surprise, and she looked at Taishi Ran, asking: "Since he is the inception of the tribulation, we must make foolproof preparations." The middle-aged graceful woman chimed in, her gaze solemn as she murmured: "Fairy Luo speaks with reason. Xu Changge is no ordinary Origin Realm cultivator. I saw that lad during the Tianyuan Grand Tournament all those years ago. The Sword Dao he cultivates possesses immense power. After so long, I fear even a Transcendent Realm expert could be slain by him if caught off guard." The hunchbacked elder rubbed the grain of his wooden cane, deep in thought: "This old man's substitute puppet technique should be able to counter that lad's Sword Dao. What we need to consider is that woman Lou Ji, as well as the chance he might flee—" "Xu Changtian." Taishi Ran's sudden interjection cut through the discussion. "..." All four turned their heads in unison toward Taishi Ran, bizarre expressions in their eyes. Xu Changtian? What Xu Changtian? After a brief hush, the middle-aged graceful woman asked softly with a hint of uncertainty: "Xu Changtian is Xu Yinhe's third son, is he not?" "He is," Taishi Ran said. The middle-aged fat man opened his mouth, closed it, and cleared his throat: "Brother Taishi, according to the intelligence I received, Xu Changtian only stepped onto the path of cultivation a little over a year ago. Am I mistaken?" "You are not," Taishi Ran said. "..." The middle-aged fat man glanced at the inscrutable woman surnamed Luo, then at the others. He felt his thoughts spiraling into chaos. Wasn't Xu Changtian a good-for-nothing playboy? With the Lady Saintess's exceptional talent, she fell for a mere dandy? Moreover, no matter how one looked at it, such a wastrel hardly required the encirclement and slaying by four experts who had stepped into the Transcendent Realm decades ago, plus a Semi-Saint. The middle-aged fat man pointed a stubby, pudgy finger at himself: "A mere Soul Condensation cultivator requires the four of us and Fairy Luo to take part in an assassination together?" Taishi Ran was entirely unfazed and countered: "For the person who marks the inception of the great tribulation, no degree of caution can ever be considered excessive. Don't you agree?" The fat on the middle-aged man's face twitched, but he said nothing. The hunchbacked elder let out a dry, raspy chuckle: "Heh... Using an ox cleaver to kill a chicken. Still, if we fail to strike him down in one blow, we will likely never have another opportunity." With that, the elder's murky gaze shifted to the Lingtian Instrument in Taishi Ran's hand: "Brother Taishi, since it is for the greater good of the world, we naturally have no reason to refuse. Let us begin." Hearing this, Taishi Ran smiled faintly: "No need to rush. We will likely need to prepare multiple contingency plans for this trip." As he spoke, he flipped his hand, instantly retrieving five iron masks from his Sumeru ring. Carved onto each iron mask was a wailing face. With a single glance, everyone present recognized the peculiarity within them. A hazy ripple of spatial fluctuations lingered over the iron masks, barring all inspection from both intent-soul and Source Qi. Gleams of light flashed in the middle-aged fat man's eyes. As a master weaponsmith, he recognized the raw material at a glance and exclaimed in surprise: "This is... forged from levitation stone?" Taishi Ran smiled faintly. With a flick of his sleeve, four iron masks floated precisely before the other four. "These are Wailing Iron Masks, obtained by the Pavilion Master more than three thousand years ago after wiping out an evil sect." As he spoke, he unhesitatingly put a mask over his face and channeled Source Qi to activate it. Almost simultaneously, a bizarre scene unfolded. Taishi Ran's silhouette instantly blurred, the Source Qi around him became ethereal and indistinct, and his originally gentle, soft-spoken voice turned muffled and resonant: "This item can mask all traces of our aura." The middle-aged fat man ran a finger over the surface of the mask, astonishment in his eyes as he clicked his tongue in wonder: "The forging method of this item is truly miraculous. To think that aside from Sumeru rings, levitation stone possesses such efficacy. However, the spatial fluctuations emitted by this Wailing Iron Mask will likely hinder our technique casting during battle." With merely a glance, he had seen through the underlying principle. Although the spatial fluctuations of the Wailing Iron Mask concealed their auras, this concealment essentially created a barrier composed of spatial ripples around the body. External qi signatures could not penetrate it, but likewise, their own arts would be distorted when passing through this 'shroud'. Taishi Ran glanced at him and chuckled: "Compared to exposing our identities outright, such an impairment is nothing, wouldn't you say?" The woman surnamed Luo stared at the mask for a moment before donning it directly, her clear voice turning dry and raspy: "Brother Taishi, you are truly thorough." After everyone had put on the masks, Taishi Ran glanced around and said in a low voice: "Activating this consumes immense power. I must trouble you all to stand guard for me. I shall use this Lingtian Instrument to divine the general location of Xu Changtian." With those words, the Lingtian Instrument in his hand rose into the air, hovering several yards off the ground. Riding the wind, Taishi Ran suspended himself beneath the Lingtian Instrument, pressing his hands together in incantation seals. A surge of torrential Source Qi churned from his body, whipping up a violent gale that enveloped the entire mountaintop. Silently, two colossal celestial astrolabes were projected onto the vault of heaven, the divine light radiating from them almost eclipsing the golden afterglow upon the horizon! As Taishi Ran formed one incantation seal after another, the two intricate celestial dials above began to rotate like cogs, gradually aligning and overlapping. The others present did not remain idle either. The middle-aged graceful woman swept her gaze across the other three and murmured with a poised smile: "Such a massive commotion—allow me to help Brother Taishi conceal the phenomenon." With that, she lightly raised a jade finger and drew several strokes toward the sky. An invisible celestial veil instantly enveloped the projected celestial dials above. Within the veil, radiant golden light illuminated the mountain forest; outside the veil, all remained tranquil as usual. Having completed these preparations, the figures atop the peak waited quietly for the results of Taishi Ran's divination. Yet the subsequent turn of events caught them completely off guard. The time it took to drink a cup of tea slipped by in the blink of an eye. Just as the two colossal celestial dials were about to fully overlap, they suddenly shattered like glass! The fractured shards of the dials dissolved into cascading specks of starlight, amidst which fell Taishi Ran's masked figure. Buzz— Drifting downward, Taishi Ran dropped onto one knee against the ground. A stream of fresh blood surged from beneath the iron mask, staining the brown earth with specks of crimson. This sudden turn of events shocked everyone present. Although the Lingtian Instrument consumed immense power, Taishi Ran's cultivation was more than sufficient to command it. The hunchbacked elder and the middle-aged fat man moved forward to inspect him, but Taishi Ran raised a hand to stop them: "I am fine. I only suffered a minor internal injury from forcefully interrupting the art." Saying this, Taishi Ran put the Lingtian Instrument back into his Sumeru ring, reached up to partially lift the iron mask, and wiped the blood from the corners of his lips beneath it: "I found his location. Two auras of the Heavenly Yan divine soul are intertwined; Xu Changtian should currently be together with the Saintess." The middle-aged fat man frowned slightly. "If the Saintess is at Xu Changtian's side, how are we to make our move? Once we strike, even with these iron masks concealing our auras, the Lady Saintess will certainly see through our identities." "That is of no consequence." Taishi Ran seemed hardly concerned about this. "At most, the Lady Saintess will step in to obstruct us, but she will never reveal our identities." Saying so, he raised his eyes and gazed solemnly toward the northern sky: "What matters now is that there seems to be something wrong with that lad named Xu Changtian." Hearing his solemn words, grave looks appeared in the eyes of everyone present. A chilling gleam flickered in the hunchbacked elder's eyes: "Brother Taishi, why did you forcefully abort the art just now?" Taishi Ran adjusted his disordered breathing slightly, braced against his knees to stand from the ground, and spoke without mincing words: "At the very last moment, that boy noticed me." "..." Silence fell. For a time, no one spoke; only the cold wind brushed against their cheeks with an eerie chill. After a long while, the woman surnamed Luo said with some hesitation: "According to my clan's ancient records, even the Saintess should be unable to sense the probing of this Lingtian Instrument." Beneath the mask, Taishi Ran licked the metallic taste of blood from his lips: "Only a cultivation at the Transcendent Realm or above can perceive the qi signature of this divination." Pausing, he looked around at everyone and enunciated every word: "Gentlemen, that Xu Changtian's cultivation... is likely far from simple."