Foreseeing the Future

Lu Yang figured that the Immortal Fairy's failure to learn how to foresee the future was largely because Immortal Suiyue hadn't taught her seriously. Following the Immortal Fairy's guidance, Lu Yang began learning the ancient tongue. Obscure words tumbled out of his mouth one after another. After chanting it several times, Lu Yang could recite the incantation quite fluently. "Speaking of which, if someone wants to resurrect you, Fairy, will it work whether they chant your name in the ancient tongue or in modern language?" Lu Yang recalled that when he revived the Immortal Fairy, he had spoken modern tongue. "Heheh, I already told you! This fairy's Dao fruit is 'Immortal.' Immortality means enduring for all eternity, so how could it be constrained by petty differences in language? Though Immortal Ying Tian and the others don't know about this." The Immortal Fairy grinned slyly, willing to share this little secret with Lu Yang. "Make sure you don't tell anyone else! I'm only telling you because you brought me back to life and let me stay in your body for so long!" she urged. "That goes without saying!" Lu Yang patted his chest in reassurance. Lu Yang settled down to study foreseeing the future in earnest. He sat cross-legged, meticulously contemplating this grand spell and divine ability renowned even in ancient legends. Lu Yang rarely sought the Immortal Fairy's guidance, terrified that she would lead him astray, but whenever he hit a genuine roadblock, he still had to ask. Watching from the sidelines as Lu Yang gradually touched the core of foreseeing the future, the Immortal Fairy was secretly stunned. It meant Lu Yang was not far from mastering it. She claimed aloud that his magical talent was inferior to hers, but that was only because she was too embarrassed to admit that his talent surpassed her own. Back when she was at the Foundation Establishment stage, there was no way she could have learned time-based magic. For someone in the middle Foundation Establishment stage to master a spatial technique like Inches to the Ends of the Earth and now be on the verge of mastering a time-based technique like foreseeing the future—calling Lu Yang a monstrous prodigy was no exaggeration. The Immortal Fairy soon cast the thought to the back of her mind. After all, magic wasn't her greatest specialty. Since that was the case, why compare her shortcomings against Lu Yang's strengths? Lu Yang solemnly chanted the ancient tongue, pressed his index and middle fingers together, and shouted, "Foresee the future!" "Did it work?" The Immortal Fairy was astonished by how quickly he had picked it up. Golden talismans materialized around Lu Yang, dispersed into the void, and after about three minutes, emerged from the void to return into his body. Lu Yang's eyes gleamed like gold. He had successfully glimpsed the future! "I saw... myself from two minutes ago?!" Lu Yang had seen himself two minutes in the past, standing there stupidly with his arm raised, waiting for the feedback from the golden talismans, looking utterly foolish. The corner of his eye twitched. Theoretically speaking, he had mastered foreseeing the future and successfully predicted what would happen one minute after casting the spell. Practically speaking, however, finding out the result took a three-minute wait. "What bloody use is this?!" Lu Yang complained. Lu Yang decided it was probably because he hadn't mastered it skillfully enough yet. "Let's practice some more." Reflecting on what he had just done, Lu Yang searched for potential issues, patched the flaws, and cast the spell again. He waited three minutes and saw what would happen a minute and a half after casting. "...That counts as progress, I suppose," Lu Yang consoled himself, pulling himself together. "Keep it up!" The Immortal Fairy cheered him on from the side. "Again!" After the Five Elements Sect departed, the senior brothers and sisters had taken turns sparring with Lu Yang, beating him all the way until dawn before finally burying him in the grove on Tianmen Peak. Lu Yang had cleared the fairy's trial and had been cultivating diligently ever since morning. Time slipped by, from dawn to dusk. The sun gave way to the moon, and moonlight poured over the Dao Seeking Sect like a tide, draping it in a veil of mystique. Heaven never lets down those who persevere. Through relentless practice—constantly identifying, examining, and solving issues—the foreseeable future grew longer and longer, inching closer and closer to the three-minute threshold. Suddenly, a roar echoed in Lu Yang's mind, as if a bottleneck had cleared. In one leap, he broke past the three-minute threshold to glimpse the true future. Lu Yang's eyes shone brilliant gold, gleaming like two candle lanterns in the night, extraordinarily conspicuous. "What did you see?" the Immortal Fairy asked excitedly. Lu Yang wore an odd expression. "I only saw a fragment. Eldest Senior Sister was leaving Prison Peak, and I ran up to her, declaring that I was determined to follow Master's example and become just as unreliable as him, spending all day doing nothing but eating and playing around without cultivating or attending to any proper business. Eldest Senior Sister smiled, hugged me, patted my back, and said she would provide for me from now on." "Seriously?" The Immortal Fairy was taken aback. What kind of bizarre future was that? "It felt real!" Lu Yang was equally bewildered. "Why do I feel like something's off?" The Immortal Fairy's eyes darted around, and she egged him on, "Immortal Suiyue said that the future cannot be changed. Since you saw it, that means it's bound to happen. "The only way to verify whether it's real is to test it!" Lu Yang felt that made sense and set off toward Prison Peak. At that moment, Yun Zhi had just stepped out of Prison Peak, her knuckles stained with blood. Although she maintained her usual expressionless facade, anyone familiar with her would know she was in a good mood. She had successfully pried a vast amount of intelligence about the Immortal Cult from the two Vice Cult Masters, including the location of their headquarters. Seeing Lu Yang running over in high spirits, Yun Zhi asked, "Junior Brother, is something the matter?" Lu Yang beamed brightly. "I'm determined to follow Master's example and become just as unreliable as him, spending all day doing nothing but eating and playing around without cultivating or attending to any proper business!" Rumble—crack! For some reason, the previously clear sky suddenly churned with dark clouds. Thunder roared, lightning flashed, and raindrops the size of beans began to pour. "Oh, it's raining! See, I told you there'd be moderate rain tonight!" The Immortal Fairy looked thoroughly pleased with herself. Her weather forecast had been spot-on after all. Lu Yang noticed that the moment he finished speaking, Eldest Senior Sister's blank expression shifted into a faint smile. It was a smile, yes, but against the backdrop of roaring thunder and flashing lightning—and coupled with Lu Yang's instincts—that smile exerted immense pressure on him. It was a life-or-death crisis! Lu Yang gulped. His consciousness hurriedly darted into his spiritual space as he whispered, "Fairy, when a cultivator reaches a certain realm, can their emotional shifts affect the weather?" "Yes, they can." Lu Yang finally understood why it was raining on the Dao Seeking Sect, where rain almost never fell. He had enraged Eldest Senior Sister! "Fairy, your weather forecast sure was accurate!" Lu Yang ground out through gritted teeth. In reality, Yun Zhi gently patted Lu Yang on the shoulder and said in a tender voice, "Junior Brother, has your recent training been so stressful that you've started talking nonsense?" Shivering from head to toe, Lu Yang shook his head reflexively. Realizing that was the wrong reaction, he hastily nodded like a chick pecking at rice, utterly unable to squeeze out a single word. He finally understood what kind of spell he had mastered. Foreseeing the future—knowing ahead of time the things that would never come to pass.