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Chapter 204: Asking for Good Fortune
🕑 Added 2024-11-03 10:25:42 +0000 UTCBeneath City No. 98, the underground energy veins fluctuated chaotically. However, at this moment, they formed a clear and distinct message.
The transmitted information from the energy veins was quickly captured by Zhao Xing.
He opened his eyes and looked upward.
"Old Chen is summoning the Earth God, isn’t he?" Zhao Xing chuckled softly.
Stomping his foot to summon someone felt similar to calling upon the Earth God for answers.
And to be fair, in the inland regions of the Zhou Dynasty, there were indeed temples for Earth Gods and Mountain Deities. However, this method of summoning was rather impolite and was generally only used by high-ranking officials.
If a lower-ranking official tried it, they’d likely get beaten.
"Stop calling, I'm coming up." Zhao Xing saw the golden ripples above and quickly manipulated the energy veins to send a response.
Afterward, he tidied up everything in the underground chamber, burned it clean, and used the Divine Travel Guard to ascend.
"What’s the rush? I’ve only slept for a few hours."
Chen Shijie said, "The scouts sent by Wen Shaoyang’s unit have returned one after another. After consolidating the intelligence, Lieutenant Liao plans to gather everyone for a discussion on how to proceed with the battle."
As they walked, Zhao Xing asked, "Which areas did Wen Shaoyang’s scouts explore?"
Chen Shijie replied, "Northeast, reaching as far as the ‘Curved City’ in Xixian territory, and southeast, reaching the Soul Sacrifice Fortress."
"Fortress?" Zhao Xing’s eyes narrowed. He had visited that place in a vision, and Wen Shaoyang’s unit had been trapped there. "Did the scout teams encounter any problems?"
"No, why do you ask?" Chen Shijie noticed Zhao Xing’s odd reaction and questioned him.
"Nothing, just curious." Zhao Xing said casually, "Isn’t the Soul Sacrifice Fortress guarded by an elite force from the Holy Spirit Court?"
"Yes." Chen Shijie nodded, "So Wen Shaoyang’s men didn’t get too close. That place is filled with heavy yin energy and haunted by wandering souls, making it difficult to gather intelligence."
"However, according to Lieutenant Liao, he wants to attack the Soul Sacrifice Fortress first." Chen Shijie added.
"What’s your take on that?" Zhao Xing asked.
"I don’t have any ancestors to be concerned about." Chen Shijie said nonchalantly, "So it doesn’t matter to me which unit we attack first."
Zhao Xing nodded slightly. He knew that Chen Shijie was an orphan. His parents had died early, and while he had an uncle and aunt, they were unkind, and their relationship had long since been severed.
Zhao Xing asked mainly because soldiers of the Zhou Dynasty held a natural aversion to the Holy Spirit Court.
Among the four major courts, the Holy Spirit Court specialized in controlling ghosts.
They often tore open weak spots between the mortal realm and the yin realm, unleashing a large number of spirits to serve as their ghost soldiers and generals.
The yin realm was peculiar: entering it from the Zhou Dynasty’s lands or from the southern barbarians' lands could lead to the same place.
As a result, the Holy Spirit Court sometimes captured the souls of Zhou Dynasty’s deceased, turning them into ghost soldiers.
This greatly undermined the Zhou Dynasty’s religious and ritual systems, especially the divine system governing yin spirits.
From an emotional standpoint, the actions of the Holy Spirit Court felt like they were "enslaving your ancestors."
Who could tolerate that?
Of course, it made them the most hated court!
"Among the four courts, the Golden Feather Court has the most diverse tribes and professions—sorcerers, blood shamans, warriors, and various specialists, with equipment that’s not too far behind the Zhou Dynasty’s."
"The Purple Dragon Court excels at controlling beasts, especially fierce ones. The southern barbarian region frequently experiences large-scale environmental changes, making it a natural breeding ground for wild creatures. They hardly need to raise them; just subduing them is enough."
"The Fiery Light Court is the toughest to fight. Its lands are vast but sparsely populated, and they have natural allies like the Babok Worms, making them as elusive as moles."
"The Holy Spirit Court is the most disgusting to fight. After one battle, their combat power barely diminishes because their main soldiers are ghosts, which can be replenished endlessly. You might fight them once, and in the next battle, your fallen comrades rise up as your enemies."
Zhao Xing added, "Moving west along the eastern front, we’ll encounter various reinforcements from the different courts because the Golden Feather Court intends to defend the land of the Fire Demon Tribe... mainly to hold onto the valuable Green Gang Ore mining area."
"Personally, I don’t want to fight at the Soul Sacrifice Fortress either because we don’t have enough priests."
In both Liao Rulong’s and Wen Shaoyang’s units, there were few priests. Most commanders were martial artists, and their subordinates were also primarily martial artists, leaving little room for priests. This was the current state of the army.
Priests were difficult to train, even harder than Shennong officers. During the time at Ten Sun Cave-Heaven, there were over 10,000 Shennong trainees.
But what about priests? Only around 2,000.
In Gucheng, there were about 500 low-ranking Shennong officials, but only 40 to 50 priests.
That’s the nature of divine professions—it wasn’t something that could be easily cultivated in large numbers.
So, was there an army capable of fighting the Holy Spirit Court?
Of course, there was. The Huangui Army of the Huangui Cave-Heaven was an elite force, led by the Huangui Marquis, a fourth-rank ghost priest.
Most members of the Huangui Army were combat-oriented priests.
When Zhao Xing arrived at the meeting hall and shared his thoughts, Xia Jing responded:
"It’s not a matter of wanting or not wanting to fight—we have to fight."
"The defense line at the Soul Sacrifice Fortress has been extended much further than before. With the loss of Fire Dragon Pass, the Golden Feather Court was enraged and stationed the Holy Spirit Court’s army along the eastern front."
"It’s already October 13th. The Holy Spirit Court’s forces have solidified their positions, and the defense line is much tighter than before."
Zhao Xing shook his head inwardly. Originally, after resting at Fire Dragon Pass, the three armies were supposed to move out, and the defenses along the Soul Sacrifice Fortress weren’t as strong.
But the Qian Shougang incident had delayed them by more than ten days, giving the Golden Feather Court time to deploy their troops.
However, such uncertainties were part of the battlefield. No one could predict everything perfectly. When was anything ever truly ideal?
Ultimately, the problem was their lack of manpower. After capturing Fire Dragon Pass, they had to rest and recruit more soldiers.
"Can we cooperate with the Huangui Army?" Wen Shaoyang suggested, "With their help, we’d have a better chance of breaking through the Soul Sacrifice Fortress."
Liao Rulong hesitated. "The Huangui Army is ranked in the top 200, a strong force. Their main army is currently on the northern front, fighting alongside the Zhaoyuan Army, the Danxia Army, and the Yuanhua Army. They may not be willing to abandon those alliances to assist us."
Xia Jing smiled, "The main force won’t come, but it might be possible to request two or three thousand troops."
"Oh?" Liao Rulong was puzzled. "Why do you say that?"
Xia Jing pointed at Zhao Xing. "Didn’t Zhao Xing recently take down Qian Shougang near Xixian territory?"
"What does that have to do with me?" Zhao Xing was confused.
"We’re currently in a standoff with the Black Dragon Army, which has rattled the general of Xixian Pass." Xia Jing explained. "Qi Yuanjun of the Zhaoyuan Army, Yi Yue of the Yuanhua Army, Nangong Ye of the Huangui Army, and Pang Zheng of the Zhaoyuan Army were planning to attack Xixian Pass."
"They had been staging several mock defeats for over a month to lure the general of Xixian Pass out. There was some hope, but then the Qian Shougang incident disrupted everything."
After hearing Xia Jing’s explanation, Zhao Xing was left speechless.
Blessings and misfortunes truly intertwined. Taking down Qian Shougang had delayed them, making the Soul Sacrifice Fortress harder to capture, but now it might open the door for cooperation with the Huangui Army. It was hard to say whether his luck was good or bad.
"Will they agree to cooperate?" Liao Rulong hesitated.
It wasn’t that he lacked confidence; it was just that the Huangui Army was ranked much higher than the Shenwei Army, even higher than the Tiger Jiao Army.
In the last major military competition, the Shenwei Army ranked over 500, while the Huangui Army ranked over 200.
Their ability to claim an entire cave-heaven as their base spoke volumes about their strength and numbers, far surpassing the Shenwei Army.
"Let’s give it a try," Xia Jing suggested. "If it doesn’t work out, we’ll manage on our own. If everyone agrees, I’ll send a letter to inquire."
"Agreed," Wen Shaoyang said.
"Agreed," Liao Rulong nodded.
"Agreed," Zhao Xing also had no objections. At this point, more strong allies could only help.
Xia Jing and Liao Rulong decided to invite Nangong Ye of the Huangui Army to join the battle at Fire Dragon Pass.
When Nangong Ye received the invitation, he was immediately intrigued.
After all, they had already been considering using Fire Dragon Pass as a passage, but they hadn’t had the opportunity to broach the subject.
However, negotiating cooperation was never smooth sailing.
Nangong Ye’s Huangui Army had already been fighting alongside Yi Yue of the Yuanhua Army and Qi Yuanjun of the Zhaoyuan Army for a long time.
But the Shenwei Army had only invited his detachment.
It felt as though if only Nangong Ye came, his unit would be reduced to playing second fiddle, even though the Huangui Army was formidable. Yet, their numbers were fewer than the combined forces of the Shenwei Army, the Xuanjia Army, and the Zhenhai Army.
As a result, Nangong Ye demanded that his allies, the Yuanhua Army and Zhaoyuan Army, also be included.
But this posed another problem: if they agreed, the combined forces would be nearly as large as the Shenwei Army, Xuanjia Army, and Zhenhai Army. In fact, they might even be stronger.
Liao Rulong, Xia Jing, and Wen Shaoyang weren’t too keen on this.
Although it was called a partnership, inviting them would inevitably complicate the battlefield once the fighting began.
Building such alliances was never easy, especially when the relationships between the forces were only lukewarm.
Zhao Xing, however, stayed out of the discussions entirely. His time was precious, and by next March, he would likely have to return to Ten Sun Cave-Heaven.
He needed to quickly practice the secret arts he had learned from the Heavenly Secret Pavillion.
As for military merit, he could earn it later.
"Captain Jiang, I need a favor."
"Brother Zhao, no need to be so formal. Just call me Brother Jiang," Jiang Ming replied with a grin. "What do you need? Just say the word."
"The Zhenhai Army often catches river turtles and similar aquatic beasts in the Canglan River, right?" Zhao Xing asked.
"Of course! Lots of them, and some are huge!" Jiang Ming spread his hands wide.
"Are they good to eat?" Zhao Xing asked with a smile.
"It depends on how you cook them," Jiang Ming replied. "Turtle meat tends to be tough, so we usually make soup instead of roasting it."
"Why? Are you in the mood for some turtle?" he added.
Zhao Xing smiled, "Exactly. I’ve never tried spiritual turtles. Do you think you could get some for me?"
Jiang Ming clapped his hands, "That’s easy! Do you want any other river or sea delicacies? I can bring some over too. There’s plenty of good stuff in the water…"
After Zhao Xing’s request, Jiang Ming readily agreed.
For the Zhenhai Army, even high-grade spiritual turtles weren’t a big deal.
To curry favor with Zhao Xing, Jiang Ming even sent one of the fastest ships to the Canglan River, returning with a boatload of turtle-like beasts—over a thousand of them.
When Zhao Xing saw the haul, he couldn’t help but be amazed.
Most of them were eighth-grade turtles, with very few ninth-grade ones. There were even seventh-grade spiritual turtles!
"Is this enough?" Jiang Ming asked. "If not, I can have the brothers on the river catch more."
"It’s more than enough," Zhao Xing quickly nodded. He only needed the turtles for practicing his divination technique, not for feasting.
"Alright, then. If you need anything, just call. This ship will stay docked here for now," Jiang Ming said generously.
"Thank you."
After Jiang Ming left, Zhao Xing used his wind technique to pull one of the eighth-grade river turtles from the ship’s hold and placed it on the deck, securing it under a guillotine.
"Slice!"
With a single stroke, the turtle’s head was severed.
"Go!"
Zhao Xing unleashed a beam of golden light onto the turtle shell. The meat and bones of the turtle quickly shriveled as its blood was absorbed by the shell.
This was the Blood Refinement Method of the Turtle Coin Divination technique.
It extracted the blood and marrow of the spiritual turtle to nourish the shell.
Once the divination tool was refined, it could be used as the base for future readings.
"The blood refinement method is the simplest and most straightforward, but the resulting divination tool doesn’t last long."
"The more advanced version is the Soul Refinement Method, which extracts the turtle’s blood, marrow, and soul."
"There’s also the Spirit Refinement Method, which doesn’t require killing the turtle."
"But for now, I’m just practicing. I can’t handle anything too complicated."
Following the instructions in the Turtle Coin Divination, Zhao Xing infused the turtle’s blood and marrow into the shell.
Soon, the shell of the eighth-grade turtle emitted a faint, dark red glow.
"The divination tool is complete. I can now use it to perform various divinations."
"The simplest is to determine good or bad fortune by carving characters on the shell," Zhao Xing explained as he carved Great Fortune, Moderate Fortune, and Small Fortune on one side of the turtle shell.
On the other side, he carved Great Misfortune, Moderate Misfortune, and Small Misfortune.
"Next, you burn the shell. The side with the most cracks indicates the fortune, and the length of the cracks represents how long the result will last."
Zhao Xing pointed his finger, summoning fire with the Heavenly Fire Technique.
A wisp of flame enveloped the turtle shell, burning it.
After about fifteen minutes.
Cracks began to form on the shell.
"Crack! Crack! Crack!"
Once the cracking stopped, Zhao Xing extinguished the flames and examined the shell.
"The side with Small Fortune has the most cracks, spreading across four shields, and the cracks are one inch deep, indicating the fortune will last for four days."
"There’s one crack on the Moderate Fortune side, less than an inch deep, covering only one shield. Moderate Fortune will manifest within four hours."
"Although the Small Misfortune side has many cracks, none are large. There are no cracks on the Moderate Misfortune and Great Misfortune sides."
"This means that in the near future, my fortune will be mostly good. The length of the cracks reflects my time on the battlefield, so it’s normal for the result to last a while."
Zhao Xing interpreted the divination.
Asking about his own fortune was simple, and with his Derivation Three fate, he wasn’t likely to encounter anything terrible.
After slaughtering ten eighth-grade spiritual turtles and performing a hundred readings, the results were always similar.
More good than bad.
As Zhao Xing continued practicing, the readings became increasingly accurate.
After a few hours of practice, whenever the results appeared, Zhao Xing would also feel a faint premonition.
He checked his system panel.
[Fire-Refined Turtle Divination - Good and Bad Fortune: Mid-Level, Seventh Turn.]
[Effect: Burn turtle shell to divine good or bad fortune and predict future blessings and calamities.]
The Turtle Coin Divination was a comprehensive set of techniques.
Right now, he was only performing the simplest good-bad fortune reading, which was somewhat vague.
However, it was still better than the Almanac issued by the Zhou Dynasty.
The Zhou Dynasty’s almanac only prevented bad luck; it couldn’t predict good fortune.
Moreover, the almanac’s protections were passive and couldn’t be actively used.
"What are you doing?" Long Xiao walked onto the ship, carrying his Mountain Cat. "Aotian has been looking for you for a while."
"What does Aotian want with me? Didn’t we just have breakfast this morning?" Zhao Xing asked.
Long Xiao shook his head in disbelief, "Look at the time."
Zhao Xing glanced inwardly at his Five Elements Biological Clock and then smiled awkwardly.
"Sorry, I got carried away with my training."
Without realizing it, six hours had passed.
No wonder the mountain cat looked a bit resentful.
"Training?" Long Xiao looked curiously at the turtle shells. "What kind of training are you doing with turtles?"
"Divining good and bad fortune with spiritual turtles. Haven’t you heard of it?" Zhao Xing replied, not concerned about others knowing.
The Taizu had restricted the fortune-telling profession, but he hadn’t eradicated it completely. It was still allowed for individuals to experiment and explore on their own.
However, the official manuals weren’t available, and with the Taizu’s Great Dao Vow in place, advancing in this field was nearly impossible.
Such methods were even less restricted than the Soul-Binding Straw Puppets, which were strictly prohibited within the Zhou Dynasty and could only be practiced on the battlefield with official permission.
"Oh? You know how to do this?" Long Xiao was intrigued. "How’s your progress?"
"Not bad. I can predict short-term good or bad fortune," Zhao Xing replied. "Though it’s not always accurate. Do you want to try?"
"Sure," Long Xiao grinned. "Let’s see some good fortune."
"?"
Why did that sound like an insult?
After a brief internal chuckle, Zhao Xing said, "Give me a drop of blood."
Long Xiao sliced his palm with his finger, letting a drop of blood seep out.
Zhao Xing swirled the drop with wind and noticed that it was quite heavy.
Blood like mercury, typical of a martial artist specializing in swordsmanship—his physique was truly strong.
"Sizzle~"
Zhao Xing used Long Xiao’s blood to smear the turtle shell, marking the sides for good and bad fortune.
Then he burned it with Heavenly Fire.
"Crack! Crack! Crack!"
The sound of cracks forming echoed, accompanied by light popping noises.
Zhao Xing’s expression changed slightly.
Why was the noise so intense?
Could it be...
"Why do you look so serious?" Long Xiao asked, "Don’t scare me."
Once the flames dissipated, Zhao Xing took a closer look, and his serious expression quickly turned into a grin.
Cracks densely covered the Great Fortune side, short but deep.
On the bad fortune side, there were very few cracks, similar to Zhao Xing’s earlier reading.
Good fortune, indeed!
But where was Long Xiao’s great fortune coming from?
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