Chapter 127: Chapter 99: Sending a Message
“What song are you singing? It must be the Purple Glow that’s broken!” Xu Xin shook his head.
Talent testing either lights up one finger or two… However, no matter the number, it should stay constant without changing, and now, like a neon light, it’s flickering, which obviously indicates that there’s a problem.
The only explanation is that it’s broken…
Even the most powerful celestial treasures can develop problems after being used for a long time.
Liu Tianzheng realized and said with a hint of embarrassment, “What should we do now?”
It was a harsh nursery rhyme that got to him, and before he knew it, he was involuntarily singing those numbers.
Xu Xin said, “Since it’s damaged, the talent of the other party is definitely impossible to determine now. Let’s do this: ask around. Possessing such a talent is like a firefly in the night, so distinctively bright, and so remarkably prominent; there’s no way it could be concealed. As long as someone is a bit clever, they’re bound to spot the flaw.”
“That’s right!”
Liu Tianzheng had an epiphany: “Lord Xu, now that you mention it, I just thought of something. Let’s go to City Lord Yu Longqing; he must know something!”
This guy is desperate to have his daughter take the other as her mentor… Before, it seemed trivial, but now, looking at it, there are loopholes everywhere.
And then there’s Patriarch Chen Xiao… To tame just a horse and have him serve as an honorary elder. The key point being, he doesn’t care even if Chen Hao kneels for a whole day, and he even helped by paying 300,000 Origin Currency. Now that seems suspect as well.
But if he knew in advance that he had the talent of the Heavenly Mandate, establishing a relationship early on, everything would make perfect sense.
“Let’s go!”
Xu Xin nodded, removed his gloves, handed back the Destiny Plate, and the two walked off into the distance.
“Leaving just like that… Don’t you want to stay a bit longer? It would be nice to drain this Destiny Plate dry first!”
Zhang Xuan wanted to shout out but ultimately chose to keep a low profile and didn’t say anything.
A moment ago, to prevent the other party from suspecting, he deliberately combined fast and slow speeds to make them think the gloves were broken. The effect was achieved, but unfortunately, the absorption rate was considerably slower. After all the commotion, the Heavenly Mandate Vitality that flowed into the Library of Heaven’s Path was only around three thousand, not even enough for a single replication of a cultivation method.
“Let’s see what flaws they have; might be useful in the future…”
Knowing that the two of them had a Destiny Plate, likely with a substantial amount of Heavenly Mandate Vitality, and that there will be more opportunities to interact in the future, Zhang Xuan’s mind raced, and he softly called out “flaw”.
The Library shook a little, and a book materialized.
With a gentle beckon of his hand, the book fell into his palm, bearing the name “Xu Xin”.
The other party had just used the Purple Glow to test for talent, which counts as the use of a cultivation method and is thus subject to investigation, while Liu Tianzheng had not used any strength and therefore did not generate a book.
However, this one person was enough, as this man, as a Life Guardian in a place like Baiyan City, had an absolute say.
He flipped the book open lightly.
“Xu Xin, from the capital of Han Yuan Dynasty, Life Guardian, Congenital Impotence…”
“???”
Zhang Xuan was stunned in place.
Congenital…
This guy’s got something special!
Maybe I could help him with his treatment in exchange for a Destiny Plate!
Yep, need to carefully plan this. After all, curing him is also an act of kindness, isn’t it?
Back in the courtyard, Sun Qiang had already finished his assessment and slowly opened his eyes.
“How did it go? How many paths did you absorb?” Zhang Xuan asked.
Sun Qiang replied, “Reporting to young master, approximately a little over 1,000 paths!”
“That’s enough…” Zhang Xuan nodded.
The other party did not have a Source Pool but was using the space he had helped to create. For the short term, it could accommodate so much; for ordinary practice, it was already sufficient.
After all, even a grade-1 Yuan Pool only absorbs 256 paths of Heavenly Mandate Vitality.
“This is primordial energy; I will ignite the Furnace for you now, and afterward, you can absorb Origin qi and Forge it for your own use!”
Zhang Xuan had Sun Qiang throw a punch, then using the Library of Heaven’s Path and orderly heavenly fragments, created a cultivation technique adapted for him. With a flick of his finger, a rich strand of primordial energy surged into Sun Qiang’s Source Pool.
With Yu Xiaoyu, Liu Mingyue, and others, he had to hide his identity and refrain from using too much primordial energy. But this guy, he knew through and through, so he didn’t have the same concerns.
Once the primordial energy entered the body, it immediately ignited, forming a special Furnace. Moments later, streams of Origin qi were devoured by Sun Qiang and flowed into his body.
Although uncertain of what level he had reached, he was undoubtedly far superior to Yu Xiaoyu and others in the speed of absorbing Origin qi. Even though he couldn’t compare to Zhang Xuan, he was certainly strong.
…
Meanwhile, Liu Tianzheng and Xu Xin had already arrived at the City Lord Residence.
After getting to know each other, City Lord Yu Longqing looked over curiously, “I wonder… why have Lord Xu and Clan Head Liu come over at this time?”
He knew that the Liu Clan and some of the Fate Masters from Heaven Mandate Hall were in murky waters, but without evidence, there wasn’t much he could say. Now, coming over directly was essentially showing their hand.
“Indeed, we have something to ask!”
Liu Tianzheng didn’t bother with small talk and went straight to the point, “City Lord Yu desperately wanted Xiaoyu to take Zhang Xuan as her mentor, and it should be for more than just helping you tame the Cangbai Eagle, right?”
“Oh, you knew I tamed the Cangbai Eagle? Clan Head Liu is really well-informed. To tell you the truth, the Cangbai Eagle is indeed very obedient now…”
Yu Longqing smiled.
“City Lord Yu, since Lord Xu has come to find you, he must have found something out. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have come in person!”
Liu Tianzheng, not in the mood for beating around the bush, spoke directly, “I guess that’s right, this Zhang Xuan, he must have the talent of a Life Master, right?”
“You…”
Yu Longqing’s eyebrows furrowed.
This matter was only guessed by School Head Lu and himself, and unexpectedly, this man already knew, and moreover, had reported to the powerful figures in Heaven Mandate Hall.
In that case, all the hard work put into keeping it hidden was for naught…
Seeing his expression, Liu Tianzheng felt a shock, but on his face, he showed an air of already knowing everything, saying, “Not only do I know about this, I guess I am right, you’ve already used that Spiritual Origin Bamboo, haven’t you?”
“This…”
City Lord Yu Longqing was shocked.
It was one thing to guess that Zhang Xuan possessed the talent of a Fate Master, which he deemed insignificant, but the use of Spiritual Origin Bamboo was a bit terrifying.
“As expected…”
However, unlike his shock, through just two short sentences, Liu Tianzheng had already confirmed two things.
First, that this person indeed knew about Zhang Xuan’s Fate Master talent; and second, that he really did use the Spiritual Origin Bamboo to enhance Yu Xiaoyu’s strength, allowing her power to double in a short period of time, which meant that Zhang Xuan had not lied.
“Whether Teacher Zhang has the talent of Heavenly Mandate or not, I am only speculating and cannot be sure. But regardless of whether he does or not, forming a good relationship with him is beneficial for our City Lord Residence. Having Xiaoyu acknowledge him as her teacher was just a consideration for this purpose…”
Seeing that the other party already knew almost everything, City Lord Yu Longqing didn’t hide anything and explained.
“Speculation? What leads you to such a speculation?” Xu Xin, who had been silent, looked over.
Knowing that this concerned a Fate Master, City Lord Yu Longqing told the truth: “During his lessons with Xiaoyu, he merely needs to impart knowledge, and regardless of whether the students are willing or not, or whether they have subjective initiative, Yuan qi can be absorbed into the Source Pool, completing the circulation of strength within the body. Hence, I surmised it might have something to do with destiny!”
“The student doesn’t wish to study, but as long as they attend the class, they can practice on their own?” Now it was Xu Xin’s turn to be shocked.
If Yuan qi can be absorbed due to Heavenly Mandate Vitality, it just made him suspect that the other party possessed the talent of a Fate Master. But upon hearing this, he was now one hundred percent certain that the other party might already possess a command of destiny!
Heavenly Mandate compels compliance regardless of your wishes.
Heavenly Mandate must not be defied!
That is precisely why Fate Masters are so dreaded and so respected.
“Is it not because of this that you guessed he possesses the talent of a Fate Master?” Seeing that he was unaware, it was now City Lord Yu Longqing’s turn to be stunned.
“It’s because of some other matters…”
Xu Xin didn’t go into details but continued to enquire about the details from City Lord Yu Longqing, who saw that Xu Xin was trying to pry information and thus played dumb. After much questioning without extracting any useful information, Xu Xin stopped probing and left the City Lord Residence together with Liu Tianzheng.
“We can now be one hundred percent sure that not only does he possess the talent of a Fate Master, but he might even actually be a true Fate Master… Let’s go. I’ll send a message to Lord Ling as soon as I return. Such a person must be recruited into our camp.”
On the carriage outside the City Lord Residence, Xu Xin’s eyes glittered with anticipation.
Where there are people, there is internal strife. Even within the same Heaven Mandate Hall, unity is not absolute. That is why Lord Ling covertly sold Destiny Plates to the Liu Clan behind the back of Heaven Mandate Hall, aiming to cultivate his own direct lineage…
This Zhang Xuan, once his Heavenly Mandate is confirmed, will certainly have a place in the Heaven Mandate Hall. If Lord Ling can recruit him first, it’s obvious he will have a definite advantage.
And as his protector, he too would ride the rising tide and gain even greater benefits.
“A true Fate Master?”
Hearing the confirmation from the other party, Liu Tianzheng’s eyes widened in surprise.
Having the opportunity to be mentored by a true Fate Master, his daughter’s future accomplishments would be immeasurable… Did that mean his daughter had much better vision than him?
How laughable that he had been trying to stop her all along. If it weren’t for her insistence, he might have thrown away such a good opportunity…
“It seems that I not only need to appease Mingyue but also to mend our relationship…”
Liu Tianzheng rubbed his temples.
What a situation this was; had he known earlier of such talent, he would have eagerly pushed his daughter to become his student… How could it have come to this!
Now, having antagonized each other, he didn’t even know how to proceed.
“Right… This guy has quite a liking for Heavenly Mandate Vitality, doesn’t he? If I just send some to this Zhang Xuan, the previous discord should be able to be smoothed over…”
An idea emerged in his mind.
Since the other party was everywhere searching for Heavenly Mandate Vitality, and he just happened to have some, why not just send it over to him?
Although each Destiny Plate was pricey, if he could take the chance to draw in a Fate Master and the benefits it would bring to the Liu Clan, it would definitely outweigh ten million, or even twenty million!
Having realized this, Liu Tianzheng finally relaxed.
Returning to the Liu Residence without much hesitation, he took the Destiny Plate and hurried towards Baiyan Academy, while Xu Xin went back to his abode, drove out all the nude women, and took out a palm-sized scroll.
It was small, resembling a painting, yet it contained an array of special charms.
The Destiny Scroll!
Something that only Fate Masters could inscribe, imbued with the power of destiny, capable of remote communication with its creator.
The Lord Ling he spoke of, who allowed him as a Life Guardian to come here to investigate, did so because of this object which enabled distant message transmission.
Gently pulling on the scroll’s rope, a profound power immediately rippled out, giving one a sense of destiny’s claim, irresistible.
Heavenly Mandate Vitality!
The scroll slowly unfolded, and a white light emanated from within. Soon after, the face of an old man suddenly appeared upon it.
“Lord Ling!”
On recognizing him, Xu Xin promptly kneeled on the ground.
Although he had seen the scroll used for communication many times, he still found it incredibly awe-inspiring each time.
“Hmm, haven’t I told you not to waste scrolls unless it’s for something important? Even though I can craft them, they are not so easily made!”
Lord Ling frowned, showing displeasure.
Xu Xin hastily clasped his fists: “Lord Ling, please forgive me. I’m contacting you because naturally, there is something important to report… I seem to have discovered a Fate Master with potential in Baiyan City!”
Lord Ling was taken aback: “Tell me the details!”
“Yes, sir!”
Xu Xin quickly recounted how he found out and what he had encountered in detail.
After listening to his words, the figure shrouded in mist, Lord Ling, suddenly changed his expression, his voice trembling slightly, “Are you saying… the Fate Master you found possesses the ability to make students practice on their own with mere instruction, even without the students’ conscious intent?”
“This is what City Lord Yu told me, the details of which I have yet to thoroughly investigate…”
Xu Xin looked over, puzzled: “Is this not the power of destiny, Lord Ling, or is there something amiss with it?”
“To enable students to practice autonomously, where a single utterance sets destiny in motion, where a decree is made and all laws follow, indeed, this is a capability only a Fate Master would have! But…”
Lord Ling nodded but his eyes revealed a shock: “This ability, it’s exactly the same as the Mandate Chaos Master who emerged in the Zou Province of Han Yuan Dynasty just a few days ago, not a bit different!”