I Shall Be Everlasting In the World of Immortals 291

## Chapter 288: Divination Enhancement (Chapter 12 is on leave for one day)

2023-08-19

## Chapter 288: Divination Enhancement

Half a year later, Lu Chang’an turned 207 years old.

Five years remained before the fourth life on the Nine Seals Stele would be lit.

This day, at the Yunlai Peak cave abode.

Lu Chang’an was constructing and perfecting a third-order formation, using a series of talismans as modules.

Suddenly, he felt a sense of awareness, looking towards the eastern side of the sky clouds.

Spirit ships, treasure flying lights, a large group of Liang Guo cultivators were passing through and stopping in the air above Golden Cloud Valley.

Among the complex fluctuations of mana emanating from numerous cultivators, there was an extraordinary flame-like aura, situated above the clouds, overlooking all beings.

“Nascent Soul cultivator, Six Sun Zhen Jun!”

With a slight perception, Lu Chang’an recognized the identity of this Nascent Soul Zhen Jun.

He hadn’t seen Six Sun Zhen Jun in this life.

But the Li Huo Shang Ren from his fourth life was familiar with him.

Back then, the gambling battle in front of Li Huo Palace.

Li Huo Shang Ren’s opponent was the Six Sun Zhen Jun from Jin Yang Zong.

After Li Huo Shang Ren was ambushed, Six Sun Zhen Jun struck ruthlessly, unleashing all his divine powers and secret techniques, intending to kill the former and avoid leaving any future trouble.

In the end, Li Huo Shang Ren burned his blood essence and lifespan, using the “Red Sun Blood Transformation Escape” to escape with severe injuries.

Jin Yang Zong had two Nascent Soul Zhen Juns, one old and one strong.

Six Sun Zhen Jun was the one in his prime.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

A group of cultivators flew out from the Golden Cloud Valley Mountain Gate, with several Zhen Juns leading, and they joined the Liang Guo cultivators in the sky.

A vast and mighty army of Liang Guo cultivators headed towards the Jing Guo cultivation world.

Ever since Chen Guo was breached by the demonic path.

Liang Guo’s sects and various cultivation forces had focused on supporting Jing Guo.

“If we don’t support them with all our might today, the demonic path battlefield will erupt within Liang Guo’s territory tomorrow.”

Lu Chang’an understood Jin Yang Zong’s strategy.

The demonic path war had pushed the front line to neighboring Jing Guo, naturally causing some anxiety among Liang Guo’s sects.

Rather than allowing the war to take place within Liang Guo, it was better to fully support Jing Guo and let the neighboring country become the most intense battlefield.

Unexpectedly.

The Beast King Valley faction, after conquering Chen Guo, didn’t attack the seemingly weak Jing Guo.

The forces stationed by Beast King Valley in the Chen Guo cultivation world, were steadily consolidating their gains, digesting the territory.

Chen Guo was adjacent to Feng Guo on the west side.

Beast King Valley was watching, restraining a considerable force from Feng Guo’s homeland.

In fact, at this moment, Chen Guo was situated between Feng Guo and Jing Guo.

If the Dao Protection Alliance dared, they could attack from both sides and threaten the demonic path forces stationed in Chen Guo.

However.

The Dao Protection Alliance was inferior in terms of top-level combat power, and taking the initiative to attack would carry significant risks.

After all, even the defensive war was being suppressed.

The main force of the demonic path was still attacking Yan Guo, south of Feng Guo.

Once they took down Yan Guo, they would form an initial encirclement on both the west and south sides of Feng Guo.

…

In the next two years, Lu Chang’an devoted much of his energy to improving his divination techniques.

Divination, within the hundred arts of cultivation, was quite obscure.

The main reason was that divination not only required talent but also easily consumed mental energy, leading to a decrease in lifespan.

It suited cultivators with long lifespans to slowly grind it out.

If one wanted to accelerate their progress, diligent practice would lead to a shortened lifespan.

Divination, seemingly mysterious and transcendent, could predict good and bad fortune, destiny.

But in reality, it was often quite useless.

Without proper clues and evidence, divination wouldn’t be accurate and might even provide wrong feedback.

Or, the results of divination might be vague, only offering a general direction.

For example, Lu Chang’an’s previous minor misfortune omen.

Without sacrificing lifespan, the omen only revealed the presence of Beast King Valley, unable to pinpoint the exact reason.

Over the two years.

Lu Chang’an sacrificed ten years of his lifespan, working day and night, exhausting himself.

Finally, he elevated his divination techniques to the third-order middle grade!

Lu Chang’an discovered that the Evergreen Technique had an advantage in cultivating divination.

The Evergreen Technique had strong recovery power and abundant energy, allowing for extended practice time each day.

Lu Chang’an estimated that the effect of sacrificing ten years of his lifespan was equivalent to at least twenty years for cultivators of the same level.

Moreover, he had a long lifespan, so sacrificing some years wouldn’t cripple him.

“Third-order middle grade divination, throughout the entire Liang Guo cultivation world, I estimate there wouldn’t be many cultivators who could reach this level.”

Lu Chang’an thought to himself.

If it were ordinary cultivation techniques, they would need to be at least third-order high grade in Liang Guo to be considered truly top-notch.

Divination was even more obscure, third-order middle grade could be considered top-notch.

This was measured against Liang Guo’s cultivation world after Jin Yang Zong took over.

The Liang Guo cultivation world during the Li Huo Palace era was significantly weaker overall compared to today.

“Unfortunately, my best talent in the fourth life was in refining, divination was relatively mediocre, mainly relying on strong realm and soul, forcibly cultivating it to the third order.”

Lu Chang’an felt a tinge of regret.

Actually, Li Huo Shang Ren cultivated so many skills to the third order, it was considered knowledgeable and versatile among Nascent Soul cultivators.

Any skill, wanting to excel, would require exhausting the entire lifespan of an ordinary cultivator.

In the Nascent Soul stage, unless one was a specialized craftsman or had extraordinary talent, it would be difficult to raise a skill to the fourth order.

Li Huo Shang Ren’s refining talent was only considered decent, not exceptional.

…

Not long after his divination skills improved.

Zhao Siyao returned from the front lines, sustaining serious injuries.

As per usual, Lu Chang’an could exchange sect contributions for healing a Jie Dan Zhen Jun.

Zhao Siyao appeared to be older, around thirty-seven or eight years old, nearing the age of a half-old woman.

Her hair was simply tied up, she was dressed in plain clothes, and her face still held a faint beauty. Some fine lines around her eyes couldn’t conceal her Zhen Jun aura.

This time, Lu Chang’an observed Zhao Siyao’s features, faintly perceiving an ominous fate.

Staring at this familiar face of a friend, his brows furrowed slightly.

“Chang’an, are the wrinkles on my face unsightly?”

Zhao Siyao’s expression was calm, and she smiled softly.

Actually, she had the financial means to purchase second-order face rejuvenation pills.

However, with the demonic path war commencing, the master and disciple had devoted all their resources to enhancing protective measures.

Moreover, face rejuvenation pills only maintained one’s current appearance, they didn’t have the power to restore youth.

Several years ago, Zhao Siyao celebrated her two-hundredth birthday, and Lu Chang’an gifted her a face rejuvenation pill.

Zhao Siyao didn’t use it herself but instead gave it to Tan’er, allowing the latter to continue her appearance as a young girl for another hundred years.

“Siyao, even if there were more wrinkles on your face, it wouldn’t affect our friendship.”

Lu Chang’an chuckled.

Both of them were now over two hundred years old, mere facial aging was insignificant.

Upon returning.

Lu Chang’an silently divined, calculating Zhao Siyao’s fortune.

He had enough knowledge about Zhao Siyao, reducing the difficulty of divination.

Another third-order middle grade divination, only predicting the fate of a Fake Dan Zhen Jun, was not particularly challenging.

After a while, Lu Chang’an finished his divination and obtained the result:

An omen of medium misfortune.

The specific omen was: Two or three years at the minimum, a maximum of ten years, Zhao Siyao would face a life-or-death ordeal.

Medium misfortune, typically involving a life-or-death danger, with a probability between four to six out of ten.

This probability was considered quite high.

The clue for Zhao Siyao’s life-or-death ordeal was the demonic path war, unsurprisingly.

Inside the cave abode, Lu Chang’an pondered for a long time.

According to the rules of divination:

For major karmic matters involving life and death, he couldn’t directly tell Zhao Siyao, speaking too clearly would lead to backlash, manifested in his future destiny and fortune.

This was why, throughout history in the cultivation world, even wise individuals with extraordinary divination abilities, couldn’t reveal secrets of heaven arbitrarily.

Of course, this backlash also varied depending on the individual.

The scale of the event, the karma involved, the cultivator’s realm, all were influencing factors.

For instance, if Lu Chang’an merely revealed the future life-or-death ordeal to an ordinary Qi Refining cultivator, altering their fate.

For a Jin Dan cultivator, with his third-order divination, the amount of karmic backlash would be negligible.

After all, in his eyes, a Qi Refining cultivator was like an ant, changing their fate wouldn’t stir up much karma.

…

Several days later, Lu Chang’an visited Zhao Siyao’s cave abode again.

They chatted for a long time.

“Siyao, there’s something I need to tell you in advance.”

Lu Chang’an spoke cautiously.

“Tell me in advance?”

Looking at her hesitant friend, Zhao Siyao smiled, “Chang’an, are you planning to run away?”

Lu Chang’an’s expression froze.

Damn!

When did his carefully planned escape plan leak?

However, this was his closest friend, the one he was most comfortable with.

Lu Chang’an thought about it, feeling a little better.

“Yes, about three years from now, I’ll leave the Liang Guo cultivation world to avoid the demonic path invasion war.”

According to the original plan, Lu Chang’an wouldn’t run away so soon.

Looking at the current situation, for at least ten years, the demonic path Beast King Valley wouldn’t reach the Liang Guo cultivation world.

However, Lu Chang’an had been targeted by the “Peacock Holy Maiden,” he couldn’t wait until Beast King Valley attacked Liang Guo before leaving.

Running away then would increase the risk exponentially.

Leaving now, the demonic path forces were separated by Feng Guo or Jing Guo, unable to directly threaten Lu Chang’an.

“Oh? You want to take me with you, Chang’an?”

Zhao Siyao instantly understood.

“Yes, just consider it as traveling together.”

Lu Chang’an didn’t reveal his destination.

He had a rough map of Feng Yuan Guo in his mind.

Li Huo Shang Ren from his fourth life had been to Feng Yuan Guo two hundred years ago.

“Chang’an, thank you for your kindness, I can’t leave Golden Cloud Valley. Siyao, a mere Fake Dan cultivator, has already lived for over two hundred years, fighting for the sect, against the demonic path invasion, what’s there to fear in death?”

Zhao Siyao’s gaze was bright, she refused with a smile.

Lu Chang’an remained silent for a moment, understanding Zhao Siyao’s position.

Cultivating and growing up in Golden Cloud Valley for almost one or two hundred years.

This bond was difficult to break.

Zhao Tan’er’s experience was similar.

Moreover, what was Lu Chang’an to Zhao Siyao?

They had no name, no status, they weren’t partners, it was hard for her to leave behind two hundred years of history and follow him away from this homeland.

Lu Chang’an could only say what needed to be said.

With Zhao Siyao’s intelligence, knowing that he could divine, she could probably guess something from his unusual behavior today.

…

Two months later.

Zhao Siyao left Golden Cloud Valley, heading for the front lines.

Watching his familiar friend disappear, Lu Chang’an secretly formed hand seals, using the Nine Seals Stele to implant a reincarnation mark into Zhao Siyao’s soul.

He was at least certain that no one below the Nascent Soul stage could sense the existence of this reincarnation mark.

Since it wasn’t a death entering the cycle of heaven and earth, Lu Chang’an couldn’t sense Zhao Siyao’s spirit light.

As long as she didn’t disintegrate into nothingness, the reincarnation mark would be effective.

Of course, this was a worst-case scenario.

Divination techniques didn’t have a hundred percent accuracy.

Who could claim to control the fixed numbers of the future?

Even top-level cultivators, mighty beings, couldn’t do it.

In divination, even a very ominous omen could be averted.

Before leaving, Lu Chang’an made a deal with Zhao Siyao.

Lu Chang’an sold her another near-third-order puppet at a friendly price, along with a few third-order talismans.

Zhao Siyao had given her previous near-third-order puppet to Zhao Tan’er, which later broke down on the battlefield.

After the transaction, Zhao Siyao’s spirit stones were depleted, so she used some materials to compensate.

Furthermore, Lu Chang’an left a third-order middle grade escape talisman inside the puppet, and it was a high-quality one.

Since he hadn’t obtained third-order high grade talisman materials, this was the highest grade talisman Lu Chang’an had drawn in recent years.

Second only to the eight strongest talismans and the small teleportation talisman.

As for the third-order puppet, Lu Chang’an didn’t sell it to Zhao Siyao.

First, she couldn’t afford it.

Second, she couldn’t unleash its true power, without a third-order escape talisman for protection, it wouldn’t be practical.

If the Dao Protection Alliance knew that Zhao Siyao had a third-order puppet, they might assign her to fight against Zhen Dan cultivators, further increasing the danger.

The principle of “the capable should shoulder more responsibility” applied to the major organizations of the cultivation world.

…

All that needed to be said had been said, all that needed to be done had been done.

Less than three years remained before the fourth life would be lit.

In the next two or three years, Lu Chang’an would focus on preparing for his escape plan.

He would sell unnecessary treasures, various spoils of war, and purchase needed supplies.

While Feng Yuan Guo’s territory was vast, comparable to Feng Guo, with ancient Nascent Soul level forces, its resources were scarce, with vast deserts and barren lands.

Feng Yuan Guo’s environment was harsh, suitable for cultivators with earth-type techniques.

Once he arrived there, the Earth Rock Rat would likely be very comfortable, like a fish in water.

Lu Chang’an and the Xuan Shui Gui might have some difficulty adapting.

In terms of third-order spirit veins, the earth-type aura there was more abundant, other auras were somewhat inferior.

Lu Chang’an’s cultivation level required a third-order low grade spirit vein in Liang Guo, which was sufficient.

In Feng Yuan Guo, a third-order low grade spirit vein would require a longer cultivation time, it would be best to have a third-order middle grade one for comfortable practice.

Therefore, he needed to prepare some supplies, pills, plants, water-type materials, etc.

Of course, not all resources were scarce in Feng Yuan Guo.

Ores and refining materials were not lacking, even cheaper than here in the Dao Protection Alliance.

Lu Chang’an planned to aim for third-order middle grade puppet master there, stock up on more powerful puppets.

While stocking up on supplies, Lu Chang’an sold quite a few items, but his spirit stones still dwindled rapidly.

From a peak of hundreds of thousands of spirit stones, they had shrunk to a few hundred thousand.

However, buy low, sell high, he could make a fortune once he reached Feng Yuan Guo.

…

Two years later, Lu Chang’an turned two hundred and ten.

Only one year remained before the fourth life would be lit.

The illusion of the fourth life’s purple-robed Zhen Jun, only had the feet unlit.

Over the past two years, most of the necessary supplies had been purchased.

Lu Chang’an made proper arrangements for Xing Peng and Zhou Qingxuan.

He planted an enhanced version of the “Gu God Ban” in their minds.

With Lu Chang’an’s Nascent Soul-level perspective, the current Gu God Ban couldn’t be broken by most cultivators in the initial Nascent Soul stage.

The decryption keys for the Gu God Ban in their minds were different.

Lu Chang’an gave Zhou Qingxuan the method to stabilize Xing Peng’s Gu God Ban.

From now on, Xing Peng would report information to Zhou Qingxuan, ensuring he remained under control.

If the ban wasn’t stabilized within three years, it would activate, causing their minds to wither and die.

Lu Chang’an made separate arrangements for Zhou Qingxuan’s Gu God Ban, requiring stabilization every ten years.

Every ten years, Zhou Qingxuan would need to go to the border of Feng Yuan Guo, and Lu Chang’an would remotely cast spells to help her stabilize it.

Zhou Qingxuan was overjoyed at this.

With the intelligence provided by the Wu Jian Men, in the future, when the demonic tide swept across, protecting the Zhou family wouldn’t be difficult.

By ensuring that they were balanced against each other, Lu Chang’an repaid Zhou Qingxuan’s previous favors.

…

The last half year before his escape.

Lu Chang’an still had a large amount of contributions in Golden Cloud Valley, which he hadn’t used.

Most of them were sect contributions earned from drawing talismans and healing, a considerable number.

“Forget it.”

Lu Chang’an only redeemed the resources he needed, leaving the majority of the contributions in his elder’s token.

While he couldn’t offer a helping hand.

Lu Chang’an didn’t want to bleed Golden Cloud Valley dry during a period of resource shortage.

For the past twenty-odd years, Golden Cloud Valley had treated him well.

Escaping was indeed disgraceful.

Before leaving, Lu Chang’an decided to return the favor.

He recorded the approximate information of a key demonic path infiltrator within the Golden Cloud Valley force on a jade slip.

He couldn’t reveal more information about the infiltrator, nor could he describe it in too much detail, otherwise, it might implicate Xing Peng.

This crucial information about the demonic path infiltrator would allow Golden Cloud Valley to avoid significant losses in the future.

Half a year after Lu Chang’an left.

The corresponding transmission talismans would be triggered in Zhang Tieshan and the Zhao family master and disciple’s cave abodes, allowing them to find the location of this intelligence jade slip.

…

He endured the last few months of waiting.

This day, Lu Chang’an felt a sense of awareness, his consciousness entering the Nine Seals Stele.

The illusion of the fourth life’s purple-robed Daoist, fully lit, emitting a terrifying and shocking soul aura.

Lu Chang’an felt a sense of pressure, as if facing a Nascent Soul spiritual body directly.

Except for lacking the mana of the Nascent Soul stage, there was no difference at the soul level.

This trump card could be used once every twenty years.

Besides significantly enhancing divine powers and combat, it could also improve his divination, refining, and talisman drawing abilities.

Perhaps, it could also allow Lu Chang’an to disguise himself as a Nascent Soul Zhen Jun.

However, it was uncertain whether the Hundred Illusions Mask could simulate a Nascent Soul level identity.

After lighting the fourth life, Lu Chang’an felt reassured.

He divined himself again.

Staying in Golden Cloud Valley, a minor misfortune omen.

Going to Feng Yuan Guo, fortune outweighing misfortune.

Lu Chang’an nodded silently, his choice to escape seemed to be in the right direction.

It was normal for it not to be a fortune omen.

The world was chaotic now, cross-country escape normally carried risks, there was no absolute smooth sailing.

Before leaving Liang Guo, Lu Chang’an met Xing Peng for the last time.

Golden Cloud Valley’s territory.

Zi Jing Immortal City, inside an inn.

“Mr. Lu, this is the latest intelligence about Yellow Wolf Zhen Jun.”

Xing Peng, dressed in a grey-white robe, bowed and handed over the intelligence jade slip.

Lu Chang’an finished reading the intelligence and was stunned.

“Yellow Wolf Zhen Jun is so heavily injured, he knows how to run, he’s managed to evade the Dao Protection Alliance’s pursuit for so long.”

According to the Wu Jian Men’s intelligence, Yellow Wolf Zhen Jun escaped to the area between Jing Guo and Liang Guo, near the Black Mist Mountain Range.

The reason he had persisted for so long was because the Wu Jian Men had a Tan Zhu level figure who provided him with intel.

“Well, that’s on the way.”

Lu Chang’an thought silently.

Feng Yuan Guo’s territory was vast, it could be reached from both Liang Guo and Jing Guo heading north.

Lu Chang’an planned to use the Wu Jian Men’s intelligence clues, along with his divination techniques, to calculate Yellow Wolf Zhen Jun’s location and track him down to kill him.

Yellow Wolf Zhen Jun was a notorious merchant in Jing Guo, as the head of the Ten Thousand Beasts Merchant Guild, he was incredibly wealthy.

Killing him would not only bring revenge and satisfaction, but also a windfall.

Moreover, there were plenty of suspects nearby.

It was rumored that Yellow Wolf Zhen Jun, after paying a heavy price to escape the encirclement, was carrying some of the Ten Thousand Beasts Merchant Guild’s treasures and inheritance, including some rare beast eggs.

(End of Chapter)

Previous Chapter | TOC |