Chapter 26: Nine Chapters of Divination Secrets

"Is this the thing that your sister left behind?"

Sitting cross-legged on a cushion in the main hall, Li Boyang tilted his head and looked at Xi Luo on the clay statue.

The Big Girl sat quietly by Li Boyang’s side, holding a scroll of gorgeous silk that seemed completely out of place with the productivity of this era.

Engraved upon that silk were dense rows of characters.

"That’s right, this is what my sister left behind, and it is also the only way to break the current deadlock."

Licking her paw lightly, Xi Luo said with a lazy expression.

"Is this a martial arts manual? Or some kind of divine ability or magic spell?"

Reaching out to scratch his head, Li Boyang asked with great curiosity.

"Martial arts manual? Divine ability or magic spell?"

Now it was Xi Luo’s turn to look down in surprise at Li Boyang below.

"Although I don't know what these martial arts manuals you speak of are..."

"But divine abilities are usually innate, and magic spells are secret arts never passed on to outsiders; how could they possibly be recorded in writing?"

Hearing this, Li Boyang opened his mouth in a daze, suddenly not knowing what to say.

Because this explanation from Xi Luo completely overturned his understanding of divine abilities and magic spells.

Fortunately, Xi Luo did not mind Li Boyang’s nonsense and continued to explain.

"My sister was the Huaijiang Witch from over a thousand years ago, born with the ability to reach the heavens and earth and know the destiny of heaven."

"That scroll, the 'Nine Chapters of Divination Secrets,' was the booklet she used daily to record all sorts of phenomena, celestial timing, clouds and rain, mountain formations, earth veins, destiny, physiognomy, auspicious signs, and baleful omens."

"As for those black mists diffusing from the Black Cloud Swamp, let us not worry about what their source is for now..."

"Since that black mist is able to spread beyond the Black Cloud Swamp, it must have utilized the power of celestial timing, mountain formations, earth veins, or even the clouds and rain."

"If you can understand these 'Nine Chapters of Divination Secrets,' you will naturally be able to dispel those black mists."

While saying these words, Xi Luo’s tone was filled with confidence.

Regarding her sister—that Huaijiang Witch from a millennium ago—Xi Luo had unconditional trust.

"And there is the problem of the curse on your body..."

"That gadfly was sealed by my sister personally, so naturally, all sorts of information about it is recorded here."

"If you want to resolve that hidden danger of baleful energy, this booklet is your only clue."

Hearing this, Li Boyang finally gave up, abandoning the thought of picking up a martial arts manual for free.

But with this, a new problem inevitably arose in Li Boyang’s heart.

"I can't read!"

"I can't understand a single word written on this."

Li Boyang was telling the truth.

Although he was gifted, that did not mean he could master a completely unfamiliar script without a teacher.

Just as Li Boyang looked at Xi Luo again,

he was startled to find that she seemed to be avoiding his gaze, whether intentionally or not.

"Wait, don't tell me you can't read either?"

A realization dawned on him, and Li Boyang opened his mouth wide in surprise.

"Is it so strange that I can't read!?"

After a brief silence, Xi Luo, who had been stared at until she was embarrassed and angry, shouted loudly.

"I am a spirit of the mountains!"

"Why would I need to know your human writing?"

"Anyway, I've given you the item; whether you can understand it or not is none of my business!"

Before the words had even faded, Xi Luo turned and vanished from Li Boyang’s sight, as if she had never appeared at all.

"So... she really is illiterate?"

After a long while, Li Boyang sighed, feeling quite speechless.

"Um..."

Just at this moment, the Big Girl, who had been sitting obediently to the side, raised her hand.

"Um... actually... I can read..."

Looking at the eager Big Girl, Li Boyang finally realized what he had just overlooked.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

The Big Girl could indeed read, because her father had once been a scholar in the village.

Before her father abandoned his wife and daughter, he had taught the Big Girl how to read and write.

Unfortunately, ever since her father left the village, he had never returned, leaving only this pair of orphans and widows to live in the village.

Although the number of characters the Big Girl could recognize was not many,

by guessing and piecing things together, she still allowed Li Boyang to roughly understand some of the content of the "Nine Chapters of Divination Secrets."

However, whether it was the evolution of the language over the past millennium or the Big Girl’s high error rate,

Li Boyang could only say he barely understood the outline of the "Nine Chapters of Divination Secrets."

He still had a very long way to go before he could truly understand this scroll.

The "Nine Chapters of Divination Secrets," as the name suggests, was actually a way of perceiving the world summarized by the Huaijiang Witch of a millennium ago based on her own innate destiny-related divine abilities.

Setting aside those mysterious and ghost-god theories created to justify her claims,

the "Nine Chapters of Divination Secrets" generally divided all things in the world into nine types: phenomena, celestial timing, clouds and rain, mountain formations, earth veins, destiny, physiognomy, auspicious signs, and baleful omens.

Among them, the "Chapter on Phenomena" could be considered the general outline of the "Nine Chapters of Divination Secrets."

As far as Li Boyang’s personal understanding went, although the concept of "phenomena" sounded very abstract,

if one looked at its essence, it was actually somewhat similar to the "Dao" mentioned by Laozi in the opening of the "Dao De Jing."

Of course, the Huaijiang Witch did not have the same essential understanding of things as the Ancestor of Dao.

Therefore, the "phenomena" she explained were relatively simple and crude, without any high threshold for understanding.

At the very least, Li Boyang, who had studied materialist dialectics, easily analyzed and understood the concept of "phenomena."

However, in this world where supernatural powers truly existed,

since the Huaijiang Witch dared to place the "Chapter on Phenomena" before the other eight chapters, there was naturally a reason for it.

After briefly introducing her own understanding of the world,

the Huaijiang Witch left twelve patterns that looked like ghost scribbles on the last page of the "Chapter on Phenomena."

According to the Huaijiang Witch’s explanation, supplemented by Xi Luo’s occasional input, Li Boyang learned the essence of these twelve ghost-scribble patterns.

They were actually not unknown characters, but rather proverbs containing mysterious power.

Just like the talismans of the Daoists or the hand seals of the Buddhists from his past life,

when written in a specific way on specific materials, these proverbs could replicate powers similar to those of a divine ability user, achieving the effect of driving gods and commanding ghosts.

Only by mastering these proverbs could Li Boyang study the content of the subsequent eight chapters of the "Nine Chapters of Divination Secrets" in greater depth.

Otherwise, even if Li Boyang truly understood the contents of "Celestial Timing," "Clouds and Rain," "Mountain Formations," "Earth Veins," "Destiny," "Physiognomy," "Auspicious Signs," and "Baleful Omens,"

the world would merely have one more human who knew the destiny of heaven, but he would be unable to truly defy heaven and change fate.

Thus, Li Boyang finally understood the true identity of the Huaijiang Witch—she was an innate prophet and an expert in divination.

The "Divination" in the "Nine Chapters of Divination Secrets" was exactly the "divination" as understood by the world.

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(End of chapter)