Chapter 26: Nine Chapters of Divination Secrets

"Is this the thing your sister left behind?"

Sitting cross-legged on the meditation cushion in the main hall, Li Li Boyang tilted his head to look at Xi Luo atop the clay statue.

Meanwhile, the big girl squatted quietly beside Li Li Boyang, holding a roll of magnificent silk that seemed utterly out of place with the productivity of this era.

Upon that silk were densely inscribed rows upon rows of characters.

"That's right; this is what my sister left behind, and it is currently the only way to break the deadlock."

Gently licking her paw, Xi Luo said with a look of utter laziness.

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

Scratching his own head with his hand, Li Li Boyang asked with considerable curiosity.

"A martial arts manual? Divine abilities or spells?"

Now it was Xi Luo's turn to lower her head in some surprise, looking down at Li Li Boyang below.

"Although I don't know what you mean by a martial arts manual..."

"... divine abilities are often innate, while spells are secret teachings not passed down; how could they possibly be recorded in writing?"

Hearing this, Li Li Boyang opened his mouth speechlessly, for a moment not knowing what to say.

For Xi Luo's explanation completely overturned his understanding of divine abilities and spells.

Fortunately, Xi Luo paid no heed to Li Li Boyang's nonsense and continued to explain.

"My sister was a Huaijiang Witch from over a thousand years ago, born with the power to pierce the heavens and earth and to know the Mandate of Heaven."

"That scroll, the 'Nine Chapters of Divination Secrets,' was the booklet she used in her daily life to record all manner of phenomena: celestial timing, clouds and rain, mountain configurations, earth veins, fate principles, facial features, auspicious omens, and sinister evils."

"As for that black mist diffusing from the Black Cloud Marsh, let us not worry about its source for now..."

"Since that black mist is able to spread beyond the Black Cloud Marsh, it must be borrowing the power of celestial timing, mountain configurations, earth veins, and even clouds and rain."

"If you can understand these 'Nine Chapters of Divination Secrets,' then naturally you will also be able to disperse that black mist."

As she spoke these words, Xi Luo's tone was filled with confidence.

Regarding her own sister—that Huaijiang Witch from a thousand years ago—Xi Luo possessed unconditional trust.

"And then there is the issue of the curse upon you..."

"That Rui Fu was sealed by my sister personally, so naturally, all sorts of information about it is recorded therein as well."

"If you wish to resolve that sinister qi hazard, then this booklet is your only clue."

Hearing this, Li Li Boyang finally gave up with a sheepish expression, abandoning the idea of having stumbled upon a martial arts manual for free.

However, with things being this way, a new question inevitably arose in Li Li Boyang's heart.

"I can't read!"

"I don't understand a single character written on this."

Li Li Boyang was speaking the truth.

Although he was exceptionally gifted, that did not mean he could intuitively understand a completely unfamiliar script without instruction.

Yet when Li Li Boyang looked at Xi Luo again,

he was startled to discover that she seemed to be deliberately or inadvertently avoiding his gaze.

"Wait, could it be that you can't read either?"

A vague realization stirring within his heart, Li Li Boyang opened his mouth wide in surprise.

"What's so strange about me not knowing how to read!?"

After a brief silence, Xi Luo, angered and shamed by Li Li Boyang's stare, shouted loudly.

"I am a mountain spirit!"

"Why should I know your human characters?"

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

Before her voice had even faded, Xi Luo turned around and vanished from Li Li Boyang's sight, as if she had never appeared at all.

"So... she really is illiterate?"

After a long while, Li Li Boyang finally let out a sigh of speechlessness.

"Um..."

Just at that moment, the big girl, who had been sitting obediently to one side, raised her hand.

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

Looking at the big girl, whose face showed an eagerness to try, Li 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 had abandoned his wife and daughter, he had once taught the big girl how to read and recognize characters.

Unfortunately, ever since her father left the village, he had never returned, leaving only this orphan and widow to live in the village.

Although the number of characters the big girl could recognize was not large,

through a combination of guessing and muddling through, she still allowed Li Li Boyang to roughly understand some of the content of the "Nine Chapters of Divination Secrets."

However, whether due to the evolution of characters over these thousand years or because the big girl's error rate was too high,

Li Li Boyang could only be said to have barely grasped the general outline of the "Nine Chapters of Divination Secrets."

He still had quite a long way to go before truly understanding this scroll.

As the name suggests, the "Nine Chapters of Divination Secrets" was essentially a method of cognizing the world summarized by the Huaijiang Witch of a thousand years ago based on her own innate divine ability regarding the Mandate of Heaven.

Setting aside those mysterious tales of ghosts and gods that were born merely to justify themselves,

the "Nine Chapters of Divination Secrets" overall divided all things in the world into nine categories: Phenomena, Celestial Timing, Clouds and Rain, Mountain Configurations, Earth Veins, Fate Principles, Facial Features, Auspicious Omens, and Sinister Evils.

Among them, the "Chapter of Phenomena" served as the general outline of the "Nine Chapters of Divination Secrets."

As far as Li Li Boyang personally understood it, the concept of "Wanxiang" sounded rather abstract.

But when it came down to its essence, it was actually somewhat similar to the "Dao" mentioned by Laozi at the opening of the *Dao De Jing*.

Of course, the Huaijiang witch did not possess the Dao Ancestor's essential understanding of things.

Therefore, her exposition of "Wanxiang" was also rather crude and simple, without any particularly high threshold of comprehension.

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

However, in this world where supernatural powers truly existed—

Since the Huaijiang witch dared to place the *Wanxiang Chapter* before the other eight chapters, there was naturally a reason for it.

After briefly introducing her own understanding of the world—

On the very last page of the *Wanxiang Chapter*, the Huaijiang witch left twelve patterns resembling scribbled ghosts.

According to the Huaijiang witch's explanation, along with Xi Luo's occasional interjections, Li Li Boyang learned the essence of these twelve ghost-scribble patterns.

They were actually not some unknown script, but a kind of maxim imbued with mysterious power.

Just like the Talisman and Incantation of the Daoists or the dharma seals of the Buddhists in his previous life.

Written in a specific manner on specific materials, these maxims could replicate the power akin to that of a divine-ability practitioner, achieving the effect of driving off gods and commanding ghosts.

Only by mastering these maxims could Li Li Boyang more deeply study the contents of the subsequent eight chapters of the *Nine Chapters of Divination Secrets*.

Otherwise, even if Li Li Boyang truly understood the contents of *Heavenly Timing*, *Cloud and Rain*, *Mountain Terrain*, *Earth Veins*, *Fate*, *Physiognomy*, *Auspicious Signs*, and *Baleful Qi*—

This world would merely gain another human who knew the Mandate of Heaven, yet be unable to truly go against heaven and change fate.

From this, Li Li Boyang finally understood the true identity of the Huaijiang witch—she was a born prophet and divination expert.

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

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(End of this chapter)