Chapter 265: The Hexagram of the Yi-Si Snake Year! Eight Kings Lifting a Coffin

Annan City, Ping'an Villa.

"Senior, what could Uncle-Master want with Zhang Fan?" Fang Changle watched the two leave and looked at Yu Hua, casting a questioning gaze.

A senior of the sect—even if he were to meet privately, he should have met him, the Maoshan successor, right?

"Perhaps to understand the Fangya Mountain matter, after all, it involves Qiyun Mountain, and even Temple Master Mo came personally." Yu Hua guessed.

Fang Changle's heart moved, thinking and thinking, it seemed that was the only possibility.

"Senior, what is the background of this Uncle-Master? Why have I never heard of him before?" Fang Changle could not help but ask.

Just from the various things just now, it could be seen that this Xu Xuanguan was extraordinary, not only with unfathomable strength but also an old acquaintance with Qiyun Mountain Temple Master Mo Ranchen.

Such a supreme figure, actually not famous in Maoshan—this was simply too strange.

"Uncle-Master Xu left Maoshan many years ago, so it's not strange that you haven't seen him." Yu Hua said indifferently.

"That's not right. Even if he's not there, he's so powerful; why haven't I heard the elders in the sect mention him?" Fang Changle asked in surprise.

"I heard that Uncle-Master Xu acted strangely when he was young and was too rebellious, therefore..."

Yu Hua stopped mid-sentence. As a junior, discussing elders behind their backs was a taboo, and as a Maoshan disciple, it was even more inappropriate.

"Rebellious? How rebellious?" Fang Changle could not help but pursue the question.

Among Daoist disciples, there were also those who were mavericks. The most rebellious one he had seen was Zhang Fan, who didn't have the shadow of a famous sect disciple from beginning to end.

"How would I know? Even if I knew, I couldn't tell you." Yu Hua glanced and said indifferently: "Respect the elders, don't discuss them casually behind their backs."

"Forgot all the rules!"

"So, this Uncle-Master of ours is a regular at the Hall of Reflection?" Fang Changle seemed unable to stop.

The Hall of Reflection was where Maoshan disciples closed their doors to reflect on their mistakes and receive punishment.

Fang Changle had not gone to this place few times when he was young.

"No sense of propriety."

Yu Hua let out a cold snort and glared fiercely at Fang Changle. Sometimes he really wanted to tear this junior brother's mouth.

"Senior, it's not that I have no sense of propriety; I'm just worried."

"Worried about what?" Yu Hua asked in a deep voice.

"Senior, you say this Uncle-Master is so..." Fang Changle paused slightly and lowered his voice:

"So abnormal, summoning Zhang Fan alone—how can one not be worried?"

"..."

"Junior brother, disaster comes from the mouth. You will bring great disaster because of this mouth sooner or later."

Yu Hua shook his head, looked at the empty courtyard outside the door, and suddenly changed the subject: "However, junior brother, you were right about one thing today."

"What?" Fang Changle asked subconsciously.

"Uncle-Master was indeed a bit abnormal today."

"Respect the elders, Senior, how can you say that about an elder behind their back? Be careful of bringing great disaster." Fang Changle said with a smile.

However, seeing Yu Hua's solemn expression and sunken face, he restrained his smile and pursued: "Where is it abnormal?"

"Uncle-Master never sees outsiders, today..."

Yu Hua's gaze condensed into a line, looking at the direction where Xu Xuanguan and Zhang Fan disappeared, thoughtful.

In the quiet room, a strand of incense swayed, two red candles glowed, and a faint fragrance permeated the hall.

This was not ordinary incense, similar to the Daoist incense of descending truth. It was just that the fragrance of the descending truth incense was faint, and at this time, the fragrance Zhang Fan smelled was more like the incense offered to 【Three-Corpse Daoist Lord】 when he was at 【Prisoner Immortal Temple】.

"Senior, where is this..."

Zhang Fan followed behind Xu Xuanguan and finally could not help but speak. This quiet room was hidden in the deepest part of Ping'an Villa, and at first glance, it looked like an ancestral hall.

"This is where I usually offer incense for cultivation." Xu Xuanguan said without looking back.

He walked three steps, turned, and walked to the wall, where a portrait was hanging—or to be precise, a 【Hexagram】. The upper three lines, one broken and two connected, were the Dui hexagram; the lower three lines, the upper and lower two connected, with the middle broken, were the Li hexagram.

The two hexagrams were stacked, upper Dui and lower Li, which was the 【Ge Hexagram】 among the sixty-four hexagrams.

Xu Xuanguan took out a stick of incense, shook it lightly, and the incense actually ignited in the air, burning.

"Daoist True Fire."

Zhang Fan's gaze condensed into a line, and he had to sigh. For an expert like Xu Xuanguan, the Dharma follows the thought, and even the Daoist True Fire, when displayed, was marvelous in the void, without traces.

Xu Xuanguan offered the incense, bowed slightly to the hexagram, and inserted the incense into the furnace.

"This hexagram was left by an old friend of mine."

Just at this moment, Xu Xuanguan spoke.

"He is like you, also surnamed Zhang, and among us, he ranked second..."

As soon as these words came out, Zhang Fan's gaze moved slightly, but his heart beat wildly.

From the conversation between Mo Ranchen and Xu Xuanguan just now, he already knew that a group of old friends had gathered and sworn brotherhood.

Today's Qiyun Mountain Temple Master ranked fifth among these people.

As for Xu Xuanguan, he ranked sixth.

The Zhang Laoer they mentioned was the father of Zhang Lingzong, the Great Lingzong King, that is, Zhang Fan's grandfather, Zhang Tiansheng.

"This year is the Yi-Si Snake Year, and this year's hexagram is it."

"Ge Hexagram!?" Zhang Fan was thoughtful.

"Not bad, the hexagram of the Yi-Si Snake Year is the Ge Hexagram." Xu Xuanguan looked at the hexagram on the wall and murmured softly.

The Ge Hexagram's image is upper Ze and lower Li. In the marsh there is water, and in the Li there is fire. It means water is going down to extinguish the fire, and fire is going up to burn the water dry. Extinguishing and breathing, it is a contradiction and conflict that has reached the extreme of irreconcilability and must be solved through change.

Precisely because of this, the Ge Hexagram is a hexagram of great change.

This year will be full of many variables. The fate of many people will change because of this, the old pattern will eventually be broken, and a new world will be presented.

"Ge Hexagram, on the day of Ji, there is trust, great success, favorable to be persistent, regret disappears." Xu Xuanguan whispered solemnly.

"Great change must have great chaos. The more it reaches this time, the more one cannot act rashly. Only by grasping the only heavenly opportunity that appears can the change be successful and a new situation be welcomed."

"By that time, all the regrets of the past will disappear."

As the words reached here, Xu Xuanguan slowly turned around and looked at Zhang Fan.

"Young man, do you know what the hexagram after the Ge Hexagram is?"

"What?" Zhang Fan asked subconsciously.

Specialization in the arts, he knew nothing about the principles of divination.

"Ding Hexagram!"

Xu Xuanguan pointed, and Zhang Fan looked over. He saw another hexagram hanging on the other wall, with the Li hexagram above and the Xun hexagram below—it was the wind-fire 【Ding Hexagram】 among the sixty-four hexagrams.

"After the Ge Hexagram is the Ding Hexagram, changing the old and establishing the new, coming from this. The Ding Hexagram is upper fire and lower wind, wind helps the fire, fire borrows the wind's power, cooking things in the tripod, implying that all things glow with vitality in harmony and change."

"In the Ge Hexagram, there is great change. All old orders will eventually be broken. As long as you grasp that only heavenly opportunity, you can recreate the universe and hold the tripod." Xu Xuanguan said in a deep voice.

If the Ge Hexagram is breaking the old, the Ding Hexagram is establishing the new.

Most importantly, the tripod in ancient culture symbolizes supreme authority and represents heaven's mandate.

"Zhang Laoer left these two hexagrams, naturally having his own mysteries." Xu Xuanguan murmured softly, his voice barely audible, as if talking to himself.

"Si Snake fire is prosperous, the year has arrived, the Ge Hexagram must appear, when will the Ding Hexagram come!?"

In this year, everyone's fate will undergo unpredictable changes. Ze and fire extinguish and breathe each other. Great change must produce great chaos. As long as you take one wrong step, you will be destroyed, Ze covering the fire and extinguishing it, fire giving birth to Ze and silence.

However, there is that glimmer of heavenly opportunity in great chaos. Whoever can grasp it can master their own fate, changing the old and establishing the new, different from now on.

"Changing the old and establishing the new, Fire-Wind Great Ding!?"

Zhang Fan looked at the hexagram of the 【Ding Hexagram】 on the wall, his eyes blurred, thoughtful.

【Note: Garbled text again.】

At this moment, the Ding Hexagram in his eyes seemed to be on fire. The Li hexagram above turned into a scorching great fire, rolling and burning the sky, and the Xun hexagram below turned into a fierce black wind, sweeping the firmament.

Black wind gives birth to red flames, and the terrifying atmosphere infects heaven and earth. The vast universe seems to have turned into a tripod path. Through the ages, all things and sentient beings are just fresh things in this tripod path, cooked to sacrifice to the sages, brilliantly sacrificing to the blue sky.

Rumble...

In an instant, a mysterious aura shot into the sky from Zhang Fan's body. His Nascent Soul actually jumped out from the spirit platform between his eyebrows without him knowing.

"Hmm!?"

Xu Xuanguan raised an eyebrow, noticing Zhang Fan's strangeness. He looked intently and saw Zhang Fan's Nascent Soul sitting three feet above his head, mysterious Qi crisscrossing and spreading. He sat like a god descending from heaven, his hands forming seals, his right hand giving birth to Li Fire, his left hand raising black wind, the two shooting at each other, as if it were the image of the Ding Hexagram.

"Good demon, he actually snatched the mystery of this hexagram!?" Xu Xuanguan's eyes flashed with sharp luster, and he could not help but sigh.

Rumble...

Just at this moment, the black wind grew wild, actually shaking the great fire to shoot into the sky. It looked like it was about to swallow Zhang Fan's Nascent Soul.

This kind of power—breaking the old, establishing the new tripod, observing heaven and earth, refining sentient beings—was mysterious and marvelous, how could it be mastered in a moment!?

Hum...

Xu Xuanguan flicked his finger, a ripple floated, as if ripples spread, layer upon layer, actually separating the black wind and red fire. The next moment, Zhang Fan's Nascent Soul took the initiative to return to his body.

In the quiet room, everything returned to silence, as if nothing had happened.

"Zhang Fan... Zhang..."

Xu Xuanguan looked at Zhang Fan who was slowly waking up, his gaze scattered, thoughtful.

"Senior, I..."

Zhang Fan was somewhat dazed. At this moment, the hexagram of the Fire-Wind Ding Hexagram was like a brand, actually taking root in his Nascent Soul, unable to be waved away, unable to be forgotten.

Such a mysterious artistic conception, covering the sky and earth, was tempering his Nascent Soul every moment.

This strange feeling was actually very similar to the scene when he awakened the 【Three-Flavor True Fire】 that day.

"You have good luck. Changing the old and establishing the new—surely everything has a fate. Breaking the old and establishing the new, there are successors..."

Xu Xuanguan murmured softly, subconsciously looking back at the 【Ge Hexagram】 on the wall.

"Thank you, Senior, for the perfection." Zhang Fan bowed and paid his respects. He knew that the sudden enlightenment of that moment was a huge gain.

Such a great opportunity, others might not be able to seek it in a lifetime.

"You don't need to thank me. This is your opportunity, or rather, your fate with him." Xu Xuanguan looked at the hexagram on the wall.

"Fate with him?" Zhang Fan pondered slightly before saying: "Senior, can you tell me about him?"

"Who? Zhang Laoer? Haven't you heard of him?" Xu Xuanguan looked at Zhang Fan with deep meaning.

"I... how could I have heard of him?" Zhang Fan stammered.

In fact, his dad never mentioned his grandfather to him. For a time, Zhang Fan even suspected that his dad was raised in an orphanage.

"His name is Zhang Tiansheng..."

"Divine Hexagram Zhang Tiansheng!" Xu Xuanguan only said one sentence, then turned and walked toward the deepest part of the quiet room.

Zhang Fan looked at Xu Xuanguan's back and did not ask much, just followed.

At the very top of the deepest part of the quiet room was a shrine, and an ancient painting was offered on it.

Xu Xuanguan walked to the shrine, took out three sticks of incense, lit them, and actually bowed respectfully to the ancient painting.

"This is the main position for offering?" Zhang Fan was stunned.

An expert like Xu Xuanguan, who was also from Maoshan, did not offer to the ancestors, but actually worshipped an ancient painting so respectfully.

Thinking of this, Zhang Fan could not help but raise his head and look over.

This ancient painting was old, the scroll had long turned yellow, and it was estimated to have at least two or three hundred years of history.

The picture was also extremely eerie and strange, with eight figures, faces unclear. They wore extremely ancient Daoist robes. The robes were wide, making the proportions of the eight figures extremely uncoordinated. Each of them held a vessel in their hands—there were swords, seals, mirrors...

These eight people were lifting a pitch-black coffin, standing in the center of the picture, looking extremely eerie.

Zhang Fan looked twice and felt his hair stand on end, cold wind blowing behind his back.

"You also offer a stick of incense." Xu Xuanguan said indifferently.

"Senior, what is this?" Zhang Fan asked casually.

"Eight Kings Lifting a Coffin!" Xu Xuanguan whispered solemnly, spitting out four words.

"Eight Kings Lifting a Coffin!?" Zhang Fan showed a look of doubt.

"The original of this painting has long been lost. This is a copy by an expert from Long Hu Mountain in the Ming Dynasty." Xu Xuanguan did not say much, just took out three sticks of incense and handed them to Zhang Fan.

Zhang Fan saw this and did not dare to ask more, bowing again and again to the 【Eight Kings Lifting a Coffin】.

"Senior, what does this painting actually mean?"

After offering the incense, Zhang Fan could not help but ask again.

Xu Xuanguan's gaze condensed. Through the curling incense smoke, looking at the ancient painting hanging high in the shrine, he murmured softly: "There are not many people in this world who know it, and only us old brothers..."

As the words fell, he let out a powerless sigh.

Shangjing City, Bai He Temple.

Inside the Wangji Hall, in a secret room, this was a forbidden area of the Bai He Temple. Usually, the only person who could come here was the current Bai He Temple Master, Jiang Your Majesty, who was known as half of the Daoist sect's territory.

At this moment, Jiang Your Majesty stood there. The candle fire on the incense table in front of him suddenly flickered, and the curling incense smoke also shook violently.

Jiang Your Majesty raised an eyebrow and looked up at the wall in front of him, where an ancient painting was hanging—it was none other than Eight Kings Lifting a Coffin.

"Zhang Laoer has been dead for so many years, and the Coffin-Lifting Society has actually added another lineage of incense? Who exactly is it!?"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 266 =====