Chapter 390: Fire over Heaven, Great Possession

"Marriage? Marriage is wonderful! As the saying goes, one must establish a family before establishing a career. Since you have already established your fame and name, this is precisely the right time to ponder this matter." The old Daoist flicked the horsetail whisk in his hand and burst into hearty laughter.

"How does that calculation work? I'm not short on gold or silver, give me the most accurate one!" Sinuoli rubbed his hands together. In his past life, fortune-telling was, to put it kindly, close to psychological counseling, but this was an extraordinary world where words carried the power of law.

"This is the shell of a mysterious turtle from the East Sea. This beast dwells on the shores of the Jade Sea. Only a turtle that has lived for over a thousand years can be called 'mysterious'; it can discern disaster and fortune, and know good and evil."

The old Daoist took a turtle shell from the side that looked somewhat tattered but was covered in strange patterns, and held it up to shake it in front of Snuori.

"These three are Baogian cast by Haotian, secretly in harmony with the Dao of yin, yang, and Ninghe. I will place them inside the turtle shell. You shake it twice; heads up is a yang line, tails up is a yin line. By combining the results of the two shakes, a hexagram can be formed."

"That sounds pretty good, so shall I start shaking?"

The old Daoist's performance was undoubtedly professional, and Sinuoli didn't waste words; he took the turtle shell with his large hand and prepared to act.

"You, you take it easy!"

"Ding! Ding! Dong!"

The two items, which had seen many years, were somewhat precarious under the giant strength of the stone statue, but they managed to hold on nonetheless.

"Kun below, Kan above; this is the hexagram of Union. Union, auspicious. Original divination, eternal and upright, no blame." Looking at the result Sinuoli shook out, the old Daoist analyzed it while shaking his head.

"What does that mean?" He had read the Book of Changes once, but after so many years, all he remembered was the phrase "Qian, original, prosperous, favorable, and upright."

"Union is like water flowing on the earth; the soil is moistened by the water and can nourish all things. This hexagram can be said to be an auspicious one for marriage! As the saying goes, since there is a phoenix tree in the courtyard, why should the king worry that the phoenix will not come!"

"Hmm..."

Sinuoli pondered slightly upon hearing this. One major indicator of a qualified charlatan is the ability to speak in such a vague and misty way that people feel it makes sense no matter how they look at it.

"Alright then, he means that my conditions are good, so I'm not lacking in marriage prospects. In fact, that is indeed the case; the marriageable noblewomen of the Qunshan are rejecting other suitors just to wait for me to make a final decision."

"However," the old Daoist interrupted Sinuoli's thoughts.

"However what? Don't mumble!" A flash of annoyance crossed the face hidden under the hood. He took out two ingots of gold; matters involving the happiness of many years to come could not be handled carelessly.

"However, the sage said: 'At the top six, union without a head, ominous.' Placed here, it can be interpreted that if you delay too long, your fortune may be reversed, turning the auspicious into the ominous."

"That's the real deal! Indeed, if I keep dragging this out, not only will I offend the families of those young ladies, but the men who are unable to get wives because of this will also hold a grudge against me."

"Ah, Daoist, you are truly a divine person! I have been taught, but there is one more thing to ask. It is that although the phoenix bird is good, it is not what I desire. I wonder if you have any guidance?" Sinuoli nodded repeatedly in his heart and hurriedly asked further.

"Hehe, it is only natural that you, who can accomplish great things, have thoughts and desires different from ordinary people." The old Daoist's eyes rolled, understanding Sinuoli's meaning, and a smile appeared at the corners of his wrinkled eyes.

"How so? Shall I shake it one more time for you to interpret?"

"No need. The principles of the mysterious gate and the Book of Changes are unpredictable. The hexagrams obtained have the concepts of mutual, inverted, transformed, and ancestral. According to your question, the inverted hexagram should be used here." The old Daoist raised his horsetail whisk to signal Sinuoli to put the items down.

"I shall invert the yin and yang of each line; the result is Qian below, Li above, the hexagram of Fire over Heaven, Great Possession. Fire is in the sky, illuminating all directions." He took out a brush and slowly drew a hexagram of five long lines and one short one.

"If this hexagram is asked for marriage, it means the other party is strong; you need to be proactive to gain anything. According to the line text: 'At the top nine, blessed by heaven, auspicious, nothing is unfavorable.' If it is achieved, you will surely benefit greatly."

"The other party is strong... uh, can you clarify further?"

"Fortune follows Qingbao Tianzun; this is a heavenly secret that cannot be revealed."

Seeing Sinuoli reaching into his bosom to take out money again, the old Daoist stood up and performed a salute. Immediately after, he waved his hand, and the fortune-telling stall dismantled itself and flew into his pack. Then he

did not wait for Sinuoli to speak again, and disappeared into the crowd in a few steps.

On the way back, Sinuoli was somewhat absent-minded. He rested in his room for the afternoon, and as the sun slanted to the west, a team of Celestial Dragon Guard finally arrived. Riding in a Dragon Horse carriage, he and his subordinates kept moving up along the mountain road.

Biaolong Miaoying had set her palace at the highest point of Nangao City. Stepping off the carriage, the Dwarfs stood in the square in front of the palace and looked around. The overall color of the building was dark, revealing a thick, murderous aura. The square was not large, and beyond it was a sheer cliff.

"Who did this renovation? There are safety hazards!"

Looking down from the edge of the square, the Nine Walls of Nangao were in full view. Once a war broke out, this would be the best wartime command post and the last line of defense. What Sinuoli found strange was that such a dangerous place had no guardrails installed. Located in the north at such a high altitude, were they really not afraid of the wind blowing people off?

"My Lord, please come this way!"

The call of the Jade Blood Clan official awakened Sinuoli from the shock brought by the grand defensive system in front of him. Looking down from a high position at the nine layers of overlapping city walls, Sinuoli believed that no commander with the ability to think would have the thought of attacking it.

As the name implies, Everpeak had never fallen since it was completed, but it was located deep in the heart of the Qunshan, and the pressure it faced was vastly different from Nangao, which was on the front line of the fight against Chaos.

Although the Dwarf Realms could also bring out enough firearms to arm the walls into a hedgehog, even the best weapons needed people to operate them. The Mountain Kingdom could not pull out those large ranks of Jade Warriors and the Celestial Dragon Guard who moved in a steady stream.

"What is even more terrifying than this is that Zhendan still has huge war potential; those militiamen can quickly make up for losses. It is good to have a large population! The process of recovering the Eight Peaks must be accelerated!"

It was not until he was led to his seat that he ended his reverie about the future. Rubbing his cheeks, which were flushed by the cold wind on the mountaintop, Sinuoli looked up and found that the owner of the dragon throne on the dais had not yet appeared.

"Although Biaolong Miaoying's aloof personality is known to everyone, she shouldn't be late for an occasion like this, right?"

The water clock on the wall had passed the start time of the banquet, and the guests from Zhendan below seemed to be unaware, starting to whisper to each other.

"Boom—!"

"Crack!"

Just at this moment, the sound of wind and thunder faintly came from outside the palace, and everyone's eyes could not help but cast toward the entrance.

"Would you gentlemen like to go out with me to have a look?"

Feeling the questioning gaze of Hailanzhu opposite him, Sinuoli nodded and stood up; as the guest of honor, he had the most say. Stepping outside, he saw that the originally cloudless sky was already covered with dark clouds, and lightning was constantly flashing within them.