Chapter 767 - 127: The Third Bronze Conference
Recognize the wrong person? Unless I’m blind.
Han Zhan recognized the "threatening" tone in his second senior’s voice and insightfully responded with an "oh."
"Then I must have mistaken." Han Zhan readily agreed, "Second mas... Grandmaster, please divine my fortune for the day after tomorrow."
Today is the third day.
There were still two days left until the countdown on the door at the root of the World Tree.
Meeting his second senior, Lin Jingxuan, at just the right time to have him tell his fortune and foresee luck was not a bad thing.
After all, with his own senior brother, there’s no harm in trying.
Seeing this, Lin Jingxuan first let out a sigh of relief, then said, "A fortune, it can be done."
After speaking, he placed three copper coins into the turtle shell.
This golden turtle shell was a divination tool materialized by Lin Jingxuan.
After a series of operations, the golden turtle shell spit out the three copper coins again, neatly arranging them on the table.
Lin Jingxuan glanced at the hexagram shown by the three copper coins, closed his eyes slightly, and began calculating.
After a long while, he exhaled deeply.
"Upper nine: The swan advances through the thoroughfare, its feathers can be used ceremonially."
The "thoroughfare" is a broad road that connects in all directions, similar to the upper nine of the Great Accumulation hexagram, "the intersection of heaven," referring to unimpeded pathways in the sky.
The "upper nine" in this hexagram is the top position, where the swan flies to the mountains, and at this point, its feathers can be used as beautiful ceremonial cloth, all signifying good fortune.
At this thought, Lin Jingxuan nodded slightly, "From the hexagram, your fortune two days later looks good."
"Good?" Han Zhan was stunned by what he heard.
He had already been preparing to hear something like "ninety-nine lives" or "blood disaster" or "fated misfortune."
And the result was just "good fortune"?
"The hexagram suggests you’ll get some of the answers you seek on this journey, but you need to observe carefully and not miss any details." Lin Jingxuan added.
"Grandmaster, didn’t you get this wrong?" Han Zhan skeptically asked.
Han Zhan never had such a good result from Lin Jingxuan’s fortune-telling, so he didn’t believe it for a moment.
Lin Jingxuan glanced at him without speaking further.
"This fortune teller has quite the character, just the expressionless face isn’t very likable."
Li Lingzhen sighed, looking at the scene in front of her, "Just like second senior brother."
Han Zhan: "..."
Lingzhen’s mouth managed to offend two people at once, truly something only she could do.
Though both people were technically the same person.
Lin Jingxuan’s expressionless gaze fell on Li Lingzhen, "Then let me tell your fortune too."
Without waiting for Li Lingzhen to speak, Lin Jingxuan repeated his earlier actions.
He watched as the hexagrams rearranged on the table, suddenly emphasizing, "Eh?"
"You’re...with child?!"
Lin Jingxuan’s tone was full of shock.
"Cough cough cough." Han Zhan almost choked on his own saliva.
The divine talent of second senior brother was truly reaching new heights if he could predict even this.
"No, no, don’t say nonsense." Han Zhan repeatedly denied, pulling Li Lingzhen away from beneath the footbridge.
"Hey, slow down, be careful not to upset the child!" Behind them, Lin Jingxuan’s "cautioning" voice rang out.
Watching the embarrassed back of his junior leave, a faint smile appeared on Lin Jingxuan’s lips.
He hadn’t even had the chance to smile for long.
A familiar voice sounded from behind:
"Eh? Lin Jingxuan, why are you here dressed as a blind man, telling fortunes?"
Wei Qing walked up from not far behind, asking curiously.
Lin Jingxuan’s face instantly went stiff.
"I’m not, no, don’t say nonsense."
"Nonsense, is it? How could it be nonsense, I’d recognize you even if you turned to ash," Wei Qing argued earnestly.
Lin Jingxuan heaved a deep sigh.
He somewhat regretted not having his own fortune told before heading out today.
Suddenly, he had a flash of inspiration and an idea.
"Shh! Don’t shout. I’ll tell you something."
"Something? What is it? What could be more shocking than you pretending to be blind under a footbridge to tell fortunes..."
"The Contracted Spirit of my junior brother... is pregnant."
Wei Qing: "?!?"
"Tell me more!" His attention was instantly captured, completely forgetting about Lin Jingxuan’s disguise.
This is called diverting attention.
...
"Why did we run?" On the road, Li Lingzhen asked, puzzled.
Even if one was really pregnant, was there a need to run?
Han Zhan glanced at the bewildered Li Lingzhen, thinking she was still too young.
"Silly. I just needed a random excuse to leave, so second senior brother could regain some footing and feel better."
"Huh? You mean to say, the blind fortune teller just now was second senior brother in disguise?!" Li Lingzhen looked shocked.
Forget it, better not explain further to her.
There’s an old saying, what is big, what is brainless.
In Lingzhen’s case, it seemed to be perfectly validated.
Han Zhan managed to endure an exhausting yet fulfilling last two-day holiday.
Driven by Li Lingzhen’s persistent urging, he reluctantly verified their hypothesis multiple times under pressure.
The validations revealed that the process of Ancient Divine Soldiers nurturing divine authority was indeed related to the number of usages!
It was well known that Han Zhan first befriended and contracted with Xia Youwei and Li Lingzhen.
Then came Gongyang Jin, Shang Siteng.
Nuannuan and Jiang Lingling were contracted later, with Feng Xiaozao even later.
If based on frequency of use, it was indeed likely for Xia Youwei and Li Lingzhen to first nurture authority.
All in all, for Han Zhan, this discovery was a piece of good news.
Besides the exhaustion, everything else was alright.
Actually, regarding nurturing authority, Han Zhan had some other conjectures, although not verified, but likely accurate.
For example: According to the conventional Godhood Technique, it only requires three authorities to establish a foundational avenue and transform into a deity.
But he himself already possessed seven Ancient Divine Soldiers, even if at worst, he could also possess seven authorities. According to the rules of Godhood Technique, could he become a deity twice?
He suspected this might be related to the so-called "Divine Origin."
Currently, the Divine Origin had remained at (5/10) stage with no activity.
He needed to find an opportunity to ask the World Tree if there were any other ways to enter other Fruit Worlds before becoming a deity.
For instance: After these past two days of high-intensity confrontational practice, Xia Youwei, Shang Siteng, Gongyang Jin, and Nuannuan all more or less had subtle perceptions towards authority.
But Jiang Lingling and Feng Xiaozao still had no response.
This gave Han Zhan another hypothesis.
Could it be that one must completely pass through the corresponding Fruit World, break through that barrier, and achieve a hundred percent agreement before they can nurture authority?
Literally speaking, it made sense logically.
Five days of holiday flashed by in an instant.
After a long holiday, preparing for the first day of work always leaves one feeling melancholy.
Han Zhan recalled the fortune that Lin Jingxuan had divined, inhaled deeply, and braced himself.
Then he leapt through the World Tree’s passage.
The third Bronze Conference was about to convene!