Chapter 536: Deduction and Divination
Qingfeng crouched down, leaning in closer to stare at the wooden grain still carrying faint traces of spiritual energy fluctuations.
In less than three breaths, his face turned pale, and he felt a dizzying spin.
“Ouch, no more, no more, my head’s spinning.” Qingfeng clutched his forehead, quickly pulling back and plopping down onto the deck. “This dense mess is a hundred times harder to grasp than a sword manual.”
Su Ming paused his deductions and turned to look at him.
Shadow also swiveled her little head, tilting it, and let out a “cheep” at Qingfeng that sounded almost like mockery.
Qingfeng shot a glare at Shadow and let out a long breath.
But soon, his gaze drifted toward the bow of the airship.
Master Xuanming still sat there with his back to them, motionless like a gray stone statue, silently meditating.
Qingfeng’s brow furrowed slightly, a flicker of complex emotion passing through his eyes. Several times, he seemed on the verge of speaking but stopped, his hands restlessly rubbing his knees.
Su Ming noticed his unease.
“If you want to ask something, just go ahead and ask.” Su Ming put away his jade slip, his voice calm.
Qingfeng glanced at Su Ming, gritted his teeth, and seemed to have finally made up his mind.
Qingfeng stood up, shuffled his feet, and cautiously walked over to sit beside Master Xuanming.
The wind howled on either side of the airship, causing Master Xuanming’s withered gray Daoist robe to flutter gently in the breeze.
Qingfeng took a deep breath, placed his hands on his knees, and tentatively spoke: “Master, disciple has something to ask you.”
Master Xuanming didn’t even open his eyes, his voice hoarse as he replied: “Ask.”
Qingfeng swallowed hard, lowering his voice: “Master... were you once a member of the Tianji Pavilion?”
This question had been lingering in the minds of Qingfeng and Mingyue throughout the journey back. Whether it was the shock on the faces of the disciples on duty at the mountain gate or the Tianji Pavilion Master’s complex attitude, everything pointed to their master having deep ties with that major sect.
Master Xuanming slowly opened his eyes, turned his head, and cast a sidelong glance at Qingfeng.
“You’ve been holding that in for three days, and that’s what you came up with?”
Qingfeng scratched the back of his head, letting out two awkward chuckles.
Just then, Mingyue also quietly shuffled over.
She sat down beside Qingfeng, twisting the hem of her robe, and said in a small voice: “Master, about that female cultivator... on the portrait in the corridor... disciple would like to ask about that too.”
At the mention of the “portrait,” Master Xuanming’s dry fingers resting on his knees twitched sharply.
The atmosphere on the airship suddenly grew heavy.
Su Ming sat at the stern, silently watching everything, while Lin Yu remained quiet in the ring.
Master Xuanming looked at his two disciples before him, their faces full of curiosity and trepidation.
He slowly extended his right hand, bringing his withered index and middle fingers together, and with a sharp “snap,” flicked Qingfeng hard on the forehead.
“Ouch!” Qingfeng clutched his forehead, tears nearly springing from the pain.
Master Xuanming withdrew his hand, ignoring Qingfeng’s wails.
He turned his head back, once again gazing at the vast, boundless sea of clouds in the distance. The night was deep, and starlight cast mottled reflections in the depths of his eyes.
“The person in that portrait was my Dao partner.”
Master Xuanming’s voice was so low that it seemed like it could be completely blown away by a slightly stronger gust of wind.
“Her name was Liu Qingyi.”
Qingfeng forgot to rub his forehead as he and Mingyue simultaneously widened their eyes, their faces filled with shock.
“Master’s wife?” Qingfeng blurted out instinctively.
Master Xuanming cast a cold glance at him.
“Who told you to call her that?” Master Xuanming said, but a trace of sorrow lurked deep in his eyes.
Qingfeng quickly shut his mouth and shook his head repeatedly.
A brief silence fell over the airship.
“Back then, she was the youngest candidate for Pavilion Master of the Tianji Pavilion.” Master Xuanming’s gaze grew extremely distant, as if piercing through the mists of time to return to that glorious era.
“Her talent in divination far surpassed mine. The elders in the pavilion all said that once she formed her Nascent Soul, she would surely push the Tianji Pavilion’s deduction techniques to a new height.”
Master Xuanming’s voice gradually dropped, carrying a deep sense of helplessness.
“Later, due to a dispute over the ownership of an ancient remnant map, internal strife erupted within the Tianji Pavilion. All the branches clashed against each other, blood flowed like rivers.”
“She exhausted her heart and soul, forcibly setting up an altar to deduce a prophecy.” Master Xuanming’s hands clenched into tight fists, his knuckles turning a deathly white from the excessive force.
“She foresaw the outcome of the internal conflict and also... that it would kill her.”
Qingfeng and Mingyue’s hearts tightened sharply.
“At the time, I was just an ordinary steward. I urged her to leave that place of trouble.” Master Xuanming’s tone was calm.
“She refused.”
“She said it was her karma, and she couldn’t escape it. She asked me to live well in her place.”
As those final words fell, Master Xuanming abruptly closed his eyes.
Neither Qingfeng nor Mingyue spoke anymore.
Mingyue lowered her head, her eyes reddened, and large teardrops rolled down her cheeks, dripping onto her Daoist robe. Qingfeng bit his lip hard, his eyes stinging.
“After she died, that internal strife also subsided.”
Master Xuanming opened his eyes again, his tone returning to that deathly calm.
“I left the Central Continent and cut all ties with the Tianji Pavilion. Going back this time was to retrieve the medicine for Su Ming, using the last shred of sentimental connection she left me back then.”
He turned his head to look in the direction of Myriad Manifestations City behind him.
“From now on, the Tianji Pavilion and I are quits.”
The night wind swept by, carrying away a long, heavy sigh.
Master Xuanming turned around, his gaze falling on Qingfeng and Mingyue.
A rare hint of gentle warmth appeared on his perpetually stern face.
“Actually, it’s not like I have nothing at all.” Master Xuanming looked at his two disciples, his voice hoarse. “You two are the two most successful hexagrams I’ve ever divined in my life. Even if one of you is as reckless as a headless fly, and the other bursts into tears at the drop of a hat.”
Qingfeng was stunned for a moment, then broke into a foolish grin tinged with a sniffle.
Mingyue, while wiping her eyes, laughed through her tears and nodded heavily.
Master Xuanming was silent for a moment.
He suddenly cleared his throat, his gaze sharpening once more.
“But still, I can’t very well take this set of deduction and divination skills of mine into the coffin.” Master Xuanming swept his gaze over the two of them. “Which of you will learn it?”
This question came so suddenly.
Qingfeng and Mingyue were both stunned.
After recovering, Qingfeng waved his hands frantically, shaking his head like a rattle-drum: “Master, disciple can’t do it. Disciple gets dizzy just looking at those formation lines and hexagram symbols; I can’t remember a thing!”
Mingyue also shrank her neck, speaking weakly: “Master, disciple... disciple is afraid of shortening my lifespan...”
The scene of the Tianji Pavilion Master turning pale from a single hexagram was still fresh in their minds.
Upon hearing this, Master Xuanming directly rolled his eyes hard.
He reached out his withered finger and grabbed Qingfeng by the ear.
“Then it’s you, you reckless fool!” Master Xuanming said bluntly. “You swing a sword around all day like a brute. Learning divination will temper that restless nature of yours!”