Chapter 1 The Mages’ Divination

It was a high-ranking Shinto priest from the Kyoto District Grand Shrine who was tasked with divining the whereabouts of Mogi Yoshiyuki.

His father was a direct descendant of the person in charge of that grand shrine.

His mother came from a renowned onmyoji (yin-yang master) family.

In his past, this priest had relied on his family's divine arts and divination abilities to subdue many demons and monsters, earning him a great reputation. That was why the Mogi family head secretly invited him to the temple, hoping to divine the whereabouts of his son.

"You truly care for your son."

"I have met Mogi Yoshiyuki-kun before. He is calm, composed, and highly skilled. Even in Shenzhou, nothing should happen to him."

The priest comforted the middle-aged monk.

Then, he requested a quiet room, saying that he needed it to perform the divination passed down through generations.

Sakurajima valued such secret traditions highly. The monk wasn't surprised and instructed the young acolyte beside him to prepare according to the priest's requirements. After a moment, he bowed slightly and escorted the priest into the secret room. After burning incense and going through a series of complex preparations, the priest also requested Mogi Yoshiyuki's personal jade ornament.

Only then did he begin the divination.

………………

Wei Yuan, who was deep in sleep, suddenly opened his eyes.

A wave of morning grumpiness swirled in his mind.

It felt as if someone was secretly watching him, making him very uncomfortable.

Unable to fall back asleep, Wei Yuan lay with his eyes closed for a while before taking out three copper coins. He flicked the coins into the air, calculating whether someone was targeting him with divination. The three coins landed in his hand, spinning around before falling together. In the end, two were heads, and one was tails.

Wei Yuan frowned.

This meant that he wasn't the direct target of the divination.

However, he would be indirectly involved.

Wei Yuan pondered for a moment, then flipped his hand and took out the Mountain God Seal. Previously, Wei Yuan had first used this seal to kill the Dongting fish demon, and then gave a glimmer of hope to the Taiping Dao Daoist, consuming some of its divine power, but its divinity remained. Wei Yuan held the Mountain God Seal, raising his own level to the position of 'Yin Shang Ancestral Mountain God'.

Only then did he seriously perform a complex Bagua (eight trigrams) calculation.

Afterwards, he closed his eyes slightly, placing his hands on top of each other, with the Mountain God Seal suspended above. He entered a dream to interpret the hexagram.

……………

In a daze, Wei Yuan saw himself in a temple.

He saw a man wearing white hunting clothes, chanting words, and holding an ancient magical artifact, performing divination. In front of him was a jade ornament, and the person speaking was using Sakurajima's language. Coupled with the surrounding environment, Wei Yuan easily understood what was happening.

It was that Sakurajima monk who had been struck by lightning.

Wei Yuan pondered, muttering to himself silently:

"Looks like, because there hasn't been contact with Kyoto, Dongying (Japan) for too long, people in the temple are starting to worry?"

"So they brought in a diviner-like cultivator to divine his whereabouts."

Wei Yuan thought for a while, then stretched out his palm, slightly clenching his fingers. The Mountain God Seal emitted a flowing light. He seemed to vaguely grasp a thread. As long as he cut it off, he could directly stop the other party's divination. This was a benefit gained after the Mountain God Seal was connected to the ancestral veins of Zhaoge (殷商都城，朝歌). People with low levels couldn't divine his origins.

His movements paused slightly.

Wei Yuan was also worried that rudely interrupting the divination would backfire.

If it affected the final effect that the Tianshi Mansion (天师府， a famous Taoist school) planned to achieve, it wouldn't be good.

Wei Yuan pondered for a moment, suddenly remembering that Qi had once told him that divination was a means of communicating with the heavens and the earth through various methods, obtaining a vague but real symbol of the matter of concern. The most important thing was interpretation. Before King Wen wrote the Book of Changes, these were all matters controlled by the high-ranking shamans.

The symbol directly obtained by divination cannot be twisted or tampered with.

That would directly lead to the complete failure of the divination.

However, within a reasonable range, making a certain degree of changes and interfering with the correct interpretation of the shamans was very simple. At that time, Yuan only felt a headache when he heard it, and only wanted to give Qi a can of food, but now he had some other insights. Wei Yuan pondered for a moment, clenched his palm slightly, consumed divine power, and slightly changed the symbol divined by the priest.

"Well, that should be fine."

……………………

Sakurajima.

After the priest finished a series of complex procedures, he obtained the conclusion of the divination. He glanced at it, took a long breath, and with a hint of a smile, opened the door of the quiet room. He saw the Mogi family members waiting outside the door, nodded, and calmly smiled:

"Fortunately, I have learned of Mogi Yoshiyuki-kun's current situation."

The monk, with a calm and dignified face, showed a slight joy in his eyes and put his hands together.

"I wonder where he is now?"

"Please see."

The priest handed over the divination conclusion he obtained.

Everyone looked up, their faces relaxed, with a hint of a smile.

There was even astonishment, as well as relief and complacency.

The priest stood up and smiled:

"Mogi Yoshiyuki-kun is now in a prestigious mountain in Shenzhou with a high status."

"The strongest cultivator in that mountain has instructed his disciples to treat Yoshiyuki-kun meticulously and carefully, fearing that something might go wrong with his body."

"Moreover, not long after, a master of the Taiping Dao will come hand in hand with Yoshiyuki-kun."

Then everyone in the temple took a long breath.

"Thank you very much."

"A small token of appreciation, nothing much, please accept it."

The middle-aged monk had the young acolyte bring up the agreed-upon reward, and the priest accepted it with a smile. Under the guidance of the gods, everything was peaceful and harmonious, and even the sandalwood scent in the temple was more rich and intoxicating. As if gods and Buddhas were staggering in the air, falling drunk in the fragrance, granting everything smooth sailing.

………………

Knock knock knock—

Wei Yuan tapped the table lightly with his finger, muttering to himself:

"Coming hand in hand."

"Coming head in hand." (携首 is a homophone of 携手 and means bringing the head)

He said, "Indeed, there's no problem."

Wei Yuan, who had graduated for a long time, sincerely thanked:

"Thank you, language teacher."

………………

Time slowly passed. However, Wei Yuan never expected that there would be a time when he was careless. He actually believed in the time concept of a long-lived species. Another ten days or so passed, and Jue still hadn't returned. He had made two phone calls in between, and knowing that the girl was safe now, he was relieved.

During this time, Wei Yuan occasionally held the Nine-Section Staff, responding to the so-called Dao Lord's prayers.

Daoist talismans often require setting up an altar and seeking the ancestral master's decree to ensure that what is drawn is not just scribbles, but a real yellow talisman with effect and magic power. Since using the Yellow Turban Warrior Body Protection Curse before, but getting the words "not allowed," the Taiping Dao Dao Lord received the ancestral master's approval for the first time.

He was immediately overjoyed, only saying that he had been interfered with by the Tianshi Mansion last time.

He drew a lot of Yellow Turban Warrior Body Protection Talismans in one breath.

Wei Yuan gave a response far beyond the usual with the Nine-Section Staff.

He first let the Dao Lord feel that he could use the talisman, and then cut it off at the critical moment.

This is probably, you actually want to ask for my decree, draw my talisman, to hit me?

Using the Nine-Section Staff again, after giving a response, Wei Yuan put the Taiping Dao magical artifact back on the wooden cabinet. First, he hung the gourd containing the relics around his waist, and then brought all three bronze artifacts from the Yin Shang Dynasty back to the quiet room, allowing them to resonate with each other.

Finally, the Mountain God Seal slowly emerged.

On the bronze plate with Taotie patterns and sacrificial inscriptions, the scene of Zhaoge City in the Mountain Sea Realm reappeared.

Feiyu and Wuyu knelt on the ground and saluted, looking respectfully at the scene appearing on the altar.

"...Mountain God, the sacrificial ceremony is almost ready."

Wei Yuan hummed, then stretched out his hand, relying on the connection between the Mountain God Seal and the ancestral veins outside Zhaoge City, using divine power to wrap the relics, consuming a huge amount of power, and letting these beads pass through the bronze plate, falling in front of Feiyu and Wuyu.

"Distribute this thing to the people with the highest cultivation."

Wei Yuan's voice paused, thinking of the words recorded by Wu Yi on the rock wall, and asked:

"Among the sacrifices, which one requires a child to hold white flowers and give them to the ghosts and gods?"

Wuyu didn't understand, but still replied, "It's the grand sacrifice every three hundred years."

Wei Yuan said, "Then this time, the rules and procedures will be based on such a sacrifice."

"At least, the ceremony of the child offering flowers must be there."

The clear qi of the sky and the earth qi of the mountains gathered, turning into the young Daoist on the altar. He swept his sleeves, seemed to think of something, raised his eyes and said, "By the way, the main body of this sacrifice is not me."

Feiyu and Wuyu were puzzled.

Then they heard the young Daoist's understated voice:

"It's the Emperor God, Wu Yi."

"You should all remember him, you should all know him."

Wei Yuan looked into the distance and said in a low voice, "That's the person who has protected you for three thousand years."

ps: Today's third update, two thousand seven hundred words~ Thank you to 龍loong for the 20,000 reward~

Good night, everyone~