Chapter 248: Storyteller
In the northwestern corner of the Great Zhou Dynasty, there was a prefecture city called Yongxing City. There were all sorts of people gathered there and it was bustling with life.
In a corner of Yongxing City, a group of people were huddled together.
In the middle of the crowd, there was an empty s.p.a.ce with a table and an old man. Wearing a white crown and long robes, he had a tall beard and rosy cheeks as he leaned back against a chair.
The old man’s left hand was resting on a wooden block on the table while he waved a paper fan with his right. As he spoke with a smooth eloquence, everyone around him was mesmerized.
Looking at his attire, alongside the wooden block on the table and the folding fan in his hand, it was obvious that this was a storyteller. Traveling among common folk, this was somebody that was specialized in the tales of the supernatural.
The stories told by storytellers were magnificent and bewildering – they were most attractive to mortals.
“That battle was so intense that the skies went dark and the earth shattered. Corpses were strewn all over the ground as fresh blood flowed in an extremely tragic manner!”
Waving his paper fan, the elderly man said in a clear voice, “This powerful being of the human race took a step forth, causing the voids to tremble. A shout of his could fell the stars; a back flip of his palm could summon the clouds and a front flip could summon the rain. While that divine dragon was strong with the ability to topple mountains and oceans while overturning the heavens and moon, it could not defeat that man.”
Everyone listened intently.
“A ma.s.sive battle continued for two days and nights and finally, the divine dragon was slain by that man! Fresh blood splattered from the divine dragon’s body endlessly. Many living beings that could not dodge in time and were splashed by the blood exploded to the death on the spot, unable to withstand the divine dragon’s power of bloodline with their bodies…”
Many people were secretly shocked and gasped.
Seeing everyone’s reactions, the old man was very pleased. He waved his fan gently and stroked his beard with a smile.
“Fufu… ”
Right then, a sneer could be heard from outside the crowd.
“These illusory untruths are merely enough to fool mortals. What a joke. Who would have the stamina to fight for two days and nights? Divine dragons? You were speaking as though you’ve seen one before.”
The person who spoke was a Foundation Establishment Cultivator.
When this person happened to pa.s.s by this place, he paused to listen for a while and could not help but sneer.
In truth, true cultivators did not care about listening to such stories as they could easily differentiate between truth and fiction.
Seeing that he was exposed, the old man’s face turned red, seemingly from embarra.s.sment. He straightened his neck and asked, “How do you know I’ve never seen one before?”
“Oh?”
The Foundation Establishment Cultivator glanced askance at the old man and sneered, “You don’t have any spirit qi in your body so you can’t be a cultivator. If so, I want to ask you. Where did you see the divine dragon, huh?”
Using the Spirit Peering Art, it was easy to detect that this old man was a mere mortal.
The moment the old man heard that the other party was a cultivator, his aura weakened. Avoiding eye contact and retracting his neck, he muttered softly, “In any case, I’ve seen it before.”
The Foundation Establishment Cultivator pouted his lips and scoffed coldly before leaving.
Not far away, there was a man dressed in gray robes. Slightly rotund with a beardless face, he was holding a folding fan as well as he walked towards them.
“Storyteller, why don’t you continue?”
Someone at the side urged impatiently.
The old man swept his gaze around. When he saw who it was, the wooden block in his hand landed, ringing with a resounding slap.
“If you want to know what happened, wait for the next session!”
Keeping the wooden block, the old man closed his paper fan and waved. “Alright, let’s disperse. We’ll continue another day.”
“Tsk!”
The crowd booed.
Seeing that the old man was standing to leave, the crowd no longer lingered and dispersed as well.
Entering the crowd, the old man disappeared within a couple of steps.
In an empty corner, the old man and a gray robed cultivator met.
“Old man, I failed. I didn’t get it.”
The gray robed cultivator with the dispirited expression was Lin Xuanji who had just escaped from the primordial ruin.
Stroking his long beard, the old man looked unfathomable as he replied with a smile, “I expected that.”
“Fu*k!””
When Lin Xuanji heard that, he hopped in anger. “You’re vicious, old man! If you’ve already divined it from the start, why did you still want me to head to that place? I nearly lost my life!”
“What do you know?”
The old man said with a calm expression, “The divination that I divined showed that this was a dangerous journey. Although you’re destined to fail, this journey will be worth it for you!”
“Is… it?” Lin Xuanji ground his teeth and asked.
“Of course. My divination is never wrong,” The old man was confident.
Lin Xuanji could not hold it in any longer and yelled, “I didn’t manage to get any sh*t! I only got a little bit of egg juice and it was left behind by a dog!”
“What egg juice? What dog?” The old man was a little confused after being sprayed with a facial of saliva.
Lin Xuanji recounted the events in the dragon lair of the primordial ruin in detail.
“You ate the dragon’s egg? You’re twisted!” The old man was so angry that he was trembling. He raised his hand and ruthlessly slapped Lin Xuanji’s face.
“Hey, don’t hit me! Stop! It wasn’t me…! It was that Su Zimo and a dog…!”
Lin Xuanji kept dodging but it was useless. With a resounding slap, a red palm print appeared on his cheek.
“Old man, I’ve also used the Minor Transference Talisman.”
Piak!
Without another word, the old man sent another slap flying.
Another palm print appeared on Lin Xuanji’s right cheek that could not fade away.
Stroking his beard, the old man frowned. “This doesn’t make any sense. The divination can’t be wrong and you should have gained from this journey. Could it be that… this divination was referring to that Su Zimo?”
“Right, old man. That guy has some sort of skill such that I can’t divine his background and fortune,” Lin Xuanji said.
“There’s such a thing?”
A subtle ripple emanated from the old man’s glabella that shrouded the entire capital in an instant. Before long, it located Su Zimo within a restaurant.
Gentle threads appeared in the old man’s eyes that spread out swiftly into a hazy fog.
Opening his palm, the old man began to divine.
As time pa.s.sed, the old man frowned deeper while his expression turned grimmer and paler.
Given the old man’s cultivation realm, he should be able to divine a Foundation Establishment Cultivator almost instantly.
But now, two hours have pa.s.sed.
Next to him, Lin Xuanji waited with bated breath silently, afraid that he would disturb the old man.
Another hour pa.s.sed and the old man’s body shuddered. With a grunt, the gentle threads dispersed and blood vessels appeared in a terrifying manner!
“Old man, how are you?”
Lin Xuanji knew that this was the result of a forced divination session.
Some people had special destinies. If one were to force a divination and did not stop in time, turning blind would be a normal occurrence. If it was more serious, some people could even have bad luck befall them!
“I’m fine.”
The old man waved it off and let out a long breath, pondering. “That lad has a normal destiny. It was initially ordinary but an expert helped him to change his fate, weaving his destiny entirely. I can’t divine him either.”
“Huh?” Lin Xuanji’s eyes widened as he asked in disbelief, “Changed his fate?”
He knew the immensity of those words – that was something that even the old man could not do!
“Oh?”
Right then, the old man’s expression changed and his eyes shone with a strange glint!