Chapter 2704: Inauspicious Omen
Chapter 2704: Inauspicious Omen
As a transmigrator who had watched plenty of movies in his previous life, Zu An was familiar with movie tropes. If a character took out a photograph and said that they had loved ones waiting for them at home, that they would return home to get married after this last operation, they were pretty much doomed to die later in the show. Those were all death flags.
Zu An thought about his earlier farewells with the ladies and shook his head with a bitter smile. It’s like I’m doing a speedrun for collecting death flags.
But now that he was going on a long journey, that was the least of his concerns at the moment.
He had also sent a sliver of his soul to gather the academy’s teachers to leave some final instructions. He entrusted the leadership of the academy to Yan Xiangu. The latter was the old libationer’s first disciple, and had the greatest strength and the highest prestige, so no one objected to the appointment.
The teachers gave their cherished treasures to Zu An for his self-protection. Even Ji Dengtu, who often scoffed at him, took out a bottle of pills and said, “Brat, these are pills that Xiaoxi and I came up with recently. They work much better than the other pills we've made. I didn’t want to give them to you, but Xiaoxi insisted on it. Now that I’ve done so, you better not die outside and waste my pills.”
Zu An knew Ji Dengtu had a sharp tongue but a soft heart. The latter was clearly worried about him but refused to admit it. Thus, he replied, “Don’t worry, I can’t bear to leave Xiaoxi behind. I’ll come back to look for her.”
Ji Dengtu was so angry that he threw a tantrum. It was almost as if he could already see his beloved daughter being taken away by Zu An.
You have successfully trolled Ji Dengtu for +119... +119... +119...
Amid the uproar, Qi Yaoguang said, “Libationer, I’d like to have a private word with you.”
The others were astounded. Has our little junior sister fallen in love with the libationer? Even Yan Xuehen and Yun Jianyue have fallen for him, so I guess it’s not that surprising for our junior sister to harbor feelings for him too.
Thus, they excused themselves with a smile to give them some privacy.
Ji Dengtu’s anger flared. Is this brat a walking aphrodisiac? Even our little junior sister has fallen for his tricks! This won’t do. I must knock some sense into Xiaoxi so she doesn’t get duped by this philanderer!
You have successfully trolled Ji Dengtu for +444... +444... +444...
Only Zu An sensed something was amiss. “Yaoguang, you seem a little frail.”
“I knew I couldn’t hide it from you.” Qi Yaoguang coughed. She gave up on her disguise, and her face immediately turned ghastly pale. “Don’t worry, libationer. I merely used my divination.”
Zu An quickly channeled a surge of pure ki into Qi Yaoguang’s body. Only then did her complexion finally recover a little. He was perplexed. “Someone of your cultivation shouldn’t become so weakened from a divination. Your earlier condition was so severe that it felt as if even your lifespan was affected.”
Qi Yaoguang smiled. “That would be the case for other matters, but when divining the libationer’s safety, the price was bound to be heavier.”
Zu An was taken aback. He hadn’t expected her to go this far for him.
Instead of dwelling on this matter, Qi Yaoguang waved her sleeves and conjured an image of a massive vortex. There was a skeleton at its center. She said, “This is the result of my divination. I hesitated for a long time whether to tell you, but I thought I should at least give you a heads up so you could take precautions.”
“What does that mean?” Zu An looked at the image. The vortex induced a feeling of vertigo, and the skeleton inside looked jarring too. This looked terribly inauspicious.
“In the field of divination, bones represent death. I’m not too sure what that vortex means; it could represent water or some sort of danger.” Qi Yaoguang had a worried frown.
Zu An sighed. “Am I destined to die on this trip?”
Qi Yaoguang hurriedly shook her head. “Divination only shows the most likely flow of events. Your trip will be fraught with danger, but heaven’s will is fleeting. There will always be a sliver of hope. Fate isn't cast in stone. Libationer, you mustn’t give up hope.”
Zu An smiled. “I’m not the kind to surrender to fate. You may put your mind at ease, Yaoguang.”
Qi Yaoguang breathed a sigh of relief. “Libationer, will you harbor a grudge against me for sharing an inauspicious divination with you at this juncture?”
“Why would I harbor a grudge against you? I'm more than grateful to you for sacrificing your lifespan to warn me of danger,” Zu An replied gently. “I’ll be leaving soon, so I can’t help you any further. Seek Ji Dengtu and Xiaoxi’s help, and request some medicinal herbs from Bi Linglong. They can help you recover from your depletion.”
Qi Yaoguang smiled. “Don’t worry, libationer. It’s not my first time peering into heaven’s will and suffering such d backlash. May you have a smooth journey.”
...
Zu An bade farewell to his friends and lovers with his countless soul fragments. He had never felt time pass so quickly before. In a flash, it had already reached the time he had agreed on with Employee 9527. He returned his soul fragments into his main body and activated his invitation letter.
Soon, Employee 9527 appeared. “Esteemed guest, this way please!”
A cloud appeared beneath Zu An’s feet. He stepped onto it, and the two of them swiftly flew into space. He looked at the world beneath him with wistful eyes. There was no greater grief in the world than separation.
Soon, they arrived before a boat.
Zu An was surprised. He'd been expecting a high-tech spaceship, but it looked no different from an ancient wooden boat—and on top of that, it didn’t look big. As he boarded the boat, he asked in surprise, “I thought you said there were other guests. Where are they?”
He didn’t have to scan the area with his divine sense. The boat was small enough for him to see everything at a glance.
“This is a dispatch boat. The ship heading to Dreamland is docked at another world.” Sensing Zu An’s confusion, Employee 9527 elaborated, “All kinds of danger exist in the Myriad Worlds, so the coordinates of each world are kept secret. Most guests don’t want their world coordinates to be known to others, so we employ isolating measures to ensure client confidentiality.”
Zu An was taken aback. He had failed to consider this due to his lacking experience. It hadn’t been easy for him to eradicate the Monster World and restore peace. Should their coordinates be exposed, the annihilation worshipers or other dangerous entities could set their eyes here, and they would never have peace ever again.
That made him vigilant. “But you know the coordinates of all the guests.”
Employee 9527 smiled. “You can put your mind at ease, esteemed guest. Our Universal Conglomerate enjoys a stellar reputation across the Myriad Worlds. We have never leaked our guests’ secrets in the billions of years of our existence.”
“Billions of years...” Zu An was taken aback. “It looks like the Universal Conglomerate is extremely powerful.”
Employee 9527 smiled proudly. “Our conglomerate exists wherever civilization exists and the stars shine on.”