Chapter 369 Visiting the Divination Master

Asaha repeated the word "parents" over and over again, as if speaking a foreign language, and then fell silent.

"Ma Zao, do you want to meet your parents?" Zhu Shi asked.

"I...I don't know," Asaho said, confused. "You mean the parents of this body, right? But I don't know if I was the original owner of this body, or if they were my real parents..."

She had clearly grasped the crux of the problem. More importantly, because it was a question she had probably never considered before, and involved unfamiliar concepts she had never encountered before, it made making a decision even more difficult.

Perhaps she wasn't in a state of confusion, but rather had entered a mental blank. There, she couldn't find a foothold, couldn't grasp anything, and even lacked a sense of direction; it was a complete vacuum, weightless. Asking her which direction she wanted to go was simply asking the impossible.

"Zhuang Cheng, what should I do?" Ma Zao looked at me with pleading eyes.

"I think you should meet with them."

I didn't say anything like "this is something you should decide entirely." Since she asked me, I just gave her my opinion directly: "Of course, I know that even if you meet them, you won't know what to say or what stance to take when talking to them, so you'll have to decide when to meet them."

"When you think it's time, get started, but don't use thinking as an excuse to procrastinate or even give up in the end."

"Don't worry about facing all of this alone. I will be by your side and go with you to see them."

As he listened, Mazao's tense expression gradually relaxed, and a look of relief appeared on her face.

“…I understand,” she said. “Then…I want to see them after I know who I am.”

“Am I their real daughter, or an evil spirit who has usurped their daughter’s body? I want to at least figure this out before I go to see them again.”

This requirement is flawless; in fact, it's perfectly reasonable. If it were me, before engaging in conversation with others, I would at least first determine whether I am their enemy or ally, otherwise I wouldn't know how to craft my words.

Just then, Zhu Shi seemed to remember something and turned to me, saying, "Speaking of which... Senior Brother Zhuang, you can't just stand aside either."

“I never intended to stay out of this,” I said. “I already said I would go with Mazao to meet her parents.”

Zhu Shi looked constipated and said, "No, what I mean is... how are you going to tell Ma Zao's parents that you plan to confess your love to their daughter who was only ten years old when she became a vegetable?"

“…It’s not a ‘plan,’ I’ve already confessed to Asa.” I said.

"Huh!?" Zhu Shi was taken aback. "Wait... Although I've noticed that you two seem to have gotten a little closer over the past three days, you actually listened to my advice and went straight for it!?"

She immediately looked at Asahi, "Is this true?!"

"Really." Mazao nodded.

"That Senior Brother Zhuang, who's always so indecisive and hesitant, actually..." Zhu Shi seemed to have overloaded his brain.

"Speaking of which... if I hadn't confessed yet, what you just said would have completely exposed my plan, wouldn't it?" I asked.

"Uh... this is indeed my fault! But Senior Brother Zhuang, how exactly do you plan to tell Ma Zao's parents?" Zhu Shi asked.

"..." I turned to Mazao and said, "Mazao, I think you can take your time to think about meeting your parents. There's no need to rush..."

"Didn't you say that what you hate most is being indecisive and hesitant?" Zhu Shi complained.

I picked up the plate from the bedside table. "By the way, Zhu Shi, I asked you if you wanted some cake. Do you want some?"

"You have to eat! But don't think you can get away with this!"

Then Zhu Shi took a bite of the cake and praised it highly, hugging Ma Zao and complimenting her, quickly forgetting the previous topic.

What I said before was just a joke. Of course, I will explain my relationship with Asaho to her parents. I'm not entirely sure if they will approve, but I won't give up even if they object.

Gaining the approval of my partner's parents isn't essential for me. It would be best to receive their blessings, but if I can't, I'll just continue the relationship without their support.

By afternoon, I felt much better; at least the mild motion sickness was gone. Although I realized I wasn't fully recovered, there was nothing to worry about anymore, and I could leave the sanatorium tomorrow.

It's time to visit the Divination Master and the Divine Illumination Master.

The reason for visiting Shenzhao is self-evident. Although I have no immediate motivation to oppose the Lord of the Divine Seal, it is just in case that I need to learn about the Lord of the Divine Seal from other Void Realm Apostles—especially from other Great Impermanence-level Void Realm Apostles.

If it weren't for the opportune moment, I probably wouldn't have made a special trip to meet Shenzhao. But now that we're so close, and she even gave me a token, it's only right and proper that I go.

As for visiting the fortune teller, it was to inquire about matters related to the doomsday prophecy.

Judging from what Mingzhuo said when I suppressed him, the Great Impermanence of Luoshan are not indifferent to the existence of the end of the world. Therefore, this time I can ask the Divination Master about the Great Impermanence's specific attitude towards the end of the world. I didn't think of this when I was talking to Fazheng earlier, but I can ask Fazheng's opinion in person later.

After finishing the cake, Zhu Shi left the sanatorium first. When I set off, Ma Zao also planned to follow.

“I would like to consult the fortune teller in person,” she said. “Is that alright?”

After thinking about it for a moment, I said, "Okay."

Unlike Mingzhuo, the Divination Master harbored no ill will towards Asao. When I first met the Divination Master, although Asao fled immediately as agreed, if the Divination Master had wanted to do something, Asao, with only the strength of a Cheng-level cultivator at the time, would not have been able to escape.

We moved together toward the divination master's residence.

The inner circle of Luoshan headquarters is mostly used for official business, while the private residences of the Great Impermanence are built on the outer perimeter of Luoshan headquarters. The residence of the Divination Master is an antique Chinese courtyard, somewhat like the tourist garden I entered when I first met the Water Master Xuanwu in Moon Hidden Mountain City.

There were two guards at the entrance. Before I could even show my credentials, they recognized my face, looked at me with reverence, and then respectfully invited me inside. One of the guards acted as a guide, leading us to where the fortune teller was located.

Birds and animals roam the meadows and woods along the courtyard paths, with monkeys and other creatures playing in the woods. Herbivores and carnivores seem to live together harmoniously, without conflict or wariness of humans. As we walk along the path, the animals watch us pass by with indifferent expressions.

Some of the animals I recognized were foxes, sheep, and red-crowned cranes, which are national first-class protected animals. Others, however, I did not recognize. They might be monsters or demons, still faintly exuding power, yet they lay lazily on the grass, posing no threat to the outside world.

“Some of the creatures here are very dangerous,” the gatekeeper said. “Although they look quite docile, if you enter here without a token, you might be suddenly attacked by them. Therefore, they also serve a guarding function.”

“Really? Then…” I handed the fortune teller’s token to Mazao.

Ma initially accepted the token from my hand as was her habit, then blinked and said, "I don't need this..."

It was then that I remembered that Asaha now possessed the power of a Great Completion. No, it wasn't that I had forgotten; it's just that in many situations, I still habitually treated Asahaha as someone who needed my protection.

No matter how dangerous the monsters and demons here are, they wouldn't pose a threat to a powerful expert at the Great Completion level. However, it would be a bit awkward to take back something he'd given away, so he left the token with Asao.

Ordinary people might worry about being attacked by animals here, but if you treat the animals as part of the scenery, the natural landscape is quite pleasant. The air is also very fresh, with a charm completely different from the urban landscape, making you feel that the urban scenery you are used to seems repulsive.

Compared to the long evolution of human genes, the modernization of human civilization is still too short. Therefore, there may still be a lot of instinctive affinity for the natural world remaining in human genes.

Incidentally, the primeval forest that suffered massive destruction during my battle with Mingzhuo was supposedly restored by the Divination Master. I used the "Firefly" to check it out, and the primeval forest, which had seemed to have been ravaged by countless nuclear bombs, reappeared there as if nothing had happened.

In Luoshan, there seem to be some spells that can "repair damaged objects." However, these spells either cannot actually restore objects to their original form perfectly, or they can only restore a few specific types of objects, or they can restore anything to its original form perfectly, but they require a lot of mana and are very small in scale.

However, under the boundless and limitless power of the Great Impermanence, all those flaws are no problem.

Perhaps the Divination Master only used ordinary spells similar to those of the Demon Hunters, but with his immense power, he easily achieved a miracle that the Demon Hunters could never accomplish in their entire lives.

The gatekeeper soon led us to a pavilion where the fortune teller sat quietly, sipping tea.

This time, he didn't transform into a mythical beast from the Classic of Mountains and Seas as he had when we first met. Instead, he sat under the pavilion in the form of an old man with an air of Taoist wisdom. The gatekeeper bowed to him, and after he nodded, he left silently.

“Master of Divination, I’ve arrived,” I said.

"Welcome." The fortune teller smiled slightly. "I was worried you wouldn't come."

I countered, "Do you really need to worry about this?"

Now I can see what the divination master's "heavenly phenomena and earthly images" really are.

"I never imagined there was such a thing as the Law of Heaven and Earth that could control destiny," I said.

(End of this chapter)