Chapter 54 System Mission

Such an ancient mansion seemed to be a good place for humans to stray into an extraordinary world and encounter weird legends such as the wild fox mountain monster and the Dragon Palace princess. At this moment, Gu Nian felt like he was a human who strayed into another world.

They entered a solemn hall. On both sides of the huge bronze incense burners with unicorn patterns, wisps of green smoke were burning, and the fragrant aroma spread, making people feel dizzy and sleepy. The hall was filled with gorgeous and ancient utensils, and it was like an ancient family ancestral hall.

The man sitting at the top smiled slightly: "Everyone is here."

Gu Nian had always known that Yue Jian was very beautiful, with beautiful eyebrows, a straight nose, and soft lips, but today he felt something different. He was wearing an ancient and luxurious robe, and the robe with beautiful patterns rubbed against his body, but it could not take away any of his brilliance.

It was indeed a dazzling beauty that was more than enough to light up a room.

Yue Jian's gaze swept across everyone in the audience. Everyone he saw was inexplicably nervous. When he saw Gu Nian, his gaze lingered for a moment and then moved away.

"Today is the first time for many of you to come to the ancestral temple. Every time a successor is selected, the ancestral temple prepares to worship the ancestors. The selected successor will be responsible for the final sacrifice. This is our family tradition."

"Then, the examination begins. Hand out the examination tickets."

The old man in the black suit appeared again and began to throw bamboo sticks at the young people in the room one by one. Like Jingli, some of the young people present also brought friends with them. This was allowed in the family rules, but there was a limit on the number of accompanying people. Some also brought mutant beasts, which looked like war pets, but each one was petite, some like squirrels, some like cats, and looked more like beloved pets.

There was a number written on each bamboo stick, and the number that Jingli drew was Ding Hai.

"It seems to be arranged in Jiazi order, and Dinghai means the twenty-fourth." Jingli whispered to Gu Nian.

"After you get the exam ticket, go back. Guests who came with you, please go back to your accommodation and wait." Yue Jian said. He didn't seem to intend to explain the exam rules.

Jing Li only had time to say hello to Gu Nian before following the crowd to the back of the hall. It was a large courtyard with a wide space at the back.

The entourage and the pets that followed them all needed to leave. When Gu Nian was about to leave, the old man in the black suit appeared again: "Madam, please follow me. He is waiting for you."

Just like that, Gu Nian met Yue Jian again.

He had changed out of the layered robe sleeves he had worn in the hall and put on simple modern clothes again. He was still beautiful, but lacked the sense of gorgeousness that he had when sitting on the altar like an ancient statue of a god.

Gu Nian couldn't help but look at Yue Jian carefully. She remembered what Jing Li had told her, that the current head of the family had already taken the position during the time of his grandfather Jing Shui, so Yue Jian was really quite old.

She couldn't hold it in. "You...are well maintained."

Yue Jian didn't expect her to start like this. He felt a little strange, and for some reason, he started to defend himself: "I actually have to sleep a lot of the time to stay healthy. According to the time I wake up, I'm not much older than you."

Gu Nian said "oh" subtly. Sleeping and keeping healthy are indeed habits that only older people have.

She looked around the room and noticed an ancient painting hanging on the wall in the middle. The scroll was made of warm white jade. The painting looked extremely fragile and old. It showed a man in an ancient robe. The robe was similar to what Yue Jian wore in the hall. It was just as complex and noble. Behind the man, she could vaguely see an ancient building that towered into the sky. This was really strange. Ancient buildings were usually low, and it was rare to see such a tall building.

In front of this portrait, there is an incense burner, and the smell inside is exactly the same as the incense burning in the hall.

"Who is this?" Gu Nian asked curiously.

"His last name is Jing, and his name is Yuejian."

Seeing Gu Nian's doubtful look, Yue Jian smiled slightly: "After him, every family head will inherit the name of Yue Jian to show that he has not forgotten the group training."

Yuejian poured her a cup of tea and said, "Would you like to hear the story of the person in this portrait?"

Gu Nian nodded, she had nothing to do today anyway.

"About three thousand years ago, when the boundaries between humans and demons were not so clear, Jing Yuejian accepted the emperor's tribute and went to work for the Imperial Astronomical Observatory. Originally, as a fortune teller, the Jing family never interfered with the power changes in the world. This was the way fortune tellers protect themselves. But for some reason, Jing Yuejian agreed to work for the Imperial Astronomical Observatory. He was the most talented fortune teller among all the family heads in history, and he had great power in the family. It was precisely because of this that the Jing family went to the capital even though they knew that accepting the emperor's tribute was against the way of fortune tellers."

"The tall building in this portrait is the star-gazing pavilion built by the dynasty at that time."

It turned out that Xiu came here to observe the stars. No wonder the ancient buildings in the painting are so tall. Gu Nian understood.

"That dynasty was an exceptionally prosperous and romantic one, so the imperial purple aura in the palace was thicker than in other dynasties. Finally, Jingyuejian waited until the year when the purple aura was at its peak. On the day of offering sacrifices to the heaven that year, the emperor led all the officials to the Circular Mound, presided over by the Imperial Astronomical Observatory, waiting for the revelation from heaven, and received auspicious signs. However, no one knew that on that day, Jingyuejian attracted the imperial purple aura to help him open his heavenly eyes and peek into the secrets of heaven."

"Ever since Jingyuejian started practicing divination, he has been uneasy, always feeling that there is a hexagram that he has not yet figured out. Then, with the emperor's purple aura, he finally figured out the hexagram that should not have appeared in the world, and he saw the day when the mortal world would be destroyed."

It was also in that year that Yue Jian caught a glimpse of the secret of heaven during the ceremony of offering sacrifices to the heavens. In that glimpse, he saw

"Three thousand years later, natural disasters struck, alien stars invaded, and the world fell into complete silence. This was the secret he had painstakingly discovered. In the scene he saw, all the creatures on earth were devastated, and only one out of a hundred survived. In the end, there was complete silence. Because of this divination, he was blinded."

Gu Nian held his breath, "Is this the natural disaster prophecy that the Jing family received?"

Yue Jian was surprised at first, then suddenly realized, "Yes, it seems that Jingli that kid told you."

"Then, what happened next?" Gu Nian asked. "The Jing family calculated the destruction of the world three thousand years ago, so they just waited quietly? The Jingyuejian was just a hexagram passed down?" This doesn't make sense. After all, no one would remain indifferent after knowing the date of death?

"Of course not. After Jing Yuejian returned, he was unwilling to accept the future of destruction he saw. He believed that yin and yang are interdependent, and if there is a death situation, there must be a corresponding life opportunity. So, he gambled his life, stole the emperor's dragon energy, and calculated the last hexagram. In that divination, he predicted that the life opportunity would appear in a girl, and he calculated the girl's birthday."

"For the next seven days, he suffered all kinds of punishment from the heavens. His five senses were lost, his skin festered, his blood turned into a corrosive poison, melting his bones bit by bit, and his mind fell into endless darkness. After seven days of hell, he was finally able to die."

"Since then, every head of the Jing family has inherited his name, not for commemoration, but for not forgetting. The responsibility of the Jing family is to pass on his divination and find a glimmer of hope."

It is difficult to describe the tone of Yue Jian's voice when he told this story. He was like a witch from an ancient clan, telling the legend passed down from generation to generation in the clan, solemnly and respectfully. Gu Nian was unconsciously attracted by his story and subconsciously asked, "Then what? Did you find it?"

Yuejian looked at her with a smile.

Gu Nian was puzzled, then slowly reacted and said hesitantly: "You don't mean..."

Yuejian nodded affirmatively, "Yes, it's you."

He pointed at himself and said, "Although it may sound like bragging, I am the Jing family member with the highest divination talent after the first Yuejian. My ancestors have given me my birthday. If I can't find a specific candidate, it would be too bad. The reason why I came to Jiangcheng and the entire Jing family moved here is because you chose this place."

This was an answer that Gu Nian had never expected. She had never thought that she would become the ray of hope that the Imperial Observatory saw three thousand years ago?

"Why are you saying this?" Gu Nian quickly realized that something was wrong. "Well, even if what you said is true, we have known each other for a long time. Why do you have to say it today?"

"Because I'm dying." Yue Jian said calmly, as if he was talking about someone else's business. "That's why I started selecting the next heir to the patriarch. With the natural disaster coming, the Jing family needs a strong patriarch."

"I originally wanted to watch you slowly, and when you realized your destiny, you would naturally find me, but I didn't have time to wait any longer, and you happened to enter the Jing family because of the successor selection. Then I understood that this was the arrangement of fate."

Yue Jian is going to die? Gu Nian couldn't believe it. "...But you look healthy."

"The death of a fortune teller has nothing to do with the health of the body." Yue Jian was amused by her words. "When we die depends on when the heaven decides to collect the debt. It can be regarded as a kind of punishment from heaven."

He walked to the altar where the portrait was enshrined, opened the drawer of the altar and took out a box.

He handed the box to Gu Nian: "This is something Jing Yuejian left for you. According to the team training, it should be given to you when we find you."

Gu Nian returned to his residence, collapsed on the bed, and began to think about what Yue Jian said.

She remembered her prophetic dream, which changed the trajectory of her destiny to a great extent. That was why when Yue Jian told her that the prophecy would end in deathly silence, Gu Nian immediately chose to believe it, simply because she had seen the same scene in her dream.

The earth was dead, the land was dark and lifeless, the rivers dried up, and the valleys were filled with corpses. That was what she saw in her dream. But Gu Nian never thought that she might be able to change everything.

Did Yuejian make a mistake? she wondered.

All along, Gu Nian just wanted to make her life as good as possible in the natural disaster, but she never thought that she could become a savior? Gu Nian always felt that she was just an ordinary person with a golden finger and good luck. If it weren't for Lingquan being hunted down, which made her feel a sense of crisis in founding Aurora, I'm afraid she would be living a leisurely life with food storage and farm output.

However, when talking about what was special about himself, Gu Nian could only think of that magical farm space.

Gu Nian took out the small box that Yue Jian handed to her. This box could not be opened. Yue Jian told her that they had never been able to open it either. Of course, violent destruction might be possible, but the Jing family would definitely not treat the relics left by their ancestors in this way.

With this in mind, Gu Nian simply took the small box to the farm space.

Lotus came to her side in a hop, and placed her fluffy little head beside her. "Master, are you worried?"

Gu Nian was amused by it, tapped its wet little nose, and said jokingly: "Do you know what trouble is?"

Lotus tilted her head: "I saw in a TV show that troubles are things that you cannot do but have to do. Have you encountered this, Master?"

...What are the current TV dramas talking about? Gu Nian rubbed its little head: "Yes, I suddenly found out that I seem to be an important person, but I am very troubled."

"It's like being suddenly dumped with a lot of responsibilities. I don't know if I can do it. I want to quit, but because it's so important, I feel guilty."

Lianhua looked at Gu Nian with a confused look.

Shaking her head, Gu Nian seemed to be able to get rid of the sudden news. She decided to focus on what she could do.

For a long time, the strangest thing about Gu Nian was this farm space. Gu Nian initially regarded this as a farm simulation game, and she was just lucky enough to open the golden finger left by her ancestors. But when Lingquan entered this space, she realized that this farm was like a space fragment that could grow. So, if it was a space fragment, why were there so many mysterious and powerful formulas in this space? Who put the information in it? And how did the Nine-Tailed Fox and the Fire Monkey Clan come to this space?

There are so many mysteries surrounding this farm.

Maybe it's time to explore the secrets behind this farm.

Gu Nian opened the box. Inside the box was a finger bone as white as jade? But on the tip of the finger bone, there was actually a ball of fire? The ball of fire floated in the air above the farm, and began to scatter like starlight, with most of it floating high into the sky.

High up in the farm space, there is a light body similar to the sun. That light body changes from dark to bright and then from bright to dark, forming the day and night of the farm space. However, Gu Nian has tested it and found that the light body cannot provide energy - anyway, the farm space can never use solar panels.

Gu Nian has always believed that the light body high up in the farm space might be a lamp that can only provide illumination.

Most of the flames floated high into the sky over the farm, gathered next to the light body, and were gradually sucked to the center. For some reason, the light body suddenly flickered, and then, the air suddenly became warm?

What Gu Nian had been feeling on the farm was a temperature, which felt like the spring before the natural disaster, but now, the temperature seemed to have risen to the level of summer?

A bolt of lightning suddenly flashed through his mind, and Gu Nian hurriedly opened the system screen.

When the spring water was put into the farm space, the farm map in the system light screen suddenly showed various winding water veins, and the only water source mark in the original map was the small pond next to the farmland. It was precisely because of this change in the system light screen that Gu Nian confirmed his guess that the spring water brought water to the farm space.

If this fire also brings changes to the farm space, does that mean that the system light screen will also show something?

Gu Nian carefully looked at the entire map representing the farm space on the system screen. The area color and map logo did not change at all, and the gray area remained gray.

Gu Nian was a little disappointed, but her eyes soon became serious. In the lower right corner of the map, where there was nothing originally, four small icons suddenly appeared, namely a leaf, a radiating sun, a wheat ear, and a snowflake. The icons of the leaf, wheat ear, and snowflake were all gray and dull, but the radiating sun icon was the only one that was lit.

Gu Nian thought of the rising temperature. So, these four icons represent spring, summer, autumn and winter, and it is summer now? Is there a climate change in the farm space?

"Ding, it is detected that the host has collected two farm evolution elements, which meets the requirements. Do you want to accept the farm space growth task? Yes/No."

Gu Nian had doubts. She had had this farm space and system for so long, but the system had always been activated passively and had never proactively assigned her any tasks.

She didn't expect that the system would give her a task under such circumstances.