Shennong Dao Master
Chapter 451 - 46: Securing Four Techniques in the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion, Returning Fully Loaded!_2

Chapter 451: Chapter 46: Securing Four Techniques in the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion, Returning Fully Loaded!_2

Great Zhou’s Grand Ancestor dealt a severe blow to the professions of Divination Master, Onmyoji, and all others related to fortune-telling, but the royal family itself applied these practices assiduously, selecting outstanding individuals from among their kin every year to enter the Heavenly Mechanism Hall.

The function of the Heavenly Mechanism Hall was to predict the future, to peer into the changes of fate that awaited Great Zhou, foresee the course of wars, natural disasters, the transformations within Grotto Heavens, and so on.

Its classical Divine Artifact was the "Creation Plate."

The Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion within the Dream Palace was probably of a similar nature to Great Zhou’s Heavenly Mechanism Hall, which is why Emperor Wu had it removed.

"It seems that every dynasty has its own approach. It looks like the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion of the Li Dynasty isn’t limited to the royal family," Zhao Xing took a deep breath and walked into the pavilion.

Upon entering the pavilion, a deep and ancient voice whispered in his ear:

"Multiply and divide to expound, exhaust the sources of creation, divine and read faces to seize the changes of heavenly secrets."

Zhao Xing looked up, following the sound, and discovered a small bird perched atop a cabinet, singing.

It held a scroll in its beak, nodding its head to the rhythm.

Seeing the appearance of the bird, Zhao Xing jumped in surprise.

"Heavenly Destiny Mysterious Bird?!"

"Is this a Mechanical Beast, or is it real?"

The lifespan of the Heavenly Destiny Mysterious Bird was long and celebrated; it could live tens of thousands of years, for all one knew. Could this be a living bird?

Caught in his daze, the Heavenly Destiny Mysterious Bird spread the scroll with its claws, turning a page.

Then, the fog enshrouding the entire first floor dispersed.

"Student Zhao Xing, I am the Mystic Bird Guardian. You may freely browse the first five floors of the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion. Learn as much as you can, but do not force it if you cannot understand," said the bird.

Zhao Xing was slightly stunned and bowed to the Mystic Bird Guardian, "May I ask, Guardian, do I not need to pass any tests?"

The Mystic Bird glanced at Zhao Xing with a tilted eye:

"Divination Book, fortune-telling book, face reading, Gua Book, Heavenly Book, countless theories, boundless meanings, learning itself is the greatest test."

"I see," Zhao Xing realized, and without asking further, he bowed to the Guardian and then passed by the Mystic Bird, continuing forward.

The first floor held rows of tall cabinets, filled to the brim with books.

Each row of cabinets was forty to fifty meters high, akin to entering an ancient library.

"A treasure trove, truly a treasure trove," Zhao Xing mused to himself.

He casually picked up a book that glimmered with light—"Supreme Mysterious Scripture."

He opened it and within seconds, Zhao Xing felt drowsy; he promptly placed it back in its spot.

As its name implied, it was too profound to comprehend.

He then picked up "Supreme Mystery Explained · The Creation Chapter," and this time, he finally understood a bit.

"Creating forms from life, numbers arise from forms, multiply and divide to expound, exhaust the sources of creation... This talks of using numerology to deduce the principles of the universe."

Zhao Xing read for a while before putting the book back. The Supreme Mysterious Scripture was only an outline without specific techniques.

Scriptures usually pertain to theory or philosophy.

Spell, on the other hand, is the application.

Zhao Xing glanced at the books and knew that the Supreme Mysterious Scripture wasn’t what he was looking for. To learn its mystical techniques, one needed to understand tens of thousands of scriptures. This whole row contained content concerning the "Supreme Mysterious Scripture," and only after mastering it might one be able to learn its techniques.

He did not need to learn everything. For Mr. Zhao, time was precious; he needed to choose wisely. Moreover, mysticism was easy to get trapped in, just remember a little, barely understanding it was enough.

Arriving at the second row, Zhao Xing saw another book, "Imperial Pole Worldly Affairs."

It was a book on investigating the origins of the universe, natural changes, and social history.

"Examine the ebb and flow of the universe, predict the waxing and waning of the sun and moon, study the degrees of Yin and Yang, observe the forms of hardness and softness. Hence, base it on the primordial principle, record it with a calendar, start with destiny, and finish with the world. Founded on the way of heaven, substantiated with human affairs, rises and falls, governance and chaos, it omits nothing."

He was quite intrigued, as it was a book that ’calculated the past’ for reference in governing the present and the future.

For instance, a section mentioned, "In the previous 2158th Jia Chen year, a flood cut through the sky, causing great chaos in the world."

A ’jia’ here stands for one hundred and twenty years.

It implied that 258,960 years before the Li Dynasty, there had been a catastrophic flood that almost split the heavens apart, leading to chaos in the world.

It also prophesied, "In the year 3247 of the Gui Chou, the ice of the western extreme will thaw, bringing boundless calamity."

The numbers were too vast to verify the accuracy of such prophecies.

"The ice of the western extreme actually thawed in later times, but these times do not match," Zhao Xing muttered to himself.

"There were about fifty thousand years between the Li Dynasty and Great Zhou, and it predicted that the ice would thaw after three hundred and eighty-nine thousand years, which is just ludicrous."

"And to say that the Spiritual Energy Era would return three ’jia’ after the first year of the Li Dynasty is even more nonsensical," Zhao Xing sneered, returning the book to the shelf.

Such Prediction Methods had limited accuracy, particularly when discussing the Recovery Era; they were absurdly incorrect.

However, the Spiritual Energy Era was regarded by ancient people as nothing short of a myth. Errors were thus errors, and they did little harm.

The Li Dynasty was merely a Fortune Dynasty from the Primordial Qi Era and had certain limitations in the field of predictive methods.

.....

Zhao Xing continued browsing and quickly found useful books on the second floor.

"Dayan Scripture"

"The great way has fifty, Heaven deviates by one, Humanity skirts it, Heaven and Earth set their course, every individual’s fortune differs."

Zhao Xing saw the Dayan Scripture and immediately smiled.

At last, a useful book had arrived.

The Dayan Scripture was a discourse on Qi fortune. In this row, Zhao Xing found a method named "Dayan Qi Observation Skill."

"The Qi Observation Method allows one to see the Qi fortune of living beings, not just humans."

"This Secret Technique is much more practical," he thought.

To see someone else’s Qi fortune, if one encounters a child of fortune, then stick close by, and mixing among them could bring benefits.