“I’m leaving.”

Lin Xun walked alongside Gu Liang down the bustling streets of the Forbidden City, hands clasped behind his back in a relaxed manner.

The street was lively and crowded with people and endless streams of horses and carriages as always.

This was the capital of the empire, the place that cultivators all over the world yearned to come to the most. Every day, many fledglings would travel thousands of miles to gain a footing in the tremendous capital city, hoping to earn fame and fortune.

It wasn’t easy to live in the imperial capital!

Lin Xun deeply felt that.

However, he had risen to fame all over the world and outshone everyone else of his generation.

Now that he was about to leave, he felt a little reluctant to part with the city.

“The Forbidden City is now filled with rumors that you are going to train in the Ancient Wasteland Domain, but...”

Gu Liang hesitated before continuing asking, “Will you come back?”

“Of course I’ll come back, this is my home after all.”

Gu Liang smiled and peered into the distance. “You can’t say for sure…the outside world is vast, beyond what you can imagine. There will be dazzling sights and wonderful encounters. How can you guarantee that you will return once you embark on this road?”

He patted Lin Xun on the shoulder and smiled again. “However, I am very happy that you are able to leave. In my view, the empire is a small pond, and it can’t support you. You need a bigger stage and a wider world to be able to show your ambitions and progress further on the path of the great dao!”

Lin Xun stared, dumbfounded at him.

The two casually chatted as they strolled along the street and before they knew it, they had arrived at the stargazing platform.

The grand stargazing platform stood nine thousand feet tall, towering into the clouds and sky.

“I heard that the stargazing platform overlooks the entire Forbidden City. It is a place to deduce and infer world phenomena and visions and divine the fortune and future of the empire.”

Gu Liang looked up and continued, “The old seer of the stargazing platform is said to possess unfathomable abilities. There is almost nothing in this world that he doesn’t know. He is like a prophet with his divine intelligence and wisdom.”

“Heavenly Seer...”

A strange look flickered across Lin Xun’s eyes. He had long heard that the old seer lived in seclusion on the stargazing platform all year round. He was undoubtedly the most legendary and mysterious figure in the empire.

Everyone, including the imperial family and the cultivators of the world, respected him hugely to the point of worship!

“Before you leave, it would be great if Heavenly Seer could divine your future.” Gu Liang sighed, “Unfortunately, I heard that he detached himself from worldly affairs long ago. It’s very unlikely that this wish will come true.”

“Divine my future?” Lin Xun gave a soft smile.

He never believed in such things.

The so-called fate was not only full of variables but intertwined with karma. How could it be so easy to deduce and tell a person’s fortune?

“Let’s go.”

Lin Xun turned around and was about to leave when a young boy in an azure robe opened the door at the bottom of the stargazing platform and bowed to Lin Xun. “Mister Lin, please wait a moment. Lord Heavenly Seer invites you onto the platform for a cup of tea.”

Lin Xun stared at him blankly, and then he couldn’t help but glance up at the stargazing platform with a strange look on his face.

However, Gu Liang’s face lit up and he quickly nudged Lin Xun with his elbow. “The Heavenly Seer invited you! Hurry up and go! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! Remember to ask him to read your fortune!”

Lin Xun smiled awkwardly. After deliberating for a moment, he nodded.

He was also curious about what the old seer, whom he had never met in his life, wanted from him just as he was about to leave the capital.

……

He followed the young boy up the steps. As he reached the top of the stargazing platform, he felt as though he was floating in the clouds.

He looked down from the railings, captivated by the scenic views of the capital city. Rows of buildings were arranged like cobwebs in the distance, and people were as tiny as little ants while the horse carriages resembled little squares.

For a moment, he felt the magnificent feeling of being atop the world, and his mind cleared of all his thoughts and worries.

He seemed to have transcended mortal life standing amidst the waves of clouds and with the mundane world beneath his feet.

“What a magnificent place,” he marveled.

A gravelly voice sounded from the other side, “Here, you can see the various states of all living beings, and you can see the loftiness of heaven and earth. Only in this way can one realize that all beings are suffering and heaven and the earth are merciless.”

Lin Xun turned his head and saw a gray-robed old man with a gray beard and hair sitting hunched over a table. The deep lines that etched his face seemed to each tell the tale of his life.

He was shrouded in an aura that seemed to have spanned a long period, and he oozed years of experience and knowledge, but his eyes were as clear and ageless as a newborn baby’s. They were so clear that they could reflect the deepest secrets in someone’s heart.

“Paying my respects to Elder.” Lin Xun bowed.

In truth, he was a little shaken. The old man’s aura might be ordinary, but it had a sense of vastness and immensity like an abyss. It felt more unfathomable compared to those of any Life Death Stage King he had met in the past!

“Take a seat!”

The Heavenly Seer lifted the teapot on the table and poured a cup of tea for Lin Xun. His movements were slow, but they had a calming and tranquil power.

Lin Xun nodded and sat cross-legged opposite him. He saluted him with the cup and sipped the tea.

The tea had a unique bitter taste, which Lin Xun wasn’t used to at first, but soon the bitterness made way for a faint mellow flavor that soothed and relaxed his mind.

The old seer studied Lin Xun with his clear, ageless eyes and remarked, “Ever since I have resided in the stargazing platform, I have seen many young geniuses over the past thousands of years, but you are the only one whom I can’t see through. I have to admit that Lu Boya has indeed cultivated a remarkable disciple.”

Lin Xun exclaimed, “Elder, do you know Mister Lu?”

The old seer nodded. “I’ve met him once. We walk different paths, so we didn’t share many conversations, but I admire him greatly. It’s a pity that the path he walked is too precarious. Defying heaven and changing fate always lead to tremendous problems.”

Defy heaven and change fate!

Lin Xun’s emotions roiled uncontrollably. He thought of the Omega Secret Realm that Mister Lu handed him. He remembered the giant hand that destroyed Mister Lu along with the mine prison.

“Elder…”

He was about to say something when Heavenly Seer shook his head. “I don’t know whether Lu Boya is alive or dead.”

Before Lin Xun frowned in disappointment, he added, “However, I can infer that the culprit who destroyed his living place is from the Ancient Wasteland Domain.”

A deep color suddenly filled his clear eyes, and his voice became slightly ethereal, “In the Ancient Wasteland Domain, the person or force who dared to do this has to at least have a god-like foundation... ”

Then, he shook his head again. “But it is hard to say…Lu Boya suffered a calamity because he tried to defy the heavens and change fate. It is difficult to deduce much from that calamity.”

“But what is certain is that Mister Lu’s calamity is related to him defying the heavens and changing fate!” Lin Xun said aloud after a period of silence.

There was another thing that he didn’t mention—He suspected that Lu Boya’s calamity was connected to the Omega Secret Realm!

After all, it was the Omega Secret Realm that allowed him to be reborn, which was in a way similar to defying the heavens and changing fate!

“Mister Lu, he...shielded me from a calamity!” Lin Xun trembled at the thought while indescribable gratitude and anger rushed up his heart.

Where did the giant hand that destroyed Mister Lu come from?

“You guessed right. When you set foot on the tribulation longevity path, you will understand how terrifying it is to go against heaven and change your fate. Perhaps, only when you understand this will you find out exactly how Lu Boya met with misfortune.”

The words of Heavenly Seer were as though they were paving a path for Lin Xun.

Lin Xun rose to his feet and bowed. “Thank you for your guidance, Elder.”

“Go, the empire is too small for you. Whether it is for revenge or to seek the dao, the Ancient Wasteland Domain is where you should go.”

The old seer lifted a cup and peered into the distance, where the scenery was as beautiful as a painting and the world seemed boundless.

Lin Xun bowed his farewell and left silently.

Bang!

Not long after Lin Xun left, the old seer’s hand trembled and lost grip on the cup he was holding. Tea spilt all over the table.

The wrinkles all over his face seemed to have deepened, and he looked much older as if he was almost decaying.

However, he didn’t seem aware of this. He continued to gaze blankly into the distance as if many things were weighing on his mind.

“What do you think?”

Suddenly, a figure appeared out of thin air. He had a lean face and was dressed in a wide-sleeved robe. His figure had an indescribably majestic and imposing charm. Even if he was just standing there casually, he was akin to a mountain that could block the wind and rain!

If Lin Xun were here, he would recognize the mighty person right away! He was the principal of Qinglu Academy!

“If nothing else, Lu Boya has already planted a seed and found a glimmer of hope on the path he seeks...” the Heavenly Seer muttered, the wrinkles on his face creasing in a complicated expression.

The principal’s eyes became unusually bright and illuminating, like the brightest torches, which seemed capable of penetrating the nine heavens. “The signs of the great dao catastrophe are beginning to appear. It is better to have a glimmer of hope than no hope at all!”

“But the kid’s path ahead is…” The old seer sighed softly, stretching and spreading out his left hand that had been kept tucked inside his sleeve. An ancient tortoise shell had already broken into several fragments.

“What?” The principal narrowed his eyes.

“Like a thick fog, it is impossible to see through it!” Heavenly Seer said each word with a noticeable pause. Then, a terrifying light shone in his clear eyes.

The principal scrunched his brows and remained silent for a long while before his frown eased and his eyes flashed like terrifying lightning. “This is called variables. When something is at its end, it changes. When it changes, a solution will emerge.”

“I hope so.” Heavenly Seer put away the broken tortoise shell fragment in his palm.

But he didn’t tell the principal that he saw a shocking scene when he secretly deduced the fortune of Lin Xun—There was a thick veil of fog on the path ahead of him that couldn’t be seen through.

And behind him, the sky had collapsed, all living beings had been destroyed, and everything had ceased to exist!