Emperor’s Domination

Everyone quieted down since Three Slashes had spoken. He had absolute influence here as the number one of the young generation, at least in this region.

Li Qiye only smiled at him without saying anything else.

“What, do you think you’re a seer now and want to tell Young Lord Biandu his fortune too?” A different youth scowled after seeing Li Qiye’s carefree expression.

They kept on interpreting his attitude as arrogance and didn’t appreciate the way he treated the future ruler of Black Wood.

“I do consider myself a pretty good fortune teller.” Li Qiye unexpectedly said.

The crowd exchanged glances and of course, they didn’t believe him. One youth snorted: “Bullshit!”

“You better stop playing around!” Young Lord Tuhuo couldn’t do anything to Li Qiye because of Wei Qianqing. Nonetheless, he still wanted to cause trouble: “Fortune telling is a supreme technique of the great seers yet a junior like you dare to make this claim during the important ceremony? You clearly want to offend Seer Watch!”

Despite being angry, he wasn’t an idiot and chose to stir the pot between Li Qiye and Seer Watch instead.

Seer Watch wasn’t powerful but still had plenty of prestige and support.

“It is improper indeed.” An expert from the last generation agreed and shook his head: “Making this claim is truly disrespectful to the descendants of the Heaven Calculating Clan.” 

Everyone knew that Seer Watch came from a clan versed in calculation and divination during the ancient era.

Though Seer Watch never advertised its ability in fortune-telling using astrology, it still should be superior to most.

That’s why the crowd glanced over at the seers, wanting to see their reaction. Strangely enough, they had no expression on their face.

Young Lord Tuhuo became disappointed since his ploy didn’t work.

“Fellow Daoist, if you are confident in your fortune-telling ability, would you read my future?” Three Slashes was surprised before asking.

“Young Lord, don’t take this arrogant guy seriously.” Another immediately said.

“Yes, he’s making a fool out of himself in Seer Watch.” One cultivator said.

Nonetheless, Three Slashes seemed interested and wanted his fortune read by Li Qiye, patiently waiting for a response.

“If you’re actually capable of fortune telling, go ahead and read the young lord and show us what we can do.” A young cultivator demanded.

“Yes, show the great seers what you can do.” Others started chiming in.

“Fellow Daoist, how is my appearance?” Three Slashes asked again.

Li Qiye finally glanced at the guy then answered: “Extremely ominous, definitely will die to a saber.”

The smile on Three Slashes’ face immediately froze. This went beyond being impolite.

Everyone knew that Three Slashes was famous for his saber mastery. He swept through Black Wood Cliff uncontested. In fact, few could match him in this regard in all of the south. Perhaps only the Wild Child of the East could take him on. Thus, Li Qiye’s claim was deliberately insulting.

The scene became quiet right away after Li Qiye’s blatant provocation.

“Fellow Daoist, this joke is out of line.” Three Slashes still forced a smile, albeit with a touch of coldness.

He tried his best to calm down and give Li Qiye a chance to take back his words. Li Qiye would be foolish to not take this opportunity.

“I’m simply telling the truth. Those who are too confident in their saber dao will die to the blade.” Li Qiye smiled and kept his stance.

Three Slashes could no longer smile since Li Qiye refused his good intention and double-downed.

“If you keep on babbling nonsense, your tongue will be cut off eventually!” Young Lord Tuhuo bellowed.

“Indeed, he can’t read anything at all and just wants to make a scene. He’s lucky that Young Lord Biandu is benevolent. Anyone else would have cut him down.” Others voiced their support for Three Slashes.

“He only got here recently and doesn’t know the power of the Biandu.” One ancestor talked among his peers, thinking that Li Qiye was suicidal for offending the number one clan.

“So shameless, he wants to display his slight skill in front of the experts.” Others chastised and looked down on Li Qiye.

Three Slashes maintained his composure and cupped his fist towards the Grand Seer: “Senior, this fellow daoist claims to be a master at fortune telling. What do you think about his assessment after reading my appearance?”

The center of focus shifted to the Grand Seer. Everyone thought that Three Slashes was crafty to do so.

If he had vented on Li Qiye earlier, he would have looked narrow-minded. But now, by letting the Grand Seer assess Li Qiye’s comment, the guy would be humiliated without him needing to do anything.

The Grand Seer glanced at Li Qiye before answering: “The ceremony is still available. You may go there and check for yourself.” 

Though he said nothing of Li Qiye’s ability, this was indeed a possible option.

“Right, the crystal ball is still available. Young Lord, you can go take a look yourself.” An audience member told Three Slashes.

Three Slashes stared at the crystal ball on top of the well. As the future leader of Black Wood, he exercised caution. After all, an ominous sign would be quite disadvantageous.

“Go check it out.” Li Qiye smiled and nodded.

“So you’re still confident in your fortune-telling ability, Fellow Daoist.” Three Slashes replied.

“That’s right.” Li Qiye answered without hesitation.

“Young Lord, don’t waste your breath on this ignorant fool. You’re the embodiment of the grand dao so your fortune should be impeccable…” Another youth interjected like a sycophant.

“Fine, I will check it out. We will see if your confidence will waver or not.” Three Slashes glanced at Li Qiye then Wei Qianqing.

Having said that, he stepped onto the platform before the excited crowd. They all wanted to know which visual phenomena would emerge. To a certain extent, Three Slashes’ personal fortune also influenced Black Wood’s future.