Chapter 99: Witchcraft and Divination Art

Chapter 99: Chapter 99: Witchcraft and Divination Art

Fang Xu could only watch quietly as the black-clothed Martial Artists went about their work. He was also curious about what exactly they were digging for.

A pit half a meter deep was quickly dug out of the ground in front of him.

CLANG!

When one of the black-clothed Martial Artists thrust his shovel down, it seemed to strike something hard. He immediately tossed the shovel aside and cleared the dirt from the pit with his bare hands, revealing a quaint, ancient bluestone.

The bluestone was circular, covered in densely packed runic lines, and evenly surrounded by twelve short wooden pegs, making it look like a ship’s wheel. Beside the bluestone disc was a delicate wooden box, and inside the box lay an exquisite little wooden figurine.

Seeing these items, Xu Liang walked over slowly, picked up the little wooden figurine, and examined it for a moment before looking at Fang Xu. "If my guess is correct, the birth characters carved on this must be yours."

Fang Xu looked at the wooden figurine, his brow furrowing deeply.

"The birth characters on it are indeed mine, but who buried this here? When was it buried? What is its purpose?" he wondered. He had no answers to any of these questions.

"Taibu, what is the purpose of this object?" Li Xingchao asked.

Xu Liang leaned over to inspect the patterns on the bluestone disc and said slowly, "Gathering Fortune..."

Hearing this, Ling Mu immediately waved his hand, preparing to have his men apprehend Fang Xu. Seeing this, Huang Qingzhou directly blocked Fang Xu with his body, vowing to protect him.

"Hold on! Vice Envoy Ling, hold on..." Xu Liang said. He looked at Fang Xu and continued, "When I saw you the other day, I felt that the power of your fortune was quite high.

"I suppose it must be related to this Array.

"Did either of your parents practice the Witchcraft and Divination Art?"

Fang Xu shook his head. "My parents were just the common people. Before they died, they were only at the Bone Refining Realm. They never practiced the Witchcraft and Divination Art."

Upon hearing this, Xu Liang pondered for a moment. "Think again. The wooden figurine housed in this Array is carved with your birth characters, and this is an Array of Gathering Fortune. It must be a close relative who hoped to use this Array to gather fortune for you."

"A close relative?" Fang Xu frowned deeply.

In this life, his only close relatives were his grandfather and his parents. As for his grandmother, she had died of illness before he was even born, so it couldn’t have been her.

"Could it be Grandpa?" he wondered. But in his memory, his grandfather was just a carpenter who knew absolutely nothing about cultivation!

"Taibu, why waste breath on him? Since he dares to covet the national destiny of our Yu Kingdom, I must take him back to the Central State and hand him over to His Majesty for judgment!" Ling Mu said, his voice ice-cold.

"Don’t you dare!" Huang Qingzhou narrowed his eyes, standing firmly in front of Fang Xu.

Although he was only at the Martial Master Ninth Realm, he showed no fear when facing Ling Mu, whose cultivation had reached the Martial Venerable Fifth Realm.

"Don’t be impulsive, don’t be impulsive," Xu Liang said, hastily trying to smooth things over as he saw the two at each other’s throats. "Although this technique is an art of Gathering Fortune, it does not plunder the national destiny of our Yu Kingdom.

"Fenglin Town is a treasured land of Feng Shui. The power of fortune this technique can gather is limited to a ten-mile radius, far from reaching a level that could affect the national destiny.

"Moreover, this technique must have been laid down quite a few years ago. If it truly could affect the Yu Kingdom’s national destiny, it wouldn’t have gone undiscovered until now."

Hearing this, Ling Mu frowned slightly. "Taibu, so this is not the culprit affecting the national destiny?"

Xu Liang shook his head and smiled. "It’s just a minor Gathering Fortune spell. Although it’s quite ingenious, it’s not enough to affect the national destiny. I’m just curious that there are still people among the common folk who understand the Witchcraft and Divination Art. I’m afraid they must have stumbled upon it by chance."

Seeing him say this, Fang Xu’s hanging heart relaxed a little.

Beside them, Li Xingchao’s expression was somewhat complicated. He actually desperately hoped that the object in front of them was the culprit affecting Great Yu’s national destiny; that way, the issue with his own son would be resolved. Now that Fang Xu’s suspicion was cleared, the Inspectorate would definitely continue their investigation.

"Hmph! Even if this technique cannot affect the Yu Kingdom’s national destiny, it is still a crooked and evil path," Ling Mu snorted. "Furthermore, the Witchcraft and Divination Art is definitely related to witches. This person must be arrested!"

Saying this, he prepared to make a move again.

Xu Liang said rather indignantly, "Vice Envoy Ling, could you let me finish speaking before you make a decision?"

Fang Xu was being protected by Huang Qingzhou, an Inner Sect Disciple of the Ascension Association. Yet Ling Mu couldn’t go three sentences without threatening to arrest him. Once they offended the Ascension Association, things would become very troublesome.

Ling Mu resentfully took a step back and looked at Xu Liang. "Please speak, Taibu."

Xu Liang organized his thoughts and said, "The Witchcraft and Divination Art is a legacy passed down from Ancient Times. It is considered a branch of the Feng Shui Secret Art. It is not exclusively practiced by witches. To be precise, I, along with several Supervisors of the Astronomical Bureau, have studied the Witchcraft and Divination Art.

"The Witchcraft and Divination Art in Fang’s home is a branch of the Feng Shui Secret Art, not some crooked or evil path!"

Hearing this, Ling Mu was left speechless, not knowing what to say for a moment.

"Fang, I am very sorry. Once this technique is unearthed, it completely loses its effectiveness." Perhaps feeling that one of Fang Xu’s ancestors shared the same roots and origins as himself, Xu Liang was unexpectedly polite to him.

Fang Xu was stunned for a moment, then cupped his hands in salute. "You are too polite, Senior. I just want to ask, now that this Witchcraft and Divination Art has been destroyed, will it have any negative impact on me?"

Concepts like Feng Shui and fortune were too profound and mysterious; he couldn’t grasp them at all. Over the years, he hadn’t felt that this Witchcraft and Divination Art had brought him much luck anyway, as he had always lived in poverty. Now that the technique was broken, he didn’t feel heartbroken over it. He only hoped it wouldn’t bring him any bad luck.

"There naturally will be an impact. After losing this technique, the power of your fortune will be affected in the future.

"But the impact is not significant. You don’t need to take it to heart."

Although he said this aloud, Xu Liang actually felt quite guilty inwardly. Having this Witchcraft and Divination Art help Fang Xu gather fortune would have made his future life path much smoother.

Now that the technique was broken...

"Since this isn’t my junior brother’s fault, please see yourselves out," Huang Qingzhou said lightly.

Having spent some time with Fang Xu, he really liked Fang Xu’s character and already considered him a friend in his heart. Now, this Yu Kingdom’s Inspectorate had not only ruined Fang Xu’s Gathering Fortune technique but had also tried to take him away time and again. Huang Qingzhou had reached the limit of his patience long ago.

"Vice Envoy Ling, let’s withdraw," Xu Liang said mildly.

The Yu Kingdom could not afford to offend the Ascension Association, otherwise there would likely be even more trouble in the future.

Ling Mu cast a resentful glance at Fang Xu, seemingly somewhat unwilling, but he ultimately waved his hand and led his group of subordinates out of the courtyard. Li Xingchao and his son looked at Fang Xu, neither saying a word before turning and walking out.

"Fang, you might want to think carefully about whether your relatives ever taught you any techniques related to the Feng Shui Art. I am ready to discuss it with you at any time."

The Feng Shui Secret Art had been passed down from Ancient Times to the present day, and many peculiar Secret Techniques had already been lost. As for this Gathering Fortune technique in Fang Xu’s home, Xu Liang had only ever seen it in ancient texts. He didn’t actually know how to execute it.

"Rest assured, Senior. If anything comes to mind, I will inform you immediately."

Xu Liang had helped him out of a tight spot today, and he would remember this favor. But up until now, he truly didn’t know who in his family had practiced this so-called Witchcraft and Divination Art.

After seeing off Xu Liang and the others, Fang Xu looked at the mess in the courtyard. Silently, he grabbed a shovel and reburied all the items, then set the stone table back in its proper place, making the courtyard look no different than before.

"Fang Xu, the Ascension Association has the Witchcraft and Divination Art. If you’re interested, you can look into it once you enter the Ascension Association," Huang Qingzhou said.

Fang Xu nodded without saying much and simply replied, "Senior Brother Huang, let’s go."

The scene that had just unfolded made him realize once again that without strength, his fate could only be subjected to the whims of others. Only the one with the biggest fists could stand tall with a straight spine.