One divination a day, a trainee celestial master

In the early morning, the air in Cuiwei Mountain carries a slight chill from the grass and trees.

Jiang Shou sat cross-legged under the old locust tree in the courtyard. With each long breath, wisps of pure air, barely perceptible to the naked eye, were inhaled through his nostrils, circulated within his body, and then converged into his dantian. The pale golden "Dao Seed" rotated steadily, dripping a tiny drop of true essence.

After finishing his breathing exercises, Jiang Shou got up, dusted off his trousers, and went into the main hall to offer three sticks of incense to the Three Pure Ones and the grandfather in the side hall.

Watching the wisps of smoke rising from the incense burner, Jiang Shou reached into his pocket.

The moment my fingertips touched it, I felt a warm, smooth sensation. The cooldown period for the Cold Season Decree had ended.

He took out the black wooden plaque and, full of anticipation, gently rubbed the surface of the plaque with his thumb.

Accompanied by a soft rustling sound, four lines of small, bluish-green characters slowly emerged on the back of the wooden plaque:

[Dui Hexagram, Line 94] [True gems are hidden in paintings, pearls and jade are covered in dust. In the old market south of the city, their traces appear at the hour of Wei (1-3 PM).] [In the old street's antique stalls, there are ink wash landscapes; the real ones are hidden in fake paintings.] [One should have a discerning eye to recognize their value; a rare treasure can be found.]

Jiang Shou stared at the four lines of text, and was taken aback at first.

"Is the real painting hidden within a fake one?"

"!!!"

Jiang Shou slapped his thigh, grinning from ear to ear, "The Grandmaster has finally shown favor to his disciple again! This is just like that 'Gold in the Soil' treasure hunt quest from last time!"

Compared to the life-threatening task of summoning spirits in the ICU, this job where you can just stroll around the streets, pick up bargains, and get mission rewards and windfalls is practically a paid vacation. This is the right way to use the magical cheat code that is Suihanling.

He glanced down at his phone; it was nine in the morning. The hour of Wei (1-3 PM). Nanshi—that should be the antique street in the south of the city where he sold the gold-wrapped jade bracelet last time.

It would take at most an hour and a half to ride a tricycle from Cuiwei Mountain. There was still plenty of time. But Jiang Shou couldn't sit still.

"What if the person selling the treasure sets up their stall early, and some knowledgeable old man beats them to it?" These days, the old men and women on the antique street are smarter than ghosts. Jiang Shou doesn't want to take that risk; he has to go and stake out the place beforehand.

Without hesitation, Jiang Shou changed into a gray tracksuit and slung a backpack over his shoulder. He put the five thousand yuan "offering money" that Zhou Guodong had just given him yesterday into his pocket. Adding to the nearly forty-five thousand yuan in his card from selling antiques and the fat boss's offerings, he could now say he was quite confident.

……

"Rat-a-tat-tat..."

The blue three-wheeled motorcycle, puffing out a wisp of smoke, drove along the winding mountain road toward the county town.

When they arrived in the south of the city, it was just past 10:30. Jiang Shou parked the car at the intersection outside the old alley, sat down at a breakfast stall on the street corner, ordered two freshly steamed pork buns and a bowl of hot sweet soy milk, and slurped down his food.

Around 11 a.m., the number of people on the antique street gradually increased.

Jiang Shou, hands in his pockets, wandered aimlessly through the streets, scouting the area. Passing by the "Old Hu's Antiques" shop from before, he glanced inside and saw the gaunt old man applying ash to several iron kettles with two brushes. He couldn't help but chuckle at the newly displayed bronzes and porcelain on the shelves: "Heh, these must be 'Eastern Zhou' artifacts, just fired last week! They're so shiny they're almost blinding."

Jiang Shou walked and looked around, and before long, he found the old book stall of the old man wearing a melon-shaped hat from last time.

He squatted down in front of the stall with practiced ease, rummaged through a pile of dusty old books, and soon his eyes lit up.

He pulled out the book he had been longing for, "Huang Rong vs. Ximen Qing," with its flashy cover.

Jiang Shou didn't buy it; he just squatted on the side of the street, opened the book, and read it with great interest.

"Tsk tsk, this Ximen Da Guanren's moves are truly unique, and this Huang Gangzhu's shy description... Tsk tsk... This author's imagination is wasted if he doesn't write a little imperial novel on Tomato..." Jiang Shou's lips curled up wildly as he read, completely absorbed in the story.

"Hey! Young man, are you going to buy it or not?"

An impatient voice interrupted Jiang Shou's "academic research." An old man wearing a melon-shaped hat, holding a palm-leaf fan, tapped the mat in front of him irritably.

Jiang Shou didn't even look up, replying matter-of-factly, "I'm just picking them out, aren't I? Shouldn't you inspect the books before buying them?"

"At this rate, I don't even need to set up this stall anymore; you'll all be getting freebies!" The old man said angrily, blowing his beard and glaring.

"Sir, how can a scholar's business be called stealing? This is called appreciation." Jiang Shou closed the book and argued earnestly, "Besides, do you remember me? I bought three books on geomancy and feng shui from you just a few days ago. I'm a regular customer."

"Alright, alright, you bought it once and now you want to read it for free for life? If you're not buying, get out of here! You've been sitting there for almost half a book!" The old man waved his hand like he was shooing away flies.

Jiang Shou reluctantly put down the book.

It wasn't that he couldn't afford the ten-odd yuan to buy the book; the main problem was... if he really brought this kind of "colorful" pirated imperial book back to Shouyi Temple, it would be too disrespectful to the Three Pure Ones. Besides, there was that cunning little orange tabby cat, Fatty Tiger, in the temple. If that arrogant little cat saw him, wouldn't he be utterly despised? Where would he, the abbot, put his face then?

Jiang Shou shook his head, severing his worldly desires, and could only continue wandering forward.

There was still an hour or so until the hour of Wei (1-3 PM), so Jiang Shou wasn't in a hurry and just used it as a way to kill time.

As he walked, a stall set up at the corner of the alley caught his attention.

The stall owner was an old man in his fifties with a mustache. A yellow cloth was spread on the stall, covered with various old and worn-out Taoist implements in a disorderly manner.

A rusty bronze Bagua mirror, a peach wood sword mass-produced by machine, several wooden compasses engraved with cheap Tai Chi diagrams, and stacks of printed talismans deliberately aged by soaking them in tea.

Jiang Shou, who had also drawn True Essence Talismans, could tell at a glance that these things were all defective products from the assembly line, specifically designed to deceive tourists from other places.

He had intended to walk away, but then a thought suddenly struck him.

"Since this old man sells Taoist items, what if he actually receives some old objects?"

Jiang Shou stopped in his tracks, his mind sinking slightly.

A tiny wisp of true essence from the Dao seed in the dantian silently flowed into the eyes along the meridians.

The Art of Observing Qi, now open.

Jiang Shou's perspective changed instantly. His gaze swept quickly across the stall: the Bagua mirror, the peach wood sword, the compass, the dilapidated incense burner... everything was shrouded in a gray haze, devoid of any spiritual light.

Just as he was about to withdraw his true energy, his gaze swept over a corner at the bottom right of the stall.

Beneath a pile of yellowed, tattered talisman papers lay a tattered ancient book. And within the vision of the Qi Observation Technique, the surface of this ancient book faintly emitted a layer of bluish-green light.

Although the light was faint, like a candle flickering in the wind, it was real!

"Holy crap, could there really be something there?" Jiang Shou was secretly surprised. He quickly dispersed the true energy in his eyes and his vision returned to normal.

But having been through the ups and downs of life, he knew he couldn't let his emotions show in this antique street. He forcibly suppressed his excitement, not going straight for the book, but instead squatting down, casually picking up a peach wood sword and tossing it around, pretending to casually glance at the items on the stall.

"Boss, how much is this wooden sword?"

"Young man, you have a good eye! This is a magic sword made of lightning-struck wood, perfect for warding off evil spirits and protecting the home. It's destined for you. Take it for two thousand dollars." Seeing a customer coming in, the old man immediately quoted a price with practiced ease.

Jiang Shou tossed the wooden sword back onto the stall, pursing his lips: "Too light, it feels like it's made of plywood."

As he spoke, he casually rummaged through a pile of old papers and pulled out a tattered ancient book that had emitted a bluish light.

Upon holding it in my hand, I saw that the book's cover was tattered beyond recognition, with most of the corners torn off, and only the two incomplete traditional Chinese characters for "talisman" could be vaguely discerned.

The pages had a dull, dark yellow hue, with curled edges and numerous tiny holes from insect damage. But when Jiang Shou gently ran his fingertip along a few well-preserved pages in the middle, he found the paper to be surprisingly fine. It was not brittle at all, but rather subtly revealed the supple texture unique to mulberry paper.

"Young man, this book is quite old, the paper is brittle. Don't flip through it if you're not buying it, it might fall apart." The old man quickly reminded Jiang Shou as he examined the book.

Jiang Shouqiang suppressed the strange feeling in his heart, picked up the book and shook it, asking in a calm tone, "Boss, how much is this tattered book?"

The old man sized up Jiang Shou a few times. He noticed Jiang Shou's ordinary clothes, but the way he'd been picking and choosing earlier suggested he knew a thing or two. The old man's eyes darted around, and he held out a palm, demanding an exorbitant sum: "Five thousand!"

Holy crap!

Jiang Shou jumped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, pointing his finger at the old man's nose: "Are you robbing me?! You dare ask for five thousand for this tattered book that's not even fully covered? Why don't you just rob me?!"

The old man rolled his eyes and muttered to himself: Nonsense, I'm already fighting over it, aren't I?

But he wore a mysterious expression and stroked his mustache: "You can't say that, young man. In the antique business, it's about the substance, not the appearance."

The old man pointed at the items on his stall and spoke eloquently: "The treasures on my stall all have a history. Years ago, our ancestor saved a Celestial Master from the Zhengyi sect of Longhu Mountain in the mountains. Later, the Celestial Master was seriously injured and did not survive. Before he passed away, he left all these magical artifacts and ancient books he carried with him to our family. These are genuine Taoist sacred objects, containing secrets that are not passed down to others. If you don't know anything about this, then never mind what I said."

Listening to this rife-flawed, low-brow novel, Jiang Shou almost laughed. This story was even less logical than the one he'd just heard, "Huang Rong vs. Ximen Qing."

He didn't believe a word the old man said, threw the book on the stall, clapped his hands, stood up, and made as if to leave.

"Hey! Young man, don't go! Don't be in such a hurry!"

Seeing the only fat sheep trying to escape, the old man quickly reached out to stop it, his expression instantly switching to a friendly, money-making smile: "In business, there's no such thing as a one-off deal. Asking for the moon only leads to haggling. If you really want it, name your price. If it's reasonable, I'll consider it a good deed and give it to someone destined to have it!"

Jiang Shou certainly didn't really want to leave. This ancient book, which was emitting a bluish light, was strange, and he had to take it back to the Taoist temple to study it properly today, no matter what.

He stopped, turned around, and pretended to be deep in thought for a while.

Then, Jiang Shou held up five fingers, gritted his teeth, and offered what he considered a "bargain price" that hit the nail on the head:

"Hmm... five hundred!!"

The voice just fell.

"Alright! Deal!"

The old man with the goatee, who had been moving slowly just moments before, suddenly became lightning fast. He grabbed the tattered ancient book, expertly stuffed it into a crumpled red plastic bag, and presented it to Jiang Shou with both hands, his smile brighter than a chrysanthemum:

"Young man, since you seem to have a connection with this ancient book, I won't force you to keep it! Five hundred yuan is a fair price, WeChat or Alipay?"

Jiang Shou stood there, holding up five fingers, staring at the red plastic bag that had been shoved into his hand.

"..."

Damn... that was too hasty.