Chapter 00147: The Great Divination Art
# The Great Divination Art
Chapter 147
Novel: After the Myth
Chapter 147: The Great Divination Art
Ding Huan didn’t need to remind the deposit token exchange to keep his information confidential.
Offending a Foundation Establishment expert was never a good idea.
Instead of returning to the resting inn, Ding Huan headed to the larger Thorn Alley black market.
He wanted to buy a magical talisman brush here.
However, upon arriving, he realized how wrong he had been about the quality of magical artifacts available.
The so-called "magical artifacts" here were mostly junk—broken shoes, damaged hairpins, and half-ruined weapons.
After some inquiries, Ding Huan finally understood the situation.
These artifacts were all brought from advanced civilization planets.
Spaceships from these planets would carry these useless items to the Four Directions Star Continent as a side business.
While these items were worthless in their original planets, they became priceless treasures here.
Disappointed, Ding Huan could only purchase some materials and books describing ores and materials.
These books were also brought from advanced civilizations, meant to guide locals in searching for valuable resources.
The most important purchase was a large bag to carry his massive pot, which had become too conspicuous to carry around.
After gathering his supplies, Ding Huan returned to the resting inn.
Despite knowing Ding Huan’s strength was not weak, Qi Xin Yue had been too worried to cultivate while he was away.
Only after his return did she finally relax and retreat to her room to rest.
The next morning, Ding Huan, Qi Xin Yue, and Old Six left the inn to rent a house.
With plenty of purple gold coins to spare, Ding Huan rented a courtyard for 10,000 purple gold coins a year.
Normally, this courtyard would be shared by four people, each paying around 2,500 coins.
With only three people living there—Ding Huan, Qi Xin Yue, and Old Six—it didn’t feel too crowded.
The courtyard was close to the bustling main city and the city lord’s mansion.
Ding Huan believed that if any advanced alien civilization spaceships arrived, he would be among the first to notice.
After all, he didn’t need to cultivate now and had plenty of time to wander around.
Once settled, Ding Huan continued studying the jade slips he had.
He still had over a dozen left to examine.
Previously, he had been engrossed in talisman-making after discovering a talisman-making jade slip.
Now, without a high-quality talisman brush, he couldn’t make talismans, so he turned his attention back to the jade slips.
He skimmed through several: *The Dao Sect Records*—about sects, set aside; *The Arrangement of the Seven Defensive Formations*—too complicated, set aside; *On Spirit Herbs*—interesting but not urgent, set aside; *The Theory of Spiritual Roots*—not needed for now.
Then he came across *The Lian Cang Yi Dao*.
Divination? This piqued Ding Huan’s interest.
He immersed his divine sense into the jade slip.
"The vast universe, all things have their destined paths. The changes of heaven and earth are reflected in hexagrams. Qian has three unbroken lines, Kun has six broken lines..."
As Ding Huan delved into the Lian Cang Yi technique, a sudden surge of memories overwhelmed him.
A grand divine ability, the *Great Divination Art*, emerged in his mind.
The flood of complex information was so immense that even with his powerful divine sense, Ding Huan nearly fainted from the strain.
It took him two full days to recover.
A divine ability? This was the first time he had encountered something like this.
It wasn’t a cultivation technique or a combat skill.
After calming down for a few more minutes, Ding Huan began to organize what he had learned.
The *Great Divination Art* was clearly the hidden information from the ancient scroll he had obtained.
Studying the *Lian Cang Yi Dao* had triggered this memory.
When Ding Huan began to study the *Great Divination Art*, he was utterly stunned.
The previously complex *Lian Cang Yi Dao* now seemed like child’s play compared to the *Great Divination Art*.
The *Lian Cang Yi Dao* could only vaguely predict events in one’s immediate surroundings, while the *Great Divination Art* could calculate the past and future of the entire universe, with clear and traceable patterns.
Predicting nearby events was merely the most basic level of this art.
Ding Huan immediately thought of the ancient cypress tree in Luohe City on Earth and the old scavenger who had given him the scroll.
That scroll had changed his life.
The only difference was that he was supposed to return to the ancient cypress tree, but after a century or two of experience, he had abandoned that idea.
At the time, it had seemed absurd, but now, with the *Great Divination Art* in his memory, it made perfect sense.
He couldn’t fully comprehend the *Great Divination Art* yet—not even the basics.
But what if his cultivation became extremely powerful? Could he then predict the future of his planet or even his own fate? The thought sent a shiver down Ding Huan’s spine.
It was terrifying.
Fortunately, he hadn’t gone back to the ancient cypress tree.
Still, the *Great Divination Art* was undoubtedly a treasure.
Even if he could only grasp a fraction of it, it would be immensely beneficial.
With this in mind, Ding Huan abandoned all other jade slips and immersed himself in the study of the *Great Divination Art*.
---
For over half a month, Ding Huan was only awakened by extreme hunger.
Even he found it unbelievable how deeply he had been absorbed in the *Great Divination Art*.
The complexity of the art had completely consumed him.
A quick scan with his divine sense revealed that Qi Xin Yue had finished her seclusion and was now practicing the *Extreme Shadow Evasion Technique*.
Old Six, on the other hand, was still tirelessly trying to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage as a demonic cultivator, but no matter how hard he tried, he always fell just short.
Ding Huan closed his eyes and began to divine what would happen in Four Directions City in the near future.
As soon as he started, his mind was once again flooded with chaotic images.
The intense headache forced him to shake his head and calm down.
Perhaps the scope of his divination was too large.
He decided to focus on events within the range of his divine sense, which extended about 34 miles.
Four Directions City was filled with powerful cultivators, many surpassing the Foundation Establishment stage, so Ding Huan didn’t dare to casually use his divine sense.
However, divination shouldn’t attract attention.
Even though he had only scratched the surface of the *Great Divination Art*—or perhaps not even that—he believed it would be enough to predict events within 34 miles.
This time, the divination didn’t overwhelm him with chaotic images or cause headaches.
Instead, it felt like watching a poorly buffering video.
He saw unfamiliar people walking around, and events unfolding from near to far.
Just as Ding Huan was engrossed in these trivial scenes, a major piece of news exploded in Four Directions City: an extremely rare material had appeared in the Old Wilderness black market—the demon core of a Transcendent-level demonic beast.
The core had been covered in grime, and the seller hadn’t realized its value, selling it as an ordinary ore to a merchant.
The merchant, more knowledgeable than the average person, suspected the item was valuable and removed the grime upon returning home.
The moment he did, the overwhelming aura of the Transcendent-level demon core shot into the sky, causing a frenzy in Four Directions City.
The four great families and three major sects immediately began fighting over it.
By the time Ding Huan’s divination ended, the conflict was still ongoing.
Wait a minute...
Ding Huan suddenly opened his eyes.
That demon core was supposed to appear tonight!
With this realization, Ding Huan had no time to waste.
He quickly cast a cleansing spell, disguised himself, and rushed out the door.
He had been wondering how to obtain a treasure to buy a ticket for an advanced civilization spaceship, and now this demon core had appeared.
He couldn’t afford to miss this opportunity.
Ding Huan moved swiftly.
By the time he arrived at the Old Wilderness black market, it had just opened.
Using the location he had divined earlier, Ding Huan stopped at a vendor’s stall.
The vendor had just arrived and was setting up his wares.
Ding Huan pretended to browse the items.
Although he had come for the demon core, he found himself increasingly excited by the other items on display.
Most of them were unfamiliar to him, but they seemed to be high-grade spirit herbs.
Just then, the vendor took out the demon core.
The moment it was placed on the stall, Ding Huan’s divine sense detected a merchant rushing over—the same merchant who had bought the core in his divination.
Before the merchant could reach the stall, Ding Huan grabbed the demon core.
The vendor, with his mediocre cultivation, couldn’t sense the core’s immense aura, but Ding Huan felt it the moment he touched it.
Even with the grime blocking its energy, the core’s power was overwhelming.
This was definitely a treasure.
Compared to the demon core he had obtained from the Earth dragon, this one was on a completely different level.
“Vendor, your items are quite good today. How much for these?” Ding Huan asked, holding four spirit herbs and the demon core.
The vendor grinned. “Of course, these items nearly cost me my life, especially that *Yuan Zi* herb. I risked everything to get it.”
The *Yuan Zi* herb was the one with a purple flower in Ding Huan’s hand.
“Just tell me the price. If I can afford it, I’ll buy it. If not, I’ll leave it,” Ding Huan said bluntly.
His divine sense noticed the merchant’s gaze fixed on the items in his hand.
“Twenty thousand purple gold coins,” the vendor said, holding up two fingers.
His actual asking price was ten thousand, but he expected some haggling.
“A bit expensive, but worth it,” Ding Huan said.
In an instant, he filled an empty pouch with twenty thousand coins and tossed it to the vendor.
The vendor caught the pouch, stunned.
The deal was done? No haggling?
By the time he looked up, Ding Huan was already gone.
The vendor quickly checked the pouch and was overjoyed to find twenty thousand coins inside.
Today was his lucky day.
He occasionally encountered generous customers, but one who spent so much without bargaining was a first.
Ding Huan knew the merchant had tried to stop him as he threw the pouch, but his speed was too fast.
The transaction was already complete.
Now, the merchant was hurrying after him.
(End of Chapter)