As the final narration ended, the system panel in Bai Yi’s view refreshed, displaying the completion task for this world.
[Optional Task One: “I Admit I’m Just a Novice”]
[The difference between immortals and mortals is like a vast chasm! Faced with the forceful exposure by a disciple of an immortal sect, what can you, a mere mortal, do besides accepting the mockery? Rather than stubbornly resisting and getting humiliated, why not admit defeat in time? Considering your years of rapport with the county townsfolk and the fact that you haven’t caused any real harm, perhaps the consequences won’t be too severe?]
[To acknowledge one’s mistakes is the greatest virtue. If you can get through this, with your advanced skills of persuasion and personal charm, you have a high chance of regaining the hearts of the county people, winning over that immortal sect disciple, and turning misfortune into blessing. You might even learn real immortal techniques and become a genuine heavenly master and divine calculation!]
[Go for it, flattery will get you everywhere! Bowing your head now might lead to you becoming the master later. Who knows who’ll be flattering whom in the future!]
“How come you can make groveling and cowardice sound so passionate and inspiring…” Bai Yi couldn’t help but quip as he looked at the task description displayed on the panel. He seriously doubted, “System, are you sure I wrote your core program?”
He puffed his cheeks and moved his gaze downward.
[Optional Task Two: “Your Father Will Always Be Your Father”]
[Faced with the aggressive questioning from the immortal sect disciple, even if you’re just a powerless mortal, you refuse to submit. You decide to counter with an even stronger attitude, wrapping lies within bigger lies, completely shattering his doubts, making him realize who’s the father and who’s the son. This will make him question his own judgment, then humbly apologize to you, admitting his mistake and bowing his head.]
[Although no one knows how a mere mortal like you can prove yourself, you’re determined to let everyone know—][—”I’m not a charlatan, I’m a heavenly master!”]
[Note: Please choose one of the above optional tasks to complete. Different tasks will lead the character down different fate lines, with final rewards related to the difficulty of the different tasks.]
Looking at the bold task description, Bai Yi fell into three seconds of silence. “…”
“Although I don’t know how to prove myself, I’m supposed to just charge in and confront him head-on… System, you’re really frank,” he repeated the line from the task description, which seemed to be mocking either the system itself or taking the opportunity to mock Bai Yi.
He spent a second putting himself in his character’s shoes—
“That’s right, I earned the title of divine calculation through my own abilities, why should I choose to give it up?” he muttered, nodding, feeling quite indignant.
“Isn’t it just about predicting good and bad fortune, foreseeing the future, divining fate?”
“Isn’t that something you can just make up as you go?”
As the task prompt disappeared, the frozen space around him gradually resumed its flow. The crowd on the street came back to life, with buzzing discussions surrounding him.
Two figures were still confronting each other in front of the mansion gate.
Under everyone’s gaze, the young heavenly master, who had seemed to fall into silence earlier, slowly raised his lowered head. It was as if a different soul had been injected into his entire body. His pitch-black eyes gradually lit up with a different kind of brilliance.
Su Huajia looked at him in surprise.
Although it was just a brief moment, the person before him seemed completely different from the inside out.
“—I accept your challenge.”
Meeting everyone’s gaze, the young Taoist raised his chin.
His tone was calm, yet filled with intense confidence.
‘I want everyone to know…’
“—No one understands divination better than me!”
As he made this forceful declaration, the previously noisy crowd fell into silence. It was as if an invisible aura emanated from the young Taoist, leaving everyone in awe.
—The avatar’s inherent aura skill [Praise of the Blind] was now equipped. This ability could be used by any character or alternate identity, whether in-game or in reality. However, on Bai Yi’s true self, it was a passive aura. When he switched to an alternate identity or game character, he could choose whether to equip this skill.
Praise of the Blind Lv10 [Note: Whether blending inconspicuously into a crowd or gaining others’ favor, it’s as easy for you as eating and drinking. This passive aura skill level increases over time. Now, even if you’re caught red-handed doing something wrong, people can’t help but wonder if you have a good reason.]
In an instant, the noisy discussions disappeared, and everyone instinctively fell silent. Deep down, they even began to believe involuntarily that Bai Yi could do what he claimed.
But just a moment ago, after Su Huajia, the immortal sect disciple, spoke up, they had strongly wavered and begun to suspect that their once-revered heavenly master was a charlatan.
This intangible shift in “presence” surprised even Su Huajia, who cast a doubtful glance at his opponent.
…Could his judgment have been wrong? Did this fellow actually know some magic, like a charm spell?
But no matter how he looked at it, this was just an ordinary mortal!
Su Huajia’s brows furrowed deeply.
As a native of Yong City, Su Huajia had grown up with the reputation of the “Heavenly Master of Divine Calculation” since the elderly and young Taoist pair arrived in the city over a decade ago.
As a child, he too believed in the old heavenly master’s mystical powers, until ten years ago when he left to seek immortality and joined an immortal sect. When he mentioned the famous divine calculation heavenly master to his fellow disciples, he was laughed at. After his seniors in the sect enlightened him, he finally realized that the old man was just a fraud!
This had always been a source of shame for Su Huajia. He was determined that when he returned to Yong City, he would expose the old charlatan’s tricks and prevent his family and fellow townspeople from being further deceived.
Unexpectedly, upon his return ten years later, the old charlatan had passed away, and the young charlatan before him, raised by the old one, was playing the same tricks, fooling the people of Yong City and packaging himself as another heavenly master of divine calculation!
Fortunately, he had returned just in time to expose him on the spot!
Su Huajia’s expression was resolute.
The incident began with the mansion behind the red-lacquered gates.
This was the home of the Zhang family, a well-known wealthy household in Yong City. The Zhang’s young master had always loved studying and traveling. A year ago, after passing the provincial examination and becoming a scholar, he left for his studies and had yet to return. Moreover, he hadn’t sent a letter home in three months.
The Zhang couple was worried that something might have happened to their son. As the “Heavenly Master of Divine Calculation” was famous and well-respected in Yong City, they invited the “Young Heavenly Master” Qi Jiu to divine their son’s safety.
At this time, Su Huajia had just returned to Yong City. As soon as he arrived, he heard that the “Young Heavenly Master” had been invited by the Zhang family to divine. Clearly, this was another trick to deceive people, and he couldn’t tolerate such a thing happening. He immediately rushed over and bluntly exposed the fraud.
Naturally, the hosts believed Su Huajia, the immortal sect disciple, more. In their anger, they kicked out the supposed charlatan.
This led to the opening scene of the nightmare fragment instance.
Although Bai Yi’s change in presence affected the surrounding townspeople, and even Su Huajia couldn’t help but feel a bit doubtful, he ultimately chose to trust his own judgment—this was just an ordinary mortal!
Therefore, meeting Bai Yi’s gaze, he nodded decisively. “Very well! If that’s the case, I’m willing to see this through to the end. I want to see how you continue your fortune-telling. Please—”
Speaking thus, Su Huajia made a gesture of invitation, about to step aside to watch how this fellow would put on an act. Those tricks that could fool ordinary people wouldn’t deceive him.
Unexpectedly, Bai Yi didn’t move. Instead, he calmly shook his head and spoke unhurriedly. “Since you doubt my abilities, I’d like to seek your guidance first—” He pointed at the Zhang family’s gate. “As Young Master Zhang’s fate is currently uncertain, why don’t you divine it first?”
“Oh? Are we comparing our divination results?” Su Huajia looked disappointed. Although his skills were not refined and he hadn’t mastered the profound art of divination, he could still easily determine the fortune or misfortune of an ordinary person’s feng shui and luck.
Moreover, he didn’t even need to calculate. At a glance, he could see that the Zhang family’s house was shrouded in misfortune, with extremely poor feng shui. The Zhang couple seemed particularly ill-fated, appearing to have a destiny of being childless.
Despite this, Su Huajia still took out his turtle shell and carefully performed a divination according to the methods taught by his sect.
Finally, he put away the turtle shell and spoke, “Young Master Zhang is already dead. Prepare for the funeral.”
After saying this, he ignored the shocked and disbelieving faces of the Zhang couple and turned to look at Bai Yi. “It’s your turn now. Surely you’re not going to just repeat what I said?”
“Of course not,” Bai Yi had quickly slipped into his charlatan persona, even changing his form of address, “How could this poor Taoist be such a person?”
Su Huajia’s expression improved slightly, showing some pride as a disciple of an immortal sect. “I divined first, so I won’t take advantage of you. If you can determine either the cause or the time of his death, I’ll consider it your victory.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Bai Yi continued to smile and shake his head, “I told you, no one understands divination better than me!”
Under Su Huajia’s confused and puzzled gaze, he looked up slightly and uttered four words. “Load save, start over.”
As Bai Yi’s words faded, everything around them froze for an instant. Quickly, as if chalk writing on a blackboard was easily erased, the world twisted, melted, and then reassembled.
A new cycle unfolded, and the game restarted.
The world unfurled like a newly opened scroll. As Bai Yi opened his eyes within his physical form, the familiar transitional dialogue echoed in his ears, with the familiar NPC standing opposite him.
“…You’ve been deceiving everyone with your tricks for so long. Today, I, Su Huajia, will expose your charade in front of everyone!”
“—Do you dare to accept the challenge?”
On the bustling street, the red-lacquered gates were slightly ajar. Su Huajia, dressed in fine clothes and a jade crown, glared at the young Taoist before him, seemingly having delivered his most lethal blow.
The young Taoist standing opposite him wore flowing blue robes and maintained a silent demeanor, exuding an air of calm transcendence.
“That won’t be necessary,” he said.
Under everyone’s gaze, he let out a soft sigh and shook his head, about to leave. His movements were unhurried, not like someone fleeing in panic, but rather as if he was completely ignoring Su Huajia, too lazy to argue with him and unconcerned whether others believed him or not.
That calm and composed demeanor had its own charm.
As he stepped forward, the crowd inexplicably parted for him, as if infected by some intangible aura.
The young Taoist thus walked casually through the crowd and drifted away. Only one sentence lingered in everyone’s ears for a long time.
“Young Master Zhang is already dead. Prepare for the funeral.”
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