Chapter 174: Auspicious Divination

Amidst the awe, surprise, and reverence, the only thought that entered Ximen Hao’s mind was that the graceful woman before him, the target of his admiration, seemed to be far beyond his reach.

Even though he always boasted about how noble and wealthy the Ximen Clan was, in the face of raw power, his wealth and status amounted to nothing.

Comparing the Ximen Clan to a hidden ancient sect, especially one that dated back to the Demonic Dominance Era, was like comparing a rogue asteroid to a sun.

This made Ximen Hao realize the gap between himself and the graceful woman before him. However, as the saying goes, a true man is never afraid of challenges. He needed to learn more about his target and see if there were any opportunities he could make use of.

Thus, Ximen Hao decided to observe first. After he gathered a sufficient amount of information, he would then decide how to proceed.

On Mo Jue’s side, after learning about the woman before him and her identity, he decided to ask a very important question. It was a question that might make him look like a cheapskate.

Who was Wei Chen in the sect? Was he someone important? A young master, as they had guessed? Or was he just an insignificant figure within the sect?

It was not that he would cancel Mo Xingyao’s engagement if he found out that Wei Chen was insignificant in the sect.

It was just that, as the leader of a sect, he had to consider more than just his family. There were others he needed to think about.

If Wei Chen turned out to be insignificant, then he would need to reconsider the future development of Thousand Treasure City and the Sky-Severing Demon Sect.

But if Wei Chen was someone important, then as a leader, he needed to make the most of that connection, as long as it did not harm the relationship between his daughter and Wei Chen.

“Then… Lady Youqi,” Mo Jue began with a cupped fist before asking, “who is Wei Chen in your sect? Is he… an outer disciple? Or…” He tried to lower his expectations as much as possible.

Youqi, seeing Mo Jue’s intention, immediately understood what he was trying to ask. She glanced at Wei Chen, while Wei Chen himself felt as if he was about to be put on the spot.

“Why? If he were a janitor in our sect, would you stop this engagement ceremony?” Youqi asked teasingly.

“You misunderstand, Lady Youqi. Even if he were considered useless in your sect, we would not cancel the engagement ceremony.”

Why do I have to be useless? Wei Chen complained inwardly.

He then leaned down and whispered to little Ningning, “Hey, why does your mother seem different from her usual self?”

“This is how she is on her days off,” the little girl replied.

“I see…” Wei Chen nodded. Some people wore different masks during work and during their time off. Youqi might be one of those who acted differently when she was on holiday.

Seeing Mo Jue growing anxious, Youqi let out a soft chuckle.

“Relax, Patriarch Mo. In fact, Mr. Wei’s position in the sect is no different from that of a core disciple. You should know that not everyone could cultivate what he has. If our lord did not have high expectations of him, he would not have bestowed so many rewards and benefits upon him,” Youqi said.

Wei Chen raised his brow. Was she stating facts, or simply playing along with the situation? Either way, at least she did not burn him in front of everyone. Otherwise, that would have been quite awkward.

Hearing this, Mo Jue’s face visibly brightened. He cupped his fist and thanked Youqi once again.

“This humble one thanks Lady Youqi for her clarification.”

With that said, Mo Jue led Youqi and her entourage to the VIP seats that had been prepared beforehand. The VIP seating this time was arranged in advance, just in case any unknown yet friendly guests arrived.

With the reception of the unexpected guests concluded, the ceremony continued.

….

After all of the influential guests had arrived, the ceremony finally began.

The master of ceremonies announced the arrival of the groom. Wei Chen entered the hall alongside the entourage from the Underworld Palace. Youqi also served as the elder representing the Underworld Palace according to tradition, acting as the elder from the groom’s side.

Most of the influential guests were, of course, confused about what or who the Underworld Palace actually was. Wen Moyuan had wanted to clarify, but Wei Chen had asked him not to. People already knew his face and recognized him as a vagabond who loved adventure.

That was enough for him. He did not want to be known as some young master from a powerful sect.

Most of them simply talked among themselves and went with the flow, assuming that the Underworld Palace was just some obscure demonic path sect arranged by the Sky-Severing Demon, Mo Jue, to represent the groom’s side.

They all knew that Wei Chen was just a vagabond with no background. Even though they also knew that his strength was around the Void Refining Realm, a rootless vagabond was still a rootless vagabond.

He was strong, that was a fact. But could he provide them with benefits? Could he offer what the Sky-Severing Demon Sect could, with its vast resources and control over much of the demonic path’s resource flow?

Most likely not.

These people were mostly those who did not have deep roots in Thousand Treasure City, or whose factions lacked strong information networks. They were merely opportunists who gathered for the sake of profit.

However, among the guests, there were those who were in the know. They quickly reported the situation back to their respective factions, and all of them received the same reply.

Do your best to secure a friendship with Wei Chen. It is not every day that you encounter a core disciple from a hidden ancient sect, especially one that dates back to the Demonic Dominance Era.

This was true power. An undisputed force that stood above the factions that merely claimed to be kings.

The ceremony continued. At the request of the matchmaker, the master of ceremonies invited a master diviner to assess the auspicious compatibility between the groom and the bride.

Dressed in a luxurious robe of the Heavenly Sword Sect, Shi Zhun, the former head of the Auspicious Omen Pavilion, walked up to the ceremonial platform. His disciple, Jing Suan, followed behind him, his face pale as he whispered,

“Master, I do not think knocking out the Heavenly Sword Sect’s diviner and replacing him like this is a good idea. What if your divination result turns out the opposite again?” Jing Suan whispered as the two approached the platform.

“Ahh, come on, Jing Suan. Trust your master. I have been practicing auspicious divination for this day. Do not worry. Everything will be fine,” Shi Zhun whispered back, smiling at the guests as if nothing was wrong.

“Master, but from what I remember, you are always on the road, trying to divine scam realms so our people can plunder them. When did you practice auspicious divination?” Jing Suan asked suspiciously.

“Do you not trust your master?” Shi Zhun asked.

“No.”

“What a faithless disciple.”

The two stopped arguing as they reached the ceremonial platform. Shi Zhun took out the spirit trigram he usually used for divination.

At that moment, in the VIP section of the Heavenly Sword Sect, Jian Heng frowned. He clearly remembered that the diviner he had arranged for the ceremony was not this master and disciple pair.

However, he soon shrugged. Perhaps there had been a change, or maybe the original diviner had encountered some urgent matter. Still, since that man had already accepted payment, Jian Heng was determined to get to the bottom of why he had not shown up. For now, he would wait until the ceremony concluded.

The ceremony continued as Shi Zhun began his performance by divining the compatibility of the couple. A bright white light shone from the trigram tool in his hand, glowing brilliantly.

“Hahahahaha! Here comes a sign of great auspiciousness! You two are truly a match made in heaven! Hahahaha!” Shi Zhun laughed out loud as if he had just won a lottery prize. This was the first time he had performed a divination and actually obtained an auspicious result.

But then…

A red and dark cloud suddenly obscured the bright, auspicious star. It was as if there were two lines of destiny. The bright one clearly represented the present, but why had the dark one appeared?

It was as if…

As if one of them was destined for tragedy, or an inauspicious fate. And it seemed that this destiny had only recently been altered, yet now the dark fate was trying to correct itself.

“Master! What the hell are you doing!?” Jing Suan wanted to shout, but he could only ask in a grim voice as his master’s face gradually turned pale.

“Hey! I did not do anything! I am innocent!” Shi Zhun retorted. His hands moved rapidly, forming a blur of hand signs as he tried to correct the divination result.

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