Sima Bubiao finally relaxed a bit and was about to take a sip of tea when he suddenly heard the door of the private room being opened and soone walking in.
Sima Bubiao quickly stood up to take a look and was stunned when he saw the person’s appearance.
Then he heard the Eight Master call out "Fourth Brother," and his mind buzzed as if it had exploded.
He originally thought that with the Eight Master being so old, his fourth brother must be even older. He never expected the "Fourth Brother" the Eight Master referred to would be Li Xiu.
Previously, Li Xiu had co to him, hoping for him to join the City of Light, but he refused for the sake of the Eight Master.
Unexpectedly, after all the twists and turns, they ended up eting again.
"Fourth Brother, let introduce you. This is a descendant of an old friend of mine..." Eight Master pulled Li Xiu over to introduce him to Sima Bubiao.
"I know Sima Bubiao." Li Xiu said with a smile.
"Fourth Brother is indeed who he is, recognizing Bubiao’s exceptional qualities at first glance. In the future, when Bubiao joins your technician group, I hope you’ll look after him..." The Eight Master said with a smile.
"City Lord Li." Sima Bubiao said with a grimace, unsure what to say next.
Before, he had refused him, and now he was asking for his help—what a turn of events.
"I must thank you, Old Eight. Such an excellent Trial Taker joining my technician group is sothing I could only wish for." Li Xiu sincerely extended his hand and looked at Sima Bubiao, saying, "Welco to the technician group; I’ve been looking forward to it for a long ti."
"City Lord Li... I..." Sima Bubiao quickly shook Li Xiu’s hand, montarily at a loss for what to say, surprised that Li Xiu would still be so gracious to him.
"Don’t call him City Lord; call him Commander. From now on, Fourth Brother is your Commander." The Eight Master remarked.
"Apologies, Commander." Sima Bubiao said respectfully and anxiously.
"Don’t be so tense. This isn’t the Celestial Sea; even in the Celestial Sea, my technician group only looks at ability, not background. As long as you have the ability, the technician group will surely have a place for you. I believe with your abilities, you’ll achieve great things in the Celestial Sea." Li Xiu said with a smile.
Sima Bubiao felt even more touched upon hearing this. The Eight Master noticed there seed to be a story between the two but, being old and wise, naturally, didn’t ntion it.
"We’re all friends here; don’t just stand around—try my tea. I personally picked it from afar." The Eight Master said, pulling Li Xiu to sit down.
"Old Eight, there’s sothing I want to ask for your help with." After tasting the Eight Master’s tea, Li Xiu ntioned the matter at hand.
"Is it related to jade?" Eight Master seed to have anticipated it and asked before Li Xiu could explain.
"Indeed." Li Xiu nodded slightly.
"Are you seeking guidance on whether this trip is auspicious or ominous?" The Eight Master inquired again.
"Old Eight, you truly have insight." Li Xiu had indeed co to ask the Eight Master about fortune-telling.
Whether the Eight Master’s word-divination skills were genuine or not, Li Xiu was unsure. However, one thing he could confirm was that the secrets Eight Master knew were certainly more than usual.
Rather than saying Li Xiu ca to have his fortune told, it was more accurate to say he wanted to inquire about whether Eight Master knew about this matter.
Naturally, he couldn’t ask directly, as doing so would surely make Eight Master reluctant to answer, so he could only co for word-divination.
"Fourth Brother, write a word." The Eight Master didn’t refuse, whether he truly only intended to divine characters or knew so inside information was unclear.
Li Xiu pondered for a mont, then dipped his finger in tea water and wrote the character "海" (sea) on the table.
This character, "海" (hai), naturally referred to the Celestial Sea’s "海."
The Eight Master looked at the word Li Xiu had written on the table, pondered for a while, and then softly recited, "Having gone up the mountain to the city, and then up the building, the host’s grand feast is most glamorous. On a festive occasion, there should be song and dance, yet old friends talk of past travels."
"What does it an?" Li Xiu could understand the literal aning but knew that interpreting such a verse required expertise.
Moreover, Li Xiu wanted to understand not only the verse’s aning but also the Eight Master’s view on this matter.
"This journey is likely to have a calamity." The Eight Master stated.
"Where is the calamity?" From the literal aning of the verse, Li Xiu couldn’t perceive any disaster.
The Eight Master said: "The aning of this verse is that after you overco the difficulties, you’ll surely progress further and achieve great success, elevating your life to a new level. Even amidst the peaceful celebratory feast, you can remain composed, reminiscing with old friends."
"This sounds like a good on; where’s the calamity?" Sima Bubiao couldn’t help but ask after listening.
"The verse is indeed a good on, but if this on is to co true, a calamity must occur beforehand. If you can overco this calamity, you will soar to great heights, rising swiftly to overlook the world and laugh at life. But all of this is predicated on your ability to overco that calamity." The Eight Master pondered for a mont before smiling and saying, "Since you drew this verse, it suggests that this calamity should pass without any real danger."
The Eight Master didn’t say more, but Li Xiu had already realized that while the journey had great risks, successfully navigating them would result in enormous benefits.
"Who might this old friend be?" Li Xiu pondered aloud.
He understood the earlier parts, but the bit about the old friend puzzled him—could it be that he would encounter an acquaintance in the Celestial Sea?
Li Xiu pondered—those he knew in the Celestial Sea were only the demon spirit within the blue tal coffin at the Sea Heaven Trial Ground. Could it be he would et it this ti?
But how could that demon spirit be considered an old friend? If anything, it should be an old enemy. It’d be lucky if it didn’t try to kill him; how could they possibly reminisce?
If not that demon spirit, Li Xiu couldn’t think of anyone else he knew related to the Celestial Sea.
The Eight Master dipped his finger in tea water as well and wrote the character "海" on the table, but he broke it down into parts.
"The character ’海’ (sea) combines ’水’ (water) on the side; your use of water to write indicates you will encounter significant turbulence. The part below implies that you will et a woman, who will affect your trip’s success." Eight Master explained as he wrote.
"You’re saying my old friend is a woman?" Li Xiu was even more confused—he didn’t recall knowing any woman from the Celestial Sea.
"No, that woman isn’t your old friend, but she is crucial to your success on this journey." The Eight Master clarified.
"Then where does this old friend you ntioned co from?" Li Xiu couldn’t figure out who the Eight Master referred to, and as he didn’t elaborate further, Li Xiu pressed on.
"The sea contains a multitude of rivers, accommodating everyone under the sky. I can only sense you have an acquaintance but can’t discern who it is—you should think about any past acquaintances." Eight Master shook his head.
Li Xiu felt the Eight Master’s words seed a bit far-fetched. While he did know many people in the past, he couldn’t recall anyone connected to the Celestial Sea.
However, he understood the Eight Master’s point: despite the risk, there’s also great reward, and whether to go or not depends on his own choice.
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