Just as Ji Xiongjing was having his 'fortunate encounter', Lu Yang had already arrived at the most prosperous area of Heavenly Capital City, the one with the most martial artists. The Vast Righteous Academy.
This place, which held a scroll of the heavenly scripture and had even created the fourth step of the Martial Dao, had now faintly surpassed both Daoism and Buddhism to become a sacred land of the Martial Dao.
What was strange, however, was that ever since creating the fourth step of the Martial Dao and spreading the method far and wide, the headmaster of the Vast Righteous Academy, the 'Sage Heart Scholar' Wang Boyuan, had gradually vanished from public view.
He lived in deeper and deeper seclusion, to the point that now, even the upper echelons of the academy found it difficult to see him.
"What a fine treasured land of feng shui."
To avoid attracting attention, Lu Yang had already dispersed his form, turning into a ball of formless qi, observing the Vast Righteous Academy with great interest. In his view, this academy could be called a place where outstanding people gathered and the land itself was spiritual. Throughout the entire Heavenly Capital City, only this place was overflowing with spiritual energy.
Even if an ordinary person were to study here for a few years, they would develop a bit of spiritual wisdom and cleverness. But what was even more brilliant was that this was not a natural creation, but an artificial one.
This included the overall layout of the academy, the position of each classroom, the placement of flowers, birds, fish, and insects, and various landscapes. It was as if the mortal "art of feng shui" had been sublimated, faintly resembling the nascent form of a spirit-gathering formation!
Based on this point alone, Lu Yang knew that the 'Sage Heart Scholar' definitely had something to him. Thinking of this, Lu Yang took a step and arrived directly at a study deep within the academy, preparing to meet this famous native. Then, he was astonished by the scene inside the study.
This was because the person in the study was not the handsome scholar with a feathered fan and silk turban he had imagined, but a disheveled man with messy hair who was constantly drinking wine. This was the 'Sage Heart Scholar'. Just then, the disheveled man suddenly looked up, his drunken eyes hazy as he gazed at Lu Yang's position.
"I didn't expect a distinguished guest to grace my door."
"..."
With a thought, Lu Yang re-formed his body, transforming from formless qi into a tangible form. He cupped his hands in a salute to the disheveled man.
"Lu Yang greets Daoist friend Wang."
"Boyuan greets the distinguished guest."
The disheveled man returned the salute, then patted his sleeves and stood up, saying in amazement, "The distinguished guest's skills are extraordinary. Your previous battle in the sky with the Martial Guardian King left me, Wang, stunned as if witnessing an immortal descending to the mortal realm... I just wonder what the distinguished guest's intention is in seeking me out?"
"I wish to discuss the Dao of Heaven and Man with you, Daoist friend."
Lu Yang went straight to the point, stating frankly, "The fourth step of the Martial Dao, Scrutinizing the Changes between Heaven and Man, I have some understanding of it, but I can't quite grasp the essentials. I ask for your guidance, Daoist friend." Wang Boyuan blinked upon hearing this.
"With the distinguished guest's abilities, you are also interested in the Martial Dao?"
"The stones of another mountain can be used to polish jade."
Lu Yang said calmly, "Are you willing to teach me, Daoist friend?" At these words, Wang Boyuan burst into laughter.
"A visitor is a guest, especially a distinguished one. If you wish to learn, I, Wang, will naturally tell you everything I know without reservation."
"However, the Dao of Heaven and Man is one of a hundred flowers blooming; it is created by a martial artist based on their understanding of heaven and earth and of themselves. Therefore, I cannot describe it to you in detail. I can only briefly explain my personal method. If you have any doubts, you can ask other Celestials."
With that said, the two sat down facing each other.
"The fourth step of the Martial Dao, I call it 'Scrutinizing the Changes between Heaven and Man'. As the name implies, it is to use one's own power to leverage the power of heaven and earth, to glimpse heavenly secrets through human effort!"
"My 'Fortune Gazing Art' is just like that. It contains the changes of the Three Powers."
"The Three Powers are heaven, earth, and man. First, observe man to know their facial features. Then, observe the earth to know its feng shui. Finally, observe heaven to know its fate! These three are interlinked in a chain!"
"Observe the earth through man, observe heaven through the earth, and observe fortune through heaven... At my level, I can know the changes in the world without stepping out of my home. I can observe the changes in the national fortune, where disasters will strike, where rebellions will arise, which officials are doing nothing, and which nobles are competing with the common folk for profit. I can mostly see all of it."
"Although there are still some errors and omissions, I can still be right seven or eight times out of ten..."
To Lu Yang's surprise, Wang Boyuan truly held nothing back, revealing the "Fortune Gazing Art" in its entirety. The changes within it even touched upon karma! Of course, this wasn't true divination of karma.
Strictly speaking, what Wang Boyuan did was merely "guessing." Therefore, he could not figure out the details, only get a general idea and know about some specific events. But even so, it was stunning enough!
How did he do it? Faced with Lu Yang's confusion, Wang Boyuan shook his head.
"To be honest, I just had a sudden flash of inspiration one day. There is no shortcut."
"I see."
Lu Yang could only nod at his words. The two then talked for several more hours before he got up to take his leave, planning to visit the other Celestials. At the same time, within the Wei family estate.
The Old Ancestor of the Yun family opened his Dharma eye and silently witnessed the entire exchange between Lu Yang and Wang Boyuan. Then, he retracted his gaze, his expression unchanging.
"What an ignorant Demon."
He had no interest in Wang Boyuan's enlightenment, because no one knew better than him that Wang Boyuan's enlightenment was something he had brought about by meddling with karma! In any case, it wasn't something that could truly comprehend karma, just a mortal's "method of guessing."
The Old Ancestor of the Yun family didn't care at all, and he couldn't help but sneer inwardly.
"Discussing the Dao with the Celestials? Is he trying to take a fifth step based on my foundation and pull the Martial Dao back onto the right track?"
Simply wishful thinking! After all, he had meddled with karma to have Wang Boyuan create the fourth step of the Martial Dao, raising the limit of the Martial Dao to the Perfection of the Qi Refining Realm. This was already the absolute limit.
Because the next step up was Foundation Establishment! And how could the method of Foundation Establishment be created by someone like Lu Yang? So, in the eyes of the Yun family's Old Ancestor, what Lu Yang was doing was a meaningless and futile effort.
According to the Yun family's Old Ancestor's calculations, the Celestial arts had already ruined Lu Yang's Sage's Theft cultivation. To break the deadlock, the only way was to first kill all the Celestials, then ban the Celestial arts. And what he needed to do was to kill Lu Yang's clone, forcing his true body to act personally.
In this way, Lu Yang would have fallen into the trap. From this perspective, Wang Boyuan was merely a pawn of the Yun family's Old Ancestor. And for a pawn, the Yun family's Old Ancestor naturally had not the slightest interest.
As for what was stunning in Lu Yang's eyes, it was not even worth mentioning in the eyes of the Yun family's Old Ancestor. Including Lu Yang himself, although the Yun family's Old Ancestor treated him seriously, there was always a trace of disdain hidden in his heart. Because in the end, they were just a group of mortals.
"With the 'Heaven-Scrutinizing Instrument' bestowed by the Sect Master, even a Foundation Establishment Daoist Master wouldn't be able to detect my presence. How many waves can a mere mortal stir up?"
Leaving the Vast Righteous Academy, Lu Yang once again transformed into formless qi, walking through the streets and alleys of Heavenly Capital City, carefully pondering his recent exchange with Wang Boyuan.
"Three Powers Fortune Gazing Art..."
Thousands of miles away, Lu Yang's true body opened his eyes. A round light shone brightly behind his head, and the Supreme Empyrean Treasured Record began to operate, silently deducing the various changes in Heavenly Capital City. The feedback from karma showed: everything was normal.
"Heavenly Capital City will be very stable for the next thirty years. There are no changes in karma, which is normal. After all, there are two Martial Dao Celestials presiding over it..."
Immediately after, Lu Yang suddenly changed his line of thinking. He no longer deduced the karma of the entire Heavenly Capital City from a "macro" perspective.
Instead, he learned from the "Fortune Gazing Art's" approach and turned to the people of Heavenly Capital City, deducing individual karma and then reverse-engineering the karma of heaven and earth based on the changes of the Three Powers. The reason for doing so was merely to verify the 'Fortune Gazing Art'. However, in the next second, Lu Yang froze.
"The breakfast stall on East Street, Wang Erniu's family of three. Using the Supreme Empyrean Treasured Record, supplemented by the Fortune Gazing Art, they should have a full house of children and grandchildren, yet there is a great tribulation of violent death..."
"The patrolling constable from the Six Fan School, Chen Qing... has a great tribulation of violent death."
"Li Chengrong, a great tribulation of violent death."
"Liu Xinshang, a great tribulation of violent death."
Tribulation! Tribulation! Tribulation!
Everyone, almost everyone Lu Yang saw in Heavenly Capital City, had a great tribulation of violent death in their fate. But when magnified to the scale of the entire city, there was no change at all! How was this possible?
If truly all the citizens of the city had a great tribulation of violent death, then the entire Heavenly Capital City would have long been shrouded in dark clouds. With his personality, he would absolutely not have come near... '...
Something's wrong!'
In an instant, Lu Yang's pupils contracted sharply! One can know the significant by observing the minute; one can calculate heaven through man. One person's calculation might be wrong, but if ten, a thousand, ten thousand people are all the same, then it is heaven that is wrong!
"The heavenly secrets and karma have been obscured... F*ck, there's a Foundation Establishment Daoist Master in this secret realm trying to harm me!?"