NOVEL NEXT Chapter 150: Languages
Yu Xuan wandered the bustling market for quite some time, weaving through the noise of haggling disciples and the occasional quarrel that nearly turned into a duel. The teleportation center wasn't far — clearly, his master had considered convenience for him.
But he wasn't heading there just yet.
He was searching for something. Last time, trying his luck with a fortune teller had paid off in unexpected ways.
"Since the Sect Points worked out before… might as well gamble again," he muttered to himself. Truth be told, the surname "Zhou" and that mysterious lady in black still lingered in his memory like good omens.
He also found himself wondering, when would he reach the level to peer into the heavens himself? As an Irregular, he wasn't bound to a single peak. That was his edge. Maybe he can study some divination Techniques in the Celestial Heaven Peak.
After roaming a while longer, Yu Xuan stopped before a fancy looking shop with surprisingly few customers. He waited his turn, then stepped inside.
The place was… colorful. Almost too colorful. Beast skins hung on the walls, party balloons floated lazily in the corner, and was that pepper spray on the counter? Yu Xuan squinted. Where did they even get this stuff?
At the center sat a young man with golden hair, unnaturally yellow tinted skin, and long, polished nails that gleamed under the lantern light, even though outside there was ambient sunlight. He lounged on a royal looking chair, a chart of prices displayed proudly beside him.
Yu Xuan sat across from him and glanced at the list.
50 Sect Points – Daily Horoscope (Written on colorful slips. Surprisingly popular with junior disciples.)
100 Sect Points – Simple but vague Prediction (You will either be lucky… or not.)
150 Sect Points – Minor glimpses through Crystal Divination (One vague event within three days. No refund)
200 Sect Points – Heavenly Book Flip - One random page flip (A metaphorical sentence that may apply to you.)
250 Sect Points – Mouse divination (A spirit mouse eats a piece of cheese. Whichever side it eats first is your omen.)
350 Sect Points – Dream Injection (Tonight you'll dream your own future, interpretation not included.)
500 Sect Points – Reverse Divination (Instead of predicting your future, it predicts what others will do when they meet you.)
The list was impressive but Yu Xuan choose the simple 100 Sect Points one.
'Vague is better than others', Yu Xuan thought, sliding over his payment.
The fortune teller extended his hand. "Give me your palm."
Yu Xuan obliged, watching curiously as the golden-haired man traced along his lines. His brows furrowed deeper with every passing second.
'...Why can't I read this?' the fortune-teller thought, growing uneasy.
He was no amateur — considered a prodigy in divination, in fact. Yet Yu Xuan's hand might as well have belonged to a stone if he can't do a random prediction. Oh? forgive that sometimes stones talk too, it is a cultivation world after all, who says a stone can't cultivate.
Yu Xuan didn't know why, but he had a sudden what would happen if a stone cultivated to immortality, will it gain consciousness?
Finally, the man sighed, reached under his desk, and pulled out a heavy book. It floated into the air, glowing faintly.
Yu Xuan's eyes widened. "Whoa… Now this is new."
Until now, his only experiences with divination were the cliché crystal ball setups. But this book was different. Ancient symbols shimmered as the fortune-teller began chanting in an unknown tongue.
And then… still nothing.
The golden-haired man froze mid-chant, frown deepening until his forehead looked like it could sprout new wrinkles.
Yu Xuan, however, was less focused on the fortune teller's frustration and more fascinated by the sound of the chant itself.
Languages had always been a curious part of the cultivation world.
Across the realms, countless races, tribes, and worlds had their own tongues and cultures. Yet above them all was the so-called "Cultivator's Tongue" — a universal language that bound cultivators together, making trade, duels, and bragging contests equally understandable.
Learning new languages here was simple.
A knowledge crystal could be slotted against one's forehead, and in a flash, one could speak fluently. That was, of course, the safe method.
The reckless method, if your mind was strong was to attempt a direct transfer of knowledge into the mind, which could make you fluent but headache were norms in this method. So most prepared the Knowledge crystal one.
But written languages were a different beast altogether.
Some scripts weren't just words on a page — they required cultivation levels to even read, let alone comprehend. The perfect example of this would be the "Universal Rune Characters" which are used in formations and arrays everywhere. He too, thought at some point, to carve out formations, but it was left behind in his mind.
Yu Xuan decided to add this task in his mental checklist. This would be very intresting. He also wanted to find, who spread this "Cultivator's Tongue" everywhere?
From Yu Xuan's understanding, the fortune-teller's chant belonged to that rare category.
He could hear it clearly, syllables ringing sharp in his ears, but the meaning slipped away like water through his fingers.
At least it wasn't the other kind — the ones where even hearing a word left you dizzy and vomiting blood.
He remembered reading about such dangerous tongues in his clan's Grand Library. Compared to those, this one was almost… playful.
The golden-haired man finally stopped and, with the confidence of someone who had run out of ideas, pulled out the most cliché of divination tools — a crystal ball.
Yu Xuan couldn't help but facepalm.
"Place your right hand on this," the fortune teller instructed solemnly, as if he were revealing some grand secret.
"Haha…" Yu Xuan chuckled under his breath, then obediently placed his palm on the sphere.
CRACK—
The crystal ball split with a sharp sound, faint lines spiderwebbing across its surface.
The fortune teller winced, shoulders sagging like a merchant who had just watched his last gold coin roll into the gutter.
The look on his face screamed: Great. My customer satisfaction rating is doomed.
Desperation flickered in his golden eyes. Without missing a beat, he shoved the broken sphere aside and pulled out a fresh, shinier crystal ball with the speed of someone who'd done this too many times before.
"Ah, just a minor defect," he said quickly, smiling — the kind of smile that belonged on a shady salesman.
"This one will be… more accurate."
***
[A/N: We hit 150 Chapters, a new milestone!!!]