Chapter 3 Divination Is Truly Addictive
Fenrir truly considered Xu Lie his friend; not only did he let him watch TV together, but he also dug out a pile of old bottle caps, matchboxes, and soda cans.
With a hint of reluctance in his eyes, he eventually pushed them towards Xu Lie, indicating that since Xu Lie had given him a gift, he, too, wanted to return the favor.
Faced with such a pure heart, Xu Lie, who was originally anxious to return and deal with the nine great primordial substances, couldn't help but soften, staying to play with the little one for another ten-odd minutes.
Only then did he pack the bottle caps into his backpack and bid farewell.
He had to leave. Although today's Preparatory Class schedule was packed, even including practical combat training, Xia Mi was very likely unable to get away.
But what if Xia Mi remotely sensed someone intruding into Nibelungen and decided to return?
Wouldn't that be disastrous?
Although, according to the original description, Xia Mi didn't notice when the 'healer trio' snuck in, who could guarantee that Lu Mingze wasn't involved?
Even with Sefirah Castle, he might be able to pre-emptively use the Miracle Invoker's resurrection, but it wasn't a sure thing; who could say for certain that he would be resurrected?
His previous risky visit to Fenrir was because he was on the verge of collapsing from the nine great primordial substances, and he couldn't afford to consider too much.
Now that he had successfully advanced to Sequence 7 and had hope of dealing with the nine great primordial substances, as a member of the 'cautious' faction, he naturally had to remain cautious.
Fenrir was very reluctant: "Huang Tao, will you still come to play with me?"
Xu Lie fell silent for a moment, turning to look at Fenrir, whose lower half was fused with the underground rock wall.
As a Dragon King, never seeing the light of day, without freedom, only able to be stuck in a wall watching an 18-inch TV – would such a life be too painful?
For some reason, Xu Lie suddenly remembered the tabby cat his grandmother kept when he was a child.
Every year during the winter and summer holidays, he would return to his grandmother's house. When he left, his grandmother's tabby cat would always squat at the door and 'meow' at him.
The tiny cat and the giant dragon before him, despite their vast difference in size, gradually overlapped: "Yes, I'll come back to play with you."
Fenrir then happily let out a 'roar.' This dragon roar was like a control center; after the roar, a train whistled into the station, stopping steadily in front of Xu Lie.
Xu Lie boarded the train and left, the journey smooth and uneventful.
Even if that wisp of gray fog had long since vanished, the dense aura of Fenrir was enough to suppress all the Kamaitachi in the tunnel.
The train moved forward in the Darkness, and Xu Lie closed his eyes, trying his best to ignore the agitation of the nine great primordial substances in his mind.
He silently chanted: 'I will not encounter anyone I know when I leave the subway station, I will leave…'
After repeating it seven times, his left eyelid twitched twice, beyond his conscious control.
It worked!
Xu Lie reopened his eyes, his mood greatly improved. When he advanced to Sequence 7 Cryptologist, he gained a large amount of mysticism knowledge.
This included parts of divination and anti-divination.
Using the folk belief that 'a twitching left eye signifies good fortune and smoothness, while a twitching right eye signifies disaster and trouble,' one could appropriately predict good or bad fortune even without divination tools.
However, the mysticism knowledge gained by the Cryptologist stated that divination relies on one's connection with the Spirit World and the Cosmos to predict good or bad fortune.
But in the Dragon World, there is no Spirit World at all. So why could divination be performed?
Is it because the 'mystery' system was forcefully embedded into this world, and the world naturally adapted?
While contemplating these questions, Xu Lie had already walked out of the subway station, re-entering the bustling sea of people. He didn't see Xia Mi suddenly appear, and thus completely relaxed.
It's enough that the divination works. As for why it works without the Spirit World, perhaps he'll unravel the mystery when his Sequence is higher in the future.
Following the crowd out of the subway station, Xu Lie took a taxi to a small street motel he had booked in advance, continuing to silently chant, as if addicted: 'I will arrive safely at the motel…'
His left eyelid twitched again, and Xu Lie's mood improved further. Although one shouldn't rely on divination or be superstitious about it, the joy of being able to predict whether everything will go smoothly is truly irresistible.
Xu Lie had pre-booked a street motel that cost a few dozen yuan a night, the kind where ID cards don't even need to be entered into a computer.
He quickly entered the room, locked the door, closed the windows tightly, and impatiently began the ritual.
First, he spiritually sealed the room, then took out the ritual materials he had prepared in advance.
He was merely praying to himself, so Xu Lie didn't need to make it too complicated. There were no candles made of flowers, herbs, or sandalwood, no essential oil diffusers, nothing of the sort.
The candles were cheap ones, a few yuan a pack from the general store, and the essential oils and offerings were replaced by Six God Florida Water.
It was fortunate that true gods didn't exist in the Dragon World; otherwise, praying to a true god with these materials would probably result in his demise.
Xu Lie lit the candles in order, muttering: "Fingers that pluck the hands of time."
"Shadows that wander the fate."
"Incarnation of deception and mischief."
Pure, authentic Chinese, not ancient Hermes language at all.
Xu Lie wasn't sure of the specific reason why Chinese could be used for rituals and prayers.
Could it be that within the 'mystery' system, Chinese itself possessed very high mystical elements? He decided not to think about it for now, saving it for future exploration.
As for the chanted honorific name of Amon? It didn't matter.
For more than two months since he transmigrated, Xu Lie had been plagued by severe headaches. He simply didn't have the leisure to reconstruct a new honorific name, so he just made do. Anyway, there was no Amon in the Dragon World.
After chanting the honorific name, Xu Lie absurdly took out the Six God Florida Water and dripped it onto the candle flame. The fire and dew contact, emitting a faint white smoke with a scorched mint smell.
"I pray for the power of deception."
"I pray for the power of theft."
"I pray for the favor of Error, I pray that You grant me the power to complete the doppelganger charm."
As Xu Lie's 'sincere' 'prayer' continued, endless layers of gray fog surged in his mind, as if to completely envelop Xu Lie, envelop the motel, envelop this world.
From within the thick gray fog, dense enough to seemingly obscure fate, a worm no longer than a finger, with twelve rings, poked its head out.
Amidst the ritualistic prayer, and under Xu Lie's control of Sefirah Castle, the worm split into another almost transparent twelve-ringed worm.
Specks of gray fog closely followed the new transparent worm, along with a very small portion of Xu Lie's soul, all converging into the metal coin in front of Xu Lie, causing Xu Lie's mind to momentarily empty.
His soul felt as if it had suffered an illness, slightly weak, and a portion of his spirituality had also been consumed.
After a brief moment of disorientation, Xu Lie regained consciousness. The candles had extinguished at some point, leaving only the metal coin quietly lying before him.
Success or failure depended on this one attempt. Xu Lie's expression was complex, a mix of anticipation and trepidation. In the end, he picked up the coin: "Doppelganger."
The transparent twelve-ringed worm reappeared, twisting slightly in mid-air, instantly enlarging into a human form. Immediately after, a second 'Xu Lie' appeared in the room.
'Xu Lie' looked left and right, as if searching for something: "You didn't prepare a monocle for me, did you, main body?"
Receiving no response, 'Xu Lie' looked up and saw the main body's expression, which was so speechless it almost made him laugh.
'Xu Lie' rolled his eyes in exasperation: "Alright, alright, I'll go to Sefirah Castle now, okay? Sigh, doppelgangers have no human rights!"
Leaving his complaints behind, the doppelganger transformed into a transparent worm and burrowed into Xu Lie's main body's head, then entered Sefirah Castle.
The heavy burden in Xu Lie's mind immediately lightened. Sefirah Castle was no longer agitated, though the other eight great primordial substances were still restless.
It works! A doppelganger residing in a Sefirah can really suppress its agitation!
Relighting the candles, Xu Lie began to pray mechanically, attempting to create more doppelgangers to completely solve the problem of the nine great primordial substances continuously holding a concert in his head.
I hope everyone enjoys reading it, and it would be even better if you could follow it closely. I am immensely grateful.