Chapter 1371: The Miserable Elder Feng

"..."

His face twitched. Zhang Xuan was stunned, standing there, not knowing whether to withdraw his hand or not, at a loss for what to do.

If he had talent, then he had talent; if he didn't, then he didn't... Why did it explode?

I only used a bit of Heavenly Dao true energy to disguise myself, and borrowed a little power from the library; I didn't do anything else...

Seeing how Elder Feng had taken out this item earlier, treating it as a family heirloom, and now it had exploded into powder... Wouldn't he fight me to the death?

Just as he was at a loss, he saw the old man, who had been all smiles moments ago, appear before him, staring at the shattered tortoise shell on the ground, his face twitching incessantly, as if he had gone mad.

"Master..."

Not expecting this outcome either, Yuchen was too frightened to speak.

Others might not fully understand the importance of this item to his master, but he knew it well; shattering into powder was like taking his master's life directly.

"My tortoise shell..."

Sure enough, trembling incessantly, Elder Feng reached out his hand, stroking the fragments scattered on the ground, as if he had aged countless years in an instant.

"Elder Feng, he didn't mean it. How about... I find someone to glue it for you? Look, it already had many cracks and was about to break. Last year, I met a craftsman in Chen Family Village; his work is exquisite, the price is fair, and he doesn't cheat the young or old. Why don't I introduce him to you..."

Luo Xuanqing comforted him.

"Pfft!"

Elder Feng could no longer hold back and spat out blood.

"Cough, cough..."

Rolling his eyes at his brother-in-law, Zhang Xuan was speechless.

If you don't know how to comfort someone, just don't, alright?

A tortoise shell of this level was extremely precious; would gluing it even work?

"Elder Feng, since it's already broken, don't be sad. It's just a tortoise shell. Tomorrow I'll catch a few more turtles for you. You can make as many as you want, and you can even stew the meat..."

After thinking for a moment, Zhang Xuan said with full sincerity.

"Pfft! Pfft!"

Elder Feng spat out even more blood.

"How about... I help you make another one..."

Seeing that the more he comforted, the more the other spat blood, Zhang Xuan didn't know what to say.

When he touched it earlier, the Library of Heaven's Path had generated a book. Although this tortoise shell had a long heritage and a high level, it also had many flaws. If he was willing to put in the effort and collect enough books, it should be possible to recreate a similar one, or even one of a higher level!

Thinking of this, he immersed his consciousness into the library again, intending to continue studying the possibility of replicating the tortoise shell, when he heard Yuchen's tense voice from the side.

"Master..."

His voice trembled, as if filled with great panic.

Hearing his urgent call, Elder Feng, who was full of sorrow, turned around.

"Look..."

Yuchen pointed upward.

Looking up hastily, Elder Feng's pupils contracted.

Seeing their strange expressions, Zhang Xuan and the others also looked up. At the sight, they all stood dumbfounded.

They saw that the roof above, shaped like a tortoise shell, was now covered with huge cracks, slowly spreading upward. The runes and formations used to stabilize it were completely ineffective, as if encountering an irreversible force.

"How could this happen?"

No longer caring about spitting blood, Elder Feng grabbed his head.

The Xi Sage Tortoise Shell exploded just like that; it could be said that it was old and had been used for divination too many times, incurring the punishment of the Heavenly Dao. But this... this building had cost countless manpower and resources to construct, was extremely sturdy, and even a full-force attack from a peak Saint Realm Level 8 expert wouldn't damage it. Why... was it starting to collapse too?

"Stop!"

With a roar, he thrust his palm upward.

He wanted to halt the collapse of the formation and preserve this foundation.

However, even as his true energy surged up, it could not alleviate the collapse of the formation and the building. It seemed that an unknown force was invading, one that no human power could resist.

Before such a force, even a Saint Realm Level 9 expert was just an ant, amounting to nothing.

Crack! Crack!

Unable to bear it any longer, a series of rumbles followed as countless rocks slid down from above. The many diviners who had been meditating were all startled, opening their eyes wide and fleeing outward.

Zhang Xuan and the others didn't know whether to flee or not, so they had to release their true energy to form a protective shield against the falling debris.

Rustle, rustle!

Dust rose, and the somewhat old tortoise-shell building turned into a pile of rubble in less than a minute. The various formations contained within were also destroyed.

"This..."

Zhang Xuan blinked: "It's too flimsy. If it were an ordinary person, wouldn't they be crushed to death on the spot?"

The tortoise-shell building outside looked quite nice, but it turned out to be so useless despite its appearance. Fortunately, they were strong; otherwise, if it fell on their heads, no matter how many lives an ordinary person had, they wouldn't survive.

"Pfft!"

Trembling again, Old Feng spat out another mouthful of blood.

"Master, what exactly happened?"

Hurrying over, Yuchen looked at him with great concern, afraid that the teacher might be so grieved as to die on the spot.

"It should be the backlash of the Heavenly Dao..."

After steadying himself for a while, Old Feng finally recovered, exhaled a breath, and looked at the ruins all around with deep sorrow.

"Backlash?"

Yuchen was puzzled.

"Heavenly Fate Masters seek opportunities and steal the secrets of heaven and earth, naturally incurring the deep hatred of the Heavenly Dao. However, we use special means to shield this aura, so the other party cannot detect us... Just now, it seems that this method suddenly lost its effect, and the majesty of the Heavenly Dao erupted from within, causing this..."

After a moment of hesitation, Old Feng spoke slowly.

As a nine-star Heavenly Fate Master, although the tortoise shell shattered somewhat strangely and the house collapsed somewhat abnormally, with careful deduction, he could still understand some things.

Any profession, when cultivated to its peak, will incur the jealousy of heaven and earth, just like the Soul Departure Tribulation and the Cave Void Tribulation, which are punishments from heaven and earth for the strong.

Heavenly Fate Masters, who peek at the Heavenly Dao, are more prone to punishment, but they take preventive measures in advance. For example, in some special places, when the police come, they hide the money and people in advance; if it's just entertainment without gambling, even if illegal, it's not too serious.

This profession, which can peek, naturally also prepares defenses. Never in their dreams did they expect that despite layers of defenses, they would still be discovered. Not only was the tortoise shell destroyed, but the entire Heavenly Fate Hall of the Saint Son Hall, a foundation of tens of thousands of years, was also destroyed in an instant...

Clutching his chest, Old Feng was full of heartache.

Zhang Xuan's eyebrows twitched.

He had thought it was because the tortoise shell and building were not sturdy; never in his dreams did he expect it to be related to the Heavenly Dao.

Just now, he had used the Library of Heaven's Path to examine the tortoise shell, and the shell shattered... then he calculated whether he could carve, and the hall collapsed...

Could it be that this situation was really related to that?

If so, he bore a great responsibility.

His face alternating between red and white, just as he was wondering how to explain, he saw Old Feng smile bitterly and look over.

"Master Zhang, you need not blame yourself! This matter has nothing to do with you. It may be that our Heavenly Fate Hall has been slack lately, failing to deduce some things, leading to such a mishap. Normally, although our profession requires caution in words and deeds and attention to the harmony of the Heavenly Dao, the profession itself is still very safe."

"Safe?" Seeing that the other party did not blame him, Zhang Xuan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He certainly couldn't mention the Library of Heaven's Path. Since the other party hadn't discovered it, it was better to keep a low profile and pretend to be confused.

As for the other's loss, he could find another excuse to compensate.

"Yes, what you saw was just an accident; such a situation wouldn't occur once in ten thousand years..."

Afraid that the rare genius he had finally encountered would develop a desire to retreat, Old Feng quickly explained: "If you don't believe me, look at the library over there—it has no problems at all."

Saying this, he pointed to one side.

Following the direction of his finger, Zhang Xuan looked and indeed saw a building standing not far away. Although it was connected to the huge tortoise shell, it was unaffected. Rows of bookshelves lined the room; while dust flew everywhere else, this place was clean as new.

"Are these all your books?"

Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up.

As long as he read books, he could condense Heavenly Dao techniques. Having caused the other party such trouble, he could also compensate.

"Yes!"

Old Feng nodded, showing pride: "Although the Heavenly Fate Hall of the Saint Son Hall has far fewer people than other professions, its collection of techniques and secrets is in no way inferior. Although the Xi Sage Tortoise Shell had an accident and was damaged, you can still test your talent and ability by reading books and learning..."

Previously, when the other party wanted to read books and learn to determine if he was suitable for this profession, he had not agreed, thinking it was troublesome.

Now that the Xi Sage Tortoise Shell was shattered, even if he wanted to test, he couldn't, so he had to use this most primitive method.

"Alright, let me take a look first..."

Hearing that he could read freely, Zhang Xuan breathed a sigh of relief. Before he even reached the place, his eyes swept over, and at the same time, he silently murmured in his heart: "Flaw!"

Boom!

Before the words faded, he saw the books before him instantly catch fire as if burned by a great flame, turning to ashes in the blink of an eye. Then the entire building, like the tortoise shell before, developed huge cracks.

In a few breaths, it collapsed, also becoming a pile of ruins.

"The library..." His face reddened again, and Old Feng spat out another mouthful of blood, seeming almost frantic.

What on earth was happening? How could the Heavenly Fate Hall suffer one disaster after another in the blink of an eye?

If it happened once, it could be said that the aura wasn't well concealed and was discovered by the Heavenly Dao. But three times in a row... even he didn't know how to explain it.

Zhang Xuan's mouth twitched again: "Could it be... because I read the books?"

If he wasn't sure before, this time, the library collapsed the moment he glanced at the books, confirming it.

Turning to look at the somewhat dazed old man, his heart was full of reluctance: "Old Feng, Old Feng, Old Feng..."

After calling three times without response, his guilt grew stronger. Just as he was about to observe carefully whether the other party had been too shocked and injured his vitality, he saw a thick bolt of lightning come from nowhere and strike straight down on the old man's head.

Crack!

Old Feng fell to the ground.

"Old Feng, you..."

His mouth twitching, Zhang Xuan hurried forward.

Bang bang bang bang!

Lightning engulfed the old man, leaving only one foot twitching incessantly outside, even the shoe shaken off.