Chapter 032: The Art of Divination

This was actually a very simple matter. If Yuan Tiangang could not divine himself, he could divine others in Luoyang to see if any of them had the ability to save the emperor.

Through such reverse screening, finding Wang Bo was not difficult.

Of course, Wang Bo naturally would not believe that Yuan Tiangang had calculated for every person in Luoyang.

As he said, Yuan had clearly used some method to find him.

"The Son of Heaven being cursed is indeed interesting, but why should I save him?" Wang Bo said lazily. The life or death of the Tang emperor had nothing to do with him.

Yuan Tiangang pulled a secret manual from his bosom and presented it to Wang Bo. "This contains the essence of my lifelong learning. If you are willing to save His Majesty, I am willing to give this to you."

Wang Bo thought for a moment and said, "If I remember correctly, you have an uncle named Yuan Shoucheng."

"Indeed."

Wang Bo said, "Bring me his art of divination, and I will act."

Although Yuan Shoucheng was not as famous as Yuan Tiangang, he was still a capable man who had appeared in *Journey to the West*. His skill in divination was no less than Yuan Tiangang's.

The most famous incident was the divination bet on rain at the Jing River, leading to Wei Zheng beheading the dragon in a dream.

This fellow once divined for an old fisherman, telling him where the fish would be, so the fisherman returned fully loaded every time, which caught the attention of the Jing River Dragon King.

The Jing River Dragon King transformed into a human and found Yuan Shoucheng, intending to lose his temper on the spot, but was awed by Yuan's "extraordinary appearance and elegant demeanor," so he set aside his contempt and asked Yuan for a divination.

He asked when it would rain and how much rain would fall.

Yuan Shoucheng replied, "Tomorrow, clouds will gather at the hour of Chen (7-9 AM), thunder will sound at the hour of Si (9-11 AM), rain will fall at the hour of Wu (11 AM-1 PM), and the rain will stop at the hour of Wei (1-3 PM). The total rainfall will be three feet, three inches, and forty-eight points."

Upon hearing this, the Jing River Dragon King happily returned, for he was the rain god; how could that mortal Yuan Shoucheng know the timing of heaven's rain better than he?

But as soon as he returned to the Jing River Palace, heaven decreed that rain would fall on Chang'an the next day, with the timing and amount exactly as Yuan Shoucheng had said. Though the dragon king was greatly shocked, sighing that such a man of profound knowledge existed in the world.

Thus it could be seen that Yuan Shoucheng was also a man who could endure and divine the secrets of heaven.

Therefore, Wang Bo made an exorbitant demand: if Yuan Tiangang could also bring him Yuan Shoucheng's art of divination, then he would act.

Yuan Tiangang agreed without hesitation. "Agreed, but His Majesty cannot wait. Please treat His Majesty now."

Wang Bo said, "Bring me your uncle's art of divination first, then I will act."

Yuan Tiangang said helplessly, "My uncle is currently in Chang'an. The round trip will take considerable time, and I fear His Majesty cannot hold out."

Wang Bo said, "That's easy. I'll send you back now."

With that, Wang Bo drew a circle and opened a teleportation portal. On the other side of the portal was the magnificent imperial palace.

Yuan Tiangang's eyes widened in disbelief at the sight, and he admired, "Miraculous! Your magic is truly miraculous!"

This was no exaggeration. Throughout the world of *Journey to the West*, most immortals traveled by riding clouds or mounting their flashy steeds.

Even Sun Wukong used his somersault cloud for travel.

Mortals used various escape techniques, but few had put great effort into spatial magic to open a portal directly to their destination.

To Yuan Tiangang, Wang Bo's feat was naturally miraculous, enough to astonish even immortals.

Wang Bo waved his hand and said, "Go."

Yuan Tiangang no longer insisted. He led his guards through the portal back to Chang'an and went that very night to find his uncle.

Wang Bo picked up the manual Yuan Tiangang had given him, called Xiao Bai and Xiao Qing over, and the three gathered together to slowly read it.

Speaking of the art of divination in the ancient world, one must mention a great sage.

Fuxi, one of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors!

Legend has it that Fuxi observed the clouds, rain, thunder, and lightning in the sky, and the wind, fog, birds, and beasts on the earth. Based on the principles of yin and yang change between heaven and earth, he created the Eight Trigrams—eight simple yet profound symbols to summarize all things in the universe.

Of course, there is more than one legend. Another says:

In ancient times, during the reign of Fuxi, a dragon horse emerged from the Yellow River in Mengjin County, northeast of Luoyang, bearing the 'River Map' on its back, which it presented to Fuxi. Fuxi used it to develop the Eight Trigrams, which later became the source of the *I Ching*.

But regardless, most arts of divination are inseparable from the Eight Trigrams and the *I Ching*.

And the art of divination Yuan Tiangang gave Wang Bo also originated from this.

Wang Bo's mind worked quickly. As he read, he comprehended. After going through Yuan Tiangang's divination art once, he understood about seventy to eighty percent. It must be said that after several evolutions, Wang Bo's brain was truly powerful.

He could now learn a new language in just over ten minutes. By reading a manual once, he could extract its essence and integrate it into his Solar Divine Art.

His understanding of this divination art was no exception.

While Xiao Bai and Xiao Qing were still frowning in confusion, Wang Bo was already guiding the two women.

Whenever Xiao Bai and Xiao Qing had a sudden insight, Wang Bo would have a new understanding, fully demonstrating the meaning of the saying 'reviewing the old helps one understand the new.'

Meanwhile, Yuan Tiangang came and went quickly.

In just one hour, he brought Yuan Shoucheng's divination art and placed it before Wang Bo.

"Sir, can you set out now?"

"No rush. Let me take a look first." Wang Bo picked up Yuan Shoucheng's manual. The ink was still wet, clearly just written.

Though it was only a few tens of thousands of characters, every word was a gem.

Wang Bo glanced over it and immediately understood: Yuan Shoucheng was making things difficult for him. Though he had not held back, he had deliberately written the divination art in a very profound manner. An ordinary person would be utterly baffled, as if reading a celestial script.

Even those well-versed in divination would find it dizzying, because it involved too many things.

But Wang Bo's brain was too advanced. Having just understood Yuan Tiangang's divination art, reading Yuan Shoucheng's now brought him not only amazement but also much gain.

Although the two overlapped in some content, their understandings differed, and their perspectives on things varied, which Wang Bo found very novel.

Soon, Wang Bo had digested the content of this divination art and could now anticipate the enemy's moves in battle.

As soon as the enemy moved, he could deduce all their actions and the course of the battle.

In this way, Wang Bo could remain undefeated.