"Even the wisest can overlook something. We've been thieves for a thousand days, and that person has been guarding against thieves for a thousand days; no matter how meticulous, there's always a moment of negligence, exposing a flaw for you to calculate once, that's normal..."
A gleam of astuteness flashed in the middle-aged cultivator's eyes, "We must seize this opportunity!"
He threw two Spirit Stones onto the table, then immediately stood up, "There's no time to lose, let's set out now."
The emaciated elder nodded, but was still somewhat doubtful of himself.
The young man in white, however, was invigorated, with longing in his eyes as he thought of the person he might soon meet.
The three set off immediately, following the lead of the divination signs, heading eastward from the Minor Wilderness State Boundary.
In just a few days, the trio arrived at the outskirts of South Yue City.
The middle-aged cultivator asked, "Is this the place?"
The emaciated elder nodded, "According to the divination signs, yes."
The middle-aged cultivator fell silent for a moment, then asked, "What do you think?"
The emaciated elder pondered for a moment, then said, "Let's enter the city first to see what's going on."
"Won't this alarm our quarry?" the middle-aged cultivator was somewhat concerned.
The emaciated elder sneered, "What are you thinking? By the time you thought of coming here, that person might have already known. Our being here is just to try our luck, to see if there are any clues, to see if that person wants to meet us..."
The middle-aged cultivator looked astonished and couldn't help muttering:
"Is it really that mystical?"
The emaciated elder shook his head with a look that said "you cannot discuss the ice with a summer insect," and then he looked at the young man in white and warned:
"Young master, remember what I told you: you can look, but speak little and do less. The causality here is too great, and we cannot afford to provoke it."
The young man in white's expression turned solemn, and he nodded his head.
The three entered South Yue City, settled down in an inn, and did some inquiring.
After their inquiries, the trio gathered again, all wearing puzzled expressions.
"Why are there so many familiar faces?"
"Xie family from Kun State, Tu Family from Li State, Yuan Family from Qian State..."
"Hidden Taoist Sect, Return Sword Sect, Ten Thousand Formation Mountain..."
"Did they all calculate it?" the middle-aged cultivator frowned.
The emaciated elder thought for a moment, then suddenly realized:
"It turns out it's not just me who calculated it, but everyone did, or rather, that person let us all calculate it..."
The emaciated elder suddenly felt a lot more at ease.
In matters of Heavenly secret Calculation, it's not bad to be mediocre; it's unexpected complications that are feared.
Being mediocre at most means failing to calculate anything, and that's no big deal.
What's really feared is an accident:
If you suddenly can't calculate something you normally could, or if you suddenly manage to calculate something you normally couldn't.
That's when trouble might become serious...
If someone interferes with the Heavenly secret or there's a shocking change.
Knowing his own limits, the emaciated elder now saw that everyone was present and had also calculated, showing that his skill level had not changed, was just as before, comfortably "mediocre."
The heavy weight on the emaciated elder's heart was finally lifted.
Then he began to wonder again:
"That person, elusive as a dragon, why would suddenly reveal this bit of trace and entice everyone here? What's the purpose?"
Not only was the emaciated elder curious, but all the cultivators who had converged on South Yue City shared this doubt.
But despite their long search, they still found nothing.
Not understanding, the emaciated elder relaxed his Divine Sense, scanning South Yue City.
There was nothing unusual about South Yue City.
He looked again at the mines outside the city.
Still, he found nothing.
"Impossible..."
Not giving up, the emaciated elder set up the Three Talents Divination Copper Coin and cast a divination. This time, he indeed sensed something fishy.
The elder pondered for a moment, then cast a spell, blue light gathering in his eyes as he stripped away the outer appearance and glanced once more toward the mine outside the city.
This look turned his face pale, his heart filled with dread, as he cried out:
"A sky-high surge of Corpse Qi!"
"Damn, how many zombies must there be?!"