A night of silence passed, and when Ding Yan finally came to his senses, it was already the next morning.
Sighing, Ding Yan got up, organized his jumbled memories, then found a vacant space and sat cross-legged. Closing his eyes, he formed a complex mudra with his right hand.
Divination - a small method of deducing the fate of mortals.
Mudra is the most basic magical technique.
The methods of cultivators can be roughly divided into three categories, the lowest being mudra. Mudra's existence is basically for the convenience of the cultivator's daily life, such as dust removal, wind clearing, and so on. Mudra lacks any attack method, and the requirements for practicing mudra are also very low; even non-cultivators can practice it.
Above mudra is Dao technique. The existence of Dao technique already belongs to the category of cultivators. Powerful Dao techniques can burn the sky, boil the sea, and change the space-time. Weak Dao techniques are only slightly stronger than ordinary martial arts. It can be said that the most commonly used method for practitioners in today's world is Dao technique. It can also be said that Dao technique is the mainstream of today's cultivation world.
Above that is Immortal technique.
The existence of Immortal technique is already part of legend, and any Immortal technique is a heaven-defying existence. Even the weakest Immortal technique is ten times or even a hundred times stronger than the strongest Dao technique. It is even rumored that Immortal techniques can break through space and peer into the origins of the world.
As time passed, the mudra in Ding Yan's hand became increasingly complex.
From afar, Ding Yan's palm seemed to be shrouded in a piece of starlight.
This small method was learned by Ding Yan in his previous life from an old Daoist in the mundane world.
It is said that the person who created this method was also a Daoist, a Daoist who made a living by fortune-telling. This method can be used to deduce the fate of mortals, everything from the past, present, to the future can be deduced. As for cultivators, their fates are impossible to deduce. Because compared to mortals, cultivators have already transcended the cycle of reincarnation. If one wants to deduce the fate of a cultivator, probably a Dao-level heavenly method is needed.
After Ding Yan formed the 999th mudra, the light in his hand suddenly dispersed, and then an illusory image appeared in his mind.
The content of the image was a woman in splendid attire, sitting on a giant boulder, propping her chin with her hands, staring blankly at the sky.
Click...
When Ding Yan tried to observe further, the image suddenly shattered, emitting a crisp sound.
Ding Yan frowned.
"There is too little qi, which only allowed for the deduction of an image."
Divination is not an extraordinary supernatural power. In order to deduce someone's fate, one must have the person's qi. After spending a night in the ruins of Yi Shui, Ding Yan collected some residual qi and barely deduced an image.
He didn't have a chance to take a closer look, as the picture shattered before he had the chance. He couldn't even see clearly who the person in the picture was, but the only thing he could be sure of was that the person in the painting was a survivor of Yishui, but whether it was Ding Ling, Ding Yan is not sure now.
Standing up, Ding Yan said, "It seems that I must make a trip to the caravan."
In a flash, his figure turned into a stream of light and disappeared into the sky.
The caravan, located on the southwest side of Qiushui Town, at the storefront of Wu Gu Mountain, has a total of one hundred and thirty-six people. Among them are many notorious river bandits and criminals. The head of the caravan, Ma Dequan, is said to be a renegade from Shaolin, who has cultivated an extremely powerful external martial art skill.
In Qiushui Town, the caravan holds great power, even the county magistrate has to be humble before them. In the martial arts world, the caravan is notorious, and even the prestigious sects are unwilling to provoke them. This is a group of fugitives, an association formed by outlaws.
The caravan, the backyard of the mountain stronghold.
This is where the elite members of the caravan reside.
Yinyang Xiushi pushed open the door, walked into the courtyard, stretched his muscles, and began to practice palm techniques. This set of Bagua Palm is the Xiushi's renowned martial art skill in the martial arts world, causing many seniors in the martial arts world to be disgraced by it.
Xiushi practiced each move with great seriousness.
Along with his strength, there was always silent effort. After immersing himself in this set of Bagua Palm for more than twenty years, Xiushi had already comprehended its essence, and he was confident that in the entire martial arts world, the number of people who could defeat him was limited.
Creak...
The wooden door behind him opened.
A woman came out holding a baby in swaddling clothes, and upon seeing Yinyang Xiushi, she hurriedly said, "Second Master, something is wrong, the young master has a fever again. If this continues, it's likely to harm the child's brain..."
"What's the matter? Didn't I use internal energy to help him alleviate it?" Yinyang Xiushi stopped his palm techniques and walked over to take the child.
The woman was the wet nurse hired by Yinyang Xiushi to look after his son.
As for the child's mother...thinking of her made Yinyang Xiushi briefly lost in thought.
The child's mother was dead, killed by Yinyang Xiushi himself. Yinyang Xiushi couldn't understand why he was attracted to her. As the second-in-command of the caravan, Yinyang Xiushi, renowned in the martial arts world, was fond of a stubborn girl.
During the massacre, Yinyang Xiushi was responsible for leading the group that was collecting food on behalf of the caravan, and as usual, he ordered the villagers to be slaughtered without leaving anyone alive. In the light of the fire, Yinyang Xiushi inadvertently saw the girl that moved his heart. On a whim, Yinyang Xiushi kept her and took her back to the mountain. After a night, the baby was born.
Yinyang Xiushi tried to change the stubborn girl's view of him, but no matter how hard he tried, the girl's eyes showed only hatred towards him.
In the end, Yinyang Xiushi killed her.
But the child remained...
He named the child Yang Ling, Yang being his surname, and Ling being the name of the child's mother.
"Doctor Ping said that there is a strange aura in the child's body, and it's this strange aura that causes the child to be frequently ill. Doctor Ping tried many methods but couldn't dispel the aura," the woman said anxiously.
The woman genuinely cared for the child.
"Even internal energy is not effective?" Yinyang Xiushi asked.
Doctor Ping, also known as the Poisonous Doctor with Ghostly Hands, is a unique figure in the martial arts world, and there are very few diseases that he cannot cure. Yinyang Xiushi had put in a lot of effort to ask for his help.
"Doctor Ping attempted and said it's not effective. It's estimated that only the power of an immortal might be able to dispel it..." the woman shook her head.
Immortals are beings beyond the ordinary, and in front of them, any martial arts master is as weak as a baby.
Yinyang Xiushi once witnessed a renowned martial arts master being struck dead with a palm by an immortal. The momentum of that scene was imprinted in Yinyang Xiushi's mind, an unforgettable memory. After that incident, Yinyang Xiushi stayed away from the capital and came alone to this remote area, joining the caravan and becoming a bandit.
"Immortal..."
Yinyang Xiushi sighed, then suddenly, a sense of vigilance arose in him, and he shouted, "Who?"