I attained immortality in the real world.

Chapter 18 Tomorrow is Promising
Yuanjie, Xiaotuan Mountain.

On a branch of an ancient peach tree, an eye suddenly opened, emitting a faint golden light.

The vibrant green peach leaves on the branches were withering at a visible rate, while the eyes, having frantically absorbed nutrients, became even more dazzling.
Within the realm of formlessness, Chen Jing's third vertical eye, positioned between his brows, radiated golden light as he calmly gazed at Zhou Qing before his fortune-telling stall. His fortune-telling system was operating at full capacity, drawing upon a large amount of computing power to calculate the auspiciousness and inauspiciousness of the next ten days.

Without any further explanation, he stated the fortune-telling result in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear: "I see that your forehead is dark and your eyes are dull and lifeless. This is an ominous sign, a sign of great misfortune. You will not live more than ten days."

fierce! Bad luck! !
Good! Very good!!
Ordinary people believe that it's better to believe something exists than to believe it doesn't.

Zhou Qing, however, knew that no one could predict the future, and upon hearing the ominous signs, he was not angry but rather pleased.
At this moment, the more vicious Chen Jing's words were, the louder and more beautiful the wails would be in the future; just thinking about it made one's body tremble slightly.

He turned to the crowd and said, “I ask you all to be my witnesses. If I, Zhou Qing, am still alive in ten days, this charlatan will have all his teeth and teeth taken from me.”

"........."

Wanjia Restaurant, second floor.

The young man in brocade turned to look at the fortune teller, who was stroking his beard and smiling.

His eyes seemed to say: Didn't you always say he wouldn't agree, and that the only way out was to close down and run away?

The experienced fortune teller's smile froze on his face. He plucked out a few hairs from his beard without even noticing, muttering, "There's no reason for this! The young fortune teller had absolutely no chance of winning, so why would he be so unwise as to accept the bet? Is he just picking on his teeth? Is he just naturally averse to hard food?"

The young man in brocade robes, unfamiliar with physiognomy, was learning about it from Master Wen. Somewhat puzzled, he asked, "Isn't fortune and misfortune the easiest things to predict?"

The fortune teller shook his head and then nodded, feeling that it was a bit complicated to explain. He paused and said, "The difficulty depends on the situation. I'll tell you a joke from the fortune teller's school, and you'll understand why!"

“There were once two fortune tellers and a scholar who took shelter from the rain in a dilapidated temple. As soon as the rain stopped, the scholar got up and left the temple.”

"One of the fortune tellers, known as the Half-Immortal, said: 'This boy's face is like a canopy; he will surely be the top scholar in the imperial examination.'"

Another fortune teller, known as the Divine Fortune Teller, also spoke up: "This boy's love star is shining brightly; he will surely be chosen as a son-in-law by the daughter of a high-ranking official."

"The immortal was not convinced and continued to deduce: I predict that a year from now, this boy will definitely abandon his studies and take up a military career, and go to the border to make meritorious contributions."

"The diviner, intrigued, began: 'I observe him two years from now…'"

"The two fortune tellers thus began to compete, predicting the scholar's fate more than a decade later."

"While the two fortune tellers were arguing fiercely, they woke up the beggar who was resting in the dilapidated temple."

The beggar scoffed, “You only see his future for a dozen years or so, but I know his fate a hundred years from now. This boy will surely be nothing but a skeleton in a tomb a hundred years from now, vanished by water and mud. If you really want to compete, why don’t you calculate how much food I can beg for today?”

The two fortune tellers looked at each other, neither willing to say another word.

The story is simple: it mocks the fortune teller for his arrogant pronouncements, saying that he couldn't even calculate how much a beggar would eat that day, yet he dared to predict major events in the world.

However, since the story was told by an old fortune teller, there must be a deeper meaning in it. The young man in brocade seemed to understand something, paused and said, "It is easy to calculate a hundred years. You always say that the closer you are, the harder it is to calculate. However, it is only recently that the scholar has been on the list."

"The fact that the scholar passed the exam is based on the fact that he started studying more than ten years ago, his family rose to prominence a hundred years ago, or even the imperial examination system was established hundreds of years ago. So it is not surprising that the prediction was accurate."

"While begging for food may seem simple, it involves everyone in a city, and there is no fixed number. How can it be predicted accurately?" "In fact, this matter is decided by the beggar's own decision. Whether to go begging or not, how much food to beg for before resting, is all up to the beggar's own decision. Even if the fortune teller has great abilities, he cannot see into the beggar's heart."

"A fortune teller who can predict events ten years from now is actually just believing that a certain prediction will happen within ten years, which is considered an average level among fortune tellers."

"If one can predict events a year from now, one's physiognomy skills will surely be extraordinary. If one can predict events a month from now, one can be called a half-immortal."

"Only gods and demons can predict tomorrow's events."

It's not about how far away it is, nor how big it is, nor how small it is. The future is uncertain, and fortune-telling relies on guessing. It turns out that fortune-telling isn't so mysterious after all; it's just still a bit shrouded in mystery.

After a moment's thought, the young man in brocade robes said, "If I just make a plan for tomorrow and then strictly follow it, I can predict eight or nine out of ten things that will happen tomorrow. Wouldn't that be comparable to a god or demon?"

The fortune teller nodded: "That's right, so everyone is their own god or Buddha. Today, that fortune teller was clearly deliberately stirring up trouble, and the young fortune teller was acting against the gods and Buddhas, which is why I said he was bound to lose."

"……………………"

At the alley entrance, due to the intimidating presence of Xu You and his two companions, no one dared to approach the fortune-telling stall.

Even with no customers coming in, Chen Jing didn't pack up his physiognomy stall and go offline. Instead, he continued to observe the samples of passersby in the Boundless Realm and used rule-altering techniques to improve the physiognomy system.

I plan to spend the next ten days like this, since as long as passersby glance at the photo stall, they will think of the bet ten days later, which will generate more buzz.

Just when I thought I'd be spending the day doing nothing, everything suddenly went dark. A burly man who looked like a guard stood in front of me like an iron tower and said, "My young master is interested in physiognomy and would like to invite you for a cup of tea to discuss some of his insights on physiognomy."

The guard wore a ring with a winged tiger design.

Having been to the palace before and seen the world, Chen Jing naturally recognized the insignia of the elite Imperial Guards. He nodded and said, "It is my honor to be invited by such a distinguished person. Please lead the way, sir."

The guards led Chen Jing to the Wanjia Restaurant at the corner. They went up to a private room on the second floor, where the guards stood guard outside the door like petrified lions.

There were only two people in the private room: an elderly man with white hair and an unfriendly face, and a boy of about thirteen or fourteen years old dressed in brocade.

The boy had handsome features and an elegant demeanor, but these were not the main points. The main point was that the boy's appearance bore a striking resemblance to the King of Tai Sui.

The elite Imperial Guards, serving as his personal bodyguards, were able to visit a place like Zhu Zi City at the age of thirteen or fourteen.

Chen Jing roughly guessed the boy's identity, but said nothing more, and bowed with his hands clasped: "Zhu Kui, a scholar from Tai Sui Kingdom, greets your esteemed guest."

His surname is Zhu, but his signboard says "Chen Banxian" (a pseudonym).
A scholar who achieves the rank of Xiucai (a degree in the imperial examination system) may not be able to become an official, but he can become a retainer in the homes of high-ranking officials. It is truly puzzling that he would not end up in the marketplace.

The young man in brocade robes looked surprised and waved his hand, saying, "No need for formalities. I heard you giving physiognomy readings earlier and I felt that your knowledge of physiognomy was quite profound. I have only just started learning about physiognomy and I am still very confused. May I ask how you view 'physiognomy'?"

The Grand Duke Jupiter List requires knowledge as a threshold, appearance as an entry ticket, and the monarch as the only one who can make a decision with a single word.

Chen Jing knew that the benefactor he had encountered this time could influence the king's will, so this was an opportunity to improve his ranking on the Tai Sui List.

(End of this chapter)