Chapter 3: Seeking Auspiciousness and Avoiding Misfortune - The Great Brightness King Yan Tian Da Sheng

"Is there no absolute despair? Lu Jing seems quite optimistic."

In the Moonlight Pavilion, despite the considerable distance, Shengzi clearly heard Lu Jing's soft murmur.

Martial artists were different in their own way.

Lu Jing couldn't see the two figures in the Moonlight Pavilion, but Shengzi could faintly hear his muttering.

"I still have peach pastries from the Fragrant Delicacies Shop; I've already sent someone to fetch them."

Lu Yi was sitting on a soft cushion, pouring tea for herself.

On the table in the pavilion, there were many jade plates, each containing different dishes, all of which were colorful and fragrant.

"According to legend, the peach pastries from the Fragrant Delicacies Shop use peaches from Peach Mountain. Only the peach trees on Peach Mountain can bloom all year round. However, the mountain guardian, a Daoist, has a peculiar temperament and doesn't allow people to climb the mountain or pick peaches.

"Despite this, the Fragrant Delicacies Shop somehow managed to obtain peaches from Peach Mountain."

Lu Yi said with a hint of pride, "These peach pastries are limited in quantity. Because the Old Dowager has a connection with the Fragrant Delicacies Shop, she can receive ten boxes every month. After distribution, I only get two boxes each month. Today, since you're here, I'm willing to share them with you."

Shengzi turned her head and saw the array of exquisite dishes on the table.

The two of them had already eaten, but the remaining food on the table was enough to satisfy four or five strong men.

"The Nine Lakes Lu Family, even though it has lost its former glory and the General of the Divine Dawn has been demoted, still lives in luxury, with white jade halls and golden horses, extravagantly so."

Shengzi sighed inwardly and then looked at Lu Jing, who was far away at the stone table: "But such a powerful clan can't even accommodate a common-born son."

"Perhaps when the General of the Divine Dawn returns and learns that Lu Jing sacrificed himself to become a赘婿, allowing him to return to the capital, Lu Jing's situation might improve."

Shengzi remained silent. Lu Yi followed her gaze and faintly saw Lu Jing in the artificial hill.

"Hey, is that Lu Jing? He's still reading?"

Shengzi shook her head and walked out of the Moonlight Pavilion: "Let's go and take a look at other places."

Lu Yi couldn't care less about Lu Jing: "Shengzi, don't you want to try the peach pastries?"

"No, I'm tired of them."

---

A single oil lamp couldn't provide enough light for Lu Jing to read.

But perhaps due to Lu Jing's good luck, the moonlight that night was particularly clear and bright, with no clouds in the sky, illuminating the ground and making it easier for Lu Jing to read.

It was already the hour of the Pig (9 PM to 11 PM).

Lu Jing was carefully reading "Zhi Shen," pondering the thoughts and ideas of the great scholar Ji Yuan. Suddenly, the golden life pattern in his mind, which resembled a palace, flashed with several golden lights.

[Task completed, auspicious!]

As this information flowed into Lu Jing's mind,

Lu Jing vaguely perceived an ancient and simple Bagua diagram floating in his [Seeking Auspiciousness and Avoiding Misfortune] life pattern, with his own reflection in it.

The Bagua diagram slowly rotated, ultimately displaying an upper trigram!

"Nine Five: The dragon soars in the sky, favorable to see the great person."

"This line has many meanings. Here, it roughly means that the Dragon Star appears in the sky, which is beneficial for nobles and aristocrats."

"The great person here refers to myself."

Lu Jing, seeing the trigram, interpreted its meaning: "This is an upper trigram, and it is auspicious."

Just as his thoughts settled, white light beams emerged from the Bagua diagram, landing beside the [Seeking Auspiciousness and Avoiding Misfortune] life pattern, intertwining to form another life pattern talent!

[Nine Five: The dragon soars in the sky, favorable to see the great person!

Auspicious, gained life pattern: Diligent and Hardworking (White)!]

[First activation of the Seeking Auspiciousness and Avoiding Misfortune life pattern, gained a blue opportunity!]

[Life pattern—Diligent and Hardworking (White): Increases focus and reduces fatigue during reading, learning, cultivation, and creation.]

[Blue opportunity activated.]

"This white [Diligent and Hardworking] is a new life pattern, derived from the fiery golden [Seeking Auspiciousness and Avoiding Misfortune]? It seems the color represents the level of the life pattern."

"By choosing the appropriate auspicious or inauspicious signs under the [Seeking Auspiciousness and Avoiding Misfortune] life pattern, I can gain such benefits."

Although Lu Jing was curious about this information, he finished reading the last paragraph on the page, which told the story of a benevolent demon living in a water jar, who climbed out daily to preach to a butcher. He then took a deep breath, placed the book on the table, and closed his eyes.

Others might think he was resting his eyes due to fatigue from reading.

But when Lu Jing closed his eyes, he clearly saw the Bagua diagram floating in the darkness, along with his own reflection.

The young man in a blue robe, pale-faced, looked scholarly, but his eyes were calm and composed.

"[Bagua Diagram]... can observe one's inner and outer appearances..."

"This scholarly youth is my outer appearance, so what is my inner appearance...?"

As Lu Jing thought this,

More information flowed into his mind.

[Lu Jing's Inner Appearance:

Life Pattern: I Ching—Seeking Auspiciousness and Avoiding Misfortune (Fiery Gold), Diligent and Hardworking (White)

Opportunity: Blue opportunity being activated

Realm: None

Skill: None]

"What are these 'Realm' and 'Skill'?"

Lu Jing frowned.

After he came to this world, the original body's memories were always somewhat blurry, as if covered by a fine veil, making it hard to recall easily.

However, when he tried to recall certain clues, he still made some progress.

"I vaguely remember that when I was a child, I accidentally entered the Martial Canon Pavilion in the mansion and saw a similar description in a book."

"The path of martial arts is expressed through the body, driven by essence, nurturing oneself, and further, using Confucian, Daoist, and Buddhist teachings as a boat, divided into nine ranks, cultivating the true essence of the world, and crossing the boundless sea of suffering."

"The so-called 'Realm' and 'Skill' probably refer to cultivation realms and techniques."

Lu Jing sighed inwardly.

The Nine Lakes Lu Family was also a martial lineage.

Over the past two hundred years, the Great Fuyue had grown increasingly powerful, with surrounding tribes either perishing or submitting to the Great Fuyue, paying annual tributes.

In the past hundred years, the Great Fuyue seemed invincible, and the border tribes feared it even more. Due to this overwhelming power, wars became less frequent.

This led to the nobility living in comfort, their strength weakening, and their prestige declining year by year.

A hundred years ago, the Nine Lakes Lu Family held the rank of Marquis, but after many changes, they now only hold the rank of Count.

The once-renowned Divine Dawn rank has been overshadowed by the position of the General of the Divine Dawn.

"Even so, the children of martial lineages naturally practice martial arts. The original body is already sixteen years old but still can't enter the Martial Canon Pavilion or receive training in riding, archery, and swordsmanship from martial artists. This shows that the original body was treated as an outsider in the Lu Family."

Lu Jing sighed: "Now that I have taken over his body and have a second chance at life, I also face his predicament."

Thin clouds drifted across the moon, blocking the moonlight.

The stars, previously obscured by the moonlight, now revealed themselves.

A breeze blew by.

Lu Jing was still deep in thought.

The "Zhi Shen" book in front of him suddenly flipped a page due to the wind. As Lu Jing was about to hold down the book, which was already somewhat worn, he noticed that a piece of paper had fallen out from the open page.

Curious, Lu Jing picked up the glowing golden paper from the ground.

The paper was extremely thin and originally folded. He casually opened it and saw a painting of a deity holding a flame in his hand.

The deity was seated on a black lotus throne, one hand raised in front, thumb and index finger touching to form a "Buddha Mudra."

The other hand was held horizontally in front of the chest, holding a flame.

Strangely, although the deity was seated on a lotus and making a Buddha mudra, he had a Daoist hairstyle and wore a red Daoist robe, with a trigram pattern embroidered on the sleeves.

"Is this a Buddha? A Daoist? A demon? Or a deity?"

Lu Jing was curious. On the left side of the painting, there was a small line of text.

—[Diagram of the Great Brightness King Yan Tian Da Sheng]!

He speculated that the deity in the painting might be a demon for a simple reason.

The deity, although dignified and fierce, had a pair of fleshy wings and a third eye on his forehead, which was currently closed but faintly glowing.

"Called a deity diagram, but the deity depicted has characteristics of Buddhism, Daoism, and demons, which is quite peculiar."

Lu Jing examined the painting for a long time, finding it exquisitely crafted, and decided to keep it.

At that moment, the moon, which had been obscured by thin clouds, emerged, casting a beam of moonlight directly onto the deity diagram on the table.

In the next instant, the light ball in the deity's left hand, which was originally painted, began to glow.

Before Lu Jing could react, a beam of light shot out and entered his eyes!

"Hmm?"

As the light entered his eyes, Lu Jing finally realized…

Could this be the blue opportunity he gained from the first activation of the [Seeking Auspiciousness and Avoiding Misfortune] life pattern?