Chapter 128: Cao Guan Divination

Zhan Xiaobai examined the blueprint and found nothing unusual about it, figuring it probably didn't conceal any bizarre secrets. He handed it to the carpenter and instructed him to build the thatched Taoist shrine according to the specifications on the blueprint.

Old Man Li saw that Zhan Xiaobai attached such great importance to this thatched shrine, which could provide the Taoist class-advancement option, but he offered no further dissuasion.

The carpenter found an open space within the village and prepared to construct the shrine. The Taoist priest hurriedly stopped him, saying, "Wait, this thatched shrine cannot be built just anywhere; it requires careful consideration of *feng shui* and topography. Otherwise, the future incense offerings will be inauspicious and fraught with obstacles."

How could a carpenter know anything about such rules? He blankly asked, "What on earth is *feng shui*?"

"Even if I explained it to you, you wouldn't understand. Just follow me, and I'll show you where to build it."

The carpenter looked at Zhan Xiaobai, hoping to receive instructions from him.

Zhan Xiaobai nodded, signaling the carpenter to comply with the Taoist priest's demands. He, too, wanted to see what effects the shrine would have once it was completed.

The Taoist priest had been wandering around the village for several days and had long since selected a prime piece of auspicious land.

He led the carpenter to the southern part of the village, to a serene and dry location. "Right here. This spot gathers the wind and harbors vital energy, with a wide and open view. It is perfectly suited for dwelling and cultivating the Tao."

The carpenter brought over a dozen peasants and began constructing the thatched shrine.

The materials for the shrine were simple: a two-story pavilion-style shed. The very top was thatched with straw, the second floor was designated for nighttime astronomical observation and vapor-reading, and the ground floor was meant for expounding scriptures and preaching the Tao. After a little less than half a day's effort, the thatched shrine was completed.

Zhan Xiaobai, Li Asan, Qiushui, and others stood nearby watching when they had free time. In addition, several players gathered around to see what the building was used for.

**Primary Thatched Shrine:**
*A place of cultivation for Taoist priests. Legend has it that Yin Xi, the commander of Hangu Pass during the Zhou Dynasty, tied grass to form a hermitage in Zhongnan Mountain to observe celestial phenomena and vital numbers. Seeing purple Qi coming from the east, he knew a sage was about to arrive. Shortly thereafter, Laozi rode a green ox through the pass, and Xi welcomed him into the thatched tower shrine, where Laozi expounded scriptures and preached the philosophy of the Tao. Afterward, Laozi's disciples spread throughout the world. From then on, thatched Taoist shrines flourished across the land.*

**Shrine Attributes:**
* **Durability:** 1,000.
* 1. Can accommodate 1 shrine abbot and 2 young Taoist acolytes. Provides the Taoist class-advancement quest, with the questline provided by the abbot. (Both players and NPCs can change classes.)
* 2. Celestial observation and vapor-reading. The abbot can observe the heavens and read vapors once every night. The chance of discovering major events in advance is 0.1%, and the chance of discovering minor events in advance is 1%. (A success rate of one in a thousand, which is practically negligible.)
* 3. Because the Taoist shrine is built on a primary *feng shui* site, the efficacy of the shrine receives a +2% bonus. Cultivators practicing here will see their cultivation speed increase by 2% compared to normal. There is a certain probability that wandering Taoist priests and alchemists will visit the village.
* 4. Must have at least 30 believers offering incense money every month. If the incense offerings are interrupted, the thatched shrine will gradually decay and wither until it loses its efficacy.

Zhan Xiaobai checked its attributes and was satisfied. Although it wasn't overpowered, at least this was a normal Taoist shrine and wouldn't spawn any bizarre NPC Taoist priests from within. He smiled at the Taoist priest and said, "The thatched shrine has been built, Daoist Priest, please make this your home for cultivating the Tao. If you discover any major events about to occur, I kindly ask that you notify me immediately."

Upon receiving Zhan Xiaobai's permission, the Taoist priest quickly smiled and said, "Village Chief Xiaobai, please rest assured. Providing meteorological intelligence to the village chief is within this poor priest's duties. This poor priest will observe the stars every night, and once something is discovered, I will surely report it to you...... However, should I report first to the vice village chief, the elders, or...... find you directly?"

The Taoist priest had some doubts.

Zhan Xiaobai looked at him and said, "I need to know about any major events you discover at the very first moment. Therefore, under any circumstances, as soon as you find something, come straight to me. As for minor events, you can find Elder Li or any of the elders."

The Taoist priest replied, "This poor priest obeys. By the way, my surname is Wu; the village chief may address me as Daoist Priest Wu."

Daoist Priest Wu officially moved into the thatched shrine, and a small plaque was hung above the entrance: *Grass Tower Shrine*.

The thatched shrine officially opened for business and began recruiting NPC young Taoist acolytes from the outside. Players who wanted to change their class to a Taoist could also find him. However, the conditions were a bit harsh; two conditions had to be met before class advancement was granted:
* 1. Offer 1 copper coin in incense money every day to increase Taoist faith by 1 point (donating more yields no effect; at most 1 point of faith can be increased per day). However, this Taoist faith is very important. It can increase the speed of cultivating Taoist arts, increase the power of Taoist arts (attack power), and reduce the damage taken from Taoist arts (defense). Every 30 points of Taoist faith increases comprehensive effectiveness by 1%. Reaching 30 points of faith is required to be permitted to change class to a Taoist.
* 2. In addition, changing class to a Taoist requires two items: Nether-Cold Crystal and Nether-Fire Crystal. These two items are auxiliary materials used for practicing Taoist arts. No player has ever seen these two items yet; they will likely be difficult to find.

On the very first day of the thatched shrine's "grand opening," Zhan Xiaobai, the village elders, and many players each contributed 1 copper coin. Even without changing class to a Taoist, gaining a bit of faith couldn't hurt, as it could reduce incoming Taoist damage.

At least several hundred people tossed a single copper coin into the incense box inside the shrine.

In the blink of an eye, the incense box was filled with copper coins. Daoist Priest Wu's mouth split wide open in a huge smile, and joy surged through his heart: *I really did come to the right place! No wonder Master said to find the village with the densest and largest population—what absolute words of wisdom! Such wonderful copper coins, shining yellow and delightful. A single day's income is more than a whole year of wandering in the past.*

Zhan Xiaobai hadn't anticipated that this thatched shrine would rake in money so effectively. In just a single day, it would drain at least 500 copper coins from the village, yet its effects weren't visibly significant. It would take a full month before any Taoist-class players appeared. In such a short span, tens of thousands of copper coins would likely be sucked away—the cost was simply too exorbitant.

Feeling somewhat uneasy about this, he muttered a few words to Li Asan.

Li Asan beamed with joy and said, "My lord is truly brilliant; I've had my eyes on this Taoist priest as a nuisance for a while now. This old man will handle the matter immediately." Li Asan hurriedly rushed back to the administrative courtyard and, following Zhan Xiaobai's instructions, levied a special exorbitant tax on the thatched shrine.

Ninety percent of the thatched shrine's total daily income was directly confiscated and turned over to the village treasury.

Daoist Priest Wu was depressed to discover that apart from the several hundred copper coins collected on the first day, his subsequent earnings seemed to have plummeted dramatically. Fortunately, he had almost no concept of taxation and couldn't figure out the reason behind it. It never crossed his mind that the village would levy a tax on him, let alone slap him with a massive, exorbitant special tax bill right off the bat.

Players from other nearby villages learned that Xiaobai Village had built a thatched shrine capable of providing Taoist class advancements, and they frequently ran over to offer incense, invisibly providing tax revenue for Xiaobai Village.

Following the construction of the thatched shrine, wandering Taoist priests or alchemists would appear within the village almost every day or two, strolling around Xiaobai Village and visiting the shrine.

Daoist Priest Wu had a rather eclectic range of skills; not only could he practice Taoist arts, but he also offered fortune-telling and destiny-reading services to everyone in the village.

When idle, he often set up a stall during the day in a bustling area of the village, hanging a tall cloth banner and shouting, "Fortune-telling here! Test your daily luck and karmic affinity~ Guaranteed to be unfailingly accurate, tested and true!"

* **Luck:** Determines the probability of encountering NPC quests, special events, etc. Has no inherent good or bad distinction.
* **Karmic Affinity:** Determines the probability of encountering NPC quests, special events, keeping equipment upon death, monster drop rates, etc. The higher the karmic affinity, the greater the benefits.

Every player possessed these two attributes of luck and karmic affinity, and both were daily randomly fluctuating values hovering between 0 and 100. They were unrelated to any other data. The higher the value, the lower the probability of it occurring.

Out of curiosity, many passing players gathered around the fortune-teller and asked him to test their fortunes.

The fee was 5 copper coins per attempt.

As for whether Daoist Priest Wu's readings were accurate, that was hard to say. The accuracy of fortune-telling was related to a Taoist's cultivation and spiritual attainment. Daoist Priest Wu had learned a messy hodgepodge of things, so his spiritual attainment probably wasn't very high.

Daoist Priest Wu pinched his fingers to calculate for a certain warrior player, then let out a strange cry: "Oh my, this hero, your current luck is 0, and your karmic affinity is 0. Truly a rare and supreme masterpiece! This poor priest has traveled the world for so many years, and this is the first time I've ever seen a masterpiece like you...... What a jinx!"

The surrounding players burst into hearty laughter; this NPC Taoist was hilarious, actually mocking the players.

The warrior player couldn't help but burn with anger, cursing loudly, "What the @#$%, damn it! No wonder not a single hair dropped when I was fighting monsters this morning—I really stepped in dog poop today! Looks like I can't get anything done today anyway. Forget it, I'll just go fool around somewhere else and skip leveling up."

A player chuckled and said, "Your character was just out of luck today. Hurry up and go make an incense offering at the thatched shrine to clear away the bad karma!"

Daoist Priest Wu shook his head sagely and said, "It wouldn't be difficult for this hero to alter today's fortune either. You only need to pay 30 copper coins and let this Daoist master give you a little blessing; your luck will instantly undergo a random change. Even if it might not turn out exceptionally good, at least it couldn't possibly get any worse than it is now."

The players erupted into laughter once again. With both stats already at zero, it certainly couldn't get any worse.

The warrior player jumped up and shouted, "Bah! On my luckiest days, I don't even earn 30 copper coins total! Do you take me for a fool to just hand you 30 copper coins for nothing?" After he finished his test, other players stepped up to be tested next.

Most players had both of these stats below 30; having both stats exceed 50 was already extremely rare.

A certain player anxiously tested his luck and karmic affinity, only to find he had a whopping 53 in luck and 49 in karmic affinity. He yelled in excitement and immediately rushed out of the village with a bunch of bros to fight monsters. The drop rate was shockingly high, and he even kept stumbling across items just by walking down the road.

Qiushui, Jing'er, and others led a dozen female players responsible for maintaining public order on a patrol through the village when they happened to see Daoist Priest Wu fortune-telling. On a whim, they felt a surge of interest and chimed in, demanding to test their luck for the day. They all stepped up and took turns, but unfortunately, most of them didn't exceed 30.

Only Qiushui hadn't been tested yet. Qiushui originally didn't want to do it, but under the urging of the group, she decided to give it a try.

Daoist Priest Wu pinched his fingers to calculate, his eyes brightening before dimming again. He let out a long sigh, shaking his head in regret: "This female hero's karmic affinity today is quite good, reaching a high of 83, but unfortunately her luck is a bit lacking, sitting at only 5. Everything should go smoothly for you today, but alas, you have no opportunity to trigger a special event—how truly regrettable!"

Qiushui didn't feel there was anything regrettable about it; everything going smoothly was a good thing anyway. However, she sensed there was a hidden meaning behind the wandering Taoist's words and asked, "Are there special events happening today, by any chance?"

The wandering Taoist assumed a mysterious air and said, "Heavenly secrets must not be divulged! If this were to leak out, I'd be struck by lightning."

The more mysterious the Taoist acted, the more curious everyone became. Since it involved heavenly secrets, could it be a hidden quest?

Jing'er slapped 30 copper coins onto the table and said, "Old Daoist, stop dawdling and spit it out! Getting struck by lightning won't kill you."

A look of embarrassment crossed the wandering Taoist's face as he swiftly snatched up the copper coins, shoved them into his bosom, and cried, "Oh my, how embarrassing! Isn't this putting this poor priest in a tight spot? Very well, considering this female hero's exceptionally high karmic affinity today, this Daoist master will reluctantly bend the rules. I'll tell you a secret, but you must absolutely not leak it to anyone else!"

Around the fortune-telling stall, a dense crowd formed layers upon layers, several hundred players deep. They nodded like chicks pecking at rice and chorused in unison, "We absolutely won't leak it!" and "Whoever leaks the secret is a puppy!"

Standing in the center, the wandering Taoist felt immensely gratified. He nodded and said, "Then I can rest easy. I will tell this female hero a little secret. Today, a mysterious figure will appear in our village, and he possesses a miraculous ability...... As for what ability, I won't say, or I really will be struck by lightning. Only those with a luck of 90 and a karmic affinity of 90 have the chance to meet him and reap massive benefits from him....... Ah, woe is me, heavenly secrets must not be leaked! If I say even half a word more, my old life will be finished."

The crowd was instantly stirred into an uproar. "It actually requires both stats to exceed 90? The requirements are that high?!" "What kind of reward is this powerful? Could it be a skill reward?" "Eight out of ten times it's something like a skill reward. Quick, quick, help me test my luck and see if old me has the fortune to run into him."

Players immediately rushed forward, demanding that Daoist Priest Wu test their luck and karmic affinity.

With such ultra-low probabilities, it was completely akin to buying a lottery ticket. If you hit the jackpot, you'd instantly transform into a legendary powerhouse. If you didn't, it was no big deal—you could just keep being your ordinary little nobody.