Chapter 7: Arcane Repository

“How… how did this thing get into my head?”

Watching the palm-sized Tortoise Shell spin in his mind, Ye Tian felt a bit at a loss. He had no control over this Luopan and didn’t know its use at all.

The characters carved on the Tortoise Shell resembled seal script, but they were simply too small. Even when Ye Tian widened his eyes, he couldn’t make out a single character.

Despite his inner shock, Ye Tian continued silently reciting the Scripture of Salvation in his mouth. At that moment, he suddenly felt a chill all over his body and quickly shifted his attention away from the Tortoise Shell.

“How… how could this happen?”

When Ye Tian looked toward the area where the Yin Sha gathered, he was shocked to find that the mass of Yin Evil Energy in front of the altar was drifting toward him, seeping into his body like wisps of smoke.

“Dang it, you dead Old Taoist! I’m reciting this… this Scripture of Salvation, not to ‘liberate’ myself!”

Ye Tian was terrified. He never expected that reciting the Scripture of Salvation would draw the Yin Sha onto himself.

It was understood that Yin Evil Energy formed due to specific environmental conditions. It was just a form of intangible magnetic field. Generally, it could only affect people by changing the strength of the magnetic field, but it couldn’t seep into a person’s body.

Yet now, Yin Evil Energy had entered Ye Tian’s body, which threw him into a panic. While there were no ghosts or deities in this world, it didn’t mean the theories of Yin and Yang were false. An influx of so much Yin Energy would certainly disrupt the Yin-Yang balance in his body.

Even though the sun was blazing overhead, Ye Tian felt as if he were naked in a snowy field, blasted by a cold wind. That chill penetrated deep into his bones.

“The Old Taoist is harming people!”

Ye Tian felt like crying but had no tears. He couldn’t even stand up and run because his small body was almost frozen stiff. He could only watch helplessly as the large mass of Yin Evil Energy poured entirely into his body.

Just when Ye Tian thought his young life was over, the Tortoise Shell that had appeared in his mind suddenly began spinning rapidly. It acted like a bottomless pit, sucking in all the Yin Evil Energy that had entered his body.

“Huh? The characters seem a bit clearer now?”

The strange occurrence inside his body left Ye Tian bewildered. Everything was happening outside his control. But after the Yin Evil Energy vanished, Ye Tian noticed that several of the seal characters on the “Tortoise Shell” had become clearly visible.

“Arcane Repository!”

In Ye Tian’s mind now, the Tortoise Shell bore no resemblance to a Luopan except for being circular, because right in the center of the shell, two seal script characters appeared: “Arcane Repository.”

Surrounding these two characters in a ring were twelve slightly smaller seal characters, which read: “Divination, Geomancy, Fortune-telling, Physiognomy, Dream Interpretation, Auspicious Selection.”

“How… how did these things come out?”

The changes in his mind made Ye Tian feel as if he were in a dream. Having studied ancient texts and knowledge of Physiognomy with the Old Taoist for several years, he certainly knew the meaning of “Arcane Repository.”

The so-called “Arcane” could also be called techniques or numerology. It was an important part of the five arts in ancient Daoism. Numerology used the theories of generation and restraint of Yin-Yang and Five Elements to predict fortune, misfortune, and events in nature, society, and human affairs. It was a major branch of Zhouyi studies.

As for “Repository,” it referred to a collection of classics. Buddhism had the “Buddhist Canon,” Daoism had the “Daoist Canon,” and Confucianism had the “Confucian Canon.” The “Arcane Repository” was a grand collection bringing together the theories of Zhouyi and Yin-Yang and Five Elements, holding an extremely important position in ancient times.

However, from the Republic of China era onward, Western learning spread east, and scientific concepts took the mainstream. Esoteric doctrines, being seen as a form of superstition, began to fall out of favor. Many once-popular numerology texts had become rare sightings.

Ye Tian often heard the Old Taoist lament that the Chinese people failed to learn the knowledge passed down by their ancestors over thousands of years, yet they worshipped foreign things and blindly followed Western ways, studying things like English. It was like having a treasure mountain at home but choosing to go out and collect scrap.

“Could it be… I can use the knowledge within this Tortoise Shell?” Looking at the characters on the Tortoise Shell, an idea popped into Ye Tian’s mind.

Since Divination, Geomancy, Fortune-telling, Physiognomy, Dream Interpretation, and Auspicious Selection were all common arcane arts for predicting fortune and misfortune in the Arcane Repository, seeing these terms combined inevitably made Ye Tian’s imagination run wild.

However, only these terms appeared in his mind, with no methods of application provided. It was like a dog trying to bite a hedgehog—nowhere to start—leaving Ye Tian feeling terribly itchy with curiosity.

“There are six types of arcane arts inside. I’ll just focus on one area to see if it works…”

The Yin Sha had long been cleared. Ye Tian couldn’t be bothered to recite the Scripture of Salvation anymore at the moment. He concentrated his mind and focused his attention on the two characters “Divination” on the Tortoise Shell.

“Hmm? No reaction.”

Apart from the two grayish seal characters, Ye Tian discovered nothing else. He felt somewhat disappointed. Had his guess been wrong? But then, how did the Old Taoist’s life story appear in his mind earlier?

“Hey, the color of these characters is a bit different from the others.”

After studying the characters “Divination” for a long while, Ye Tian suddenly noticed that among these twelve characters forming six terms, four had a dull gray color, while the characters for Geomancy and Physiognomy had a faint glow.

“Maybe I need to look at the glowing characters?”

Ye Tian’s heart stirred. He shifted his focus to the characters “Geomancy.” The moment he directed his consciousness toward them, the characters “Geomancy” suddenly dispersed, turning into strands of Spiritual Energy that poured into Ye Tian’s eyes.

Feeling only a cool sensation in his eyes, when Ye Tian opened them and looked ahead, the scene before him seemed different from before. Between heaven and earth, it seemed there were a few more colors.

For example, the two-story building in front of him seemed to emit a faint golden glow in Ye Tian’s eyes. Looking at the houses on the left and right sides, they were all gray and dull, lacking any luster.

However, behind the houses, there was a stream of Yin Evil Energy, and it had already affected this residence. The two colors intertwined, appearing quite strange.

“South-facing with the door opening to the north creates the Li (Fire) trigram. Water and Fire assist each other. The Kan (Water) and Zhen (Thunder) directions are broad and high—an extremely auspicious sign of wealth and honor! The water feature at the back door is an inauspicious star. Offending this Sha Qi reduces male offspring!”

Just as Ye Tian was observing the differences in what his eyes now saw compared to usual, the above lines suddenly appeared in his mind. Then, the cool sensation in his eyes faded, and those lines slowly disappeared from his mind.

“Haha, so that’s how it works! Isn’t this like having a pair of Feng Shui eyes?” After initially discovering how to use the Tortoise Shell, Ye Tian laughed happily.

If another child experienced something like this inside their body, they might feel scared and find it strange. But Ye Tian, who had been exposed to knowledge of Feng Shui and Physiognomy since he was five, was filled with excitement. It was like getting the toy he wanted most.

“Hehe, the characters for Physiognomy are glowing too. So later, I’ll be able to help people with face reading, won’t I?”

Ye Tian chuckled to himself, but the elusive Tortoise Shell in his mind had vanished again, and he didn’t know where it went. He couldn’t verify things now, but Ye Tian believed that as long as the Tortoise Shell remained, he would eventually uncover this secret.

Since it was a secret, Ye Tian didn’t intend to tell anyone. Although young, he knew that if he told others about the “Tortoise Shell” in his mind, he would likely be labeled as promoting Feudal Superstition or seen as a little fraud.

“Little Master, little immortal, you… what’s wrong with you?”

Just as Ye Tian was immersed in his own world, grinning foolishly, Miao Laoda’s voice suddenly reached his ears.

“Uh, Brother Miao, it’s nothing…”

Ye Tian turned around and saw Miao Laoda standing over a meter behind him, his right hand extended, about to pat his shoulder. Ye Tian couldn’t help but smile. “Brother Miao, the Yin Evil Energy has been cleared by me. And I just examined your house’s Feng Shui—it’s actually excellent. Don’t make any other changes to it in the future. Oh, and the pond at the back of the house needs to be filled in as soon as possible, otherwise, misfortune could still occur.”

According to Ye Tian’s guess, the golden glow he saw over Miao Laoda’s house earlier probably represented wealth and prosperity. However, the pond at the back door was ruining the entire residence’s Feng Shui, which led to Miao Laodi’s car accident.

“Thank you, Little Master. Thank you, thank you, little immortal. I’ll go find someone to fill the pond right away.”

Seeing Ye Tian turn around, Miao Laoda withdrew his hand that was about to pat his shoulder, his face full of gratitude. He thanked Ye Tian profusely, making Ye Tian feel a bit embarrassed. “Brother Miao, you… you believe everything I say?”

Miao Laoda nodded vigorously. “I believe! Of course, I believe! Just now when Little Master performed the ritual and recited the scripture, that eerie feeling disappeared.”

Miao Laoda hadn’t held much hope for Ye Tian initially. But just when Ye Tian was doing his mystical act earlier, that chilling aura that had made him feel cold suddenly vanished.

As the saying goes, facts speak louder than words. Not only was the Old Immortal capable, but even this child was extraordinary. At this moment, Miao Laoda looked up to Ye Tian and his Master with immense admiration and respect.

“Perform what ritual? The Yin Sha went into my body, so of course, it’s gone.”

Hearing Miao Laoda’s words, Ye Tian cursed silently in his heart. Although the outcome was good and he figured out the function of the Tortoise Shell in his mind, the moment the Yin Sha entered his body had scared him quite a bit.

Hearing that the source of his family’s misfortune wasn’t fully resolved yet, Miao Laoda had no mind to stay and listen to the little immortal’s teachings. After flattering Ye Tian a few more times, he said, “Little Master, you rest for a bit. I’ll go hire someone to fill the Fish Pond…”

However, Miao Laoda knew how to handle people. Before leaving, he told his wife to go to the market and buy lots of snacks and toys for children for Ye Tian. After all, this little immortal was still… young.

“Master, you’re awake? Hey, why are you looking at me like that?” As soon as Ye Tian returned to the room, he found the Old Taoist staring at him with a very strange look in his eyes.