Wasteland Echoer.

Chapter 665 "The Relics of the Chooser" (Part 1)
"This is the divination technique of the Khitans, isn't it?" Dak looked at the few ancient copper coins that exuded a ghostly and sinister aura, but did not dare to reach out and touch them.

"Commander Dak, your description is inaccurate. Firstly, this is a divination technique passed down through generations in the Flame Empire, not Khitanris. Since you will be traveling to the Flame Empire in the east in the future, please correct your description from now on. After all, the people of the Flame Empire are very averse to the name the Krusd people use to address them. 'Khitanris' is merely a prejudiced cultural symbol, not an informal name or title of the country," Hefeng Eva said in a warning tone.

Immediately afterwards, she stood up and went to Dak, offering further advice:

"Secondly, this is the Eight Trigrams of Taoism. In terms of its extraordinary nature, it can reveal some of the long-forgotten secrets of the future through the hexagrams and quite complex calculations, guiding humanity to choose the right direction, rather than being a simple divination technique. Our sage, the Supreme Lord of Limitless Tao, once said: 'The four directions reveal destiny, and history has verified and deduced this. The mysteries of the universe are all in the program pre-set by the Creator.'"

"What we do is merely to peek into the mysteries of a finite creator through a method similar to viral invasion, and to obtain as much information as possible that the gods allow us to explore, so as to choose the right direction. It is called 'Bagua,' not divination. If you go to the Flame Empire, please use the correct term, otherwise you will be treated as an outsider and lose many opportunities that fate originally blessed you with."

“I understand, Ms. Hefeng Eva. Then, please use the ‘Eight Trigrams’ of the Flame Empire to perform a divination for me,” Dark said, using the most accurate language possible.

Soon, a holy light began to seep into the previously dim basement. Dark looked around but couldn't discern the source of the light. It was as if it had appeared out of thin air, projected from a higher dimension into this space enveloped by an oppressive atmosphere.

Soon, He Feng Yiwa, dressed as a Taoist priest, sat back down in the peach wood chair. She picked up the simple "sword" made of copper coins strung together and casually put it down. The "sword" stuck into the table in mid-air, but instead of piercing through the table, it seemed to pass through a ring of another dimension and merge with the table.

Next, Hefengyiva handed three copper coins to Dak, instructing him to silently recite what he wanted to divine, and then toss the coins into the air.

Ding!
The crisp sound instantly filled the three's eardrums, causing them to feel a sharp pain from the depths of their souls. However, the three's mental strength had reached the peak level among human mages, and this extraordinary stimulation was like scratching an itch through a boot, hardly producing any effect.

Ding!
Ding!
……

After six consecutive throws, He Feng Yiwa wrote down the divination results on a yellow sheet of paper.

Then, she channeled the few remaining fire-based magical energies she possessed, wielding them only during divination, and ignited the paper. After the yellow paper burned completely, transforming into tiny, crimson flames that dissipated into the air, she chanted the Khitan Ris language used for divination:

"The ancient immortals, the primordial chaos of Xuanyuan."

"Grant me magical powers to see through all spirits."

"To convey the divine decree and to listen to the sacred teachings."

"No matter how high the mountains and steep ridges are, they will not yield to you."

"The beginning of order leads to the end of chaos."

"How do you return to tranquility? Please tell your disciple."

boom!
A burst of brilliant flames, like fireworks exploding, suddenly shot out from between He Feng Yiwa's hands. Six straight lines, arranged one after the other, appeared in front of the three people, displaying a flame-like golden color.

Then, Hefeng Yiwa gently stroked the divination chart in front of her and explained:

"The Qian hexagram is the first hexagram in the Daoist divination system of the Eight Trigrams. Great is the Qian principle, from which all things originate, and which connects to Heaven. This is the first sentence. The second sentence is: Clouds move and rain falls, and all things take shape. The great light shines from beginning to end, and the six positions are established in due time. In due time, one rides the six dragons to govern Heaven."

"How do you understand it?" Dark asked. After all, Hefeng Eva had just read the contents of the hexagram in the language of the Flame Empire, which was really difficult for him, a Krusd who only had a limited understanding of the Khitan Ris culture, to comprehend.

"The entire interpretation of the 'Qian' hexagram is related to dragons. You can understand it as the dragon race possessing supreme power, or you can understand it as 'humans existing like dragons.' As you know, the founders of the Flame Empire had close ties with the dragon race, and the entire royal family of the Flame Empire possesses dragon blood," He Feng Yiwa said.
"Live like a dragon, act like a dragon, and you will accept a dragon-like destiny, soaring through the skies and becoming a dragon in the fields. If you persist in your actions towards your predetermined goals, you will be invincible. As the saying goes, 'Heaven's movement is ever vigorous; so should a gentleman constantly strive for self-improvement.' As long as you hold fast to your original heart and ideals and continue along this path, the Creator has told me that the Wasteland Era will end in your hands, and the world will belong to you and Wright."

“I understand, He Feng Yiwa. Wright and I will not change our ideals and goals. We were just confused before, not fickle. Now, let’s divine the relics of the chosen ones.” Dark said, reaching out to touch the copper coins that had been scattered on the peachwood table.

However, when his fingertips touched those ancient divination objects, the copper coins turned into a wisp of blue smoke and vanished before his eyes, leaving only a rapid current that briefly paralyzed half of Dark's arm.

"What's going on?" Dak exclaimed, rubbing his sore and numb arms as he looked at Hefeng Yiwa in front of him.

"Because they have fulfilled their destiny, the world can no longer tolerate them." He Feng Yiwa's tone was cold, her eyes slightly vacant, clearly indicating that she had entered a "divine messenger state," conveying limited information belonging to the gods:
"They originally belonged to the Creator; I merely borrowed them for my use. The two matters you divined are actually different stages of the same thing. One divination indicates the future of both matters, so there is naturally no need to trouble the gods with a second divination."

“If the ‘Qian’ hexagram also indicates the location of the ‘Relic of the Chosen One,’ then perhaps I understand. Thank you, Ms. Hefeng Eva. So tomorrow, please take me and Dak to the Divine Mountain.” Wright nodded slightly, showing his respect to Hefeng Eva.

……

February 11, 557 AD, 6:2 AM.

Crusd Federation, Far Northeast District, west of the Nabusk Plain, Torii Town, "Town Center 02", "Former Mayor's Residence".

Early in the morning, Dak and Wright woke up in their bedroom, quickly cleaned themselves with filtered water, and then changed into their federal army combat uniforms.

After a quick breakfast prepared by Hefeng Yiwa, they donned their guns and, incidentally, a rocket launcher for emergencies, and stepped out of the house. As soon as they stepped outside, they encountered the new mayor, Artyom.

"Sirs, you're heading out so early?" Artyom, seeing Dak and Wright, quickly stepped forward, gave a quick Crusader salute, and pointed to the mechanical vehicle behind him, saying:

“Last night, I sent Iron Arm with a supplies procurement team to the south to buy goods, along with banknotes and gold. I have given them the ‘procurement list’ that Hoshino Shota gave me, and they are expected to return to Torii Town in three days to bring the supplies to you.”

"Thank you very much, Mayor Artyom." Dark bowed slightly and nodded in thanks.

"Also, Hefengyeva told me that she has divined the location of the 'Relics of the Chosen Ones' for you. She only gave you a general idea; finding them will require sufficient insight. Therefore, to avoid wasting your energy on other matters, I've brought two helpers for you two officers, along with this mechanical chariot," Artyom introduced with a smile.
"'White Bundle' and 'Red Bundle' will now be with you, assisting you. Don't underestimate them just because they're still greenhorns; after all, I personally trained them, and He Feng Yiwa even taught them some ways to use magical energy. They can easily kill ordinary 'heartless people' in an instant."

"As for the Lost Ones, they have defeated the 'Restorer' 'Xianming' of the 'Devotion Group,' the High Priest Kyle of the Church of the Crossing Spirits, and even killed Sulocas, an officer of the Federal Second Legion who served the Lost Ones. If you encounter an attack from the Lost Ones, I believe they will not hold you back."

“Thank you very much, Mayor Artyom. However, I would still like to ask you to issue a martial law order in the next two days, ensuring that all residents of the town, except for the town's soldiers, do not approach the sacred mountain, especially the children.” Dark lowered his voice and approached Artyom.
“I fear that federal spies and traitors from the town might take advantage of our search for the ‘Relics of the Chosen’ to harm the children. You don’t want the children to be in danger, and I don’t want to become a scapegoat for those ambitious people and spies.”

"If my name is to be remembered in the history of Crusaders, or even in human history, I hope that my history will be clean, positive, and great. I do not want any rumors fabricated by ambitious individuals to cause misunderstandings about me."

“Of course, no problem.” Artyom agreed with a smile on his face, but inwardly he scoffed at Dark’s arrogant statement.

However, since Dark and Wright were genuinely helping the town solve its problems and were also officials of the Federation, he naturally wouldn't cause them any additional trouble.

After giving a few brief instructions to "White Bundle" and "Red Bundle," Artyom walked towards the administration building in the town center, preparing to continue discussing the town's future development and the distribution of the second batch of supplies with the other members of the military committee.

Meanwhile, Dark and Wright boarded the "Bird's-eye View" mechanical chariot brought by Artyom and headed towards the God's Edge Mountain along the dilapidated path.

Around 7 a.m., the "Bird's-eye View" mechanical vehicle arrived at a position 200 meters away from Shenqibian Mountain, right at the junction of the mountain range and farmland.

Suddenly, the sky changed from exceptionally clear to densely cloudy, as if a torrential downpour was about to begin.

Then, a bolt of lightning, radiating the brilliance of thunder, cleaved through the dark clouds, crossed the towering mountains, and struck directly towards the direction of the "temple" and the "spirit-suppressing tree" on the mountaintop.

"Sir, shall we go up the mountain now?" Bai Shu asked in a slightly immature accent.

"Is there a road that mechanical vehicles can travel on?" Dark asked, looking to the path in the distance to the left, the path that He Feng Yiwa had taken when they climbed the mountain.

"Of course," Bai Shu nodded and said.
"Normally, to show their respect for the immortals and gods, the residents of the town would take a shortcut, receive the protection of the torii gate, and endure a difficult journey to reach the top of the mountain to offer sacrifices, burn incense and pray to the gods in exchange for their protection."

"However, the temple, and the pool behind it planned for various celebrations, needed to be built from time to time, and the trucks that transported timber, stone and concrete traveled along the winding road on the back of the mountain."

"A highway?" Dark asked curiously.

“That’s right,” “White Bundle” replied further.

"Although 'Mount Shenqibian' is a branch of the Vanabuya mountain range and evolved from a former lake, after hundreds of years of continuous changes during the Neogene era, it has shown a tendency to completely break away from the Vanabuya mountain range and become an independent mountain."

"According to the records of the old empire, it was impossible to build roads because the mountains were connected to each other. But now, the mountain ridges have broken apart, and there have been several landslides, making it possible to build roads on 'Mountain of the Gods'. Thirty years ago, the old mayor built a road that went straight up from the farmland at the foot of the mountain and named it 'God's Guide Road'. A month ago, a convoy went up there to renovate the temple."

“Then we can just take the highway.” Dark patted “White Bundle” on the shoulder and said:
"Then let's go by public transport..."

“Wait a minute,” Wright suddenly interrupted Dark.

Then, he covered his eyes with one hand, and with his other eye, which had turned completely black, stepped out of the "Bird's-eye View" mechanical chariot. He looked at the "Divine Mountain" not far in front of him and said in a low, slightly hoarse voice:
"Dark, do you remember the divination results from Hefeng Yiwa yesterday?"

"What? Of course I remember, it's the 'Qian' hexagram, which generally indicates things will go smoothly," Dark replied casually.

“I think you can understand our fate that way. But you can’t draw such a conclusion about the ‘Relics of the Chosen Ones’.” As he spoke, Dark activated the red magical energy within his body, continuously channeling it into his wide-open left eye, which had activated the “Burning Black Vision”.

Soon, a giant dragon pattern composed of black gas particles completely enveloped the "Divine Mountain" under the dark clouds. Through the "Burning Black Vision," one could see that the dragon was lying prostrate under the pressure of the mountain range, its blurry eyes filled with resentment.

“If the ‘Eight Trigrams’ of this world are the same as those of my original world, the first line of the ‘Qian’ hexagram should be ‘Hidden dragon, do not act.’ Dragons love to lie prostrate on the ground and in water sources, waiting for the right moment, and then ‘flying dragon in the sky.’ I think the entrance to the ‘Relics of the Chosen One’ is not at the top of the mountain, but at the foot. ‘White Bundle’ and ‘Red Bundle’, do you know that there is a cave at the bottom of the Divine Mountain that leads into the interior of the mountain?” Dark asked.

“Commander Wright, there should be an entrance to the cave, but no one has been there for over a hundred years,” Red Bundle replied after a moment’s thought.