I attained immortality in the real world.

Chapter 5 The Fortune Teller
Tai Sui Kingdom, Zhu Zi City.

Chen Jing walked on the main street paved with high-quality bluestone.

The deep ruts left by horse-drawn carriages are a mark of the city's long history.

The streets are lined with antique wooden buildings, filled with the cries of vendors, a scene that has long since disappeared from the modern world.

But it's not as wonderful as imagined. This virtual world is too realistic. There is eating, drinking, defecating, garbage, and debris. The AI-simulated people are too real, so there will be intrigue, tantrums, and shouting. Writers and poets can only cut out a corner and pretend that life is peaceful.

Walking alone along the long street, whenever I see something unfamiliar, I search for the answer in my memory.

The light screen will display memories related to the item, and occasionally Zhu Kui's literary insights will pop up, such as a poem or a lyric, which is even better than a search engine.

What the scholar Zhu Kui knew, the demon Chen Jingquan also knew, but his reaction was a beat slower.

"arrive!"

Chen Jing walked to a two-story building with a sign that read "Xu's Tea House".

The place was noisy and filled with the pleasant aroma of tea; it was a place where people were always gossiping.

Upon entering the teahouse, a waiter immediately greeted him: "Please come in, sir. You look unfamiliar. Our shop offers top-quality flower tea, black tea, and green tea, freshly baked dried fruit, and Fu Kee pastries..."

I went to study in the capital a few years ago. Many people knew the name Zhu Kui, but few actually knew him personally.

Chen Jing walked to the corner table and sat down, tossing a small piece of silver onto the tray: "A cup of tea, a plate of dried fruit, and a plate of snacks."

Teahouses are a gathering place for all sorts of people, where you can hear fifty stories that the emperor's mother and the eunuch had to tell, or stories about Cuihua and her brother-in-law at the village entrance.

Although listening to gossip is said to be good for one's physical and mental health, Chen Jing did not come to cultivate his mind, but rather specifically to listen to his own idle chatter.

Its predecessor was famous throughout the surrounding villages. After failing the imperial examination and returning home, it naturally made it to the top of the teahouse's trending topics for a few days.

As Chen Jing drank his tea, he listened intently and soon found two tea drinkers gossiping about him.

A man in a short-sleeved shirt crushed the red skin off a peanut and threw it into his mouth, arguing, "Zhu Jia Dalang is the reincarnation of the God of Literature. He could compose poems at the age of five and recite the Hundred Classics backwards at the age of eight. How come he failed to make it onto the Tai Sui List?"

"It's said that this year's list is full of scions of powerful families. I wonder if there's any shady dealing involved?"

"I heard that General Wu's daughter, who weighs three hundred catties, wanted to marry Zhu Dalang into the family, but Zhu Dalang refused to comply, which is why he failed to pass the imperial examination."

"Bullshit, bullshit! Have you never seen Zhu Jia Dalang? He has a pointed mouth and monkey cheeks; he doesn't look like a nobleman at all!"

"Li Banxian from the west of the city said long ago that Zhu Kui was not destined to be on the list, and that if he was wrong, he would retire from the business."

"I know about this too. Master Li is notorious for being wrong nine times out of ten. It was just Zhu Dalang's bad luck that he was right this time!"

"........."

Chen Jing understands the world background and realizes the role he plays.

It is clear that to complete the task of 'passing the imperial examination with flying colors' has absolutely nothing to do with one's own literary ability, but only depends on one word: appearance.

After listening to idle chatter for a quarter of an hour, I finally found a person related to 'physiognomy': Li Banxian from the west of the city.

Zhu Kui had no memory of this person, after all, his predecessor was so proud that he naturally disdained to associate with people from the marketplace.

"Face reading, a petty fortune-telling trick used by commoners in the last century to make a living, has long since disappeared. What does it have to do with cultivating immortality?"

Initially, it was for the purpose of inheriting a fortune, but now Chen Jing has genuinely become quite interested in this unpredictable world.

After leaving the teahouse, we arrived at the western part of the city, at the market where Li Bansian often frequented.

I originally wanted to ask someone for clues about Li Banxian, but I gave up after only glancing at him.

Near the alley entrance, there were several fortune-telling stalls. Among them was a fortune teller with white hair and beard, dressed in an air of otherworldly wisdom, whose eyes were glued to the pretty women passing by, yet he couldn't hide the lewdness that emanated from his very bones.

His signboard was twice the size of others, with the character "相" (Xiang) written on one side and "李半仙" (Li Banxian) written directly on the other, only missing an exclamation mark above its head.

"........."

"Master Li!!"

Chen Jing walked up to the fortune-telling stall and took out a snowflake silver ingot, placing it on the stall.

With a swift and unexpected move, Li Banxian swept away the ingot of snowflake silver as if it had never appeared.

He sat upright, eyes slightly lowered, and stroked his beard as he asked, "Would you like to have your fortune told, whether it's about marriage, career, or destiny?"

Chen Jing replied, "Official career!!"

Li Banxian shook his head: "A thin body makes it difficult to achieve good fortune, and talent is hard to be in the right place at the right time. A person without a good appearance can hardly rise above others. He could have offered himself as a retainer in the home of a king or nobleman, but unfortunately, his talent is too great and he cannot submit to such a position! Therefore, he is like duckweed or catkins, and his fate is full of twists and turns."

The commentary is almost identical to that of the Grand Preceptor of the Tai Sui Kingdom. Whether he has real skills is unknown, but in terms of the setting, he certainly has skills.

Chen Jing then took out another ingot of snowflake silver and asked, "Is there a solution?"

The same scene repeated itself. Chen Jing's gaze never left the silver for a second, but he couldn't see it clearly at all.

I don't know if he's a fortune teller or a magician performing tricks.

After receiving the money, Li Banxian said, "Yes! Become my disciple and enter my Wuxiang Sect, and all your problems will be solved."

Chen Jing took out the last ingot of silver he had and asked, "How much is the apprenticeship fee?"

Li Banxian flicked his flowing sleeves and said calmly, "Disciple chooses master, and master chooses disciple. There is no need for an apprenticeship fee. You only need to answer two questions truthfully."

Chen Jing: "…………"

If you don't want money, then don't take the last ingot of silver.

However, since the silver belonged to the Zhu family and wasn't obtained through in-game purchases, they weren't too bothered by it.

He paused for a moment and then said, "Please ask!"

Li Banxian's demeanor suddenly changed, and he became like a king sitting high in the temple, asking in a stern voice: "First question, what is your opinion on the art of physiognomy?"

Chen Jing hesitated for a moment, but decided to answer truthfully, uttering two words: "Liar."

Instead of getting angry, Li Banxian laughed: "Good! Some people even deceive themselves. They don't even know if their predictions are accurate or not, yet they use ambiguous language to make a living by setting up stalls in the market. They are destined to be fortune tellers with no future for the rest of their lives."

As soon as he finished speaking, several fortune tellers around him glared angrily, but they were intimidated by his imposing manner and swallowed their anger.

Li Banxian completely ignored them and continued to ask, "My second question is, what are your thoughts on failing the exam? Are you dissatisfied?"

Recalling the scene at the Deer Cry Banquet, Chen Jing shook his head: "I have no complaints. Those scions of noble families are indeed superior to me."

When Zhu Kui met the emperor, he was filled with trepidation. At the emperor's words, his mind went blank, as if his body had lost its soul.

Those scions of noble families, however, maintained impeccable manners and were well-mannered; their knowledge and demeanor were beyond the reach of ordinary people.

It can be said that apart from his innate full-attribute knowledge, Zhu Kui was completely outmatched by the sons of aristocratic families in every other aspect.

Li Banxian smiled and said, "Very good. You don't lie to yourself and you can understand yourself correctly. You are qualified to enter my Wuxiang Sect."

(End of this chapter)