The Long Journey to Immortality

"So, given the current situation, Senior Cuixing already has a general plan?" Han Lu interpreted another meaning from Hao Cuixing's words.

Hao Cuixing nodded slightly, pointed to the sky above, and said, "The answer lies among these countless stars."

Following Hao Cuixing's directions, Han Lu looked up at the sky, her expression slightly stiff.

"Senior," Han Lu said with a smile, "it's still noon. Besides the sun, there's only the moon and a few stars that can be barely seen in the sky. There's no such thing as a sky full of stars."

Hao Cuixing coughed twice and said, "Who told you not to come to visit me at the agreed time?"

"If you come here again at midnight as I requested, then the sky above us will naturally be full of stars."

Han Lu reflected on herself, "It's my fault. I was worried that arriving too late would delay the senior's cultivation and rest. I didn't expect that the senior's appointment at midnight had such a profound meaning."

"Then I won't bother you any longer, senior? I'll come back later?"

Han Lu sought Hao Cuixing's opinion.

Hao Cuixing said, "Alright, it's fine if we're early."

“Perfect timing, I can use this time to teach you some knowledge about astrology.”

"When night falls, you will be able to serve as my assistant, helping me search for that star belonging to the Eastern Land in the vast starry sky."

Upon hearing Hao Cuixing's last sentence, Han Lu's eyes widened in surprise. "Senior Cuixing, do you mean that the Eastern World is actually in the starry sky above us?"

"Based on my speculation, that should be the case," Hao Cuixing said cautiously. "What, you don't believe me?"

"Of course I believe you," Han Lu quickly retorted. "You're an expert in this field, how could I not believe you?"

Respect for experts is one of Han Lu's greatest strengths.

"But this statement is somewhat absurd and unbelievable..." Han Lu said two-thirds of her sentence and did not continue.

Hao Cuixing expressed her understanding of Han Lu's behavior.

"So, I want you to hurry up and learn some astrological knowledge from me."

"Once this knowledge fills your mind, you will be able to understand my thoughts, know how to cooperate with my actions, and help me determine which star the Eastern World is above us, where it is located, what coordinates we should use as our target, and use spatial magic to send our sacrificial scouts there."

Han Lu replied without hesitation, "Then I'll have to trouble Senior Cui Xing."

Chapter 1005 Art

Besides respecting authority, Han Lu's love for miscellaneous knowledge and her concern for the calamity a thousand years later were also reasons why she so easily agreed to Hao Cuixing's request.

Han Lu couldn't be happier to learn another skill and contribute to the "transcending tribulation".

"Senior Cui Xing, how should I begin my studies? Are there any manuals or secret techniques available for me to read?"

Han Lu's enthusiastic performance pleased Cui Xing, who had an unconventional approach to divination.

“No rush, no rush,” Hao Cuixing said. “I want to introduce you to this complex, profound, and great… art.”

Calling a method of divination an art demonstrates Hao Cuixing's love and admiration for astrology.

Seeing Hao Cuixing's attitude, Han Lu couldn't help but become even more curious about astrology.

She recalled, "When I was a child, I was full of curiosity about the starry sky and wondered what the moon and the sun were."

"It seems that today I will finally be able to hear from a senior master to help me resolve the doubts that have been lingering in my mind for many years."

Hao Cuixing laughed and said, "I see. It seems that our meeting today may have been ordained by fate."

Because of his cultivation of divination skills, Hao Cuixing, like Hao Zun, likes to attribute many things to the will of Heaven.

Although Han Lu doesn't particularly believe in fate and prefers to attribute the outcome of things to human initiative and objective factors, she didn't want to make a fool of herself by lecturing Hao Cuixing on some potentially incorrect principles.

Han Lu chimed in with a couple of words, trying to win Hao Cuixing's favor while telling the truth as much as possible.

Having grown closer to each other, Hao Cuixing stopped keeping them in suspense and continued with her opening remarks, introducing astrology to Han Lu.

"Simply put, the divination method I am good at relies on the stars in the sky to perform divination."

"This looks no different from reading faces, palms, or using tea leaves for divination."

"But upon closer examination, there are quite a few differences."

"This skill is even more profound, great, and complex."

After rearranging the order of several nouns, Hao Cuixing praised them lavishly once more.

"Simply put, astrology relies on spiritual power to communicate with the stars, sun, and moon in the sky, and to reveal the future through these ancient objects that existed before the age of true spirits."

Hao Cuixing finally shared some more practical information, explaining the operating principles of her "art" as concisely as possible.

Han Lu nodded slightly, vaguely feeling that she had grasped the key point.

"Senior Cui Xing, do you mean that the sun, moon and stars in the sky are like a cultivator who has lived for millions of years, coldly watching everything that happens in this world?"

"Because they are knowledgeable and experienced, they can make inferences and predictions based on the information given by the diviner?"

Han Lu slightly modified Hao Cuixing's words, turning them into simpler language.

Although Hao Cuixing felt that this description was somewhat "undignified," she had to admit that what Han Lu said was not much different from her theory.

“Barely correct,” Hao Cuixing added, “So, the most important things to master this art are these points.”

"First, learn how to communicate with the sun, moon, and stars."

"Secondly, learn how to interpret the responses the sun, moon, and stars give you, transform them, and arrive at a result."

There wasn't much new to it, Han Lu muttered to herself, "Isn't this just like looking at the shape of tea leaves or the symbols in water?"

"It's just that the sun, moon, and stars are more grand and magnificent."

Indeed, for most people, tea and water don't seem like reliable authorities.

The same content is more convincing when relayed by the sun, moon, and stars.

Han Lu only muttered these words to herself, but she wouldn't say them aloud, lest she anger Hao Cuixing.

She smiled and clapped her hands, saying, "I see. It seems that Senior Cuixing is not only exceptionally skilled in divination, but also very good at teaching and nurturing people."

The expressions and movements are slightly exaggerated, but they don't look out of place.

Hao Cuixing did try to teach astrology within her clan, but unfortunately, most of the Hao Gu birds preferred traditional divination skills. Judging from the process, she might be a good teacher, but in terms of results, she couldn't produce any significant achievements.

"In just two sentences, I suddenly understood and grasped the key points."

"Senior Cui Xing, how should I cultivate these two points?"

Han Lu raised a question.

Hao Cuixing had already guessed that Han Lu would ask this question.

"This problem is not difficult; I have a solution."

"It's daytime now, so communicating with the sun, moon, and stars is a bit difficult. And later, when you become my assistant, you won't need to master this skill. So, I'll teach you the method and guide you in your cultivation later."

"As for the second point, it depends on this..."

Hao Cuixing clapped her hands, triggering the restrictions within the spire.

A planetarium, roughly the size of Han Lu herself, appeared in the center of the room, followed by a thin film appearing on the previously unobstructed top of the spire.

The membrane has markings of stars, the sun, and the moon, and these markings move slowly there over time.

"All you have to do is learn to use the planetarium and understand the workings of the stars and the vast sun and moon."

"Only by understanding the patterns can one discover the anomalies in the movement of the stars during divination, and thus know what kind of divination result is being given."

Hao Cuixing raised her hand and took a jade pendant from a tall bookshelf not far away, then tossed it to Han Lu.

Han Lu took it without asking Hao Cuixing to read its contents.

The jade plaque contains a lot of information, all of which is related to the movement of the sun, moon, and stars.

Hao Cuixing gave all sorts of names to the stars in the sky as code names.

The patterns recorded on the jade tablet were obtained through Hao Cuixing's observations day and night.

Just by seeing these things, Han Lu could imagine how much effort Hao Cuixing had put into perfecting this "art" all by herself.

"As for..." The jade tablet ended with some incantations similar to divination slips. "As for these contents, they were probably obtained through repeated communication, divination, and experimentation."

Thinking about how hard-won this information was, Han Lu couldn't help but grip the jade pendant even tighter.

After quickly reading the contents of the jade tablet three times and memorizing them completely using the excellent memory of a high-level cultivator, Han Lu, under Hao Cuixing's guidance, learned how to use the huge astronomical instrument in the spire.

Finally, Hao Cuixing presented some past cases of accurate predictions using astrology for Han Lu to study, so that she could quickly understand the changes in the stars and the "divination texts" of the stars, and use them as skillfully as possible even with zero experience.

Han Lu has a strong learning ability; in just three hours, she had already reached the point where she could talk about military strategy on paper.

Chapter 1006 Cultivating Astrology

Han Lu only needs to help out; her skill level is already sufficient.

However, Hao Cuixing clearly still had additional expectations for Han Lu, hoping that she could fully master her unique astrological skills.

So, as dusk fell, she began to instruct Han Lu on the techniques for communicating with the sun, moon, and stars.

The studious Han Lu did not reject this complex and profound "art" book because she could not use it now. On the contrary, she took the initiative and showed enough enthusiasm for this art.

This wasn't pretentious; it was Han Lu's instinctive reaction based on curiosity and respect.

Having lived a long life as a True Spirit, Han Lu, who had gradually become accustomed to her True Spirit identity, naturally had more enthusiasm for these things that "hindered cultivation" than human cultivators.

Han Lu felt it was well worth spending her enthusiasm on such a mysterious and practical field of study as astrology.

Not to mention that such an opportunity is hard to come by; not everyone can get a master of Hao Cuixing's caliber to teach them everything he knows.

Han Lu wouldn't miss such a golden opportunity.

He taught Han Lu a meditation technique that Hao Cuixing had devised. Then, Hao Cuixing taught Han Lu the skills to communicate and connect with the two "big shots," the Sun and the Moon.

The meditation technique is very simple; it's only a technique for beginners.

However, while cultivation is easy, whether one can truly communicate with the sun, moon, and stars when casting spells depends on the caster's talent and personal destiny.

In the past, many Haogu birds who were interested in this "art of astrology" got stuck at this stage and were unable to become the successors of Haocui Star.

As for whether Han Lu has a chance.

Hao Cuixing was unaware of this; she simply let Han Lu try it out as a matter of course.