章 92: Chapter 92: Predicting Destiny

Moreover, it wasn't as if the royal family of Pusi Country lacked high-level cultivators to watch over them.

As Song Jusheng indulged in his brief moment of leisure, he suddenly heard a commotion coming from the street below. Peering down, he saw a group of well-dressed boys around thirteen or fourteen years old, laughing and making their way into the teahouse.

As a Golden Core stage cultivator, it took just one glance for him to notice that one of the boys seemed to possess exceptional spiritual root potential.

Song Jusheng felt a flicker of excitement.

One of the goals of his sect's presence in the capital was to recruit talented noble children who had missed the once-a-decade grand selection but still possessed outstanding potential.

Indeed, the recruitment process in the capital was different from that in more remote provinces, where it happened every thirty years. In the capital, it was every ten years.

However, the three major sects had an agreement that they could not forcibly recruit mortals into their sects. The choice had to be voluntary.

In recent decades, due to the declining production of spirit stones in their region, the Shangyang Sect had gradually fallen behind the other two sects in Pusi Country. As a result, this year, all the noble children with outstanding single spiritual roots in the capital chose to join the other two sects, and none opted for the Shangyang Sect.

Thus, Song Jusheng was dispatched by the sect to the capital with a clear objective.

Word had reached the sect that there was a boy from the prestigious Weiyuan General's household who was rumored to have heavenly spiritual roots. However, during last month's recruitment by the three major sects, he was found to have a single fire spiritual root.

But this boy, Mo Yuanjiao, had refused to join any of the sects, claiming that he had a dream in which his path to immortality did not lie with them. He believed his fate was elsewhere, and joining any of the three sects would only hinder his true journey to cultivation.

When others asked him where this destiny lay, he couldn't provide an answer but stubbornly insisted on waiting for his destined opportunity.

The entire General's household doted on their youngest son, so when he made a fuss, his elders reluctantly agreed to let him wait for his supposed opportunity.

Now, Song Jusheng's task was to find a way to get Mo Yuanjiao to join the Shangyang Sect.

Though his cultivation level wasn't the highest in the sect, his skills in persuasion were famously effective.

Gently stroking his long beard, Song Jusheng quickly formulated a plan.

With a wave of his hand, he changed his appearance slightly, then pulled out a sign from his storage ring that read "Fortune Teller" and placed it beside him.

He then discreetly signaled to his disciple nearby, whispering instructions through a sound transmission.

The disciple, looking out of their private room, saw that Mo Yuanjiao and his friends had just reached the second floor, close enough to hear them. Immediately, the disciple put on an excited act, shouting and bowing to Song Jusheng,

"Oh, wise immortal! Your divine calculations are truly miraculous! I followed your advice when I returned home, and it worked wonders! You are indeed incredible!"

As expected, this loud proclamation caught the attention of Mo Yuanjiao and his companions.

The other boys glanced over, their expressions quickly turning disdainful.

"Ha! Another charlatan trying to scam people in our capital? Doesn't he know this place is protected by the three great sects?"

"Exactly! These frauds need to be taught a lesson, so they don't think they can treat our capital like some backwater village."

The boys were about to approach Song Jusheng to confront him, but Mo Yuanjiao stopped them.

"Wait a moment. What if this person really does possess some divine knowledge? The world is vast—how do you know there aren't other immortals besides the three sects visiting our land?"

With that, he took the lead and respectfully greeted Song Jusheng,

"May I ask if the gentleman's fortune-telling is genuine?"

As Mo Yuanjiao stepped forward, the disciple who had been acting as a decoy quietly withdrew to a less conspicuous spot.

Meanwhile, Song Jusheng, his eyes half-closed, glanced at Mo Yuanjiao with a serene expression before slowly speaking,

"Believe it, and it exists. Doubt it, and it doesn't."

Hearing this, the naive and pampered Mo Yuanjiao immediately believed him even more. His eyes lit up as he earnestly said,

"Please, sir, read my fortune!"

Song Jusheng felt a surge of satisfaction. This Mo Yuanjiao was proving easy to manipulate, already taking the bait with little effort.

But outwardly, he remained calm and indifferent, asking,

"What do you wish to know?"

"I want to know where my destiny lies and when it will arrive!" Mo Yuanjiao bowed respectfully.

Without surprise, Song Jusheng maintained his composure, lightly tapping the table as he said,

"Five copper coins for a reading. No more, no less."

One of Mo Yuanjiao's attendants quickly stepped forward and placed five copper coins on the table.

With that, Song Jusheng closed his eyes, raised his right hand, and began to make a show of calculating Mo Yuanjiao's fortune.

Mo Yuanjiao stood by nervously, watching the fortune teller intently, hardly daring to breathe.

Though his friends had their doubts about the sudden appearance of this fortune teller, they didn't interrupt, knowing how troubled Mo Yuanjiao had been lately.

In the circles of the capital's elite, particularly for powerful families like the Mo family, failing to produce a child with dual spiritual roots or better every twenty years was not only embarrassing but could also affect the family's future standing at court.

After all, if the family didn't produce talented offspring within twenty years, it signified that they lacked strong backing within the sects.

Pusi Country was a nation supported by the sects, and the upper echelons of society were closely tied to their standing within the sects.

And in the past thirty years, the Mo family had failed to produce a child with dual spiritual roots or higher.

Some might wonder, what about thirty years ago or even earlier? Didn't the Mo family produce talented individuals who joined the sects back then?

While that was true, the reality was more complex. Many of those talented family members had either died due to various reasons on their cultivation path or had advanced enough in cultivation over the last thirty years to "sever mortal ties" with their family.

After all, the sects did not nurture disciples to benefit their mortal families; their loyalty was expected to shift entirely to the sect.