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When Lu Li had first learned the Greater Expansion Divination Method, he barely understood it. In the end, it was only after his master demonstrated it three times using fifty yarrow stalks that he finally grasped the concept.

Qin Shu was four years younger than he had been back then, so it was understandable if she didn't comprehend everything immediately.

However, just as he finished speaking, Qin Shu snapped back to attention and grinned at him. "I understand, Senior Brother. Please continue."

"Do you *really* understand?" Lu Li was skeptical. "You're just a kid—don't bluff just to save face."

"I really do. Just go on."

Lu Li continued, explaining how the principles of yin and yang meant that extreme yang (Taiyang) would inevitably shift toward extreme yin (Taiyin)...

After finishing, he saw Qin Shu's face light up in understanding. He asked again, "You really get it?"

Qin Shu nodded. "You explained it thoroughly—it's quite easy to grasp."

Lu Li wasn't sure if she truly understood or if she was just being stubborn. So he decided to test her. "Alright, since you say you understand, let's see. Next month, your sect is holding an internal competition. Calculate whether you'll make it into the top ten."

Qin Shu had almost forgotten about the upcoming tournament. She had been feeling an impending breakthrough lately—if she reached the fifth layer of Qi Condensation, she *should* be able to place in the top ten, right?

Of course, that was just her personal guess. Since Lu Li had brought it up, she decided to use this as a real test of her new divination skills.

She reached into her storage ring and retrieved a stack of paper, ink, and a brush.

Lu Li had originally planned to give her a set of divination bones, but when he saw her movements, he frowned in confusion.

"What are you doing now?"

Qin Shu dipped her brush in ink. "Don't rush, Senior Brother. I'll have your answer soon."

Lu Li leaned in, curiously watching as she scribbled strange symbols and numbers on the paper—none of which he recognized.

A sudden thought struck him.

Could it be... that this girl was also a *Talisman Cultivator*?

Though that idea sounded absurd, at this point, he was willing to believe *anything* when it came to Qin Shu.

Qin Shu filled an entire page with densely packed Arabic numerals. Finally, she reached a conclusion.

"Senior Brother, the divination shows Taiyang. Based on the changing hexagram, it transitions to Taiyin. Given my current cultivation, I won't place in the top ten, but I also won't rank too low. So, I went ahead and divined the fate of the entire competition—it's also Taiyang. In my opinion... this tournament probably won't happen at all."

Lu Li: "?"

She just *wrote* on a piece of paper for a few minutes and deduced *two* predictions?

Was she really only eleven years old?!

Unconvinced, Lu Li pulled out his own divination bones and cast his own hexagram. He calculated for a long time—so long that Qin Shu got impatient and refined *two whole furnaces of pills* while waiting.

Finally, Lu Li stopped, his expression complicated. He muttered to himself, "It's true..."

This little girl—was this really her first time learning the Greater Expansion Divination Method?

"Senior Brother, did you finish? Was my calculation correct?"

As she spoke, she continued forming a hand seal to condense her pills.

Lu Li stared at her in disbelief. "You—you—you're *distracted* while refining pills?!"

Qin Shu shrugged. "Ever heard of *One Mind, Three Uses*?"

This was only *two* simultaneous tasks—it was no big deal.

Lu Li, unwilling to appear ignorant, immediately asked, "What is *One Mind, Three Uses*?"

Qin Shu casually finished sealing the pills in a jade bottle, then pulled out a blank jade slip. She recorded the basic principles of *One Mind, Three Uses*, then tossed it to Lu Li.

"Here. A gift for you. You taught me divination, I'm teaching you this. Now we're even."

No one could refuse the appeal of *One Mind, Three Uses*. Energy was *indeed* limited, and if one could train to split their focus across multiple tasks, it would save an incredible amount of time.

Lu Li carefully stored the jade slip, planning to study it later.

For now, though, he was more intrigued by what Qin Shu had written earlier.

"Junior Sister, what exactly were those symbols you used? Can you explain them to me? Your calculations were *way* faster than mine."

Qin Shu shook her head and smirked. "Secret technique. Not for outsiders."

Lu Li looked disappointed. "That's a real shame."

It wasn't that Qin Shu *didn't* want to teach him—it was just that teaching it properly would require starting with basic mathematics, which was not something that could be done in a day or two.

Just as she was about to suggest they revisit the topic after she had repaid her debts, Lu Li suddenly spoke up.

"Then... what if I take you as my master? If I'm your disciple, it wouldn't be considered an 'outsider' technique, would it?"

Qin Shu: "???"

Was he really willing to go *this* far just to learn something useful?

"Isn't that a bit much?" Qin Shu asked, her expression stiff.

Lu Li's fan had vanished without a trace. Suddenly, he bowed deeply to her and solemnly declared,

"As the old saying goes, 'Among three people, there is always one who can be my teacher.' If I can learn this technique, I'd even perform the full three-kneels-and-nine-bows ceremony without hesitation."

Alright, at least he was sincere in his desire to learn.

Of course, Qin Shu couldn't possibly accept him as a disciple. She sidestepped his bow and said, "No need for that, Senior Brother. This technique isn't all that special—if you really want to learn, I'll teach you."

Lu Li smiled. "Rest assured, I won't let you teach me for free."

Qin Shu returned to the previous topic. "Senior Brother, was my divination correct?"

Lu Li's expression turned serious. "Yes. Your sect's tournament likely won't happen."

At first, Qin Shu was thrilled—her first divination had been accurate!

But a moment later, she realized something...

If the tournament was canceled, how would He Xin enter the inner sect?

And for something to disrupt such an important event, it had to be a *major* incident.

She could already sense an approaching storm.

As Qin Shu pondered this, she absentmindedly refined *two more* batches of pills. At this point, she was no different from a worker on an assembly line.

By day, she refined pills. By night, she cultivated.

Even Lu Li, who had always been a carefree drifter, was influenced by her discipline—he ended up meditating and cultivating for *three days straight*.

During that time, he was shocked to realize that the bottleneck that had troubled him for so long was starting to loosen.

Excited, yet puzzled, he asked Qin Shu, "Cultivation may go against the heavens, but don't you ever feel *exhausted* from working nonstop like this?"

Qin Shu gave him a sidelong glance, surprised that he would ask such a question.

"Mayflies are born in the morning and die by nightfall. To us, their lives last only a single day. We cultivators may live for hundreds or even thousands of years, yet in the eyes of ancient demons, our existence is still but a fleeting moment. Cultivation is like rowing upstream—if you do not advance, you will fall behind."

Lu Li was struck as if someone had smacked him in the head with a wooden staff.

For a long time, he was unable to speak.

And when he looked at Qin Shu again, his gaze had completely changed.