99: Backlash

“So Qi Huaiyi went to Sabado to ask him to divine my true identity, and the result was…” Long Yuan thought to himself.

Sabado, upon hearing Qi Huaiyi's request, was all smiles, and seeing the superior xuan stone Qi Huaiyi handed over, he couldn't help but feel a little contempt. Compared to Prince Fu just now, this Captain Qi was truly too shabby!

However, Xuanji Tower's fees for these nobles and officials were quite flexible; they would take whatever was given. So Sabado still took it and put it into his Storage Ring. This move startled Qi Huaiyi. He hadn't seen how the superior xuan stone had disappeared into thin air, nor did he know about Storage Rings, because on Blue Star, there were no spatial items like Storage Pouches or Storage Rings. People had to use actual boxes and crates to transport goods. Therefore, Sabado's action of making an item disappear into thin air seemed like an illusion to Qi Huaiyi, leaving him utterly shocked!

Seeing Qi Huaiyi's country bumpkin appearance, Sabado smiled smugly, his charming expression intensifying. This impossibly beautiful old man was full of confidence about divining the fate of a middle school student from Fengyang County. He conjured a green bamboo tube and began to shake it, simultaneously throwing dice. But after many throws, the pair of dice consistently failed to land with one face up and one face down. This meant he couldn't communicate with the Heavenly Dao to divine this person!

“Impossible! There must be something I've overlooked…” Sabado thought to himself.

He took a deep breath, sat upright in his chair, shaking the tube with his left hand and holding the dice with his right, muttering incantations. His Divine Sense connected with the green bamboo tube and extended to the observation deck upstairs. In his Divine Sense, he could see the observation deck emitting a faint light towards the sky, subtly connecting with a certain star above…

The star's brilliance suddenly intensified, shining like a new star. Sabado was stunned, then saw countless light and shadow streaking past, like countless colorful ribbons dancing in the sky, like a Fairy crossing a sea of lotus, with lotus flowers blooming one after another in the air, breathtakingly beautiful!

Just as Sabado was mesmerized, a lotus flower suddenly crossed the star sea and slammed hard onto his head. With a “pfft” sound, he spat out several mouthfuls of blood, nearly fainting. Qi Huaiyi, startled, quickly got up and supported him…

“Impossible… This is absolutely impossible… I was actually backlashed! I… I saw…” Sabado said, twitching.

“What did the Tower Master see?!” Qi Huaiyi asked anxiously.

“An anomaly…”

“An anomaly?! What anomaly?!”

“The same… anomaly… as that day…” Sabado's right hand trembled as he pointed at the astrolabe, his voice stammering with excitement. At the same time, he clutched tightly a divination stick that had just popped out of the green bamboo tube. On the stick was a divination phrase he would never forget until his death…

“Which day?” Qi Huaiyi pressed.

Sabado closed his eyes, adjusted his breathing for a long time, and finally, after exhaling a long breath, slowly opened his eyes. He took out a clean white handkerchief from his Storage Ring, gently wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, then gently folded the handkerchief and placed it aside. Then he said, “About two months ago, this starfield was quite restless, with unfamiliar energy disturbances. After seeing the astrolabe's anomaly, I performed a divination… Later, strange light ribbon incidents occurred across Daming, which should also have been affected by this anomaly!”

“Strange light ribbon incidents? Yes, they happened all over Daming at the time. So the Tower Master noticed it early, but what does this have to do with Long Yuan? Why did you almost faint just now? And you spat blood…” Qi Huaiyi wondered.

Sabado pondered for a moment, then said, “Have you met Long Yuan?”

“I have!”

“Do you have an image of him?”

“Tower Master, you can watch this video…” Qi Huaiyi took out a video of Long Yuan playing guitar and singing.

Sabado's eyes lit up upon seeing it. He half-closed his eyes and listened for a while, even humming along, and finally said, “There should be no mistake!”

“What does the Tower Master mean?” Qi Huaiyi asked in surprise.

“This person is very likely connected to Prince Fu! And… hmm, if I'm to tell you this, you'll have to pay!” Sabado said proudly.

“Pay?! How much?”

“One supreme-grade mysterious stone!”

“What?! Tower Master, I don't earn that much in a year!” Qi Huaiyi exclaimed.

“No way? You're from the Qi Family, and you've served in the Supervisory Xuan Envoy Division South Division for so many years…” Sabado scoffed.

Qi Huaiyi's face flushed crimson as he said, “It's true that I'm from the Qi Family, but I earn Daming's salary, which has nothing to do with the Family. How much can that salary be? Daming's officials' wages are very low, aren't they? As for the Jianxuan Envoy Department where I work, it's not some lucrative government office. The money I earn is just enough for myself; any extra expenses need to be carefully calculated and planned. To this day, I still haven't managed to marry a wife… Even if I receive Family subsidies, I'm not a core member, so the subsidy isn't much. What's more, although our Qi Family has a large enterprise, it can't withstand the sheer number of people and affairs. Various expenditures are simply a bottomless pit; if we didn't meticulously plan, it would probably be an empty shell by now. Also, our Qi Family has to contribute to Daming's wars, and a lot of money is spent on the soldiers!”

“Oh, you're boasting now? So your Qi Family is selfless, right? I think you're just not valued by your Family! You've never been inside the Qi Family's treasury, have you? The money in there would probably blind you! Look, you're over a hundred years old and still single? For a Martial Ancestor, getting a wife is a trivial matter! Is it that you yourself don't want a burden? But then again, being single isn't bad either; one person eats their fill, the whole Family isn't hungry, and there aren't so many trivial worries. Oh, by the way, you can buy this information with public funds!” Sabado scoffed with a smile.

“Public funds? That's true, but the price of one supreme-grade mysterious stone is really too high. If this information isn't worth it, then Lord Yu Xun will scold me terribly! Let me calculate, one supreme-grade mysterious stone is probably enough for our Southern Division's half-month daily expenses!” Qi Huaiyi mused.

Sabado's eyes widened at the words, and he blurted out, “Brother Qi, aren't you exaggerating too much? Prince Fu casually threw out a supreme-grade mysterious stone as a reward for me, and your entire Southern Division's half-month daily expenses are only one supreme-grade mysterious stone?!”

“What?! Prince Fu gave you a supreme-grade mysterious stone as a reward?!” Qi Huaiyi was greatly shocked, almost dumbfounded.

Sabado pulled out the jade box from his Storage Ring, engraved with the Prince Fus Mansion's emblem. He opened it, and inside was indeed a glittering supreme-grade mysterious stone…

“Oh my God, Prince Fu…” Qi Huaiyi exclaimed, nearly fainting…

He never imagined Prince Fu would be so lavish, casually throwing out what amounted to a small xuan stone mountain. How could a poor commoner like him possibly live?

Sabado snorted, “I can guarantee you, this information is absolutely worth one supreme-grade mysterious stone. If it's not, you can come back and take it anytime!”

“This… I must first discuss it with Lord Yu Xun before I can decide whether to purchase this information, but you just said Long Yuan is connected to Prince Fu. What exactly is going on?” Qi Huaiyi asked.

“One… supreme-grade mysterious stone!” Sabado said.

“You?! Ten High Grade xuan stones!”

“Impossible!”

“Twenty?”

“Fifty!”

“Thirty?”

“Deal! Hand them over!” Sabado extended his slender, fair hand.

……