I Have an Omen System

"Five more."

Zhao Youliang was a little dazed, wondering what kind of trick Qin Xuan had up his sleeve.

"Master Qin, are you planning to continue running the Marketplace?"

Qin Xuan nodded, his voice filled with heroic spirit. "That’s right. We’re not just going to open it; we’re going to expand its scope to attract Foundation Establishment Cultivators!"

Zhao Youliang said worriedly, "But we don’t have enough resources. To be honest, the Pills and Magical Artifacts from the old Ten Thousand Herbs Hall treasury... I’ve already auctioned them all off during this time."

Otherwise, Zhao Youliang wouldn’t have resorted to working with Wang Zezhou to ambush and kill other Cultivators.

"Who said we don’t have enough resources?"

Qin Xuan chuckled and gave the Storage Ring on his hand a little shake.

In an instant, a brilliant light erupted!

Countless Magic Talismans and Magical Artifacts shone with a dazzling radiance, their multicolored, precious light swirling about, nearly blinding Zhao Youliang.

There were several thick stacks of Second-tier Treasure Talismans brimming with Spiritual Qi, as well as Tier Two Elixirs commonly used by Early-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivators, such as Stabilizing Pills and Nourishing Pills.

In addition to all that, there were also several Top-Grade Spiritual Artifact flying swords, each glinting with a biting chill!

All of them were items used by Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

Zhao Youliang was both shocked and overjoyed. "Master Qin, where did you get so many Magical Treasures?"

"Just tell me, is it enough or not?"

"It’s enough! More than enough!" Zhao Youliang couldn’t contain his joy.

"With so many Magical Treasures, if we’re frugal, it’s enough to last for ten years... Since the quality of the treasures is so high, we could even hold the auction just once a year to really whet their appetites!"

Qin Xuan shook his head. "Once a year is too long. Let’s do it once every three months. After three times, we’ll stop."

"Alright!" Although Zhao Youliang didn’t know why Qin Xuan was doing this, he agreed to everything. Master Qin had never been wrong before.

...

Inside a temporary Cave Mansion.

Qin Xuan made a grasping motion with his palm, pulling Wang Zezhou’s Divine Soul out of the Soul-devouring Banner.

"Slave... greets... greets the Master!"

Wang Zezhou shivered uncontrollably, his soul-form dim. He had clearly been thoroughly "educated" by Chen Lixuan and the others inside.

Foundation Establishment Cultivators have a lifespan of three hundred years, and Wang Zezhou was already over two hundred. With one foot already in the grave, it was no surprise his soul was weak.

Wang Lanmeng, on the other hand, was like the moon surrounded by stars. As soon as she entered the Soul Banner, she was taken under the protection of Xuanzhen Ascendant, who had the highest Cultivation, and received exceptional treatment.

Not a single banner-soul dared to approach her.

Xuanzhen Ascendant even took the initiative to capture mortal souls to provide her with Soul Power, while Zheng Qi, Chen Lixuan, and the other Foundation Establishment Soul Cultivators acted the fool to amuse her.

Not only had Wang Lanmeng’s soul-form not dissipated, it had actually solidified a great deal.

"Not bad. Little Zhen Zi and Xiaochenzi are quite sensible."

The supreme will within the Soul-devouring Banner belonged to its master.

Once inside, they became the banner master’s most loyal slaves!

Without so much as lifting an eyelid, Qin Xuan grabbed Wang Zezhou and began the Soul Search.

With a gap of a full six minor realms between them, Wang Zezhou’s life memories appeared one by one like a movie playing, with almost nothing missing.

’This old coot... so he only stayed in the Holy Sect for half a month...’

He entered the Holy Sect at fourteen and was assigned a Lifebound Longsword, but just after reaching the Qi Cultivation Third Layer, before he even chose a Cultivation Technique, he accidentally went missing during a mishap.

Later, he was abducted by a young Cultivator with a pockmarked face who held his fingers in an effeminate pose...

’Wait a minute, this sissy... how does he look so much like that Early-stage Golden Core Governor of Youzhou from Daqian...’

Qin Xuan reviewed this part of the memory over and over, trying to understand.

In the end, he really did find a clue.

"That’s right! This Earth Attribute True Essence Aura is identical to the one recorded for the Great Qian Governor of Youzhou in the Holy Sect’s Talisman Decree!"

Qin Xuan’s eyes lit up.

It all made sense. Everything clicked into place.

Why Wang Zezhou, a nameless and powerless Loose Cultivator who had left the Holy Sect in his early years, was ultimately able to establish such a large Foundation Establishment Clan.

The only slight discrepancy was that in the memory, the Cultivator was a young man.

Now, more than two hundred years later, the Great Qian Governor of Youzhou no longer looked as he did back then; he had even grown old and decrepit.

’Interesting. Truly interesting.’

The Daqian Golden Core True Monarch, Wei Lengrong, had a preference for...

This was something that wasn’t even recorded in the Holy Sect’s secret reports!

No wonder the Holy Sect had to send spies to Daqian to secretly gather intelligence; some of their existing information was indeed full of errors.

"If I hadn’t come, the Holy Sect’s records would probably have forever stated that Wei Lengrong wasn’t interested in women and was impotent..."

Impotent my ass! He wasn’t interested in women because they were the wrong gender for him!

"Hahaha! Of the intelligence on three Golden Core True Monarchs required for the mission, this is definitely significant enough to be one of them!"

In less than a year, one-third of the mission was already complete. Qin Xuan immediately felt a great sense of relief.

As long as he could perfectly transmit this intelligence back, he would be a great hero to the Holy Sect.

’Since this Golden Core True Monarch is fond of catamites yet has managed to hide the secret for centuries, if I were to deliberately use a handsome page boy as bait, how could he not take it?’

’If handled well, this could even have a major effect on the battlefield!’

"This old fellow, Wang Zezhou, is quite pitiful. He spent his whole life living in the shadow of that incident, yet he never knew the true identity of the person who bullied him back then."

After finishing the Soul Search, Qin Xuan’s form shifted, and he transformed into the likeness of Wang Zezhou.

His facial features and appearance were perfectly lifelike.

In those six years of memory alone, Wei Lengrong had ravaged over a thousand young men. Two hundred years had passed since then; the number was likely in the tens of thousands. He would have long forgotten Wang Zezhou.

But Qin Xuan still planned to make use of Wang Zezhou’s identity.

...

「Three months later.」

Amidst the vast mountain range, a misty haze lingered.

A bluish-black demonic ape leaped and bounded between the rugged, strange rocks and gnarled ancient vines of a mountain stream.

With its long arms outstretched, each swing from a vine propelled it a dozen or so zhang forward, as swift as the wind.

After a few leaps, it rushed to a hidden cliffside platform and landed before Qin Xuan, who stood with his hands clasped behind his back.