150: Chapter 150, First Divination: Helping the Old Taoist Priest Repair a Used Microwave Oven

Jiang Feng's features were tense, his hands folded and resting flat on his knees, his back straight, and his expression solemn.

"A Dharma treasure?" he finally spoke.

The old man nodded repeatedly.

"This object is an alchemy Dharma vessel that this old man bought at a high price from those youngsters on East Street!"

"That youngster vowed that this object contains heavenly fire. One only needs to rotate the mechanism on the left, and a fierce flame will be born within a square inch to refine pills!"

The old man got angrier as he spoke, his speech quickening, and his fingers trembling slightly.

"This old man tried it for three days after buying it! Every time I rotate the mechanism, thunder and lightning flash inside! Sparks fly everywhere! The sound is deafening!"

He pointed at the miserable tuft of beard on his chin.

"Half of this old man's beard was burned off!"

Every word was an accusation.

"Master, I ask you! Has this object been possessed by an evil spirit? Is the thunder and fire within an omen of great misfortune? Should this old man smash it to eliminate future trouble?"

The onlookers broke into a commotion.

Several young people in modern T-shirts were already clutching their stomachs and squatting down, their shoulders shaking as they struggled to hold back laughter until their faces turned red.

They knew this old man.

An Old Daoist Priest from the pre-qin era. His status in the town wasn't high, but he was obsessed with alchemy.

Last month, he spent three knife coins to buy a broken electric rice cooker, insisting that once plugged in, it could boil rice into an immortality elixir. In the end, he cooked a pot of black charcoal crust and went around asking everyone for the cause of the 'illness'.

This time he had upgraded his equipment to a microwave.

Jiang Feng kept his mouth tightly shut after hearing the old man's tragic encounter.

The system panel lit up in his mind, and an invisible thread of karma emerged from the scorched cracks of the microwave, connecting straight to the old man's soot-blackened face.

Metaphysical intuition gave the most direct answer.

The answer was practically an insult to one's intelligence. But at this stall, he had to put on a full performance.

Jiang Feng reached out his right hand, grabbed the plastic handle of the microwave, and pulled the door open forcefully. A stronger burnt smell wafted out.

The inner walls were covered with splattered debris and oil residue.

In the center of the glass turntable sat an object: a double-layered stainless steel lunch box.

The lid had been completely deformed by electric arcs, with one corner curling high up.

The stainless steel surface was covered in black and white scorch marks.

Putting a metal container into a microwave—the fact that it didn't send the old man straight to the afterlife was a testament to the machine's high quality.

Jiang Feng's expression remained unchanged as he casually pushed the door shut.

His left hand grabbed the broken bowl and shook it with force from his wrist.

The coins spun frantically inside the porcelain bowl.

The crisp clinking sound drowned out the surrounding whispers.

The broken bowl was flipped back onto the bluestone. Jiang Feng pressed down hard on the bottom of the bowl with his left hand and tapped the side of the bowl twice with his right index and middle fingers.

He lifted the porcelain bowl, revealing five coins spread out on the stone.

With his fingertips, he arranged the fifty-cent coins into a neat, straight line.

Three heads up, two tails up.

Jiang Feng stared at the coins for two seconds, then looked up to meet the old man's expectant eyes.

"Old gentleman."

The old man quickly leaned in two steps, holding his breath.

Jiang Feng placed his palm on the damaged casing of the microwave.

"This Dharma treasure..."

The old man's eyes widened.

"...belongs to the element of Fire."

The old man was greatly shocked.

"Fire?"

Jiang Feng nodded.

"Pure Yang fire, of the heavenly thunder attribute."

He bent his knuckles and tapped three dull thuds on the machine's body.

"But the thing you put inside belongs to the element of Metal."

The old man's mouth hung open slightly; he couldn't squeeze out a word for a long time.

"Fire overcomes Metal; the Five Elements are in conflict. When Pure Yang fire encounters a vessel of refined steel, the flames have nowhere to vent, so they condense into a lightning tribulation inside the object."

"This isn't a possession by an evil spirit. You've invited the Thunder God into your alchemy furnace."

The old man's face turned pale.

"A lightning tribulation?!"

He took three steps back, the way he looked at the microwave completely changing, as if he were looking at a firecracker about to go off.

"Then how can it be resolved?" the old man asked with a trembling voice.

The onlookers couldn't hold it in anymore. Several modern hoodlums were doubled over with laughter.

The young man in the hoodie covered his mouth tightly, tears almost coming out.

A companion beside him pulled hard on his sleeve and warned in a low voice.

"Hold it in! Don't make a sound! Let him finish the act!"

Jiang Feng turned a deaf ear to the commotion behind him.

Right now, he was the number one Feng Shui master of Location, his aura perfectly maintained.

"The method of resolution is not difficult," Jiang Feng said steadily. "Go buy a ceramic bowl."

The old man perked up his ears.

"Ceramics belong to the element of Earth."

"Earth produces Metal; Metal aided by Earth does not fear Fire. Replace the metal object inside with a ceramic bowl, then turn the mechanism. Fire enters Earth, Earth absorbs the Metal Qi, the Five Elements circulate, and the lightning tribulation will dissipate on its own."

Translated into plain language, it meant taking out the stainless steel and replacing it with a ceramic bowl.

This was content from the first page of a microwave manual, but after passing through Jiang Feng's mouth, it had all become Five Elements, Eight Trigrams, and metaphysical fate.

The old man listened with rapt attention, his eyes shining with wild excitement.

"Earth produces Metal! Metal aided by Earth! Brilliant! Simply brilliant!" He rubbed his hands together frantically and bowed repeatedly to Jiang Feng, each bow lower than the last.

"Master, you are truly talented! Truly talented!"

The old man straightened his thin frame and reached his right hand deep into his wide sleeve.

After fumbling for a while, he pulled out a hard object.

A long, bronze ancient coin. It was entirely covered in green copper rust.

The back of the 'knife' curved in a rugged arc. Although the edge was blunt, the solid metal texture made it clear at a glance that it was high quality.

A pre-qin knife coin. If this thing were thrown into Panjiayuan in Location, the starting price would be at least five figures.

The old man placed the knife coin squarely on the bluestone slab and pushed it along the smooth stone surface to Jiang Feng's hand.

"A small token of my respect!"

The outer circle of the crowd suddenly went quiet, with several heavy breaths heard.

A hoodlum in a floral shirt spoke faster than his brain could process, blabbing out on the spot.

"Holy crap! This old guy just gave away a top-quality town voucher!"

As soon as he finished speaking, over a dozen gazes pinned him to the spot.

His companion immediately covered his big mouth. But everyone who needed to hear it had heard it.

town voucher.

This term circled in Jiang Feng's mind, and he quickly figured out the logic.

This ghost of a place operated on bartering.

Ancient artifacts and scarce resources brought in from various dynasties were the hard currency, collectively known as town vouchers.

A top-quality town voucher represented powerful purchasing power.

An authentic pre-qin knife coin was definitely a top-tier asset in this desolate place.

Jiang Feng didn't hesitate for a moment. He reached out two fingers to pinch the knife coin and skillfully flipped it over.

It felt heavy. With a flick of his wrist, he stuffed it directly into his pants pocket.

【Ding! Effective fortune-telling count: 1/3】

Jiang Feng brought his hands together to sweep all five coins back into the broken bowl. He then crossed his legs and looked down at the growing crowd outside.

The Old Daoist Priest picked up the scorched Panasonic microwave with both hands and turned to leave happily.

The laughter that had been suppressed in the crowd could no longer be held back.

Several modern youths in T-shirts were laughing so hard they were clinging to each other.

"Using the Five Elements to break a lightning tribulation! I've lived for almost thirty years and this is the first time I've heard someone explain it so uniquely!"

"The best part is that the old man actually believed it! He even gave a top-grade town voucher!"

Jiang Feng sat upright in front of his stall.

He listened to the laughter, while his ears also caught the fear beneath it.

These people were enjoying the show, but their feet seemed rooted to the spot; not one of them dared to take another step forward.

No one could figure out the background of this Location master who could trick someone out of a top-quality town voucher with just a few words.

Jiang Feng was just about to tap the bowl to continue calling out.

The outer crowd suddenly surged violently, and several people were pushed aside roughly.

A young man wearing an old military uniform stumbled out.

The young man rushed to the bluestone slab gasping for breath, his hands gripping the edge of the large stone.

"Master! I beg of you!"

The young man's voice was completely hoarse, carrying a sob.

"Quick, help me calculate! Where did our production team's farrowing sow run off to?!"