Logging into the Game World Early and Starting with a Royal Marriage to the Empress

“Enter!”

The ethereal voice of the Elder Celestial Master drifted into Xuan Zhenzi’s ears; upon stepping inside, he beheld an elderly man with black hair, his countenance suffused with a ruddy glow, his skin lustrous and radiant as though it belonged to an infant—appearing to be merely fifty or sixty years of age, though Xuan Zhenzi was well aware that the Elder Celestial Master had already reached the venerable age of one hundred.

“Elder Celestial Master, I harbor perplexities within my heart, and thus I have come expressly to seek your counsel!”

Xuan Zhenzi performed a respectful bow.

“Even someone such as yourself harbors uncertainties? It appears you have indeed encountered a genuine conundrum—speak, and let me hear of it!”

The Elder Celestial Master reclined upon a rocking chair, clad in simple garb, squinting as he basked in the sunlight; a cup of tea rested beside him, his demeanor leisurely, resembling that of an ordinary old man.

“Today, while attending the Literary Gathering, I encountered a youth; in a fleeting, hazy moment, I perceived a towering column of purple qi rising behind him—spanning the heavens—and at the rear of his brow, there loomed a colossal nine-clawed divine dragon. This dragon revealed its head but not its tail, stretching across untold tens of thousands of miles.

Yet when I scrutinized further, all of this vanished as though it had never been—seemingly a mere illusion born of my inebriation. But I, as a rule, remain sober even after a thousand cups!”

Even now, recalling this vision stirred awe within Xuan Zhenzi’s heart; he carefully composed his words, speaking with earnest gravity.

“What is more critical—his physiognomy eluded me entirely! All men possess a fate, a destiny, a thread of fortune—physiognomy serves as a manifestation of these fates and fortunes. That I could not discern it—does this not imply he lacks a fate, a destiny?”

The Elder Celestial Master, hitherto squinting with a relaxed air like an old man basking in the sun, abruptly opened his eyes upon hearing Xuan Zhenzi’s words.

What eyes they were—containing within them the sun, moon, and stars, unfathomably intricate, as though the Great Dao itself churned in motion.

“What is the name of this youth?”

“In response to the Elder Celestial Master—he is called Xia Chen!”

Xuan Zhenzi replied with solemn precision.

“Is this the same Xia Chen from the Marquis of Zhendong’s household, who became the princess’s Imperial Son-in-Law and recently assumed command of the Eagle Eye Division?”

“Indeed, Elder Celestial Master!”

Xuan Zhenzi nodded. The Elder Celestial Master’s cultivation pierced the heavens, intertwined with Dawu’s national destiny; thus, he was not detached from worldly affairs—quite the contrary, he was well-informed of the capital’s politics and events, though he seldom intervened, allowing matters to unfold as they would.

“I have calculated his destiny, and he possesses the aptitude of an ordinary man; yet he is betrothed to Yaoguang, whose destined fortune is exceedingly formidable—this is not a boon for him, for he lacks the inherent fate to sustain such a magnitude of destined fortune, thus bearing the portent of an untimely demise!”

The Elder Celestial Master spoke slowly; he had, upon learning of the emperor’s betrothal of Yaoguang, specifically divined the fate of her intended husband.

“Then why could I not discern even a trace of his physiognomy?”

Xuan Zhenzi remained confounded—though the gulf between him and the Elder Celestial Master was vast, he held confidence that in the art of physiognomy, he was not inferior.

The Elder Celestial Master fell silent; he was well-acquainted with Xuan Zhenzi’s mastery of physiognomy.

“I shall divine once more!”

The Elder Celestial Master rose from his rocking chair; he resembled a genial elder, not a wisp of aura leaking from his form.

After a prolonged interval!

The Elder Celestial Master’s brow furrowed faintly; he then retrieved his tortoiseshell once again, resuming his divination.

“Of the sixty-four hexagrams, not a single one can divine his fate—not one forms a coherent image!”

The Elder Celestial Master murmured to himself; Xuan Zhenzi, standing behind him, bore witness to this spectacle, his heart unable to find calm. Even the Elder Celestial Master could not divine it?

The Elder Celestial Master performed a third divination; yet this time, as he cast the tortoiseshell aloft—before it could even settle—the shell, inscribed with intricate and profound runes, shattered midair within the void.

“Undivinable, impenetrable—standing within the present yet absent from past and future; this is an anomaly. Has the mechanism of heaven shifted?”

The Elder Celestial Master’s visage paled slightly; even with a temperament as steady as his, tranquility eluded him.

“Elder Celestial Master, what has happened?”

Xuan Zhenzi’s pupils contracted sharply—the Elder Celestial Master’s tortoiseshell had shattered, an unprecedented occurrence.

“This individual bears great causality—an anomaly; the future has already begun to shift, and how it shall unfold, even I can no longer pierce the veil of heaven’s mysteries!”

Having steadied his spirit, the Elder Celestial Master spoke with grave seriousness.

Xuan Zhenzi’s heart recoiled in shock—even the Elder Celestial Master, akin to a terrestrial immortal, could not unravel Xia Chen’s fate.

“In this present age, only two individuals exist whose origins I cannot fathom and whose futures I cannot discern—one being Yaoguang, and now an additional one in Xia Chen; what is even more perplexing is that these two individuals, astonishingly, are bound by the ties of matrimonial fate?”

“Stranger still, even with Yaoguang, I can faintly glimpse a fragment through the mist—discerning her as one endowed with vast destined fortune, bearing the visage of a sovereign. Though she remains a princess, she already shoulders a portion of Dawu’s national destiny; in the future, she may well become the first woman in history to rule the realm, bringing an end to the chaos of ancient and modern times!”

“Yet her husband, Xia Chen—I can perceive nothing at all!”

The Elder Celestial Master’s tone carried profound solemnity.

Xuan Zhenzi’s heart surged with both astonishment and relief—astonishment that even the Elder Celestial Master could not see through him, and relief that it was not his own inadequacy, but rather Xia Chen’s fate being too anomalous.

“A person’s fate is set from the moment of their birth; to defy the heavens and alter one’s destiny is an endeavor of immense difficulty. There is the sequence: one fate, two fortune, three geomancy, four accumulated merit, five study, six vocation, seven spouse, eight noble connections, nine wellness. Of these, geomancy and merit may effect minor alterations to a lesser fate—yet even this is exceedingly arduous, rarely achieved by any, and contingent upon whether one’s original fate can withstand it. Beyond this, to wholly transform a person’s destiny, there exists only…”

The Elder Celestial Master’s words trailed off in a pause; Xuan Zhenzi, engrossed in listening, hastened to interject.

“Elder Celestial Master, what other method can alter destiny?”

“Fortune!”

The Elder Celestial Master’s gaze drifted into the distance, his eyes piercing the sky with fathomless depth.

“Fortune is precisely what we refer to as national destiny; according to records within ancient texts, in distant antiquity, this world genuinely harbored terrestrial immortals—humans, demons, Buddhas, immortals, witches, and even certain enigmatic creatures—endowed with incomparable might and flourishing in extraordinary abundance. Yet one day, this realm of ours became depleted, we suffered defeat; some grew old and perished, while others departed to distant lands…”

Xuan Zhenzi listened with rapt yearning, his heart unable to quell its tumult; he knew this must be a core secret of the Celestial Master’s Mansion—without Xia Chen’s presence today, he would surely never have learned such arcane lore.

“In those times, there existed mighty dynasties and renowned cultivation sanctuaries; sacred sects and schools cultivated merit, while dynasties cultivated national destiny. The power of qi-fortune is wondrously profound—capable of consecrating divine officials, basking in the incense of the realm. The entire court of civil and martial officials, bound to this qi-fortune through their ranks and stations, could wield its might; with the augmentation of qi-fortune, even those of the poorest innate talent might cultivate tenfold, a hundredfold faster than their peers… And to utterly transform a person’s fate, only the power of qi-fortune suffices—moreover, it must be a vast and formidable reservoir of qi-fortune!”

The Elder Celestial Master turned to face Xuan Zhenzi, a smile gracing his lips as he spoke.

“A vast reservoir of qi-fortune? Elder Celestial Master, are you suggesting that Xia Chen has acquired such an immense power of qi-fortune, thereby defying the heavens to alter his fate? Yet, as far as I know, in the present realm, the power of national destiny is finite—apportioned among Dawu, Dafeng, and Daqing. Whence did he obtain it?”

Xuan Zhenzi inquired, his bewilderment palpable!