Published at 5th of January 2026 9:06 am

Chapter 1389: Ambiguous Divination

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Adam sat naked, his back resting against the curved wall.

He used the Sphere of Resonance to observe every inch of his body, both inside and outside. After a thorough inspection that lasted—who knows how long—he breathed a sigh of relief.

I was right, he thought.

The Five Elemental Codex is indeed capable of neutralizing the corruption. In hindsight, it’s not that surprising considering that the manual contains secrets of the higher arcane ranks.

I truly lucked out when I found this mana extraction technique in my youth. If I hadn’t cultivated my mana to be as pure as it is now, perhaps I might have failed to deal with the corruption.

It was all a big gamble for him, however. He knew that the Five Elemental Codex had the highest chance of counteracting the corruption, but he wasn’t certain of it.

But now he was.

He rose to his feet and clenched his fists, feeling the changes in his body. Suddenly, his brows flew up in surprise.

"What the!" He touched his head, or rather, the space above his head.

"Did I grow... shorter?"

Because of the lack of food and water in the past few years, he had grown severely malnourished. As a result, he had lost a few inches. Now he stood at exactly six feet.

Other than that, he had lost a lot of muscle mass over the years. After the current transformation, he had become slender. If not for his long and untamed hair and beard, others might easily mistake him for a late teenager.

But he wasn’t complaining, though. He was just a little startled. The vast portion of the fruit’s vitality had been used to counter the corruption, and the rest was used to restore his frail body.

He put on his tattered clothes, then donned the Stealth Cloak. Noticing the damaged parts on the cloak, he couldn’t help but sigh ruefully. Because the serpent’s wings had managed to make a few holes through the cloth, the cloak’s enchantment had been destroyed.

Now, it was no different from any ordinary cloak. Only a little sturdier. This meant that, for the remainder of his journey in this forsaken place, he wouldn’t be able to conceal his presence. But, at least, he could still cast spells.

Adam sat back down on the ground and thought about his next steps. After confirming that the Five Elemental Codex was indeed capable of nullifying the corruption, he grew more confident in transplanting the eyes of the abomination into himself.

However...

The abomination is on a completely different level than the six-winged serpent from earlier, he thought with a frown.

And if my assumptions are right, then the source of the abomination originates from the level of at least the Emperor Magus Rank.

That means the corruption from the abomination would be extremely hard to counter. If I add the remaining fruits as supplements, the risks are still very high.

At that time, would the Five Elemental Codex be able to counter the corruption?

If not, then...

Adam didn’t dare to imagine what would happen to him if he were corrupted by the abomination. He would only be faring slightly better than Aldo Wagner. After all, he was certain that the lotus would protect his mind and soul. But what about his body?

On the one hand, this was a golden opportunity that he simply could not pass up on. But on the other hand, the risks were simply too high.

Gradually, doubt crept into his heart.

There’s a way to find out the outcome prematurely, he thought.

Or at least, get a glimpse of it.

Divination!

Moreover, since the subject of the divination was himself, there was a high chance of peering into his fate.

He inhaled deeply and started weaving a complex set of hand seals. A brilliant magic circle lit up underneath him, and he finally cast his spell.

Rank 4 Spell: Augury!

In his mind, he kept repeating the same question as his consciousness slowly drifted away.

What will happen if I transplant the abomination’s eyes into myself?

***

There was nothing but darkness.

In that darkness, serpentine silhouettes emerged.

Suddenly, faint light permeated the darkness, and the serpentine silhouettes revealed themselves to be tendrils.

There were many of them, writhing with an ominous aura.

Then, one by one, countless eyes emerged on the surface of these tendrils. These eyes had white sclera, black irises, and bottomless dark pupils.

The eyes blinked a few times before their shapes started to distort. Then they reshaped themselves into arched gates.

Now, countless gates were embedded across the surfaces of innumerable tendrils.

Then the tendrils began to writhe, folding inward as they converged into a single form. In the end, they fused together, transforming into one colossal, arched gate.

Beyond the gate was a mysterious river.

It was a river that flowed backward into the past.

It was the River of Yesterday.

***

Gasp!

Adam’s consciousness returned, and he jolted awake.

Beads of sweat trickled down the side of his forehead. His breathing grew heavy as he replayed the vision in his mind.

He gulped subconsciously and thought to himself in alarm:

This... this is the same vision I dreamt of when I was in Mabi.

I clearly remember it now!

But what does all of this mean?

Eyes, tendrils, gates, and the river... what do they all mean?

What does any of it mean?!

Divination never gave answers outright. Instead, it revealed visions, symbols, echoes of events, and distorted reflections of the truth.

These glimpses carried meaning, but never any explanations.

It was up to the diviner to interpret them, to connect symbols into understanding. And whether the conclusion was accurate depended entirely on the diviner’s insight, experience, and bias.

The art of divination never lied. But it was indifferent to understanding.

Instead of answers, Adam was left with even more questions.

The results of his divination were ambiguous, open to interpretation.

It could mean that the abomination he would face was tied to all the symbols revealed in his vision.

Or...

It could mean that, one day, he himself would become irrevocably linked to them.

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