"That's right, what you said is exactly what the predecessors of the physiognomy school wanted to warn us about, but you still left out one thing."

The old man stroked his beard and said, "Before the Ming Taizu achieved greatness, he was just a beggar, with a protruding and thin face, had survived smallpox, his face full of pockmarks, no different from any other beggar. It wasn't until he raised an army against the Yuan, growing thinner and taller by the day, with a prominent forehead, that by the time he became emperor, his jaw (the 'earth pavilion') was extraordinary, far surpassing ordinary people, and he was called the 'emperor's physiognomy' by later generations!"

"A person's appearance is not unchanging; it is influenced by acquired factors, and under the right circumstances and opportunities, one's appearance can also change. Therefore, our founder warned us with the saying 'one cannot judge a person by their appearance.' We can read faces, but not fate!"

The old man pointed at Henry Foster and said, "The concept of fate is truly mysterious. Look at this young man—he seems unremarkable at first glance, but if you observe his cheekbones carefully..."

"His cheekbones are nothing special, showing no signs of rosy brightness, but rather appear dull and lackluster. This is an omen of misfortune!"

The middle-aged man asked in confusion. As a master of physiognomy, he had already seen through Henry Foster at first glance when he entered.

In the physiognomy school, it is said: under seven, look at the left ear; eight to fourteen, the right ear; fifteen, the forehead; sixteen, the crown; seventeen and eighteen, the sun and moon corners; early twenties, the cheekbones.

"What you see is only the surface, but you haven't observed the qi."

"Observe the qi?"

The old man's words shocked {the middle-aged man}, who, forgetting his manners, hurriedly asked:

"Mr. Carter, have you reached the realm of observing qi?"

"After comprehending for ten years in this Zhuge Cottage, I recently stepped into the realm of observing qi! But... alas!"

The old man's voice carried a trace of pride, but even more regret.

"Mr. Carter, it is truly a cause for celebration that you have reached the realm of observing qi. Looking at our entire physiognomy school, how many years has it been since anyone reached this level?"

At this moment, even the tone of {the middle-aged man} was filled with envy.

The physiognomy school has always emphasized face reading and qi observation. 'Face' refers to appearance, while 'qi' refers to a person's fate. Only by combining face reading and qi observation is it true physiognomy. But in the past hundred years, physiognomy has declined, talents have withered, and no one has entered the realm of observing qi.

"The concept of human fate is truly mysterious. I have only scratched the surface. I observe that although this young man's face is clouded, a stream of human qi circles his cheekbones, clearly indicating a great opportunity awaits him."

Henry Foster was completely unaware that he was being discussed by the other two. He was a history student, also quite fond of calligraphy. Seeing the handwriting of these famous people—some vigorous and forceful, others flowing like dragons and phoenixes—he walked and admired, completely absorbed, not realizing that dusk was already falling.

"Huh! What's this?"

Henry Foster suddenly noticed that the stone tablet in front of him was engraved with only two ancient characters: "Bagua" (Eight Trigrams).

Finding something related to "Bagua" in Zhuge Cottage was not surprising to Henry Foster. Historically, Zhuge Liang's Bagua Formation and Bagua Diagram were both famous. What surprised Henry Foster was why this stone tablet bore only the two characters "Bagua" and nothing else.

If Henry Foster were in midair, he would have discovered that his current position was exactly at the center of the entire stone tablet garden. With this "Bagua"-inscribed tablet as the center, the surrounding steles were scattered like stars, faintly containing the marvel of mechanisms.

Henry Foster placed both hands on the stone tablet, curious about this special stele. His index finger traced those two ancient characters, and immediately a wave of ancient aura rushed toward him. Then, as if a flood of information was transmitted through the stone tablet straight into Henry Foster's mind.

At this moment, Henry Foster was like a running computer, overwhelmed by the flood of information, unable to bear it, and fainted.

And at the instant he lost consciousness, the ancient stone tablet shone with a brilliant light, piercing the sky and pointing toward a certain star. Yet such a massive pillar of light did not attract the attention of anyone else in Zhuge Cottage, as if no one noticed at all.

Guided by the pillar of light, the star gradually moved to shine above Henry Foster, its strange radiance bathing his body, with some inscriptions drifting into him, continuously...

...

...

After a long time, the whole world had fallen into darkness. One by one, dim landscape lights lit up. A young man slowly stood up from the ground, rubbing his head, which felt as if it had just exploded, throbbing with pain.

"Zhuge Neijing?"

When his mind cleared, Henry Foster was startled to find a scripture had appeared in his mind. His expression became tense—after all, who wouldn't be frightened if a mysterious scripture suddenly appeared in their head? Focusing on reading the scripture in his mind, Henry Foster's expression gradually became clear, until finally his eyes flashed with a strange light.

"Is this the legacy of Master Wolong?"

After studying the Zhuge Neijing, Henry Foster's expression became excited, his eyes shining brightly.

This scripture was actually created by Zhuge Liang during his lifetime, divided into two volumes, recording all of Zhuge Liang's lifelong learning. However, Henry Foster had only obtained the upper volume, which mainly involved metaphysics and geomancy—in other words, the study of feng shui.