Wushi Dao Sect, Divination Vein.
It is one of the more lowkey veins (i.e., departments) of the Sect. It does not have as many disciples as the other Veins, mainly because of its talent threshold.
It is too high.
Divination requires good comprehension. Most disciples with good comprehension had chosen other veins such as the Alchemy Vein, Weapon Forging Vein, and Formation Vein to make a living. In a world where spirit veins are abundant but resources are scarce, not much had the time to dabble in Divination whose sole function is to foresee danger and opportunities.
Danger? The First Cultivator's unfathomable power deters all evil forces.
Opportunities? What more opportunity is there than the readily accessible resources within the Sect?
Overall, the Divination Vein has a low popularity. Its disciples are akin to gamblers who either win big or earn nothing—still an acceptable outcome. The basic supplies handed by the sect are what kept them afloat. Most already regretted their selected specialization. Those who had left abolished their Hexagram Spirit and had to recuperate for years before being able to try a new specialization. The remaining disciples stayed due to sunk-cost fallacy.
Then again, their Divination Vein has a prestigious Peak Master. She was none other than Wendy. Nobody expected for her to choose the Art of Divination. Bianka, for instance, chose the Art of Weapon Forging and its [Treasure Organs] specialty. Her physical constitution grew more rapidly and complemented her sword path.
It would have been better for Wendy to choose the Art of Formations as it complements her talents, or so most people had thought. She used to major in the Art of Formations, having her Thirty-Six Heavenly Phase Flags at the second level. However, she abolished it and turned into Divination.
Wendy chose it for a reason: to dig deeper into the past.
More than twenty years ago, she was Saint Freya's most promising Valkyrie. She was touted to have the potential of a S Rank Valkyrie. That was until she got assigned into a top-secret experiment. Wendy, whose honkai resistance was excellent, got chosen to become an "Artificial Herrscher".
It wasn't until a week prior the experiment was forcibly halted. Headquarters recalled the Gem of Desire. Wendy was reassigned to the frontlines, accruing merits and rising through Schicksal's ranks.
Once the advent of immortal cultivation came, she awakened a high grade wind spirit root and rose to the ranks of a Golden Core Realm master. She also mastered the [Blade Mantra 2.0] to the [True Form] realm.
She didn't take much pride in it, however. More than half of the credit belonged to Shi Tian. Wendy researched a lot about it. She just so happened to dig out an old intel that there used to be a 'negotiation' between him and Schicksal's former Overseer, Otto Apocalypse. Shi Tian possessed the Gem of Desire and the eighth divine key, Fenghuang Down, in exchange for the Second Divine Key.
It was an equal deal at first glance, but those who know the details know they are not. The Second Divine Key holds strategic advantage in exploring the Imaginary Tree and the Sea of Quanta. Trading one brainwash Divine Key and one Gem for it is a loss in Shi Tian's side.
'Strange…'
It was like an itch scratching her heart relentlessly. Nobody she knew could explain why Shi Tian took the "useless" Gem of Desire during that trade. Even Bronya, whom she asked, could not explain why.
That "useless" label was reinforced when she found out that they originally did not have any use for it. Welt Yang and the other adapted the Turn A Plan months after that. Everyone knew about this piece of history.
However…
"There are inexplicable things he would do… for an unknown reason."
Having heard Bronya's response, Wendy took it upon herself to investigate things. She decisively abandoned the Art of Formations and turned to Divination. Her prior knowledge with formations greatly helped with Divination. She boosted her Hexagram Spirit to the fourth level with resources and sheer talent.
Then came the most interesting thing. Divination Masters can utilize the Sea of Quanta to their advantage. They can induce the Sea to manifest new Bubble Worlds. These Bubble Worlds can deduce information based on the present. Both the past and the future can be recreated as long as the diviner's abilities are enough.
She induced the creation of a Bubble World containing the past. There, she was able to view Shi Tian's past, albeit very vaguely. Several forces joined together to block Shi Tian's information. Only a few fragments are left behind. She was barely able to reconstruct the past through them.
That's when disaster struck.
'So cool… No, I shouldn't be doing this!'
Fortunately, she wasn't able to freely view his past, lest she would have developed a strange fetish regarding voyeurism.
Unfortunately, these few fragments did not contain any useful information. Wendy was forced to look for other options. She slowly made her way, progressed her proficiency in Divination, and strengthened her cultivation. Unlike Mei, it was a healthy goal she strove for. Her determination to resolve this puzzle piece grew stronger…
Until she found the way.
A full five years of pursuit and it boiled down to one thing. All she had to do was to create a Bubble World without Shi Tian in it. Wendy wanted to know about her future trajectory without Shi Tian's help.
Thus, reality struck her hard.
The top-secret experiment turned her into a cripple. Gone was her strength, replacing it with fragility. She had to constantly bear the burden of honkai energy rampaging inside her body. She went through all of it just to get an unresponsive Gem. Wendy had to go through it for two years. Her psyche had collapsed. She blamed the Gem of Desire; the Schicksal; and the world.
A single choice destroyed her life.
Though she could not see her ending, Wendy knew it wasn't far off from a bad one.
'How blind I was, to only realize it now..?'
It was extremely easy to simulate her previous Valkyrie constitution and have it clash against the Gem of Desire… not that it mattered now.
Wendy's discovery answered her long-held question. Shi Tian's possession of the Gem of Desire was tied to her. Further questions such as "Why would he do it?" became easy to answer. She herself has unparalleled capabilities of seeing the past and future. What she can do, Shi Tian can also do.
Thus, the biggest question was:
"Why is he willing to help a stranger like me?"
'Something only he could answer…'
She looked forward to their meeting more.
*****
A/N: It's not a yandere this time... maybe?