Chapter 137: Dissecting the Spirit Eye of Dimensions, and the Duty-Officer Guan Qiong

"What are you all doing?"

Having finally gained the ability to vault over walls and walk on roofs, Xiang Xiaoyu was unwilling to take the main gate and detour a long way, even if she was leaving the Wang Fu.

Just as she was about to cross the courtyard wall and return to the roof of the Wu Xiaojing Pavilion, she saw Widow Huang holding her son, along with the granddaughter-in-law of Old Man Li, Little Zhang Shi, pressing their faces against the back gate of the Wang Fu, whispering and muttering to each other.

"What else could we be doing? Listening to the Wang family's mother-in-law and daughter-in-law bickering!"

Widow Huang said quite frankly, without a shred of shame.

However, she kept her voice very low, not being too ostentatious.

At this moment, the Old Matriarch was no longer scolding, and Zhang Shi had also gone silent, but the eldest daughter-in-law, Nie Shi, was still crying.

"Where did you come from? Don't tell me you flew directly into Squire Wang's courtyard? Sigh, it's so good to know Wu Gong." Little Zhang Shi sighed in a low voice.

Squire Wang's second daughter-in-law was also surnamed Zhang, and she was older, so Zhang Shi, who had just married into the Li family this April, became known as "Little Zhang Shi" among the neighbors.

"No, I didn't eavesdrop, and I didn't go into Squire Wang's courtyard." Xiang Xiaoyu denied it flatly.

"Little Fengxian, you're finally back. What does the Wang family's quarrel have to do with you? You even ran into someone else's inner courtyard—you got caught, didn't you!" Ziying shouted from the roof of the Wu Xiaojing Pavilion.

Facing the mocking and indignant gazes of Little Zhang Shi and Widow Huang, Xiang Xiaoyu gave an awkward smile and said, "It's not that I intentionally lied to you; just now, Squire Wang taught me to understand etiquette, not to look or listen randomly, and even less to speak randomly."

Widow Huang sneered, "Their voices were so loud; not to mention the ordinary families in our back alley, even the wealthy Cai family, who lives in a big mansion just like the Wangs, is separated by only one wall—could they not hear it?"

The Wang residence was a four-courtyard mansion; Squire Wang and his two sons each had their own separate courtyards.

Widow Huang, Mother Zhang, Old Man Li, and other neighbors of Soy Sauce Alley lived in small houses or small courtyards that resembled storefronts facing the street.

It was just that the Wu Xiaojing Pavilion was located in a corner of Clear Water Bay, a narrow and remote place with no storefront opening at the back.

If one walked north, Soy Sauce Alley would gradually widen, and there were "storefront houses" on both sides of the alley. The east side belonged to the Red Sleeve Workshop, which was right next to the back courtyard wall of the Red Sleeve Workshop, or shared a wall with it.

The Wang family's true neighbor was the Cai family, and Mother Wang's house was behind the Cai family.

"Sigh, everyone is a neighbor; we see each other every day. Gossiping about other people's families is never good," Xiang Xiaoyu said.

Widow Huang said unhappily, "You even flew into someone else's inner courtyard, yet you're still putting on airs of being noble in front of us?"

"I only look, I don't speak." After a pause, Xiang Xiaoyu asked curiously, "I don't quite understand why, when the Wang family's eldest daughter-in-law said that if her father had been willing to live on thin porridge, he could have saved up such a large family business, the second daughter-in-law got angry and said the eldest daughter-in-law was insulting her late father. And then the second daughter-in-law said something about a thief who stole a Buddha's belly... what does that mean?"

"Hehe, you just moved here, so you don't know the story behind it." Widow Huang laughed. "The Wang family's eldest daughter-in-law comes from a family of craftsmen. Her father, Nie Renxin, set up a stall by the King Yue Temple, specializing in helping people repair and cast Buddha statues."

"The year before last, the old matriarch of the Cui family by Clear Water River gave the small gold Buddha she had worshipped for many years to Shopkeeper Nie for polishing."

The year before last, the old matriarch of the Cui family by the Qingshui River handed over a small golden Buddha she had worshipped for many years to Shopkeeper Nie for polishing.

"But he didn't expect that the old lady of the Cui family was an expert who had cultivated true qi. She weighed the small gold Buddha in her hand and immediately discovered the problem."

"The Cui family's retainers almost beat Nie Shi's father to death. It was thanks to Squire Wang's intercession that the Cui family stopped pursuing it."

"And they took the initiative to suppress the matter, allowing Nie Renxin to continue setting up his stall at the King Yue Temple."

"Sigh, between sisters-in-law, calling someone's father a thief is always hurtful," Xiang Xiaoyu sighed.

Widow Huang sneered, "It wasn't Nie Shi who started it. Zhang Shi's father came from a poor background and built his family business by selling cloth."

"His family drank porridge for all three meals a day, and only ate dry rice during the four seasons and eight festivals when offering sacrifices or entertaining guests."

"When cooking porridge, he would first put in half a pot of water, then take a handful of rice and put it in pinch by pinch."

"However many people were eating in the family, that's how many pinches of rice he would put in."

"The porridge cooked was almost just clear soup; you couldn't see any rice grains."

"So everyone called him 'Old Man Zhang the Stingy' or 'Zhang One-Pinch'."

"When Nie Shi said 'If my father had been willing to boil clear soup and live on thin porridge, he could have saved up such a large family business,' wasn't she mocking the second daughter-in-law?"

"So there's such a story; I've learned something," Xiang Xiaoyu sighed with satisfaction.

Little Zhang Shi said, "It's not that Mother Wang is difficult; she's holding fire in her heart!"

"Not to mention anything far away, the second daughter-in-law had her birthday yesterday, we all know that, right?"

"The nearby neighbors even got a few pieces of pastry."

"But does anyone know when the eldest daughter-in-law's birthday is?"

Widow Huang said disapprovingly, "When the second daughter-in-law celebrated her birthday, she used her own dowry money."

"Zhang One-Pinch was frugal his whole life, but he only gave birth to one daughter, and he died early himself."

"Now, shouldn't Mother Zhang move all the Zhang family's silver to her daughter and son-in-law's house?"

"Mother Zhang moves silver to her daughter's house, which ultimately goes to the Wang family. Shouldn't the Wang family's Old Matriarch show some appreciation?"

"The eldest daughter-in-law's mother does often go to the Wang house, but eight out of ten times it's to ask for money."

"The Nie family still has two sons waiting to find wives!"

"The eldest daughter-in-law gives the Wang family's money to the Nie family; have the Old Matriarch and Squire Wang ever said anything?"

"Sigh, Big Sister, you can't say it like that," Little Zhang Shi waved her hand. "I heard that the eldest daughter-in-law is beautiful. When the eldest master of the Wang family went for an outing, he met her by chance and was infatuated at first sight, insisting on marrying her."

"Since she is a 'delicate guest' who was sought after several times, she should naturally be treated well."

"Even if you don't ask for the same pomp as the second daughter-in-law, at least you can't have what the second daughter-in-law has and the eldest daughter-in-law doesn't."

Widow Huang looked disapproving and said, "If you're talking about seasonal clothes, maids, and nannies—the kind of pomp paid for by the public treasury—it would be wrong to have less for the eldest daughter-in-law."

"A woman's birthday is a private matter, unrelated to the public treasury. Whether to celebrate it or how to celebrate it is decided by oneself."

"Does the eldest daughter-in-law not have an allowance?"

"Sigh, even an honest official has a hard time judging family affairs!"

Leaving Little Zhang Shi and Widow Huang to continue muttering in the corner, Xiang Xiaoyu jumped and returned to the Wu Xiaojing Pavilion.

Landing on the roof of the Wu Xiaojing Pavilion, she signaled Ziying to continue practicing her sword. She sat on the roof ridge beast, "using one mind for three purposes": pointing out Ziying's footwork and movements, silently circulating her internal breath, and perfecting the "Heart Sea Art Version 1.1."

The 1.0 version of the Heart Sea Art was mainly aimed at the spatial shifting of the Great Transport Art, and enhancing perception was also aimed at the space-time dimension.

And in the process of deducing the "Method of Secretly Killing Old Woman Feng," she used part of the content of the Heart Sea Art, which happened to be related to space-time dimension perception.

This made Xiang Xiaoyu suspect that the reason why the Divine Dao Talisman Envoys could completely avoid the "sight" of mortals was because they existed in another "non-material form" and were hiding in another space-time dimension.

Similar to ghosts and the "Ghost Dao" where ghosts reside.

Ghosts are clearly no longer purely material.

As the saying goes, "When qi dissipates, the spirit vanishes." Ghosts should be based on "qi," and one can treat "ghosts" as a special kind of qi.

Humans can also be counted as a kind of qi.

Xiang Xiaoyu remembered that Daoist Priest Qingsong once said when explaining the "Qi-Gazing Theory": All people and things in the world are a kind of qi differentiated from the Primordial One Qi. Wealth, talent, and strength can all be counted as a kind of qi, all constituting a part of "human qi," and therefore one can gaze at qi.

So the Tiangong Talisman Envoys are also a kind of "qi."

Gathering qi to become human, living in the Human Dao; gathering qi to become ghosts, living in the Ghost Dao.

Then, are the Talisman Envoys gods of the Tiangong, living in the Divine Dao with "Divine Qi"?

Xiang Xiaoyu also associated this with the Thirty-Three Heavens.

Is it possible that every heaven is a space-time dimension, and every dimension contains a kind of qi?

The Thirty-Three Heavens have thirty-three dimensions, the human world has one dimension, and the underworld has one dimension.

The dimensions in heaven belong to the Divine Dao and Immortals and Buddhas; humans can only come into contact with the dimension of the human world, while ghosts can run around in the two dimensions of the Human Dao and the Ghost Dao...

These conjectures cannot be verified now. Xiang Xiaoyu can only be sure of one thing: the cracking method (Heart Sea Art) aimed at the Thousand-Hand Qianshou Dao Sheng's "Great Transport Art" has a certain connection with the "Insight Method" aimed at the Divine Dao Talisman Envoys' "Stealth and Concealment."

If the two "Methods of Killing Fathers" are fused together, it can raise the Heart Sea Art to a major version, making her ability to perceive space-time dimensions stronger.

Who knows, maybe in the future she will be able to vaguely "see" the Talisman Envoys in the Divine Dao dimension?

She has this expectation and is working in this direction.

Unfortunately, the Purple Mansion only kills fathers and will not take the initiative to help her fuse the two "Father-Killing Skills."

She has to do it herself.

At this moment, deducing the "Heart Sea Art Version 1.1" does not rely on the Purple Mansion, but on the "Insight (Wisdom) Guan Shentong" brought by the Transformation of the Kunpeng.

"The space-time of this world is very orderly. Humans have the Human Dao, ghosts have the Ghost Road, and gods also have the Divine Dao."

"The Thousand-Hand Qianshou Dao Sheng's Great Transport Art also has a path, which is related to the Ghost Dao and the Divine Dao, but it is not entirely the Ghost Dao or the Divine Dao."

"If the perception techniques of the Transport Dao, Ghost Dao, and Divine Dao are fused together."

"In the future, all ghosts, gods, and transport-type supernatural powers will be unable to escape my magic eyes..."

Xiang Xiaoyu not only found the direction for the "Heart Sea Art" to advance, but she also thought of Kong Zan's Flag Gate Escape.

The essence of the Flag Gate Escape is an illusion that manipulates the five senses and the heart sense.

Can the five senses be treated as five dimensions, and the heart sense as another dimension?

"If the Heart Sea Art evolves to the limit, dividing the Primordial World into clear and distinct dimensions, perhaps I can see through all space-time and illusions!"

Xiang Xiaoyu used the method of cultivating the Fierce Tiger Divine Intent to simulate a Giant Kun in her own sea of consciousness—almost a "real projection" of the deep-sea Giant Kun from the Transformation of the Kunpeng that day.

When simulating the Fierce Tiger Divine Intent, she only invested a small part of her spirit, and used more spirit to maintain herself.

She completed the Transformation of the Kunpeng, and now she is a human-shaped Kunpeng.

She can invest all her spirit into the Giant Kun Divine Intent, and her soul completely becomes a Giant Kun sinking into the deep sea.

Gradually, the insights gained while walking on the Ghost Dao, the insights on the cracking method of the Flag Gate Escape, the insights on cracking the Great Transport Art of Zong Erbu, the insights on seeing through the traces of the Tiangong Talisman Envoys...

All of Xiang Xiaoyu's own insights, and the insights extracted from the Purple Mansion's deduction of the Father-Killing Method, all gathered together, forming a torrent of wisdom, pouring into the head of the Giant Kun in the sea of consciousness.

Xiang Xiaoyu doesn't know what it feels like when immortals cultivate.

She now feels that the state of the high-speed operation of the Insight Guan Shentong is a kind of comfort that transcends spirit and flesh.

She is intoxicated by it and cannot extricate herself.

"Eh, what is Yu Fengxian doing..."

At this moment, at the top of the rockery pavilion in the front courtyard, twenty zhang away from the Wu Xiaojing Pavilion, the Duty-Officer Guan Qiong looked toward the Wu Xiaojing Pavilion with a suspicious expression.

"Could it be the Unity of Heaven and Man? How is that possible? She hasn't even cultivated true qi, and her qi cannot form a Great Heavenly Cycle with the outside world. How can she communicate with heaven and earth?"

He was shocked in his heart and couldn't help but float forward.

"Strange, truly strange. She indeed hasn't cultivated true qi, hasn't formed a communication of qi with nature, and it's not the Unity of Heaven and Man, but she is affecting the surrounding heaven and earth origin qi... eh, Yu Fengxian, you can actually see me?!!!"

Ridge beasts were built at both ends of the roof ridge. Xiang Xiaoyu was sitting on the south ridge beast. At this moment, Guan Qiong floated to the north ridge beast, separated from Xiang Xiaoyu by Ziying, who was practicing sword on the roof ridge.

He knew that Wen Juju had been injured by the Fierce Tiger's evil qi, so he didn't dare to get too close.

But even separated by more than ten meters, as soon as he floated over, she opened her eyes, and blue light seemed to flash in them.

Guan Qiong felt that he had been discovered.

Xiang Xiaoyu shouted, "Ziying, how many times have I told you, your breath cannot be chaotic. Even if you haven't practiced the breathing technique, you must maintain a rhythm in your breathing."

"Qi is the foundation. If the breath is unstable, the moves and divine intent are useless."

"The roof ridge under my feet is narrow and slippery; it's much more tiring than usual," Ziying panted.

Guan Qiong glanced at her and smiled at himself, "I was bluffed by a suspected state of the Unity of Heaven and Man, and I've started to become suspicious."

"As a dignified Duty-Officer, even immortals can't detect my existence; how could she possibly see me?"

—Who is this guy, how did he suddenly "teleport" over... Could it be a Tiangong Divine Dao Talisman Envoy raised by Old Woman Feng in her Five Viscera Temple? I was seen in my ugly state at the Wang house just now, and now he's here to cause trouble for me? Eh, no, five-willow long beard, rigid Chinese-character face, silkworm eyebrows, high nose bridge... He looks a bit like Guan Huchen, and the aura on his body, and the Fierce Tiger blood evil qi mixed in it... Uh, is this a member of the Guan family? No, it's a ghost god, a ghost god of the Guan family!

After calmly pointing out a few things to Ziying, Xiang Xiaoyu closed her eyes again.

But she could still see Guan Qiong.

What she cultivated was the "Spirit Eye," but this Spirit Eye was not a pair of flesh eyes, but a Heart Eye.

The essence of the Heart Sea Art is to develop the spiritual sense she gained after the Transformation of the Kunpeng.

That day, she transformed into a Kunpeng and sank to the bottom of the ocean, surrounded by darkness and cold. Not only did she not feel the slightest discomfort, but she also gave birth to a kind of comfort of controlling everything.

The Heart Sea Art is a heart technique to restore the state of "comfort of controlling everything."

However, with the pure Heart Sea Art, what she perceives are illusory "water ripples"—incorporating the surrounding space-time into the heart sea. Once the movement in reality enters the deep sea of the North Underworld, it will bring up ripples in the water, and she judges the shape and trajectory of the mover through the ripples.

If she opens her eyes and turns on the Heart Sea Art, she can directly see colorful images.

For example, Guan Qiong in front of her.

Closing her eyes and turning on the Heart Sea Art, she can perceive his movements and general appearance; opening her eyes, she can even distinguish his facial features.

"This guy is definitely not the Tiangong Talisman Envoy from just now, but his ability is a bit like the Talisman Envoy's, almost in the same 'Divine Dao dimension' as the Talisman Envoy."

"Although the Tiangong Talisman Envoys act sneakily and actually hide in other people's five viscera to enjoy sacrifices, their aura is pure, vast, and bright."

"This guy in front of me looks dignified, but there is a kind of yin ghost aura on his body."

"Eight or nine out of ten, he is a ghost envoy of the Guan Chenghuang Temple, a member of the Guan family, a descendant of the Guan Guan Chenghuang."

Between thoughts, Xiang Xiaoyu had already guessed Guan Qiong's origin. ===== CHAPTER 138 =====

In a flash of thought, Xiao Yu had already guessed Guan Qiong's background.