Starting with Kengan beating up the Pirate King

Chapter 196 The Great Luo Cave Observation and the Binding of Spirits

Human thought is a strange thing; it is both powerful and weak. If you try to suppress it, it will become incredibly powerful. But if you can just see it and do nothing but look at it and face it, it will gradually subside on its own.

In the practice of extraordinary people, this is called 'observation'.

The Tao Te Ching says: "Therefore, one should always be without desire, so as to observe its subtlety; one should always have desire, so as to observe its manifestations."

According to the Taoist worldview, all things are essentially transformed by the Tao. The wondrous world and the peripheral world are two manifestations of the Tao. The nameless world is the wondrous world, and the named world is the peripheral world.

This means that only by being free from desires can one observe the wonders of things. Only by having desires can one observe their patterns and purposes. In short, it means using the unconscious to discover the mysteries of things, and using the conscious to define their boundaries.

But even the most powerful superhuman, or the most skilled Taoist master in purifying himself, could not perfectly switch between having desires and being without desires.

Before today, Gu Qiting had always hoped that he could see through all the changes in the world, but he did not know how to comprehend them. However, as noon approached and the pure energy rose to its peak, some insights appeared in his mind as if they were infused with laws.

He felt his will becoming transcendent, leaping to a new dimension, and everything around him was 'overlooking' from his perspective.

He saw through the workings of the pure energy, and he saw through the blowing of the wind. He even gradually saw through the past and future of the pure energy and the wind!

He was observing all the time!
All around him was quiet; everyone except him was still immersed in a state of enlightenment.

His gaze fell on Zhou Sheng to his left, and his mind instantly cleared, as if Zhou Sheng was the only person in his field of vision.

As a family practitioner of divination, Gu Qiting actually studied feng shui and physiognomy. He was particularly skilled at observing qi, and because of this, he knew how to seek good fortune and avoid misfortune. He saw something in Wugensheng that could help him achieve his goals, which is why he followed him all this time.

Before today, through his ability to observe aura, he could only vaguely foresee a person's fortunes and misfortunes in the coming period, and see how that person's fate was intertwined with his own. But at this moment, when his gaze fell on Zhou Sheng, he saw much more.

The intricate and ever-changing human body, under his wondrous perspective, transformed into a 'qi pattern'. It was like the wondrous work of nature, or the qi pattern of the Twenty-Four Solar Terms, artificially sculpted by Zhang Boduan.

He saw through the changes in Zhou Sheng's past, present and future—his focus on studying divination in his childhood, his agility in exchanging skills with his peers in his youth, his shock and contemplation when facing that strange aura in the Twenty-Four Solar Terms Valley not long ago, and even the way of change that Zhou Sheng is comprehending at this moment, thus extending into his future appearance and state!
A thought flickered in Gu Qiting's mind.

It was just a very subtle shift in the gaze, like casting a barely perceptible speck of dust onto the calm surface of a lake.

Within Zhou Sheng's body, a stream of Qi that was originally flowing methodically along the Lung Meridian of Hand-Taiyin suddenly and naturally deviated by a fraction of an inch, merging into a previously unrelated tiny meridian.

Zhou Sheng's brows furrowed slightly without his notice, and his breathing became almost imperceptibly disordered before returning to normal.

But Gu Qiting clearly saw that because of this slight difference, the smoothness of Zhou Sheng's Qi circulation at a tiny juncture within the next half day had already changed. Although the impact was negligible, perhaps only delaying Zhou Sheng's cultivation by one-millionth, the change itself had already occurred and had a slight influence on the future.

Change the present, influence the future!
What if this 'gaze' were to fall on Zhou Sheng's past? Changing the past would affect the present as well. If a key day in Zhou Sheng's childhood study of divination were to change or lead to a misunderstanding, then Zhou Sheng's future would very likely be altered due to this mistake!
Let Zhou Sheng step into a brand new future!

By looking back, we influence the future.

This is the power to 'change fate'! It is the highest realm that Feng Shui master Gu Jiting has always pursued!
"The Great Luo Cave Observation..."

Softly murmuring the name of the technique, he no longer merely observed individuals, but attempted to incorporate the overall atmosphere of the valley, the state of everyone, and even the flow of events over this period into a single 'observation'.

In an instant, a flood of information rushed into his mind, including a jumble of images, intersecting possibilities, lingering traces of the past, and vague branches of the future.

He saw the geological changes in the valley, how Zhang Boduan manipulated the earth's veins to create this wondrous energy pattern, and the intertwined and winding paths to the future for everyone present, causing ripples in the entire river of fortune in the world of supernatural beings.

His gaze finally settled on Guan Yi.

In terms of the realm of life and death, I am far from being comparable to Patriarch Zhuge, but under this Great Luo Insight, my dimension is above his!

Now, I should be able to disappear from his sight without anyone noticing, or even disappear from his destiny line, so that his divination will never be able to find my existence!

Indeed, it was because he left me here to comprehend the Dao that I had the opportunity to master the Great Luo Cave Observation and even understand the deeper truths of the world.

However, the insights gained from the Great Luo Cave Observation were a gift from an 'immortal,' a unique destiny belonging solely to me. Gu Qiting did not wish to share this understanding with Guan Yi, or even to tell Guan Yi how to master the Great Luo Cave Observation. Once the thought arose, its influence began.

Tanizaki-tei foresaw the changes to the future.

The future... has become a blank?
He was stunned, his face showing horror.

My future has been cut off?! In other words, if I do what I just thought, I will have no future at all?!

Why is this happening? !
With his emotions surging violently, Gu Qiting could barely maintain his focus on the Great Luo Cave. He quickly suppressed his thoughts and tried to 'observe' the meaning of the passage more deeply.

Guan Yi was only a dozen meters away from him.

But upon observing the Great Luo Cave, he discovered that the distance between himself and Guan Yi was incredibly vast.

Guan Yi seemed to transcend the world he observed, becoming a miniature world of his own. The time and rules of that world were different from his understanding, and were even constantly and endlessly changing, thus exceeding the limits that his Great Luo Cave Observation could perceive!

"Uh--"

Unconvinced by the odds, he pushed his Great Luo Insight to its limit. The backlash from the overloaded insight struck instantly. With a muffled groan, his soaring, almost divine perspective receded rapidly like a tide, quickly falling back to his original world.

A dozen meters away, Guan Yi opened his eyes and laughed, "It seems you're the first, Gu Qiting. But don't use this technique recklessly now that you've just obtained it."

The Feng Hou Qi Men technique transforms me into a king, transcending time, allowing each individual to become their own microcosm. While it cannot be said to counter the Da Luo Dong Guan, how could it possibly be seen through by the Da Luo Dong Guan when one's cultivation level is superior?

"……Yes."

Gu Qiting responded hoarsely, suppressing the deep fear and other distracting thoughts in his heart, he sighed resignedly and came to Guan Yi's side.

"Clan Chief Zhuge, what I have comprehended, or rather, what I call the ultimate 'observation,' which I call 'Great Luo Cave Observation'..."

He honestly shared his insights with Guan Yi, whose 'method of contemplation' was already at a very high level and was easy to understand.

However, if one wants to cultivate and master the Great Luo Cave Observation based solely on Gu Qiting's retelling, it would probably take a long time, measured in years.

But Guan Yi can use cheat codes.

When Gu Qiting finished speaking, Guan Yi understood everything, and a prompt automatically popped up in his mind.

[The first seminar on extraordinary skills has concluded.]

[Acquire skill: Great Luo Insight]

[A second skill discussion can be initiated by spending 1000 life points and 10 million yen.]

[Life Points: 4399]

Wealth: 2095 million yen

Guan Yi's consciousness dimension has risen, and he has gained the same understanding and insights as Gu Jiting before.

But he did not use this to intimidate Gu Jiting, nor did he need any more to deter Gu Jiting.

He silently began the second discussion of the extraordinary techniques. Just then, among the 35 people who were comprehending the Dao in front of him, Feng Tianyang also opened his eyes.

Guan Yi knew that what he had been most looking forward to, and what might be the most useful spirit-binding and commanding force among the Grim Reapers, had arrived!

(End of this chapter)