Tome of Troubled Times-Chapter 735 (1): The Beginning of Heavenly Sight and Earthly Hearing
Chapter 735 (1): The Beginning of Heavenly Sight and Earthly Hearing
In the guest courtyard, the moon hung high in a sky filled with stars.
Yue Hongling leaned against a pavilion, sipping her wine, her gaze fixed on Zhao Changhe as he sat cross-legged in the courtyard with his eyes closed, seemingly engrossed in cultivation. A faint smile played on her lips.
Whether it was his dedication to seizing every moment for cultivation or the way he had spoken earlier, everything about him stirred her heart. Every word he had said felt as though it had been plucked straight from her own thoughts.
She did not think of him as some lofty hero, she simply saw it all to be who he truly was. This was the man who had made her wandering heart finally settle. Since the day they met, he had not changed. Whether Li Shentong and the others had stayed true to themselves remained to be seen, but she knew for certain that Zhao Changhe had.
It did not matter if he was a mountain bandit of Beimang or King Zhao of the Great Han.
In all fairness, however, if she knew that Zhao Changhe’s so-called “dedicated cultivation” was actually him talking to another woman, she might not be smiling so serenely. After all, that woman had already one-upped her more than once.
“You want me to relay news to you from afar?” the blind woman sneered, her voice echoing in Zhao Changhe’s mind. “Why don’t I throw in a heartfelt message of longing for them while I’m at it?”
Zhao Changhe replied, “If you could, then that would be great...”
“Do you think I’m your personal messaging app? Am I QQ or YeChat to you?”
“It sounds like you’ve been keeping busy in the modern world. If I ever make it back there, I might need to add you on YeChat.”
“Get lost.”
“Seriously, is there no negotiation on this?”
“Are you asking about relaying messages or adding me on YeChat?”
“...Forget the YeChat thing. It was just a joke.” Zhao Changhe sighed earnestly. “So, what’s happening in Jinzhong? Is Qing’er in any trouble?”
“You’re awfully casual about this,” the blind woman said dryly. “You ask me like it’s the most natural thing in the world. Just like how you casually treat Bashu as if it were the Shu Commandery of the Han Empire. You’ve got Li Shentong’s head spinning with your antics.”
“You think it’s my casualness that has him confused? Do you really think he’s that dim?” Zhao Changhe chuckled and shook his head. “The man is genuinely shaken by my suggestion of distributing land and establishing education. He doesn’t have the energy to bother arguing with me about anything else. But if I actually strutted around acting like this was Han territory, appointing officials and restructuring the administration, do you think he wouldn’t throw me out?”
The blind woman let out a dry “heh,” refraining from further comment.
She simply could not comprehend it. Seriously, why would distributing land shock Li Shentong so deeply? Those lands could have been his to begin with. Shouldn’t that have made him more inclined to throw you out?
Compared to lofty gods or demons, the things that mortals valued and worried about had always been entirely different.
“There’s nothing left to discuss about Li Shentong. I want to check on Qing’er,” Zhao Changhe whined. “Come on, just tell me.... We’re so familiar with each other now....”
The blind woman was at a loss when she saw how he was acting. “Do you realize how disgusting it is to see a burly man like you acting coy?”
“You’ve seen me at my worst, so what’s the big deal? In the end, you’re still you.”
In the end, you’re still you...
For a brief moment, something in the blind woman’s heart wavered. She quickly covered it with a cold scoff. “You might think we’re close, but I don’t see it that way. Enough nonsense. I’m not going to be your eyes and ears. What do you take me for? If you have the skill, look for yourself. It’s nothing more than the ability to observe the world through Heavenly Sight and Earthly Hearing[1]. It’s not an ability exclusive to me. It’s something you can obtain too.”
Zhao Changhe considered. “So basically, expanding the Overlooking Eye until it allows me to overlook the entire world? That sounds like something only someone at the third layer of the Profound Control Realm or perhaps even higher could manage. Who knows when I’ll get there?”
“Whenever that is, you still need to train it. If you don’t, you’ll never reach it.” The blind woman crossed her arms. “Every day, you avoid using the Heavenly Tome. You avoid training your Overlooking Eye. You avoid everything. Then you turn around and say, ’Blindie, we’re so familiar. In the end, you’re still you.’ Don’t you think it’s a bit disgusting?”
Zhao Changhe sighed. “...I haven’t been avoiding the Overlooking Eye.”
The blind woman scoffed dismissively and ignored him.
But in truth, Zhao Changhe really had not been avoiding it. During his earlier experiments, he had already realized that the Overlooking Eye was simply an advanced version of his divine sense and his five senses. It was also like an advanced version of his old sound positioning technique, which was simply how he made use of sounds to figure out his own position and those around him.
The only real difference was the enhancement granted by the Back Eye. It made it so that the range of what he could perceive expanded significantly, and his perception was much sharper. For most people, such an ability would only be a vague sense of presence, but he could see everything with eerie clarity. This did not mean that the entire ability originated from the Back Eye—the technique itself was something anyone could cultivate.
Yet, every time he trained, he unconsciously ended up using it alongside the Back Eye. Still, there was no way around it. The higher one’s cultivation, the more crucial it was to expand their field of vision and awareness. The stronger one’s perception, the greater their advantage in battle. Anyone who had played strategy games knew the importance of map vision.
The only reason he had not practiced it much was because there were simply too many things to learn. With limited time, juggling different disciplines was a challenge, and the Overlooking Eye had been pushed aside—not because of avoidance, but because of sheer overload.
Now, having been mocked by the blind woman, Zhao Changhe saw an opportunity and latched onto it. “Then teach me how to train it. I learned wind control from the Thief Saint, and it’s really improved my hearing—I can pick up sounds carried by the wind with much greater clarity and range now. But that only helps with sound. What about sight?”
The blind woman responded absentmindedly, “You’re cultivating to embody the night sky itself. Under its veil, nothing should be hidden from you. Isn’t that part of your profound control? Why would you need wind control? What nonsense.”
She suddenly paused, then let out a mocking laugh. “Newly appointed Night Emperor, only using the title to act like a noble. If the true Night Emperor knew, they’d stab you a hundred times on the spot.”
“Hey, hey, hey! You, of all people, should understand what my Night Emperor status really means! When have I ever used that identity to act as anyone’s superior? Everything that’s happened has been because of mutual affection!”
“I wouldn’t know. I don’t frequent brothels,” the blind woman replied coolly.
Zhao Changhe: “...”
The two of them remained silent, each maintaining an impassive expression. Then, without warning, Zhao Changhe extended his consciousness outward.
Over the past days, he had been refining his resonance with River of Stars, steadily attuning himself to the vastness of the galaxy. Though he had yet to break into the Profound Control Realm, his ability to call upon the power of the galaxy had advanced significantly.
A hazy sensation enveloped him—his awareness drifting high above, bathed in moonlight, overlooking the world below.
Of course, he could not see the entire world as the blind woman could, but the results still exceeded his expectations. Previously, his Overlooking Eye had only covered a radius of a single li. With his improved cultivation, he had assumed he might be able to survey an entire city. But as his awareness expanded, it stretched far beyond Chengdu, extending outward into the countryside for an unknowable distance.
This was not merely a result of his cultivation, it also had to do with his growing connection to the galaxy, enhanced by the Back Eye. It left him wondering: If my range has expanded this much now, how much further will it reach when I truly step into the Profound Control Realm?
That was a thought for the future. For now, something had already caught his attention. There were shadows quietly slipping out of the city, vanishing into the night.
Zhao Changhe smiled faintly and withdrew his consciousness.
There were two reasons he had tried to win the blind woman’s favor—one was to check on Vermillion Bird and the others, and the other was this.
Every word he had spoken to Li Shentong had been sincere. But no matter how genuine his intentions were, there was always the possibility that others might suspect deception. The true test was whether or not his words were deliberately spread to the outside world, forcing Li Shentong into a position where public pressure would leave him no choice but to comply.
Zhao Changhe had no interest in manipulating public opinion to coerce Li Shentong. He wanted genuine cooperation, and if his intentions were misunderstood, it could cause more problems than it solved.
With that being the case, if there were third parties who wanted to sow distrust between him and Li Shentong, such as the Snow-Listening Pavilion, was now not the perfect time to make their move?
“I can help you root them out.”
That single sentence from the banquet had been spoken with this exact scenario in mind.
At the time, however, he had not planned to use his expanded perception to catch anyone. His original idea had been to rely on the Qi Observation Technique to detect hidden traces of sword qi lingering deep within individuals. But that method was unreliable—if the infiltrators were not sword slaves but merely bribed agents, then no sword qi would be present. At best, he could sense their ill intentions, but that would not be enough to convince anyone.
Now, however, he could catch them in the act.
Zhao Changhe opened his eyes.
Across the courtyard, Yue Hongling leaned against a pavilion, lost in her own meditation. As soon as Zhao Changhe stirred, she seemed to sense it and opened her eyes as well.
Zhao Changhe raised an eyebrow. “Were you... standing guard over me?”
Yue Hongling smiled. “Of course. There was a period when you were deeply immersed in your meditation. Naturally, I had to ensure your safety.”
“Uh...”
That was merely a state of extended consciousness—he had been unable to split his focus, but the deeper the state, the more attuned he was to his surroundings. Ironically, the more absorbed he was, the less protection he actually needed.
Still, the sentiment behind her words made his heart feel inexplicably warm. In a gentle tone, he said, “Why were you so quiet through the whole banquet? You’re just as much a guest as I am. Don’t act like my personal guard.”
Yue Hongling replied without hesitation, “In matters like this, I am your guard. And I am willingly so.”
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Zhao Changhe: “......”
Yue Hongling asked, “You suddenly entered deep meditation. What insights did you gain?”
Zhao Changhe took her hand. “Come. Someone just handed us a path to break the deadlock. Naturally, we should graciously accept their gift.”
He paused, then chuckled and said, “It’s really great to have you here. If it were just me, I wouldn’t be able to keep track of everything.”
* * *
“Sect Master, Zhao Changhe and his wife just left the guest courtyard, heading north.”
Li Shentong rose to his feet, a sigh escaping him. “So, as expected, someone is trying to spread the word... Follow them.”
Under the moonlight, several figures slipped out of the city from different directions, quickly vanishing into the dense northern forests.
1. This is basically omniscience as an ability, though it seems limited to an extent. ☜
