Under one person: I, Zhang Zhiwei, the arrogant Zhang.

Previously, the Celestial Master's Mansion was very popular, and the Tiantong Temple also benefited. Now that the Tiantong Temple is popular, it has started to give back to the Celestial Master's Mansion.

Since they are so close, some pilgrims who come specifically for Tiantong Temple will also make a special trip to the Celestial Master's Mansion, thinking, "Since I'm already here."

But apart from those lucky pilgrims who came on those few days, the rest who came out of curiosity did not get a share of the Three Powers Qi, and naturally did not benefit from it either.

However, that's how it is with worshipping gods. If it works, it's because the gods have shown their power; if it doesn't work, it's because you weren't sincere.

Indeed, most of the believers who were lucky enough to encounter the Qi of the Three Powers were frequent visitors to offer incense.

Later, most of those who came here were opportunists who heard rumors that so-and-so had come here to burn incense and suddenly felt a breath of divine energy descend upon them. After inhaling it, the sick were cured of all their ailments, and the healthy were made strong.

These speculators were only trying their luck, so even if they didn't gain anything, it had no impact on the incense offerings of Tiantong Temple.

While Zhang Zhiwei was in seclusion recovering, the turmoil in the outside world never ceased.

The Japanese pirates continued their relentless pursuit of Wang Yuqiao, who had killed an army general, but failed and suffered heavy losses.

Outside the Great Wall, after General Ma telegraphed his defection, he quickly expanded his forces by taking advantage of the large amount of resources he had obtained during his feigned surrender, and soon had 60,000 troops.

He joined forces with the anti-Japanese forces in Jilin Province and launched a three-pronged attack on the ice city, known as the "Moscow of the East."

However, due to the defection of traitors to the enemy, some internal factors, and the siege by two Japanese pirate divisions, this major battle ended in failure.

The Japanese pirates once spread rumors that they had killed General Ma.

But in reality, at the critical moment, some practitioners from the Tian Tong Tang sect in Northeast China intervened and helped him escape his predicament.

Subsequently, General Ma once again united anti-Japanese forces from various regions, divided his army into four routes, and concentrated his forces to attack Hecheng.

Unfortunately, the Japanese pirates had the advantage of railways and could provide rapid support, so this major counter-offensive still ended in failure.

General Ma was surrounded again. With the help of many parties, he led several thousand remaining troops to break through the encirclement one after another, and finally retreated into Russian territory.

However, despite repeated defeats, he never gave up on driving out the Japanese pirates and recovering his homeland.

He then returned to China from the Russians and continued his fight.

Meanwhile, outside the Great Wall, there was a tragic resistance against the Japanese pirates.

The situation inside the pass was also turbulent and unpredictable.

The various factions held differing political views, with some advocating for domestic policies and others for foreign ones. There was constant infighting and back-to-back power struggles among them.

Meanwhile, the Japanese pirates did not stop their actions. After defeating the main force of the anti-Japanese forces led by General Ma, they set their sights on the area outside the Great Wall and began to encroach on Rehe. At the beginning of the year, they captured Shanhaiguan and continued to advance inland.

At this critical moment, Nanjing mobilized 500,000 troops, nearly 30 divisions, not to fight the Japanese pirates, but to reignite the civil war.

As for the Japanese pirates who had already entered the pass, only three brigades were sent to deal with them. Moreover, due to the selfishness of each faction, they wanted to preserve their remaining strength to maintain their own voice...

As a result, in just ten days, Rehe, an area equivalent to half the size of Japan, fell to the Japanese.

The outcome on the other side wasn't much better; after three divisions were wiped out, they retreated in disgrace.

Loss-lose situation!

When Zhang Zhiwei received this news, he was still in seclusion at Tianmen Peak. It took him several months to recover from the losses of his last tribulation.

Under the crooked tree, Zhang Jingqing, holding a newspaper, asked Zhang Zhiwei:

"What do you think about this matter?"

In the past, whenever something happened, Zhang Jingqing would first consult with Yi Qian, Zhang Yi, Zhang Shoucheng, and others. But at some point, Zhang Jingqing had gotten into the habit of coming to Tianmen Peak to consult with Zhang Zhiwei whenever something happened.

Zhang Zhiwei glanced at the newspaper in Zhang Jingqing's hand and shook his head, saying:

"I am not surprised by this result."

"How so?" Zhang Jingqing asked.

Zhang Zhiwei said, "The Tiantong Church has many businesses all over the country, but it has never expanded into Rehe. Master, do you know why?"

Zhang Jingqing was a smart woman, and she immediately understood the meaning behind Zhang Zhiwei's words: "You mean, the warlords there are too greedy?"

Zhang Zhiwei nodded: "It's only been a little over thirty years now, but they've been collecting all sorts of messy taxes like poll tax and livestock tax for seventy years now, and the people are very resentful."

"Not only that, all the gold mines, salt mines, silver mines, coal mines and other resources are managed by his people. If they are held by outsiders, then he will seize them by all sorts of methods."

"They even forcibly collect protection fees from temples and shops, and forcibly seize land. The amount of land they hold is more than ten times that of our Longhu Mountain."

"Most importantly, he even embezzled military funds. That place is in the north, where it's freezing cold and the soldiers are still wearing only thin clothes. How are they supposed to fight the Japanese pirates?"

"Those who are in charge always make sure they get all the meat themselves, leaving a little soup for their subordinates."

"And this person not only didn't leave any soup, he didn't even leave a mouthful of warm excrement."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Jingqing remained silent for a moment, then angrily retorted, "As a warlord, instead of properly building up his troops, he embezzles military funds to weaken himself. Doesn't he know what his wealth and power are based on?!"

Zhang Zhiwei said, "This disciple doesn't understand what such a person is thinking either."

"In this day and age, shouldn't we use the money we make to build up our military and create a strong army?"

"What's the use of disarmamenting yourselves and getting a few warehouses full of money? They're just for show!"

Zhang Jingqing said, "He dares to do this because he must be very confident in his abilities."

Zhang Zhiwei shook his head and said, "No, that's not true. When this person fled, he took more than two million silver dollars with him and used more than two hundred trucks to transport his private property. As for the result..."

At this point, Zhang Zhiwei grinned.

"What was the result?" Zhang Jingqing asked hurriedly.

As soon as she said it, Zhang Jingqing suddenly felt a little dazed.

In the past, he was always the one talking and Zhang Zhiwei was the one listening. Occasionally, he would keep Zhang Zhiwei in suspense, and Zhang Zhiwei would press him for details.

Now it seems like the tables have turned, and I'm the one being kept in suspense.

Zhang Zhiwei, unaware of his master's change in expression, said, "I sent Wang Ai to Changjun and asked one of the Zhang brothers to use the Five Ghosts Moving Technique to take the stolen money away for him."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Jingqing paused for a moment, then burst into laughter.

"You're quick-witted, kid. That's exactly how you deal with these oppressive people. By the way, you mentioned the Zhang brothers earlier, are they from our Celestial Master's Mansion?"

Zhang Zhiwei thought for a moment and said, "They're not exactly from our Celestial Master's Mansion, but we do have some connections."

“Master, you told me that there are two branches of the Zhang family in the Celestial Master’s Mansion.”

One branch emphasizes traditional inheritance, while the other emphasizes bloodline.

“Zhang Sanjia is from this bloodline, and the person who helped this time is also from this lineage, but from a branch.”

The person he invited was Master Zhang from Changjun. "That lineage is doing very well; they even have branches now."

Zhang Jingqing sighed, but their paths diverged, and he wasn't interested in the Zhang family's current situation. He continued:
"Did you take the warlord's ill-gotten gains and kill him?"

“I didn’t kill him.” Zhang Zhiwei shook his head and said, “He was a high-ranking official who was used to lording it over others. He was getting old, and he had given up his military power and lost his wealth. It’s better to let him live.”

Zhang Jingqing nodded and said, "It's easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality. The sense of contrast is too great. Killing him is a quick and painless way to go."

"However, this matter also reveals a problem: this kind of arbitrary tax collection and extortion probably exists in many places."

“Indeed quite a lot,” Zhang Zhiwei nodded, “That’s why we’ve suffered repeated defeats.”

Zhang Jingqing sighed: "In previous years, when China was unified, I thought the situation would get better day by day, but now it's no different from the situation at the end of the previous dynasty."

"We have to wait for a change in circumstances; things will get better later," Zhang Zhiwei said.

"When will the variables appear?" Zhang Jingqing asked.

"In my opinion, the minor changes will probably only occur in three to five years," Zhang Zhiwei said.

“I remember you never use internal visualization to deduce things. How did you come to this conclusion?” Zhang Jingqing asked.

“I saw it with my own eyes.” Zhang Zhiwei looked at Zhang Jingqing, blinked, revealing a pair of double pupils in his eyes, and smiled:

"The monkey's three calamities burned his eyes into a pair of fiery pupils, while my three calamities burned my pupils into a pair of double pupils."

"This..." Zhang Jingqing was immediately shocked: "You said before that your perception increased greatly after you passed the tribulation, so you awakened double pupils!"

He was genuinely surprised; this was even more astonishing than Zhang Zhiwei's tribulation.

Because, throughout history, the number of people with double pupils has been far fewer than the number of people who have survived the three calamities.

Good heavens, I, as his master, have underestimated him again.

Zhang Jingqing sighed countless times in her heart.

He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down, and said:

"Double pupils are a sign of transcendence and sainthood. No one with double pupils is simple. After you awakened, do you have any special abilities?"

Zhang Zhiwei said, "My double pupils come from the Eye of Delusion. As for the ability, it's about the same as before, only the power has been greatly enhanced."

"I won't go into the destructive power, but the main thing is the ability to 'observe'. To a certain extent, I can see the changes in all things in this world."

“In this situation, even without going through the internal visualization, one can still see a glimpse of the future, or rather, glimpse a corner of destiny.”

"Fate?" Zhang Jingqing asked quickly, "How do you view fate?"

“So-called destiny is actually change.” Zhang Zhiwei pointed his finger, and golden light spread from his fingertip, taking shape with Qi to form a clock, the hands of which slowly turned.

He explained, “Master, if you follow the rotation of this pointer with your eyes and the two sides reach a balance, you will find that the pointer seems to have stopped.”

Zhang Jingqing nodded in understanding.

This principle is actually the principle of relative motion. If you two are on the same frequency, then you are naturally at rest.

Pilots of that era loved dogfighting. If one pilot was in front and the other behind, and the one in front was accelerating while the bullets coming from behind were relatively slow, the pilot might even be able to reach out and catch the bullets.

Zhang Zhiwei continued, "Fate is the same. Everyone's fate is a thin line that is constantly moving forward. If you are the same as the changes in the thin line, then the changes are static. If you exceed the changes in the thin line, then the changes are regressing."

“But fate is not a straight line. Its trajectory is constrained by its own weight and the influence of the surrounding environment, and is limited to a certain range.”

"If in the future, one can observe with a level of insight that transcends the level of change."

"You can see that everyone's fate is actually a tangled mess of shadows."

“Every double image is a future.”

"It can be said that these double images are all choices made by the observed based on the weight of their own fate."

"Some of these choices are positive, and some are negative."

"But a positive choice is not necessarily good, and a negative choice is not necessarily bad."

"Because in this world, you are not the only one on the line."

"There are many lines around you, and they have many shadows. Every decision they make will affect your decision."

"So although there are many double images and the line keeps bending and moving forward, its direction of movement can be roughly seen due to the influence of the surrounding environment."

"And this is the future I see."

"As for the deductions in the interior, what we actually see is a double image produced when this line of fate bends."

"It does not represent a predetermined future, but only a possibility."

"And if you move towards that possibility, then it will become your future."

"That's why I don't use internal vision to speculate."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Jingqing nodded: "Although I cannot see the lines of fate you mentioned directly, I understand the underlying principles."

"Do you remember buying it? When you were little, there was a tree by the wall of the Celestial Master's Mansion."

“That tree was only half a person tall. When you were cleaning the yard, you wanted to cut it down because you thought it was too big and would break the paving stones.”

“Back then, I took pity on it and kept it. A few years later, it grew very tall, not only breaking the paving stones but also damaging the courtyard wall.”

"Then I told you to cut down this tree. Do you remember how you dealt with it?"

Zhang Zhiwei thought for a moment and said, "I uprooted it and sent it to the dining hall to be used as timber."

Zhang Jingqing nodded: "This is its destiny. You had a keen eye when you were very young and saw through its fate."

Zhang Zhiwei was stunned. After thinking about it carefully, he realized that it made sense.

Zhang Jingqing continued, "This tree's ability to grow strong is due to its own efforts, while my compassion is its good fortune."

"Personal effort plus luck can lead to some success, but he doesn't understand that there is also the way of Heaven."

At this point, Zhang Jingqing smiled and continued:
“You keep saying that I, as a senior master of the Xuanmen sect, say strange things that are hard to understand. Well then, I’ll just call the Way of Heaven objective.”

"And the Celestial Master's Mansion is its objective reality. If it cannot reach a level that is equal to its objective reality, excessive growth will only lead to its demise."

"If that tree can restrain its growth, it means that it has perceived this objective reality, and it will not perish."

Zhang Jingqing's last words were quite meaningful, especially her emphasis on the word "restraint." (End of Chapter)