The Yin Yang Spiritual Law (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

The month passed quickly.

Life during that month had not changed much. They still rose early to recite scriptures, chop wood, and fetch water. In his spare time, Lin Jue went to Second Senior Brother's alchemy room to watch him refine elixirs and listen to him explain the Alchemy Path. Immortal Source Temple had held three sermons, and Lin Jue had naturally attended them all. In addition, the temple held lessons every other day to teach the young Daoists to read. Lin Jue had gone twice, but found they were teaching only the most basic characters, so he stopped going. Only Junior Sister continued to attend on her own.

In the second month after arriving at the temple, Lin Jue and Junior Sister began practicing the Yin Yang Spiritual Law.

Cloud Crane Taoist and Senior Brother taught them together.

"Once you can sense Yin Yang Qi, draw it into your body. Yin and yang are difficult to keep in equal measure throughout the day, so you must use the weaker qi to draw in the stronger. Near noon, yang qi is strong and yin qi is weak, so use yin qi to draw in yang qi. Near midnight, yin qi is strong and yang qi is weak, so use yang qi to draw in yin qi. Remember this well: draw in only as much strong qi as you have weak qi. They must remain balanced.

"When the difference between yin and yang is greatest during the day, you will gather the least Spiritual Resonance. When the difference is smallest, you will gather the most.

"Your cultivation is still shallow, so do not be greedy. You should practice at midnight and noon.

"Remember! Keep yin and yang in equal measure!

"If you get greedy, heh, when I was young, I was eager to advance too quickly. I threw yin and yang out of balance, and never managed to set them right again. It has shortened my life, to say nothing of how uncomfortable I feel all over."

His words kept ringing in Lin Jue's ears.

Lin Jue sat cross-legged inside Mountain Moving Hall, eyes closed as he concentrated on sensing. His mind was still as water. For a time, all he heard in his head was Cloud Crane Taoist's voice, and all he sensed was the profusion of motley Spiritual Resonance filling the heavens.

Amid the motley Spiritual Resonance, he took only yin and yang.

It was noon. Yang qi was at its peak, like a blazing flood of fire covering the whole world. The mountain forest outside the room was lit up bright as day, and only the cicadas dared make a sound. By contrast, yin qi was exceedingly weak. In the blazing radiance, it was almost impossible to sense without careful attention.

After much effort, he finally sensed it. Using that wisp of yin qi, he pried loose an equal wisp of yang qi and drew both into his body.

If he took in one wisp of yin qi, then tried to take in a wisp of yang qi afterward, it was quite laborious. But if he caught a wisp of yin qi and immediately pried loose an equal wisp of yang qi, drawing them both in at once, it came naturally.

Perhaps that was because yin and yang had always been bound together.

The method was quite ingenious.

Ingenious and safe, with little risk of imbalance.

Junior Sister sat beside him, her brows knitted tightly.

The little fox cub did not dare enter Mountain Moving Hall. It still huddled at the doorway, waiting for them. It had grown a little this month, getting taller, but it still habitually curled up behind the threshold. Listening to the voices inside, its round, pitch-black eyes often seemed thoughtful. Every so often, it tilted its head, scratched an itch, yawned and lay down for a nap, or stared at a cat passing by—sometimes earning a swat.

After an unknown length of time,

"That's enough."

"Phew..."

Lin Jue opened his eyes.

His gaze held thought and understanding.

Junior Sister opened her eyes too, but hers were clouded with confusion.

"Senior Brother, did you manage to draw in any Spiritual Resonance?"

"I did."

"Huh?" Junior Sister looked dazed, then a little flustered. "Why did it take me so long to sense the Yin Yang Spiritual Resonance, yet I still can't draw it into my body?"

"Lin Jue has practiced the Qi Nourishing Method, so he already has a foundation. Besides, the breathing and guiding exercises of the Qi Nourishing Method already contain Yin Yang Spiritual Resonance. Naturally, it was easier for him to succeed," Senior Brother said gently from beside them. "You managed to sense the existence of Yin Yang Qi and Spiritual Resonance on your first try. That's already remarkable. Don't lose heart. Master accepted you into the temple, so you must have excellent talent. You've also spent a month reciting the Yin Yang Scripture, so you must have gained something from it. I expect you'll manage to draw in the Spiritual Resonance within a few days."

"Oh..."

"Don't compare yourself to others! Comparison leads to discouragement! Discouragement leads to rushing ahead! And rushing ahead leads to trouble!" Cloud Crane Taoist said sternly, more so than usual. "Do you remember the Wolf Daoist we met on the road?"

"The Wolf Demon? I remember."

"Do you remember how his Brother Crow was originally the more clever one, yet in the end he was the one who attained the Way and became a spirit, while his Brother Crow was slow to become one?" the old Daoist said. "Cultivation also depends on fate. A little ambition is good, but it should be used when practicing spells. As for cultivating the Way, it is better to let things take their natural course."

"Understood."

Junior Sister nodded earnestly.

Lin Jue couldn't help wondering what sort of person could be both ambitious and willing to let things take their natural course, then divide those qualities perfectly between two different pursuits.

"Master, I heard that practicing the Yin Yang Spiritual Law can extend one's life?" Lin Jue drew his gaze back from his thoughts and asked.

"Any Spiritual Method can extend your life. Fall ill less often, take care of your body, and live out your natural lifespan—that alone will let you live longer," Cloud Crane Taoist said. "But if you mean extending your life beyond the limit originally allotted to you, then you must cultivate the Yin Yang Spiritual Law to a profound level without losing your balance."

"Have you reached a profound level, Master?"

"When I was young, I was reckless and threw yin and yang out of balance. Once you've lost your balance, how can you call yourself profound?" Cloud Crane Taoist said modestly, shaking his head.

"Then how many years can it extend your life?"

"I don't know."

"Can it grant immortality?"

"A cultivation method is a cultivation method. To live forever, you need a method of immortality. Looking across the annals of history, those who sought immortality through cultivation alone lived back in ancient times."

"Then what methods of immortality are there?"

Lin Jue remained seated cross-legged on the ground and asked earnestly.

"There are many methods of immortality, some difficult, some easy, some real, some false, some substantial, some illusory. It depends on how you define it." Cloud Crane Taoist looked at his disciple and suddenly sighed, but continued all the same. "For instance, if you enter the Register of the Gods and take your place among the immortals, you can surpass your original lifespan. You may not live as long as Heaven and Earth, but as long as the incense offerings continue and the Nine Heavens do not fall, you can endure for centuries or millennia. Tell me, doesn't that count as immortality?"

"..." Lin Jue pondered without answering, then asked, "Is there anything else?"

"After death, you can become a ghost and avoid Reincarnation, cultivating into a great ghost or a ghost immortal. You'll lose your human body and many of your emotions and sensations, but you can still endure for a long time—until Heaven and Earth change, or someone destroys you. Tell me, does that count as immortality in your heart?"

"What else?"

"Demon People have all sorts of methods. For example, they can steal another person's lifespan and refine it into an elixir, or use demonic arts to keep changing bodies. It may be a makeshift arrangement, but it can let them endure for a long time. Tell me, does that count as immortality?"

"Is there no upright path to immortality that leaves one free of constraints?"

"To live forever and never grow old is difficult. To be carefree and at ease is difficult. To live forever, never grow old, and be carefree and at ease is difficult, difficult, difficult." Cloud Crane Taoist sighed again and again.

"Is there really none?"

"There is one. It is the Immortal Path you asked for when you first came up the mountain."

"Please enlighten me, Master."

Lin Jue's expression grew solemn as he sincerely sought guidance.

"People often put 'immortality' and 'the Immortal Path' together, but if that is what you seek, you must distinguish between them."

"This disciple will listen attentively."

"There are many immortals in this world, but what is an immortal? The soldiers guarding Heaven's Gate, the guardian immortals assigned to True Persons of the Talisman School, the attendants of immortals, the dancing Celestial Maidens—they are all immortals. They are the immortals others hope to become! But if you wish to live forever, never grow old, and be carefree and at ease, then only the legendary Ancient True Immortals will do."

"Ancient True Immortals?"

"In ancient times, there were many cultivators in the Human Realm, and many paths to becoming an immortal. Some cultivated painstakingly and became immortals; some were deified for their virtue; some refined elixirs and ascended to Heaven. Only those who could reach through Heaven and Earth were called True Immortals," Cloud Crane Taoist said. "Later, all those True Immortals went Above the Nine Heavens, built immortal realms, and became the various Celestial Venerables and Ancient Gods. If you can become an Ancient True Immortal and stand as their equal, then naturally you can live forever, never grow old, and be carefree and at ease. But ever since ancient times, it has become exceedingly difficult for anyone in this world to cultivate into a Great Power and prove themselves a True Immortal."

Lin Jue silently committed his words to memory.

Seeing this, Cloud Crane Taoist sighed, waved his hand, and rose to his feet. He walked outside.

"That's enough cultivation for today. The Yin Yang Spiritual Law isn't only about cultivating yin and yang, just as the Five Elements Spiritual Law isn't only about cultivating the five elements. Now that you've learned the Yin Yang Spiritual Law, you can practice in the mountains each day, contemplate Heaven and Earth, and gather more Spiritual Resonance. You can stay here and reflect for a while. Remember, don't rush ahead or let yin and yang fall out of balance."

"Understood."

Lin Jue sat a little longer, savoring the sensation from earlier, then got up and walked outside.

The little fox cub had taken a liking to him. It hadn't moved when Cloud Crane Taoist and Senior Brother came out; it had only lifted its head to see who they were. The moment Lin Jue appeared, it let out a whimper and trotted after him.

"Were you listening too?

"How much did you understand?

"..."

Lin Jue chatted with it casually as he walked.

Back in his room, he opened the Ancient Book.

A page titled "Method of Consumption" had already appeared inside.

The so-called Method of Consumption was a technique created by Alchemy Path Daoists to help people take elixirs.

What the book said was much the same as what Second Senior Brother had told him. Some elixirs had fierce properties, some were difficult to digest, and some were poisonous to begin with. One had to use the Method of Consumption alongside them to bring out their full effects and avoid being poisoned. Many mortals could not cultivate and knew nothing of this method. They took elixirs indiscriminately; if they were lucky, nothing happened, but if they were not, they could easily be poisoned to death.

Most elixirs, in particular, involved things like lead, mercury, gold, silver, cinnabar, and stone powders.

To put it simply, the method came down to two essentials: "harmonizing" and "neutralizing." The ability to withstand poison that came from practicing the "Method of Consumption" was merely an added benefit of the latter.

Harmonizing relied on the spiritual qi within the body to balance the properties of the medicine. Neutralizing relied not only on the spiritual qi within the body, but also on prolonged practice by ingesting poison. It was because Lin Jue had practiced the Qi Nourishing Method and the temple possessed a "medical art" that Second Senior Brother had said he could start practicing the Method of Consumption early. That way, he would be less likely to die from poison—and even if he was poisoned, Fifth Senior Brother could cure him.

It sounded rather miserable.

The book explained this method in somewhat greater detail.

Now another page had appeared in the book:

Yin Yang Original Method, Lesser Yin Yang Method.

The Great Way of Yin Yang was mysterious beyond measure, wondrous beyond measure. Cultivators had always struggled to maintain balance, and so the Lesser Yin Yang Method and Greater Yin Yang Method came into being.

The ancient sages wrote the Yin Yang Scripture, explaining Yin Yang Qi and the principle of balance. Later generations studied and annotated it, age after age, gradually grasping the essence of the Yin Yang Spiritual Law. Yet yin and yang were difficult to keep in equal measure over the course of a day, so without exception, these Yin Yang Spiritual Laws used equal portions of each. Some used a little to draw in more, while others took them with care at dawn and dusk. In short, each had its own method, but all were centered on balance.

Later, a Great Power painstakingly explored the matter and gradually developed the Greater Yin Yang Method.

The Greater Yin Yang Method drew in yin and yang together. As long as the amounts of Yin Yang Qi taken in over the course of a day were equal, they did not need to be balanced at every moment. Thus it was called the Greater Yin Yang Method.

The former was slow and the latter fast; the former was steady and the latter risky.

Because this method originated from the Yin Yang Original Meaning annotated by a Daoist surnamed Xiang, it was often called the Yin Yang Original Method, or Xiang's Yin Yang. Its cultivation was slow and cautious, and it belonged to the Lesser Yin Yang Method.

Lin Jue read this and froze.

It reminded him of the Fire-Repelling Technique from the marketplace, which was divided into upper, middle, and lower grades. He had never expected the Yin Yang Spiritual Law to have similar distinctions.

With one method, every wisp of Spiritual Resonance drawn into the body had to be balanced. So the amount one could draw in was determined not by the stronger qi, but by the weaker qi, making cultivation rather inefficient. The other method ignored all that entirely, drawing in Yin Yang Qi together each time. In the Yin Yang Spiritual Law of Floating Hill Temple, in the cultivation method Lin Jue had just learned, and in the Yin Yang Original Meaning, this was considered extremely dangerous and taboo.

Lin Jue did not know what principle lay behind it, nor how that Great Power had avoided the danger. He did not know what mysteries were involved in between, and unfortunately, the book did not say.

After pondering for a moment, he pinched the page between his fingers.

Even though it was only the Lesser Yin Yang Method, the book still explained it in exhaustive detail. For a time, it was as if he were listening to a lecture on the Great Way, utterly entranced.

The night passed before he knew it.