Song Qingshu gave a wry smile and began recalling Zhang Sanfeng's explanation from back then. "Yellow is the proper color of the central Wu and Ji. Wu is yang earth and governs movement; Ji is yin earth and governs stillness. When Wu and Ji dwell in the center and join together, they become True Faith, also called True Intention. When the flower is pure yellow, the true spirit enters the central proper position. Yet for the true spirit to remain centered and upright, one's nature and emotions must be as one."
"The eastern girl possesses the nature of wood; the western lad possesses the feeling of metal. One nature and one feeling are paired as husband and wife, entering the secluded inner chamber. With Yellow Granny there to persuade them to drink Nectar Wine and regulate the heat, those who are not harmonious will surely become harmonious, and those already harmonious will remain so forever."
"Nectar Wine is neither the dregs of worldly brew nor any tangible essence, fluid, blood, or liquid within the body. It is the qi born of yin and yang responding to one another, misty, abundant, and harmonized. When contained, it becomes the Essence of True Unity; when flowing freely, it becomes the Water of True Unity. Sweet and fragrant in flavor, the ancients called it Jade Liquid, jade nectar, Sweet Dew, and Nectar Wine—all merely descriptions of this small measure of harmonized qi."
"To persuade one to drink means that what is not harmonized must be adjusted until it is harmonized. When cultivation reaches the harmony of yin and yang, one is ever responsive and ever still. Look outward at things, and things are no longer things; look closely at the body, and the body is no longer the body; look within at the heart,