Attain the utmost emptiness; preserve steadfast stillness!
Zhang Tie sat with his eyes closed through the night, his thoughts clear and empty, his spirit tranquil and steadfast. In such a state, his entire body relaxed completely, entering a peculiar realm. Before he knew it, dawn had broken.
When footsteps sounded outside the pavilion, Zhang Tie was silently reciting a passage in his mind—Those who attain emptiness follow the Way of Heaven. Those who preserve stillness follow the Way of Earth. If the Way of Heaven does not attain emptiness to its utmost extreme, then the vital essence of all things cannot be true. If the Way of Earth does not preserve stillness until it becomes utterly steadfast and solid, then Heaven and Earth cannot possess such emptiness and stillness. Thus, the sun, moon, and stars take form in the heavens; water, fire, earth, and stone take form upon the land. Images move above, and so all things are born; forms mingle beneath heaven, and so all things are completed. Therefore, the wonder of emptiness and stillness is bestowed upon nothing, received by nothing, and possessed by nothing.
"Elder, the auspicious hour has arrived!" Steward Yu's voice rang out from outside.
Zhang Tie opened his eyes and saw Steward Yu, two groups of Yiyang Mountain stewards, and the women from Broadview Peak's Elders' Pavilion, all holding various garments and ceremonial items as they looked at him respectfully.
Zhang Tie had long since familiarized himself with today's proceedings. Seeing this, he said nothing, merely rose to his feet and spread his arms.
The women holding the clothes and ceremonial objects immediately swarmed around him. Without a word, they swiftly began dressing him up.
A few minutes later, everything was in order. The women stepped back, and a steward brought over a mirror