"I will heed your teachings, Master."
Yellow Dragon bowed deeply to Heavenly Venerable Yuanshi. "I will abide by the sect's rules and never disgrace the name of Jade Pure."
"Go."
The Heavenly Venerable closed his eyes again, and his figure gradually faded into nothingness. Only his voice lingered in the great hall. "The course of heaven and earth, the birth and death of all living things—each has its appointed fate. See what you see, hear what you hear, and do what you must."
Yellow Dragon bowed once more, then slowly withdrew from the hall.
Leaving the Jade Pure Palace, he mounted an Auspicious Cloud and headed straight for a small mountain beside Three Purities Peak. Xuandu's abode stood there, still without a name.
As soon as he entered the mountain's bounds, he sensed something that had not been there on his last visit: an air of effortless serenity. Its Dao resonance suffused the peak and gradually calmed his mind.
There were no grand formations or dense spiritual energy in the abode. It was much as it had been before: an old pine tree, a small stone hut, and a spring that gave off spiritual energy. The only addition was a herb garden that looked haphazard but followed nature's deepest principles. Everything was simple.
Yellow Dragon landed beside the old pine. Xuandu, his hair bound in a Daoist topknot and a plain gray robe on his back, was crouched in the herb garden. He was gently guiding the flow of spiritual energy through a Spirit Grass whose seven-star leaves drew in specks of starlight.
His movements were slow and natural, as though he and the Spirit Grass were one.
"That is quite an unusual way to cultivate Spirit Grass, junior brother." Yellow Dragon stood with his arms crossed and waited until