When Zen Master Zunsheng ascended, he left behind three sarira.
Chan Master Tianmeng kept one and gave the other two to Chan Master Bai Mei, who passed both on to Li Ning.
The sarira that sealed the Red Flower Princess had already been taken by Zhu Youmu and was now in Nun Xinru's hands. The other, which held the key to the Yin-Yang Old Man's attainment of the Dao, had been swallowed by Li Ning.
Zhu Youmu killed Li Ning and used the great sandalwood Buddha light to seal his primordial spirit inside a rock. Xun Lanyin divined that Li Ning was in danger and specifically sent Li Yingqiong and Zhou Qingyun to rescue him.
Using the other sarira, Li Ning fashioned a new incarnation. He declined his daughter's kind offer to take him to Emei Mountain and continued his ascetic cultivation deep in the Southern Border's mountains. As Chan Master Bai Mei had instructed, he would refrain from using even a trace of magical power, practice austerities for another thirty years, then emerge to take the Yin-Yang Old Man as his disciple and guide him onto the Buddhist Sect's proper path. Only once everything was accomplished would he ascend to Ultimate Bliss.
This time, Li Ning learned his lesson. Afterward, he also came to his senses and deeply regretted having used his magical powers.
Now he truly refrained from using even the slightest trace of magical power. His sarira-formed incarnation was no different from an ordinary person, except that it needed neither food nor drink, and he continued his ascetic cultivation in the mountains.
Yet he did not know that this itself was a use of magical power.
Zhu Youmu sought out the Yin-Yang Old Man again. By now, the Yin-Yang Old Man had taken refuge under "Xinru Buddha,"