Breaking to Rebuild, Awakening to New Life

Dao-Treasuring Peak, Scripture Pavilion.

Watching Chang'anzi practice his swordsmanship in the pool, Xuanming stood by the window with a gratified expression.

He had known the lad could do it.

Seemingly ordinary, with no outward sheen—look closer, and gold and jade lay hidden within. Some people were just like that: frivolous on the surface, yet strong at heart.

Chang'anzi was one of them.

With his fixation on Senior Brother Xuan Ye, he could probably withstand even twice the intensity.

But excessive rigidity led to breaking. Even if his mind was willing, his body would not allow it. Xuanming could not act recklessly, much less rush for results.

Each time he adjusted the training intensity, he kept it right at the limit of what the lad's body could bear, increasing it little by little.

Growing from weak to strong was the best approach.

By now, with his flesh alone, the lad's strength approached that of a Third Realm cultivator. He could just about be considered to have gone from mage to Warriors.

Still, that was nowhere near enough to overcome all rivals and stand out at next year's Dao Origin Assembly.

He remained some distance from Xuanming's goal as well.

Fortunately, there was still half a year left—enough time for Xuanming to mold Chang'anzi into a versatile Daoist who cultivated both magic and the body.

The mountain wind howled, and a length of white silk hurtled through Emptiness.

In the pool, Chang'anzi reacted swiftly, raising his hand and swinging his heavy sword. Powerful sword intent surged forth with domineering force.

The two collided, raising waves ten feet high and sending water spraying everywhere.

The heavy sword was like a mountain, the white silk like water. One shattered all techniques with brute force; the other used four ounces to deflect a thousand pounds.

Hardness met softness, evenly matched.

Within a few short breaths, they exchanged several rounds.

The white silk curled back and landed in a young woman's hand.

Dressed in Daoist robes, Chang Ning looked pretty and charming. Seeing that Chang'anzi had blocked her sneak attack, she fluttered her lashes, snorted, and pushed off with her toes, soaring into Emptiness to attack again.

She was determined to knock this obnoxious fellow flat.

He had stolen her chicken, after all!

And he was more favored by her senior martial uncle!

Up in the Scripture Pavilion, Xuanming stroked his beard. The fight between Chang'anzi and Chang Ning had its merits.

He had long grown accustomed to Chang Ning appearing on Dao-Treasuring Peak. The young woman had established a Superior Dao Foundation through the Yin and Yang Method. Her desires were powerful, making the trial of desire difficult to overcome.

Junior Sister Xuan Su had ways to help in the early stages, but later she could only seek Xuanming's assistance. Chang Ning was one of only two people in Truth-Seeking Abbey with a Superior Dao Foundation. Xuanming could hardly watch all her efforts come to nothing.

From then on, the girl began traveling back and forth between Pure Maiden Peak and Dao-Treasuring Peak.

After spending more time with her, Xuanming learned that Chang Ning carried the bloodline of a fox demon, which explained her fondness for chicken. It also made her desires stronger and the Hundred-Day Barrier harder to overcome.

Of course, the Great Dao came first, and human hearts were inherently selfish.

Xuanming could not let this matter delay his own cultivation.

Following the old tradition, he instructed the girl once every three days, taught her half of the Clear Heart Formula, and ordered her to visit the cold pool often to suppress her desires.

As a result, Chang'anzi and Chang Ning frequently ran into each other.

One was in the wrong; the other held a grudge.

On top of that, Xuanming required them to spar.

Over time, fierce battles in the cold pool became a regular occurrence.

Xuanming had long grown used to such sparring.

After relaxing his mind for a moment, he sat down again, took out a scripture, and read it attentively. Soon, he became immersed in it. Dao resonance suffused his body, Dao energy gathered in his heart, and Dao principles intertwined in his mind.

He had already read more than eight hundred scrolls of Daoist scripture.

He had gained greater knowledge and insight into all things under heaven, and deeper understanding and appreciation of the natural mountains and waters.

He looked up to contemplate the vastness of the universe and examined the fullness of its myriad forms.

Though he never left Floating Cloud Mountain and cultivated beneath one small patch of sky, he was not shallow and ignorant like a frog at the bottom of a well. Instead, through Daoist books and scriptures, he glimpsed Heaven and Earth within a handspan, saw the great through the small, and discerned the whole from the slightest signs. Without setting foot beyond the mountain, he came to understand countless principles.

He traveled ever farther along the path of seeking the Dao, advancing steadily.

For Xuanming, reading scriptures was not merely a means of comprehending the Dao and cultivating. It had also become an indispensable part of his life.

It was not limited to reading, either. Even his unconscious breathing while resting gradually aligned with the Daoist Tradition's breathing methods.

When hungry, he ate his fill; when tired, he slept.

When cold, he put on clothes; when hot, he wore a thin robe.

Xuanming followed the natural course of things, blending life and cultivation ever more closely. There was a sense that walking, standing, sitting, and lying down were all cultivation: he could cultivate whether walking or sitting, and everything his eyes touched was a place to practice the Dao.

As his Dao attainment and state of mind improved, his cultivation yielded twice the results for half the effort. He had reached Essence Refining Perfection and drew ever closer to the Qi Refining Realm.

Time flew like an arrow. Winter passed, and spring arrived.

Gentle spring winds swept across the mountain wilderness, and soft, lingering rain nourished the earth, bringing warmth and vitality.

The ice and snow on Floating Cloud Mountain melted away.

With the crack of spring thunder, all things stirred from their winter slumber.

Wild grass broke through the soil in fresh green shoots, while trees sprouted tender buds, revealing new life.

The year's promise lay in spring.

Throughout the boundless world, all things were renewed.

Dao-Treasuring Peak, beneath the waterfall.

Xuanming stood beside the pool, white-haired yet youthful-faced, his expression kindly. With a Fly-Whisk in hand and Daoist robes on his body, he embodied the bearing of an Immortal.

For once, he had not stayed shut inside the Scripture Pavilion. His gaze fell into the depths of the pool, where a burly figure sat cross-legged at the bottom, a thousand feet below, circulating Truth-Seeking Abbey's secret Tortoise-Breathing Art.

Xuanming had improved this secret art, making it several times more profound and allowing living beings to temporarily enter a state of suspended death.

The man in the pool was Chang'anzi.

The powerful vitality of his flesh collided, intertwined, and contended with the decaying energy of his meridians and organs, giving rise to an aura of life and death.

Xuanming had his reasons for ordering him to lie dormant at the bottom of the pool.

As the sun sank in the west and the Bright Moon began to rise, when sun and moon met in harmony, he lightly flicked his Fly-Whisk. Supreme Solar Essence and Lunar Essence were drawn down, circling Xuanming like two swimming fish.

He activated the Yin-Yang Diagram Record, feeding the Yin and Yang energy into it. They became even more like swimming fish, vivid and lifelike.

After drawing them in for a while, once he judged there was enough Lunar Essence and Solar Essence, Xuanming formed a profound hand seal.

The supreme ultimate gave birth to the two modes, and the Clear and Turbid began to take form.

An illusory Yin and Yang diagram appeared behind him. Black and white intertwined, Yin and Yang gave rise to each other, each containing the other.

They were independent, yet also interdependent.

"Go!"

Xuanming flicked his Fly-Whisk again.

The Yin and Yang diagram behind him moved with it.

Like a dragon entering the sea, it plunged into the pool.

On the bank, primordial unity energy flowed into Xuanming's eyes. His gaze shone, Dao intent rising and falling within it. He looked through layer upon layer of surging water, watching the Yin and Yang diagram descend ever deeper until it enveloped Chang'anzi and flowed into his body.

Below the surface, Chang'anzi's body trembled slightly. The energies of life and death, once as incompatible as water and fire, began to change under the Yin and Yang diagram's coordination.

They blended amid their collisions and converged amid their friction.

They wore each other down, devoured each other, and transformed into each other.

Chang'anzi's body was formidable.

A year of frenzied cultivation had not gone to waste.

His vitality soon overwhelmed the death energy, even driving back into his organs and meridians like seawater surging inland.

Chang'anzi shook ever more violently, enduring tremendous pain. His whole body curled up like a limp shrimp.

Even so, he did not wake.

These were all instinctive reactions to injury.

Watching his nominal martial nephew endure heart-rending agony, Xuanming felt no concern. Instead, he stroked his beard with a smile.

He was not gloating over his suffering; he was delighted.

Between life and death lay great terror, but also great fortune.

Xuanming had made Chang'anzi temper his body for a year precisely so he could break and rebuild.

The lad's internal organs had been damaged, and his cultivation realm had fallen. Ordinary methods could hardly restore him.

After careful consideration, Xuanming had thought of this method.

Through suspended death, he simulated the innate state of chaos within the womb.

Using supreme yin and supreme yang energy together with the Yin-Yang Diagram Record as a guide, he stimulated and finely controlled the energies of life and death within Chang'anzi.

Like a master of external body tempering, he worked from the outside inward, repairing the damaged meridians and dantian.

The body's vitality served as the foundation, while the two energies of Yin and Yang maintained stability.

Working together, they might allow him to break and rebuild, awakening to new life.

But there was no free meal under heaven.

Loss and gain went hand in hand. To gain something and spread his wings to soar again, he first had to endure pain. The agony of remaking himself was like execution by a thousand cuts.

Had Chang'anzi not developed a strong will through a year of brutal training, he would probably have broken down long ago.

Naturally, Xuanming was gratified that he had held on this far.

Only after weathering wind and rain could one see the rainbow.

After hardship, good fortune would come of its own accord.