Dao-Treasuring Peak, Path-Seeking Courtyard.
Heavy snow weighed upon the green pines, yet the green pines stood tall and straight.
When the first snowstorm of the fifth year arrived, Floating Cloud Mountain lay cloaked in silver and white. Inside the thatched cottage, something new stirred within Xuanming.
All thirty-six Stars above his head lit up, following mysterious trajectories, each bursting forth with a different manifestation.
Some Stars created something from Nonbeing, some made flowers bloom in an instant, some could Move Mountains and Fill Seas, and some cycled through the five phases.
Some blazed brilliantly, making an ostentatious display.
Some shone softly, keeping a low profile.
These were the manifestations of the thirty-six divine abilities of the heavenly stems.
All seventy-two earthly springs beneath his feet had also been opened, flowing with a gentle gurgle, gleaming with different hues and displaying different manifestations.
They were the symbols of the seventy-two earthly fiends.
Thirty-six lay beneath his left foot, thirty-six beneath his right. Each spring corresponded to a star overhead, resonating with it.
Xuanming formed a mysterious hand seal. His lips parted, and he softly uttered a single word: "Merge!"
The Stars and earthly springs trembled together.
The Stars descended, and the earthly springs surged upward.
The former passed through his upper dantian, the latter through his lower dantian.
At last, they converged in the Supreme Mystery Heaven within his middle dantian.
First, the thirty-six heavenly stem stars and seventy-two earthly fiend springs moved along mysterious trajectories, their clear and turbid qi counteracting one another.
Then their movements grew more intricate. Two springs revolved around each star, their trajectories becoming ever more mysterious as the clear and turbid qi began generating one another.
As each pair of springs fused with its star, a unique aura spread outward. This was primordial chaos qi—and,