Main and Extraordinary United, a Special Greater Celestial Circuit

In the stands, after taking his seat again.

Watching Chang'anzi stroll toward him, Xuanxu felt both gratified and worried.

Gratified because Chang'anzi had done him proud.

Worried because he had done him too proud.

An excellent result in the Dao debate trial was a good thing.

But everything had its limits. For this young man from a minor faction, taking second place was a mixed blessing.

The tree that rose above the forest would be battered by the wind.

Whether fortune or calamity lay ahead for Chang'anzi was hard to say.

The Heaven and Earth Academy assisted the Divine Dynasty in overseeing the Daoist Tradition and handled certain worldly affairs as well. Once he entered the academy, he would have to enter the secular world, where people's hunger for fame and gain, and their jealousy, could utterly destroy a person.

Gains and losses went hand in hand. Thanks to Chang'anzi, the Truth-Seeking Abbey's reputation had soared, but it might also become difficult for the abbey to remain apart from worldly affairs.

Yet Xuanxu did not blame Chang'anzi. Instead, he offered a few words of encouragement and told him to hurry off and rest, knowing full well that none of this could be laid at Chang'anzi's feet.

Xuan Yang chuckled and leaned toward Xuanxu. "Senior Brother, don't be angry. Chang'anzi has rendered us a great service this time."

"You and I saw clearly how unusual Cloud Heaven Peak is. Shrouded in clouds and mist, the participants can barely see one another. Until the very last moment, no one knows their exact ranking. All they can do is give it everything they have, keep climbing, and strive for the best."

"Besides, the peak holds opportunities. Opportunities are hard to come by, so all the more reason to seize them, lest regret come too late."

"In his shoes, you and I would probably do the same as Chang'anzi, unwilling to let such a blessing slip away."

"Though Chang'anzi taking second place brings both fortune and danger to our Truth-Seeking Abbey, with you here, Senior Brother, the benefits outweigh the drawbacks overall."

Shooting Xuan Yang a sidelong look, Xuanxu snorted. "Do you think I'm a petty, narrow-minded man who can't distinguish black from white?"

Xuan Yang gave an embarrassed smile and immediately ducked his head.

Since this silly junior brother spoke up for Chang'anzi, I'll let him off this once.

Then Xuanxu's gaze deepened, his thoughts drifting. He understood both Xuan Yang's reasoning and what lay beneath his words.

Senior Brother Xuanming had never intended to conceal anything from him. Soon after becoming a True Person, he had told him the truth.

As his senior brother put it, only by knowing the strength of every level of their sect inside and out could he, as its head, handle affairs with ease and strengthen the sect.

On the surface, the Truth-Seeking Abbey was a minor Daoist lineage. In truth, it already had the potential to become a great sect.

Even so, Xuanxu remained worried.

True Persons had different ranks too, with vast gulfs between their strengths. He feared his senior brother might not be able to protect Chang'anzi.

"Enough, enough!"

"Since things have come to this, we might as well make our peace with them."

Fortune was where calamity leaned; calamity was where fortune lay concealed.

Heaven's Dao was ever-changing, and the Human Dao was unfathomable. Who could say this was not the best possible arrangement?

Perhaps this was a chance for the Truth-Seeking Abbey to soar into the heavens in a single flight.

The Floating Cloud Mountain, Truth-Seeking Abbey, Scripture Pavilion.

Unaware that Chang'anzi had stunned everyone on Cloud Heaven Peak, Xuanming put away his scroll and rubbed his brow. He stood by the window, gazing out to ease his tired eyes. At the sight of the setting sun on the horizon, his thoughts turned to Xuanxu and the others.

"The Dao Origin Assembly officially opened today. The Dao debate trial on Cloud Heaven Peak must have ended by now."

"I wonder how Chang'anzi did?"

Before training the boy, Xuanming had asked Junior Brother Xuanxu about the details of the Dao Origin Assembly. Astonished by Cloud Heaven Peak's wonders, he had also tailored Chang'anzi's training accordingly.

Provided the boy did not fall apart, he should have achieved a decent result. A place in the top hundred ought to be no problem.

As he stepped out of the Scripture Pavilion, a deer's soft calls rang out. a Little Deer brimming with spiritual intelligence trotted over, gently rubbed his neck against Xuanming's robes, then circled him, acting cute and begging for affection.

Xuanming crouched and rubbed the deer's head, his spirits lifting. After emerging from seclusion, he had brought the deer to live by his side.

A mount had to be raised from a young age.

Every day, Xuanming used magic power to cleanse and refine Little Deer's meridians and fascia, temper his bones and flesh, and nourish him with the qi of the sun and moon. He also picked the freshest grass from the mountaintop for him.

His magic power was unique, possessing the quality of primordial unity. In just half a month, the deer had already shown a marked difference: greater spiritual intelligence and stronger muscles and bones. In both size and speed, he utterly outclassed his younger sister, who had been born at the same time.

Yes, his younger sister!

The deer Xuan Yang had received was female, and the little doe was closer to Chang Ning than to her owner.

After entering the Path-Seeking Courtyard and eating his evening meal, Bright Moon began to rise. In his thatched cottage, seated at the desk, with Little Deer lying at his feet, Xuanming picked up an ancient jade slip and read it attentively, pondering and studying its contents.

This was the original record of the Four Symbols True Person's experiences and cultivation insights. Its three volumes documented two hundred years of observations, great and small, his insights into cultivating the Dao, and his ideas on Qi Refining innateness.

Successive abbey heads had kept it in their care. The Scripture Pavilion held only abridged copies; only Daoists who had reached the Qi Refining Threshold were qualified to consult the more precious originals.

Xuanming had been rereading them over the past several days.

Aside from drawing nourishment from them to enrich his own Great Dao, he focused on their ideas concerning Primordial Heaven.

Limited by the cultivation teachings he had inherited, Xuanming's understanding of the Qi Refining Realm remained shallow. As a result, his Primordial Unity Qi Refining Formula extended only as far as the Greater Celestial Circuit section of Qi Refining. To advance further, he would have to create additional Qi Refining sections.

Although the Four Symbols True Person had only reached the Greater Celestial Circuit, he had met many fellow cultivators and obtained fragmentary teachings on Primordial Heaven. This had given him a fairly deep understanding of Qi Refining Innateness. His insights and ideas pointed the way for Xuanming to develop his cultivation art.

This was also why he had yet to read the Jade Scripture of the Outer-Scenery Yellow Court Qi for a third time.

The Yellow Court Scripture was a true text of the Great Dao. It cultivated the primordial spirit and the inner deities, unlocking the secret apertures within the body. It contained many cultivation methods that could unite body and spirit with the Dao, placing great emphasis on cultivating both inner nature and life.

In the legends of his previous life, countless Daoists had derived supreme cultivation methods from the Yellow Court Scripture, creating something from nothing, refining the false to cultivate the true, overcoming every obstacle, and attaining the Dao to become Immortals.

The Dao gave birth to one; one gave birth to two; two gave birth to three; three gave birth to all things.

Within the Daoist Tradition, three held profound mysteries. It corresponded to the upper, middle, and lower scriptures of the Yellow Court, and even more closely to the true meaning of the Three Powers.

Through his long study of the Yellow Court Scripture, Xuanming had learned much. One such discovery was that each of its three scriptures bestowed great blessings only during the first three readings and contemplations.

At all other times, one could only rely on the drops of insight accumulated day after day, slowly gathering them into rivers, lakes, and seas.

Sharpening the axe did not delay the cutting of firewood. He intended to prepare thoroughly and draw the utmost from the third great blessing of the Jade Scripture of the Outer-Scenery Yellow Court Qi. Perhaps he could perfect the Primordial Unity Qi Formula all the way to the completion of Qi Refining, sparing himself any worry over cultivation methods for a long time to come.

An hour later, Xuanming stepped out of the thatched cottage.

He rose into the air and sat cross-legged atop a gnarled old pine, circulating his qi through the Heavenly Circuit and gathering lunar essence.

The moonlight was hazy and pure. Vast quantities of lunar essence were drawn down, surrounding him as he absorbed them. So much gathered that the essence beside him condensed into the phantom image of a crescent moon.

The moonlight was cool, its silver radiance bright. His white hair looked sculpted from ice and fashioned from jade, gleaming translucently. Seated cross-legged within that glow, Xuanming resembled an Immortal in the moon, ethereal and beyond the mortal world, untouched by dust.

Like a pavilion by the water catching the moonlight first, the old pine benefited from its proximity. Bathed in moonlight, it received a blessing. Little Deer beneath the tree, excitedly wagging his tail, shared in the bounty as well. He inhaled lunar essence with all his might and opened his mouth to exhale turbid qi, the cool, refreshing sensation drawing contented calls from him.

Atop the old pine, Xuanming concentrated on breaking through his meridians.

The Greater Celestial Circuit was divided into the Eight Extraordinary Meridians and the Twelve Main Meridians. Different cultivation arts produced different Greater Celestial Circuits.

The Primordial Unity Qi Formula, however, embraced all streams like the sea, incorporating the strengths of both the Eight Extraordinary Meridians and the Twelve Main Meridians. Main and extraordinary united and nourished each other, like Yin and Yang intertwining, heaven and earth transforming. It linked the body's upper and lower regions, connected its front and back, and formed an even more wondrous great Heavenly Circuit.

Three and a half months earlier, Xuanming had successfully broken through. His deep accumulation had burst forth, allowing him to open four of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians in one sustained push, in addition to the Ren and Du meridians. Tonight, he opened another extraordinary meridian. With only the final one remaining, he would then match other cultivators at the completion of the Greater Celestial Circuit.

About an hour later, Xuanming finished cultivating and returned to the thatched cottage, where he lay on his side to sleep. With each breath, heaven and earth's spiritual mechanism gathered around him in clouds and mist. Beneath the mist, Little Deer slept curled up, likewise breathing in and out the spiritual mechanism.

While Xuanming rested peacefully, many people in Fengyang Commandery were stirred into a frenzy because of him, unable to sleep.

Thanks to Hongchen Rushui Hua Xilei for the tip of 100 Qidian coins; thanks to Dadi de Huyou, Ruoshui_ea, 2022...5934, 2022...4928, 2019...7358, and 1508...0392 for one monthly ticket each; thanks to Baiyi Gujiu, Xiaodao Yizhi, and Danwang Wuliao for two monthly tickets each.