Heaven and Earth Are the Greatest Medicine; Emptiness and Substance Follow the Dao

The sun rose from the eastern corner, as though emerging from beneath the earth.

Vast quantities of purple qi surged from the thin red line between Heaven and earth, scattering throughout the boundless universe. As it passed Floating Cloud Mountain, a mass of it was drawn down, like a tributary branching from a mighty river.

Dao-Treasuring Peak, Path-Seeking Courtyard.

The white-haired old Daoist sat cross-legged atop a tree.

Purple qi streamed into his nose, and turbid qi flowed from his mouth. In and out, inhale and exhale, his breaths were long and powerful, with a rhythm of their own. It was as though Heaven and earth were breathing naturally through him, carrying something of the wonder of communion between humanity and the heavens.

The endless purple qi gathered into a violet mist around Xuanming. At that moment, he resembled an elder Immortal draped in purple clouds, his brows kindly and his gaze benevolent, serene and removed from worldly dust.

Below him, the old pine spread its roots; below that, Little Deer breathed in and out.

Two Daoists also sat cross-legged on either side. Two thin wisps of mist branched from the purple cloud and were absorbed by them.

One had a kindly face; the other radiated authority without Rage. They resembled divine guardians, or a pair of aged children embodying good and evil.

They were none other than Xuan Tong and Xuan Yu.

Ever since learning that Xuanming had become a Qi Refining True Person, Xuan Tong had dragged Xuan Yu over punctually every morning, except for the morning Xuan Yang and Xuan Yu had descended the mountain. They sat beneath the tree, quieted their minds, focused their spirits, and drew in purple qi.

As Xuan Tong put it, Truth-Seeking Abbey rarely produced a True Person. With their fellow disciples absent, they naturally ought to be the waterside pavilion that caught the moonlight first, basking in their senior brother's radiance and borrowing a little of his good fortune to aid their own cultivation.

Once the others returned, their senior brother would surely send everyone away to enjoy his solitude. They would never get such a fine opportunity again.

When fortune came knocking, they could not let it slip away.

And the results proved that the two Daoists had indeed benefited. Their cultivation yielded twice the result for half the effort; a mere three days surpassed half a month of arduous practice.

An hour later, Xuanming swallowed and refined the last of the purple cloud. The instant he opened his eyes, his pupils turned violet, purple qi swirling in their depths to manifest the Dao image of purple qi coming from the east. Only after several breaths did it fade and his eyes return to normal.

Every medicine carried a measure of poison.

Medicinal nourishment was inferior to nourishment from food.

Nourishment from food was inferior to devouring Heaven and earth.

After all, Heaven and earth were the world's greatest spirit herb and its richest spiritual food.

The Primordial Unity Qi Formula fed on the qi of sun and moon and the workings of Yin and Yang, seizing the bounty of creation from Heaven and earth. It could replace some spirit herbs and spiritual fruits, providing safer, more effective, and gentler nourishment.

Since becoming a True Person, his need for energy and the bounty of creation had increased greatly, and every gathering of qi caused quite a stir. Xuanming had long since grown accustomed to the purple clouds and illusory moon.

This phenomenon even benefited everything around him, which was also why he had not turned Xuan Tong and Xuan Yu away.

Once Xuanxu and the others returned, this privilege would disappear. He preferred peace and quiet and disliked crowds.

Occasionally was fine, but frequent visits became rather irritating.

Of course, it was not that Xuanming never used spirit herbs. His cultivation had simply been low before, and his needs few.

The resources his birth father in this world had left him, those provided by Truth-Seeking Abbey, and those his eldest sister sent every year were more than enough for his cultivation.

There was even a slight surplus.

"Senior brother, we shall take our leave."

Xuan Tong and Xuan Yu bowed, and Xuanming returned the courtesy.

After the two Daoists left, Xuanming did not head to the Scripture Pavilion.

After eating the breakfast Chang Ning brought, he sat on the stone stool beneath the tree, picked up a jade slip, and continued reading and contemplating its contents.

The three jade slips sent by the Chu clan suited his wishes quite well. Naturally, Xuanming wanted to waste no time making their contents his own.

Whether reading scriptures in the Scripture Pavilion, admiring the mountain scenery, or studying cultivation insights, it all ultimately served his cultivation.

At present, creating a cultivation method was clearly more urgent and important.

However, Xuanming did not immerse himself exclusively in the insights recorded in the jade slips. In the afternoons, he took out the Yin and Yang Foundation Establishment Manual to study, giving his mind a change of pace while simplifying it further.

That evening, five hundred scripture volumes entered the Scripture Pavilion.

The Daoist Canon was part of a Dao lineage's inheritance.

The richer its Daoist Canon, the deeper its foundations.

Many wondrous Daoist methods came from contemplating the Daoist Canon.

Thus, Daoists young and old alike were filled with joy.

Only after the scriptures had been sorted did Xuanming go upstairs for a look. He stroked his beard with a smile, nodded in satisfaction, and returned to his residence.

The books sat quietly in the Scripture Pavilion, giving off the fragrance of paper and ink. They would not disappear, nor would they sprout legs and run away. He would have plenty of time to read and contemplate them later; there was no need to rush.

Being too impatient, wanting everything at once, and failing to distinguish the important from the secondary would only send things swinging to the opposite extreme, leaving all his labor fruitless.

In the Path-Seeking Courtyard, Xuanming once again buried himself in contemplating the cultivation insights.

He moved from beneath the tree to the thatched cottage, exchanging the stone table for a wooden desk. Four jade slips lay on it.

One had been sent by the Chu clan.

One had been left by the Four Symbols True Person.

One had been sent privately by Chu Dong.

One had been a personal gift from the head of the Chu clan.

Xuanming read ten lines at a glance, inspiration bursting forth in his mind.

Cultivation of the Dao could not be confined behind closed doors, nor could one place complete faith in a single school's words.

Xuanming read the cultivation insights of all four sources, comparing and corroborating them, using each to refine and supplement the others. He discarded the chaff and kept the essence, approaching from four angles to deepen and broaden his understanding of the Qi Refining Realm, enrich his theoretical knowledge of it, and strengthen his foundation for creating a cultivation method.

In outside affairs, Xuanming dreaded trouble. In cultivating the Dao, however, he never feared trouble; rather, he feared its absence. Only by pursuing ever greater refinement and leaving nothing to chance could cultivation yield twice the result for half the effort.

He rejected worldly affairs for peace and quiet.

He accepted trouble for inner purity.

Xuanming had always drawn a clear distinction between the two.

Apart from setting aside two hours each afternoon to simplify the Yin and Yang Foundation Establishment Manual, he spent all his time contemplating the insights in the jade slips, reading words that shone like pearls and pondering them with care.

Xuanming focused all his attention, wholly immersed.

Sometimes he frowned in thought; sometimes his brow relaxed. Sometimes his fingers tapped lightly on the desk; sometimes he took out a blank jade slip to record a sudden flash of inspiration. Sometimes he freed one hand and unconsciously formed seals, deriving and simulating their workings.

He lost all awareness of passing hours and flowing time.

Only around midnight did he slowly return to himself.

Looking up at the waxing moon in the firmament, Xuanming swept his sleeve and put away the jade slips. He rose, loosened his muscles and joints, and walked out of the thatched cottage. With a light push of his toes, he landed atop the tree and breathed toward the moon.

Pure moonlight poured down. Sitting cross-legged within an illusory moon, he circulated his qi through its celestial circuit, communing with Heaven and earth through each breath. His Dao resonance was profound and wondrous. As his aura descended, the Ancient Pine sprouted more branches and needles, the courtyard's vegetation grew rapidly, and lingzhi slowly budded on the walls.

Woo-hoo!

Little Deer bounded joyfully about, lifting its head to swallow moonlight for a while, then lowering it to taste a few mouthfuls of grass. Sometimes it sniffed a flower and sneezed, amusing itself and adding a lively spark to the courtyard.

An hour later, Xuanming returned to the thatched cottage, bent his right arm and his knees, and lay on his side with his head resting on his arm. With each inhalation and exhalation, Heaven and earth's spiritual mechanism rose and fell, entering his nostrils to nourish his lungs and organs, strengthen his muscles and bones, and increase his magic power.

His spirit united with his breath, his mind followed it, and his body relaxed while his thoughts grew still. His expression was comfortable, his demeanor peaceful.

Since becoming a True Person, cultivation had become closely interwoven with his life. Walking, sitting, and lying down were all cultivation. His sleep cultivation had reached a new level: its outward form was sleep, its substance stillness, its intent movement. Emptiness and substance followed the Dao, movement and stillness coexisted, bringing him closer to nature, like flowing water and blooming flowers, their grace born of Heaven itself.

Precisely because of this, no matter how much Xuanming taxed his mind each day, expending mental effort and concentrating on deductions, he was always full of vigor the following morning.

Reading insights, drawing on wisdom.

Grasping profound mysteries, reasoning and simulating.

Drawing connections, recording inspiration.

Apart from his daily cultivation, breathing practice, and simplification of the Foundation Establishment Manual, Xuanming spent three consecutive days occupied solely with creating his cultivation method. He stayed in the courtyard, with nothing beyond his purpose in his mind, ignoring worldly affairs and the people on the mountain. Gradually, he entered a wondrous state of utter absorption, approaching a kind of madness.

He remained entirely unaware that his aura was growing increasingly profound and inscrutable. Instead, it was Xuan Tong and Xuan Yu who sensed the changes.

After sharing in the dawn purple qi each morning, neither disturbed him. They bowed and sensibly left, afraid of interrupting Senior Brother Xuanming's comprehension of the Dao. They even temporarily took over bringing his meals, fearing that Chang Ning's youth and inexperience might interfere with his enlightenment.

Late on the fourth night, Xuanming had just set down a jade slip and rubbed his brow, ending that day's contemplation. He was about to gather lunar essence as usual when he suddenly frowned and looked beyond the mountain.

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