The Dao Reached Beyond Heaven and Earth's Forms, Thought Entered Wind and Clouds' Transformations

In late summer, the weather grew ever more changeable. The morning sky had been clear for ten thousand miles, yet by afternoon, lightning flashed and thunder roared.

Fierce winds drove lightning as black clouds gathered; rain hissed through the clustered treetops. Gust after gust shook the grass and trees, while dense raindrops turned the mountain slopes to mud.

For once, Xuanming was not studying insights into qi refining. He sat cross-legged on the summit, white hair streaming, letting wind and rain batter him as he experienced nature at close quarters.

He pressed his index and middle fingers together and gently turned his sword fingers upward. The Peachwood Sword lying across his knees hummed, became a streak of light, and shot into the sky, plunging deep into the thunderclouds to continue its tempering by wind and lightning.

Xuanming waved again, casting the Fly-Whisk in his hand into the thunderclouds as well to receive lightning's tempering. He focused on refining its jujube-wood handle first, then slowly conducted the force into its Three Thousand Dreams silver strands, treating them more gently.

To do good work, one must first sharpen one's tools.

Though he disliked fighting and hoped to cultivate the Dao in peace forever, the ways of Heaven were inconstant. Things could not always go as he wished.

Some things could not be avoided merely because one wished to avoid them.

Thus, Xuanming naturally wanted his protective treasures to be as powerful as possible. Only then could he protect others, himself, and his Dao.

Having settled the Peachwood Sword and the Fly-Whisk, Xuanming took out two iron spheres, one large and one small. They had originally been the Golden Blade passed down by the Chen clan, which he had refined with Primordial Unity dharma power, then used lightning to Revert to Root, Return to Origin.

He tossed it into the thunderclouds as well. Xuanming already had a plan for this piece of Yin and Yang Iron.

With that done, he devoted himself to feeling the wind, watching the rain, and listening to the thunder.

Unlike before, Xuanming closed his eyes this time. His comprehension of the thunderstorm had moved beyond outward appearances and into its inner workings.

His spiritual perception flowed like water, replacing his eyes and ears as he observed the flashing lightning, rumbling thunder, blowing wind, and beating rain within three hundred li.

He watched the dark clouds churn and change, and the flowing waters surge and recede.

He witnessed the transformations of the currents of qi between heaven and earth, and watched the grass and trees bow and rise.

Through his spiritual perception, Xuanming sensed more.

The differing strength of air currents formed wind; the warmth and cold of the air gathered rain.

The collision of Yin and Yang birthed thunder; the harmonious union of heaven and earth raised lightning.

In essence, it was a mass of qi moving naturally, creating and transforming according to a pattern.

That pattern was the Dao, the qi evolved from it was principle, and Wind, Rain, Thunder, and Lightning were their outward manifestations—the tangible vessels of Dao and principle.

Thunder boomed and lightning flashed with ever greater intensity.

Wild winds and torrential rain ravaged the mountain forests.

On the summit, Xuanming's contemplation of the mysteries entered an ever finer state. The Dao resonance around him thinned from faint to gossamer. Within three feet of him, heaven and earth responded to one another, spontaneously evolving scenes of thunder arising and fading, rain gathering and falling.

On the summit of Cleansing Heart Peak.

The square-faced Xuan Yu was listening to the thunder as well.

Unlike Xuanming, who comprehended the principles behind the transformations of Wind, Rain, Thunder, and Lightning, he took only thunder from the Four Images of weather.

He stilled himself and guarded his heart, listening to the thunder with complete concentration.

He listened to thunder's sounds and tones, and observed its radiance and forms.

This most solemn Daoist of the Truth-Seeking Abbey wore a focused gaze and a reverent expression, as though he were on a pilgrimage, living for the Dao.

On Blessed Virtue Peak, Xuan Tong also sat cross-legged on the summit.

The difference was that he watched only the rain.

He raised his head to see the rain fall, then lowered it to observe its course.

Rain fell among the mountains and nourished all things, yet once gathered into rivers, it scoured away soil, dust, and stone.

It nourished the earth, yet also destroyed it.

But it did not flow recklessly in every direction. Instead, it followed the lay of the land and ran toward lower ground, holding fast to something within.

Good and evil intermingled; Black and White embraced one another.

Xuan Tong gained a new understanding of the Dao of Knowing and Upholding.

About two hours later, the clouds dispersed and the rain cleared.

The Peachwood Sword, the Fly-Whisk, and the Yin and Yang Iron each returned to their places.

The phenomena within those three feet dissolved into Nonbeing.

Xuan Yu and Xuan Tong finished their cultivation, each having gained something.

Only Xuanming had yet to awaken.

The thunderstorm had washed away the dust, leaving the mountain forests cool, clear, and clean. His spiritual perception flowed through them, bringing him a different feeling.

Heaven and earth were renewed; the world was cleansed.

After the thunderstorm, there was a distinct air of all things beginning anew.

He entered another wondrous state.

Amid the rising, falling, opening, and closing of the currents of qi before and after the storm, he sensed heaven and earth breathing. Rising qi was an exhalation; sinking qi was an inhalation. Between those breaths lay great principles, great vistas, and great creation.

If heaven and earth were likened to a person, the mountains would be the bones and limbs, rivers the blood vessels and meridians, the earth vitality, and the sky inner nature.

A thunderstorm was a single breath.

A single breath was a cleansing.

Qi flowed between inner nature and vitality, rising and falling, opening and closing in natural harmony. It traveled throughout the body, cleansing the organs, meridians, limbs, and apertures in an unceasing stream, cycling again and again, endlessly renewing itself and supplying each organ with the qi it needed.

This cycle was one Heavenly Circuit.

A thunderstorm was one circulation.

One circulation was one cycle.

Together, they formed a closed loop.

The Dao gave birth to all things. Heaven and earth were the greatest of things, and humans were the most spiritually endowed among them. In seeking the Dao, humans were no different from heaven and earth.

Thus, through Divine contemplation, he saw the great within the small: the greater Great Zhou Heavenly Circuit was thunderstorms in summer, frost in autumn, wind and snow in winter, and fine rain in spring.

The cycle of Wind, Rain, Thunder, and Lightning was a Heavenly Circuit.

The changes in water's physical state were a Heavenly Circuit.

The succession and alternation of the four seasons were a Heavenly Circuit.

Xuanming's mysterious light gave rise to wisdom, and his Dao heart gave rise to serenity. A thunderstorm washed away his gloom, revealing freedom and bringing body and mind into harmony.

Nearly four months after becoming a True Person, after nearly a month of listening to thunder and watching rain, and nearly a month of studying the greater Great Zhou Heavenly Circuit cultivation insights of the Four Symbols True Person and others, drawing nourishment to sustain himself, he finally fathomed the mysteries of the greater Great Zhou Heavenly Circuit today and comprehended his own principles of it.

With the Dao clear and its principles understood, his attainment naturally rose.

Heaven and earth's Spirit Mechanism surged into Xuanming's body.

A strong wind rose among the mountains. A vigorous, powerful deer followed it, bounding joyfully toward the summit with cries of "Yoo, yoo, yoo!"

In the sky, the sun was setting and the moon rising. The Yin and Yang Spiritual Mechanism was drawn down, surrounding Xuanming and forming an illusory Two Principles Diagram.

His aura surged. As naturally as water flowing into a completed channel, he opened the last of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, forming a greater Great Zhou Heavenly Circuit through those meridians. His magic power increased, his flesh strengthened, and his spiritual perception grew purer.

Even four of the Twelve Main Meridians were stirred. Though they had not yet opened, that day was close at hand. Once interconnected, they could form a special cycle.

Once his aura stabilized, Xuanming opened his eyes. Deep within them, the Four Images of Wind, Rain, Thunder, and Lightning revolved, while the deer's calls reached his ears.

Looking at Little Deer bounding toward him, then at the Two Principles Diagram that was about to disperse, inspiration struck him. He raised a finger and flicked it lightly.

"Go!"

Just as Little Deer called out in delight, the Two Principles Diagram shot straight into her mouth and vanished into her body, swift as the wind.

Little Deer: ???

What did I just eat?

Before she could figure it out, her eyes rolled back, her tongue lolled out, and she dropped to the ground with a thud, unconscious.

With a light sweep of the Fly-Whisk, a strand of magic power entered Little Deer's body and sealed the Two Principles Diagram, leaving only a narrow gap through which its energy could slowly escape, purifying her bloodline, improving her root bone, and deepening her foundations.

He rose and walked over to Little Deer. Seeing the Two Principles Diagram that had appeared on her sleek coat, Xuanming stroked his beard with a kindly smile.

Standing on the summit with his whisk in hand, he looked down over the splendid mountains and rivers. It was as though he saw the Dao itself, and his heart opened in carefree delight.

"The Dao reaches beyond heaven and earth's forms; thought enters wind and clouds' transformations. All things conceal the Dao, and all living beings contain its principles. It seems this old Daoist must make more time from now on to experience nature with all his heart."

This advance in his attainment, opening all Eight Extraordinary Meridians and reaching the equivalent of perfection in the ordinary Celestial Circuit Realm, had come from observing nature.

Of course, his gains did not end there.

But it was already late today, and Xuanming had no desire to test them. He intended to return and sit in quiet contemplation, carefully sorting through and digesting everything to consolidate his attainment. Perhaps he would gain something more.

The rest could wait.

With a sweep of his sleeve, Xuanming put away the Yin and Yang Iron, then lightly tapped the Peachwood Sword with a finger. The sword gave a dissatisfied hum and abruptly enlarged, reluctantly carrying Little Deer down the mountain.

The Bright Moon shone over the mountains and rivers, spilling silver radiance across the ground and illuminating Dao-Treasuring Peak. Droplets glittered on the forest leaves, and puddles shimmered among the mountains. The old Daoist walked ahead, broad sleeves swaying, head high and strides long, while the great sword followed slowly behind, matching his every step.

Little Deer lay sprawled on the blade, all four legs spread out, sleeping soundly. Every so often, a watery bubble rose from the tip of her nose.

It burst with a pop, then formed again.

The surroundings were serene, the scene delightful.

Yet in the end, it was not entirely perfect.

Just as they reached the Path-Seeking Courtyard, Little Deer's drool ran onto the blade. The Peachwood Sword, which had endured the whole journey, instantly flew into a frenzy and shocked her with lightning.

The old Daoist's laughter, Little Deer's screams, and the wooden sword's delighted humming mingled together, lending the Path-Seeking Courtyard a little more life.