A Great Advance in Dao Attainment, and the Idea of a Double-Pupiled Bird

Perfect roundness was Primordial Unity.

Heaven and earth were born from a point.

That point was perfect roundness, the origin.

The origin was the union of Yin and Yang, sun and moon, day and night.

In other words, two becoming one was the origin; the two principles becoming one was perfect roundness.

Just as light nurtured darkness and darkness gave birth to light, their fusion was Supreme Polarity.

Supreme Polarity gave birth to the two principles, and the two principles returned to Supreme Polarity.

Supreme Polarity was perfect roundness, Primordial Unity.

The character for illumination embodied a single point of Primordial Unity. The Illumination Character Talisman was a kind of Primordial Unity talisman, its true intent flowing and its principles interweaving—a vessel of Supreme Polarity formed from sun and moon.

Mountain winds howled, robes snapped. On the summit, Xuanming sat cross-legged, wholly absorbed, forgetting both himself and the world.

Hooves clattered. The Spirit Deer, Longevity, peered about, creeping closer with furtive steps. When only three feet remained between the deer and Xuanming, the Peachwood Sword hummed. The deer stopped dead in fright, body rigid, eyes wide, too terrified to draw any closer.

Seeing that the Peachwood Sword had merely issued a warning and made no further move, the Spirit Deer folded its legs and lay down on the spot. Its nostrils quivered, its neck lifted slightly, and it drew deep breaths of the mysterious aura emanating from Xuanming. Its mouth curved upward and its eyes narrowed, its face full of rapture and intoxication. Its tail wagged rapidly of its own accord, and contented rumbles rose from its throat.

Crack!

The ground split, and plants broke through the soil.

Within three feet of Xuanming, tender shoots stretched their branches, twisted their bodies, and grew wildly.

Wild grass reached waist height,