On Floating Cloud Mountain, Daoists young and old descended together, their footsteps rising one after another, coming down from above and drawing nearer from afar.
Seeing four figures come into view, Xuanxu, who led the way, suddenly stopped and instructed, "Tell the disciples to tread softly. Better yet, support themselves with magic power. Don't make a sound. Approach quietly."
Xuan Yin understood and swiftly went to carry out his instructions.
A cup of tea's time later, over a hundred Daoists had fallen asleep around Xuanming and Hai Fengming, each in a different sleeping posture.
Some lay on their sides, some on their backs, some stretched flat, some slept on the ground, some lay in the treetops, and some floated on the water. Some bent their legs into a ring, with the soles of their feet aligned and facing the perineum, their hands resting over their navels; others likewise formed a ring with their legs and aligned their feet, but crossed their hands over the Baihui acupoint atop their heads.
Returning Yang Sleeping Posture, Primordial Unity Sleeping Posture, Five Dragons Coiling the Body...
Viewed from above at that moment, they would have formed a Two Principles Diagram, with Xuanming and Hai Fengming as its Yin and Yang eyes.
The spirit deer Longevity slept alongside his younger sister Changfu, swallows, bees, and the others. Seven Spirit Cranes had also arrived and slept standing on one leg. Ten Pounds, the spirit bird Chang Ning had so carefully raised, slept soundly with the red-feathered chicks—a chicken standing among cranes.
A gentle breeze brushed the mountain ridge. A hundred people slept together in the woods, their expressions contented, as an air of peace spread around them.
For the moment, Xuanming knew nothing of this.
As his breathing gradually fell into rhythm with Hai Fengming's, he