Early the next morning, after breakfast, Xuanming took his leave. Hai Fengming insisted on giving him several packets of Five-Flavor Tea. Xuanming did not refuse; he genuinely liked it.
Before leaving, Xuanming took out an invitation and personally handed it to Hai Fengming, inviting him to the Truth-Seeking Abbey's promotion ceremony early next Early Spring.
Under Hai Yannian's reluctant gaze, Xuanming led his donkey away, stepping out of the alley and walking down the long street. Even the Mortal World air clinging to him slowly dissipated. By the time he left the Commandery City, only a trace remained. When he returned to the Truth-Seeking Abbey and rode Deer up the mountain, that Mortal World air vanished completely, as though all the gilded dust had been washed away, leaving only a clean breeze in his sleeves and a crystalline Dao Heart.
Dao-Treasuring Peak, Path-Seeking Courtyard.
Spirit Deer and Black Bird had already disappeared, both off to show... share their experiences down the mountain with their companions.
Taking out spirit water, Xuanming watered the Spiritual Root. Looking at the Spirit Pine sapling, barely three inches tall, he had a flash of inspiration and tried watering it with Dao resonance. He failed at first, but after several attempts, it actually worked.
He could only water it with Dao resonance once a month, however. Ordinarily, he still had to let dispersed Dao resonance subtly influence the Spiritual Root, gently and without stimulation. Otherwise, its weakness would make it unable to bear such nourishment.
Even so, Xuanming was already pleased.
After resting for a day, he sat cross-legged inside his thatched cottage that night, beneath a bright moon and sparse stars, and reviewed what he had gained on this trip down the mountain.
First came distilling the essentials of Spirit Refining and distinguishing the primary