Golden Marsh

The [Grand Yin] lineage had always been something mysterious and elusive to Jiang Jinyi. A lineage mentioned only occasionally in books, and then only in passing, was shrouded in mystery!

Even though her own brother was a legendary [Grand Yin] cultivator, he rarely talked to her about such things. On top of that, he had left home at fourteen, just as she entered her Embryonic Breathing cultivation period!

Thus, Jiang Jinyi knew next to nothing about the lineage her brother cultivated!

Jiang Wangxuan's sigh echoed through the small bedroom. From his present perspective and realm, if he had switched cultivation methods when he broke through to Qi Refinement-say, to Cold Qi or Clear Water, which suited Grand Yin-would it have been safer?

Unfortunately, Jiang Wangxuan had no teacher who truly understood him at his side to suggest it back then, so he had plunged headlong into this [Grand Yin] lineage, full of strange and shifting perils!

If he had switched to [Clear Water] and still had Big Fat Fish as his golden finger, his path of immortal cultivation would certainly not be so troublesome now!

Now that Grand Yin fate had appeared, both his teacher and eldest senior brother had received feedback from it, and now it was Jiang Jinyi's turn!

But Jiang Wangxuan had decided that he had to leave this choice in his sister's hands!

"Jinyi, you're a Qi Refinement cultivator now. There are things you must decide for yourself!"

Jiang Wangxuan extended a hand slightly, and a streak of moonlight burst forth from him. An osmanthus tree embraced by a golden moon stood behind him, and then its shadow multiplied into a forest as moonlight spread like the tide.

Snow fluttered through the air. A winter cicada rested on the trunk of an osmanthus tree, a toad's croak sounded faintly from deep within the grove, and several moon rabbits licked up the falling osmanthus blossoms from time to time!

This was the present, perfect manifestation of Autumn Moon Osmanthus, the sixth-grade cultivation method's Immortal Foundation, which Jiang Wangxuan had manifested to its fullest with "Immortal Moon Township."

Was this Brother's Immortal Foundation?

Jiang Jinyi was entranced for a moment. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she gazed at the osmanthus tree whose moonlight shone like gold, surrounded by the shadows of osmanthus trees filling the courtyard. Snow-white moon rabbits left tracks by the bed from time to time.

Her brother stood beneath the tree, so very far away from her!

The Dui Marsh Metal Essence in her Qi sea suddenly began to circulate through her body of its own accord, and the six cycles of Embryonic Breathing trembled violently. For the first time, Jiang Jinyi felt that purest 'yearning' arise in her heart!

Grand Yin nurtured all things and awakened all things, unchanged through the ages!

"Jinyi, the cultivation method you're practicing has a fatal flaw of some kind. If you continue cultivating with it, things will only grow more difficult. You'll have little hope of even breaking through to the Late Qi Refining Stage!"

"You often say that your only talent lies in cultivation, and that you have no talent for techniques, talismans, and the like. That's most likely because of the cultivation method you're practicing!"

Jiang Jinyi's breath caught. She didn't know how her brother could be certain there was a problem with her cultivation method. Even Teacher Xun had never said any of these things, yet she believed him instinctively!

"And now, fate seems to have played a joke on us. Jinyi, the flaw in your cultivation method happens to be something my Immortal Foundation can make up for!"

"Perhaps you'll be the first cultivator in Qinghuan in hundreds of years to truly master the 'Dui Metal Aperture Heart Qi Gathering Instruction' at the Qi Refining Stage."

His sister rose to her feet without realizing it. She quickly caught the implication in Jiang Wangxuan's words and murmured softly, "Then what's the price?"

"The price..."

Jiang Wangxuan looked at his sister and gave a wry smile. "Our fates will be intertwined forever, and the [Grand Yin] lineage I belong to is extremely dangerous. Perhaps one day, news of my death will reach you out of the blue!"

"Sixty years ago, a senior who cultivated the same Immortal Foundation as me, 'Autumn Moon Osmanthus,' vanished from Jiangnan without explanation!"

"Fate is a mysterious thing. Even I can only see a single fallen leaf!"

"But, Brother!"

Jiang Jinyi interrupted him. Pouting, she said, "Haven't our fates been bound together ever since we were born? If you hadn't cleared the road ahead of me, how could I have reached Fetal Breathing Perfection at my age?"

"How else could the neighborhood around our home have changed with every passing month? How could our Jiang Household have such a high standing in Luzhou? And how could our younger brother still have a Spirit Root implanted at fourteen?"

"And how could I, Jiang Jinyi, have come to Luyu University, a place so many people in Qinghuan could never reach in several lifetimes? Brother, we're bound by blood to begin with. Isn't this fate you speak of a little late in coming?"

"Haven't we long been bound by a shared fate? Brother, you're too lonely!"

Beneath the osmanthus tree, Jiang Wangxuan seemed to be seeing Jiang Jinyi so resolute and sharp for the first time. He could faintly make out a hint of metal and arms rising from his sister!

"Fate! Onī-chan?"

From within the Rising Yang Mansion, Big Fat Fish studied Jiang Jinyi, whom she too had watched grow up. Though Big Fat Fish had still been artificially disabled at the time, that didn't stop her from reading her memories of Jinyi's childhood!

"Master, perhaps this is the real Jinyi, and you've become softer and springier than you were at the Qi Refining Stage. Is it really the influence of that crimson crescent moon?"

"Perhaps, Big Fat Fish!"

Jiang Wangxuan replied to Big Fat Fish in the Rising Yang Mansion, "Perhaps, after truly going through a brush with death, those lingering regrets have finally vanished like bubbles. People die when they're killed. This is a world that's real to the point of cruelty."

"Oh!" Big Fat Fish said wistfully. "So Master is still nostalgic for the past! Stranger in a foreign land!"

"Yes! After all, someone from my old home did come to this world before, didn't they? There are so many things here that resemble my old world, but it's time to wake from that unrealistic dream."

"We're being drawn into a dark jungle no one can make sense of. Entering a Dao is like choosing a master. The moment I condensed my first wisp of Grand Yin essence, our enemies had already taken their seats at the other end of fate!"

So, Big Fat Fish, how should we embrace fate's tricks?

A crescent moon rose above the osmanthus tree. Its bright, clear moonlight was reflected in Jiang Jinyi's pupils!

The girl heard her brother softly speak the five Chinese characters that would change her fate once again: "Moon-Worshipping Spirit-Calming Benediction"!

Like a gentle mother, the crescent moon borrowed a handful of starlight from the night sky and wove it into a crown of stars and moonlight. The osmanthus tree embraced by the golden moon reached out clusters of branches laden with blossoms to catch the moon crown from the starry night, then slowly placed it on the girl's head!

The Dui Marsh Metal Essence likewise surged into the sky, its light mingling with the moon crown's until it faintly resembled a sacred imperial crown. As the crown settled into place, Grand Yin moonlight carried Metal Essence into Jiang Jinyi's Baihui acupoint.

Dui Metal surged into Baihui and gathered at Jingming. In Jinyi's Rising Yang Mansion, a crescent moon hung playfully in the sky, while a magnificent meteor shower streaked in from the distant horizon. The brightest among them was unmistakably 'Venus'!

The girl's consciousness then fell asleep. The crescent moon leisurely cradled her Spiritual Sense in its curve, rocking gently like the lullaby her brother used to hum when she was little!

The Immortal Foundation 'Autumn Moon Osmanthus' cast layer upon layer of osmanthus shadows, its cold radiance congealing into frost. Then, at last, a wisp of pure golden Dui Metal Qi awakened within the girl!

The crescent moon's bright moonlight spread over that pure golden brilliance, and gold and white fused together, yielding four rays of Metal Virtue!

The first to appear was golden-yellow [Qian Metal], which held the supporting and rectifying position among Metal Virtues. Then a bronze radiance intertwined with Qian Metal's golden yellow, forming the 'Great Qian Circulating Treasure.' The two metals formed a halo around the pure golden light at the center, enclosing it securely!

Then a blue-gold hue held up the Great Qian Circulating Treasure like an auspicious cloud, while the pure gold at its center gleamed with silvery-white starlight. Silver and gold spun against the Great Qian Circulating Treasure's halo and separated from it.

Once the golden light parted from the silver-white, it became a dark golden ring. A chilling killing intent pierced the stillness among the osmanthus trees. The dark sheen of [Geng Metal] had finally separated from the [Dui Metal] Qi.

Then 'Venus' appeared in the west, its silvery-white sheen answering the crescent moon's radiance!

Four golden rings appeared around 'Venus,' flashing in alternating hues of golden yellow, blue-gold, bronze, and dark gold. Within the osmanthus grove, they formed a golden marsh.

This was the true face of Dui Marsh Metal Essence: five metals hidden within the marsh!

Jiang Wangxuan was struck speechless, and Big Fat Fish's Data Stream could no longer record such a scene in her backend.

At last, after circling the crescent moon three times, the golden marsh descended upon Jiang Jinyi like a fledgling returning to the woods, transforming into gold-and-silver Dui Marsh True Essence. The light of 'Venus' split in two, one part hiding within the girl's Rising Yang Mansion.

The other ray of 'Venus's light' sped from the west toward the crescent moon in the east.

The dharma sword Autumn Frost appeared unbidden. Jiang Wangxuan gripped its hilt, and Sword Qi crisscrossed the courtyard. The blade traced an arc, dancing into a circle, but the crescent Sword Qi that should have left the blade now rang loudly with the sound of metal!

The four realms of the sword Dao were Sword-Ray, Sword Qi, Sword Essence, and Sword Intent!

The realms of Sword-Ray and Sword Qi remained at the level of skill, but the Sword Essence realm was like a heavenly barrier to the vast majority of sword cultivators in the world. This realm required skill to reach technique and art to reach dharma!

Once unleashed, Sword Essence could cut down techniques. Sword Essence was nothing more than the simple phrase: one sword breaks ten thousand techniques!

After three breaths of silence, Jiang Wangxuan drew his sword and swung at the moon. Golden Moon Sword Essence poured into the night sky like a waterfall. The sword stroke held the spirit to sweep the moon from the vast sky and the lethal edge of Dui and Geng. The two melded together, and a golden moon hung overhead, its clear, piercing light illuminating the long night!

Autumn Frost returned to its sheath, and the crescent moon once again shone softly over the courtyard. Jiang Wangxuan looked with a complicated expression at Jinyi, who was still absorbing the 'Moon-Worshipping Spirit-Calming Benediction'!

Through this one technique, his sister had obtained 'Venus's light,' a trace of the True Intention belonging to [Dui Metal]. The Dui Marsh Metal Essence, which had originally contained the intent of all five metals, now held only Dui and Geng intertwined. At this point, Dui Marsh Metal Essence should be renamed Grand Geng Dui Essence!

The ocular technique hidden within the 'Dui Metal Aperture Heart Qi Gathering Instruction' was presumably the key to truly circulating Grand Geng Dui Essence!

After intertwining with his own Grand Yin fate, Jiang Jinyi's fate had already made her a heaven's chosen of the [Dui Metal] path. He too had received unexpected feedback as a result, gaining a trace of Venus's intent and cultivating a strand of Golden Moon Sword Essence!

With this Golden Moon Sword Essence, he could now enter 'Tai'a Sword Valley.' If he left behind a corresponding sword technique, a Purple Mansion True Person in the Sword Valley could act on his behalf once, without violating Qinghuan's principles!

His descendants could also receive the protection of 'Tai'a Sword Valley.' This was 'Tai'a Sword Valley's' promise to all sword cultivators under heaven!