Chapter 55: Great Progress in Daoist Attainment, and the Concept of the Double-Pupilled Bird

A rounded sphere is the Prime Chaos.
Heaven and earth are born from a single point.
This single point is the rounded sphere, the origin.
The origin is the unity of Yin and Yang, the sun and the moon, day and night.
In other words, the combination of two makes the origin, and the unification of the two modes forms the rounded sphere.
Just as light conceals darkness, and darkness gives birth to light, their fusion is the Taiji.
The Taiji gives birth to the two modes, and the two modes return to the Taiji.
The Taiji is the rounded sphere, the Prime Chaos.
The character "Ming" represents the outward manifestation of a single point of Prime Chaos. The character "Ming" itself is a talisman of Prime Chaos, where the flow of true intent and the interweaving of Dao principles form the Taiji vessel composed of the sun and the moon.
……
Mountain winds howled, robes fluttered in the gale. At the summit of the mountain, Xuanming sat cross-legged, his expression deeply focused, totally oblivious to the external world and himself.
With a patter of footsteps, Longevity, the spiritual deer, poked its head out, sneaking closer with cautious steps. When it was merely three feet away from Xuanming, the peach-wood sword hummed softly. The spiritual deer was so startled that it froze instantly, its body rigid, eyes wide open with terror, daring not to move any closer.
Seeing that the peach-wood sword was merely a warning with no further action, the spiritual deer bent its four legs and lay down right where it was. Its nose twitched, its neck lifted slightly, and it eagerly inhaled the wondrous aura emanating from Xuanming. Its mouth curled upwards, eyes narrowing in absolute fascination and intoxication, while its tail involuntarily wagged rapidly, and a comfortable purring sound resonated from its throat.
Crack!
The ground split open, and vegetation burst through the soil.
Within the three-foot radius around Xuanming, tender seedlings uncurled their branches, twisted their bodies, and grew frantically.
Wildflowers bloomed brilliantly amidst waist-high grass. Butterflies were drawn to the spot, and bees arrived with buzzing wings.
Upon crossing the boundary of the three-foot radius, a tremor pulsed through their bodies. They forgot to gather nectar, falling asleep in the center of the flower stamens with serene, peaceful postures, quietly baptized by the wondrous aura.
With a piercing whistle through the air, a swallow chased a butterfly into the area. Just as it was about to peck at its prey, its eyes suddenly widened, its wings folded, and it landed on top of the spiritual deer's head, shaking its body comfortably before narrowing its eyes.
Crack!
A seed falling from the swallow's feathers dropped to the ground, rapidly taking root and sprouting. It shot up, formed a sturdy trunk, grew leaves, and became lush and verdant.
With the rustle of footsteps, a fair-skinned, ethereal young Taoist nun approached, holding a small chick in her left hand and carrying a wooden food box in her right. It was Changning.
Early this morning, a batch of chicks had broken through their shells. To her surprise, they were born with fiery red down feathers. Most importantly, their mother, "Ten-Catties," was her absolute pride and joy—a pure, untainted spiritual avian whose eggs were always of the finest quality. She was determined to find out which scoundrel had defiled Ten-Catties!
And most importantly of all: the chick smelled so intoxicatingly delicious that merely catching a whiff made her mouth water.
Changning had come to deliver meals and incidentally asked her Senior Uncle to take a look. Given his profound cultivation, extensive knowledge, and the fact that he kept a spiritual deer, perhaps he could identify the issue and determine whether breeding could be expanded. Killing the hen for its eggs could never compare to a steady, long-term harvest.
To her surprise, after waiting for a quarter of an hour, her Senior Uncle had still not returned. Fearing that the food would grow cold, she had no choice but to ascend the mountain herself.
Never did she expect that upon arrival, she would witness a scene where grass and trees grew wildly, withered into seeds, and then sprouted anew into vegetation. Her Senior Uncle sat cross-legged amidst it all, flickering in and out of view like a deity commanding the essence of life itself. Changning was struck with profound reverence.
She lightened her footsteps and drew closer step by step.
When she reached the three-foot boundary, the ring of a sword echoed in her ears. Changning stopped immediately, set down her food box, sat cross-legged on the ground, and closed her eyes to cultivate. The little chick sleeping soundly in her arms flipped over, found a comfortable position, and continued its deep slumber.

---

Time slipped away like sand between fingers.
At the mountain summit, Xuanming's figure remained motionless.
From the rising sun and morning glow to the slanting rays of dusk.
From the moon rising in the east to the waning moon sinking in the west.
It was not until the next day, when a pale fish-belly white appeared on the edge of the sky, that he leisurely awakened. As his eyelids parted and closed, the Taiji rotated within the depths of his pupils, evolving profound Dao principles before vanishing a moment later.
The instant the Dao manifestation faded, the strange phenomenon within the three-foot radius disappeared. Xuanming raised his hand, and a pear seed fell into his palm.
While the other flowers and plants were mere illusions, this single seed was real. If it underwent a few more transformations of creation, it was entirely possible for it to evolve into a spiritual seed.
Stowing the seed away, Xuanming gazed into the distance at the morning sun struggling to break free from the horizon and leap out of the vast sea of clouds, his thoughts surging.
This time, not only had he completely digested the insights from their previous discourse on the Dao, but he had also innovated and comprehended a trace of the true essence of Prime Chaos.
Though it was merely a minute principle of Prime Chaos, barely scratching the surface, it still vastly advanced his cultivation, far surpassing ordinary Innate True Immortals.
Changningzi was the first to wake up.
Seeing the white-haired old Daoist priest admiring the sunrise, she immediately stood up, walked over, and bowed. "Changning pays respects to Senior Uncle, and thanks Senior Uncle for bestowing this fortuitous creation."
Xuanming waved his hand. "Old Daoist did not bestow anything. You found your way here through your own fortune; if you wish to thank someone, thank yourself."
Changning smiled brightly. Knowing the temperament of this senior, she did not dwell on the matter and produced the soundly sleeping chick from her arms, asking in puzzlement, "Senior Uncle, do you think this chick has mutated?"
Xuanming was left in awkward amusement. "Although Old Daoist keeps a deer, I raise it rather crudely. I know very little about the path of spiritual beasts, and I am entirely clueless about spiritual avians. You've asked the wrong person."
Seeing that Changning continued to fix her gaze on him, Xuanming reached out and took the chick. "Old Daoist will only take a look, but I might not necessarily find the root of the problem. Don't hold your hopes too high."
Changning nodded. "This disciple understands."
His spiritual perception probed into the chick's body, and Xuanming felt it out with care. When he opened his eyes again, his expression turned peculiar. Handing the chick back, he spoke under Changning's expectant gaze:
"Congratulations, Junior Niece! It seems that after Junior Brother Xuankong returns, Fire Cloud Peak and Pure Maiden Peak will need to interact more often."
Changning understood instantly and gnashed her teeth in vexation. "Senior Uncle means... those spiritual cranes."
Xuanming nodded and explained, "This is the offspring born from the union of a Water Cloud Spiritual Crane and an Azure Wood Spiritual Chicken.
Water generates wood. The spiritual chicken was nourished by the water's spiritual essence, causing its wood attribute to flourish greatly. Moreover, when laying the egg, it absorbed a wisp of morning sun energy, transforming wood into fire, which mutated it into this special fire-derived chick.
Offspring born from such cross-species breeding find it extremely difficult to survive the trials of life and death, usually perishing within the shell before birth. Since this chick managed to clear that hurdle, its potential is quite good. Do not be greedy anymore; cultivate it with care, and in the future, it might just become your mount."
At these words, Changning experienced mixed emotions of joy and anger.
The joy was that this chick possessed considerable potential.
The anger was that her precious Ten-Catties had been defiled.
Throughout Floating Cloud Mountain, only Junior Uncle Xuankong kept Water Cloud Spiritual Cranes. Her precious Ten-Catties, which she had treasured for years, had been violated just like that, and they even had an offspring now.
If she ever found out which lawless crane it was, she would definitely abduct it back to Pure Maiden Peak to serve as a breeding crane, spreading its progeny until the day it died.
A melodious deer call rang out as Longevity the spiritual deer woke up, happily bouncing around Xuanming, instantly lightening the atmosphere.
Stroke his beard with a smile, Xuanming stood up and led Changning down the mountain. Behind them trotted the spiritual deer, wandering around, occasionally sniffing flowers and sneezing, or tasting grass only to reject it with disdain.
A swallow circled above their heads, accompanied by two butterflies and two bees. It seemed they had accepted the spiritual deer as their boss and attached themselves to Xuanming, whom made no move to chase them away.
There were countless butterflies, bees, and flocks of swallows in Floating Cloud Mountain. Since his aura was restrained within a three-foot radius, for them to bump into him out of millions was a matter of destiny.
Until he took a personal interest in them, they were free to come and go as they pleased. But once he made arrangements for them, they would not be allowed to leave at will.
Before the Inquiring Dao Hall, Changningzi bid her farewell.
Before leaving, she glanced at the chick still fast asleep in her arms. Xuanming instructed, "Since this little one possesses both the fire attribute and a strand of morning sun energy within its body, you might as well take it along when you gather the morning purple qi each day, and feed it some fire-attribute spiritual materials. Over time, it may work wonders."
"This disciple will firmly keep Senior Uncle's teachings in mind!"
Watching Changning leave Hidden Dao Peak, Xuanming's gaze grew profound. When he inspected that chick earlier, he had actually discovered that the morning sun energy gathered around its eyes, which reminded him of a divine bird from the legends of his past life: the Chongming!
If properly nurtured, it might not be impossible to recreate the glory of the divine bird in this realm.

---

Contemplating insights, poring over scriptures to understand the Dao, and observing heaven and earth... Xuanming dedicated himself wholeheartedly to cultivation. He did not slack off despite his massive leap in cultivation realm, maintaining an orderly, well-paced cultivation rhythm of work and rest.
With him leading by example and setting the standard, the Taoist priests of the True Inquiry Temple, both old and young, shed a degree of impatience and gained composure. The third-generation Daoists contemplated the mysteries and enlightened themselves in the Dao, while the fourth-generation Daoists chanted scriptures and practiced swordplay. Figures constantly flickered before the Sword Cliff, and Floating Cloud Mountain truly radiated the serene atmosphere of the Daoist gate.
Within the True Inquiry Temple, the people on the mountain concentrated on cultivating the Dao.
Within the Pot Heaven Palace, the people down the mountain competed with all their might.
Cylindrical platforms rose from the ground by the thousands, arranged from high to low in a sprawling formation that converged into a Bagua pattern.
These were the Dao-Protecting Platforms, inscribed with formations. Initially of equal height, competitors were paired up to compete in Dao-protecting arts upon them.
Once the initial matches concluded, the defeated were eliminated, the victors defended their platforms, and the platforms beneath their feet would rise in height.
When the draw concluded the next day, the platforms would drift closer to opponents; the defeated would fall off the platform, and the victors' platforms would rise yet again.
Ultimately, the Bagua transformed into the Four Symbols, and the Four Symbols into the Two Modes, culminating in the final Taiji Dao Platform to decide the champion.
The preliminary rounds, repechages, semifinals, and finals, stacked together, would consume half a month's time.
On the spectator stands, Xuanxu beamed with delight.
All ten disciples of the True Inquiry Temple had entered the repechage, fighting their way into the top five thousand. Because the lower-ranked disciples had defeated their opponents relying on Bagua swordsmanship, Xuanxu felt all the more grateful to the Senior Brother who had carved the Sword Cliff.
How fortunate it was for the True Inquiry Temple to have Senior Brother Xuanming!
Time flew, and another seven days vanished in the blink of an eye.
During this period, five disciples of the True Inquiry Temple advanced to the semifinals, though three were eliminated before the finals.
Now, only Changjingzi and Changqingzi remained.
And today was precisely the day of the finals.