Chapter 3: The Scroll of the Yellow Court, The Primordial Breath of Unity
The mysterious gateway is silent, shrouded in deep, shadowy tranquility. Within the endless mist, a divine consciousness descends, heavy with the weight of accumulated ages. It is Xuanming. As he walks, a beam of light beckons him forward. Following the radiance, he soon encounters three scrolls of Daoist scripture. Around them, within a three-foot radius, phenomena of the cosmos unfold: the creation of heaven and earth, the separation of the clear and the turbid, and the shimmering brilliance of a myriad of deities—magnificent, vast, and majestic.
The characters on the three scrolls are ancient, vigorous, and radiant, as if born of the primordial void, carrying the Great Dao and manifesting the laws of the universe. Though Xuanming had never learned these characters, the moment his eyes touched them, he knew their names and understood their meaning: *The Huangting Jing* (The Yellow Court Scripture). It was a classic of the Daoist tradition from his previous life, revered as the miraculous text for longevity and the preservation of life. "Only when hair turns white does one grasp the secret of longevity, all contained within the three scrolls of the Yellow Court."
This book is the cheat code Xuanming received after his transmigration. Sixty years ago, he was reborn into the Qiuzhen Temple, becoming the youngest son of the former abbot. To facilitate the fusion of his soul with the *Huangting Jing*, he spent the first half of his life in a state of simple-mindedness, possessing only the intelligence of an eight-year-old to preserve his innocent nature, until he reached the age of fifty-five. The sum of the heavenly numbers is twenty-five, and the earthly numbers is thirty. Fifty-five, exactly matching the count of heaven and earth. That year, he fully integrated the *Huangting Jing*, broke through his shackles, and beheld his true self. That year, his father unexpectedly ascended to the heavens.
He had hoped that after integrating his cheat, his fortunes would turn and he would soar to greatness, but he soon realized that using it required conditions. The law is not easily transmitted, and the Dao is not easily bestowed. To peruse the *Huangting Jing*, one must accumulate Daoist energy, cultivate Daoist intent, and achieve enlightenment. The most effective method Xuanming found was to study the Daoist canon and contemplate the scriptures, drawing upon the wisdom of predecessors and the insights of the sages. After all, writing carries the Dao, and knowledge is the world's most precious treasure.
When he touched the scriptures, the *Huangting Waijing Yujing* (The Jade Scripture of the Outer Scenery of the Yellow Court) finally reacted, conveying a message: "Comprehend three hundred volumes of scripture, and the wisdom eye shall perceive the truth of the Dao." Since then, Xuanming studied tirelessly, focusing on three hundred Daoist texts, reading them over and over, studying them with diligence, and writing them out without complaint. Every volume was read a thousand times, each word and sentence contemplated, savored, and pondered. Five years passed, through wind and rain, through the turning of the seasons. He did not slacken, his heart set solely on the Dao. Today, he finally entered the Dao; the *Huangting Waijing Yujing* descended a wisp of mysterious energy, helping him shatter his shackles, gain a new life, and witness a new world of vast splendor.
Three hundred volumes. This allows for one perusal of the *Huangting Waijing Yujing*. This is the fortune Xuanming has earned. Yet, he did not act immediately. Those who succeed early may not necessarily reach the end, and those who arrive late may not fail. He is no longer an impulsive, reckless youth; he understands that some things cannot be rushed. Withdrawing his spirit from the mysterious gateway, Xuanming looks at the evergreen, gnarled old pine beside him and smiles faintly. In the past, he saw the tree merely as a tree, trapped by appearances. Now, with a different level of cultivation and a different perspective, he sees the tree differently—it is a tree, yet it is not a tree. It is a pine, but it is also a principle. It is vigorous vitality. It is unyielding perseverance. It is the noble character that fears no frost or cold. It is the detachment and freedom of roots deep in the mountain.
He views other things in the courtyard the same way. He can transcend the superficial to glimpse internal laws, the flow of spiritual energy, and even more subtle forces. In this moment, Xuanming realizes his Daoist heart has become refined, capable of seeing the great within the small. In other words, he has moved from the realm of "seeing mountains as mountains and water as water" to the realm of "seeing mountains as not mountains and water as not water." Though he has only just crossed this threshold, everything is fundamentally different.
Thinking this through, Xuanming strokes his beard and smiles. That night, the moon was bright and clear, casting a veil of silver over Mount Fuyun. He burned incense, bathed, changed into new Daoist robes, and after reciting the *Qingxin Jing* (Scripture of Clearing the Heart), he let his spirit enter the mysterious gateway.
*Boom!*
As his consciousness made contact, the *Huangting Waijing Yujing* erupted with brilliant light, pulling Xuanming's consciousness into the book. After a dizzying shift, he entered a primordial world; there was no sun or moon, no cardinal directions, only an empty void above and below. Suddenly, the characters of the Great Dao flooded his heart. Inspired, his mouth uttered the sounds of the Dao, the words emerging from his lips, entering his ears, and sinking into his heart.
"...Above is the Yellow Court, below is the Guan Yuan; behind is the You Que, before is the Ming Men. Breathing between the huts into the Dantian; the clear water of the Jade Pool irrigates the spiritual root..."
The Daoist chants were faint at first, then grew louder, finally roaring like the thunderous creation of the world. A point of light bloomed amidst the characters of the Great Dao. The primordial chaos shattered, heaven and earth were born. The Wuji gave rise to the Taiji, and the Taiji gave rise to the two polarities. He saw the separation of the clear and the turbid, the flow of Yin and Yang, and the evolution of water and fire, transforming into a constant source of vital energy to nourish the newly born world. Finally, the embryonic membrane formed, and the outline of heaven and earth emerged. The primordial energy was unstoppable. In a daze, Xuanming heard the dragon roar and the tiger howl.
Heaven and earth were established. He saw a wisp of clear energy spanning the cosmos. It was a deity, shrouded in endless divine light; though he could not see it clearly, it was ancient and majestic. Simply looking at it brought peace and clarity. The deity disintegrated, transforming into eight rays of light that manifested the patterns of the Eight Trigrams, with five colors—green, white, red, yellow, and black—flowing through them. High mountains rose from the ground, and great rivers surged forth. One deity, the most sacred, radiated endless earth-yellow light, governing the seven others, maintaining the world, driving the operation of heaven and earth, and fostering the growth of all things.
Xuanming was immersed in this. Until the crowing of a rooster, he was jolted back to reality, exiting that profound state. His spirit returned to the gateway, and the *Huangting Waijing Yujing* fell silent once more. Though it was a pity, Xuanming felt no regret. To have obtained such a fortune was already a profound blessing. To be dissatisfied or greedy would only lead to confusion and self-inflicted trouble. On this point, his mind remained clear. Only by not constraining oneself can one maintain constant purity.
Having spent the night contemplating the scriptures, despite his sixty years, he felt no fatigue, but rather was full of vigor. In this world, spiritual energy is abundant. Cultivation is widespread, with a hundred schools of thought contending and various methods blossoming. Daoist cultivation is divided into three great realms: Refining Essence, Refining Qi, and Refining Spirit. Refining Essence has four stages:
Adjusting Yin and Yang, nurturing vital energy, and mending leaks.
The Hundred-Day Barrier, taking from the Kan (Water) to fill the Li (Fire), building the foundation over a hundred days.
Condensing the Jade Liquid, turning gas into liquid, like a hundred rivers returning to the sea.
Blooming the Essence Flower, balancing water and fire, and returning the Jade Liquid to the Elixir.
Xuanming is currently at the second stage. Building the foundation over a hundred days is perilous; one must communicate with the kidney deity, extracting fortune from the True Yang and True Yin. Only when the two energies of Yin and Yang fuse can a continuous source of energy be generated, allowing for the refining of essence into Qi, and the transformation of innate essence into acquired magic power. During this process, desires obstruct the Dao. It becomes more difficult day by day, with desires increasing manifold. If one cannot control oneself, the foundation building fails, all efforts are wasted, and there is no hope for the Great Dao.
Xuanming is unaffected. This is partly due to his advanced age and stronger willpower, and partly because he gained three techniques from his meditation on the *Huangting Waijing Yujing* last night. One of them is the "Cleansing Technique," derived from that wisp of clear energy that spanned heaven and earth. It can use the sword of wisdom to sever desires, protecting the clarity of the spirit and the purity of the Daoist heart.
Rising from his bed, Xuanming stepped out of his room. With a light tap of his toes, his body as light as a swallow, he stood atop the gnarled old pine, his feet touching the branches as light as a feather. Looking into the distance, he saw the east turning white and the sun rising, emitting its first ray of light from amidst the vast sea of clouds. Xuanming sat cross-legged on the treetop, circulating his method to gather and refine the purple mist of the morning.
Yesterday, in front of the Scripture Pavilion, he had realized the foundation-building chapter guided by the wisp of energy from the *Huangting Jing*, fully named the "Yin-Yang Hunyuan Single-Qi Technique." The Wuji gives rise to the Taiji, and the Taiji gives rise to the two polarities. This is the fundamental principle of the evolution of heaven and earth. The Hunyuan Single-Qi Technique, however, does the opposite, tracing back to the source, using Yin and Yang as the foundation to further return to the Hunyuan, gathering the Hunyuan Single Qi. Once the hundred-day barrier is overcome, one can build a Great Dao foundation that is seamless, flawless, and pure.
Whether in terms of depth or potential, it far surpasses those at the same level. Precisely because of this, the method is extremely difficult, treating days as years. One must collect the purple mist of the sun every morning and the moon's essence every night, and then condense them into Hunyuan Qi during the intersection of Yin and Yang. Every time one gathers Yin and Yang and synthesizes them into Hunyuan Qi, it is equivalent to polishing a year's worth of foundation. As the foundation thickens day by day, the desires one faces also grow exponentially—hundreds or thousands of times more than others—making the process arduous and agonizing. One cannot slacken halfway, or all previous efforts will be in vain.
Most importantly, Yin and Yang naturally oppose each other; synthesizing them into Hunyuan Qi is easier said than done. Xuanming only succeeded in reversing Yin and Yang and synthesizing the Qi because of the backing of that wisp of mysterious energy from the *Huangting Jing*. If other cultivators were to attempt it without such assistance, they would surely perish. This is why he omitted the Hunyuan part and claimed that what he had realized was the "Yin-Yang Foundation-Building Chapter." This was both to protect the method from leaking and attracting greater scrutiny, and because it remained a viable path to success. Of course, Xuanming was also keeping a card up his sleeve. After all, while one should not have the heart to harm others, one must have the heart to guard against them.
Gathering his thoughts, Xuanming concentrated on his practice. The pure purple mist was drawn down, inhaled and absorbed; the purple aura swirled and surrounded him. His Daoist robe fluttered; with white hair and a youthful face, he possessed the grace of an immortal. At this moment, he seemed like a true immortal, breathing in the clouds and mist, dining on the dew. After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, he finished refining the purple mist. Xuanming drifted lightly from the tree to the ground. After a simple breakfast, as he stepped into the Scripture Pavilion, he saw Changchunzi, the senior disciple of his Junior Brother Xuanxu, arriving with a young Daoist acolyte.