“Listen carefully,” Xuan Ya’s voice was clear and melodious. “This technique is called ‘Er Zi Gui Yuan.’ It originates from the earliest days of the Tianyuan Sect’s founding in ancient times.”
“The Founder gazed upon the chessboard, observing the intermingling of Yin and Yang and the moment when chaos was first divided.”
“His heart was moved, and thus he comprehended the true essence of this art. It takes Taiji and the Two Forms as its foundation, evolving into the profound mystery of life and death in Guixu.”
After succinctly revealing the origins of the technique, Xuan Ya’s slender hand lightly gripped the air.
Spiritual power gathered and swirled, and a smooth, jade-like White Piece condensed at her delicate fingertips.
“Yin and Yang divide their forces; movement and stillness merge their essence—”
With a crisp shout, the White Piece transformed into a streak of light and shot from her hand.
Immediately after, her spiritual power shifted once more, and a deep, ink-like Black Piece instantly took form, following in quick succession. “Twin Dragons Presenting Their Heads, the Dao returns to origin.”
As her words fell, a strange buzzing sounded.
The flying White Piece suddenly halted midair, as if pulled by invisible threads, and was drawn backward by the Black Piece launched after it. The two pieces collided with perfect accuracy in midair.
“Zheng—!”
It was not an explosion, but a piercing, metallic screech that suddenly burst forth, like steel shattering stone. Transparent ripples spread visibly through the air.
Lu Qiancha instinctively clutched her head, protecting her sensitive little wolf ears, but the sudden, ear-piercing sound still left her head buzzing. Stars danced before her eyes, and her small body swayed.
“With this demonstration, Qiancha, do you understand the essential points?” Xuan Ya stood with her hands behind her back, her robes fluttering without wind, gazing calmly at the dizzy little wolf cub.
“I—I think I understand… maybe?” Lu Qiancha shook her head hard, trying to dispel the dizziness in her mind. Her voice carried a trace of uncertainty.
“Since you have observed its form, follow your teacher to a quiet place and try it yourself.”
Xuan Ya nodded slightly, took Lu Qiancha’s small hand, and with light steps, led her deep into a tranquil bamboo grove near the small courtyard in an instant.
“Come, try performing it here.” Xuan Ya pointed to a clearing amidst the bamboo.
Lu Qiancha took a deep breath and held it, focusing her spirit. She concentrated, summoning a somewhat unstable pure white light in her left palm, while her right hand gathered a wisp of flickering black energy.
The two streams of spiritual power struggled to form two hazy, trembling chess pieces.
“Yin and Yang divide their forces; movement and stillness merge their essence!” She cried out, and with a burst of effort, hurled both pieces in succession.
“Bang!”
The pieces shot toward the clearing in a wobbly, crooked fashion, their trajectories chaotic, like drunken dancers clumsily colliding in midair, producing a dull, muffled thud.
Their collision stirred up nothing more than a faint breeze, tossing a few bamboo leaves before falling silent.
Standing to the side, Xuan Ya gently shook her head. With a casual sweep of her horsetail whisk, she silently smoothed the chaotic spiritual energy.
“Foolish child, this is not Gui Yuan, but merely brute force colliding. You have the form but not the essence.”
“Uhh…” Lu Qiancha’s cheeks flushed red as she lowered her head, her voice tinged with confusion and embarrassment. “Master, I tried my best to control their paths and the flow of spiritual power, but why…”
Xuan Ya did not answer directly. Instead, she bent down and picked up two fresh green bamboo leaves, holding them an arm’s length apart.
Calmly, she asked, “If you wished these two leaves to touch, how would you do it?”
“Either blow them together with the wind, or throw them by hand.” Lu Qiancha answered without hesitation.
“And what if no external force is allowed?” Xuan Ya countered.
Lu Qiancha was rendered speechless.
A faint, nearly imperceptible smile appeared at the corner of Xuan Ya’s lips as her fingertip seemed to tap the air at random.
The two bamboo leaves suddenly seemed to come alive, moving without wind, quietly and silently drawing closer to each other as if attracted by an invisible force.
“Look, they are not pushed, but drawn together by an internal connection. The method you just used relied on brute force to crash the two pieces together—already a lesser approach.”
Xuan Ya’s gaze grew deep.
“The essence of Er Zi Gui Yuan lies not in the result of their final collision, but in the very process of returning—awakening their shared origin and nature, so they naturally draw each other and become one.”
She then motioned for Lu Qiancha to try forming the chess pieces again.
“Close your eyes. Do not treat the pieces as dead objects, but as twin siblings: one the sun, blazing and bright; the other the moon, serene and cool. They are born of the same source.”
“The workings of the Dao caused their separation, and your spiritual sense is only to awaken that innate, longing pull for unity within them.”
Lu Qiancha obediently closed her eyes, her breathing becoming long and steady.
This time, she no longer forced her spiritual power, but instead immersed her consciousness, letting out an exceedingly fine and gentle thread of spiritual sense, softly twining around the two forming chess pieces, carefully feeling the flow and rhythm of Yin and Yang between them.
Sure enough, when the Black and White Pieces first took shape in her palms, a faint yet unmistakable attraction arose, as if the two were magnetically drawn together.
“Good.” Xuan Ya’s voice carried a hint of gentle praise.
“Now, do not forcibly resist this ‘force,’ but guide it naturally, as if directing a river to follow its natural course, not conjuring water from nothing or going against the heavens.”
Lu Qiancha immersed her mind completely.
She could clearly feel the burning heat in the White Piece and the chilling cold of the Black Piece. The desire between the two to merge, to become one, grew stronger and more distinct.
She guided them carefully, no longer pushing, but sketching a trajectory that best fit the rhythm of heaven and earth for their mutual attraction.
“Now—release!” Xuan Ya’s cool voice sounded, as if giving a command.
Lu Qiancha’s mind stirred slightly, and her energy moved in response.
The White Piece shot out in a brilliant arc, dazzling as the morning sun.
The Black Piece flickered mysteriously, as if melding with the swaying bamboo shadows, its path elusive yet following some profound and ineffable principle of the Dao.
***
In the next instant—
Three zhang away, the radiant white light and the shadowy black merged without warning, colliding at a single, precise point.
A deep and unusual chime rang out.
At the point of collision, everything abruptly collapsed into a singularity of darkness, swallowing all light and sound. In that instant, all was silent.
Then, from the heart of that darkness, a pure, flawless white light suddenly bloomed.
Soundless, the white light rapidly expanded, transforming into a condensed ripple of spiritual pressure that swept outward in utter silence.
Where the ripple passed, falling bamboo leaves and stones on the ground were reduced to dust and vanished without a trace, as if they had never existed.
Lu Qiancha gazed at the area that had been completely returned to origin, her small face shining with excitement. She looked eagerly at Xuan Ya. “Master, I did it!”
Xuan Ya nodded gently, her always-cool eyes at last revealing undisguised approval.
“Very good. Remember this subtle feeling of unity between mind and spiritual power, and practice diligently until you wield it as naturally as your own hand.”
“The foundation of this art’s power lies not in its external form or might, but in its essence—within the annihilation and void, one glimpses the true intent of the Dao’s return to origin. What you just touched upon is but the barest surface of Gui Yuan’s law.”
“Master, I understand. I want to practice a little more here, please rest assured and return to rest.” Lu Qiancha was full of confidence, blue eyes alight with eager anticipation.
“Very well.” Xuan Ya said no more, nodded slightly, and her figure faded away like mist down the emerald bamboo path.