Inside the Pengcheng Inn.
Ling Xiaodong pushed open the inn room door in a daze, utterly distraught. He had failed to find a way to break the curse, and never before had he hated his own incompetence as much as he did today.
“Xiaodong.”
Ye Yiyun turned her head weakly at the sound of someone entering, calling out faintly.
Ling Xiaodong hurried forward, kneeling beside the bed and clasping Ye Yiyun’s limp hand in his.
“Aunt Yun, you’re awake? How do you feel?”
Ye Yiyun’s face was unnaturally flushed, and the fact that she could still speak was nothing but a brief flicker of life.
“I can feel it—I’m about to ascend beyond this world. Don’t be sad, Xiaodong. Recite Chapter 16 of the Tao Te Ching for me.”
Ling Xiaodong didn’t understand Ye Yiyun’s intention, but at this moment, he was willing to fulfill any request she made.
He steadied his breathing, though his voice trembled slightly.
“‘Attain utmost emptiness, maintain resolute tranquility. All things arise together, yet I watch their return. The myriad beings flourish, each returns to its root. Returning to the root is called tranquility; tranquility is called returning to life; returning to life is called the constant. Knowing the constant is enlightenment. Ignorant of the constant, one acts recklessly, bringing misfortune. Knowing the constant is tolerance; tolerance is impartiality; impartiality is completeness; completeness is heaven; heaven is the Tao; the Tao endures forever. Die without peril.’”
Ye Yiyun raised her hand to stroke Ling Xiaodong’s cheek but fell short halfway and her hand weakly dropped. Ling Xiaodong quickly caught her hand and pressed it tightly against his face.
Ye Yiyun smiled faintly. “Yes, the cycle of life and death is the natural way. Even before descending the mountain, I knew I faced a tribulation, but it seems I ultimately could not overcome it. This only proves it is my fate.”
Tears streamed uncontrollably down Ling Xiaodong’s face, soaking Ye Yiyun’s palm.
“No! Aunt Yun, don’t die! Think of Xiaoyan, think of Master, think of me! I don’t want you to die!”
“There’s no way, Xiaodong. I know my own body. Aunt Yun doesn’t want to leave you all either, but now, there isn’t a shred of Yang energy left in me. By rights, I should have already become a shadow spirit. I’m only barely holding on by relying on my cultivation.”
“Isn’t the Azure Dragon Crimson Blood Formation able to transform Yin into Yang? Just have Wuyazi perform it again! If he refuses, I’ll—”
Ling Xiaodong’s eyes reddened with fury, threatening to tear Wuyazi apart if he refused.
Ye Yiyun gently shook her head.
“It’s useless. The Azure Dragon Crimson Blood Formation is a formation of slaughter; how could it be used for healing? Xiaodong, listen carefully to what I’m about to say, and then pass it on to Xiaoyan and Master.”
Transforming Yang into Yin is simply the innate turning into the acquired—easy to do. But transforming Yin back into Yang is the acquired returning to the innate; the difficulty cannot be compared.
The desperate Ye Yiyun had already prepared to give her final words.
“No! I won’t listen! I want you to survive and tell them yourself!”
Ling Xiaodong shook his head in refusal.
“Xiaodong! Listen to me!”
“No! There must be a way—there has to be. Aunt Yun, I won’t let you die!”
Ling Xiaodong frantically searched his mind, trying to find a spell in the Taiqing Nine Mysteries that could save Ye Yiyun.
But Ye Yiyun had trained in the same Taiqing Nine Mysteries. If there were a solution, she wouldn’t be so desperate.
The more he searched, the colder his heart grew. No matter how hard he looked, he couldn’t find a method gentle enough to restore acquired Yin energy into innate Yang energy.
Ling Xiaodong murmured, “Acquired returning to innate, Yin energy transforming into Yang energy…”
Suddenly, a spark of insight flashed.
He recalled the moment underwater when he used the Fetal Breath Technique to convert acquired turbid Qi into innate pure Qi and passed it to Mu Qinghe.
But then, the hope he had just kindled vanished again.
The Fetal Breath Technique only worked on the Qi that permeates the world; how could it convert Yin and Yang?
What he needed now was a cultivation method capable of converting Yin and Yang. But with Ye Yiyun’s life hanging by a thread, where could he find such a thing?
Yin-Yang transformation?
Yin-Yang transformation!
A book with slightly yellowed pages and curled corners suddenly appeared in Ling Xiaodong’s mind.
The Great Ode to Heaven and Earth’s Yin and Yang!
This was the Taoist dual cultivation manual Moon Yingying had hidden under the bed—a genuine method for harmonizing Yin and Yang.
“Yang is contained within Yin, and Yin resides within Yang; man and woman unite, Yin and Yang give birth to each other.”
Ling Xiaodong realized he could use this method to gently convert the Yin energy inside Ye Yiyun’s body.
At the thought that Ye Yiyun could be saved, Ling Xiaodong was overjoyed.
“Aunt Yun! I have a way to save you!”
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