Ruan Mingzhu eventually didn’t wake up.

　　With a heavy heart, Qin Xi walked out of Zhili Building and went towards the main hall to look for Lord Daoist Jinghe.

　　Lord Daoist Jinghe was sitting on his dragon couch, rummaging through piles of books and Jade Slips. When he noticed Qin Xi, he briefly lifted his line of sight. “Why were you so quick today?”

　　Qin Xi didn’t answer. He picked a seat not too far from Lord Daoist Jinghe and followed with rummaging through several books as well. As Qin Xi did so, he asked, “Master, what’re you looking for?”

　　Lord Daoist Jinghe didn’t shift his gaze from the books. He continued flipping through the books while saying: “I’m looking for a way to save Mingzhu.” After a while, he noticed that instead of answering, Qin Xi sat looking like his mind was wandering somewhere, so he couldn’t help but say: “You have to think of a solution too—we can’t be unconcerned about her.”

　　Qin Xi regained his train of thought. He said, “Master, I have a suggestion.”

　　“En?”

　　“We… might as well give Mingzhu to Senior Martial Brother Xuanyin’s care.”

　　Lord Daoist Jinghe looked up and stared at him with raised eyebrows.

　　Qin Xi said slowly, “Mingzhu’s mental state already fell apart—after thinking the matter through, I feel everything happened because she’s been too dependent on us. Senior Martial Brother Xuanyin has a lot of disciples; if we place her in his care, maybe she can experience a different life.”

　　“…” Lord Daoist Jinghe stroked his beard as he sank into contemplation. A long time later, he finally spoke: “What you said isn’t unreasonable.”

　　Qin Xi continued on: “Master, you always raised Mingzhu by your side, so her status has been much higher than a common disciple. This allowed her to gain much more than ordinary disciples, but it also made her lose the opportunity to learn from other cultivators in the same realm as her. Right now, all of Senior Martial Brother Xuanyin’s disciples are still in the Foundation Building realm, the same as Mingzhu—maybe Mingzhu can learn something from them.”

　　“… But,” Lord Daoist Jinghe said in hesitation, “the disciple Mingzhu injured that year was also Xuanyin’s disciple. Would they not feel resentful if—”

　　“They’ll certainly feel resentful,” Qin Xi said, “but Senior Martial Brother Xuanyin has always been fair in his treatment. Qingyu and Fengxue are also good-tempered. As for that Wei Jiasi who was injured back then, her nature also isn’t bad. If Master personally handed her over to Senior Martial Brother Xuanyin, they wouldn’t make things difficult for Mingzhu even if they felt resentful on the inside.”

　　After a pause, Qin Xi added a few more sentences: “Besides, letting Mingzhu receive a bit of cold-shouldered treatment from ordinary disciples isn’t bad either. She’s now forgotten everything in the past; if she can start afresh as an ordinary disciple, maybe she won’t form such a temperament.”

　　Lord Daoist Jinghe looked down and pondered. He was initially wondering how to make Mingzhu regain her wisdom but now, it seemed they could re-groom her temperament instead?

　　“If you put it that way… it sounds very reasonable,” Lord Daoist Jinghe said thoughtfully, “Even if she regains her wisdom, Mingzhu’s crumbled mental state can’t recover—she might as well start over.”

　　“Precisely my thoughts.” Qin Xi stopped for a moment then brought up another matter. “Master, something very strange occurred. I wonder if you know the reason why.”

　　“What?”

　　“I… I discovered that when I was healing Tiange, my spiritual aura unexpectedly didn’t decrease. On the contrary, it even increased slightly.”

　　Upon hearing what Qin Xi said, the absent-minded Lord Daoist Jinghe finally regained his train of thought. He raised his eyebrows in astonishment. “Really?”

　　“En.” Qin Xi nodded. “It’s been like this these past few days. I tried so many times, but there hasn’t even been one instance when it didn’t occur.”

　　This matter clearly went against common sense. Lord Daoist Jinghe reached out, saying: “Let me see.”

　　Qin Xi extended his right hand. Right after, Lord Daoist Jinghe felt his meridians and inserted his spiritual aura. Before long, a frown emerged on his brows.

　　When Qin Xi saw Lord Daoist Jinghe’s expression, he couldn’t help but ask, “Master, is there something wrong?”

　　It took Lord Daoist Jinghe quite a while before he released Qin Xi’s hand. He then shook his head and said, “Did you not notice there’s a small cycle inside your body?”

　　Dumbfounded, Qin Xi raised his hand then began moving the spiritual aura inside his body. Warm Yang spiritual aura moved along his meridians into his dantian, then once again flowed out of his dantian—wrong! Among his Yang spiritual aura, there was a thread of extremely pure Yin spiritual aura. It mixed together with the neutral aura stored in the depths of his dantian, circulating again and again in the nook of his dantian.

　　This thread of Yin spiritual aura wasn’t the same as the Yin spiritual aura he had before he practiced Pure Yang Technique. At that time, his Yin spiritual aura wasn’t pure; it was mixed with his Yang spiritual aura, and they could hardly be separated. This thread of Yin spiritual aura, however, was extremely pure; it didn’t have even a sliver of impurities in it. Despite mixing in with his Yang spiritual aura and his neutralized aura, they were completely different entities that rotated along with each other.

　　Some time later, he stopped and said, “Since I couldn’t find extreme Yin aura, I’ve been pressing my neutral aura into the depths of my dantian. I never expected such a change to occur… Master?”

　　In the end, Lord Daoist Jinghe was an experienced middle stage Nascent Soul cultivator; with only a moment’s effort, he already came up with a general understanding of what happened. He stroked his short beard, saying slowly, “Do you remember the characteristics of Tiange’s Art of the Origin?”

　　Qin Xi seemed stunned for a moment, but he then said, “The Art of the Origin… is a practice for those with five identically balanced spiritual roots. Its aim is the origin of Primal Chaos—the five elements reinforce and neutralize each other, and Yin and Yang move in an endless cycle, thus achieving a continuous self-sustaining condition.”

　　“Correct.” Mo Tiange naturally couldn’t conceal this cultivation technique from Lord Daoist Jinghe, so the two men both knew what kind of technique the Art of the Origin was. Lord Daoist Jinghe fiddled with his beard and said, “Inside Tiange’s body is the cycle of five-element Yin spiritual aura. Originally, this kind of cultivation technique was completely different from the technique you practiced. Your two spiritual roots–metal and fire–were both terrific, and you’ve also majored in the fire element cultivation technique; combined with the Yang Spiritual Bead you’ve refined, the Yang aura inside your body was flourishing—what you lacked was only purity. Nevertheless, you’re now practicing the Art of Three Primordial Cycles. While nothing might happen when extreme Yang aura and neutral aura mix together, when extreme Yin aura is added to the mix, it becomes a kind of cycle.”

　　“…” Qin Xi wrinkled his brows. He thought for a long time before he finally spoke again. “Master, are you trying to say that… my Art of Three Primordial Cycles and the Art of the Origin are actually different methods that lead to the same result?”

　　Lord Daoist Jinghe nodded. “Master guesses so. However, while hers is the cycle of five elements, yours is the cycle of Yin and Yang. After your body changed into a Pure Yang Body, you’ve been pressing your neutral aura into the depths of your dantian, and you also haven’t been able to obtain extreme Yin aura, so the Art of Three Primordial Cycles practically lost its effectiveness. In these last few days when you were healing her, you actually obtained pure Yin spiritual aura from her, so your Art of Three Primordial Cycles started to function for real.”

　　Qin Xi looked down and sank into contemplation. All of a sudden, he called out in alarm: “Master! Do you think this Art of Three Primordial Cycles would be able to form a small Primal Chaos inside my body, thus creating spiritual aura on its own?”

　　Lord Daoist Jinghe shook his head. “Master’s just guessing. Right now, I can’t give you an answer. If you want to know, you can only try and verify it on your own.”

　　“…” Qin Xi was silent for a long while. His expression looked extremely grave. If what his master said was true, this would bring a huge change in his cultivating journey.

　　If the Art of Three Primordial Cycles really had such a function, then he’d been practicing it the wrong way in the past. He originally thought that when it came to either his spiritual aura or constitution, he only needed to pursue purity. As it turned out, however, above purity, there was also “balance” and “cycle.”

　　As Lord Daoist Jinghe thought about the matter, he eventually laughed out loud. “This is really unexpected. If this is really the case, you and Tiange really are a match made in heaven. I’ve seen her cultivation technique manual before. The so-called Art of the Origin is the cycle of the five elements and the alternation of Yin and Yang, which then forms a Primal Chaos inside one’s body. She obviously has a Pure Yin Constitution, so she can only practice the balance of the five elements in her Yin spiritual aura. As for you, your Art of Three Primordial Cycles lacks only extreme Yin aura; as long as you don’t obtain extreme Yin aura, you won’t be able to succeed in practicing this technique. As it happens, your body was transformed into a Pure Yang Body, so you obviously won’t be able to cultivate extreme Yin aura. Provided that the two of you perform Dual Cultivation, Tiange will be able to obtain extreme Yang aura from you, and at that time, she will be able to practice the real Art of the Origin. And you, after your Art of Three Primordial Cycles obtains her extreme Yin aura, you can also form the three primordial cycles. Hahahaha! This is even more fitting than simple Dual Cultivation between people with a Pure Yin Constitution and Pure Yang Constitution!”

　　Once Lord Daoist Jinghe finished speaking, he realized Qin Xi didn’t look happy, so he asked, “What’s wrong? Isn’t this good?”

　　A long time later, Qin Xi finally shook his head. “I don’t want… our relationship to have anything to do with cultivation-related matters.” If the entire point of their relationship was just to better their cultivation, why would he have waited until now? Master had long said that the easiest way for him to obtain extreme Yin aura was to perform Dual Cultivation with her, but he had always refused because he didn’t want to be too utilitarian in performing Dual Cultivation.

　　“Hey!” Lord Daoist Jinghe frowned and looked at him disapprovingly. “Aren’t you thinking too negatively? Why do you have to avoid the benefits of Dual Cultivation? Isn’t something that’s advantageous to both sides good?”

　　“…” Qin Xi hung his head and remained silent for quite a long time.

　　Seeing Qin Xi’s current appearance made Lord Daoist Jinghe lose control. “Hey hey, why aren’t you saying anything? I really don’t understand—other people are eager to gain as much as they can from Dual Cultivation, yet you’re completely unwilling.”

　　“I…” Qin Xi said hesitatingly, “If that’s really the case, I’d feel like I’m just using her.”

　　“There’s no such thing as using and not using,” Lord Daoist Jinghe reproached him. “Brat, why’s your brain so stupid? These benefits are just supplementary—supplementary, understand? Do you think that benefiting from Dual Cultivation will negate the feelings between you two?”

　　A wry smile emerged on Qin Xi’s face. “Master, do you think she has feelings for me?”

　　“…” This question made Lord Daoist Jinghe hesitate for ages before he finally spoke again. “There should be…, right? I really don’t believe she doesn’t—”

　　“But I don’t believe she does.” Qin Xi still hung his head and chuckled at himself. “That year, when I took her back from east Kunwu, I noticed she started to have some feelings for me on our journey, but I withdrew on purpose. She was a smart person; unlike those women who’d have taken advantage of the time we were alone to get closer to me, she even controlled herself and kept her distance… It was precisely because of this that I think quite highly of her. Right now, thirty five years have passed, but how many chances have we had to meet? Even if she did have feelings for me at that time, I’m afraid those feelings must’ve long faded away, right?”

　　“But from what I see every day, she’s not without any care for you—”

　　“Besides,” Qin Xi cut off Lord Daoist Jinghe, “How could I explain my identity? Up until now, I’ve never told her that Qin Xi is Qin Shoujing. She has a good impression of Qin Xi, firstly because I accompanied her for two months after her second uncle died and rescued her from her predicament. Secondly, it was because she thought I was a cultivator in the same realm as her; she thought both of us were equals. Master, you also know how strong her pride is. If she knows the truth, will she be willing to be even one step closer to me?”

　　Upon seeing how speechless Lord Daoist Jinghe was, Qin Xi could only let out a bitter laugh. “Alright, let’s say she still has feelings for me now. Would these feelings be enough for her to forgive my deceit? Although I know I never wronged her, I still can’t explain this matter to her calmly.”

　　He heaved a sigh before continuing on: “Feelings that don’t necessarily exist, the cover-up of my identity, and also the benefits of Dual Cultivation we talked about just now… With so many things piling up together, I really have no idea how she’ll respond later.”