1. Gathering Vital Breath at Sunrise

The fifth month's rainy season rarely granted the southern borderlands a clear day. Rain had fallen without cease the day before, stopping only at the hour of the Tiger, and now, at the early hour of the Rabbit, the sky hung heavy and overcast, great banks of dark cloud surging on the wind.

The sun lay buried beneath layer upon layer of cloud, only a few threads of golden light breaking through to announce that dawn was nearly upon them.

Yao Qian sat cross-legged atop the Enlightenment Terrace, eyes lowered to half-mast, drawing in wisps of morning solar violet breath with each measured inhalation. The violet breath entered through her mouth and nose like a current of warmth that was neither hot nor cold, passed through the layered passages of her throat, then dispersed into her four limbs and a hundred bones, nourishing every part of her body.

With her spiritual sense she guided a thread of violet breath into her cinnabar field, where it was immediately absorbed by another wisp of violet breath that radiated a faint purple luminescence. Looking closely at this second wisp, one could just discern that it had begun to take on the vague shape of a soaring dragon.

When the morning bell sounded to mark the end of early practice, the light of day gradually brightened. By then the violet breath had nearly dissipated and could no longer be drawn in — to continue would be to inhale the blazing solar breath, which could easily scorch the meridians.

For the disciples seated in meditation upon the Enlightenment Terrace, of course, it made little difference whether they drew it in or not, for they could absorb only a negligible amount regardless. The clan elders insisted on daily morning practice for the young disciples merely to cultivate the habit of cultivation. Once a disciple could begin training in proper techniques, no cultivator would waste time on this method — which was precisely why the young girl Yao Liuliang called it a useless exercise.

A girl's clear, bright voice rang out: "I knew I'd find you here!" Yao Qian looked up to see a young woman in a blue robe standing below the Enlightenment Terrace, smiling and waving at her. "No wonder the elders always say you're the most diligent among us sisters. You've already been found to have a spirit root — you're about to begin training in a proper technique. Why are you still practicing this useless one?"

Yao Qian smiled, pressing her lips together. "I'm used to it. If I don't come sit here for a while each day, I feel out of sorts." She nimbly flipped down from the terrace. "Sixth Sister, what brings you to find me?"

The technique they practiced each day was called the Morning Solar Breath Absorption Method, a cultivation art said to be capable of enhancing a child's innate constitution. It required young disciples, whose bones and sinews had not yet fully formed, to absorb the violet breath of the morning sun each day, nourishing the meridians and skeleton throughout the body and reducing the acquired turbid breath within.

The creator of the technique held that the violet breath of the morning aurora was a transformation of primordial violet breath, which was itself the final condensation of luminous energy from the Vast Chaos before it dispersed — containing within it an exceedingly thin trace of Vast Chaos breath. Therefore, to absorb the aurora's violet breath was equivalent to absorbing Vast Chaos breath.

So long as one persisted without faltering and absorbed sufficient quantities, it was the same as breathing in Vast Chaos breath. And since Vast Chaos breath was the very foundation upon which sages achieved the Dao — possessing the miraculous power to reverse fate and transform destiny — enhancing one's innate constitution was naturally well within its capabilities.

Yet despite being so transcendent a technique, it was no closely guarded secret. It was known to virtually everyone in the cultivation world, and most cultivators of established lineages had practiced it. Quite a few had even devoted themselves wholeheartedly to absorbing violet breath through this method alone — yet no one had ever been heard to have drawn Vast Chaos breath from the morning solar violet breath, nor had anyone been known to enhance their constitution through it.

What the elders valued was the technique's gentle and balanced nature, its capacity to teach children the art of breath regulation and entering stillness — these were the true foundations of future cultivation. The moment one could begin training in a proper technique, no cultivator would squander time on this method, which was precisely why Yao Liuliang called it useless.

Yao Liuliang said, "It's nothing of great importance. Fifth Brother wants to hold a farewell banquet for the younger siblings. Once they leave, who knows when we'll meet again — let us all go and see them off." Her voice trailed into a note of melancholy at the end.

Yao Qian fell silent. Among the clan siblings of her generation, only two had been found to possess spirit roots, herself included. She and that clan brother could remain on Green Bamboo Ridge to continue their cultivation, but the others had no choice but to descend the mountain.

She hesitated. "Is it all right for me to go?" For the past several days she had not known how to speak to the clan siblings she had grown up alongside. Offering comfort felt wrong; avoiding them felt equally wrong. Yao Qian had used cultivation as her excuse and spent each day on the Enlightenment Terrace.

Yao Liuliang patted her small head. "You've been together for ten years. The last parting deserves a proper farewell."

Yao Qian nodded. "Very well."

Yao Liuliang continued, "You needn't grieve too deeply. Those of us fortunate enough to become cultivators spend most of our lives bidding farewell to our loved ones. You must accustom yourself to this." These words had in fact been entrusted to Yao Liuliang by the clan elders to pass on to Yao Qian.

Yao Qian nodded in silence. From the moment she had discovered that the world she had been born into through transmigration was one of immortal cultivation — and that her parents were ordinary mortals — she had prepared herself for this. She would likely not remain at her parents' side to offer them daily comfort, but she would care for them with all her heart and devotion.

Her birth in this life was not unfavorable. She was a disciple of a small cultivating clan. Though both her parents were mortals, the Yao clan was so small and its disciples so few that every newborn was given the best conditions the clan could provide.

The children grew up in the part of the clan's territory where spiritual energy was most dense, breathing it with every breath. Though they ate only one meal a day, every meal consisted of spirit food. Such conditions were unimaginable to most wandering cultivators outside — all made possible by an ancestor who had excelled in cultivating spirit plants.

The Yao clan's founding ancestor had originally been an inner-sect Foundation Establishment disciple of Green Wood Valley. Having no hope of reaching the Golden Core realm, and with the sect's approval, she had departed the sect carrying a thousand-year-old Green Spirit Bamboo Emperor and come to Green Bamboo Ridge to establish her lineage. Green Bamboo Ridge had once been an unremarkable, nameless stretch of mountain within the Shouyang Range.

Before the Yao clan arrived, it had been nothing but a barren mountain, without a single spirit vein running through it. The Yao ancestors had spent three hundred years transforming a peak devoid of all spiritual energy into a vast sea of green spirit bamboo through which one could breathe in spiritual breath.

The daily flow of spiritual energy through the bamboo sea was no match for a blessed land with true spirit veins, yet it was far superior to the outside world. At the very summit of Green Bamboo Ridge, where the thousand-year-old Green Spirit Bamboo Emperor had been planted, the spiritual energy was densest of all — comparable to a minor lower-grade spirit vein. This was the Yao clan's most sacred ground. Only Yao clan cultivators and clan members under the age of ten were permitted to cultivate here.

When a Yao clan newborn reached one year of age, the child would be brought up the mountain by family and placed in the collective care of the clan elders, who taught them from childhood to read, write, and absorb breath. When a child reached the age of ten, those found to possess spirit roots could remain on the mountain to cultivate; those without were sent down to serve the clan.

As for why they waited until ten — children too young could not withstand the spiritual energy required to test for spirit roots, so the examination was delayed until the child's body had grown sturdier and their sinews and bones more robust. Spirit roots were bestowed by Heaven and immutable, but constitution was not fixed.

Spirit roots could evolve or degenerate, and only around the age of ten did constitution become largely stable. After ten, the vital energy of the organs was sufficient, the spirit roots were consolidated, and the meridians were developed enough to bear cultivation. Therefore, the cultivation world generally tested for spirit roots at age ten and began teaching cultivation at that time.

The Yao clan brought children to the summit at one year of age so that they might breathe spiritual energy and eat spirit food daily, reducing the erosion of spirit roots by acquired turbid breath and raising the disciples' constitution as much as possible.

Yao Qian's constitution, as revealed by this examination, was an affinity with Wood spirit roots, and the purity of her spirit root was high — a result that greatly pleased the clan elders. They intended to send Yao Qian to Green Wood Valley. With her constitution, it was not impossible that within a few decades the Yao clan might gain another Foundation Establishment cultivator, or even a Golden Core one.

As the two sisters spoke, a melodious and gentle woman's voice suddenly reached their ears: "Little Six, bring Little Nine to me."

It was the voice of the Grand Elder. Neither Yao Liuliang nor Yao Qian dared delay. Yao Liuliang summoned her spirit beast — a white crane — at once, and with Yao Qian seated behind her on the crane's back, they flew toward the cave dwelling where the Grand Elder cultivated in seclusion.

The Yao clan's Grand Elder was a cultivator at the middle stage of Foundation Establishment. She was the biological daughter of the Yao clan's founding ancestor, and was said to be over two hundred years of age this year, though she appeared no older than a woman in her early thirties. She had also once been a disciple of Green Wood Valley, but like her mother, she had struggled to reach Foundation Establishment and had made little further progress since. Having abandoned all hope of advancing to the Golden Core realm, she had left the sect and devoted herself wholeheartedly to teaching the younger generation on Green Bamboo Ridge, hoping that a Golden Core cultivator might one day emerge from the Yao clan.

Yao Qian, having lived two lives, was far more gentle and perceptive than ordinary children, and had been deeply cherished by the Grand Elder even before her spirit root was discovered. After the discovery, the Grand Elder's regard for her grew even greater.

The Grand Elder said to Yao Qian, "Little Nine, you will accompany me to Green Wood Valley now."

Both Yao Qian and Yao Liuliang were taken aback. Yao Liuliang exclaimed, "So soon?"

The Grand Elder's face was bright with joy. "A senior martial sister I was close to when I first entered the sect has recently advanced to the Golden Core realm. I intend to bring Little Nine with me to attend her Golden Core celebration banquet."

What the Grand Elder left unsaid was this: Little Nine's constitution was exceptional. Given the depth of her friendship with her senior martial sister, she expected that the other woman would agree to take Little Nine as a nominal disciple — and once Little Nine achieved Foundation Establishment, she would become a true inner disciple. This was a far better situation than what she and her mother had known. Their own masters in those days had been mere Foundation Establishment cultivators, and the entire Green Wood Valley had only six Golden Core elders.

Yao Liuliang's face broke into a radiant smile. "This is wonderful news!"

Yao Qian had not imagined her fortune would run so deep — that she might have the chance to take a Golden Core cultivator as her master. She said to the Grand Elder, "Grand Elder, whether or not I am able to become a disciple of a Golden Core True Person, I will dedicate myself to cultivation with all my heart."

The Grand Elder stroked her small head with warm approval. "Good child." She turned to Yao Liuliang. "Little Six, on Little Nine's behalf, please bring a hundred Cultivation Foundation Pills to Little Nine's parents. Tell them it is my reward to Little Nine."

Yao Qian bowed to Yao Liuliang. "I entrust this to you, Sixth Sister." She had gone to pay her respects to her parents on the very day her spirit root was confirmed. Having been sent up the mountain to cultivate since childhood, she had never grown truly close to them. After her spirit root was discovered, the attitude of her parents and relatives toward her had shifted further still.

Yao Qian had stayed at home for barely half a day before returning. Her family had elder brothers and sisters; in the Yao clan, women rarely married out, and her parents had their other children to bring warmth to their days, as well as the clan's protection — their lives were good. There was no need for her to insist that the bonds of this life mirror those of her previous one. It was enough to fulfill what a child owed to her parents.

Yao Liuliang smiled. "This is what I ought to do." Her own constitution was ordinary, and she harbored no great ambitions, so when the elders had once asked whether she wished to go to a sect, she had chosen to remain at home and cultivate. Even so, she was glad to see her younger siblings go to a sect — the higher the cultivation of the clan's members, the better it was for the Yao clan as a whole.