Chapter 29: Contemplating the Taiyin, Advancing to the Second Realm!

On the other side, Ye Qin had no idea what kind of stir he had caused for the police.

He also didn't realize that, according to the police's speculation, a murderer had been fabricated out of nowhere, committing this perfect murder case.

After dealing with the two poachers, he sensed someone coming up the mountain; seeing it was the police, he completely put his mind at ease, returned to his cave, and continued his painstaking cultivation.

As for the rest, he believed the police would handle it.

After this incident, those poachers should lie low for a while and not bother him again.

Although many animals had been harmed, fortunately it wasn't a major injury; after some time to recuperate, they should be able to recover their former ecology.

Snowflakes fluttered down, and all between heaven and earth was silent, as if every sound were swallowed by this pure white world.

The once lush green mountains turned into snow-capped peaks; from afar they looked like a white dragon soaring in the azure sky, coiling here.

Not far off, the branches had been bent by the heavy snow, laden with ice crystals, forming a distinctive scene.

In the snow, a figure moved about, then suddenly stopped its steps, its black little nose sniffing hard in the air, as if discerning a scent.

It then continued forward toward the southeast.

Few creatures move about outside in winter, but there are some; and the path this creature was taking led straight to Ye Qin's cave.

Ye Qin, who was deeply immersed in his cultivation, also heard the faint rustling outside.

When he stepped out to look, several wild fruits lay on the snowy ground, conspicuously visible, yet scanning the surroundings revealed no creature at all.

He supposed some animal had placed them there and then left.

The snake's tongue lingered in the air a moment; the scent was somewhat familiar, suggesting it hadn't gone far.

Ye Qin felt somewhat helpless; these past few days, his cave entrance always had these things—either unknown wild fruits or small animals like field mice.

All things possess spirit.

He guessed these items were sent by the wild animals that had been successfully rescued from the poachers earlier.

Wild animals have a strong sense of territory, so they merely sent the gifts without showing themselves, and Ye Qin also didn't know what kind of creature it was.

It was already winter, and these animals found it hard enough to gather food for themselves, let alone take some to give to him.

Ye Qin appreciated their intention, but he did not accept them, leaving the items in the snow; the creature apparently thought he didn't like the food and brought something different the next day.

After a few days like that, the creature in the shadows seemed to understand something and stopped bringing food.

This affair was like dropping a small stone into a calm lake, raising tiny ripples that soon subsided back to stillness.

With the poacher incident settled, Ye Qin devoted himself wholeheartedly to his cultivation.

Most snakes hibernate; during this period the weather is cold and food scarce, so snakes' metabolism and energy levels drop, and they enter hibernation to survive.

Perhaps because of his cultivation, Ye Qin felt no difference in his body compared to before; on the contrary, he seemed more lively.

"Now the First Realm has been cultivated to perfection; I can step into the Second Realm."

According to Ye Qin's earlier deduction, the Second Realm is 'Cosmic Body Tempering'; as the name suggests, it requires using heavenly and earthly things to temper the Origin Contemplation Object—the White Bone.

For example, by relying on the sun and moon, one contemplates, then tempers upon the White Bone, thereby nourishing oneself.

After all, Ye Qin's way of cultivation is fundamentally based on contemplation, especially in the early stages.

And the White Bone is Ye Qin's Origin Contemplation Object, which cannot be easily changed, or all prior effort would be wasted.

But there was nothing else in the cave, and Ye Qin had not yet found inspiration; he didn't know what heavenly or earthly thing to use for the tempering.

So Ye Qin decided to go outside to have a look.

Having stepped out of the cave, he had lost track of day and night while cultivating in the mountains.

Only then did he realize it was night.

The night in the mountains, especially in winter, was utterly silent, as if all sounds had vanished, leaving only Ye Qin standing proudly between heaven and earth.

What Ye Qin saw was a landscape clad in silver and white, with only the crescent cold moon in the azure sky shining in mutual radiance.

He didn't know whether it was because of the snowfall, but the sky appeared especially low, and that crescent moon shone unusually bright, as if within reach.

A thousand mountains draped in white, the silver moon like a hook.

Against the dark sky, this mere hint of color dotted the long night, adding a distinctive charm to the snowscape.

Gazing at the moon overhead, Ye Qin suddenly felt something.

He knew what he should contemplate next.

The moon is also called Taiyin.

In ancient myth, Pangu cleaved heaven and earth, his body transformed into myriad things; his left eye became the sun-star, his right eye the moon-star, and that moon-star is the moon.

Huaxia has had the custom of moon worship since antiquity; the earliest record appears in the *Book of Documents: Yao Canon*, where the sun, moon, and stars are the heavenly ancestors.

Moon worship is performed to pray for abundant harvests; the many surviving 'moon-worship altars', 'moon-worship pavilions', and 'moon-viewing towers' across China are clear evidence.

As for why not choose the sun, it is because the sun is the essence of fire, harboring true solar fire within, golden in color, supremely yang and rigid, burning all things.

But snakes belong to yin; given Ye Qin's current cultivation, if he chose sun-contemplation, the difficulty would be somewhat high, and once manifested, it would easily be scorched by the true solar fire.

Therefore, starting with the moon and progressing gradually is the best strategy.

The moon is the flower of water, containing true yin water within, silver in color, supremely yin and cold, which also accords with snakes' preference for yin; its attributes do not clash, and it is more gentle.

Most importantly, cultivation also stresses heavenly timing and earthly advantage; one must follow nature and adapt to the four seasons.

Yin-Yang Five Elements theorists hold that the north belongs to water, governing winter; Taiyin is the north, thus also referring to winter or water.

The *Spring and Autumn Annals of Luxuriant Dew: Official System Mirroring Heaven* also records: 'Thus spring is the choice of lesser yang; summer the choice of great yang; autumn the choice of lesser yin; winter the choice of great yin.'

Therefore, for this season, Taiyin is the best choice for Ye Qin, and it might even yield twice the result with half the effort.

Gazing at the crescent moon overhead, Ye Qin instinctively straightened his body, his snake head slightly bending, as if paying homage to the moon, his eyes filled with reverence and awe.

The moon carries special meaning; although in modern times it is mostly associated with longing for home, humanity's exploration of it from ancient times to the present has never ceased.

In antiquity, the moon was called Taiyin, full of divinity—not to mention the well-known myth of Chang'e flying to the moon.

Merely speaking, in many strange tales from *Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio*, there are numerous creatures that worship the moon, absorbing the essence of sun and moon to cultivate, which is not without reason.

The Daoists say that the essence of moonlight contains the Imperial Flowing Elixir.

Ancient texts record that on the night of Geng Shen, the moonlight contains Imperial Flowing Elixir; it appears as countless olives, myriad golden threads, strung together and hanging down to the human world. Plants and trees that absorb its essence can become demons.

All monsters and strange plants that become demons must absorb the essence of moonlight; if the mountain moonlight essence contains Imperial Flowing Elixir, then plants and trees in the human world that absorb its essence can become demons, and fox spirits that eat it can display Divine Ability.

Although these are rumors, to this day it remains uncertain whether such a thing as Imperial Flowing Elixir actually exists.

But one thing can be certain: the essence of the moon is certainly extraordinary.

And what is called moonlight essence is actually moonlight, night air, and night wind combined; together they can be called moonlight essence.

But if you ask what moonlight essence specifically is,

Then it gets a bit mysterious; no one can really say, because the term is too general. Anyway, if you bathe in moonlight, that counts as absorbing moonlight essence.

It's like how absorbing air each day counts as absorbing the qi of heaven and earth.

At this moment, Ye Qin's entire serpent body is bathed in moonlight essence; his black-green serpentine form is coated with a faint silver sheen.

(End of Chapter)