“You, originally red, shall be called Hongxue!” [Red Cod (literally Red Snow)]
“And you, the ink-black one, shall be called Moxue!” [Ink-Black Cod (literally Ink Snow)]
Qu Qirong looked at the two adorable little creatures before her and smiled gently.
“Xue” (Snow) was a homophone for “Cod.” Prefaced with their respective colors, Deng Tianyu felt the names sounded quite pleasant—far better than his own naming skills, at least. A certain little fox, for example… Yingying!
“Chirp… chirp…”
Having crossed the Stone Gate, the two little ones now fully possessed intelligence and wisdom. Upon learning they had names, they immediately became so delighted that they swam about ceaselessly.
The Spirit Cod King, able to perceive their emotions, was somewhat puzzled. “Is it truly that joyful?”
“A name belongs to oneself. It is also proof, a symbol that one has come into this world,” Deng Tianyu said with a slight smile.
With so many Spirit Cod in the lake, many of identical color and similar appearance, had it not been for the lingering trace of Spring Vitality Sword Intent within those two little ones, he wouldn’t have been able to recognize them either. Of course, the Spirit Cod King certainly had her own methods to distinguish them.
The Spirit Cod King seemed pensive, murmuring to herself, “A name is proof of having come into the world?”
She had never seriously considered this question before. But now, thinking upon it, a somewhat inexplicable longing for a name began to stir within her.
She was the King of the Spirit Cod Clan, but through the ages, she was not the only King; there had been other Spirit Cod Kings. So, how then could she prove that she was her?
Yet, having a name would change everything completely!
The Spirit Cod King looked at Deng Tianyu and Qu Qirong with sparkling eyes and said earnestly, “This King also wants a name!”
Her nature was direct and straightforward. Whatever she wished to do, whatever she wished to say, she would not conceal it but express it directly.
Hearing this, Deng Tianyu and Qu Qirong exchanged a glance and fell into thought. A name for the Spirit Cod King? Following the previous pattern of color plus “Xue”… Cai Xue (Colorful Snow)? Too ordinary! Cai Yi (Colorful Garment)? That didn’t seem fitting either.
Qu Qirong’s elegant brows were tightly knitted, momentarily conflicted.
Deng Tianyu, on the other hand, had a flash of inspiration. He took out a sheet of paper and, stroke by stroke, wrote: “How about Xi Lingxue?”
“Xi… Ling… Xue!” Both Qu Qirong and the Spirit Cod King softly murmured these three characters.
As he wrote on the paper, Deng Tianyu explained: “Xi Ling is a homophone for West Rime (Xi Lin). ‘Xi’ represents the Spirit Tide (Lingxi) and also signifies the Spirit Cod breaking through the Spiritual Qi tide barrier at the Stone Gate to complete their metamorphosis. ‘Ling’ means vibrant silk ribbon, symbolizing a brilliant profusion of colors. ‘Xue’ is for ‘Cod’!”
“Because Senior is the King of the Spirit Cod Clan, Xi Lingxue (a play on West Rime Cod) represents all the Spirit Cod of West Rime Lake.”
“Xi Lingxue~” A strange, novel light flickered in the Spirit Cod King’s eyes. She repeated the three characters “Xi Lingxue” over and over. For some reason, when reciting this name, a nameless stirring seemed to linger in her heart.
After a long pause, the Spirit Cod King nodded and parted her red lips slightly: “Henceforth, this King shall be called Xi Lingxue!”
Deng Tianyu smiled. “As long as Senior likes it!” He had to admit, his naming skills were quite decent. If one day he truly stopped cultivating, he could perhaps hang up a sign offering ancestral naming services in the mortal world. Wouldn’t that be better than telling fortunes?
“I leave them in your hands. Should anything occur, infuse some True Essence into this object, and this King will immediately sense it.”
Xi Lingxue extended her finger, and two colorful scales slowly descended into the hands of Deng Tianyu and Qu Qirong. Having done this, she did not linger. The colorful wings on her back fluttered, and her curvaceous, graceful figure vanished into the distorted space.
Deng Tianyu sighed with emotion. “This trip to West Rime Lake has truly yielded no small harvest.”
He had accompanied Aunt Rong here initially merely intending to fulfill his filial duties to an elder and, incidentally, to witness the renowned scenic wonder of Youzhou—the Dance of the Flying Cod. He hadn’t expected that, after arriving in this small town, the little fox Yingying would discover those two little ones. This led to the entire series of subsequent events and the acquisition of the cultivation technique related to the Primordial Yin Spirit Body. Truly—a case of searching high and low only to find it effortlessly!
To the side, Qu Qirong, watching the two little ones swimming through the air, smiled beautifully. “When we return, we’ll still need to find a special vessel to house Hongxue and Moxue.”
Although, after receiving the irrigation of the Spiritual Qi tide within the Stone Gate, the two little ones no longer needed to remain constantly in water and could swim freely about outside, it would still be more convenient to find them a vessel where they could rest.
At this point, Deng Tianyu, as if recalling something, retrieved a bronze vessel from his storage ring. “This item should suffice.”
Qu Qirong was somewhat puzzled. “What is this?”
“This is a damaged magical artifact I acquired in a secret realm some time ago. Inside is a spirit spring; it should suit these two little ones,” Deng Tianyu explained, meeting Aunt Rong’s gaze. He had studied this damaged artifact before but hadn’t discovered anything particularly special about it; he’d only kept it because it contained a spirit spring.
“Chirp… chirp…”
The moment the bronze vessel was brought out, the two little ones seemed to become exceptionally excited, diving directly inside and swimming about joyfully.
Qu Qirong’s eyes were full of mirth. “It seems they quite like it.”
The two didn’t chat for long before the Dharma Boat had already returned to Xiaoxiang Elegant Garden. Deng Tianyu left the little fox and the two small ones in his room, then went to Aunt Rong’s boudoir.
Of course, he was not there to attempt any secretive romantic escapades. He merely needed to complete his daily task of guiding and refining the Baleful Yang Energy contained within the Sleep-Sealing Curse Mark, and also to examine the technique given by the Spirit Cod King to see if it could resolve the drawbacks of the Primordial Yin Spirit Constitution.
“Buzz!”
Under Aunt Rong’s watchful gaze, Deng Tianyu’s True Essence surged, and he opened the jade slip.
Immediately, streaks of text formed into a glowing scroll, suspended in mid-air.
[I, to escape the drawbacks of the Primordial Yin Spirit Body, traversed countless mountains and rivers, eventually joining the Charming Yin Sect. Using the sect’s Profound Maiden Heart Sutra as a foundation, I created the Extreme Yin Spirit Fusion Art. Profound Yang and Profound Yin create and overcome each other. By fusing the Nurtured Nimbus of heaven and earth into the bodies of a man and a woman… the Inner Profound Yin must be guided by the Profound Yang Nurtured Nimbus, and through this, merged within the Spirit Mansion, enabling a complete transformation and the achievement of the Extreme Yin method…]
The text wasn’t overly obscure; both Deng Tianyu and Qu Qirong could understand it. The two carefully browsed through it. The beginning detailed the origin of the technique, and the latter part contained the actual cultivation method.
The woman who created this technique, like Qu Qirong, possessed the Primordial Yin Spirit Body. Normally, this type of constitution was equivalent to a Cauldron Physique—essentially making wedding clothes for others. Yet this woman was unwilling to become another’s cauldron. She spared no effort, spending countless years to create the Extreme Yin Spirit Fusion Art. This art could utilize the Profound Yang Nurtured Nimbus within a man’s body, through mutual creation and overcoming, to refine the Primordial Yin Nurtured Nimbus within her own body.
According to the description, cultivating this method required first finding a Dao Companion who had not yet lost their Primordial Yang. By merging Profound Yin with Profound Yang, the first strand of Extreme Yin Spiritual Essence could be fused, allowing further cultivation. Simply put, it was a Dual Cultivation method, though with Yang serving as support and Yin as the primary; the man would receive fewer benefits, while the woman would gain more. The reason for this was that the woman could not only benefit from the Dual Cultivation but also, through the principle of mutual creation and overcoming, break the shackles of her constitution and take the Primal Yin Spiritual Essence within her body for her own use!
