"Brother Shanfeng, are you alright?"
As Lin Yuan was organizing his thoughts, the young disciple Qingping cautiously came over.
The other three young disciples stood not far away, not daring to approach.
"I'm alright," Lin Yuan shook his head.
Compared to the scheming and deception outside, Tiger Dragon Mountain was much more straightforward.
The four young disciples in the True Martial Dao Repository usually got along well with Lin Yuan.
Even now, after being reprimanded by Master Cangqing, they didn't mock but showed genuine concern.
Even Master Cangqing, upon discovering Lin Yuan's 'misstep,' didn't immediately give up on him, instead opting for body-refining to bring him back, even if it meant irreversible damage to himself.
"It must be the Mansion Master who made a mistake. I tried to comprehend the extremes of yin and yang, and even getting only one was incredibly hard. Brother Shanfeng grasped both at once; that's amazing," Qingping whispered.
He truly wasn't lying.
After barely starting to understand the Sun's Limitlessness, Qingping tried to grasp the Moon's Limitlessness, finding the difficulty soaring.
Initially, without entry into either, one could sense the power of yin and yang through fire and ice pearls.
But once the Sun's Limitlessness was reached, even sensing the Moon's power became impossible.
Thus, to simultaneously practice both paths seemed extraordinarily formidable to Qingping.
"Is that so?" Lin Yuan smiled slightly.
After chatting with the disciples for a bit, Lin Yuan sank back into cultivation again.
In actual terms, due to his heaven-defying comprehension, he constantly experienced new insights.
Especially after reading the insights of previous Heavenly Masters on the stone walls.
Although none in the Heavenly Master Mansion followed both the yin and yang paths like Lin Yuan, each of their insights was often enlightening.
"Brilliant. The power of the sun can be used like this too," Lin Yuan's eyes shone as he sat in front of the original Heavenly Master's stone wall.
Over a long time of observing the stone walls, Lin Yuan came to classify the Mansion's past Heavenly Masters into three tiers.
The first tier was unquestionably the original Heavenly Master, whose power stood far above all others.
He had explored the path of the sun deeply.
Following him were the second, third, fifteenth, and twenty-eighth Heavenly Masters, all stronger than the rest and notably accomplished on their respective paths of yin and yang.
As for the other Heavenly Masters, they appeared somewhat 'ordinary' compared to the earlier two tiers.
But even the weakest Heavenly Master had power vastly beyond the Heavenly Phenomenon Realm and could dominate the world.
"My path should not be limited by former Heavenly Masters. I aim to surpass them all," Lin Yuan sat cross-legged, his conviction unwavering.
Just then, Lin Yuan felt a subtle change in his heart and looked toward the door.
Shortly after, a real person from the Heavenly Master Mansion hurriedly stepped inside.
"Brother Zhang, someone is looking for you."
Even if Master Cangqing didn't look favorably upon him or even wanted to abandon him, Lin Yuan's status in the Heavenly Master Mansion remained supreme.
As a disciple recognized by the True Martial Sword, he could one day lead the whole mansion.
If he didn't become a Heavenly Master, no one, including the current Mansion Master, could order him around.
"Uncle Changqing?" Lin Yuan exited the Dao Repository to find the familiar figure of Daoist Changqing.
Lin Yuan held great respect for Daoist Changqing, knowing he wouldn't have survived without him years ago, either from freezing or starvation.
His heaven-defying comprehension allowed him to continually break through and learn various secret arts, but it had its limits.
As a child, he couldn't survive without food, even if he 'hibernated' a bit.
Plus, Daoist Changqing had been a good friend of his father; though he arrived late back then, he had been very kind over the years.
"Shanfeng, I heard the Mansion Master was quite upset with you?" Daoist Changqing looked at Lin Yuan with gratification.
"I truly let the Mansion Master's expectations down," Lin Yuan admitted.
Master Cangqing hoped for Lin Yuan to become a Heavenly Master, but Lin Yuan's goal was to surpass that.
"Hahaha, the Mansion Master, usually so composed, getting upset with you is quite amusing," Daoist Changqing laughed heartily.
Then, growing serious, he said, "Shanfeng, do you know why I came today?"
"Was it the Mansion Master asking you to persuade me?" Lin Yuan guessed.
"Indeed," Daoist Changqing nodded, "The Mansion Master asked me to advise you to accept body refining and follow the path of past Heavenly Masters. However, seeing you now, there's no need for persuasion. As long as you're happy, whether you become a Heavenly Master or not doesn't matter much."
Daoist Changqing seemed lost in thought as he spoke further, "I was close with your father. When your mother was pregnant, I wrote to your father asking about his hopes for you. I thought he might say he wanted you to become a famous hero or, at least, inherit the Zhang Family Fortress. But he only wished for you to live happily."
"Life is about living happily, not always under pressure. Past Heavenly Masters were unrivaled in their lifetime, yet they all died. As for legacy, who cares after death?" Daoist Changqing sighed.
"I just wish that you won't regret your chosen path in the future."
His words left Lin Yuan in a slight daze.
He assumed Daoist Changqing was merely a messenger for Master Cangqing, yet he genuinely spoke from Lin Yuan's perspective.
After Daoist Changqing left, Lin Yuan immersed himself once more in cultivation, drawing from the stone walls' insights.
With his heaven-defying comprehension, his cultivation progressed rapidly.
Lin Yuan estimated that in ten years at most, he could push the Moon's Limitlessness and Sun's Limitlessness beyond the Heavenly Phenomenon Realm.
One day, as Lin Yuan was cultivating, an untidy-robed Daoist quietly appeared behind him.
"Uncle Pingyang," Lin Yuan greeted with a look of surprise.
Compared to Master Cangqing, he was much more familiar with Daoist Pingyang.
Before going on the journey to the Sword Tomb, Daoist Pingyang casually chatted with the young disciples at the mid-hill Dao Academy, showing no air of someone in the Heavenly Phenomenon Realm.
"Remarkable. Practicing both the Moon's Limitlessness and Sun's Limitlessness is something none of the past Heavenly Masters achieved," Daoist Pingyang nodded in admiration.
Of thirty-six Heavenly Masters, only the third attempted to practice both paths after becoming a Heavenly Master, but the results were unsatisfactory.
Lin Yuan, though not yet a Heavenly Master, was already exploring this dual pathway, justifying the True Martial Sword's recognition.
"Thank you for the praise, Uncle," Lin Yuan replied calmly.
"But have you thought about the path ahead? Practicing both paths might get you to the Heavenly Phenomenon Realm, but to become a Heavenly Master and surpass it, you'll need to transform your True Qi. When you balance yin and yang, a change will cause repulsion. You know the consequences."
The consequence was evident in the third Heavenly Master, who perished from an internal explosion.
"Uncle, I've considered that. The repulsion arises because the forces are not one. If I can fuse them into a new power before breaking through," Lin Yuan shared his idea, drawn from days of continuous thought with heaven-defying insight.
"Fuse yin and yang? Combining the Moon's and Sun's Limitlessness?" Daoist Pingyang swallowed, startled by Lin Yuan's plan.
It was like merging fire and water, where the common outcome was both extinguishing and partially evaporating, or one overpowering the other with mutual destruction often most likely.
"You're mad. Truly mad. No one throughout history, not even the original Heavenly Master, would dare this. It's unthinkable for future generations," Daoist Pingyang muttered, seeing Lin Yuan's eyes filled with disbelief at what seemed like a suicidal idea.
The ancient dared not attempt it, nor could successors achieve it, because melding such extremes within the body ventured into certain peril.
As Daoist Pingyang said nothing more and left, Lin Yuan walked out of the Dao Repository, overlooking the mountain.
"The ancients feared, and successors couldn't," Lin Yuan lifted his gaze.
Within his eyes, the forces of yin and yang intertwined and collided constantly.
"I will dare."