Starting at the Nascent Soul stage, a rogue cultivator is incredibly poor.

Qingyouzi calmed down and tried to let go of that deep-rooted rejection and hostility.

He no longer viewed this surging malevolent energy as an "foreign object" that had to be driven away and eliminated. Instead, he tried simply to "see" it.

Look at its essence.

Black energy surged and malevolent thoughts howled, bringing excruciating pain and chaos. But what lies at its core beneath these appearances?

It is energy.

A special kind of energy that is extremely condensed, highly active, yet tainted with countless negative emotions and the marks of killing.

Just as fire can burn down houses, it can also cook food; water can drown boats, it can also irrigate fields. Energy itself is neither good nor evil, but depends on how it is controlled and where it ends up.

With this thought in mind, he slowly sank his consciousness deep into his dantian.

That place is where his Dao foundation lies; his nascent soul sits cross-legged there, which is also the root of my Dao.

He cultivates immortality, not with grand ambitions to save the world, but simply to achieve longevity and control his own destiny, free from external constraints.

This thought is the "true heart" that he must firmly uphold at this moment.

The moment this calm and firm "original intention" touched the frenzied and malevolent energy outside the dantian.

The previously rampaging, destructive black aura suddenly paused and trembled slightly. It was as if a raging beast had suddenly caught a familiar yet perplexing scent.

"Did you find it?"

Xuan Yizi's voice rang out at the right moment, with a knowing smile on his face.

"All things carry yin and embrace yang, and achieve harmony through the interaction of these energies."

He spoke slowly, his voice as calm as still water.

"The 'Yang' within you is your initial aspiration for Tao, your true will to seek longevity and freedom. And this malevolent energy is your 'Yin,' the obsession, resentment, and even fear accumulated over hundreds of years of struggling for survival and staining your hands with blood."

"Yin and Yang are originally from the same source and complement each other. But you stubbornly insist on separating and opposing them, suppressing 'Yin' and forcibly pushing 'Yang'. The result is an imbalance of Yin and Yang, with Yin evil retaliating and Yang fire gradually weakening. Naturally, this will backfire on yourself, making the path difficult."

Qingyouzi's mind trembled slightly, as if he had realized something.

He no longer tried to use his powerful magic to suppress or attack the evil energy. Instead, he allowed the pure and peaceful magic power in his dantian to flow out slowly like a stream, gently approaching the entrenched black currents of evil energy along his meridians.

At first, the malevolent energy resisted, like solid ice resisting a warm current, instinctively churning and colliding.

However, Qingyouzi's magical power "Stream" was not impatient and had no intention of forcibly breaking the ice. It simply flowed quietly, carrying a gentle yet persistent penetrating force.

What you need to do is not tame, but lead.

Xuan Yizi picked up a withered branch from the ground and drew a perfectly round circle on the gray "ground".

"Yang is the center, steadfast and unmoving; Yin is the circumference, constantly flowing and rotating."

He pointed it out.

"With a stable center, no matter how the circumference rotates, it can never escape this circle. Your Dao heart and original thought are that anchored center; this overwhelming evil energy is like a ship that may lose control. A ship without an anchor will capsize in an instant in the wind and waves; an anchor without a ship is nothing but a piece of dead iron, completely useless."

Following this line of thought, Qingyouzi's mind stirred slightly. The magical power "stream" surrounding the baleful aura gradually condensed, transforming into a more refined and flexible invisible "thread," attempting to gently wrap around those restless black streams of baleful aura.

He no longer resisted the negative impacts brought by the evil energy, such as violence, resentment, and murderous intent; instead, he tried to understand them.

Those resentments might be the unwillingness of a former opponent to die, or the resentment of one's own injustice towards fate; they are simply lingering emotions that have not been properly placed.

That fierceness might be the ruthlessness that bursts forth in desperate situations, or the resolute power to defend oneself, but it has never been properly channeled.

This change of mind is like a key being inserted into a lock.

"Click".

It was as if some invisible constraint within my body had been gently lifted.

The fierce and resisting evil energy suddenly trembled!

Immediately afterwards, it stopped its frantic counterattack and attack on the meridians. Instead, it seemed to be attracted by the invisible "thread" of magical power and began to slowly... flow along the vague trajectory guided by the "thread".

The originally pitch-black, cold, and filthy evil energy subtly changed color as it flowed.

In the depths of darkness, a hint of crimson appeared, like congealed blood. The pure, chilling stillness gradually faded, replaced by a subtle, restrained...fiery heat.

Upon seeing this, Xuan Yizi nodded slightly.

"It is better to guide than to block, and better to utilize than to destroy. The greatest and strongest force in the world is never purely Yang; the softest and most Yin force is not isolated and without support. True strength lies in the balance of Yin and Yang, their mutual complement and ceaseless flow."

He pointed to where the wisps of smoke that had long since dissipated in the earthenware bowl had originally been.

"Look at that smoke. When it gathers, it takes shape; when it disperses, it returns to nothingness. If you resist the evil energy within you, it will become a root of calamity that corrodes your bones. If you can condense and control it, you can refine your body into a treasure and transform it into a weapon to defeat your enemies."

He looked at Qingyouzi, his tone certain:

"In the future, you can nurture your malevolent energy, using battles and killings to dissolve its malevolent energy and replenish this power, gradually increasing its might. More importantly, from now on you will no longer have to worry about 'malevolent energy backlash.' It will become an integral part of your power, as easy as using your own arm."

Qingyouzi had no time to respond at the moment, as her entire mind was focused on the changes within her body.

He felt that his meridians, which had been sluggish and painful, were rapidly becoming unobstructed as the evil energy flowed in an orderly manner.

A powerful, heavy, yet subtly intense energy, guided by his will, flowed slowly through his meridians and gradually converged.

He carefully guided this dark red, fiery "evil force" from his limbs and bones back to his dantian.

There was no conflict or rejection as expected.

When this dark red "evil force" flowed into his dantian and met his pure magic power, they did not devour or attack each other. Instead, they naturally merged like streams flowing into a deep pool.

The magic power remains pure, but it has gained a more serene quality and a restrained sharpness; the malevolent energy is no longer violent, but is contained and harmonized by the magic power, transforming into a more efficient and penetrating energy form.

As the last few wisps of dissipated evil energy returned to his dantian, completing the cycle, Qingyouzi felt a lightness throughout his body!

The hazy, gray "space" that had been shrouding my mind receded quickly, like a receding tide.

He opened his eyes.

With palms facing upwards, a slight thought arises in the mind.

A fist-sized, dark red vortex silently condensed in his palm. He could control it with ease, as if it were his own arm.

He tried to mix a trace of ordinary magic with this dark red "evil power" and channel it to his fingertips.

"laugh--"

No light emanated from his fingertips, yet the air crackled with the sound of invisible blades. The combined magic was noticeably more condensed and heavier, possessing a ferocious, penetrating, and corrosive quality, its power drastically increased.

Xuan Yizi had already stood up, walked up to him, and gently patted his shoulder.

"The malevolent aura has neither dissipated nor vanished. It has simply... returned to where it belongs."

The old man's gaze was deep as he pointed towards Qingyouzi's dantian.

"It's under your control."

True strength is never about eliminating all 'darkness'.

Xuan Yizi turned around and looked at the old pine tree in the distance, half withered and half flourishing, his voice distant and resonant.

"Instead, let 'darkness' become part of your power."

"The heart is the anchor, holding you steady on your path; momentum is the boat, carrying you on your journey."

He turned around and gave Qingyouzi a deep look.

"From now on, this malevolent energy will be your 'boat'."