"My good boy. I never had any children. The gods blessed this alone woman with such a good boy." She slowly closed her eyes to rest. A sigh escaped her, as if announcing her departure, and her hand fell from his cheek. A single tear fell from his eyes, and the lingering will of the original Mu Yan dissipated, a will he hadn't even noticed until now. It seemed the old Mu Yan had died due to exhaustion, hunger, or thirst, but some part of his soul had lingered, worried about his grandma. Now that Grandma Shi had passed away, that lingering soul and will also dissolved.
Mu Yan felt something click and a slight light-headedness, as if a burden had been removed from him. It felt as though his soul was now fully acclimated to this body. Even if he couldn't project his spirit or consciousness outside his body, he could feel his blood flowing faster, his heart beating stronger. Suddenly, the pendant in his hand vibrated, and the petrified mud crumbled away like dry flakes of earth, revealing its true structure.
It was a perfectly circular disc, identical in shape to the black coin he now kept within his clothes. Only this one was crafted from a pale, shimmering gold-like material, not mere gold but something far more exquisite, infused with a soft, ethereal whiteness that gave it an air of profound nobility. Even with all his ancestral knowledge, he couldn't identify this material. Pushing those thoughts aside, he noticed this coin was of the same shape as the black coin, but it was pale gold in colour with a touch of whiteness, giving off an air of something noble.
He traced the coin and felt as if words were appearing and disappearing, just like on the black coin. Slowly, both coins began heating up. He tried to throw away the coin in his hand and the one near his heart, but they wouldn't budge. A brownish, black-tinged aura escaped from the black coin and entered his body. He felt as if it travelled to his heart and merged with it. Then, a white-gold aura came from the gold coin and went inside his body, merging with his soul. He moaned in pleasure, as if his soul was being gently massaged. Slowly, he noticed some difference in his soul, and on a whim, he tried to extend his consciousness/spirit, and he succeeded, but only within his body.
He first observed his spirit and noticed a pale gold aura surrounding his soul and assimilating with it. Unsure if this was good or bad, and powerless to stop it, he let it take its course. Then he moved to observe his body. He first focused on his heart, where the brown-black aura was similarly surrounding his heart and merging with it. This aura was slowly being pumped out of his heart along with his blood, traveling throughout his body, slowly assimilating with his main meridians and veins. His meridians and veins, after absorbing this aura, were strengthening. Main meridians are also known as cultivation veins, and veins are the accompanying network that connects them to all parts of the body.