In the courtyard.
After feeling things out for a while, Jiang Ning opened his eyes again.
Though the sky was dark now, it was only because winter had set in; in truth, it was still early.
"Still fairly early!" He glanced at the lamplight glowing in the room ahead, and at the graceful silhouette of the woman imprinted on the window. As the candle flame inside leaped, her shadow leaped with it, as though dancing within the room.
Jiang Ning slowly withdrew his gaze, then closed his eyes.
"The Winter Season Treasure Scroll has already reached the Perfected Realm, but there is still some distance before a breakthrough. If the Four Seasons Treasure Scroll is to fuse further and grasp mysteries of a higher level, then the Four Seasons—spring, summer, autumn, and winter—must all reach the same level."
"Spring and summer have both achieved breakthroughs now. Only autumn and winter remain."
"Now is precisely the bitter winter of wind and snow, the perfect opportunity to comprehend Winter Season Cold Intent and push this scroll another step forward."
The thought flashed through his mind, and his mind and spirit spread out with it.
In an instant, his mind and spirit covered the entirety of Guangning City.
Every snowflake, every wisp of cold wind as it flowed, appeared in his perception in the finest detail.
He sensed all things falling silent, sensed the grasses and trees sinking into dormancy, sensed life buried beneath ice and snow.
Then his mind and spirit continued to spread, no longer merely covering Guangning City, but reaching the wilderness, the mountains and forests.
He saw squirrels hibernating in tree hollows, and the winter stores kept inside those hollows.
He saw pythons curled into balls deep underground, and seeds of grasses and trees sealed in ice within the