Deep Blue, Add Points for Me!

Jiang Xuan knew nothing of the subsequent turmoil on Star Sword Peak.

After leaving Star Sword Peak, he headed straight for the predetermined destination of this journey—Four Seasons Valley.

What slightly surprised Jiang Xuan was that Four Seasons Valley was not actually far from Star Sword Peak. A single stop aboard the flying vessel brought him into Four Seasons Valley's territory.

Entirely unlike the lofty, cloud-piercing Star Sword Peak, with its jade towers and jeweled halls soaring into the heavens, Four Seasons Valley lay upon a broad plain. Perhaps because it ranked among the middle branches, this place naturally possessed its own extraordinary wonder—the valley contained all four seasons at once.

Standing by the flying vessel's rail and looking down, Jiang Xuan saw lush greenery blanketing the valley's eastern region, fresh willow shoots budding in the air of early spring, when all things revived; in the south, flowers bloomed like brocade, while butterflies danced and bees buzzed;

In the west, waves of wheat rose and fell beneath the abundance of golden autumn; in the north lay a lake, frozen solid beneath ice. Beside the lake stood a mountain, its verdant peak already buried under vast white snow, the eye met only winter's bleak solemnity and stillness.

Jiang Xuan watched this scene of sharply divided seasons for a long while.

Just as he was captivated by this wondrous sight of heaven and earth, the flying vessel slowly descended at the very center where the four seasons met. A plain and unadorned village suddenly entered his view.

"This is the residence of a middle branch?"

Looking at Yellow Mud Village before him, no different from an ordinary rural village, then recalling Star Sword Peak's carved beams and painted rafters, its jade palaces wreathed in immortal mist, Jiang Xuan realized for the first time just how vastly different middle branches could be from one another—far more different than he had imagined.

"How could anyone possibly comprehend the Four Seasons Dao Resonance just by tasting seasonal vegetables? It's simply impossible!"

"Why is Four Seasons Valley's assessment so difficult? Didn't everyone say their core cultivation method was flawed?"

"Miss Xia He, please, make an exception and lower the assessment requirements!"

"..."

The moment Jiang Xuan stepped into Yellow Mud Village, a burst of clamorous arguing reached his ears.

Quite a few students had come here to try their luck, but Jiang Xuan swept his eyes over them and found that well-dressed descendants of Aristocratic Clans were almost nowhere to be seen. Most wore ordinary clothing, and their auras were not especially powerful either.

According to what Dong Hao had said before, Four Seasons Valley's assessment was renowned for its difficulty even among the middle branches. Even disciples of outstanding talent did not dare claim they could certainly pass it, let alone this group of students with middling cultivation. Naturally, their chances of passing were pitifully low.

At this point, not a single person had passed the assessment. Precisely because the passing rate was so dismal, some people had begun stirring up a commotion, hoping Four Seasons Valley would loosen its requirements.

However, their words infuriated the girl in charge of reception until smoke practically rose from her head.

She was a girl about Jiang Xuan's age, appearing no more than fourteen or fifteen. Petite and dainty, she wore a neat emerald dress that accentuated her slender waist, and she brimmed with the vivid spirit of youth.

Even as she stood with one hand on her hip, angrily berating the students gathered outside Yellow Mud Village, the liveliness and innocent charm between her brows could not be concealed by the anger on her face.

"Shut up, all of you!"

After that cold rebuke, Xia He said indignantly, "My Four Seasons Valley is a middle branch, and our core cultivation method has never had even the slightest flaw! Sensing the cycle of the four seasons and comprehending the Dao Resonance of the four times is the ironclad rule for entering the valley. If you can't pass, then settle down and temper yourselves. If you want us to relax the rules, dream on!"

The girl was exceptionally beautiful, and even when she glared in anger, she did not possess much intimidation. Yet as she became angry, two people rose from behind the tables at her back.

One was over ten feet tall, his massive body like a small mountain, vigorous and powerful spiritual force rolling around him; the other possessed an icy, frigid temperament, emanating a bone-piercing chill.

As the imposing pressure released by the two spread outward, the students who had been clamoring moments ago immediately fell silent. Quite a few turned and left with their tails between their legs.

Yet Yellow Mud Village truly lacked the majesty of a famous cultivation branch. The moment those people had walked only a few steps away, they could not help muttering complaints under their breath.

"What are they acting so high and mighty for? Aren't they just a middle branch on the verge of decline?"

"Exactly. If their cultivation method really had no flaws, why would not even one descendant of an Aristocratic Clan be willing to come?"

"Hmph, I heard they couldn't even recruit enough disciples in the previous few sessions... At this rate, Four Seasons Valley will be downgraded to a lower branch before long."

"Crack!"

Though the distant conversations were quiet, cultivators possessed keen spiritual senses. Not only did Jiang Xuan hear every word clearly, Xia He naturally caught every single one as well. The words poured oil onto the fire, making her unextinguished fury burn even hotter.

Just as she was about to step forward and chase after them to argue, the burly young man hurriedly moved to stop her. "Miss, do not act impulsively. They are merely ignorant people spouting nonsense. It is not worth having Miss violate the sect rules over them."

The burly young man's obstruction ultimately made Xia He stop, but the resentment in her chest did not lessen in the slightest. She turned toward the students who had not yet left and snorted. "Stop dreaming in broad daylight. There is absolutely no possibility that Four Seasons Valley's assessment will be made any easier!"

As she spoke, her gaze swept across the crowd. Even Jiang Xuan, who stood off to one side continuously stuffing food and seasonings into his mouth, received a fierce glare from her.

Clearly, she had lumped his behavior—watching the excitement while endlessly eating—together with those who had come to stir up trouble and make a joke of them.

"..." That glare left Jiang Xuan somewhat speechless, and even more wronged. "I never said I wanted the assessment difficulty lowered. I'm not taking the assessment yet and am standing here eating because I'm preparing for Four Seasons Valley's assessment."

That was Jiang Xuan's genuine thought. At this moment, he was working with all his might toward becoming a Gourmet.

But clearly, Xia He would not know that. After thinking it over briefly, Jiang Xuan did not step forward to explain. After glaring at him, the girl had already turned and run to the side, where she began voicing her grievances to a woman with a gentle and quiet disposition.

"Sister Yingyue, look. Fewer and fewer people are coming here. What are we going to do?"

"Don't worry. The time when we truly recruit people has never been now, but during the later stages of the Hundred-Day Grand Examination."

Jiang Xuan could not make out the deeper meaning in those words for the moment, but Xia He understood. Her face merely grew more indignant. "Relying only on those people, we can at most preserve our position as a middle branch. We can't raise our ranking at all! I want Four Seasons Valley to rise again and return to being the top branch it was in Great-Grandfather's time!"

At those words, the woman named Meng Yingyue could only fall silent, unsure how to comfort her.

"So Four Seasons Valley's cultivation method probably really does have problems. They simply possess some special reliance that lets them recruit people during the later stages of the Hundred-Day Grand Examination, so they have never worried about being downgraded?"

Their conversation gave Jiang Xuan a rough understanding of Four Seasons Valley's circumstances, but he quickly shook his head and cast these miscellaneous matters to the back of his mind.

"This has nothing to do with me. What matters most right now is completing my Gourmet advancement... To comprehend the Four Seasons Dao Resonance merely by tasting seasonal vegetables is simply impossible with my current cultivation and comprehension."

With his mind made up, Jiang Xuan immediately sped up his movements, continuously sending food of every kind into his mouth.

Sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, salty, savory, numbing... The types of food he needed to sample to become a Gourmet were not especially numerous, but they encompassed all the flavors of the mortal world. In addition, he had just unlocked the ability "Taste a Hundred Flavors." Vast amounts of flavor information flooded his senses, and in only a short time, Jiang Xuan had sampled all the world's myriad tastes.

Countless special flavor imprints gathered in his mind, unexpectedly giving Jiang Xuan a faint, mysterious sense of inspiration.

Unfortunately, his comprehension ultimately did not count as top-tier. He was not some heaven-blessed genius capable of attaining enlightenment into the Great Dao in a single moment from the hundred flavors of mortal life.

Fortunately, if talent was lacking, he still had effort and sweat.

"Deep Blue, add points for me!"

"Ahwoo..."