Devour All Things, Digest Myriad Spirits, the Bizarre Feast Ritual!

As the Feast Ritual fully unfolded, a chilling, bizarre sense of wrongness abruptly spread through the air. Xia He and the other students who had yet to leave all shuddered, their hairs standing on end.

Only Wu Shan, Meng Yingyue, and the others remained unchanged, wholly unaffected.

Clearly, the atmosphere emanating from Jiang Xuan's Feast Ritual could only affect people like Xia He, who had only just begun cultivating. It could not affect Meng Yingyue and the others, who were at Late Spirit Pivot or even Perfected Spirit Pivot.

Still, although they were unaffected, the solemn, earnest aura around Jiang Xuan—even faintly carrying a touch of sanctity—wiped away their usual casualness. Without prior agreement, they all composed themselves and grew more serious.

"Jiang Xuan feels different now. Perhaps he really can pass Four Seasons Valley's assessment."

"Haha, then I'll have another junior brother." Wu Shan laughed heartily. The tall, mighty-looking man was clearly welcoming of Jiang Xuan's arrival.

But Meng Yingyue, beside him, disagreed. Her eyes curved into crescents as she retorted, "He might be my junior brother instead. Your Summer Branch cultivates ultimate growth and unrestrained flourishing, while our Autumn Branch governs the settling of fruit and the return of all things to the granary. Junior Brother Jiang Xuan is so devoted to the path of food—coming to our Autumn Valley would be a match made in heaven."

Hearing the two of them openly fight over him as though no one else existed, Zhou Qing of Spring Valley and Di Chuan of Winter Lake exchanged looks, both showing helplessness. In their view, Jiang Xuan's obsession with eating simply had nothing to do with the Dao Resonance of Spring Resurgence or winter's extinction.

Jiang Xuan naturally knew nothing of the overt and covert struggle among them.

Having completed the Feast Ritual, he merely raised his hand calmly, picked up a leafy vegetable with his chopsticks, and slowly placed it in his mouth.

Buzz—

The instant the vegetable entered his mouth, it first touched Jiang Xuan's tongue. As his tongue tasted its freshness, the tender crisp sweetness and vigorous life force unique to the vegetable exploded across his taste buds.

"Clear sweetness lingering into a sweet aftertaste, rich juices... and spiritual energy. This vegetable may be an ordinary variety, but it grew in a blessed spiritual mountain, nourished by spiritual energy every day. Its quality has long since become extraordinary."

After tasting its flavor, the Thousand-Drawing Tongue activated. Relying on that extraordinary spiritual sense, Jiang Xuan perceived the vegetable's growth conditions and its freshness.

He could even roughly sense its age.

"It had grown for no more than a month... and it was picked this morning."

But that was not the end.

Crunch.

After his tongue sampled its flavor, Jiang Xuan lightly exerted force between his teeth, crushing the vegetable as he slowly chewed.

As it was crushed, the powers of the Feast Ritual and the Thousand-Drawing Tongue were pushed to their utmost limits.

At that moment, every chew allowed Jiang Xuan to touch more clearly the vibrant life hidden within that vegetable.

And now, he finally understood the difference between ordinary eating and this Feast Ritual—a difference as vast as heaven and earth. The former merely filled one's belly, while the latter completely integrated every aspect of the food into one's bones, flesh, and soul.

With the power of chewing and the Thousand-Drawing Tongue, Jiang Xuan completely lived through the life of that vegetable.

He seemed to see with his own eyes its joy when it broke through the soil and sprouted, feel its excitement upon first seeing the morning sun, sense its exhilaration beneath the spring rain, and experience its satisfaction as it grew inch by inch—until, at last, the terror and helplessness carved deep into its being when it was pulled out by the roots.

And he was not merely watching from the sidelines.

As his teeth continuously ground, the leaves were thoroughly chewed apart. The vegetable's path of growth, its life, its joy, and its fear were all ground into pieces alongside it, then swallowed into Jiang Xuan's stomach.

Everything it possessed was devoured by Jiang Xuan and fused into his own body.

This was the Feast Ritual—the most terrifying rite of devouring all things and digesting myriad spirits.

What surprised Jiang Xuan was that, during the process, the Three Purification Incantations quietly began circulating as well. They complemented the ritual's power and multiplied its effects severalfold.

"That also accords with reason. The Three Purification Incantations are originally a preliminary method for revering gods and upholding rites. They cleanse body and soul, rendering them spotless and untainted, making one more able to commune with heaven and earth and align with the divine. Though this Feast Ritual carries a hint of grimness, at its roots, it remains an orthodox Daoist ritual."

"The Dao of Heaven diminishes excess to replenish deficiency; the Dao of man diminishes deficiency to serve excess... This is the purest supreme principle of Daoism."

With the Three Purification Incantations empowering him, Jiang Xuan's body and soul were both in a clear, empty, immaculate state. Absorbing and fusing the vegetable's spiritual resonance in that state, he could more clearly touch the joy and delight of growth, touch the spring resurgence and vitality borne by this fresh spring vegetable.

Ding—

The instant that spring intent, representing the revival of all things, quietly rippled out from Jiang Xuan, the bronze bell on the table before Zhou Qing abruptly gave a clear chime.

This scene left Zhou Qing, Wu Shan, and the others utterly stunned.

"He grasped the intent so quickly? This comprehension talent is far too terrifying! And... it's actually the intent of spring?"

Jiang Xuan's progress astonished Wu Shan, while Zhou Qing felt surprise mixed with excitement and delight.

"Jiang Xuan is actually one of our Spring Branch! Hahaha, heaven is helping me!"

Zhou Qing was also welcoming toward Jiang Xuan's arrival. The reason was that Four Seasons Valley differed from other cultivation lineages: one valley was divided into four seasons, which also meant there were some internal disputes. If his own branch recruited a genius, Zhou Qing's side would receive a greater allocation of resources.

Overjoyed, Zhou Qing immediately rose to his feet, intending to pull Jiang Xuan up.

But the moment he moved, someone reached out and stopped him.

The one who stopped him was Di Chuan, seated at the winter table.

"Wait first." Di Chuan's expression was hard and cold, his tone calm and unruffled. "Jiang Xuan may not be suited only for your Spring Valley."

"How could he not be suited for it?" Di Chuan's obstruction instantly darkened Zhou Qing's expression, and his voice brimmed with displeasure. "If his Dao Resonance did not align with it, how could he grasp the true meaning of Spring Resurgence from a single bite of leafy vegetable?"

Zhou Qing's anger did not change Di Chuan's hard expression in the slightest. He merely said calmly, "You are right. Jiang Xuan has indeed comprehended the intent of Spring Resurgence. But has it occurred to you that his comprehension may be so exceptional that he can grasp not only Spring Resurgence, but also—Four Seasons?"

"..."

The moment those words fell, the scene immediately fell silent. Only after a long while did Zhou Qing's dry voice sound.

"Th-that can't be possible, can it?"

This time, Di Chuan did not answer. He merely looked gravely toward Jiang Xuan.

And he was not the only one. Meng Yingyue, Wu Shan, and even Xia He beside them all turned their gazes toward him.

Especially when they considered what Four Seasons Dao Resonance represented within Four Seasons Valley, their eyes filled with indescribable gravity and shock.

Jiang Xuan remained wholly unaware of the undercurrents and disputes around him.

Having completed the Feast Ritual, all his attention was immersed in the food before him.

Gulp.

As the first vegetable's every trace of spiritual resonance and life was chewed apart and swallowed, a gentle life energy quietly spread through his body.

Seeing this, Jiang Xuan did not pause. He reached out with his chopsticks again and picked up a second vegetable.

This was still a spring vegetable. Its growth path and the sensations it gave Jiang Xuan were nearly identical to the previous one—though no two leaves in the world were exactly the same, there were plenty that resembled one another.

Yet although the sensations differed little, Jiang Xuan did not swallow it with even a trace of perfunctoriness.

He still chewed slowly and carefully, grinding every strand of the leaf's texture into fragments, absorbing its entire life and spiritual resonance, and completely fusing it with himself.

The clear and immaculate state brought by the Three Purification Incantations: Communion with Truth allowed him to touch every pulse and every change in the vegetable's growth without obstruction. Throughout this process, his understanding of spring and resurgence deepened at a visible pace.

Crunch, crunch, crunch...

Amid the fine sounds of chewing, Jiang Xuan swiftly ate more than half the spring ingredients on the table. Then, his chopsticks moved toward summer vegetables, fruits, and edible fresh flowers.

This time, Jiang Xuan gained a wholly different insight.

When his teeth bit through fruit flesh and flower petals, what burst across his tongue was no longer spring's gentle intent of resurgence, but unrestrained flourishing that poured everything forth—the prosperity and flamboyance of burning life energy to its utmost limit.

The instant he absorbed all the spiritual resonance and vitality of those ingredients into his body, he could even feel his flesh faintly stretching and growing stronger alongside that vigorous summer intent.

Ding—

As expected, the bronze bell on the Summer Branch's table rang in response. Its clear chime proclaimed that Jiang Xuan had comprehended a strand of the true intent of Summer Flourishing from the summer ingredients.

This finally made Meng Yingyue, Wu Shan, Zhou Qing, and the others unable to remain seated.

Xia He's eyes shone as though they held starlight. The next moment, she clenched her fists in excitement, her face brimming with delight. "Wonderful! Our Four Seasons Valley is going to produce a genius too!"

Seeing her joyous excitement, Wu Shan, Meng Yingyue, Zhou Qing, and the others exchanged looks. They were all at a loss for words, yet a layer of irrepressible worry quietly rose in the depths of their eyes.

What worried them was not that Jiang Xuan might shake their positions after entering Four Seasons Valley. They feared that... a peerless genius with such comprehension simply could not be kept, and would ultimately leave Four Seasons Valley.

"Should we remind Junior Sister not to hold such high hopes?"

"You do it?"

"..."

The group exchanged silent looks, and in the end, no one spoke.

No one wanted to shatter the light in Xia He's eyes at such a moment. Left with no other choice, they could only continue holding their breath and focusing, watching Jiang Xuan devour the ingredients representing the four seasons bite by bite, watching him step by step toward the legendary Four Seasons Dao Resonance.

"Spring is resurgence. Summer is complete blossoming. Autumn, then, is condensation, is unification, gathering all energy into a single core."

Chewing the ripe grains of autumn and sensing their settled, restrained energy, Jiang Xuan seemed to see with his own eyes a grain plant pass through spring's awakening and summer's flamboyance, finally condensing all the energy and spiritual resonance of its life into plump kernels in autumn. That was the essence of its entire life, and also the inheritance of life itself.

Though the life paths of plants differed through spring, summer, and autumn, they were always traveling the road of upward growth, filled with vigorous joy.

But when the cycle of time turned to bitter winter, everything abruptly changed.

The winter after autumn was cruel to the bone. Under the sweep of endless ice and cold, all living things found survival difficult. Even grasses and trees withered and died in great swathes because of frozen ground and scarce sunlight. To survive, the plants that remained could only drive their roots deep beneath the frozen soil, relying on the nourishment accumulated through the first three seasons as they lay in bitter dormancy amid boundless cold, enduring as they waited for spring's return.

Yet when Jiang Xuan chewed apart and swallowed the winter ingredients, he touched, within the withered plants, that thread of life in the roots buried deep underground—a thread clutched tightly and refusing to be extinguished.

Indeed, because it had faced the ultimate cold and extinction head-on, that trace of life had been tempered into something ever more resilient, ever more brilliant.

"So this is life—unyielding and indomitable, never surrendering..."

Crunch.

More than half the winter ingredients were swiftly eaten as well, and Jiang Xuan's chopsticks returned once more to the spring vegetables.

At this point, he had experienced a complete cycle of the four seasons firsthand, from beginning to end, through the Feast Ritual.

Then came a second cycle, a third...

Crunch, crunch...

Although Jiang Xuan treated every bite of food with meticulous care, always chewing it thoroughly and fully comprehending the ingredients' life paths, spiritual resonance, and Dao intent before slowly swallowing, the Feast Ritual made his chewing and digestion astonishingly swift.

In the end, in no more than the time it took an incense stick to burn, every ingredient on the table representing the four seasons had been eaten clean.

When the final bite went down, the Feast Ritual came completely to an end, and the solemn yet bizarre aura around him quietly dispersed.

Hoo—

At the instant the ritual concluded, the first feeling that rose in Jiang Xuan's heart was utter satisfaction.

A dense vitality so abundant it seemed ready to overflow surged freely through his limbs and bones. With that vast energy as his foundation, Jiang Xuan could finally circulate the Nine-Breath Qi-Absorption Art with all his strength and without reservation.

He did not even need to draw in spiritual energy from outside. Four Seasons Valley had been generous; many of the foods used for the assessment were spiritual items. Though they were only of the lowest grade, spiritual plants were still spiritual plants, and they contained abundant spiritual energy.

While the Feast Ritual operated, all that spiritual energy had also been locked into Jiang Xuan's body.

Now, as the Nine-Breath Qi-Absorption Art circulated at high speed, the unceasing flow of spiritual energy was rapidly refined into Jiang Xuan's own mana. Then, like rivers rushing into the sea, the surging mana was driven by him toward the acupoints throughout his body, striking and nourishing them.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

One, two, three... In a short span of time, Jiang Xuan broke open three entirely new acupoints in one breath. Even the acupoints he had already opened became increasingly stable and complete under the nourishment of his vast mana.

"What a fast pace!"

The first realm of cultivation, Spirit Pivot Aperture Opening, had always possessed three great hurdles. The first was locating acupoints: cultivators first had to discern the positions of those acupoints, faintly visible and hidden between spirit and flesh, before they could speak of opening them. The second was depleted qi and blood: the core of cultivation in this realm was refining essence into qi, making essential vitality and qi-blood the foundation of everything. The third was cultivation arts: these were the sole medium for turning the unclaimed spiritual energy drifting through heaven and earth into mana one could control.

And now, Jiang Xuan had overcome all three great hurdles.

The Feast Ritual filled Jiang Xuan's body with abundant life energy. The Nine-Breath Qi-Absorption Art bound by the Dao Foundation Contract had turned this common cultivation art into a personal method tailored specifically to Jiang Xuan and perfectly suited to him.

Finally, there was the Clearheart Mirror. Its ability to observe oneself meant Jiang Xuan's acupoints were never hidden; they were as clear and visible as though he had full-map vision.

With all three combined, Jiang Xuan finally experienced firsthand what it meant to be a true cultivation genius.

"So cultivation can actually be this smooth, this exhilarating!"

The surging mana in his body and his rapidly climbing cultivation gave Jiang Xuan a faintly intoxicated feeling. Thus, even though the Feast Ritual had ended, he did not immediately open his eyes. Instead, he closed them and concentrated, carefully sensing the changes within his body and thoroughly stabilizing his soaring cultivation.

When he finished circulating his cultivation once more, the aura around him had already grown much stronger.

"Exhilarating! Choosing the Gourmet profession was truly the right decision..."

Before the excitement in his heart had faded, Jiang Xuan slowly opened his eyes. But the moment his eyelashes lifted, the sight before him made his heart leap, and he instinctively held his breath.

He could not be blamed for reacting so strongly. Jiang Xuan had never expected that, the instant he opened his eyes, he would see a delicate, lively little face so close to his own that their noses nearly touched.

The girl's skin was like lustrous jade, and a faint excited blush colored her cheeks. Her clear almond eyes shone like stars as she stared at him without blinking, her gaze filled with praise and delight for him.

Because they were so close, the fresh scent of grass and wood in her breath washed directly over Jiang Xuan's face.

"Too close." Jiang Xuan instinctively leaned back.

The one behaving this way was naturally Xia He, who was overjoyed that Four Seasons Valley had gained a genius. Seeing Jiang Xuan return from his cultivation, she immediately leaned in and crisply announced the result to him. "You passed!"

As she spoke, her fair jade-like hands still tightly clutched Jiang Xuan's sleeve, urgently dragging him toward Yellow Mud Village. She looked as though she feared he would run away the very next second.

Her anxious appearance left Jiang Xuan both amused and helpless. Still, being valued like this was far better than being treated as though he were nothing at Star Sword Peak. Besides, the disciples of Four Seasons Valley had all left him with quite a good impression.

"Stop pulling. I won't run. Since I came to Four Seasons Valley for the assessment, I came intending to intern here."

Those words first made Xia He nod, but she quickly grew nervous again. "Not just an internship. From now on, you'll be a disciple of Four Seasons Valley. As long as you join Four Seasons Valley, I guarantee that you'll become an Inner Disciple!"