Forest of Myriad Spirits Heart Sutra, Divine Tree: Jianmu!

Xia He's promise made Jiang Xuan's brows lift slightly. The ordinary students who had yet to leave the grounds were filled with envy, even unconsciously softening their breathing.

Anyone with even a little discernment could tell that Xia He held an extraordinary position in Four Seasons Valley. She was most likely the direct disciple of a sect elder, perhaps even the Valley Lord's own daughter. Her personal promise was practically equivalent to firmly placing an Inner Disciple slot into Jiang Xuan's hands.

No matter how far Four Seasons Valley had fallen, it was still an orthodox middle-tier branch under the Divine Firmament Sect. Securing an Inner Disciple seat so steadily was naturally enough to make these students green with envy.

Only Jiang Xuan did not immediately agree.

Cultivation and vision were born of the same body. Before this, Jiang Xuan's goal had merely been to enter the inner sect.

But now, his fortune had erupted. His Gourmet profession had advanced to the Precious Grade, and he had obtained the Feast Ritual, which perfectly suited his current circumstances. Naturally, Jiang Xuan's ambitions had grown along with them.

"We..."

Seeing that Jiang Xuan still had not nodded, Xia He, lively by nature yet somewhat impatient, immediately wanted to persuade him further. Yet just as the words left her mouth, Meng Yingyue, who was slowly walking over, interrupted her.

"Hehe, don't rush. The various branches choose disciples, but disciples also choose their branches. Take Young Master Jiang Xuan around our Four Seasons Valley first, and properly explain the situation here to him."

Meng Yingyue had always carried authority before Xia He. At her words, the girl immediately nodded. "Sister Yingyue is right! I'll take Junior Brother Jiang Xuan around Four Seasons Valley right away."

This time, Jiang Xuan did not refuse.

Thus, following Xia He, the two first arrived at Spring Valley.

Whoosh—

The instant he entered the valley, Jiang Xuan felt his vision suddenly open up, as though he had stepped into another layer of heaven and earth.

It was already late autumn in September outside, and the wind carried an early chill of desolation. Yet warm air rushed toward him within the valley, where it was the very scene of mid-spring, winter's cold freshly dispersed and all things returning to life.

That familiar essence of spring also stirred the Dao rhythm of Spring Resurgence that he had personally comprehended during the Feast Ritual, causing his heart and mind to tremble slightly.

Just as his mind was stirred, Xia He beside him began chattering away, explaining the mysteries of Spring Valley as if reciting treasures from her own household.

"This Spring Valley was a private blessed land created by our Four Seasons Valley's senior sages, using the Eternal Everlasting Spring Formation together with countless heavenly treasures, rare wonders, and spiritual valuables. Not only is it spring throughout all four seasons here, but the Dao rhythm of spring has been magnified to its utmost limit."

"Here, cultivators find it much easier to cultivate the Forest of Myriad Spirits Heart Sutra. We have also planted many things belonging to spring. Beyond that, this place possesses the powers of spring rain revival and spring thunder soul-tempering..."

"Oh, right. The Forest of Myriad Spirits Heart Sutra is Spring Valley's primary cultivation art. Upon cultivating it, you first condense a Spirit Seed in your dantian. Then, depending on your physique, visualization, and comprehension, that Spirit Seed within you can evolve into all kinds of spiritual trees. Even legendary divine woods can be evolved... Our Four Seasons Valley's patriarch, Daoist Tongxuan, once evolved a seed of Jianmu. With a single thought, he could commune with heaven and earth! Back then, Four Seasons Valley was also a renowned Upper Branch within the Divine Firmament Sect..."

Under Xia He's guidance, Jiang Xuan toured the entirety of Four Seasons Valley.

He then discovered that Four Seasons Valley was a branch with deep roots and a long inheritance. It had already taken root here when the Divine Firmament Sect was first established.

Thousands of years of accumulation had endowed this valley with a profound foundation beyond what others could imagine.

The four great blessed lands, constructed from grand formations and rare treasures, were not only supreme cultivation grounds but also spirit-plant cultivation bases for the Four Seasons Branch.

There were also many arts here. Besides the primary cultivation arts corresponding to the four branches of spring, summer, autumn, and winter, Four Seasons Valley's sages had used the twenty-four solar terms as their core to derive twenty-four arts, sword techniques, and secret skills that could borrow the power of heaven and earth. They combined offense and defense, suitable for the vast majority of battle scenarios in the world.

After making one full circuit, Jiang Xuan was left with only a sigh in his heart. A middle-tier branch was, after all, a middle-tier branch. The richness of its inheritance far surpassed his previous imagination.

Even that seemingly ordinary Yellow Mud Village held mysteries of its own.

However, after touring Four Seasons Valley and combining his own insights with what he had heard before, Jiang Xuan had vaguely guessed the core secret of this branch.

This caused him to turn toward Xia He beside him and ask directly, "The cultivation arts of Four Seasons Valley do not exist independently, do they?"

"..." The moment those words emerged, Xia He immediately understood that Jiang Xuan had noticed something.

The sight made Xia He's expression dim somewhat. Yet in the end, pure-hearted as she was, she concealed nothing and laid everything out in full. "Mm. Strictly speaking, the Forest of Myriad Spirits Heart Sutra should be called the Forest of Myriad Spirits Heart Sutra: Spring Volume. The Flameglory Supreme Profound Canon is the Summer Volume, the Threefold Dao Fruit is the Autumn Volume, and the True Explanation of Nirvana and Return to Hiddenness is the Winter Volume."

Having heard this, Jiang Xuan now completely understood the full cultivation process of Four Seasons Valley's core arts, as well as the hidden dangers within.

"In spring, one sows the seed. In summer, one borrows Flameglory's power to grow it into its supreme state. In autumn, one condenses all cultivation into a Dao Fruit. Then, one uses the method of Nirvana and Return to Hiddenness to endure winter's deadly trial. When spring returns the following year, one breaks from the shell and sprouts anew, like withered wood meeting spring... The conception behind this set of arts is incredibly lofty. Once a complete Four Seasons Cycle is finished, the benefits should be immense, shouldn't they?"

"Mm." Xia He nodded and sighed. "This is an art that can let someone shed their mortal frame and exchange their bones. When cultivated by the young, it can reshape one's Dao Foundation, raise the grade of one's Spirit Root, and even awaken innate talents and special physiques. Even an old cultivator nearing the end of his lifespan may have a chance to defy heaven and change fate, living out a second life."

Jiang Xuan did not doubt the marvels Xia He described. However, "Withered wood meeting spring is no easy matter."

It was like a novel Jiang Xuan had read in his previous life. Every Great Emperor in it had been an astonishing genius, yet even so, not just anyone could live a second life.

Jiang Xuan did not believe Four Seasons Valley's cultivation art would be so easy.

Xia He's somber answer that followed confirmed his guess.

"Nirvana and Return to Hiddenness seeks life from death. For young people using this method, the probability of reviving is thirty percent."

"There is actually a thirty percent chance?" The probability surprised Jiang Xuan. He had initially thought it would be only ten percent.

Seeing Jiang Xuan's confusion, Xia He softly explained, "Whether one can return from nirvana depends greatly on a cultivator's age and condition. Young people brim with life force and have long lifespans, so they have a thirty percent chance of success. Cultivators nearing the end of their lives only have a one-in-a-hundred-thousand chance of reviving."

That made sense. At the same time, Jiang Xuan understood why those peerless prodigies had not come to Four Seasons Valley.

Certainly, the benefits after completing a Four Seasons Cycle were plentiful. Indeed, according to Xia He, when this cultivation art was brought to great mastery, it was no weaker than the arts of the Divine Firmament Sect's Upper Nine Branches.

Four Seasons Valley's patriarch had once relied on the heaven-penetrating, earth-reaching divine tree Jianmu to elevate Four Seasons Valley into the ranks of the Upper Branches.

But the dangers of this cultivation art were equally real.

More importantly, those extraordinarily gifted prodigies would have bright and open immortal paths even without gambling on this. There was simply no need for them to wager their lives on that thirty percent chance of survival.

"Even if they wanted to gamble, they could contend for the inheritances of the other nine peaks. Four Seasons Valley's arts being no weaker than those of the Upper Nine Branches only means they do not lose out to them. It does not mean they are necessarily stronger."

"Not to mention that even if cultivation goes poorly with the inheritances of the Upper Nine Branches, there is absolutely no danger to one's life."

Thinking that far, Jiang Xuan could not help shaking his head. With a seventy percent chance of death, he would not be willing to gamble either.

Xia He saw Jiang Xuan shake his head, and the radiance on the girl's face instantly dimmed.

"..." She opened her mouth, but in the end, she did not speak words urging him to stay. She merely sighed softly. "I... I'll see you out."

Seeing her wilted, disappointed appearance, Jiang Xuan suddenly chuckled. "You're in such a hurry to send me away? Does the Inner Disciple slot you promised me just now no longer count?"

"Huh?" Jiang Xuan's words left Xia He stunned.

Her adorably surprised expression made Jiang Xuan laugh even more freely. "What, you truly do not want to take me in?"

"Of course not, but why would you... I thought that with talent like yours, you would leave this place and cultivate somewhere else."

Before she could finish speaking, she seemed to think of something. This made her hurriedly add, "Are you planning to choose one of Four Seasons Valley's branches to cultivate? I do not recommend that. Combined, the Four Seasons Reincarnation Art is an Upper Branch inheritance, but if you cultivate only one volume, its power will not be one-fourth. It will be only a few tenths, or even a few hundredths, of its original strength."

The girl's eyes were filled with earnestness, without the slightest selfish concealment. Her pure kindness caused Jiang Xuan to withdraw his smile, his expression becoming more solemn. "I know. But my Spirit Root talent is not particularly good. Even the Middle Branches look down on it, much less the Upper Branches. And according to what you said, if Four Seasons Valley's arts are completely cultivated, they possess the might of an Upper Branch inheritance and can reshape one's foundation. So, I want to take a gamble."

Without question, this was a lie. Jiang Xuan was willing to study Four Seasons Valley's arts not because he loved gambling. The core reason was—the Dao Foundation Contract!

Jiang Xuan had not forgotten that this ability could make cultivation arts perfectly suit his body and soul, transforming them into methods tailored exclusively for him.

Because they were custom-made and perfectly compatible, arts that others could not cultivate could be cultivated by Jiang Xuan. Barriers others could not overcome, he could cross with ease.

"The cultivation arts I cannot cultivate either have rigid requirements, such as special physiques or hidden medicinal pills that must be used together. If I do not possess them, naturally I cannot cultivate them, and the Dao Foundation Contract cannot force an adaptation."

"Or the cultivation art's fundamental outline is flawed, making cultivation impossible from the outset."

"But neither of these problems exists in the Four Seasons Reincarnation Art. The principles behind this art make sense, people succeed in cultivating it every year, and strictly speaking, a thirty percent success rate is not low."

As for the seventy percent risk of death, Jiang Xuan believed it likely stemmed from insufficient compatibility between the cultivation art and the cultivator, as well as inadequate cultivation, making one unable to control the powers of nirvana and revival.

But to him, who possessed the Dao Foundation Contract, these two problems were not worth mentioning at all.

With an opportunity that offered nothing but benefits and virtually no risk, he had no reason whatsoever to let it slip away.

Besides, he had two further considerations for cultivating in Four Seasons Valley.

One was improving his foundation.

Jiang Xuan possessed the Three Purification Incantations. Through breathing and circulation, he could expel the turbid qi from his body and make himself clear and pure.

However, the attribute interface had previously indicated that the Three Purification Incantations had a limit in improving his Spirit Root. At most, it could reach Purple Precious Grade, which was equivalent to top-grade Earth Rank.

The Four Seasons Reincarnation Art, however, might help him shatter that ceiling.

As for the second reason...

"Wonderful! Don't worry, the effects after cultivating the Four Seasons Reincarnation Art will absolutely not disappoint you!"

Before his calculations had settled, Xia He beside him had already burst into an excited cheer.

—Though she had not completely figured out why Jiang Xuan dared to gamble, the confirmation that he was willing to remain in Four Seasons Valley and cultivate the complete Four Seasons Reincarnation Art made Xia He so happy she was nearly jumping up and down.

The next instant, she grabbed Jiang Xuan and ran toward the entrance of Yellow Mud Village. After finding Meng Yingyue and several senior brothers and sisters, including Wu Shan, she poured out this good news in one breath.

"Huh?!"

The news that Jiang Xuan was willing to stay left Di Chuan, Wu Shan, and the others staring in shock.

Zhou Qing even secretly transmitted his voice to Xia He. "Junior Sister, did you not tell Jiang Xuan about the situation in Four Seasons Valley and the dangers of cultivating the Four Seasons Reincarnation Art?"

"Hmph!" Those words made Xia He stamp her foot angrily. "What kind of person do you take me for? I would never do such a thing. After I told him everything, Junior Brother Jiang Xuan was still willing to stay."

Her words made Wu Shan and the others look at Jiang Xuan with even greater surprise. Yet beyond their astonishment, their eyes also gained traces of approval and admiration.

Among them, the usually cold Di Chuan approved of Jiang Xuan the most. "I am also cultivating the Four Seasons Reincarnation Art. If you have any doubts in the future, you can come to me."

His words surprised Jiang Xuan slightly. He then cupped his hands solemnly. "Then I thank you, Senior Brother Di Chuan."

After Di Chuan, Meng Yingyue also stepped forward with a gentle smile and spoke warmly. "Though I do not know what considerations you hold in your heart, choosing to remain is certainly not the wrong decision."

"Certainly, with your talent for comprehension, you could go to other Middle Branches. You might even have a slight chance of entering the Upper Nine Branches. But your Spirit Root talent is ultimately a shortcoming, and true peak prodigies have no deficiencies in any aspect."

"More importantly, those peaks are crowded with prodigies. You are never the only genius there. Even if they accept you, they may not necessarily devote all their efforts to nurturing you. Four Seasons Valley is different. There are few geniuses here. If you stay, all of us will do everything in our power to help you cultivate."

Those words spoke directly to Jiang Xuan's heart. This had been one of his considerations in choosing to remain in Four Seasons Valley.

Of course, merely understanding each other was enough. Jiang Xuan did not intend to say it aloud.

After formally greeting and getting acquainted with them once more, Jiang Xuan cupped his hands toward Wu Shan and the others with a smile. "From now on, I will have to trouble all my senior brothers and sisters to look after me."

Once he finished, he seemed to remember something and added with a smile, "Oh, right. Since all of you have already acknowledged me, does that mean I no longer need to participate in the Hundred-Day Grand Examination?"

The moment those words came out, Xia He immediately shook her head like a rattle-drum. "No! Not only do you have to take it, you have to get an excellent result!"

"Huh?"

Now it was Jiang Xuan's turn to be stunned.

Seeing his puzzled expression, Xia He hurriedly explained, "It is not that we want to test you. It is because participating in the examination brings benefits to you, and to Four Seasons Valley as well."

After her, the gentle-natured Meng Yingyue took over and carefully explained the reason. "The Hundred-Day Grand Examination is the Divine Firmament Sect's annual sect celebration. Those who perform outstandingly in this examination can not only freely choose the mountain gate they wish to enter, but also receive generous rewards issued by the sect."

"The rewards for the top three even include treasures that can raise the grade of one's Spirit Root."

"And in order to encourage the various branches to recruit more disciples, Divine Firmament Hall has made an explicit rule: if a branch takes in a prodigy who ranks highly in the examination, it can receive a large sum of sect merit according to that ranking. This sect merit is one of the core standards by which the sect assesses the grades of its branches."

At this point, Meng Yingyue looked at Jiang Xuan, her tone carrying a solemn request. "Therefore, whether for your own opportunity or for Four Seasons Valley, I hope that during the coming days, you can prepare well for this examination together with Hehe."

Hearing this, Xia He immediately nodded vigorously at the side, clenching her little fists as she declared with certainty, "Rest assured, Senior Sister Yingyue! This examination, Junior Brother Jiang Xuan and I will definitely charge into the top thirty-six!"

"Top thirty-six?"

Her words left Jiang Xuan slightly stunned. He had not expected Xia He, who had personally seen his talent, to set their target not within the top ten, or even the top three, but at the rank of thirty-six.

Jiang Xuan's brows rose, and a trace of gravity flashed through his heart.

He did not believe Xia He, who came from an extraordinary background and most likely cultivated at Daozi Academy, was speaking carelessly. The only reason she could have set this target was because she had personally witnessed just how terrifying those true prodigies were.

Thinking of this, and of how he would not be fighting merely for himself in the Hundred-Day Grand Examination but also for Four Seasons Valley, Jiang Xuan stopped speculating in silence and directly voiced his doubts. "Why set the target at thirty-sixth place? Is there some special meaning to that ranking? And are you not competing for the top ten because Daozi Academy has truly difficult opponents?"

Facing his questions, Xia He answered the first one first, her tone serious. "That ranking naturally has a meaning. The top thirty-six are the sect's outstanding talents personally designated by Divine Firmament Hall, as well as orthodox Inner Disciples. More than half the resources for nurturing them are directly allocated by Divine Firmament Hall. As for Inner Disciples ranked after that, they are recruited independently by each peak, and every resource must be borne by those peaks themselves."

"Moreover, only the top thirty-six are qualified to compete for... Forget it, that is still too far away from us. There is no point talking about it now."

After hastily glossing over the latter half of her sentence, Xia He answered the second question. But this time, the girl who had been cheerful and lively just moments ago suddenly sobered. Her brows and eyes were tinged with a heavy sense of helplessness, and her voice was filled with unconcealable apprehension. "As for not competing for the top ten... there really are monsters in Daozi Academy!"