The thought merely flashed through his mind. He quickly gathered his focus and fixed all his attention on the ingredients and the ritual before him.
The solemn Feast Ritual, paired with his utterly focused, meticulous movements, along with the ever-present spiritual resonance of the Three Purification Incantations and Communion with Truth, wove several forces together. What had originally seemed like ordinary motions no longer carried the slightest absurdity of a mortal shaman's antics.
Though he stood alone, the entrance to Yellow Mud Village had been steeped in an atmosphere of utmost seriousness, solemnity, even something close to sacred.
As the spiritual resonance of the Feast Ritual slowly spread, an indescribably terrifying pressure suddenly descended and seized the minds of everyone present.
At that moment, everyone was struck by a hair-raising illusion—as though they had become food upon a dinner plate, while the figure standing before the table was both god and demon, holding chopsticks and spoon like a deity ruling life and death, gazing down indifferently at them in the dish.
As the Feast Ritual fully unfolded, a cold and eerie sense of strangeness abruptly spread through the air. Xia He and the remaining students who had yet to leave all shuddered, every hair on their bodies standing on end.
Only Wu Shan, Meng Yingyue, and the others remained unchanged, wholly unaffected.
Clearly, the atmosphere radiating from Jiang Xuan's Feast Ritual could only affect Xia He and the others, who had only just begun cultivating. It could not affect Meng Yingyue and the rest, who were at Late Spirit Pivot or even Perfected Spirit Pivot.
Still, though they had not been affected, the sight of the earnest, solemn aura around Jiang Xuan, faintly carrying a trace of sanctity, wiped away their usual casualness. Without prior agreement, they all composed their expressions and grew more serious.
"Jiang Xuan feels different now. Perhaps he can pass Four Seasons Valley's assessment."
"Hahaha, then I'll have another junior brother." Wu Shan laughed heartily. The tall, powerfully built man was clearly welcoming toward Jiang Xuan's arrival.
But Meng Yingyue beside him disagreed. Her eyes curved as she retorted, "Who's to say he won't be my junior brother? Your Summer Branch cultivates ultimate growth and unrestrained flourishing, while our Autumn Branch emphasizes the settling of fruits 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."
Listening to the two argue as though no one else existed, Zhou Qing of Spring Valley and Di Chuan of Winter Lake exchanged a glance, both wearing helpless expressions. In their eyes, Jiang Xuan's obsession with eating had nothing to do with the Dao Resonance of Spring Resurgence or Winter Annihilation.
Naturally, Jiang Xuan knew nothing of the open and covert struggle among them.
Having completed the Feast Ritual, he merely raised his hand calmly, picked up a green vegetable with his chopsticks, and slowly placed it in his mouth.
Hum—
The instant the vegetable entered his mouth, it first touched Jiang Xuan's tongue. As his tongue tasted its freshness, the tender crispness, sweet flavor, and vigorous life unique to the vegetable exploded across his taste buds.
Clean sweetness with a returning aftertaste, rich juices... and spiritual energy. This vegetable may be an ordinary variety, but it grew upon a blessed spiritual mountain, nourished by spiritual energy every day. Its quality has long become extraordinary.
After tasting it, Thousand-Drawing Tongue activated. Relying on that transcendent spiritual sense, Jiang Xuan detected the vegetable's growth conditions and freshness.
He could even roughly sense its age.
"It had grown for no more than a month... and this vegetable was picked this morning."
But that was not the end.
Crunch.
Having tasted the flavor with his tongue, Jiang Xuan gently exerted force between his teeth, biting the vegetable apart and chewing it slowly.
As it was crushed, the powers of the Feast Ritual and Thousand-Drawing Tongue were pushed to their limits.
With every chew, Jiang Xuan could more clearly touch the fresh vitality contained within this 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 the stomach, while the latter completely melded everything within the food into his own flesh, blood, bones, and soul.
At that moment, through chewing and the power of Thousand-Drawing Tongue, Jiang Xuan walked through the entire life of that vegetable.
He seemed to witness its joy as it broke through the soil and sprouted, touch its excitement when it first saw the morning sun, feel its exhilaration beneath the spring rain, experience its contentment as it grew inch by inch—until, at last, the terror and helplessness etched into its very being when it was uprooted.
And he was not merely watching and feeling.
As his teeth continued to grind, and the leaves were chewed to pieces, this vegetable's path of growth, its life, its joy, and its terror were all ground to dust along with it, then swallowed into Jiang Xuan's abdomen.
Everything it possessed was devoured by Jiang Xuan and fused into his body.
This was the Feast Ritual—the most terrifying ritual of devouring all things and digesting all spirits.
What surprised Jiang Xuan was that, in the process, the Three Purification Incantations quietly began to circulate as well, complementing the ritual's power and multiplying its effect severalfold.
That does accord with the principles. The Three Purification Incantations were originally a preparatory method for honoring gods and conducting rites. They cleanse body and soul, leaving them immaculate and unstained, making it easier to commune with heaven and earth and align with divinities. Though this Feast Ritual carries a certain grimness, at its roots it remains an orthodox Taoist ritual.
The Dao of Heaven reduces what has excess and supplements what lacks; the Dao of man reduces what lacks to offer it to what has excess... This is the purest principle of Taoism.
With the support of the Three Purification Incantations, both Jiang Xuan's body and soul were in a clear, empty, immaculate state. Absorbing and fusing the vegetable's spiritual resonance in that state, he could more clearly touch the joy of its growth and the spring resurgence and vitality carried uniquely by this fresh spring vegetable.
Ding—
The moment that spring intent, representing the resurgence of all things, quietly rippled from Jiang Xuan's body, the bronze bell on the desk before Zhou Qing suddenly rang with a clear chime.
That sight left Zhou Qing, Wu Shan, and the others stunned.
"He comprehended the intent so quickly? That talent for enlightenment is too terrifying! And... it's actually spring intent?"
Jiang Xuan's progress filled Wu Shan with astonishment, while Zhou Qing felt surprise, 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 was some internal strife. If his own branch brought in a genius, it would receive a greater allocation of resources.
Overcome with ecstasy, Zhou Qing immediately rose to his feet, intending to pull Jiang Xuan up.
But the instant he moved, someone reached out and stopped him.
The one who stopped him was Di Chuan, seated at the winter table.
"Wait." Di Chuan's expression was cold and stern, his tone calm and unruffled. "Jiang Xuan may not be suited only to your Spring Valley."
"How could he not be suited for it?" Di Chuan's obstruction instantly darkened Zhou Qing's face, and his voice brimmed with displeasure. "If their Dao Resonances were not compatible, how could he comprehend the true meaning of Spring Resurgence from a single bite of green vegetable?"
Zhou Qing's anger did not change Di Chuan's cold expression in the slightest. He merely said calmly, "You are right. Jiang Xuan has indeed comprehended the intent of Spring Resurgence. But is there a possibility that his comprehension is peerless? That he can comprehend not only Spring Resurgence, but also—the four seasons?"
"..."
The moment those words fell, the scene instantly 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 toward Jiang Xuan with a grave expression.
And he was not the only one. Meng Yingyue, Wu Shan, and even Xia He nearby 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 utterly unaware of the undercurrents and dispute around him.
Having completed the Feast Ritual, all his attention was immersed in the food before him.
Gulp.
As all the spiritual resonance and life of the first vegetable were chewed apart and swallowed, a gentle life energy quietly dissolved within his body.
Seeing this, Jiang Xuan did not pause. He extended his chopsticks again and picked up a second green vegetable.
This was another spring vegetable. Its path of growth and the sensations it brought Jiang Xuan were nearly identical to the first—there were no identical leaves in the world, but similar ones were plentiful.
Yet though the sensations differed little, Jiang Xuan did not swallow it with the slightest perfunctoriness.
He continued to chew slowly and carefully, grinding every strand of the leaf's texture to pieces, absorbing its life and spiritual resonance in full, completely fusing them with himself.
The clear, immaculate state brought by the Three Purification Incantations and Communion with Truth allowed him to touch every pulse and every change in the vegetable's growth without obstruction. Throughout the process, his understanding of spring and resurgence deepened at a visible pace.
Crunch, crunch, crunch...
Amid the fine sounds of chewing, Jiang Xuan quickly ate more than half the spring ingredients on the table. Then his chopsticks reached toward summer vegetables, fruits, and edible fresh flowers.
This time, Jiang Xuan gained an entirely different realization.
When his teeth pierced the flesh of fruits and the petals of flowers, what burst across his tongue was no longer the gentle intent of spring resurgence, but the unrestrained flourishing of pouring everything forth—the lushness and flamboyance of burning life energy to its limit.
When he absorbed all of those ingredients' spiritual resonance and vitality into his body, he could even sense his flesh subtly unfurling and strengthening along with that vigorous summer intent.
Ding—
As expected, the bronze bell upon the Summer Branch's table rang in response. Its clear chime proclaimed that Jiang Xuan had comprehended a trace of the true meaning of Summer Flourishing from the summer ingredients.
This time, Meng Yingyue, Wu Shan, Zhou Qing, and the others could no longer sit still.
Xia He's eyes shone as though they held starlight. The next moment, she clenched her fists in delight, her face brimming with excitement. "Wonderful! Our Four Seasons Valley is going to produce a genius too!"
Seeing her delighted excitement, Wu Shan, Meng Yingyue, Zhou Qing, and the others exchanged looks. Yet deep in their eyes, an unhideable layer of worry quietly spread.
What they feared was not that Jiang Xuan's arrival at Four Seasons Valley would shake their own positions. They feared that... a peerless prodigy with such comprehension simply could not be kept here, and would ultimately leave Four Seasons Valley.
Should we remind Junior Sister not to set her hopes so high?
You go?
*...*
The few of them exchanged silent looks. In the end, no one spoke.
No one wished to shatter the light in Xia He's eyes at a time like this. Left with no other choice, they could only continue holding their breaths and concentrating, watching Jiang Xuan swallow 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 blooming. As for autumn, it is condensation, unity, gathering all energy into a single core."
Chewing the ripe grains of autumn and sensing that settled, restrained energy, Jiang Xuan seemed to see a stalk of grain pass through spring's awakening and summer's exuberance, until finally, in autumn, it condensed all the energy and spiritual resonance of its life into full kernels. They were the essence of its entire existence, and also life's inheritance.
Though the life paths of plants differed throughout spring, summer, and autumn, they always traveled upon the road of upward growth, filled with vigorous joy.
But when the seasons turned to winter, everything suddenly changed.
The cold winter after autumn was cruel to the bone. Under the sweep of endless ice and cold, all living things in the world struggled to survive. Even grass and trees withered and died in great swathes because of the frozen earth, bitter weather, and scarce sunlight. To stay alive, the surviving plants could only drive their roots deep beneath the frozen soil, relying on the nutrients accumulated through the previous three seasons as they lay dormant amid boundless cold, bitterly enduring until spring returned.