However, when Jiang Xuan chewed up and swallowed the winter ingredients, he touched, within the withered and silent vegetation, that thread of vitality buried deep in the roots underground—clutched tightly, refusing to be extinguished.
Indeed, because it had faced the ultimate cold and annihilation head-on, that thread of vitality had been tempered until it became ever more tenacious, ever more brilliant.
Is this life? Unyielding, never surrendering...
Crack.
More than half of the winter ingredients were soon eaten as well, and Jiang Xuan's chopsticks fell once more upon the spring greens.
Thus, through this Feast Ritual, he had personally and completely experienced an entire Four Seasons Cycle.
Then came the second cycle, the third...
Crack, crack...
Although Jiang Xuan treated every bite of food with meticulous care, always chewing it thoroughly and fully comprehending the ingredients' life trajectories, spiritual essence, and Dao intent before slowly swallowing them,
under the Feast Ritual's enhancement, his chewing and digestion were astonishingly fast, without the slightest pause from beginning to end.
In the end, in no more than the time it took an incense stick to burn, he had eaten every ingredient on the table representing the four seasons clean.
When the final bite went down, the Feast Ritual came to a complete close, and the solemn yet strange aura around him quietly dissipated.
"Phew—"
The instant the ritual ended, the first feeling that rose in Jiang Xuan's heart was utter satisfaction.
A dense vitality so abundant it nearly overflowed coursed freely through his limbs and bones. With this vast energy as his foundation, Jiang Xuan could finally circulate the Nine-Breath Qi-Absorption Art at full force without reservation.
At this moment, he did not even need to draw in external spiritual qi—the Four Seasons Valley had been generous. Many of the foods they had used for the assessment were spiritual items. Though they were only the lowest grade, a Spirit Plant was still a Spirit Plant, containing abundant spiritual qi.
While the Feast Ritual was in operation, Jiang Xuan had locked all that spiritual qi within his body.
Now, as the Nine-Breath Qi-Absorption Art circulated at high speed, that unceasing spiritual qi was rapidly refined into Jiang Xuan's own Spell Power. Then, like rivers pouring into the sea, the surging Spell Power was driven by him to assault and nourish Aperture after Aperture within his body.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
One, two, three... In a short time, Jiang Xuan opened three entirely new Apertures in one go. Even the Apertures he had previously opened became increasingly stable and complete under the nourishment of the vast Spell Power.
"What a fast pace!"
In Spirit Pivot Aperture Opening, the first realm of cultivation, there had always been three major obstacles. The first was locating Apertures: a Cultivator had to first discern the positions of those Apertures, faintly visible between spirit and flesh, before they could speak of opening them. The second was the depletion of qi and blood. The core of cultivation in this realm was Refining Essence into Qi, and essence, primordial energy, and blood were the foundation of everything. The third was the cultivation method—the sole medium through which ownerless spiritual qi drifting between heaven and earth could be converted into controllable Spell Power.
Yet now, Jiang Xuan had overcome all three great obstacles.
The Feast Ritual had filled Jiang Xuan's body with abundant life energy, while the Nine-Breath Qi-Absorption Art bound through the Dao Foundation Contract had transformed this ordinary cultivation method into an exclusive art tailored to Jiang Xuan, the one most perfectly suited to him.
Lastly came the Clearheart Mirror. Its Self-Observation property meant Jiang Xuan's Apertures were never hidden, but as clear as though he had unlocked full-map vision.
With all three combined, Jiang Xuan finally experienced firsthand what it meant to be a true cultivation genius.
So cultivation could actually be this smooth, this exhilarating!
The surging Spell Power within his body and his rapidly rising cultivation made Jiang Xuan feel somewhat intoxicated. Thus, even though the Feast Ritual had already ended, he did not immediately open his eyes. Instead, he closed them and focused, carefully sensing the changes within his body and thoroughly stabilizing his soaring cultivation.
When he finished his cultivation once more, the aura around him had already grown far stronger.
"Refreshing! I really did choose the Gourmet profession well..."
The excitement in his heart had yet to fade when Jiang Xuan slowly opened his eyes. Yet the moment his lashes lifted, the sight before him made his heart leap, and he instinctively held his breath.
It was not that he was overreacting. Jiang Xuan simply had not expected that the instant he opened his eyes, he would see a delicate, lively little face close before him, their noses nearly touching.
The girl's skin was like lustrous jade, a faint blush of excitement spread across her cheeks. Her clear almond eyes shone like stars as she stared at him without blinking, filled with praise and delight for him.
Because they were so close, the fresh scent of grass and wood in her breath wafted directly onto Jiang Xuan's face.
"Too close." Jiang Xuan instinctively leaned back at the sight.
The one who had acted this way was naturally Xia He, whose heart was filled with excitement that the Four Seasons Valley had welcomed a genius. Seeing Jiang Xuan return from his cultivation, she immediately leaned close and crisply announced the result, "You passed!"
As she spoke, her fair, jade-like hands still clutched Jiang Xuan's sleeve tightly, urgently tugging him toward Yellow Mud Village as though afraid he would run away the very next second.
Her anxious appearance left Jiang Xuan unsure whether to laugh or cry. Still, being valued like this was far better than being treated as though he were invisible at Star Sword Peak. Besides, the disciples of Four Seasons Valley had all left him with a very good impression.
"Stop pulling. I won't run. Since I came to Four Seasons Valley for the assessment, I came intending to train here."
Xia He nodded at first, but she quickly said nervously, "Not just train. From now on, you'll be a disciple of our Four Seasons Valley. As long as you join us, I guarantee you'll become an Inner Disciple!"
Xia He's promise made Jiang Xuan raise a brow, while the remaining ordinary students in the area looked on with envy, even softening their breathing.
Anyone with even a little discernment could tell that Xia He held no ordinary position in Four Seasons Valley. She was most likely the direct legitimate daughter of a sect elder, perhaps even the Valley Master. A promise made in her own words was practically the same as firmly placing an Inner Disciple slot into Jiang Xuan's hands.
No matter how declined Four Seasons Valley might be, it was still an orthodox mid-tier Dao Branch under the Divine Firmament Sect. Securing an Inner Disciple position was enough to make these students green with envy.
Only Jiang Xuan did not immediately agree.
Cultivation and one's horizons rose as one. Previously, Jiang Xuan's goal had merely been to enter the inner sect.
But now, fortune had erupted. His transferred Gourmet profession had advanced to Treasure Grade, and he had obtained the Feast Ritual, which perfectly matched his current circumstances. Naturally, Jiang Xuan's ambitions had grown accordingly.
"We..."
Seeing that Jiang Xuan had yet to nod, Xia He, lively by nature but somewhat impatient, immediately wanted to persuade him further. Yet the words had only just left her mouth when Meng Yingyue, walking over from the side, interrupted her.
"Hehe, don't rush. The various Dao Branches choose disciples, and disciples choose Dao Branches as well. 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. Hearing this, the girl immediately nodded. "Sister Yingyue is right! I'll take Junior Brother Jiang Xuan around our Four Seasons Valley right away."
This time, Jiang Xuan did not refuse.
And so, following Xia He, the two first arrived at Spring Valley.
Whoosh—
The moment he entered the valley, Jiang Xuan felt his vision suddenly open up, as though he had stepped into another world.
It was already late autumn in September outside, and the wind carried the chill of desolation. Yet warm air washed over him within the valley. It was the scene of mid-spring, when winter's cold had just dispersed and all things revived.
This familiar essence of spring also stirred the Spring Resurgence Dao Resonance he had personally experienced during the Feast Ritual, causing his heart to tremble slightly.
Just as his heart was stirred, Xia He beside him began chattering away, explaining the mysteries of Spring Valley as though reciting treasures from her own home:
"This Spring Valley was a blessed land specially created by the predecessors and sages of our Four Seasons Valley, using the Eternal Everlasting Spring Formation together with countless heavenly treasures, rare objects, and Spirit Treasures. Not only is it spring all year round, the Spring Dao Resonance here has been amplified to the utmost."
"Here, Cultivators find it much easier to cultivate the Forest of Myriad Spirits Heart Sutra. We've also planted many things associated with spring here. Beyond that, this place possesses the effects of Spring Rain Revival and Spring Thunder Soul Tempering..."
"Oh, right. The Forest of Myriad Spirits Heart Sutra is Spring Valley's primary cultivation method. When you cultivate it, you first condense a Spirit Seed in your dantian. Then, depending on your constitution, visualization, and comprehension, the Spirit Seed inside you can evolve into all kinds of Spirit Wood. Even legendary divine trees can be evolved... Our Four Seasons Valley's founder, Daoist Tongxuan, once evolved a seed of Jianmu, able to sense heaven and earth with a single thought! Back then, our Four Seasons Valley was also a renowned Upper Branch within the Divine Firmament Sect..."
Led by Xia He, Jiang Xuan toured the entirety of Four Seasons Valley.
Then he discovered that Four Seasons Valley was a Dao Branch with deep roots and a long history, one that had 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 with grand formations and rare treasures, were not only superb cultivation grounds but also the Four Seasons Lineage's Spirit Plant cultivation bases;
There were also many Spell Arts here. Aside from the primary cultivation methods corresponding to the four branches of spring, summer, autumn, and winter, the sages of Four Seasons Valley had used the Twenty-Four Solar Terms as their core to derive twenty-four Spell Arts, sword arts, and secret techniques capable of borrowing the power of heaven and earth. They balanced offense and defense and could adapt to the vast majority of combat situations in the world.
After making the rounds, Jiang Xuan was left with only one thought: a mid-tier Dao Branch was still a mid-tier Dao Branch. The abundance of its legacy far exceeded his previous imagination.
Even Yellow Mud Village, which appeared ordinary, possessed its own mysteries.
However, after touring Four Seasons Valley and combining his own insights with what he had heard in the past, Jiang Xuan vaguely guessed the core secret of this lineage.
This caused him to turn to Xia He beside him and ask directly, "Four Seasons Valley's qi-refining method doesn't exist separately, does it?"
"..." The moment those words were spoken, Xia He immediately understood that Jiang Xuan had seen something.
This made Xia He's expression dim somewhat, but in the end, pure-hearted as she was, she did not conceal anything. Instead, she laid all the details bare. "Yes. Strictly speaking, the Forest of Myriad Spirits Heart Sutra should be called the Forest of Myriad Spirits Heart Sutra: Spring Volume. The Blazing Splendor Supreme Mystic Canon is the Summer Volume, the Threefold Dao Fruit is the Autumn Volume, and the True Explanation of Returning to the Storehouse in Annihilation is the Winter Volume."
Having heard this, Jiang Xuan completely understood the full cultivation process of Four Seasons Valley's core cultivation method, as well as the hidden dangers within it.
"Sow in spring, borrow the power of Blazing Splendor in summer to grow to the supreme state, condense all one's cultivation into a Dao Fruit in autumn, then endure the death trial of bitter winter through the method of Returning to the Storehouse in Annihilation. When spring arrives the next year, break out of the shell and sprout anew, like withered wood meeting spring... The concept behind this cultivation method is lofty. After completing an entire Four Seasons Cycle, there should be many benefits, right?"
"Yes." Xia He nodded and sighed. "This is a cultivation method that can transform a person from the marrow outward. If young people cultivate it, they can reshape their Dao Foundation, raise the grade of their Spirit Root, and even awaken innate talents and special constitutions. Even old Cultivators nearing the end of their lifespan may have a chance to defy fate and live a second life."
Jiang Xuan did not doubt the wonders Xia He described, but still... "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 a peerless genius, yet even so, not all of them could live a second life.
Jiang Xuan did not believe Four Seasons Valley's cultivation method could be so easily cultivated.
Xia He's gloomy answer next confirmed his guess.
"Returning to the Storehouse in Annihilation seeks life amid death. When young people use this method, the chance of reviving is thirty percent."
"There's actually a thirty percent chance." This probability surprised Jiang Xuan. He had thought it would be only ten percent.
Seeing Jiang Xuan's confusion, Xia He softly explained, "Whether one can return from annihilation is greatly related to a Cultivator's age and condition. Young people brim with vitality and have long lifespans, so they have a thirty percent chance of success. Cultivators nearing the end of their lifespan, however, have only a one-in-a-hundred-thousand chance of reviving."
That made sense. At the same time, Jiang Xuan understood why none of the supremely gifted prodigies had come to Four Seasons Valley.
Certainly, there were countless benefits after passing through the Four Seasons Cycle. According to Xia He, when cultivated to the major completion stage, this cultivation method was no weaker than the methods of the Divine Firmament Sect's Upper Nine Branches.
Four Seasons Valley's founder had once relied on Jianmu, the divine tree that reached through heaven and earth, to raise Four Seasons Valley into the ranks of the Upper Branches.
But the danger of this cultivation method was equally real.
More importantly, those exceptionally gifted prodigies had bright and open paths of immortality even without wagering on this. There was simply no need for them to stake their lives on that thirty percent chance of vitality.
And even if they wanted to gamble, they could seek the inheritances of the other nine peaks instead—Four Seasons Valley's cultivation method at major completion was merely said to be no weaker than the Upper Nine Branches' methods, not necessarily stronger than them.
Not to mention, even if cultivation in the Upper Nine Branches did not go smoothly, there would never be any danger to one's life.