Only after finishing all this did the old man turn to Xia He and ask, "I've never seen this little fellow before. Is he a disciple who joined this year?"
"Mm." Xia He nodded, a hint of pride first rising on her face. "This is Junior Brother Jiang Xuan. His talent is exceptional. After just one taste, he comprehended all of the Four Seasons Dao Resonance. I put in quite a bit of effort before getting him to join."
After saying that, she shot Jiang Xuan, who remained utterly oblivious, an annoyed yet amused glare. Lowering her voice, she complained, "Hmph, earlier you said my impression of Sword Cultivators was stereotypical. But when you see something you like, you forget yourself completely. How are you any different from those sword-crazed maniacs?"
"The only difference is that they're obsessed with swords, while you're obsessed with books."
Her words made Yu Xian, the gaunt elder stationed at the Scripture Repository, shake his head. "Little Xia He, you've got that wrong. What he's obsessed with is still the sword. Right now, he is turning ten thousand arts into sword arts, using ten thousand arts to nurture Sword Intent."
As he said this, he shook his head again. "Trying to do such things at such a young age is rather too arrogant."
Those words immediately made Xia He anxious. Yet before she could defend Jiang Xuan, Yu Xian's tone shifted after passing judgment. With a solemn expression, he said to Xia He, "But the path of the Sword Cultivator ought to have this reckless madness of charging forward without hesitation. If one follows the rules and cowers at every turn, one will never become a top-tier Sword Cultivator."
"Little Xia He, this little fellow you found is good. Very good."
Watching Jiang Xuan, whose mind was free of distractions and wholly focused on the books, Yu Xian said "very good" twice in a row.
His praise instantly turned the anxiety on Xia He's face into astonishment.
Clearly, Xia He had never expected Yu Xian to rate Jiang Xuan so highly.
One had to know that, in any Dao Branch, the Scripture Repository represented the place of inheritance—the foundation and future of that branch.
Its importance meant that every elder capable of guarding the Scripture Repository was an old veteran with the deepest cultivation and sharpest eye in the branch.
Though Xia He was close with several of those old veterans because of her status, personality, and having grown up in Four Seasons Valley, they had always regarded her as a child, an immature little girl.
Xia He herself had never even received an evaluation of "not bad," much less heard "very good" twice in succession. The astonishment in her heart was easy to imagine.
Yet Xia He's astonishment soon became pride and delight.
Pure of nature, she felt no discomfort at Jiang Xuan stealing the limelight. Her heart held only solid, genuine joy—joy that Four Seasons Valley, which she regarded as home, had finally awaited hope for restoring its former glory, and that she herself had brought back this fine sapling.
She raised her chin slightly and muttered in a low voice, "Of course. When has my eye ever been poor?"
Although Xia He and Yu Xian were speaking nearby, not a single word entered Jiang Xuan's ears. Sensing no danger, he immersed all his mind in the scripture before him.
Before long, Jiang Xuan finished reading and thoroughly comprehending the Spring Wind Transforming Rain Art. Then, he moved on to other books.
And so, Jiang Xuan stood in the Scripture Repository for several hours.
Though he carefully studied every volume and instinctively used Sword Intent to transform the Dao he comprehended into sword moves, under the dual enhancement of the Three Purification Incantations and [Heart?Sincerity (Sword)], Jiang Xuan's speed of memorization and comprehension remained astonishingly fast.
More importantly, every Daoist Scripture he read became real cultivation and foundation for him.
This was no empty talk.
Within the game log, system notifications were refreshing without pause.
[You recited the Spring Wind Transforming Rain Art. From it, you comprehended a thread of Spring Resurgence Intent. You understood the principles of water merging with all things, and the highest good being like water.] "Water dissolves into all things, and all things merge into water... Since water can embrace everything, could I use water's qualities to melt and forge the Five-Organ Origin Qi of the One Qi Sword Art into one?" [You transformed the Spring Wind Transforming Rain Art into a sword art. Your Clear-Heart Sword Disciple career experience +337.] [Your One Qi Sword Art progress +113.] [You completed one full Cosmic Cycle Circulation. Your Nine-Breath Qi-Absorption Art progress +1.] [Your Clear-Heart Sword Disciple has leveled up. Current level: 3/5.]
Time continued to pass as Jiang Xuan recited Daoist Scriptures and the Daoist Canon, while the career experience on his attribute panel continued to rise.
Throughout those several hours, Xia He remained quietly by his side.
This sight made Meng Yingyue, who came to the Scripture Repository several times during that period, raise her brows in surprise.
She knew her little junior sister's nature better than anyone. Saying Xia He was bright and lively was certainly true, but because of that restless temperament, she had never been someone who could sit still.
For Xia He to quietly accompany a newly inducted junior brother in the Scripture Repository for several hours naturally left Meng Yingyue astonished, while also stirring a teasing impulse in her heart.
Walking over to Xia He, she softly laughed. "Our Little Xia He has finally grown up."
How could Xia He fail to hear the hidden twists and turns in those words? Her face immediately reddened, and she hurriedly tugged Meng Yingyue's sleeve as she whispered in protest, "Sister Yingyue, don't talk nonsense! I only see Jiang Xuan as my little junior brother and wanted to look after him more."
Though she said that, she was already feeling guilty herself.
She knew her own temperament well. Normally, let alone sitting dryly in the Scripture Repository for several hours, she could not even sit still for half an hour. Yet today, by Jiang Xuan's side, she only felt her mind unusually tranquil and peaceful. That feeling was exactly like the state of mind of the fairy maidens in the storybooks she usually read when they encountered the one they loved.
The more she thought about it, the faster her heart beat, and the hotter the blush on her face became.
But this... was simply her overthinking things.
The tranquility she felt had nothing whatsoever to do with romance. It was merely the Three Purification Incantations and [Heart?Sincerity (Sword)] blending together, causing Jiang Xuan to naturally radiate a clear, pure, and peaceful aura.
No matter who it was, even brawny men like Zhou Qing and Wu Shan, would unconsciously calm down upon approaching Jiang Xuan at this moment.
Unfortunately, Jiang Xuan was currently in a state of self-forgetfulness. And even if he were awake, he might not reveal all his hidden cards. Thus, Xia He had needlessly developed all these tender misunderstandings.
Yet none of that had anything to do with Jiang Xuan at this moment.
No matter how others pondered things, having sensed not the slightest danger, he continued to pour all his attention into the Daoist Scriptures before him and the Sword Intent in his heart.
Who knew how much time passed before an intense wave of mental exhaustion swept over him, accompanied by hollow pangs of hunger from his stomach? Only then did Jiang Xuan finally break free from that state of self-forgetfulness.
"Whew... I'm so tired. So hungry..."
Abruptly leaving the state of [Heart?Sincerity (Sword)], combined with several hours of high-intensity Divine Soul exertion, left Jiang Xuan dizzy and disoriented, his mind a tangled mess. The qi and blood within him had also suffered considerable depletion from continuously operating the Nine-Breath Qi-Absorption Art.
The double assault of mental and physical fatigue made his steps stagger the instant he moved.
Fortunately, a pair of soft hands reached out in time and firmly supported his arm.
Turning his head and seeing that Xia He was the one holding him up, Jiang Xuan immediately let out a breath of relief. A smile tugged at his lips as he thanked her, "Thank you..."
But before he could finish, Xia He jerked her hands back as though she had been burned.
"Huh?!"
The sight left Jiang Xuan somewhat bewildered. He had no idea why Xia He reacted that way.
But he quickly had no time to worry about it.
After using breathing exercises to recover some of his strength, Jiang Xuan looked outside the pavilion and discovered that night had already fallen completely. This made him pause in surprise.
"How long was I reading? What time is it now?"
"You were reading for four or five hours. It's the hour of the pig." Though Meng Yingyue's teasing had left Xia He with an odd feeling whenever she faced Jiang Xuan, she was still willing to answer such questions.
Learning that it was now the hour of the pig—past nine at night by his reckoning—made Jiang Xuan go completely numb.
His helpless, half-laughing expression made Xia He quickly rein in her thoughts and ask worriedly, "What's wrong? Did something happen?"
"It's nothing major... I had dinner arranged with someone earlier. Looking at it now, I definitely won't make it."
Knowing he could not make it in time, Jiang Xuan instead completely relaxed and stopped worrying.
After following Xia He out of Yellow Mud Village, where the Scripture Repository was located, Jiang Xuan first meditated and rested for the time it took to drink a cup of tea. Once his physical strength and Divine Soul had recovered a little, Xia He led him into Four Seasons Valley, where they picked a large quantity of spirit fruits and spirit grains.
Since he had officially entered the sect, and because Xia He valued Jiang Xuan highly and regarded him as Four Seasons Valley's hope for restoring its glory, the fruits and vegetables Jiang Xuan picked were no longer the ordinary produce that grew in Four Seasons Valley during the morning's assessment.
This time, everything Jiang Xuan picked was a spiritual item.
Among them was even a ten-year-old White Jade Ginseng.
Jiang Xuan performed a Feast Ritual over the food. Once the ritual was complete, he, already ravenous with hunger, swallowed every one of those spiritual items.
"Gulp..."
Vast qi and blood and spiritual energy surged into his body, flushing Jiang Xuan's cheeks red. He felt as if his entire body were burning—he had absorbed too much energy in one go, making the qi and blood within him churn wildly.
Fortunately, the Nine-Breath Qi-Absorption Method began operating at full force the very next moment.
And this time, the instant the method began operating, Jiang Xuan sensed an utterly different change—everything was too smooth! The barely perceptible sluggishness that used to accompany the circulation of the method had vanished without a trace.
At the same time, he could clearly sense the endlessly surging torrents of spiritual energy and Spell Power within his body connecting head to tail, forming the perfect and flawless state of a complete Cosmic Cycle.
That completeness made Jiang Xuan's Spell Power inexhaustible, allowing it to be activated at any time and place.
Beyond that, the Spell Power flowing ceaselessly through the meridians around his body spontaneously formed a dense and resilient protective net.
From now on, any attack seeking to injure his internal organs would first have to pierce this net of Spell Power, as well as the flesh constantly tempered and strengthened by Spell Power.
"No, there are also the Apertures. If the circulation of Spell Power is compared to a network of rivers, then the Apertures I've already activated are the passes and fortresses within that river network... No wonder Cultivators are so hard to kill. As long as the Cosmic Cycle Circulation does not stop, mundane weapons can at most cut the skin and flesh. They cannot harm the foundation at all."
"And when a martial artist's inner force encounters this net of Spell Power, it will also be fully dispersed and dissolved... These two careers truly aren't on the same level."
Feeling the round, unhindered torrent of Spell Power circulating endlessly within him, Jiang Xuan felt utterly at ease, while a clear realization rose in his heart.
"Unless something unexpected happened, my Nine-Breath Qi-Absorption Art... has reached the Third Realm: Proficient!"
The truth was exactly as he expected.
Opening the Career Panel, Jiang Xuan saw the clear prompt on it at a glance: Nine-Breath Qi-Absorption Art had advanced to Third Realm: Proficient.
Following its advancement, aside from its marvelous ability to automatically protect the body, the greatest change in the Nine-Breath Qi-Absorption Art was that its circulation had become completely synchronized with Jiang Xuan's breathing.
From this point onward, whether he sat, lay down, walked, slept deeply, or even lay unconscious from grievous wounds, this method would circulate within his body on its own like an instinctive breath, constantly tempering his flesh and guarding his origin.
"At last, I'm no longer a fragile thing that shatters at a touch."
Jiang Xuan was delighted by his increase in strength. Then, instead of hurrying home, he strode through the mountain forests of Four Seasons Valley.
Of course, it was called running, but with Spell Power circulating endlessly through his body, Jiang Xuan needed only tap the ground lightly with the tips of his feet for his body to skim forward like a flying swallow, covering more than ten meters in a single leap.
After running continuously like that for the time it took to drink a cup of tea, not only did he feel no fatigue, but his qi and blood felt smooth and comfortable, while his mind was clear and refreshed.