"Refreshing!"
The leap in his strength let him truly experience the feeling of transcending the ordinary, and an unprecedented sense of security welled up within him.
Unfortunately, he did not have much time today to savor this newfound power.
After running for the time it took to drink a cup of tea, once the excitement in his heart had somewhat settled, Jiang Xuan bade Xia He farewell and prepared to head home.
Xia He did not stop him. Before he left, she merely told him something. "I've already found you a place to stay in Yellow Mud Village. If you ever finish cultivating late, you can come stay there anytime."
"Thank you, Senior Sister."
After cupping his fists in thanks to Xia He, Jiang Xuan boarded a flying boat and hurried home. Nothing unexpected happened along the way. After the time it took for an incense stick to burn, Jiang Xuan returned home and fell into a deep sleep.
The next day, after greeting his mother, he headed straight for Star Daoist Academy.
Upon reaching the training grounds, Jiang Xuan immediately found Dong Hao and apologized with a wry smile. "Sorry. After successfully joining an Inner Disciple lineage yesterday, I got absorbed in cultivation. By the time I came to my senses, it was already late, and I had missed the banquet. I hope you can forgive me."
"No matter, no matter." Before Jiang Xuan came to apologize, Dong Hao truly had felt a little uncomfortable.
He had waited outside the restaurant for a long time yesterday, and he had worried that Jiang Xuan might become arrogant and conceited after being rated outstanding.
But Jiang Xuan's sincere explanation now assured him that the Jiang Xuan he valued was still a principled person. That let him breathe a sigh of relief.
At the same time, a trace of curiosity rose within him.
"Brother Jiang, did you successfully join Star Sword Peak?"
"No, I joined..."
Just as Jiang Xuan was about to mention that he had joined Four Seasons Valley, a cool voice suddenly came from the side.
"I'm sorry about yesterday. I was the one who implicated you."
The person who spoke was naturally Xie Hanyan, the member of Jiang Xuan's group with the highest Spirit Root talent.
Her first sentence did not particularly concern Jiang Xuan. What made him raise his brow was her next sentence. "I asked Senior Sister Su Xingying for a favor. She has allowed you to challenge Star Sword Peak again this afternoon."
"Allowed to challenge the peak?" Dong Hao froze at Xie Hanyan's words and instinctively asked, "What does that mean?"
"It's nothing. Star Sword Peak simply found a disciple with such mediocre talent as mine beneath their notice." Jiang Xuan's tone was calm when speaking of being turned away by Star Sword Peak, as though he were talking about someone else. There was not the slightest ripple in his eyes.
After briefly explaining the matter in a few words, he looked at Xie Hanyan and said decisively, "Thank you for your concern, Miss Xie, but there's no need. I've already joined another Dao Branch."
Xie Hanyan's expression stiffened, then she apologized again. "I'm sorry."
Jiang Xuan could guess part of the reason for her apology. In her eyes, Star Sword Peak was a top-tier middle-grade Dao Branch within the sect, far stronger than whatever Dao Branch Jiang Xuan had hastily found.
Because of her, Jiang Xuan had missed his chance to enter Star Sword Peak. Naturally, this left her filled with guilt.
"If you encounter any difficulties in cultivation in the future, you may come find me."
This was the compensation she could offer. Although Jiang Xuan had no need for it at all, her sense of responsibility still made him feel quite comfortable.
It also made Jiang Xuan chuckle. "You don't need to feel guilty. The Dao Branch I've joined is very good, and I feel very comfortable there. Besides, I don't think my Dao Branch is inferior to Star Sword Peak."
Naturally, Xie Hanyan did not believe him. She only assumed Jiang Xuan was saying polite words to comfort her.
Dong Hao, standing to the side, naturally did not believe that the Dao Branch Jiang Xuan had chosen could compare to Star Sword Peak either. But the threshold for middle-grade Dao Branches was beyond anything he could speak on, so he could only pat Jiang Xuan on the shoulder and comfort him. "Actually, joining a lower-grade Dao Branch is quite good too. Middle-grade Dao Branches may look glamorous, but we're only probationary disciples right now. They don't need to invest many resources in us, so naturally they're easy to enter."
"But after the Hundred-Day Examination, when they officially take us in as Inner Disciples and need to devote themselves to nurturing us, the requirements become unimaginably strict."
"So for people like us, joining a lower-grade Dao Branch is actually much more reliable than squeezing our way into a middle-grade Dao Branch until our heads bleed."
This string of consolations left Jiang Xuan speechless.
He had never felt that missing out on Star Sword Peak was a loss.
But he knew even better that no matter what he said now, others would only take it as him stubbornly refusing to admit defeat. So he simply did not explain any further.
"Fine. Think whatever you want."
As he spoke, the bell for morning lessons faintly rang out. Yet Jiang Xuan had no intention of staying—after cultivating the Nine-Breath Qi-Absorption Art to the third realm, he cultivated while walking, standing, sitting, and lying down. He had seemed to be asleep last night, but in truth, his technique had circulated without stopping the entire night. His stomach was already completely empty, and his face held a trace of hard-to-conceal pallor.
In his current state, he urgently needed to consume spiritual food to replenish himself.
After greeting Dong Hao and tossing a Purifying Heart Incantation at Cheng Xiu, Jiang Xuan left Star Daoist Academy directly, boarded a flying boat, and rushed toward Four Seasons Valley.
Yet while the flying boat sped toward Four Seasons Valley, Jiang Xuan's expression suddenly froze as realization belatedly struck him.
Wait, Xie Hanyan and Dong Hao kept thinking I was upset and putting on a brave front... could it be because my face looks so pale from depleted qi and blood?
"..."
That thought flashed through his mind for only an instant before he cast it aside. To him, what others thought had never mattered.
"Whoosh..."
As the flying boat raced onward, it soon descended outside Four Seasons Valley. What surprised Jiang Xuan somewhat was that Xia He was already waiting there. Moreover, she had deliberately dressed up today.
The girl who usually tied up her black hair casually had loosely gathered it into a half-up bun today, fastening it with an icy-silk lotus-green ribbon. The rest of her long hair flowed over her shoulders and back like a stream of black ink.
Of course, she had not applied much makeup. There was only the faintest blush on her cheeks, her lips were the color of cherries, and shallow dimples appeared when she smiled. She was as clean and pure as snow freshly melted atop a mountain peak.
The moment she spotted Jiang Xuan in the distance, she ran over happily. Yet this time, she carried a modest restraint unique to a young girl and no longer approached him as fearlessly as she had yesterday.
"I've already told Granny Blue about your situation. Shall we go over now?"
"No." Jiang Xuan shook his head, looking a little embarrassed. "Let's eat first... You said that as long as I joined Four Seasons Valley, you'd let me eat my fill first."
"Pfft..." Xia He could not help covering her mouth and laughing softly. But she quickly composed herself and said seriously, "Of course. In Four Seasons Valley, no matter what, we will never let you go hungry."
As she spoke, she led Jiang Xuan toward Yellow Mud Village.
But unlike yesterday, Jiang Xuan was not taken to gather vegetables, fruits, and grain within Four Seasons Valley. Xia He brought him to Wu Shan's courtyard instead and asked this senior brother to cook him a spiritual meal.
Naturally, Wu Shan had no objection.
Before rolling up his sleeves to prepare the ingredients, the tall and honest senior brother asked Jiang Xuan, "Junior Brother, what would you like to eat? Delicacies from the sea or treasures from the mountains?"
Jiang Xuan said, "I don't really mind what it is, but I'd like food that replenishes qi and blood. Also, make a lot of it. You know, I have a big appetite."
"Ha ha ha..." Wu Shan slapped his chest and laughed heartily. "Don't worry about that! When I, Wu Shan, cook, how could I possibly let anyone leave hungry?"
With that, he brought over a huge basin of Spirit Rice, took out some spiritual fruits, and produced a glossy black spiritual bird along with a treasure fish gleaming with golden-red light.
After cleaning the ingredients, he brought out a heavy bronze cauldron as tall as a person and put everything into it.
For the final cooking, he did not use ordinary fire—he pressed both hands against the great cauldron and activated the Sunflame nurtured by Summer Valley's Flameglory Supreme Profound Canon, heating both the cauldron and the food within it.
While cooking, he did not forget to take the time to instruct Jiang Xuan.
"Summer is flourishing abundance, the peak of yang. Sunflame is inseparably linked to the sun. Thus, Summer Valley's cultivation borrows the sun's supreme yang power to nurture Sunflame."
"This fire can temper the body, refine medicine, cook food, and fight enemies... Grain in Ear: Blossoming Flame Tree is also activated with the power of Sunflame."
"At the same time, every form of control over fire is part of Summer Valley's cultivation."
"If you wish to cultivate the Four Seasons Cycle, you must understand the mysteries of summer's fire... Besides practicing the sword, it would be best for you to pay attention to fire as well."
Jiang Xuan said, "Thank you for the reminder, Senior Brother."
At the beginning of the cooking, Wu Shan still had enough energy to instruct Jiang Xuan. But halfway through, he had no spare attention left.
The cauldron was heavy, and Wu Shan had to exert all his strength to make the flames penetrate it.
Moreover, while cooking, he had to continuously toss the cauldron, which weighed several thousand jin, so that the food inside would roll about and heat evenly.
It could only be said that Wu Shan had truly integrated cooking with cultivation. Not only was he practicing fire—he was tempering his physique as well.
Boom!
With the Sunflame, the cooking process was rather quick.
In merely the time it took for an incense stick to burn, the meal was finished.
"Whew..."
After letting out a long breath and wiping the sweat from his forehead with a white cloth, Wu Shan placed the great cauldron before Jiang Xuan and slowly lifted its lid.
"Clang—!"
When the lid was lifted, the first thing that entered Jiang Xuan's sight was not food, but light! A dazzling golden radiance suddenly burst forth from the cauldron, making Jiang Xuan instinctively raise a hand to shield his eyes.
At the same time, countless astonished thoughts rose in his heart.
This is actually glowing cuisine.
But Jiang Xuan's astonishment came quickly and left just as quickly. One breath later, he had no mind to care about it anymore.
"Gulp..."
As the cauldron lid opened, what emerged alongside the light was a rich, mellow, sweet fragrance of rice.
The scent was so enticing that merely smelling it sent a wave of hunger through Jiang Xuan's body and mind. His saliva began to secrete rapidly.
This embarrassed Jiang Xuan somewhat, but he soon realized he was not the only one losing composure. Beside him, Xia He had already eaten her fill, yet when she smelled that fragrance, a soft rumble came from her stomach as well, making her little face flush red.
"Ha ha ha..." Senior Brother Wu Shan, on the other hand, laughed with great delight. "Don't feel embarrassed. My cooking is among the best in all of Four Seasons Valley. The last time Senior Sister Yingyue came by, even someone as particular about manners as her ate a full eight huge bowls of rice."
As he spoke, he also served out the rice from the cauldron.
Simmered with Sunflame, the grain's spiritual energy had perfectly melded with the fat from the black chicken and treasure fish, dyeing every grain of rice a warm, lustrous golden color that made one's mouth water at the sight.
"Golden Sun Braised Rice, please enjoy! Also, be careful while eating. Don't stuff yourself too full."