'By then, not only will Summer Valley's status rise like the tide, my own Dao Path will also become a hundred times smoother.'
Having discovered that Jiang Xuan's safety was closely tied to his own Dao Path, Wu Shan naturally became even more unwilling to let Jiang Xuan cultivate the exceedingly dangerous Four Seasons Reincarnation Art.
Still, he also knew that, tongue-tied as he was, he could not dissuade Jiang Xuan. Thus, after Jiang Xuan refused, he did not speak again.
But neither did he put the matter aside.
When the well-fed Jiang Xuan followed Xia He to learn swordsmanship, Wu Shan did not even have time to tidy up the great cauldron he usually treated as Treasure. He turned and sprinted madly toward the heart of Summer Valley.
'This must be reported to the Valley Master immediately!'
While Wu Shan rushed frantically toward the Valley Master, Xia He had already brought Jiang Xuan to a small courtyard north of Yellow Mud Village, beside Winter Lake.
In the courtyard, a kind-faced old woman was dozing in a bamboo chair. Not far away, Di Chuan sat with his eyes closed, comprehending the sword. Yet he looked rather miserable—his face was pale, and he was drenched from head to toe, as if he had just been fished out of the lake.
"???"
As Jiang Xuan stood there in astonishment, Xia He spotted the old woman and immediately greeted her with cheerful affection.
"Granny Blue, I came to see you."
Her crisp, lively voice woke the old woman.
"Little Xia He is here." Opening her eyes, Granny Blue first smiled at Xia He as she ran over, then her gaze settled on Jiang Xuan, and her brows knit almost imperceptibly.
Xia He did not notice this. As she skillfully kneaded Granny Blue's shoulders, she introduced him excitedly, "Granny Blue, this is Jiang Xuan, whom I told you about yesterday! He's amazing! Yesterday, he tasted the Four Seasons vegetables just once and comprehended all the Four Seasons Dao Resonance!"
"Today, Senior Brother Wu Shan also said Jiang Xuan's talent is unparalleled..."
"To comprehend the Four Seasons Dao Resonance through tasting vegetables and fruits, your comprehension is indeed not bad. Judging from the aura around you, it is no wonder that fool Wu Shan thinks so highly of you." Hearing Xia He's praise, Granny Blue nodded first. Then her tone abruptly changed. "But are you sure you came to the right place? With that warm sun aura of yours, wouldn't learning Grain in Ear: Blossoming Flame Tree be better?"
Jiang Xuan cupped his hands and said calmly yet firmly, "Reporting to Elder, I will learn Grain in Ear as well. But the Returning to Stillness Annihilation Sword is more deeply connected to the mysteries of the Four Seasons Cycle. I wish to learn this first."
"Hehe... another one who thinks his life is hard enough to survive the Four Seasons Cycle." Granny Blue sneered. "But do you know that, because of the danger of the Four Seasons Cycle, anyone who dares cultivate this Dao Art either possesses peerless talent or an unyielding will, fearless before life and death? Over all these years, I have never seen anyone here merely to make up the numbers. Yet even so, the probability of successfully passing through the Four Seasons Cycle is still only thirty percent!"
Those words did make Jiang Xuan's expression turn solemn, and he raised his assessment of the Four Seasons Reincarnation Art's danger by another level.
Yet even as he took it seriously, Jiang Xuan trusted his Dao Foundation Contract even more.
And that made his reply utterly without hesitation. "I will pass through the cycle."
After Jiang Xuan spoke, the awakened Di Chuan also opened his mouth. "So will I."
"Hehe..." But Di Chuan's words only deepened the mockery on Granny Blue's face. "You? You have learned the intent of annihilation rather well, but Withered Wood Meets Spring does not examine annihilation—it examines vitality. In your current state, your chance of successfully passing through the cycle is not even ten percent."
After mocking Di Chuan, Granny Blue turned her gaze to Jiang Xuan. "Since you insist on seeking suffering, this old woman will grant your wish."
"You want to learn the Returning to Stillness Annihilation Sword? Then sink into the lake for me!"
Boom!
"Huh?!"
Before Jiang Xuan could react, an irresistible force suddenly burst from Granny Blue's body. Like lightning, it instantly coiled around Jiang Xuan.
The next moment, his entire body was swept away by that force and smashed viciously into the icy lake of Winter Valley.
"Hiss..."
The instant he entered the lake, bone-piercing cold invaded Jiang Xuan's body.
This was a special spirit land. The lake water was far colder than merely below zero. Even with Spell Power protecting his body, Jiang Xuan could barely resist the erosion of that terrifying chill.
—Only two or three breaths after being thrown into the lake, the cold had invaded Jiang Xuan's body, giving him the agonizing sensation that every limb and bone was being pierced by countless ice needles.
Even the Spell Power flowing through his meridians grew sluggish beneath the cold's erosion.
But facing such peril, Jiang Xuan did not panic or hurry. He did not even try to leave the icy lake.
He knew that within the Divine Firmament Sect, with Xia He beside him, Granny Blue would never harm his life without reason.
Thus, after being thrown into the icy lake, he quickly calmed down.
The next moment, he drew the bamboo sword Qingli that he always carried at his side and sat cross-legged in the freezing water.
Granny Blue sensed this scene, and it made her nod in satisfaction. "Calm in the face of danger. He truly is a good seedling."
After praising him, she saw Xia He beside her and sneered again. "But he is also very foolish. With so many Dao Branches in the Divine Firmament Sect to choose from, he had to come to Four Seasons Valley and choose this death-seeking cultivation art. Foolish to the very core."
Though she said so, she still formed a sword seal and activated the inheritance formation beneath the icy lake in Winter Valley.
Bzzzz—!
As she formed the seal, a jet-black stone stele beneath the icy lake immediately trembled. Along with that tremor, a flash of spiritual light suddenly passed over the mysterious Dao patterns carved into it.
Then, a special message crossed the distance and entered Jiang Xuan's sea of consciousness.
Bzzzz—!
The message struck Jiang Xuan's mind and made it freeze for a moment. When he came back to himself, he discovered that the true meaning of the first three layers of the Returning to Stillness Annihilation Sword had appeared in his mind.
After briefly examining and comprehending it, Jiang Xuan understood why Granny Blue had thrown him into the icy lake—this was the best place to cultivate the Returning to Stillness Annihilation Sword.
"'Winter Solstice: Returning to Stillness Annihilation.' I never expected that the words Winter Solstice in this cultivation art were not merely the name of a solar term, but the Dao's starting point for this sword art."
Winter was the extreme yin of the year, yet Winter's chill did not descend all at once. It arrived step by step.
Winter Solstice was not the coldest time of the year, but it was the true beginning of Winter—from the hour of Zi on the Winter Solstice, the extreme yin power between heaven and earth would no longer restrain itself, but would be released fully into the world. Taking nine days as one cycle, it would enter the long frigid season of "nine times nine, bitterly frozen."
The third nine and fourth nine spoken of among the people were the third and fourth nine-day periods after the Winter Solstice.
At the same time, through the message from the stone stele, Jiang Xuan also learned that the core of the first move of this sword art, which began with Winter Solstice, lay in "about to arrive, yet not yet arrived"!
Returning Extinction was unlike ordinary sword arts, where one tangled with an opponent in battle, sought out flaws, then gradually defeated them through exquisite sword moves.
It gathered all power into a single point—Returning to the Storehouse—and when unleashed, it became a Sword of Annihilation that killed in one strike.
"It is somewhat similar to the Draw Slash in saber arts."
"The difference is that the one-strike kill of a Draw Slash relies on the explosive power, suddenness, and concealment of the instant the blade is drawn, launching a surprise attack against the enemy. It is a move that wins through ambush."
"But the Returning to Stillness Annihilation Sword of Winter Valley is different. This is not merely a sword art, but a tempering of the heart. It requires cultivators who practice it to possess the courage to face bitter cold and fear neither life nor death. Only then can they pass through Winter and revive in Spring."
The difference in their core principles meant that Winter Solstice: Returning to Stillness Annihilation Sword did not emphasize ambush. Instead, it was openly imposing.
The first move of this sword art, [Winter Solstice], likewise did not emphasize concealment like ordinary sword arts. Going against the grain, it required cultivators to actively radiate peerless Sword Intent and coldness to intimidate their enemies—just as when Winter Is Coming, the heavens and earth first filled with a bone-piercing wind.
This might seem unfavorable for killing in one strike, but that was not the case.
Darkness was not the only thing that could hide one's form. Extreme light could also make people see nothing at all.
And Winter Solstice required Jiang Xuan to release a withered, silent killing intent and death intent that covered everything.
When that annihilating killing intent enveloped an enemy's entire body, when every place their Divine Soul could reach was filled with the threat of death, they would instead be utterly unable to judge where this killing sword would strike from.
Moreover, this annihilating killing intent born of Winter would freeze the enemy's body, Spell Power, Divine Soul, and even thoughts, filling them with panic and causing them to throw themselves into disorder.
"A very fine sword art, with an even more exquisite conception. But cultivating it is rather inhuman as well."
Winter Solstice was excellent, but there was a common saying in the world: only through practice can one gain true knowledge.
Applied to Winter Solstice, the first move of the Returning to Stillness Annihilation Sword, it meant that if Jiang Xuan wished to master this sword move, he had to personally experience that endless, terrifying, forest-cold intent.
He even had to undergo one, or perhaps several, near-death ordeals—only if he truly felt the despair of death himself could the Winter Sword Intent he released bring an equal terror to his enemies.
After understanding everything, a trace of bitterness first appeared on Jiang Xuan's face.
"I need to deliberately seek death? No wonder Granny Blue said that cultivating this sword art meant I was seeking suffering for myself."
But that bitterness remained on Jiang Xuan's face for only a breath. Soon, his expression returned to calm.
"Understanding death, feeling death, facing death—these things are difficult. But since someone in Four Seasons Valley has done it, I naturally can too!"
"Having become a Clear-Heart Sword Disciple, I will not be inferior to anyone in sword comprehension!"
"Whew..."
With his resolve set, Jiang Xuan hugged the Qingli bamboo sword and slowly closed his eyes.
At the same time, he pushed his Heart: Sincerity to its fullest and immersed all his mind into the icy chill of the lake, resonating with the omnipresent Dao Resonance of annihilation.
"Hm?"
Within Winter Lake, Jiang Xuan sank rapidly to the bottom like a dead, silent stone and soon entered a state of deep meditation. Naturally, Granny Blue saw it all.
Though this place was far from the icy lake and separated from it by freezing water, Granny Blue's Spell Power was stronger. Therefore, none of Jiang Xuan's movements or physical condition could escape her senses.
And after all, she was Jiang Xuan's teacher, not his enemy. What she was doing now was merely teaching, not fighting to the death. She would not stand by and watch him die.
Earlier, her harsh and cold attitude toward Jiang Xuan, and even her throwing him into the depths of the lake without another word, had all been partly deliberate.
She wanted Jiang Xuan to worry. She wanted him at the bottom of the lake to watch his body slowly freeze stiff, watch his Spell Power become sealed in ice, watch his Divine Soul be eroded by the cold, and experience true despair in the near-death abyss.
Such a thing was cruel, and even more so a torment of the heart. But to cultivate the Returning to Stillness Annihilation Sword, one had to endure this ordeal—this was a sword of death, a sword of annihilation, and even more, a sword of despair.
'It was not I who forced you to cultivate this sword art. I even tried to persuade you otherwise. Since you insisted, you must swallow this suffering.'
Those had been Granny Blue's thoughts when she sank Jiang Xuan into the lake.
At the same time, she was also somewhat curious about Jiang Xuan. Before he arrived, Xia He had clung to her and said good things about him for half the day, praising Jiang Xuan's performance in every word. That made Granny Blue want to know exactly what was so extraordinary about him.
Yet now, after entering the icy lake, Jiang Xuan had calmed down within only three to five breaths. Not only was he not panicked, he rapidly entered meditation within the bitterly cold lake. This surprised Granny Blue, and she said to Xia He, "To calm down so quickly, the little one you found is indeed quite good."
Those words immediately made Xia He place one hand on her hip, her eyes curving into crescents as she smiled. "Hehe, of course! Junior Brother Jiang Xuan is the best! And I was the one who convinced him to stay. With Junior Brother and me, our Four Seasons Valley will definitely produce two true Inner Disciples in the Hundred-Day Grand Examination. We might even charge into the top eighteen!"
Granny Blue flicked Xia He's forehead with a bent finger. "Stop dreaming. The top eighteen is territory for Heaven-grade Spirit Roots. If you two can hold steady within the top thirty-six, you should be burning incense in thanks."