Unmatched sword qi forcibly split the solid ice and lake water above his head in two. Its momentum did not diminish, flying straight for over sixty yards and carving a sky-reaching corridor of light across the frozen lake. Jiang Xuan, within Winter Lake, saw daylight once more.
That flash of a sword strike made Xia He's eyes widen in shock; even Granny Blue's pupils contracted sharply.
Yet just as everyone on the shore stood stunned and aghast, Jiang Xuan in the lake... sank into complete silence.
What he had faced had never been a Cultivator of the same rank, but Winter Lake—a creation forged by Four Seasons Valley's sages at tremendous cost, like the incarnation of winter's death.
Faced with such heaven-and-earth power, capable of utterly crushing him, Jiang Xuan could not contend against it even with a temporary breakthrough.
What was more, he had long since run dry. Struggling to endure for the time it took an incense stick to burn had exhausted his final shred of strength. That last sword strike had merely been the final flash of light before death in the depths of despair.
Had he been in perfect condition, he might have been able to escape through that corridor of light—though after getting out, Granny Blue would most likely have simply pressed him back into the lake with a backhand.
"Splash..."
Granny Blue moved swiftly. Seeing that Jiang Xuan had completely lost consciousness after unleashing that strike, she flicked her fingers, and the lake water slowly supported his body to the surface.
Then, she poured a bowl of medicinal soup that had long been prepared into Jiang Xuan's mouth.
Rather than forcibly dispersing the chill, the medicinal soup produced a marvelous resonance with that bone-piercing icy intent. The originally fierce and violent cold qi, devoted solely to freezing life away, was tempered by the medicine and unexpectedly became suffused with a thread of ancient, undying Severe Winter Dao Resonance.
Just as an ancient corpse sealed within ice and snow could remain uncorrupted for decades, even centuries, this chill now completely "froze" Jiang Xuan's body, which was on the brink of collapse, in this very moment.
Jiang Xuan was still weak, still wrapped in cold qi, but under the influence of that undying aura, he would not easily die instead.
Only after doing all this did Granny Blue let out a breath of relief.
Di Chuan was the same.
"Not the Returning-to-Void Annihilation Sword Intent. Good, good."
When Xia He shot him a strange look after he spoke, he hurriedly explained, "I'm not jealous. I just think that if Junior Brother Jiang Xuan learned the Returning-to-Void Annihilation Sword Intent after entering the lake only once, it would make me seem terribly useless."
"It would also make me feel as if all these years of cultivation had gone to the dogs."
Xia He laughed at that. "Of course I know Senior Brother isn't that sort of person. We aren't enemies. The more talented Junior Brother Jiang Xuan is, the more beneficial it will be for our Four Seasons Valley."
Di Chuan was talking with Xia He, so he failed to notice that while he was sighing in relief over Jiang Xuan not comprehending the Returning-to-Void Annihilation Sword Intent, Granny Blue's gaze had become especially complicated.
She had recognized the Sword Intent Jiang Xuan had comprehended just now. What complicated her expression was this: "The One Qi Sword Art... comprehending the Innate One-Qi Sword is only slightly easier than comprehending the Returning-to-Void Annihilation Sword Intent. Moreover, this sword art is extremely useful, particularly for Cultivators who practice the Four Seasons Reincarnation Art."
However, considering that Di Chuan had already suffered enough of a blow, Granny Blue ultimately did not say it aloud—she could not stab the child again. That might completely sever his fighting spirit.
"Mmph... cough, cough..."
"So cold..."
After an unknown amount of time, Jiang Xuan finally slowly woke from unconsciousness.
The instant he opened his eyes, an icy cold that penetrated to the marrow swept through his entire body. Even coughing became incomparably difficult. Every cough felt as though his throat and lungs had been viciously pierced by ice awls, the pain making his entire body tremble uncontrollably.
That cold seeping from the gaps between his bones, along with the extreme weakness spreading through all four limbs and every bone, made him instinctively think that he was still submerged at the bottom of Winter Lake.
Just as he struggled to move, Xia He's voice sounded beside his ear. "Granny, Jiang Xuan is awake!"
"If he's awake, he can sit up himself."
Jiang Xuan forced open his heavy eyelids. What came into view was a simple yet elegant little house permeated by a faint fragrance of grass and wood. Xia He and Granny Blue stood beside the bed, while Zhou Qing and Meng Yingyue stood nearby carrying food boxes. Only Di Chuan and Wu Shan were nowhere to be seen.
"Senior Sisters, you're here..."
Seeing Jiang Xuan force his weak, pain-ridden body to greet everyone, Granny Blue not only did not stop him, but sneered instead. "You've felt your body's suffering, haven't you? For the next while, this icy intent will coil around your body and mind... Enjoy it properly."
Jiang Xuan's brows first furrowed slightly at those words. He did not understand why, with Senior Sister Meng Yingyue and Xia He here, they had not treated him.
Jiang Xuan could tell that he had been unconscious for a long time. That time had been enough for Xia He and the others to treat him—even if they could not cure him for now, they should at least have eased his condition. His body should not have been left so frail and wretched.
At this moment, he even wondered whether Xia He had given up on him.
But the thought was snuffed out the moment it arose.
I remember that at the final moment of the Ice Lake Trial, because the danger outside was too great, my One Qi Sword Art broke through. Such a performance could not possibly be poor.
Faced with someone like me, Xia He would never give up. She would only increase her investment... So there must be another reason for my current state.
Jiang Xuan was rather clever. After thinking for only a short time, he realized why his body had not been healed.
"So my cultivation isn't over yet? This weakness and cold I'm suffering now are the continuation of the Ice Lake Trial?"
Xia He nodded her little head at that. "Junior Brother Jiang Xuan, you really are clever. Sinking into the ice lake and facing life and death was never the end. It was the beginning of winter cultivation."
"For the next few days, you must live with this cold qi and personally experience winter's essence. Don't worry, Granny has already used a secret art to temper the icy intent inside you. It absolutely will not damage your foundation. It's just... going to be very uncomfortable."
"Still, that is not necessarily a bad thing. Only after heavy snow comes a bountiful harvest. Tempering through extreme cold will make the Spell Power you refine in the future more full of life and resilience, as well as purer. It will not only greatly benefit Aperture Opening, but if you later switch to the Myriad Manifestations Spirit-Seeding Scripture, you will achieve twice the result with half the effort."
"That's good, then." Knowing that the cold qi in his body would not harm him, Jiang Xuan immediately ceased to care about it.
For the sake of becoming stronger in the future, Jiang Xuan could endure temporary suffering and weakness.
"Thank you for the reminder, Senior Sister Xia He. I understand... Oh, right, is there food?" As he spoke, Jiang Xuan rubbed his stomach somewhat sheepishly. "After cultivating all day, I'm a little hungry."
"Yes, yes. Senior Brother Zhou Qing and Senior Sister Yingyue brought food for you." Xia He also explained why it was not Senior Brother Wu Shan making food for him that evening. "Senior Brother Wu practices the Flameglory Supreme Profound Canon and has comprehended the Sun-Blooming Dao Resonance. The food he makes is therefore full of yang qi. If you ate it, the Dao Resonance within the dishes would neutralize the cold in your body. That would be a good thing for others, but right now, you need to experience icy intent, so you can only eat the grains, fruits, and melons brought by Senior Sister Yingyue and Senior Sister Zhou Qing."
"That's more than enough."
Seeing Jiang Xuan calmly accept the suffering and trials to come without a single complaint, Xia He sighed in relief. Then she helped Zhou Qing and Meng Yingyue lay the vegetables, fruits, and melons before Jiang Xuan.
Just as the atmosphere in the room became warm and peaceful, Granny Blue, who had been silently leaning against the window, suddenly spoke.
Her next casual sentence left Xia He completely dumbfounded. Her eyes reddened, and she nearly burst into tears on the spot.
"Little fellow, in the ice lake just now, did you comprehend the Innate One-Qi Sword within the One Qi Sword Art?"
Granny Blue's sudden question did not surprise Jiang Xuan. He had never thought that the state of his cultivation technique could be concealed from the senior experts within the sect.
There was also no need to hide that matter. The secret he needed to conceal at all costs was the Profession System.
But that was difficult to discern with the naked eye.
Thus, upon hearing the question, Jiang Xuan merely nodded calmly. "Senior, your judgment is clear. By a stroke of luck, my One Qi Sword Art broke through."
At this point, Xia He had yet to notice anything amiss, nor had Zhou Qing and Meng Yingyue—the three of them did not primarily cultivate sword arts, knew nothing about the One Qi Sword Art, and naturally did not know the difficulty and wondrous uses of combining the origin qi of the five viscera into the Innate One-Qi Sword.
Only when Granny Blue's next sentence left her lips did their bodies stiffen, their faces filled with disbelief.
"Hehe, comprehending the Innate One-Qi Sword cannot be described by the words 'a stroke of luck.'" After that assessment, she fell silent for a moment. Several breaths later, she suddenly put forth a proposal that even made Jiang Xuan raise his brows slightly. "Do you want to switch to another Dao Branch? Your talent for the sword is excellent. It would be a pity for you to remain in Four Seasons Valley. If you are willing, I can guarantee it and send you to Evolving Immortal Sky Pool to study the sword."
Send me to Evolving Immortal Sky Pool?
Aren't you an elder of Four Seasons Valley?
As Jiang Xuan was feeling puzzled, there came a snap, and the fruits and melons in Zhou Qing's hands fell to the ground.
Meng Yingyue, always gentle, dignified, and mindful of decorum, was likewise staring dumbly. The grains and nuts in her hands scattered all over the floor.
"???"
Their reaction left Jiang Xuan even more confused. Before he could ask, Zhou Qing had already cried out, her voice brimming with shock, "Evolving Immortal Sky Pool... the Evolving Immortal Sky Pool of the Upper Nine Peaks?"
Those words made Jiang Xuan freeze for a moment. Then he abruptly turned to stare at Granny Blue. He had never expected that she possessed the connections to let him enter the Upper Nine Peaks.
To be honest, the temptation was considerable for Jiang Xuan.
Leaving aside the rise in status and the admiration of others, one point alone greatly interested Jiang Xuan—the core cultivation techniques of the Upper Nine Peaks began at a level equal to the Four Seasons Reincarnation Art after it had passed one Death Tribulation.
They might even be a level higher—Four Seasons Valley had become an Upper Branch thousands of years ago.
Over the years, because its cultivation technique was dangerous, Four Seasons Valley had attracted no peerless geniuses. Without top-tier talent, Four Seasons Valley had inevitably become somewhat stagnant and set in its ways.
But Evolving Immortal Sky Pool was different. They had developed for thousands of years, producing countless geniuses throughout that time.
Although the higher one went, the harder it became to improve a cultivation technique, with so many astonishingly gifted people, even if the grade of their techniques had not directly risen, they would certainly have been polished to perfection.
This meant that their core cultivation techniques might surpass the Four Seasons Reincarnation Art that had passed a Death Tribulation.
And cultivation techniques determined a Cultivator's upper limit.
It would have been false for Jiang Xuan to claim that he was not tempted by such an upper peak.
That sight also made Xia He quietly clench her fists.
Yet though tears shimmered in her eyes and she was so anxious she was nearly crying, she never tried to dissuade Jiang Xuan from choosing Evolving Immortal Sky Pool.
Clearly, though innocent and guileless, she neither wanted Jiang Xuan to leave nor wanted to delay his future.
Compared to her inner conflict, Jiang Xuan's response came swiftly. "The Upper Nine Peaks... I never expected that someone with a Middle Profound Spirit Root rating like mine would receive such an invitation. Thank you, Granny Blue, for thinking so highly of me."
After thanking Granny Blue, Jiang Xuan's refusal was decisive. "But there's no need. I'm very comfortable in Four Seasons Valley. This place is very good."
"..."
"Crack..."
Upon hearing Jiang Xuan refuse the invitation of the Upper Nine Peaks, everyone was greatly surprised. Zhou Qing's eyes widened round, and she even wanted to persuade Jiang Xuan.
But she quickly remembered that Jiang Xuan, with his outstanding talent, remaining in Four Seasons Valley was best for her. So in the end, she swallowed her words.
On the other side, complicated light flickered in Meng Yingyue's eyes as well.
As for Granny Blue, she was somewhat disappointed by Jiang Xuan's choice, but also somewhat gratified—no one liked a person who forgot righteousness at the sight of profit.