Wu Shan naturally welcomed work that required no thought, and happily withdrew.
Only Yan Shouzhuo remained in the hall, his gaze profound.
"To comprehend Dao Resonance from food... interesting. It seems this old man must cook personally and show him what I can do. But if I truly want to astonish him and make him grateful, I'll first need to prepare some good things."
While Di Chuan buried himself in bitter cultivation and Wu Shan rushed about busily, Jiang Xuan devoted his entire mind to comprehending the Winter Intent within his body.
The process... went unexpectedly smoothly.
The power of winter, and the death and extinction it brought, were the purest powers of heaven and earth. As for Three Purification Incantations: Communion with Truth, it was precisely a ritual secret art created to purify the Dharma body and draw in the power of heaven and earth.
With this ability, coupled with the aid of Clear-Heart Sword Disciple and [Heart: Sincerity (Sword)], Jiang Xuan felt his body gradually merge with the icy power within him until they became wholly one.
"I am winter, and winter is me!"
Under such profound resonance, Jiang Xuan knocked open the gate to the first form of the Returning to Stillness Annihilation Sword—Winter Solstice—that very night.
[Winter Solstice: The First Sword of Returning Extinction]
[Realm: First Realm: Initiate (19/900)]
[Trait: Winter Is Coming]
After reaching Initiate, this cultivation art advanced with even greater speed.
As Jiang Xuan immersed himself in it body and soul, the prompts echoing in the depths of his sea of consciousness were never scattered +1s or +2s, but rather:
[You used the Clearheart Mirror to examine yourself inwardly. You sensed the chill within your body. Through the bonuses of Three Purification Incantations: Communion with Truth and Heart: Sincerity (Sword), your Returning to Stillness Annihilation Sword experience +7]
[You deeply resonated with the icy power of winter. Your Returning to Stillness Annihilation Sword experience +13]
[Your Clear-Heart Sword Disciple profession experience +7]
[Ding. System prompt: You have comprehended a faint Severe Winter Dao Resonance. Your Sword of the Mind can be imbued with the power of winter. When it strikes an enemy, your Sword of the Mind will use icy power to erode the enemy's soul.]
Numerous abilities that increased comprehension stacked atop one another, making Jiang Xuan an unquestionable genius in Winter Solstice and swordsmanship. His progress thus advanced a thousand miles in a day.
I remember that any cultivation art, spell art, or sword technique undergoes a qualitative transformation upon reaching the third realm. I wonder what Minor Achievement in Winter Intent will bring.
With such visible progress, Jiang Xuan grew even more motivated to comprehend Winter Intent.
Yet while there was good news, there was also something less encouraging for Jiang Xuan.
—Because his body remained constantly eroded by chill, even though his Nine-Breath Qi-Absorption Art could achieve Cosmic Cycle Circulation, the amount of Spell Power he refined had still greatly decreased.
"Cultivation arts and spell arts truly are difficult to practice at the same time."
Just like in his previous life, few people could master both theoretical science and applied science.
Yet Jiang Xuan had to cultivate both cultivation arts and spell arts. As an Inner Disciple, the face and pillar of a Dao Branch, Jiang Xuan had to master everything comprehensively. Only then could he support a Dao Branch and allow it to preserve its standing amid the fierce competition of the Divine Firmament Sect—or even rise to a higher level.
This was also why every major Dao Branch only accepted geniuses as Inner Disciples—only heavenly talents could shoulder the future of a sect and its branches.
As for the remaining Outer Disciples, they were all servants who served heavenly talents, elders, and branch masters.
Dragged down by the chill, Jiang Xuan cultivated until eleven that night and had only barely opened six Apertures.
The sole comfort was that, tempered by winter's power, the Spell Power he condensed was purer, and the Apertures he nurtured were exceptionally resilient. Not only could they hold more Spell Power, they also brought a benefit that concerned his long-term future.
When I switch to the Myriad Manifestations Spirit-Seeding Scripture in the future, I'll condense a Spirit Seed. This Spirit Seed will be the manifestation of my Dao and can be called a Dao Seed.
"Since it is a seed, it will naturally sprout branches and leaves like a great tree."
What grade of Spirit Wood it can ultimately grow into will depend entirely on my comprehension of Dao Resonance, the foundation of my fleshly body, and the purity of my Spell Power.
The grades of Spirit Wood differ as vastly as heaven and earth. Some can transform into divine wood after a single Death Tribulation, while others possess only feeble abilities—and the quality of one's spiritual Apertures is one of the keys that determines the grade of Spirit Wood.
Trading cultivation speed for future potential... I can accept that.
That night, Jiang Xuan, whose mind had been exhausted by the chill, did not return home.
For this reason, Xia He specifically sent an Outer Disciple to inform Jiang Xuan's mother that he would not be returning.
From then on, Jiang Xuan settled down in Yellow Mud Village.
Over the next few days, his cultivation gradually entered a steady rhythm.
Every morning, he performed a Feast Ritual and consumed large quantities of spiritual fruits and vegetables.
Afterward, he would calmly comprehend winter's chill while allowing the Nine-Breath Qi-Absorption Art to circulate on its own and refine Spell Power.
At noon, after another Feast Ritual, Jiang Xuan would consume large amounts of spiritual fruit again. Yet after filling his stomach, he would not immediately sit in meditation for the entire afternoon.
During his free time in the afternoon, he went to the Scripture Repository in Four Seasons Valley and read the books within.
This was both preparation for taking up the profession of Scripture Mystic Daoist and a way to broaden his horizons and deepen his foundation of knowledge.
To Jiang Xuan's surprise, studying the classics did not delay his swordsmanship cultivation. Instead, it made the progress of Winter Solstice advance even more explosively.
[You read the cultivation notes of Four Seasons Valley's seventh Valley Master. Your understanding of Winter Solstice has deepened. Your Winter Is Coming experience +72]
[You browsed the "Fragmentary Manuscript of the Four Seasons Reincarnation Art" left behind by the previous Valley Master. Your understanding of the Winter Storing realm has grown deeper. Your Winter Solstice experience +83]
[You studied the "Winter Solstice Chapter of Collected Explanations of the Seventy-Two Seasonal Terms." You gained insight into the Dao Resonance of Winter Solstice's three seasonal phases. Your Winter Is Coming experience +52]
[...]
"Reading is actually faster than comprehending it alone... Truly, books hold houses of gold, and books hold beauties fair as jade. The ancients did not deceive me."
What Jiang Xuan, sighing with emotion, failed to notice was that Zhou Qing, who had specially taken time to bring him some fruits to quench his thirst and satisfy his cravings, had heard his words. Zhou Qing's expression instantly became incomparably complicated and strange.
Could reading the notes of predecessors increase one's cultivation progress?
Of course it could. Otherwise, Four Seasons Valley's Scripture Repository would not have collected so many cultivation insights left behind by those before them.
But was that an easy thing to do? Of course not!
To gain something from the cultivation insights of predecessors, one had to truly understand what one read and possess the ability to analyze and discern, so as to extract the useful parts from that flood of information.
This was not something that could be achieved through high comprehension alone.
Jiang Xuan could accomplish this because the Three Purification Incantations gave him Clarity of the Spirit Platform, because [Heart: Sincerity (Sword)] left his mind free of distractions, and because the scientific education of his previous life had taught him logical reasoning, induction, and summarization, as well as how to compare things against himself and corroborate them with one another.
Only with all this could he finish reading a handwritten record in one or two hours, grasp its core, and extract insights that best suited his Dao of winter. For anyone else, completely understanding a single book within three days would already count as outstanding comprehension.
This... is a true genius?
Because he had devoted all his attention to the books, Jiang Xuan remained entirely unaware of Zhou Qing's arrival and his complicated expression.
Then, upon discovering that studying the writings left behind by predecessors advanced his cultivation far more than sitting alone in dry meditation, Jiang Xuan simply spent most of every day in the Scripture Repository, studying with single-minded concentration.
Of course, Jiang Xuan still understood that knowledge and action must be united. Thus, he did not abandon his morning habit of comprehending himself.
These fulfilling and rewarding days of cultivation left Jiang Xuan quite satisfied.
If there was one hardship, it was that every two or three days, Granny Blue would sink him into the bottom of Winter Lake, making him experience another near-death ordeal and solidifying the slightly weakened icy intent once more.
No wonder Granny Blue said at the very beginning that cultivating this art was asking for suffering. That truly was not false in the slightest.
Fortunately, Jiang Xuan was not alone in his cultivation. Every time he was sunk into the lake, Di Chuan accompanied him. Sometimes, Xia He was sunk into the lake as well.
During breaks from cultivation, Jiang Xuan could return home. But the first time he went back, something happened that left him feeling complicated and utterly speechless.
It was the third day after Jiang Xuan had gone to Four Seasons Valley. To keep his mother from worrying, he had specially found time to return home.
Yet the moment he reached the entrance, he stopped short and stood frozen in place.
"This is my home?"
It was no wonder he reacted that way. He had never expected his ordinary little farmhouse courtyard to be completely renovated and expanded. The estate now covered an area as large as a small manor, with elegance and refinement evident everywhere.
Before he could recover, an even more ridiculous scene unfolded.
"Young Master has returned."
"Hm?!"
"Young Master has returned!"
After the clear cry rang out, two young maidservants with twin-bun hairstyles timidly poked their heads out from behind the door and looked toward Jiang Xuan at the entrance. Immediately afterward, Shen Yuerong and Liu Hui emerged arm in arm from the main house, followed by a maid carrying a tea tray.
Seeing Jiang Xuan's stunned expression, Liu Hui laughed and spoke before Shen Yuerong could. "The Su Household's mistress came to visit two days ago. Seeing that your home was somewhat old, she asked your mother for her opinion and helped renovate it."
"Also, the mistress felt that your mother had worked hard for most of her life and ought to enjoy some peace and comfort. She also felt that since you were cultivating away from home, your mother would be rather lonely living here by herself."
"So, she found some people to care for your mother." Pointing at the two young maidservants, Liu Hui said with a soft laugh, "Little Red and Little Green are not outsiders. They are the children of old friends of your mother and me."
"With them keeping her company, your mother will have someone to care for her and will not be lonely."
"..." Jiang Xuan did not quite know what to say after hearing that.
Even though he knew in his heart that the Su Household was currying favor and offering a personal favor, he could not refuse.
Jiang Xuan was not cultivating the Ruthless Dao Fruit, severing kinship and abandoning emotion. If he had the ability, he naturally wanted his mother to live more comfortably.
Moreover, the children of these two or three familiar households could indeed ease his mother's loneliness when she lived alone after he left.