Chapter 96 - 41: Valley of Summer, Yan Shouzhuo

Chapter 96: Chapter 41: Valley of Summer, Yan Shouzhuo

Leaving behind her promise, the silver-haired Granny Lan turned and left.

After she was gone, the atmosphere in the room remained a little strange.

"Thank you... thank you for staying in the Four Seasons Valley." Xia He was the first to speak, her voice choked with emotion. Her eyes, glistening with tears as she looked at Jiang Xuan, were filled with absolute trust.

The display actually made Jiang Xuan a little embarrassed.

"Ahem. Like I said, a big part of why I’m staying is for the resources. If you let me go hungry, I’ll just run off, you know."

"Pfft..." His words made Xia He laugh, but the trust and gratitude in her eyes didn’t diminish in the slightest.

Clearly, she didn’t believe he was staying purely for the resources.

Beside them, Zhou Qing immediately patted his chest and declared, "Don’t you worry about that, Junior Brother. As long as I’m here, you’ll absolutely never go hungry."

After him, Meng Yingyue also gave Jiang Xuan her assurance, her eyes shimmering.

After some light-hearted banter, the atmosphere in the room finally improved. Taking the opportunity, Jiang Xuan asked about Granny Lan.

"What’s the story with that senior? I get the feeling she holds a deep resentment toward the Four Seasons Reincarnation Technique. And isn’t she an Elder Suo of our Four Seasons Valley? How is she connected to the Feather Transformation Celestial Pool?"

"Granny Lan was originally a disciple of the Feather Transformation Celestial Pool..." As Xia He slowly explained, Jiang Xuan gradually came to understand the full story.

Over a hundred years ago, she was an Inner Sect Disciple of the Feather Transformation Celestial Pool. The reason she stays in the Four Seasons Valley is because she was the Daoist partner of the previous Valley Master.

As for why she so strongly resents the Four Seasons Reincarnation Technique, it’s because too many of her loved ones have died because of it.

The previous Valley Master had completed one full cycle of the Four Seasons Reincarnation and survived his first Death Tribulation, but unlike the founder of the Four Seasons Valley, he failed to transform the Spirit Seed within him into a Divine Wood Seed.

As such, he was naturally unable to contend with the Upper Vein.

Unwilling to accept this, he began a second cycle of the Four Seasons Reincarnation.

However, bringing a withered tree back to life is an act that defies Heaven. For the first cycle, a young Cultivator can rely on their vigorous vitality for a seventy percent chance of success. But the second cycle is a true life-or-death gamble with only a sliver of hope for survival.

The previous Valley Master perished during his second Four Seasons Reincarnation.

Then came their son. In order to carry on his father’s legacy, he also embarked on the path of the Four Seasons Reincarnation. His fate was even more tragic—he failed during his very first cycle.

However, before his death, he left behind a son and a daughter.

Then, Granny Lan’s eldest grandson also died from it—though not because he was trying to follow in his father’s footsteps.

With her Daoist partner dead and her son having met a tragic end, Granny Lan strictly forbade her grandson and granddaughter from practicing the Four Seasons Reincarnation Technique.

Her granddaughter, however, was fine. Her talent was outstanding, so she had good prospects even without practicing the Four Seasons Reincarnation Technique.

But her eldest grandson was a different story. His talent, like Jiang Xuan’s, was only Profound Level, which was mediocre within the Shenxiao Sect—one might even call it poor.

Even with Granny Lan pouring all her resources into training him, he couldn’t enter the Upper Peak. Just getting into the Middle Peak was a struggle.

If he had been a man without ambition, he might have been content to live a comfortable life under Granny Lan’s protection.

But once a person has glimpsed the wonders of cultivation, who would be content to remain trapped in the mortal world for a lifetime? Not to mention, one’s cultivation level is directly tied to their lifespan.

He had ambition, but his mediocre talent kept him from soaring. In this situation, he set his sights on the Four Seasons Valley’s Four Seasons Reincarnation Technique, hoping to achieve Feather Transformation through the cycle of reincarnation. In the end, he too was lost to eternal darkness amidst the endless frosty winter.

"..."

After hearing the whole story, Jiang Xuan finally understood why Granny Lan held such a strong grudge against the Four Seasons Reincarnation Technique.

After such repeated tragedies, he knew that if he were in her shoes, he would resent this Cultivation Technique too.

...

Listening to Granny Lan’s story didn’t take much of Jiang Xuan’s time. Soon, he stood up with Xia He’s help, performed the Feast Ceremony, and began to devour the vegetables and fruits brought by Meng Yingyue and Zhou Qing.

What left Jiang Xuan at a loss for words was that, to prevent the cold qi in his body from dissipating, all the food they had brought him was of a cold, Yin Attribute.

The fruits Zhou Qing brought included Ice Spirit Fruits, Ghost-faced Spirit Mushrooms, and Profound Frost Grapes.

The Spirit Rice Meng Yingyue brought was primarily Blood Crystal Rice. This type of Spirit Rice, nourished by Evil Qi, was excellent at stimulating killing intent. If an ordinary person ate too much, the intent would rush to their head, making them frenzied and irritable.

For an ordinary Cultivator, this rice had side effects. But for Jiang Xuan, who was cultivating the Winter Solstice, this piercing killing intent was exactly what he needed. He had to fuse this killing intent with the intent of glacial cold, so that even before his sword was drawn, his enemies would feel an endless killing intent and the deathly aura of winter.

The only trouble for Jiang Xuan was that after eating all this Yin Attribute food, his already frigid body grew several degrees colder, and even his fingertips were turning frosty white.

Fortunately, now that he was away from the Ice Lake, Jiang Xuan’s Magical Power could just barely begin to circulate.

After a quick word to Xia He and the others, Jiang Xuan closed his eyes, seizing the moment to comprehend the Frosty Winter Cold Qi.

As for his actual cultivation, he didn’t need to worry about it at all, thanks to the automatic Circulation of Heaven and Earth.

Huuuuh...

And just like that, as Jiang Xuan closed his eyes, his entire Heart Spirit became immersed in comprehending the icy Frosty Winter’s Intent.

Meanwhile, as Jiang Xuan was engrossed in his cultivation, deep within the Valley of Winter’s Ice Lake, Di Chuan was gritting his teeth, struggling to endure.

Jiang Xuan’s progress today had greatly provoked him. Unwilling to admit defeat, he too was cultivating with all his might.

’I won’t lose to anyone!’

「Elsewhere, inside the Core Hall of the Valley of Summer.」

Wu Shan stood before his master, Yan Shouzhuo, the Valley Master of the Valley of Summer.

The old man also had a full head of white hair, his face etched with the ravages of time.

However, after listening to Wu Shan’s excited account, Yan Shouzhuo fell into thought and didn’t immediately move to see Jiang Xuan.

This made Wu Shan anxious. "Master, I’m not lying to you! Junior Brother Jiang Xuan is incredibly strong. His talent would be perfect for our Valley of Summer..."

"I know." Before Wu Shan could finish, Yan Shouzhuo sighed, his tone filled with helplessness. "But it is precisely because his talent is so good that we can’t recruit him."

"Someone with his outstanding Comprehension will either learn the Four Seasons Reincarnation Technique or leave the Four Seasons Valley to cultivate in another Dharma Vein."

This was a common dilemma faced by most Lower-Class Dharma Veins.

Because their Core Cultivation Method wasn’t good enough, they weren’t competitive and couldn’t attract disciples with outstanding talent.

Without any peerless geniuses, it was very difficult for them to optimize their Dharma Vein’s Cultivation Technique and raise its Grade.

It was practically a vicious cycle.

A large part of the reason Jiang Xuan had come to the Four Seasons Valley was that his Spirit Root Talent held him back. If his Spirit Root had been just a little better, then even when Xie Hanyan, who brought him to the peak, got into a conflict with someone else, the others wouldn’t have ganged up on him, and he certainly wouldn’t have been driven away.

"..." Realizing this, Wu Shan fell silent, his expression dejected. "So there’s no way to invite him... I understand."

Just as he was sighing and about to leave, Yan Shouzhuo suddenly stopped him. "Wait. Inviting Jiang Xuan to our Valley of Summer is out of the question, but if he truly possesses the incredible talent you described, then it’s still necessary to build a good relationship with him."

"Our Valley of Summer is a part of the Four Seasons Valley, after all. Once he’s grown powerful, if we ask for his help optimizing our Cultivation Technique, he’ll be unlikely to refuse."

As he said this, Yan Shouzhuo was reminded of the Valley of Autumn.

Within the Four Seasons Valley, their branch’s Autumn Equinox Sword was a clear cut above the other Dharma Veins in both the power of its swordsmanship and its conceptual depth. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say it had reached the level of a Middle Grade Dharma Vein.

This came to be because a former Valley Master of the Valley of Autumn had been in an intimate Daoist partnership with an Unparalleled Swordsman.

Yan Shouzhuo planned to follow this example and build a closer relationship with Jiang Xuan.

Unfortunately, the Valley of Summer had no suitable female disciples in the current generation, so he had to find another way.

"You, wait..." He started to give an order, but then he looked at Wu Shan and shook his head. He knew his disciple’s personality too well and decided against it. "Never mind. Don’t worry about anything else. In the future, if Jiang Xuan comes looking for you to cook, just pour your heart and soul into it. That’s all."

"I have my own plans for the rest."

"Yes, Master!"

Wu Shan was more than happy to take on a task that didn’t require much thinking, and he left cheerfully.

Only Yan Shouzhuo remained in the hall, his gaze profound.

’To comprehend Dao Rhyme from food... Interesting. It seems I’ll have to cook for him myself and show him what I can do. However, to truly astound him and make him feel indebted, I’ll need to prepare some special ingredients first.’

...