Chapter 522: A Breath To Signify The Seasons

With the reactivation of the Tongyou Institution’s protection formation, the assault on the Tongyou Institution by the experts of the Manyu Continent finally came to an end.

Be it Shang Xia or Yun Jing, they were completely exhausted. It was no exaggeration to say that they were arrows at the end of their flight.

Shang Xia transformed his Auspicious Cloud Cape into the Auspicious Cloud Boat and it became a soft cloud which he collapsed into. Waves of exhaustion washed over him and he became too lazy to lift a finger.

As the cloud slowly drifted around, Shang Xia fell into a deep sleep. He was able to do that, but Yun Jing couldn’t do the same. She was a Deputy Patriarch of the institution and despite being more tired than Shang Xia, she still had to ensure that everyone from the institution entered the range of their protection formation.

The Tongyou Institution might have won by a landslide in terms of cultivators slain, but it couldn’t be denied that they paid a huge price to do so.

All remaining experts of the Tongyou Institution quickly returned to the safety of the protection formation to recover.

The cloud Shang Xia was on was still swaying in the wind and everyone who returned noticed him. Even so, no one wanted to disturb him at that moment. Only when the cloud landed on a mountain peak not too far away did it turn into a sea of mist that surrounded the peak.

Shang Xia, who was in a deep sleep, didn’t know what was happening around him. He might be out cold, but his extermination origins were working on their own. His Four Constellation Qi circulated through his body like how he would if he actively trained in his Four Seasons Samsara Art.

A week passed, then two…

Shang Xia, whose inner qi was nearly exhausted from the battles before started to recover.

As his Four Seasons Samsara Art allowed his inner qi to circulate even more smoothly through his body, the time required for every cycle was reduced bit by bit.

Even though he was asleep, Shang Xia seemed to enter a mystical state. The path his inner qi took as it cycled through his body appeared in his mind. Every time he ‘reached out’ to modify it a little, the path would change accordingly. Sometimes, his inner qi would circulate a little quicker but sometimes it would slow down slightly. The amount of inner qi that could flow through his body would also change depending on what changes he made.

In such a strange state, Shang Xia managed to modify and perfect his Four Seasons Samsara Art. No one knew how long had passed, but Shang Xia achieved his goal. He could complete one cycle in 4 short hours!

The moment he achieved it, his extermination origins seemed to resonate with the world around him. They started to produce pure spiritual extermination that fused with his body at a frightening rate. Eventually, they condensed in his body as pure Four Constellation Qi that gathered in his dantian that strengthened his foundations.

Back when he exhausted himself, Shang Xia didn’t know how long it would take for him to recover. Who would have thought that his cultivation would rise without him knowing it?

The refinement of his Four Seasons Samsara Art didn’t top there either as it continued to perfect itself. That strange phenomenon didn’t happen out of the blue. Instead, it was based on Shang Xia’s accumulations. All his thoughts and ideas about how he should have been improving his secret art allowed him to refine his secret art even further without his conscious control.

As the time it took for him to complete each cycle of inner qi circulation decreased, his efficiency of refining his extermination origins took a huge step forward. Shang Xia’s cultivation also increased accordingly.

Since he was growing stronger even in his sleep, the fluctuations of heaven and earth qi around the mountain peak he was on started to grow stronger. In the initial stages, the fluctuations merely caused the flow of heaven and earth qi to hasten in the area surrounding the mountain peak. It eventually evolved into a strong breeze, and eventually, it became a frightening storm that whistled endlessly.

That wasn’t all. As Shang Xia’s refinement of his Four Seasons Extermination Origins deepened, every breath he took caused a huge amount of heaven and earth qi to enter his body. When he took his first breath, his vitality increased at a terrifying rate, and the area around him that became void of heaven and earth qi due to his current state turned barren. It was as though Autumn had come early.

All of a sudden, a huge change occurred. When Shang Xia sucked the air around him into his lungs, his surroundings changed. Every single sign of life around him faded away and Winter seemed to arrive.

As his inner qi continued to travel through his body, he exhaled the turbid qi left in his body. As it emerged, the frost that was starting to cover the mountain peak thawed and life force seemed to return to the world as Spring began.

As he continued to exhale dense heaven and earth qi, the life force in his surroundings grew abundant and a beautiful scene that could only be seen in the Summer appeared in his surroundings.

When he took his next breath, the cycle continued.

The mountain peak Shang Xia was on was finally noticed by someone. It was originally covered in dense mist but because of the huge heaven and earth qi fluctuations, the mist eventually dissipated. At the same time, all four seasons cycled continuously on the mountain peak and it eventually spread down to the foot of the mountain. The progression of the four seasons eventually evolved into the Four Seasons Samsara Cycle.

Every breath Shang Xia took signified the cycle of the four seasons!

If Shang Xia’s breath signified day and night, the mountain peak would experience a change in its daily cycle with every breath he took!

On the 49th day of his deep sleep, the mountain peak experienced 36 cycles of the four seasons. With a final exhale, Shang Xia finally woke up.

The instant he opened his eyes, the strange phenomenon that shrouded the mountain disappeared. All the clouds and mist that drifted about the mountain peak scattered and the heaven and earth that was rampaging about calmed down.

In an instant, the chaotic world up there returned to normal.

The next moment, Shang Xia, who had just woken up, closed his eyes again.

He was savoring the feeling he felt the past 49 days and he reflected on whatever had happened.

The Four Constellation Qi in his dantian was full to the point of bursting and he never felt so content before. His foundations grew incomparably solid in the time he was asleep and his divine perception had also reached new heights.

Everything seemed to progress perfectly and Shang Xia discovered that he would take less than 4 hours to complete a cycle of his inner qi. He finally stepped through the gates of creating a proper rank four secret art and he could leave behind an inheritance if he so desired.

With the achievement that signified he was capable of leaving behind an inheritance, Shang Xia felt that he had hit a significant milestone. Not to mention the fact that his secret art was extremely intricate. He felt that it would be possible to reduce the time even more such that it would only take 2 hours for one cycle.

The time it took for him to circulate his inner qi didn’t affect the amount of Four Constellation Qi flowing through his body in the slightest! In fact, he could circulate even more of it!

With the reduction in time taken per cycle and the increase in inner qi he could circulate, his training efficiency didn’t just double, it increased to a terrifying level!

Other than that, Shagn Xia felt his heart trembling slightly when he looked at the extermination origins around him. He eventually retracted them into his body as he thought about what had happened.

When entering the Four Constellation Realm, Shang Xia made use of his advancement medicine to refine 30 percent of his extermination origins.

In the 2 years that passed, Shang Xia had been trying to improve his Four Seasons Samsara Art and he didn’t focus too much on refining his extermination origins. He was far from completing 50 percent of the refinement process but from what he was observing, he seemed to have crossed that mark after waking up.

Back when he met Kou Chongxue in the Beyond Heavens Pavilion, the patriarch believed that he had already refined 50 percent of his extermination origins. In order not to embarrass the patriarch, Shang Xia didn’t deny it as he hid the true extent of his refinement process.

Now, he has reached the level Kou Chongxue described back then! He refined 50 percent of his extermination origin, but it seemed as though his strength would take a huge leap forward!

He might have slept for 49 days, but everything that happened was fresh in his mind after he woke up.

Lying on the ground on the mountain peak, a thin layer of fog remained around his body. He used a little more than half a day to examine the changes in his body and when he finally opened his eyes again to look at the world around him, he saw a pair of shoes in his sights.

Slowly raising his head, Shang Xia raised his brows slightly. There was a strange look in his eyes when his gaze finally landed on her face.

“There’s a strange look in your eyes…” Chu Jia felt a little uncomfortable by the way Shang Xia was looking at her, but she couldn’t put her finger on what was making her feel that way. In the end, she decided to conclude that it had something to do with how Shang Xia just completed his cultivation session.

Casually placing his hands behind his head, Shang Xia stared at the pretty face that combined the great aesthetics of a mature, confident, and charming lady before muttering, “I didn’t think that Instructor Chu would be the one to come!”

The frown on Chu Jia’s face grew a little deeper. She pouted helplessly and complained, “You took a really good nap… Do you know how bad the situation became in the past month and a half?!”

Shang Xia yawned nonchalantly and chuckled, “There’s nothing for me to worry about with your protection formation active.”

Annoyance filled her heart when she saw the mischievous grin on Shang Xia’s face and she snarled, “Everyone has been working tirelessly for the past few weeks! Since you’re awake, you should take over and bear some of our burdens! Moreover, you should be the strongest expert present before Deputy Patriarch Yun Jing recovers…”