Oddly enough, none of the villagers had yet needed to light their heated brick beds over the past few days.
The former residents of the nearby villages had all gathered together, and after talking amongst themselves, they realized that this was the case for everyone.
The answer quickly became clear.
It had to be the cultivators from Lingxian Sect who had cast some sort of warming spell on their homes while building the city!
As for why the entire city wasn't as warm, the villagers didn't question it.
There was no need to ask—they knew that casting such spells must consume a lot of spiritual energy. The fact that their homes alone were warm was already a huge blessing.
Standing on the wide, smooth streets of the city, they still felt that this year seemed a lot warmer than usual for this time of year.
On the night of New Year's Eve, each household's head had already prepared a grand feast, brimming with an abundance of dishes.
Life had been getting better year by year, and so had the food on the New Year's Eve dinner table. There was not only more meat, but a greater variety of dishes. People had even started experimenting with various spices, striving to create meals that not only tasted good but looked and smelled delightful as well.
Thinking back to the days when meat was a rare treat reserved only for festivals and eaten plain for its fat content, it seemed both like just yesterday and a distant memory.
During such moments, the elder members of the family would finally take a break and sit at the dinner table, reminiscing to the younger generation about the difficult life they once led. Though they didn't expect the youngsters to fully understand, they hoped they would remember and appreciate the kindness of Lingxian Sect.
Ordinary people may not speak of grand virtues, but they knew the hardships of life better than anyone.
Immortals and cultivators didn't typically concern themselves with common folk, but these cultivators from Lingxian Sect were different—they actually cared for and remembered the common people.
After the New Year's Eve feast, with full bellies and warm hearts, the townspeople happily strolled outside to walk off their meal.
Shuishui City was brightly lit even at night, far brighter than the former village had ever been. Every twenty steps, there were two street lamps illuminating the way.
Both the old and the young carried with them bags full of candies and pastries, handing them out to those they met, sharing their joy in welcoming the new year.
Some of the wealthier families who had moved to the city even had their servants carry baskets of copper coins to distribute, wrapped in red paper, to the children who ran through the streets with their lanterns made from grapefruit peels and candles. The children, delighted, gave their blessings in return.
Xunfang Zunzhe, who had been meditating in his lodgings, had just completed a full circulation of his cultivation cycle. He was about to think more about how their sect could set up a shop in Shuishui City when his divine sense habitually swept over his surroundings.
Although they were not allowed to use magic freely within Shuishui City, they could still use their divine sense. Only a few places within the city were off-limits to their probing.
His sect's temporary residence was an inn, where restrictions were less tight. Here, he could still set up isolation formations in his room.
He had tested it—formations with offensive capabilities couldn't be established. Clearly, Shuishui City was serious about preventing any fighting among cultivators.
Initially, his divine sense was just a casual sweep. Xunfang Zunzhe expected to find nothing more than the ordinary scenes of mortal life he had observed over the past few days. But to his surprise, he found the streets, which should have been quiet at this late hour, abuzz with excitement.
The night had fallen, but across the city, hundreds of lanterns had been lit, forming intricate arrays on every major street.
At the center of each array, a towering bonfire burned brightly, casting a red glow that intertwined with the darkness of the sky.
The city's residents gathered around the lantern arrays on the streets, admiring and praising the spectacle, their cheers filling the air.
Many of the visiting cultivators, upon seeing this, couldn't help but think how inexperienced the villagers were. Though the lantern arrays were more elaborate than ordinary ones, to high-level cultivators from the mortal realm, they were nothing special.
Creating something like this was easy for them. They just never bothered to expend spiritual energy on such trivial displays.
Some visiting cultivators, however, joined the crowd, sincerely wanting to partake in the simple joy of the common folk.
Suddenly, the grand lantern array began to move.
The various lanterns floated upwards, rising into the night sky.
As they ascended, they shifted into different formations, creating images of auspicious clouds, five bats, blooming flowers, and symbolic plants like plum blossoms, orchids, bamboo, and chrysanthemums.
Meanwhile, the bonfires on the ground continued to burn vigorously.
Before anyone realized it, the people at the very center of the array began holding hands, chanting simple slogans as they danced around the fire.
This infectious atmosphere soon spread outward, and layer by layer, more people joined in, hand in hand, dancing and shouting around the bonfire, regardless of their age or gender.
As everyone danced and cheered under the shining lanterns, the central bonfire, seemingly fueled by their enthusiasm, roared even higher, its flames reaching toward the sky, burning more fiercely than ever.
As the hour of midnight approached, the lantern arrays at each street corner had formed numerous auspicious patterns. Then, as if following some unseen command, the lanterns soared even higher, converging above the center of Shuishui City, spelling out four large characters: "Happy New Year."
The four glowing characters, bright and dazzling against the night sky, were surrounded by shifting lanterns.
Even the simplest villagers recognized those characters. Before the new year, disciples from Lingxian Academy had visited the surrounding villages to hand out red charms, teaching them the meaning and writing of those four characters, "Happy New Year."
In the next moment, the four characters exploded in a brilliant burst of fireworks, with each lantern bursting into a radiant display, transforming the entire night sky above Shuishui City into a kaleidoscope of colors, making it as bright as day.
In that instant, even the visiting cultivators, who had been watching from the sidelines, couldn't help but feel that Shuishui City had become the brightest gem on earth.
The people gradually stopped their spinning dance, gazing up at the dazzling sky, and joined together in celebration. Whether close or distant, they exchanged the simple blessing, "Happy New Year."
Without any embellishments, those four words were the purest and most heartfelt greetings, offered not just to others but also to themselves.
The visiting cultivators watched all of this unfold.
Some were confused, some bewildered, and some surprised, but in that moment, all of these emotions were overshadowed by a quiet longing that began to rise in their hearts.
This simple, unpretentious joy—how long had it been since they had experienced it?
How long had it been?
They couldn't remember.
At some point, their lives had become consumed by the pursuit of higher cultivation. They had begun to look down on the simple pleasures of mortal life, forsaking many of their former habits, satisfied with the idea that they were different from mortals.
But gradually, in their race against time to chase after greater cultivation, they seemed to have lost something important—joy.
All that was left was urgency and anxiety.
The urgency of advancing their cultivation and the worry over a lack of resources for training.
Perhaps…
Every once in a while, letting go of everything, enjoying a celebration, and feeling a bit of joy wasn't so bad after all…
These mortals, with their fleeting lifespans, seemed to be living far better lives at this moment than the cultivators themselves…