Chapter 658: Chapter 668: Bamboo Wine
"Who has come this time?" Chu Feng pictured the alluring figure of Li Shishi in his mind. He thought it a pity that he had missed the chance to meet her.
Having received an Elixir bestowed by Chu Feng, the Poison Eye Dragon King has entered seclusion, aiming for the Sword God Realm.
Thus, at Longevity Hall, only Li Shishi and Beixie State Preceptor are managing things.
Chen Dazhong mainly takes charge of the affairs in the Alchemy Room and generally does not intervene in the store’s matters easily.
Having his subordinates divide the work and collaborate was something Chu Feng had planned long ago.
It can prevent them from abusing power and even engaging in corrupt activities. Furthermore, everyone has their own ideas. If a department is managed by multiple subordinates, their ideas are inevitably inconsistent. It is like several horses pulling a cart at the same time.
The result is that they move in different directions, and their force isn’t applied together, ultimately leading nowhere.
"The visitor was Miss Li Shishi. She seemed a bit down after not seeing the master. When I told her that the master had gone into seclusion to cultivate, she didn’t say much else and left,"
Han Dong reported truthfully.
In fact, anyone who knows a little about Chu Feng’s subordinates is aware that the relationship between Chu Feng and Li Shishi is not simple.
It is certainly not like the apparent relationship between a master and a Sword Slave.
"Alright, go cultivate yourself!"
Chu Feng noticed that Han Dong’s cultivation had improved a lot recently.
Simply providing Elixirs to assist Han Dong was far from enough. Han Dong needs to find a way to improve his status within the Sect.
Like Yan Qing, acquiring the Sect’s cultivation techniques and inheritance would be ideal.
Currently, Han Dong hasn’t even reached the Sword Saint Cultivation level, so achieving a high status within the Sect is almost impossible. This matter cannot be rushed; it can only be approached step by step, slowly and carefully.
Not everyone is as devilishly talented as Chu Feng, proficient in both the Sword Dao and Alchemy Dao.
Han Shuang is still in secluded cultivation and has yet to emerge.
After advancing to the Sword Saint Realm, the duration of her seclusion will correspondingly increase. Especially with Chu Feng’s care, she doesn’t need to concern herself with trivial matters, allowing her to cultivate devotedly.
The time spent in seclusion will only get longer.
"First, I should complete the orders for Longevity Hall! If there’s time, I can then explore the Returning Origin Elixir I acquired last time."
Chu Feng had received the Returning Origin Elixir last time he ranked first on the Earth Rankings.
This is a very ancient Elixir, and if he could thoroughly research it, it would greatly aid the improvement of his Alchemy Dao. The reason Chu Feng chose it was precisely because he had some understanding of the Returning Origin Elixir.
Besides, he had a fragment of the Elixir recipe for it in hand.
Although it’s only a Seventh Grade Elixir, in Chu Feng’s eyes, it is comparable to an Immortal Level Elixir Recipe.
After preparing the required medicinal ingredients, he busied himself alone in the Alchemy Room, without mentioning more.
...
In the blink of an eye, half a month passed by. Chu Feng had long since completed the Longevity Hall orders, and he spent the remaining time studying the Returning Origin Elixir.
Unfortunately, this Elixir turned out to be even more advanced than he had imagined, and even with Chu Feng’s skill, it was hard to thoroughly research it in a short time.
Experimentation in itself takes an extraordinarily long time.
Layered reasoning, each linking to the next, can become extremely challenging if one link gets stuck, or if there are doubts, making it difficult to continue the deduction.
To study the components of an Elixir, the ratio of medicinal herbs, each step of the process, and the specific methods of concoction are all highly specialized knowledge, which is very complex.
If Alchemy were so easy, there wouldn’t be such a scarcity of Alchemy Venerates in this world.
Otherwise, there would be so many that Alchemy Venerates could be seen everywhere, and Alchemy Emperors would be as common as dogs.
"The composition of this medicinal herb is really hard to determine. I don’t even know how it was refined. I can only set it aside for now." Chu Feng shook his head with a sigh, stood up, and walked out of the Alchemy Room.
After handing over the refined Advanced Level Elixirs to Han Dong, Chu Feng began to inspect Medicine Mountain.
First, he checked his two Medicine Fields; both the Black God Mushroom and the Azure Dragon Moss were growing well with no issues.
Chu Feng’s ten Yin Yang Ants were still the same as always.
For such Strange Insects, the best way to advance was to devour other, more powerful Strange Insects or absorb various Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures.
For the time being, Chu Feng had no plans to leave the Sect for an adventure outside.
So he had to let them stay here for now.
After all, this was originally their home.
Later on, when leaving the Sect to venture outside, he could carry all ten Yin Yang Ant Queens with him. As for their offspring, Chu Feng could not take them at all.
After inspecting the entire Medicine Mountain and finding everything in order, and seeing that his subordinates, the Managers and small leaders, were all full of enthusiasm.
Under the guidance of Chu Feng, the Alchemy Venerate, their skills in cultivating Medicinal Herbs had also improved rapidly.
"There’s hardly anything that needs to be done here, I might as well take the opportunity to enter the Gui Xu Secret Realm to comprehend swordsmanship. This newly acquired Transformation Sword Skill is indeed a valuable find."
Chu Feng’s Medicine Mountain was thriving.
By the time the herbs are submitted at the end of the year, he is sure to achieve great merit again.
This time, without others suppressing him, he was confident in obtaining the highest honor for the best performance. This would allow his trusted followers like Han Shuang and Han Dong, as well as his second sister, Chu Yun, to benefit greatly under the radar.
"Before entering the Gui Xu Secret Realm, I should go check on how the wine I brewed is doing," Chu Feng went to a bamboo forest within Medicine Mountain.
Many bamboos were planted here.
There were Big Belly Arhat Bamboo, Stone Bamboo, Southern Mountain Bamboo, and more. A wide variety, all used for cultivating Medicinal Herbs.
Being a Medicine Mountain, naturally, it has all sorts of Medicinal Herbs.
Bamboo itself is a plant that is easy to grow, so it is even more indispensable.
The rarest should be the Thunder Bamboo and the like.
These special types of bamboo are extremely demanding on their growing environment and are something one can hope for but not necessarily find.
While others brew wine either stored in cellars, buried in the ground, or sealed in jars, Chu Feng took an unconventional approach. Upon reaching the marked Southern Mountain Bamboo, he picked one and selected a bamboo joint, where he punctured a small hole.
A magical scene unfolded.
"Glug glug!"
Surprisingly, savory bamboo wine flowed out from the bamboo. Chu Feng had already prepared a sea bowl to catch it.
The fragrance of the wine, neither too strong nor too light, carried the unique aroma of nature, making one’s mouth water uncontrollably.
One bamboo joint just managed to fill one sea bowl.
Chu Feng tasted it: spicy but with a hint of sweetness, very refreshing to the throat, and after drinking, it induced one to salivate, leaving an everlasting aftertaste.
To brew this batch of Bamboo Wine, Chu Feng had indeed put in much effort.
"Let’s cut one now and take it to Elder Qiu Jizi for a taste. I don’t want to be accused of breaking my word." Chu Feng was fully confident that once Elder Qiu Jizi tasted this Bamboo Wine, he would definitely become addicted.
At that point, even if he doesn’t take Qiu Jizi’s money, consulting him on difficulties concerning Cultivation Techniques would still be quite worthwhile.