Cultivating Chai

23:

“Oh,” Xiao Feng panted as he collapsed backwards from a cross-legged position onto the couch placed behind him. “When I… get my hands on that… damned alchemist designate…,” He trailed off, waiting for the heartburn to pass.

It did, only lasting a couple minutes. In truth, Xiao Feng could have cycled his Qi to clear away the effect of any foreign bodies in his bloodstream with ease if he wanted to. The same was true for most poisons, even, but in those cases there was no guarantee that he would be able to overcome its toxins.

However, he did not resort to such means, because it would defeat the purpose of the exercise.

As Xiao Feng took a deep breath in, glad to have gotten rid of the heartburn, he noticed the difference almost immediately. His lungs felt lighter, the air flowing in and out of his lungs with a newfound smoothness. The difference was slight, but a cultivator like Xiao Feng would not let such a change go unnoticed.

“Nope,” Xiao Feng said, as he kept the jar containing the gelatinous cubes that went by the name Cumulus Essence on the far end of the alchemy vault. “I categorically refuse to make chai that gives people heartburn. Even if it did give my lungs quite the cleanse, nah. I refuse to commit sacrilege,” He snorted derisively.

That left five spices for him to taste test.

His gaze focused on what at first glance, seemed to be orange-colored pebbles. They were small in size, but not quite uniform in shape. Xiao Feng opened the jar and gingerly picked up one such pebble, finding its texture to be powdery as some orange-coloured granules dusted his hand.

Xiao Feng possessed the strength to chop an entire tree in half with but a single swing of his blade, yet he found himself deathly intimidated by a simple spice that went by the name, Emberfruit Gems.

A saying crept up into his mind as he navigated the dilemma he found himself in, one from his predecessor’s memory— ‘Hesitation on the battlefield will kill you far quicker than your opponent’s blade can’. It was Elder Haoyun who had said that and it was a saying that had stuck with Xiao Feng.

He plopped the Emberfruit Gem in his mouth.

Xiao Feng’s eyes went wide from surprise as he tried to navigate the explosion of flavor in his mouth. It was very sweet, but not sickly sweet. There was a dimension to it, a weight that reminded him of the dollops of sweetened condensed milk he snuck out of the fridge with a trusty adult-sized spoon, when no one was watching, of course.

Unable to wait any longer, Xiao Feng bit into the Emberfruit Gem. A loud crunch rang out and he flinched upon realizing just how hard it’s surface had been.

Normally he would’ve cursed out whoever had the gall to name a damn pebble, a fruit, but the sweetness coursing through his mouth kept his annoyance at bay.

“Oh,” He said. “I was wondering what I’d do about sugar, but this is great. It lacks the creamy aftertaste that condensed milk has, giving it far more versatility. Although…,” Xiao Feng sighed and shook his head. “....it’s way too expensive to be something I can use for commercial purposes. I can’t sell a cup of chai if it ends up costing more than what a Qi Gathering cultivator makes in a month”.

On the flipside though, I can certainly afford to drink it, He thought and found himself cheered up.

He exhaled and found that there was a coolness to his breath that had not been there before.

Xiao Feng inhaled and cupped his hands before him, before exhaling again. His own breath was now pleasantly sweet, in an almost floral manner.

It doubles as a mouth freshener too? Damn, that’s practically a cheat.

Of the remaining four spices, Xiao Feng ultimately only found use for two of them.

The crushed petals of the Sky Lotus were too savory to be used in Chai, though Xiao Feng himself might found use for them, considering it helped recover some of the Wind Qi the egg had stolen from him earlier. Still a far cry from an actual alchemist-refined pill but now that he already owned an entire jar, he didn’t have to care much about the efficiency part.

The Dark Root shavings suffered from a similar flaw. The fine shavings were less spicy than the Firedust but they were also bitter. They were perhaps the most niche spice he had come across, though he could still see many use cases. Dark Root shavings could, for example, be used for a dish that had a sweet base, to make it more savory while dulling much of the sweetness.

He also noticed the influx of an inky black Qi in his Dantian. It was a small, insignificant amount compared to his Wind Qi reserves and it did not take him long to figure out what it was.

Darkness Qi.

Xiao Feng snuffed out the unfamiliar Qi by cycling his Wind Qi. His affinity for Darkness Qi was too low for him to make use of it and he only intended to foster one more element within its territory. That was for when he got his own alchemist’s flame.

The remaining two spices that worked out for him, did not have as profound an impact on the chai brewing process as Firesand or the Emberfruit Gems.

Nevertheless, Xiao Feng was glad to have found them.

The earth-attuned humus root, upon being finely diced, offered a rich, earthy undertone that Xiao Feng could easily introduce into his masala chai back on earth. It wasn’t exactly a ginger replacement, which he had mostly given up on finding, at least directly, but it would help take a bit of the edge off the Firesand and offer rich earthiness instead.

Plus Xiao Feng really liked the nature of Earth Qi resting in his dantian after he consumed some humus root. It was gentle, soothing and rejuvenating— a pity he could keep it there, for he had no intention of getting used to having a Qi housed in his dantian that he did not expect to use.

Finally, there was the Pureflow Gel. A gelatinous substance that was colored in a vivid shade of azure, Xiao Feng liked to think of it as water jam. Because, well, the moment his tongue made contact with the gel, it popped. The liquid flowing down his throat had a citrusy kick to it, one that was far stronger than green cardamom. It wasn’t perfect for his purposes, but Xiao Feng felt like he could balance it with the divine sweetness that the Emberfruit Gems offered.

Now with the ingredients for his chai chosen, all Xiao Feng had to do was channel his inner panda as he attempted to discern which of the spiritual plants he had purchased would suffice for the most important step of all.

The Tea Leaves.