Cultivating Chai

24:

Too minty, Xiao Feng thought as he chewed on a heart-shaped leaf with a pointed tip and wide base. I guess it would work for some sort of herbal tea, but I need more neutral tones for Masala Chai.

Undeterred by the disappointment, Xiao Feng turned his attention to the next sheaf of leaves arrayed before him, plucking one out.

This one was a long, narrow kind, it’s hue a light purple. Not the appetizing leaf, if he was being honest, but every one of his ingredients had come from the Alchemist’s Haven, meaning that they all had medicinal properties.

“Hmm,” Xiao Feng hummed in thought after biting into the leaf. Wow, that’s unexpected. It has a savory, umami-rich flavor, as if I was biting into meat instead of a plant. Again, doesn’t really work, but that’s a pretty cool ingredient.

Xiao Feng’s gaze flickered over to the dozen or so leaves he had already passed up on, his enthusiastic expression undeterred by the failure. This was what it meant, to be a pioneer in your field as you tackled unknown horizons without being certain, or even being guaranteed success.

Mostly though, he was really happy to have so many hitherto unknown ingredients to play around with. As much as he loved Masala Chai, the twenty-first century that he lived in had already explored every permutation and combination of ingredients that went well with chai and published it on the internet.

Now though, Xiao Feng’s potential was fully unshackled.

He reached for a leaf that had a pretty unique shape, it’s shape resembling an open hand with all five of its fingers spread outwards except with one difference. All five of the leaflets met at a single point, from which a central stem extended downwards.

“That looks interesting,” Xiao Feng said, before reaching for the unique, bronze-colored leaf.

He bit into it.

“Oh wow,” Xiao Feng muttered. “That is bitter,” He said, his expression brightening up before he went in for another bite.

“Mm-m,” He chewed the leaves, noticing how the moisture wetting his mouth lessened the more he chewed. “Astringent,” He declared. “And boy, is it strong,” He said, as he swallowed the now crushed leaves.

For a change, it was not a particular element of Qi that made it’s way to his dantian, but instead, unattuned Qi that any cultivator always kept in his reserves for a wide variety of purposes, from voiding the mortal requirements of needing to consume food and water to empowering bodily mechanisms that included quickness of movement and the physical strength behind one’s actions, like throwing a punch.

Xiao Feng generally maintained a ratio of 6:4 in favor of Wind Qi, the remaining forty percent unattuned Qi that he could either convert to Wind Qi or use it for enhancing various functions of his body. After all, he could not channel the wild and untamed Wind Qi through his fist with intent to land a physical blow without harming his own meridians.

So it was safe to say that any cultivator would not mind drinking a brew that give him a little kick of unattuned Qi.

“It’s got a bit of a burn to it,” He noted out loud, feeling it in his throat. “But besides that, I might just have found my number one prospect.”

Another twenty minutes of testing later, Xiao Feng finally concluded that the Mystic Palm or the five-fingered astringent leaf he had singled out earlier, was still his best shot at brewing a cup of Masala Chai.

“Well,” He said. “It’s time to get this show on the road.”

Xiao Feng wrapped his hand around the burner’s knob and twisted it clockwise by half a rotation, before supplying a trickle of his Qi to the red crystal. True to Alchemist Jun’s words, the crystal blazed to life, its flames a rare carmine red.

The spring water he had placed in the pill furnace’s cauldron began to gently bubble. In Xiao Feng’s free hand was one diamond of Firedust and one Emberfruit Gem. He let the most impactful ingredients bloom in the spring water first as it boiled, before reaching for a spoon and scooping out one spoonful of Pureflow gel and letting it slide into the cauldron. Finally, he sprinkled diced Humus Root across the cauldron, making sure that it’s earthy notes seeped in thoroughly.

Xiao Feng increased the density and rate of Qi he was supplying to the burner, watching as the flames intensified and the spring water began to aggressively boil.

Flavor and color dyed the spring water into a breathtaking hue, an ethereal, shimmering silver that made Xiao Feng wonder if what he was making could even be called chai anymore.

Only after five minutes had passed and there were further changes to the hue, did Xiao Feng relent on the temperature of the burner.

Four Mystic Palms were plucked out of it’s sheaf and slid into the water, before Xiao Feng reached for the wooden stirring spoon he had asked for earlier and began to stir.

There was a change in hue once again as gentle bronze warred against ethereal silver, the bloom of the tea leaves against the already bloomed ingredients.

A dark, metallic golden hue was the end result. Xiao Feng felt more like a goldsmith than a tea maker as he stirred the pool of liquid gold.

He wasn’t done yet, though,

He unstoppered the vial of milk that he had used before to pour some out for the egg, before sniffing the bluish-white milk.

He had been very consciously avoiding the decision, but Xiao Feng could not put off tasting the milk any longer.

He took a sip.

“Right,” He said, before his lips curled up into a grin. “Oh my lord, that is delicious,” He said. The concentration of spiritual Qi in the milk was much higher than any of the spiritual roots. On top of that, it’s creamy consistency paired really well with the rejuvenating dose of Qi contained within and also kept it naturally cool.

It tasted like flavour-less, but creamy ice-cream, if he had to put it in a nutshell.

Xiao Feng poured the entire vial of expensive milk into the chai.

Now, only one final ingredient remained.