Chapter 69: Jewel Lotus Fruit (Forefather's Tribute)
It was his first time joining those living in Qingyao Hill for dinner that night. Tonight's dish was a stew made from Fanged Demon Boar and an option of fish dish or vegetables with herbs.
Qin Lan was the first to arrive first, followed by the Li brothers, who are now living together with him under one roof.
Except for the slightly lower concentration of Spiritual Energy on that cave, everything is actually more convenient to the brothers.
"Fellow disciple Qin, can we join your table?" Li Wei asked politely. In return, Qin Lan made a hand gesture to invite both of them to have a seat. He also added two bottles of Spiritual Gathering Dew to the table to welcome them.
The Spiritual Gathering Dew wasn't expensive, but it still managed to irritate some of the disciples seated nearby. Of course, the reason behind this is due to an arrangement from Qin Lan's side. To maintain their popularity and controlling the flow of distribution, Qin Lan purposely extends their time the wine took to mature.
Furthermore, the one that came from him is actually a "Superior" brew compared to what was available from the Qin Family Winery and also Min-Ren Dwelling. Although there was not much difference except for the taste and wine fragrance, enjoying stuff like this is still something that invites jealousy around him.
"Fellow disciple Qin, if you don't mind me asking..." Li Shixin whispered softly to answer his curiosity.
"Why would you plant the Rock Lotus Fruit on all the other columns? They're not a rare plant at all. I can understand if you say you loved eating them, but the plants will eventually turn into a bunch of troublesome weeds in the farm..." he added.
His curiosity is understandable when one considered it from Li Shixin's viewpoint.
"There's no such thing as a weed amongst Spiritual Herbs. If you trust me, go out and bring me a few fully grown Rock Lotus Fruit Plant back, and I'll show you."
"Oh, it's up to you to treat them like trash while bringing them back. Stomp, kick, drag, or even mutilates the plant is all up to you." Qin Lan added after he finished his first few sentences.
Not too long after that, Li Shixin returned to the spiritual cave with a bag of fully grown plants. Of course, all of the plants were in perfect condition. This was a sight to behold as it clearly shows the personality of an individual.
"Fellow disciple Qin. I've brought back what you've asked for." Li Shixin placed the bag carefully on the table where his older brother and Qin Lan is still seated with some Spiritual Gathering Dew.
"Did you pluck them yourself? They don't seem wild at all." Qin Lan chuckled. The condition of the plants clearly gave a hint of how Li Shixin came back with them. There's no even a drop of sap sticking on the bag after getting stuffed to the brim.
"Yes." Li Shixin answered Qin Lan's whimsical question. If he wasn't the one that plucked the plant, then who else?
But what Qin Lan did next surprised him.
A ball of flames created from Qin Lan's Spiritual Energy envelops the Rock Lotus Fruit along with the plant and bag. In a flash, the sack that's woven with straws quickly turned into ashes. Even the roots are no exception.
Next, a cooling flame came from the other hand of Qin Lan.
The intense and soothing ball of flames collides with one another as Qin Lan extracted the essence. Two blobs of extract from the plants soon hover between Qin Lan's hands like a pair of fishes.
One of the sides gave out a sweet and enticing fragrance while the other tasted bitter, to the point it hurts the nose of whoever smelling them.
It was nothing less than a surprise to both Li Wei and Li Shixin as they witness Qin Lan's skill in alchemy. Even though it's Li Wei's second time this round, it was still a sight to behold.
"No wonder the Pill Request Hall was making so much noise when it comes to fellow disciple Qin's alchemy skill. Even with his lack of experience, it is still comparable to one of the top ten young alchemists of the Dan-Xin Dwelling!" thought Li Wei.
"COAGULATES!" Qin Lan suddenly shouted. The sweet part of the extract shatters into tiny droplets as it went through the bitter part like a swarm of charging bees.
Qin Lan's action is no different from making hawthorn candy. The only difference is instead of an eyeball size hawthorn, it was a teardrop size candy he's making. The concentration required is much intense, but to someone with their caliber of control over Spiritual Energy, it was nothing much!
Even Li Wei or Li Shixin is capable of doing this after a few practices!
But the upcoming step is where the challenges lie. Using a cauldron to hold the "candy" he made, Qin Lan cooked the content patiently using his excessive Spiritual Energy.
It took him close to an incense stick of time to finish the cooking process.
When the content was poured onto a tray to hold recently refined pills, it shocked the Li brothers.
"Using the fruit and stem to recreate the raw fruit all over again? What kind of alchemy practice is this?" Li Wei and Li Shixin quietly stare at the tray holding close to twenty Rock Lotus Fruit that shines brilliantly like jewels.
What Qin Lan did to the plant is similar to breaking down the plant and created them out from the extract all over again. But from the way the twenty jewel-like Rock Lotus Fruit looks, it shouldn't be called "Rock" but "Jewel" instead.
"Fell - Fellow disciple Qin..." Li Shixin's hand shivered along with his stuttering words. The jewels felt heavy in between his fingers.
"Eat it. Try and feel what's the differences compared to the raw version." Qin Lan grabbed a few and placed them into his mouth. His action is like a child munching on the sweet and delicious candies.
Li Shixin gently placed one into his mouth.
Then, a soothing and pure Spiritual Energy flows into his immature Dantian without the need to refine it first. It was a purely satisfying experience as they never tasted something like this before.
"They're capable of recovering our Spiritual Energy? Its purity is much higher than a Flesh Foundation Pill as well..." said Li Shixin.
"This is known as Jewel Lotus Fruit. It was a product that has a longer shelf life compared to the raw Rock Lotus Fruit. As for its usage, it is used to restore your Spiritual Energy, of course!" Qin Lan said.
"Now, do you think it is still a simple weed?" Qin Lan asked.
"NO!" both of them screamed in reply, to the point all the air is exhaled out from their lungs.
The reason?
It's because this is literally a diluted version of Precelestial Essence! How can they be a trash plant?
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