novelraw Chapter 128: I Have No Such Thing as Talent
Chapter 128: I Have No Such Thing as Talent
The world's version had updated. The Heaven of Longevity path had been buffed.
Which also meant that those like himself who carried the Medicine Master's Blessing would benefit enormously.
This was, of course, good news.
With that uncertainty resolved, Li Qiuchen threw himself wholeheartedly into cultivation of the agricultural variety.
The medicinal herbs he had gathered from the deep mountains were all in a half-dead state by now.
But in Li Qiuchen's hands, half-dead rounded up to full health.
Hu Caiyi's family owned two farms outside the city, one for mink and one for rabbit.
There was plenty of open land and plenty of natural fertilizer.
Boss Hu had planted quite a lot of grapevines, apparently with the intention of making his own wine.
He had later discovered that the grapes grew beautifully but he had no talent for winemaking.The grape vinegar he produced, on the other hand, was genuinely excellent.
After that the idea was quietly abandoned.
Li Qiuchen went out to take a look and immediately identified the problem.
You built your wine cellar right next to your livestock pens. Did you think the microbial cultures would be compatible?
During Boss Hu's absence, the mink farm had been robbed. Over a thousand sables had vanished without a trace.
This was none of Li Qiuchen's concern. Boss Hu had given instructions to his staff before leaving.
Keep paying wages. Don't get involved in the rest.
The mink were gone, leaving behind an enormous empty shed.
Li Qiuchen borrowed it, tilled the ground afresh, and planted the herbs he had brought back.
The light was a little lacking, but that was a minor issue. The important thing was that the shed would provide protection from the cold in winter.
Tang Xiaoxue loved nothing better than playing in soil, and followed Li Qiuchen around digging holes without the slightest complaint.
Hu Caiyi had absolutely no interest in any of this, and spent her days scheming about how to get Li Qiuchen to brew her another batch of honey fruit juice.
"I'm so tired My mouth is so dry"
She had been quite restrained when she first moved into the Tang household, maintaining the composure of a proper young miss.
Now that she had settled in, she had started to learn the art of wagging her tail and making appeals.
She still had her dignity, of course, unlike Tang Xiaoxue who said exactly what she was thinking without any filter.
When Hu Caiyi wanted something, she would keep her face straight and mutter to herself, or trail along behind you making quiet remarks, leaving you to deduce her intentions.
Li Qiuchen stood up, brushed the mud from his hands, ignored the muttering from behind him, and looked with deep satisfaction at the results of his labor.
The shed was close to five hundred square meters in floor space, and there were two more mu of land outside, all planted with medicinal herbs.
The soil in Yun County was naturally fertile and grew almost anything put into it with abandon.
Combined with the Hu family's homegrown natural fertilizer and his own quiet encouragement, there should be a harvest ready before the first snow of winter.
When that time came, he could use this batch of herbs to properly refine his first proper furnace of pills.
Properly being the key word, because everything before had been improvised.
When Li Qiuchen had refined pills in the past, he had done it by simply simmering things in a pot.
Proper pill refining required at the very minimum a pill furnace.
These were available on the market, but the prices were steep. A furnace of good quality started at three thousand taels.
This was reasonable enough, since the activity was not something ordinary people engaged in, and those who did were generally not short of money.
Li Qiuchen himself was not short of three thousand taels, but he felt it was wasteful.
If I can solve the problem with a pot, why would I spend three thousand taels on a furnace? What purpose does that serve beyond putting on a show?
But things were different now.
He was going to start taking this seriously.
"Ahh so thirsty"
Hu Caiyi was still quietly muttering behind him.
Li Qiuchen said with resignation, "Young miss, I made you honey hawthorn water this morning."
"That doesn't taste good."
"I didn't notice you leaving any."
"I want the kind with the added ingredients. The kind that makes you feel warm all over after drinking it."
Do you have any idea what you're asking for?
"There's something not right with that formula. Give me some time to look into it further."
Hu Caiyi still refused to let it go. "No need to wait. Research it right now. I can participate in the research."
It's precisely because of this attitude that I don't want to research it.
If you actually get addicted, your father will have my skin when he comes back.
That said, the research did still need to be done.
According to the formula's records, the authentic Hundred-Fruit Immortal Brew had a remarkable special effect, described as "dispelling sorrow," with the ability to dissolve mental and emotional obstructions.
Li Qiuchen was genuinely interested in this effect.
Because during his visit to Senior Brother Yang, he had picked up a piece of information whose reliability he couldn't confirm.
The county school's inner hall might be advancing the trials for their current cohort of new students.
Chief Senior Brother Murong Feng had taken a group of Qi Refining disciples to the prefecture for investigation, and nobody knew when they would return. The inner hall was currently in a state of looking strong on the surface while being hollow inside, and urgently needed new strength to step up and hold things together.
The way to develop new students was through the illusory realm trials.
Passing through the illusory realm trials cultivated one's state of mind and tempered one's Dao Heart.
Only with a solid Dao Heart foundation could one receive the orthodox transmission of cultivation methods.
Li Qiuchen had some firsthand experience with how illusory realm trials worked, having participated in building one.
He had even introduced Blue Stone Platform's illusory realm to the two young misses when they passed through.
Hu Caiyi, upon hearing that it was said to be terrifying inside, absolutely refused to enter.
Tang Xiaoxue, on the other hand, had gone in without the slightest hesitation, wielding her inner hall token, done a circuit, come out and declared it wasn't very interesting.
Pure beginner mode offered no rewards, of course, and required no entry fee either.
But it also made Li Qiuchen aware of a problem. The Dao Heart was something of a mysterious concept.
Was there any concrete standard by which to measure it? How did you determine when a Dao Heart was truly solid?
Tang Xiaoxue's cast-iron nerves and Hu Caiyi's cowardice represented completely opposite temperaments.
How would you evaluate the stability of either of their Dao Hearts?
He still didn't know the specific rules of the upcoming trials, but a substance like the Hundred-Fruit Immortal Brew that could affect one's mental state was something Li Qiuchen felt confident would prove very useful when the time came.
After finishing the planting, Li Qiuchen didn't rush to leave the farm. He stayed right there and began researching the Hundred-Fruit Immortal Brew on the spot.
On one hand, he wasn't certain whether the people who had stolen the mink might come back and interfere with his herb plots.
Human nature being what it is, people who find something soft will keep squeezing it.
On the other hand, Boss Hu had a complete set of brewing equipment stored here.
Whether it had ever actually been used was another matter, but it had been outfitted quite thoroughly.
Among the equipment was a distillation apparatus that could serve as a reasonable substitute for a pill furnace.
This time Li Qiuchen followed the formula's steps precisely. He simmered the fruit pulp, strained out the solids, added honey, three rounds of decocting and steaming, slow and fast fire distillation and purification...
The final step: blend with liquor.
The formula specifically required rice wine brewed with living spring water from a heavenly pool.
In other words, fermented rice wine.
One jin of liquor blended with three spoonfuls of honey fruit concentrate.
At this step, Li Qiuchen stopped cold.
Oh no. That's what blending meant.
He had completely misunderstood it from the start.
He had assumed you diluted the liquor with fruit concentrate. It was the other way around. You diluted the fruit concentrate with liquor.
Nothing to do with any world version update or the Heaven of Longevity's footsteps drawing near.
He had fed the two young misses the concentrated version.
Li Qiuchen wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and resolved to bury this particular fact deep in his heart.
Nothing bad had happened. Best to treat it as though nothing had occurred.
After three days of sealed maturation, the formula ideally called for three months of aging, but that was purely a matter of taste.
The first proper, authentic batch of Hundred-Fruit Immortal Brew was complete.
The liquid was crystal clear, fragrant with fruit, and tasted remarkably similar to the RIO cocktails sold in convenience stores in his previous life.
Slightly short on bubbles, and the texture left room for improvement.
But these were minor concerns. The important thing was that this time, drinking it no longer produced the "losing oneself" effect.
Oddly, adding the alcohol made it less intoxicating rather than more. He couldn't explain the logic of that.
Li Qiuchen sampled three full cups in succession before finally feeling a faint pleasant warmth.
The alcohol content was low, the taste was sweet, and he could clearly feel the liquid entering his throat and transforming into a cool thread that seeped into his dantian, his internal spiritual energy beginning to grow slowly.
An ancient royal tribute indeed. The reputation was well earned.
As for effects on his mental state, Li Qiuchen closed his eyes and paid careful attention. Sure enough, he found that the anxiety and restlessness he had been carrying had quietly dissolved without him noticing.
Ease. Relaxation. In that moment it felt as though nothing in the world could be called a real problem.
Li Qiuchen stood up, intending to go share the results of his research with the two young misses who had been waiting eagerly.
He reached the doorway, the cool breeze came in from outside, and his head suddenly felt heavy and thick.
The world tilted.
Low alcohol content???
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself lying in the doorway, while the two young misses, clutching the ceramic jar, were sprawled flat on their backs inside the room, dead drunk.
Low alcohol content, my foot.
Nothing had been solved, and in fact the problem had gotten considerably worse.
The authentic Hundred-Fruit Immortal Brew surpassed the improvised version in every way, both in flavor and in medicinal effect.
After repeated testing, Li Qiuchen determined that the maximum safe dose was two liang at a time. Two liang was sufficient to produce the basic medicinal effect, but exceeding two liang caused a complete loss of rational control. Once you picked up the cup you could not put it down, and you would drink until you passed out cold.
In the interest of safety, he sealed up all remaining stock of the Hundred-Fruit Immortal Brew, and no matter how much the two young misses cried and pleaded, he refused to let them try any more.
As the start of the second term approached, Li Qiuchen went out to the street and bought several bottles of ordinary liquor, emptied them, filled them with the Hundred-Fruit Immortal Brew, then acquired a few snacks and brought the whole lot as a gift to Master Qin's home.
As the Tang family's steward, managing social obligations of this kind was properly his responsibility.
It was simply that Tang Xiaoxue had no social obligations to speak of, apart from Hu Caiyi.
Which was why he usually had so little of this to do.
Most students in the cohort were fond of the even-tempered Master Wang, and regarded Master Qin, who had put the entire class on notice within a single lesson on the first day of term, with more awe than affection.
Li Qiuchen was the opposite. He had always found Master Qin's manner more to his taste.
Master Wang was the kind of agreeable person who never offended anyone. Master Qin was calmer and more analytical. He knew when to act and when to stay silent and play deaf.
With the new term approaching, Master Qin's gate already had a queue forming outside, a steady stream of families arriving to present gifts.
Master Qin didn't open the door at all. He stationed the gatekeeper outside to receive everything, note down the students' names on the gift register, offer a few reassuring words, and send each visitor on their way.
Everyone understood. If he received every family in person, there would be no time for anything else.
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