Chapter Sixteen: Spirit Wine

  Li Muran practiced the Flame Explosion Technique for a while longer, and after several attempts, his spiritual power consumption was not small. He became more proficient, able to control the distance and strength of the technique within a certain range. At this stage, his Flame Explosion Technique could be considered as having just been successfully cultivated.

  Progress was so smooth that even the most talented disciples would feel ashamed and inferior in front of Li Muran.

  Unfortunately, this was just a "false image" at night; on the second day when the sky brightened, Li Muran, who had rested for half the night, tried to cast the Flame Explosion Technique again, only to find that he could still only conjure up an unimpressive small flame, completely lacking the momentum of last night's swift and decisive victory.

  Li Muran sighed and was about to close the book pavilion and head to the market when he was called back.

  "Zhao Shixiong, where are you going?" A slender young boy ran over to the Cangshu Pavilion in a hurry, carrying a calabaza in his hand. It was Mu Li.

  "I'm going to the town. Is Mu Shidi coming to read books?" Li Muran asked, seeing Mu Li's joyful face, he added another sentence: "Or is there some good news to tell me?"

  "It's not just good news, but also a good treasure!" Mu Li said, handing the gourd in his hand to Li Muran, saying: "Try it, I've brewed a new pot of good wine!"

  Li Muran slightly shook his head and smiled: "Wood Shidi isn't unaware, I've always disliked drinking, you'd better leave it for Master."

  Mu Li said: "Most of it has been offered to Master, and some is left, specially sent to you, Zhao. You try a little bit, just take a small sip and you'll know."

  Li Muran hesitated for a moment, took over the gourd, opened the mouth of the gourd, and suddenly a strong aroma wafted up to his nose.

  "Good wine!" Although Li Muran didn't understand wine, from the aroma alone, he could sense that the wine was rich and full-bodied, and seemed not to be very strong.

  Li Muran took a small sip, smooth and mellow, with a hint of warmth in the aftertaste, almost no pungent stimulation.

  Li Muran swallowed the wine into his belly, just as he was about to praise it, when he suddenly felt a warm sensation spreading through his abdomen, like a gentle stream flowing into his eight extraordinary meridians and merging with the original energy within him.

  "Huh!" Li Muran was startled and took another big gulp.

  This time, he could clearly feel the warmth in the wine transform into a strand of yuanqi, merging with the yuanqi within his body to become part of his magical powers.

  "This must be the spiritual wine mentioned in the classics." Li Muran asked in surprise.

  Mu Li said with a pleased smile: "Exactly, this is not an ordinary worldly wine, but a spiritual wine brewed from three kinds of spiritual flowers, called Sanhua Nian!"

  "The spiritual wine contains the essence of the universe, drinking a mouthful of Three Flowers Brew is almost equivalent to meditating for an hour. This jug of spiritual wine can probably last Zhao Shixiong for seven or eight days! One must not drink too much at once, if one cannot handle the potency of the wine, they will also get drunk."

  "Thank you, Master Mu! This wine is extraordinary, I suppose it's not easy to brew and the ingredients aren't cheap either?" Li Muran asked.

  Mu Li said, "That's not it, I sold all the yuanqi symbols that Zhao Shixiong gave me to make up for the materials to brew Sanhua wine. However, Master was very happy and told me to continue brewing Lingjiu in the future, as for the cost of the materials, he will bear it, and I can go find Qingfeng Shixiong to reimburse."

  "Excellent!" Li Muran nodded, "In external skills, there are elixirs, diet and other methods. Drinking spiritual wine should be an external skill between elixirs and diet, with a pretty good effect. Since Wood Brother has such a talent for brewing, using this method to assist in cultivation is also a good strategy. You and I just have slower speeds in breathing, exhaling, and refining our primordial energy, but the primordial energy in these spiritual wines, once drunk into the belly, are all absorbed equally, no worse than others."

  "My adoptive father passed away early, leaving nothing behind, but he did pass on his lifetime of experience in brewing wine to me. Who would have thought that it would be so beneficial to my cultivation?" Mu Li sighed and said: "Right, this time I came not only to deliver wine to Zhao Shixiong, but also to take a look at the Cangshu Pavilion, to see if there are any classics related to spiritual wine, in order to learn from various schools and refine my skills."

  "This is easy, I'll help you find it together." Li Muran readily agreed.

  Li Muran was already quite familiar with the classification of books in the Cangshu Pavilion, and soon found several books on the shelf that mentioned the brewing of spiritual wine, as well as a biography that told the story of a predecessor who loved to drink. The biography mentioned many incredible spiritual wines, which Li Muran also found and lent to Mu Di for borrowing.

  Borrowing a book requires a deposit of one spirit stone, and each book also needs to pay a fee of one spirit stone. The books must be returned within a month. Li Muran didn't mention these conditions; he planned to pay for Mu Li himself - after all, these few spirit stones were nothing to Li Muran.

  The two fellow disciples chatted for a while longer, discussing their cultivation experiences and sharing many thoughts and feelings.

  Li Muran reminded him: "Mu Shidi, you like to move around, about the sect task that Master mentioned, if you have a chance, secretly ask around."

  Mu Li saw Li Muren mention this matter with a solemn expression and curiously asked: "What's going on, did Zhao brother hear some rumors?"

  Li Muran shook his head: "I'm just speculating from the classics, this task may be highly dangerous! If so, we can't afford to be careless in our preparations."

  "Impossible!" Mu Li said with some doubt: "Master is very good to us, I don't think Master is the kind of person who would easily let his disciples take risks."

  Li Muran said calmly: "I hope it's just me being overly cautious. However, if there's an opportunity, I'll try to investigate clearly."

  Mu nodded and left the library with a few books after a while.

  It had been a while since they last met, and the two brothers chatted for a long time. Mu Li left at noon.

  Li Muran calculated that if he walked a bit faster, he should still be able to make it to the market.

  He immediately closed the book pavilion and brought a package of yuanqi symbols that had been prepared early, hurrying to Pingnan Valley Market.

  By mid-afternoon, Li Muran had already arrived at the market town and began selling his yuanqi symbols in several shops.

  In these two or three months, Li Muran has sold seven or eight pieces of one-star yuanqi symbols, exchanging them for seventy or eighty pieces of ling stone.

  At the same time, he spent twenty spirit stones to buy a hundred first-grade talismans, and another twenty spirit stones to buy twenty second-grade talismans, leaving him with thirty or forty spirit stones.

  So many things, all stuffed in his bosom, bulging and eye-catching, and also inconvenient. Li Muran spent ten spirit stones to buy an ordinary storage bag.

  This storage bag is also a magical instrument that can only be used by monks. Although it's only the size of a fist, it can hold items hundreds of times larger than itself.

  It's very easy to use, just cast a little magic power to open the mouth of the storage bag. When items are put into the storage bag, they will automatically shrink, and when taken out, they will also automatically return to their original shape.

  A storage bag easily held all of Li Muran's belongings and was very convenient to carry.

  If you want to do a good job, you must first sharpen your tools. In order to improve the efficiency of drawing talismans, Li Muran spent another "big hand", he abandoned the talisman brush and ink issued by the sect, and took out 20 spiritual stones to exchange for a silver-backed wolf hair talisman brush and a large package of higher-quality talisman ink.

  This purchase, although it only cost a few dozen spirit stones, which was nothing in the market, had already left Li Muran with only a dozen or so spirit stones.

  Li Muran took a quick stroll around the market, checking if there was anything else he needed. After all, he had to take care of the library now and it wouldn't be convenient for him to come to the market often.

  In the town, there are many ready-made talismans for sale, but the price is not cheap. A Flame Explosion Talisman sells for five spirit stones, but buyers are scarce, far fewer than the sales of Yuan Qi Talismans.

  There are also various kinds of strange and wonderful ritual instruments, but they are extremely expensive and not something that a novice disciple like Li Muran can afford.

  As he passed by a small stall set up by a woman in her thirties, Li Muran's heart skipped a beat.

  "Yuanyuan Dan, one Sanling Stone." Li Muran muttered to himself, lost in thought.

  "Not bad, these are all high-quality spiritual pills refined from precious medicinal materials such as Zi Chuan Gong, Wu Ling Zhi, and Zhu Yuan Can. One Three Spiritual Stone is absolutely not expensive. Most suitable for Qi Mai initial stage cultivators like little brother." The stall owner said with a smile, judging from her attire, she should be a disciple of Dan Xin Sect.

  Yuanyuan Dan is no stranger, it's a spiritual elixir mentioned many times in the classics, with effects of unblocking meridians and gathering yuan energy, one of the most common spiritual elixirs in the cultivation world.

  Li Muran thought to himself, "The elixir is a type of external skill. Taking the elixir to aid in cultivation has been around since ancient times and is quite common. Even the One-Mouthed Spirit Wine brewed by Wood Master's junior brother contains uncommon heavenly and earthly primordial energy, so this spirit elixir must have even more abundant primordial energy, its effect should not be bad."

  It is mentioned in the classics that taking Dan medicine to cultivate, the key lies in the quality and quantity of the Dan medicine, and has little to do with the speed and aptitude of the cultivator absorbing the heaven and earth's yuanqi. In other words, whether it is Li Muran or other disciples who take a Yuan Yuan Dan, the amount of yuanqi they can absorb is basically the same, and it will not be affected by Li Muran's poor aptitude, making him unable to absorb the yuanqi in the Dan medicine.

  "I'll buy five." Li Muran took out fifteen pieces of spiritual stone and handed them over. The other person took out a wooden medicine box with exquisite workmanship, loaded with five thumb-sized yellow dan pills, and handed it to Li Muran.

  Li Muran took out a pellet of Gathering Origin Dan, held it in front of his nose and lightly sniffed it. Suddenly, a strong medicinal fragrance entered his heart and spleen, making him feel indescribably comfortable. The surface of the dan was extremely smooth to the touch, cool and glossy in color, slightly translucent, and indeed very different from ordinary dan medicines.

  Li Muran examined each of the five dan pills one by one, confirming that there were no cracks or flaws, and then put them into a storage bag in his bosom.

  "The sky is already late, I have to hurry back!" Li Muran raised his head and looked at the setting sun, muttering to himself. He had come late in the first place, and after buying and selling many things and spending a lot of time, it was now almost dusk.