Mu Shiyue hadn't expected Ke Chongbo to make such a request.
The Ke family literally had a mine, why would he care about the tea leaves she roasted?
Besides, it tasted awful.
"Master Mu, would that be alright?" Ke Chongbo asked a little nervously. "I don't need much, just a little bit!"
He simply wanted to bring some spiritual tea back for his parents and older brother, maybe there'd be a different effect after they drank it.
"It's fine to give you some," Mu Shiyue said, "but this tea isn't exactly good—"
"It's great, really great!" Ke Chongbo immediately cut her off. "These tea leaves are better than any I've ever had!"
Although it's the most bitter, it also had the strongest effects!
The teas he'd drunk before tasted pleasant, fragrant and sweet, but the spiritual energy was weak!
And they weren't absorbed nearly as well as this one.
He could tell the difference!
"Well then, alright." Since he'd said so, Mu Shiyue could only nod in agreement.
He'd helped Chu Jingzhuo, and Chu Jingzhuo was her disciple, of course she had to show the attitude of a master.
However, when she went to ask Qin Yiwei for tea leaves, she was told there wasn't much left.
"We drink a cup every day, this is all that's left," Qin Yiwei said, her face flushed in embarrassment.
"Yes, we've all been drinking tea these past few days, so there's not much left. It's not Second Junior Sister's fault," Xin Jinrui quickly explained for her.
"Alright, no need to be so nervous. I'm not blaming you," Mu Shiyue said with a teasing smile. "If you've been drinking every day, of course there wouldn't be much left."
She hadn't roasted much to begin with, the finished product probably wasn't even worth two taels.
With several of them drinking a little bit every day, how could there be much remaining?
Still, she couldn't help thinking, they really weren't afraid of bitterness at all.
No wonder she could feel her cultivation rising little by little every day.
Although faint, it's definitely increasing.
"How about you teach me to roast tea, Master? I'll do it!" Xin Jinrui said eagerly.
"You'll roast it?" Mu Shiyue looked at her senior disciple for a moment, then nodded. "Alright, you do it."
"Yes!"
Xin Jinrui immediately lit up with excitement.
After drinking so much tea over the past few days, they'd all felt its remarkable effects!
Although their cultivation no longer increased as rapidly as before, they could still sense themselves improving bit by bit each day.
That feeling gave them a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction.
They wanted to drink tea every day.
But there were so many of them, it wasn't right to always trouble their master to roast tea leaves, right?
So it's better to be self-sufficient!
"Then go pick the tea leaves first. Once you bring them back, I'll teach you," Mu Shiyue said.
"Yes!"
Hearing that Xin Jinrui was going to roast tea, the others immediately gathered around, saying they wanted to help pick tea leaves.
The spiritual tea tree they'd brought back had been planted in another courtyard.
Their sect now covered several times the area it had before.
Since the land here was unclaimed, they could expand however they pleased.
So after discussing it, they decided to enlarge the territory and build a wall around it.
Meng Fanzé, who hadn't gone out with them earlier, had stayed behind to build the wall and he'd made good progress.
With just a bit more effort, the walls would be complete.
The spiritual tea tree was planted near the back mountain.
After planting it, they had immediately rushed off to settle things with the Chu family and hadn't seen how the tree was doing since.
"Old Fifth, how's the spiritual tea tree? Still alive?" Xin Jinrui asked, a bit worried.
After all, it had suffered a lot, he's afraid it might not grow well.
"It's doing great!" Meng Fanzé nodded. "Growing especially well!"
"Really?"
Not only Xin Jinrui, everyone else perked up curiously.
"You're not lying to us?"
"Why would I lie to you? Go see for yourselves!" Meng Fanzé shrugged.
"Alright."
Everyone headed toward the back, and soon they saw the tall spiritual tea tree.
"By the way, how does your sect take care of spiritual plants?" Meng Fanzé asked Ke Chongbo.
"Oh, that's a bit complicated," Ke Chongbo said. "We usually set up a Spirit-Gathering Array around them, water them daily with spiritual spring water, keep insects away, it's all very regulated…"
Listening to his description, everyone's expressions changed.
"That's too luxurious!"
"We don't even live that well ourselves!"
That line made everyone fall silent.
It's true, even the plants in large sects lived better than they did!
Meng Fanzé then asked curiously, "So how are your spiritual plants?"
"Pretty well," Ke Chongbo said modestly. "We have disciples who specialize in tending to them, they take it very seriously."
"You even have disciples just for planting?"
Everyone was envious.
Their sect only had a few people, everyone had to take turns doing chores, never focusing on one thing.
"No worries, I can teach you," Ke Chongbo said cheerfully. "I also know the general process of planting—"
Before he could finish, they saw the tea tree ahead.
To their surprise, it was indeed thriving. Its leaves lush and green, without a trace of yellowing. The crisp green colour made it look especially healthy.
Though, it may be a little shorter than before.
"This spiritual tea tree looks amazing!" Ke Chongbo exclaimed joyfully, circling around it for a long time, eyes full of admiration.
Just from the leaves, you could tell the tree's vitality, it was covered in fresh green shoots!
He remembered clearly what this tree had looked like before.
In just a few days, it's completely rejuvenated!
Even the spiritual tea trees carefully nurtured in his own sect hadn't grown this well!
"This tree really does look great!" Ke Chongbo praised again, then his eyes froze on the trunk. "That's…"
Everyone looked and saw that the trunk was quite battered, covered in claw marks, the bark scraped and patchy.
The contrast between the flourishing canopy and the scarred trunk was intense.
They all turned toward Meng Fanzé, "What happened?"
Meng Fanzé's expression was indescribable.
He opened his mouth, "This…"
Before he could finish, the Spotted Spirit Cow mother led her calf over.
They stopped under the tree, and urinated.
"Moo~"
The two cows walked away.
Before anyone could react, the Soul-Devouring Tiger, still in postpartum confinement, also came out.
It walked to the tree, stood on its hind legs, placed its paws on the trunk, then arched its back and stretched downward with a loud yawn.
Its massive body pressed the tree down, making it sway and sink slightly.
Then it extended its claws and scraped the bark several times, wood chips falling in a shower.
After sharpening its claws, it looked satisfied and strolled away.
Then came the Iron-Eating Beast.
It turned its back to the tree, stood upright, and began furiously rubbing against it!
Rubbing and twisting, almost dancing rhythmically, until the bark was completely rubbed off.
When it finished, it patted the trunk happily, baring its teeth in what looked like a grin before lumbering off.
Everyone: "…"
They looked at the battered trunk, then up at the even lusher crown of leaves, faces blank.
They finally understood why the tree seemed shorter than before.
Even Ke Chongbo was stunned.
"In our sect, spiritual plants are very delicate. The more carefully we take care of them, the more fragile they get. A bit of strong wind or heavy rain, and the leaves fall off. If the spiritual energy's low, they'll die right in front of us!" Ke Chongbo fumed. "But this tree's resilient!"
Everyone looked again at the claw-scarred, bark-stripped trunk and the verdant canopy above, and fell silent.
Still growing so well even after being tormented like that by so many spirit beasts, this tree was indeed resilient!