Volume 1, Chapter 309 – Ancient Enlightenment Tea

The system’s sudden turn toward such “gentleness” left Shi Lan rather unaccustomed, and purely in terms of force, did she not already have the Lan Clan?

As if sensing Shi Lan’s confusion, the system provided another explanation.

[Preliminary requirement for completion of the main mission: the force owned by the host must reach at least third grade in Lingyang Realm.]

Hearing that prompt, Shi Lan’s mind went a little blank.

What did a third-grade force mean? It required at least three Heaven-Men presiding over it, with at least one of them having reached the seventh stage of the Heaven-Man Realm or above.

To the current Shi Lan, that was no different from a fantasy. And this was only the preliminary stage of completion.

Compared with that, the ten million prestige points were, relatively speaking, far easier.

As her cultivation rose, Shi Lan used the system’s virtual space less and less, because the battles in the real world alone had already begun to leave her somewhat overtaxed.

There were perhaps still many unknown aspects to that function that she had yet to uncover.

With the system’s mission no longer pressing relentlessly at her back, Shi Lan as a whole suddenly relaxed, like a bow that had long been pulled taut finally and slowly releasing its string.

Although she felt much lighter, Shi Lan’s desire for strength had instead grown even fiercer.

She did not want to experience again that feeling of being hunted down to the brink of death. There would not always be help arriving in time.

Shi Lan closed the panel and shut her eyes, sensing the various changes within her body.

If the true qi within her body had once been like rivers, then now it was an ocean.

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The changes in her sea of consciousness were even greater. Before reaching the Myriad Phenomena Realm, although Shi Lan had been able to use some simple abilities of soul perception, her mind had still been a chaos.

Now everything in her mind was clearly divided. Her soul power had condensed into a lake, becoming the true rudiment of a sea of consciousness, resting within the space between her brows.

Her divine sense slowly extended outward. Within several li, every stirring of wind and grass entered her mind, more than several times clearer than her former vague soul perception.

Shi Lan’s soul sat quietly cross-legged above the sea of consciousness, concentrating on comprehending a completely new kind of power.

Law.

After stepping into the Myriad Phenomena Realm, Shi Lan had finally touched this unprecedented power.

Shi Lan opened her eyes, and her figure vanished in an instant. In the blink of an eye, she was already several thousand zhang away.

This time, Shi Lan had not used true qi, nor even the power of her body. What she spent was soul power, traversing the void in a single thought.

Soul power was different from true qi. It was extremely difficult to increase, requiring accumulation year after year, like dripping water wearing through stone.

After the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Shi Lan had already left the Lan Clan territory. After who knew how many teleportations, she entered a forest of flaming red maples.

An invisible gale swept up the maple leaves filling the sky. Shi Lan stopped, lightly pointed into the void with one finger, and space instantly froze. The maple leaves all over the sky were fixed in place at once, suspended in midair.

The scarlet maple leaves looked like blazing flames, as though they had set the sky alight.

Shi Lan withdrew her finger, a thoughtful look in her eyes.

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The power of law was far stronger than true qi. That was why those with peerless cultivation could overturn the heavens with a single thought.

The skyful of maple leaves slowly drifted down, and Shi Lan’s expression suddenly turned somewhat strange.

Beautiful though the scene was, it was only just the beginning of spring. Where had these fiery red maple leaves come from?

Sensing that something was wrong, Shi Lan stepped back a few paces and turned to leave.

A while later, Shi Lan stopped moving. No matter how she traversed the void, that maple forest remained beneath her feet.

Shi Lan’s face remained calm. As she glanced around, she suddenly noticed a pebble path.

She was certain that this path had not existed before.

After steadying herself, Shi Lan followed that little forest path and walked deeper into the maple grove.

The winding path led into a secluded place, and Shi Lan’s pace grew faster and faster.

After walking for about half an incense stick’s time, her view suddenly opened up, and a vast lake appeared before her.

By the lakeside stood a pavilion. A figure sat within it with their back to her, brewing tea.

Shi Lan slowly stepped forward and entered the pavilion. In one corner of the pavilion, a stick of purple incense was burning.

The fragrance was extremely faint, almost imperceptible, yet it caused Shi Lan to relax involuntarily.

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The one sitting by the low table brewing tea was a young man in his early twenties.

Looking at his profile, Shi Lan could not help but feel a flash of amazement. Since entering Lingyang Realm, she had never seen anyone of such flawless beauty, so handsome that he seemed beyond the mortal world, dreamlike and unreal.

He was dressed in white robes like snow, outlining a tall, straight figure. A transparent jade belt was tied at his waist, and his dark red hair fell over his shoulders, setting off his jade-like features all the more. Beneath brows sharp as swords was a pair of phoenix eyes veiled in a thin mist.

Resting by the man’s hand was also a blood-red folding fan about a chi long, with a jade phoenix-shaped clasp hanging from the end of the fan.

“Greetings, Senior.”

Shi Lan cupped her hands and gave half a bow. She could not see through the depth of the man before her, and with this sort of bearing, he was clearly a great figure. Calling him Senior was only natural.

“Sit.”

The young man raised a hand in invitation and poured Shi Lan a cup of hot tea.

Shi Lan did not stand on ceremony. She lifted the cup and drank it in a single gulp. Vast spiritual qi exploded in her mouth and turned into a stream of heat that rushed straight into her spiritual platform.

In an instant, the laws of heaven and earth were within reach. Shi Lan’s mind became clear and empty. She forgot where she was and fell into enlightenment.

The true qi in her body began to boil, circulating more and more smoothly. Clear divine radiance spread over her body, like warm polished jade, and her strength rose rapidly.

A long while later, Shi Lan slowly opened her eyes and could not help blurting out:

“Ancient Enlightenment Tea!”

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“You do have some discernment.”

The young man raised his brows, somewhat surprised. In the entire Lingyang Realm, only the Demon Emperor Palace had a single Ancient Enlightenment Tea tree. It could only be harvested once every nine thousand years, and the amount obtained each time was not much. Let alone drinking it, very few in the world had even heard of it.

Naturally, Shi Lan knew of it because she had tasted it before. On one occasion, the reward for a main mission had been a single leaf of Ancient Enlightenment Tea.

Although, because she had lacked suitable spirit liquid to brew it with at the time, she had simply chewed the tea leaf dry, and the effect had been nowhere near as good as it was today.

Setting down her cup, Shi Lan looked at the tea stove before her, her eyes heating up. At least a dozen leaves of Ancient Enlightenment Tea floated within it.

The Ancient Enlightenment Tea tree was a nine-star immortal root, and the leaves it produced were also as high as seven-star in rank. And since they could be used to brew Ancient Enlightenment Tea, that meant the water used for the tea itself was at least a six-star spirit liquid.

What extravagant wealth and power this was. It was hard for Shi Lan not to covet it a little.

The young man let out a soft laugh and once again filled Shi Lan’s cup.

Tempted though she was, Shi Lan did not lift the cup again. She simply watched the man before her quietly. In this world, there was no such thing as favor that came for no reason at all.

“As a human, with cultivation so low, you actually managed to deceive the heavens and establish a clan in my demon domain…”

The smile on the young man’s face gradually faded, and he said flatly:

“Girl, you’ve got a lot of nerve.”