CHAPTER 965: CHAPTER 529: GATHERING

The pavilion at the mountain peak of Li Shiming is remarkably lively today.

This gathering was initiated by him, naturally, with a nudge from Feng Lanxin.

He sent out the invitations ten days in advance, mostly to the same Nascent Soul Early Stage practitioners, essentially Feng Lanxin’s small circle.

He had attended a gathering before, and due to the talk within the Ten Thousand Beast Sect about his brewing of Fourth Grade Spirit Tea, Feng Lanxin reached out to him, prompting him to organize a gathering.

Li Shiming thought it over and agreed.

All the Nascent Soul cultivators from the previous gathering came, including Master Jiang Hong, as well as his master’s registered disciple, Lu Heng. As for Second Senior Brother Yue Shan, he was also on the invitation list, but Yue Shan had matters to attend to and couldn’t make it.

When Master Jiang Hong saw Li Shiming, he had a smile on his face, as if nothing had happened before.

But both he and Li Shiming understood that after what happened before, their relationship would never be what it was.

Li Shiming no longer dared to trust Master Jiang Hong. He could sense Master Jiang Hong’s hidden jealousy and resentment, as if he had not truly let go.

"Master Li, quickly bring out the Spirit Tea! I want to taste the Fourth Grade Spirit Tea that requires a set of fourth-grade array materials to exchange for just five spirit tea leaves!" Feng Lanxin said impatiently.

"Senior Sister Feng, I’ll brew it right away!" Li Shiming replied with a smile.

For this reception, he prepared a lot of Fourth Grade Spirit Fruits.

His current assets were quite substantial. Although he hadn’t accumulated much fourth-grade spiritual objects due to the short time in alchemy, fourth-grade spirit fruits were plentiful for such gatherings.

Unlike the last gathering, although Li Shiming was an alchemy master at the time, he wasn’t considered the most important figure.

Master Jiang Hong, an established alchemy master, had more status back then, along with Feng Lanxin’s high stature.

But this time, it was noticeably different; the cultivators seemed to subtly regard Li Shiming as the main character.

This wasn’t just because Li Shiming was the host, but also because he had become a formal disciple of Grandmaster Hu, greatly elevating his status in the sect.

Li Shiming used the Fourth Grade Fire Pill Furnace to brew the tea; he didn’t use the ’Nanming Leaving Fire’—a fire-type Divine Skill he didn’t want to be known for in this aspect yet.

The technique of using a Fourth Grade Pill Furnace to brew Spirit Tea was still unique to him.

Master Jiang Hong watched Li Shiming’s movements, his gaze focused. No matter how many times he saw it, he was amazed at Li Shiming’s control over spiritual fire, which surpassed his expectations.

He himself had tried it privately, but every time the spirit tea he brewed was far inferior to the one brewed by Li Shiming.

The Spirit Tea brewed by Li Shiming could be said to bring out the spirit tea’s essence to the extreme.

Sometimes Master Jiang Hong didn’t understand why he felt jealous; perhaps it was because Li Shiming’s growth was too rapid, forming competition with him.

Originally, he thought that after Li Shiming joined the sect, he would take a long time to promote to the Nascent Soul stage, and during this period, Li Shiming could only refine the Nascent Soul Early Stage Fourth Grade Spirit Pill.

Even after Li Shiming promoted to the Nascent Soul stage, he would need to relearn the refining of Nascent Soul Middle Stage Fourth Grade Spirit Pills, which would take at least one or two hundred years to catch up to him.

However, not long after joining the sect, Li Shiming promoted to the Nascent Soul stage and displayed extraordinary alchemy talent within a year.

Despite the Ten Thousand Beast Sect having three alchemy masters competing with each other, the three alchemy masters’ levels were not that far apart.

The number of cultivators seeking pills from the three alchemy masters was similar, so their competition wasn’t intense.

But Li Shiming’s sudden rise, with the quality akin to Nascent Soul Middle Stage Fourth Grade Spirit Pills, formed the strongest competitiveness, causing many cultivators who were originally Master Jiang Hong’s clients to turn to Li Shiming instead.

As Master Jiang Hong pondered this, an indescribable fragrance filled the entire area.

"No wonder this Spirit Tea is so expensive!" Feng Lanxin murmured softly.

She was quite knowledgeable, yet the scent in the air captivated her.

The originally brewed Fourth Grade Spirit Tea by Li Shiming was already the topmost of its grade. With further brewing using a Fourth Grade Pill Furnace, he brought out one hundred percent of the spirit tea’s essence, surpassing the same quality Spirit Tea that even great cultivators drank.

Li Shiming smiled. The Fourth Grade Spirit Tea he brewed was just enough for each cultivator to have one cup, no more, no less.

After taking a sip of the Fourth Grade Spirit Tea, the pavilion fell silent; all cultivators lost their voices, immersed in the ultimate sensation brought by the Fourth Grade Spirit Tea.

Only after a long while did the cultivators regain their composure.

"Still too expensive!" Zhang Kai said quietly.

The sensation this Fourth Grade Spirit Tea brought to the cultivators was extremely intense and beneficial for Nascent Soul cultivators.

But as Zhang Kai said, it was too expensive, far beyond what ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators could afford.

Only Feng Lanxin and Master Jiang Hong, perhaps, had the wealth to purchase some.

The other Nascent Soul cultivators wouldn’t spend so much of their fourth-grade resources to buy Fourth Grade Spirit Tea; it was beyond their means, and they couldn’t cut down on cultivation resources just to buy it.

It’s known that no one ever buys just a portion of Fourth Grade Spirit Tea; a purchase is at least ten portions, equivalent to two sets of fourth-grade materials at the minimum.