Heavenly Flame Venerable rolled his eyes at my teasing. "This place was like this when I first came in, miles from any village or inn. It wasn't convenient for me to go outside, either, so I could only make do."
"Heavenly Flame Senior, didn't you bring a Ring of Holding?"
I looked utterly bewildered, and Heavenly Flame Venerable looked equally bewildered. Then realization struck me. Silently, I took an exquisitely crafted white porcelain tea set from my Ring of Holding, along with a tin of "spirit tea" that had already reached the grade of spirit medicine. With a stir of Dou Qi, I instantly heated water, steeped the leaves, and poured Heavenly Flame Venerable a cup of spirit tea.
The rich fragrance of tea drifted through the shabby, simple Thatched Cottage. A gentle sniff filled the air with spiritual energy that refreshed the heart and lungs. Even the Heavenly Flame Saint next door would have cried with envy...
I silently removed the coarse pottery tea set from the table. Heavenly Flame Venerable had probably dug up some clay and fired it himself, but a high cultivation did not mean he knew everything. He knew nothing of the craftsmanship involved, so producing coarse pottery like this all by himself was already quite impressive. As for making exquisite white porcelain like mine?
That would have been impossible without immersing himself in the craft for ten years.
Heavenly Flame Venerable raised his cup and tipped his head back for a sip of spirit tea. It did indeed taste better than his coarse tea. Setting the cup down, he asked, "Boy, did you come here last time? What have you come running here for now?"
"I did come last time, but something came up, so I left early..."
I smiled awkwardly. "Heavenly Flame Senior,