A Cup of Spirit Tea Aids Yang Mei's Path to Enlightenment

Li Cha returned to the brand-new Yun Hua Grotto-Heaven, feeling the rich spiritual energy and harmonious Dao rhyme within that far surpassed the outside world, his heart filled with tranquility. This journey to the West, though time-consuming, had yielded great gains—not only had he resolved karmic ties and elevated his state of mind, but he had also obtained the Three Lights Divine Water and several spiritual treasures, with his Tea Dao only one final step away from perfection.

He had originally planned to rest for a good while, carefully comprehending what he had gained before performing that final brewing, but someone couldn't wait. Less than a year after his return, the Qiankun Seal and Sever Formation outside the grotto-heaven transmitted clear fluctuations.

Two immensely powerful yet distinctly different auras arrived together—one ethereal and elusive, the other cold and vast.

Li Cha smiled helplessly and had no choice but to open the formation's gate. Great Immortal Yang Mei and Fairy Wang Shu entered side by side, Yang Mei wearing an expression that was half-smiling, while Fairy Wang Shu's delicate features clearly showed a barely suppressed urgency and... a hint of intent to demand an explanation?

"Oh my! What wind blows today, bringing both Daoist friends to my humble abode? This truly flatters me and makes my shabby dwelling shine!" Li Cha hurried forward, piling on a warm smile and laughing it off, trying to muddle through.

"Daoist Friend Yun Hua, spare me that act!" Fairy Wang Shu wasn't buying it, her beautiful eyes glaring as she cut straight to the point with a tone of reproach, "How dare you hide this from me! The Primordial First Tea? If not for Daoist Friend Yang Mei informing me, I wouldn't have known you were hoarding good things. If you don't give an explanation today, don't blame me for being rude—I'll tie you up and take you to the Moon Star to brew tea!"

Her words were half-joking, but the longing in her eyes was genuine. Ever since learning from Yang Mei that Li Cha still possessed the Primordial Chaos Spirit Tea, far surpassing the Enlightenment Tea, her heart had felt like it was being scratched by a cat's claws, desperate to taste it immediately. If not for considering that Li Cha was performing meritorious deeds by sorting out the earth veins in the West, she probably wouldn't have waited these thousand years.

Yang Mei also stroked his beard and smiled from the side, "Daoist Friend Li Cha, the tea worm in my belly has been tantalized by your 'First Tea' for over a thousand years. If I don't get to drink it today, I fear my Dao Heart will become unstable."

Seeing these two top-tier great powers with an attitude of "we won't leave until we drink tea today," Li Cha knew he couldn't bluff his way out. He smiled bitterly and shook his head: "Fine, fine. It seems I can't avoid it today. Please wait a moment, Daoist friends."

His expression turned serious as he extended his Spiritual Sense into the Chaos Pearl. After a moment, an ancient wooden box appeared in his hand. This box was neither metal nor jade, carved by him from a small remaining branch of the Primordial Chaos Spirit Tea Tree, with natural Dao patterns faintly visible on its surface—it was itself a rare spiritual object.

Li Cha carefully placed the wooden box on the Sacred Spirit Table and opened the lid with gentle movements.

In an instant, an indescribable Chaos Dao rhyme, accompanied by a faint yet life-origin-stirring strange fragrance, spread from within the box! Just a trace of it made Yang Mei and Wang Shu's spirits lift, feeling their mana become more lively, and some subtle stagnations in their past cultivation showed signs of loosening!

Inside the box, lined with Ten-Thousand-Year Warm Jade, lay five tea leaves.

These tea leaves had a peculiar shape, not like ordinary leaves, but more like miniature chaotic nebulae bearing Great Dao patterns! They displayed a deep Chaos Hue, as if containing endless void within, with divine patterns naturally inscribed on them that were a hundred times more complex and profound than the Innate Enlightenment Tea! Four of them were intact with perfect Dao rhyme; only one had a smooth notch on its edge, as if a corner had been cut by some sharp blade, yet the Dao rhyme it contained was still overwhelmingly vast, though slightly restless.

"This is... the Primordial Chaos Spirit Tea." Li Cha's voice carried a trace of reminiscence and emotion. "Only five leaves exist in the world. This damaged leaf was left behind when the Great God Pangu was comprehending the Dao, touched by insight, with a light brush of his axe intent."

Hearing this, Yang Mei and Wang Shu both grew solemn. Their gazes locked onto the five tea leaves, especially the damaged one, as if they could feel the supreme Dao rhyme of that moment of World Creation.

"A Primordial Chaos Spiritual Root, truly worthy of the name!" Yang Mei took a deep breath of the diffusing tea fragrance, feeling his own understanding of space subtly stirred, and praised sincerely, "This tea, not yet drunk, just by smelling its fragrance, already elevates one's Dao realm slightly. Truly remarkable! Far surpassing the Enlightenment Tea!"

Fairy Wang Shu's beautiful eyes also shimmered with extraordinary light, her earlier urgency transformed into immense anticipation.

Li Cha said no more. He closed his eyes, slowly adjusting his breath and state of mind. For him, brewing this tea was not just about satisfying physical cravings, but a sacred ritual, an ultimate performance and pilgrimage of his Tea Dao. It required a devout and peaceful heart.

After a moment, he opened his eyes, his gaze clear and serene, a faint smile of ease on his lips.

He first ignited the Five Elements True Fire in the Five Elements Furnace, controlling the heat with extreme precision. Then, he took the Precious Vase gifted by Wang Shu and slowly poured the Three Lights Divine Water, shimmering with the three-colored light of sun, moon, and stars, into the Shouyang Pot. As the divine water entered the pot, it blended with the pure Yang Dao rhyme of the Shouyang Pot, emitting a faint, clear hum.

When the water temperature was just right, Li Cha used the Spirit Origin Ruler to guide the damaged Primordial Chaos Spirit Tea leaf, which drifted lightly into the pot as if pulled by an invisible force.

Zi

A faint sound, like the first breath of the Great Dao's beginning.

The next moment, a fragrance that no words in the world could describe burst forth from the pot's mouth!

This fragrance was not a simple aroma; it seemed to fuse the vastness of chaos, the grandeur of creation, the germination of life, the enlightenment of wisdom, the interweaving of all Daos... It was formless and intangible, yet omnipresent, instantly penetrating deep into the Purple Mansions and Primordial Spirits of the three present!

Yang Mei felt the scene before him transform, as if he saw the boundless chaos where the Three Thousand Demon Gods rose and fell, and the magnificent sight of Pangu swinging his axe to create the world! His countless years of accumulation and insight into the Great Dao of Space, at this moment, found an outlet, surging, reorganizing, and sublimating wildly!

Fairy Wang Shu, on the other hand, felt as if she were placed in the endless starry sky, witnessing the eternal cycle of stars being born, operating, and perishing. The mysteries of the Grand Celestial Stars unfolded before her eyes with unprecedented clarity, and the power of the Moon and Sun naturally merged within her!

As the brewer, Li Cha felt the most deeply. The fragrance stirred the deepest memories of his soul—the distant past when he was still the Primordial Chaos Spirit Tea Tree, silently observing the evolution of all Daos. Tea Dao, Five Elements, Space, Stars... various insights flowed like streams into the sea.

He steadied his mind and poured the brewed tea into three cups hastily refined from spiritual jade. The tea's color was chaotic, as if containing a small Hongmeng universe within, with countless fine Dao patterns emerging, sinking, and floating.

The three exchanged glances, seeing the shock and anticipation in each other's eyes. They raised their cups simultaneously and drank the tea in one gulp!

The moment the tea entered his mouth, Li Cha's body trembled violently, his eyes instantly moistening, and two streams of tears involuntarily rolled down.

Indescribable!

Any words at this moment were pale and powerless. It was not a taste that could be summarized by simple bitterness, astringency, freshness, sweetness, or richness. It was the taste of the Dao! The taste of life's origin! The taste of chaos and order intertwined! A supreme enjoyment that transcended all sensory experience, reaching straight to the source of the soul! His lifelong pursuit of the Tea Dao, until this moment, truly let him experience what the pinnacle of tea was! He wept from extreme emotion and fulfillment.

Yang Mei and Wang Shu were the same, immersed in that unparalleled taste and Dao realm, unable to extricate themselves.

Especially Yang Mei. His aura began to fluctuate violently, uncontrollably! Countless spatial law patterns materialized around his body, intertwining, combining, and splitting! The countless space techniques he had once comprehended—Space Folding, Distance within Reach, Void Exile, Space Annihilation—evolved autonomously like a revolving lantern, stirring the surrounding space into chaos, yet containing some supreme order!

His aura was climbing, slowly but with unwavering determination! Climbing! Breaking through the Peak Quasi-Saint barrier that had trapped him for countless Yuanhui, touching that mysterious realm of great freedom and great ease—the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal of the Origin!

Li Cha and Wang Shu simultaneously snapped out of that extreme Dao realm, staring in shock at Yang Mei, then raising their heads together, their gazes piercing through the grotto-heaven's barrier to the sky outside!

A great terror that made their souls tremble was gathering madly beyond the nine heavens! It was the aura of the Primordial Thunder Tribulation for the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal! A million times more terrifying than the false saint tribulation Luohu had forcibly triggered!

Hongjun had not yet become a saint, yet Yang Mei, because of this cup of Primordial Chaos Spirit Tea, was about to trigger the true Primordial Thunder Tribulation first!

At that moment, Yang Mei also opened his eyes wide, his gaze no longer holding its usual calm, filled with unprecedented gravity and... a trace of excitement. He stood up, spatial ripples violently undulating around him, ready to receive the baptism of this supreme heavenly tribulation.

"Daoist Brother, wait!" Li Cha suddenly called out to stop him.

Yang Mei looked at him doubtfully.

Li Cha's expression was serious as he quickly transmitted his voice: "Daoist Brother, the Primordial Thunder Tribulation is no small matter; the commotion is too great. Daoist Friend Hongjun is about to become a saint. If you undergo the tribulation in the Primordial World now, unforeseen changes may arise. To avoid complications, why not go to the boundless chaos to undergo the tribulation? The laws there are chaotic and can also conceal heavenly secrets."

Hearing this, Yang Mei gave Li Cha a deep look, instantly understanding his meaning. Hongjun's path was different from his; if he learned that Yang Mei had attained the Primordial realm before his own sainthood, it would be hard to avoid complications. Undergoing the tribulation in chaos was indeed the best choice.

"Thank you for the reminder, Daoist friend!" Yang Mei hesitated no longer, nodding to Li Cha and Wang Shu. His spatial power erupted violently, his form instantly becoming illusory, and the next moment, he had completely merged into the void and disappeared. He had directly broken through the Primordial World's barrier, heading into the perilous yet boundless chaos to welcome his Primordial Thunder Tribulation.

Inside the grotto-heaven, Li Cha and Wang Shu exchanged a glance, both seeing shock and excitement in each other's eyes. One cup of tea could actually help someone break through the gate of the Primordial realm! This Primordial Chaos Spirit Tea was even more heaven-defying than they had imagined!