Peach Blossom Wine, Beaver Plays with Dragon Carp

The wind and snow summoned by the great cultivator of the Four Seasons Sect continued to howl.

This late spring cold spell was exceptionally fierce.

Yet Li Ye stayed home every day, unmoving as a mountain.

He neither went out to search for Snow Fiends and hunt white crystals, nor did he play doctor and "treat" other people's spirit plants.

To him, those things were nothing more than petty gains.

He could neither obtain enough white crystals to make the risk worthwhile while ensuring his safety and avoiding conflict with others, nor could treating others truly improve his own skills.

There was naturally no need to waste time on them.

He had more important things to do now—

Collect snow water and purify Spiritual Energy.

The Spiritual Energy contained within this vast snowfall was precisely what he needed.

Not only for Spiritual Energy, but also for the hibernation of the Flint Crystal Worms and Silver Moon Grass, as well as their daily absorption and consumption.

Such a rare opportunity meant he had to gather as much as possible.

Though he did not know why this late spring cold spell had caused the Silver Moon Grass to begin condensing Moon Nectar Pearls again, he had already brought the Silver Moon Grass outside and placed it together with the Flint Crystal Worms.

"It'd be nice if they could produce a few Moon Nectar Pearls."

Li Ye watched the Silver Moon Grass and Flint Crystal Worms regain their vigor. His hands never stopped moving as he used the Spirit Gathering Art to purify all the spirit liquid from the melted snow water.

The process was extremely arduous.

What he wanted was the utmost refinement—he had plenty of spirit water that was not pure enough, but spirit liquid of such exceptional purity was truly rare.

He used the Spirit Gathering Art without pause, and nearly one stone of snow yielded only around three taels.

Fortunately, snowflakes were falling without end. He had also deliberately used an array to speed up the collection of snow, gathering snow water day and night while doing his utmost to avoid alerting the outside world.

He could gather roughly thirty stone of snow a day. After processing it, he could obtain nearly ninety taels of spirit liquid each day.

This spirit liquid was a pure, clear blue, like the hue formed where a white-blue sky met the deep sea.

Stored in jars, it was breathtakingly beautiful, as though the sky and ocean had been cut away and gathered within.

With the knowledge he possessed, he did not know what exactly this snow was, but it was undoubtedly more important than collecting the white crystals of Snow Fiends—

Besides, quite a few Snow Fiends had appeared over these days, only to be dealt with by the beaver and Hungry Bone working together.

As time slowly passed, Li Ye grew ever more proficient in using the Spirit Gathering Art.

Before, he had needed to control the flow of spiritual power and form hand seals. Now, a casual wave of his hand was enough to use it.

The only thing holding him back was that the Spiritual Energy supplied by the Spirit Water Phoenix-Eye Lotus was somewhat unable to keep up.

No matter how chaotic the outside world became because of this sudden snow, he remained at home, calmly handling his own affairs in perfect order.

And so, ten days flashed by.

The Silver Moon Grass helped him produce another one hundred and twenty Moon Nectar Pearls. Though it was not as many as before, it was still an unexpected delight.

When Li Ye timed it just right and moved the Silver Moon Grass and Flint Crystal Worms back into the array inside the house, the dense cloud cover that had blanketed the sky for ten whole days miraculously began to disperse swiftly with the watchman's calls marking the Zi Hour.

Bright moonlight poured through the retreating clouds. Within only a few breaths, it illuminated the entirety of Returning Shore Market, lighting up the blanket of white snow.

Riding the wind came the warmth of spring.

It seemed that after being suppressed for ten days, the spring breeze had begun to strike back. The snow visibly started to melt, and the melting snow water released Spiritual Energy several times clearer than before.

Only then did many cultivators realize that the snow contained so much spiritual power!

Yet by the time they noticed, some of the Spiritual Energy within the snow had already been captured by the spirit plants or spirit beasts growing in their courtyards.

Some flowed into wells or springs, but the overwhelming majority seeped into the earth and vanished completely.

Standing in his courtyard, Li Ye could hear the cultivators' voices—

"Why is the Spiritual Energy in this snow escaping so quickly?"

"Even the Spirit Gathering Art can't gather it."

"Ah! If I'd known, I would've stayed home and collected more snow water!"

Their voices were all strong and full-bodied, but the regret in their tones was impossible to conceal. Listening to them, Li Ye silently turned and went back inside.

He looked at the large vat in the room.

It was filled to the brim with clear liquid, a full sixty jin in all. This was the harvest of his ten days of labor.

His experiments showed that this liquid contained an enormous amount of Spiritual Energy, several times more than purified Spirit Spring Water.

There were also around fifty pieces of white crystal gathered by the beaver and Hungry Bone.

In his spare time, he had also used flint fire to burn them, collecting some Pure White Marrow Fluid.

"Sure enough, there's nothing better than staying home."

Li Ye nodded in satisfaction, then looked toward the large vat in the corner with delight and excitement in his eyes.

The peach blossom branch atop it had fully bloomed, and its once-contained fragrance had completely spilled out.

He took a deep breath.

It was an unusual scent: peach blossoms mingled with wine, softening the wine's potentially harsh bite and leaving behind only an intoxicatingly rich aroma.

"It smells amazing."

Although Li Ye had not liked drinking before transmigrating, if it was this kind of wine—wine worthy of being called an "immortal brew"—then he felt he could drink a little.

So he eagerly walked up to the vat, reached out, grasped the jade peach blossom branch at its center, and gave it a gentle tug—

The peach blossom branches filling the vat vanished like bubbles as the jade branch was removed, leaving only a vat of pink wine within.

The fragrance instantly grew even stronger. Simply standing before the vat and smelling it made him feel faintly tipsy.

"Squeak, squeak~"

Just as he was about to use the bottles he had bought long ago to fill the wine, a group of beavers sneakily appeared behind him.

Led by the largest beaver, the whole line of them stared at him with round little eyes full of longing.

Even their cries carried a hint of pleading flattery.

"You want some too?"

"Squeak!"

The moment his words fell, the beavers all produced tiny cups made of mud. Golden halos flowed within them, standing in stark contrast to the crude clay cups.

Aura of Golden Fortune!

Li Ye was practically amused into laughter. These little fellows had actually learned to barter.

When he had taken the Aura of Golden Fortune before, he had deliberately left some behind for the little guys so they could eat some too.

After all, it was the result of their painstaking efforts to enlighten others.

"Come over here."

He did not take their golden fortune. Instead, he said, "Consider these your reward for working."

He generously gave each beaver one or two taels of wine.

"Squeak squeak squeak squeak!"

Looking at the little bowls of pink wine before them, the beavers' eyes sparkled. They immediately pounced on them and drank greedily, draining their one or two taels of wine in just a few breaths.

Then, right before his eyes, the beavers crookedly squeezed into a heap, rolled out of his house like a ball, and proceeded to tumble about wildly all over the courtyard.

Perhaps wine gave courage to the timid. That saying seemed to apply to beavers as well.

At this moment, they even dared to jump into the pond and play around with the Crimson-Gold Dragon Carp. The bolder ones even grabbed the dragon carps' whiskers!

Fortunately, after Li Ye's constant reminders over this period of time, the Crimson-Gold Dragon Carp had grown familiar with these neighbors who had once barely dared approach them. They did not harm the beavers, merely nibbling at the wine lingering around their mouths.

The Micro-Stream Beavers and Crimson-Gold Dragon Carp tangled together in a chaotic mess, leaving Li Ye utterly helpless, unsure whether to laugh or sigh.

He felt that if he learned painting, this scene could be called "Beavers Playing with Dragon Carp Beneath the Moon."

It really was quite interesting.