Thousand Day Wine

This wine is like fruit wine. Putting aside the concentrated spiritual liquid of sun and moon essence, the remaining taste has no strong alcoholic flavor, but rather the aroma of fermented fruit, making it subjectively feel very sweet.

"This is wine brewed by mountain spirits using kiwis as the main ingredient, along with rare fruits they gathered. It's called Thousand Day Wine."

"Why is it called Thousand Day Wine?"

"There's a legend about Thousand Day Wine in the village at the foot of the mountain," the old Daoist priest sitting beside him said leisurely. "It's said that a woodcutter from the village went up the mountain to chop firewood. He rested under a very large ancient tree. He didn't intend to cut down the tree; he couldn't anyway. He just didn't want to carry his cleaver, so he swung it at the tree, intending to embed the blade. Unexpectedly, when he struck, the tree wasn't solid inside. Instead, green wine continuously seeped out. This wine originally contained spiritual energy, and anyone who smelled it couldn't resist. So, he took a drink and immediately passed out drunk, only waking up three years later."

The old Daoist priest paused. "Later, the legend of Thousand Day Wine spread through the village. I never expected the mountain spirits would actually use that name."

"So that's what Thousand Day Wine is."

Lin Jue couldn't help but be startled. Fortunately, he hadn't drunk it yet.

"Do you cultivate?"

"Replying to the Daoist priest, I have learned the Qi Nourishing Method."

"Then remember to drink slowly and use your breathing and Guidance techniques to absorb the spiritual energy and guide it into your body. Don't let it dissipate freely," the old Daoist priest said. "This wine is already extraordinary. Now that the Mountain Lord has added his collected sun and moon essence, for ordinary people, strengthening the body is just the basic effect, and extending lifespan isn't a major feat. For martial artists, most can achieve a higher level. For cultivators, it can be of great benefit to the initial stages of Qi cultivation and spiritual transformation."

"Thank you for your guidance."

The old Daoist priest smiled slightly and didn't reply. He turned to the young girl beside him and said, "You drink a little less. Just drink it, and I will help you."

"Thank you, Master."

The young girl also said, her attitude very respectful.

The sky quickly darkened, and the firelight illuminated a patch on the mountaintop. The Thousand Day Wine had been distributed. The Mountain Lord at the head of the table raised his cup. There was no toast; he simply took a sip first.

This was like a signal. The other spirits, seeing this, could no longer suppress their instinctive desires. They quickly lowered their heads and drank the wine in their bamboo cups in various ways, some even swallowing the bamboo cup along with the liquid, spitting out nothing.

Lin Jue, however, was very refined.

He picked up his bamboo cup and first took a sniff. He felt an unusual fragrance, a refreshing sensation as if his nasal cavity and chest were being cleansed. Then, as the old Daoist priest had instructed, he cautiously took a small sip.

It was indeed sweet, with the fragrance of fruit, though not as sweet as it smelled.

The alcoholic taste was still not strong.

But immediately following was a pure Spiritual Charm that melted within his body, turning into Qi and filling every part from his mouth to his throat and down to his stomach, with a feeling of spreading outwards.

"!"

Such pure Spiritual Charm.

Lin Jue was just an ordinary person who had recently begun practicing the Qi Nourishing Method, sensing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to absorb the Five Qi. He probably hadn't even reached the introductory level, yet he had never encountered such Spiritual Charm.

No wonder those spirits were so infatuated with it.

However, Lin Jue dared not have any other thoughts at this moment. He quickly followed the old Daoist priest's advice, inhaling deeply as he usually did during meditation and breathing exercises, guiding the Qi into his body. This would prevent the Spiritual Charm from scattering and escaping through his orifices and pores, and also store it properly.

Unlike the ethereal and elusive Five Qi, Lin Jue could clearly feel the presence of this Spiritual Charm.

"Tsk..."

Lin Jue took another sip.

Given its low alcohol content, its ability to intoxicate someone for a thousand days, and its property of keeping someone alive for a thousand days, it was unlikely to be due to alcohol. Combined with the fresh fruit flavor, even setting aside its contained special Spiritual Charm, the wine tasted excellent.

At the same time, he felt gazes from all around.

These were the spirits who had already finished their Thousand Day Wine. Seeing that he hadn't finished, they couldn't help but cast their eyes on him, their gazes containing instinctual longing and greed.

With so many spirits present, in such a setting, as the sun had already set, these gazes were enough to make one's blood run cold. However, Lin Jue, aware of the Mountain Lord's deterrent power, was not afraid at all. He even felt that he had stepped into one of the strange tales he had heard before, and a sense of wonder filled him, making his tasting of the Thousand Day Wine even more leisurely.

The Mountain Lord in front waved his hand, and another kiwi spirit opened a wine jar. It still contained Thousand Day Wine, which was distributed for everyone to drink freely, although the Mountain Lord's unique sun and moon essence was no longer added.

The sky was dim, the clouds burned to ashes, leaving only the dreamlike, shifting colors on the horizon, indescribably magnificent. And on the summit of this great mountain, the bonfire still burned, reflecting the shadows of many spirits, reflecting in many different eyes.

The Mountain Lord, with a hint of intoxication, took out a book.

"This is the Great Way of Yin Yang that I painstakingly acquired from Mount Qi Yun with many treasures! It's perfect for us demons! You are all demons formed by Yin and Yang Qi. With this, if you can comprehend it, you won't have to rely on instinct to absorb Yin and Yang Qi anymore! Most of you have known me for a long time, and you know I'm generous. I share any good things I have with you all. Moreover, we demons, alas, live difficult lives. Since you've all come today, I'll present the first chapter for us to study together!"

Hearing this, the many spirits shifted their gazes from Lin Jue, who was tasting the wine, to the Mountain Lord, their eyes still sparkling.

"I shall read it to you:

'Heaven gives birth to the Five Qi, Earth bears Yin and Yang. Day and night alternate, seasons cycle, all are the Way of Yin Yang...

'...

'Yang is movement, Yin is stillness. Yang is hardness, Yin is softness. Without Yang, no object can be formed; without Yin, nothing can be born. Yin and Yang interact, and all things are born and grow ceaselessly...

'...'

All the spirits stared with wide eyes, it was unclear if it was a reflection of the bonfire in the center or if their eyes were naturally sparkling. They stared intently at the Mountain Lord, not daring to blink.

Each spirit listened as attentively as possible, and sometimes, spirits would scratch their ears and scratch their cheeks in anxiety because they couldn't understand, but they dared not slack off or forget a single word, like the best students in the world.

As a result, besides the sound of the wind, the fire, and the Mountain Lord's chanting, there was not a single other sound on the mountaintop.

Lin Jue, immersed in it, undoubtedly felt the extreme eagerness to learn from these spirits, a kind of ultimate yearning and thirst for knowledge and the Great Way.

Naturally, Lin Jue also listened attentively.

This was explaining the Great Way of Yin Yang.

In other words, it was explaining the essence of the Yin and Yang Qi of heaven and earth.

In just one short chapter, the Mountain Lord quickly finished reciting.

Until the last word of his voice fell, the scene remained silent. The firewood in the fire pit was burning out, yet no one added to it. Numerous spirits sat motionless, waiting, eager to learn. Even after the Mountain Lord put down the scripture, they were unwilling to look away.

After a long while, perhaps realizing there was truly nothing more, they reluctantly lowered their heads.

And all of this was actually built upon the fact that the vast majority of them hadn't understood a word.

How many students in the human world below the mountain could compare to them?

Lin Jue felt a sense of shock welling up within him.