The White Jade Wine Pot

A crystal chandelier hung from the high ceiling.

Soft light spilled across the entire living room through its intricately cut crystals.

At the center of the living room, a set of dark brown leather sofas partially surrounded a massive glass coffee table, resting on a handmade wool rug.

The tabletop was smooth as a mirror, reflecting the fine texture of the leather sofas.

At that moment, a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old boy sat upright on one of the sofas.

Chu He narrowed his eyes slightly and slowly lifted the wine jar in his hand.

The clear, sparkling wine poured into a crystal glass with a gurgling sound.

A rich aroma of wine instantly rushed into his nostrils.

"Good!" Chu He's eyes suddenly lit up. "This time, I'll definitely have enough to make it one hundred kinds of fine wine!"

It had been exactly eighteen years since he was reincarnated into this world.

From the day he became sensible, Chu He had understood that he had crossed over into Swallowed Star.

With the self-discipline of an adult and a father who was an Intermediate War General, Chu He had passed the Quasi-Warrior Assessment three months ago and begun practicing the Five-Heart-to-Heaven Cultivation Method.

The moment he came into contact with Cosmic Energy that night, his soul shuddered violently.

Chu He immediately realized that he had awakened Spiritual Force, and his consciousness entered his Sea of Consciousness.

At the very center of his Sea of Consciousness, a Wine Gourd carved from creamy white jade slowly revolved.

A piece of information inexplicably appeared in Chu He's mind.

[Personally brew and taste 100 kinds of fine wine to unlock the Wine God Inheritance.]

Tasting fine wine was easy, but brewing it himself involved a lot more considerations.

Fortunately, Chu He had already passed the Quasi-Warrior Assessment by then and awakened Spiritual Force. On August 1, he successfully passed the Martial Artist Combat Assessment.

As a Warrior and a Spirit Reader to boot, Chu He had little trouble collecting hundreds of brewing recipes. He gathered the ingredients and began brewing them one by one.

Over the past two months, he had brewed hundreds of kinds of wine and tasted each one.

Nearly two-thirds of the recipes had either failed during brewing or did not meet the White Jade Wine Pot's definition of "fine wine."

It was not until today that Chu He finally managed to complete the hundredth kind of fine wine.

Just as he was about to drain the wine in his glass, a rough voice sounded beside his ear.

"Hey, that aroma... I knew you brat had opened another jar of fine wine!"

Before Chu He could reply, a middle-aged man sat down beside him without so much as asking.

"Hey, Old Man, is your nose a dog's or something? I opened a jar of wine on the first floor, and you could smell it all the way up on the third?"

"You little brat!" Chu Tianxiong smacked Chu He on the head. "You're making fun of your own father now?"

"Such insolence!"

Up close, the rich aroma of wine made Chu Tianxiong's eyes widen like bells.

"I have to hand it to you, brat. You really do have a knack for brewing. You've only brewed a little over three hundred jars, and already so many have turned out great. Looks like our family could open a brewery!"

He lifted the wine jar with one hand and filled the thermos cup in front of him to the brim.

With a soft trickling sound, several goji berries slowly floated up inside the thermos.

"Uh..." Chu He stared at the goji berries, completely dumbfounded.

What was this?

His father was forty-seven this year, born in 2010, so he could barely be considered a Gen Z kid. Chu He knew that his father had loved taking care of his health since he was young.

Goji berries in a thermos!

But liquor... could you soak goji berries in that too?

Chu Tianxiong had obviously noticed the bewildered look in his son's eyes.

"Heh, don't get it, do you?" Chu Tianxiong chuckled smugly, took a sip, then chewed on a goji berry.

"This wine is the essence of grain. The more you drink, the younger you get!"

"Who says you can't drink while looking after your health?"

"Haha!" Chu He laughed along. "You're already an Intermediate War General, Old Man. Of course you can take care of yourself however you like."

"You brat, you're learning to be sensible now!" Chu Tianxiong glanced at Chu He and screwed the thermos lid tightly shut.

"All right, just wait. Your birthday's in a couple of days, and you'll be turning eighteen. I'll prepare something good for you then."

With that, Old Chu took his thermos and swayed his way upstairs.

Watching Old Chu disappear around the second-floor corner, Chu He muttered to himself, Something good? Why do I find that so hard to believe?

The men of the Northeast Base City weren't the type to prepare birthday presents.

And as for an eighteenth-birthday coming-of-age gift...

Chu He shook his head and turned his gaze back to the crystal glass in his hand.

Unable to wait any longer, he drained the wine in the glass. Chu He immediately closed his eyes and focused his consciousness on his Sea of Consciousness.

After Chu He drank the wine, the White Jade Wine Pot at the center of his Sea of Consciousness suddenly burst into brilliant light.

Amid the boundless white mist, the White Jade Wine Pot, which had been slowly revolving, suddenly began spinning faster.

A large quantity of liquid gushed from the mouth of the pot, instantly dispersing into white mist.

The mist spread wildly, soon filling the entire Sea of Consciousness.

This white mist was, of course, Chu He's Spiritual Force.

It was common knowledge that, as far as Earth was concerned at this stage, every Spirit Reader was immensely precious. They were born with extremely powerful Spiritual Force.

According to the research conducted on Earth so far, when Spirit Readers were born, their bodies were weak, and their Spiritual Force naturally gathered and lay dormant in their Sea of Consciousness.

Those born with less Spiritual Force had it in the form of gas or liquid.

Those born with more Spiritual Force had it in a mixture of liquid and solid.

The higher the proportion of solid, the greater their Spiritual Force.

And someone like Luo Feng, who was born with astonishingly powerful Spiritual Force, had it entirely in solid form.

As for Chu He... he could only be said to have the talent to become a Spirit Reader.

Now, large quantities of liquid suddenly gushed from the White Jade Wine Pot. As the pot spun at high speed, the liquid gradually began to condense into a sphere.

It floated right at the mouth of the White Jade Wine Pot.

Expanding, dispersing, contracting, condensing.

Chu He felt as though his entire Sea of Consciousness had been immersed in warm water, both warm and comfortable.

In this wondrous state, messages continuously streamed from the White Jade Wine Pot into Chu He's Sea of Consciousness.

[Having brewed 100 kinds of mortal wine, one may be called a Brewing Grandmaster and unlock the Wine God Inheritance.]

[Spirit Guiding Technique... Spirit Nourishing Technique... Spirit Sealing Technique...]

[The White Jade Wine Pot is the Wine God's inheritance treasure. As the inheritor's strength increases, it will gradually unlock more functions.]

[At present, the White Jade Wine Pot can only store, analyze, nourish, and brew the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Essence within the inheritor's current realm.]

After a while, Chu He slowly opened his eyes.

His gaze was brilliant, like the stars.

"So the so-called Wine God Inheritance isn't giving me a few wine recipes. It's directly giving me a technique for extracting Heaven and Earth Spiritual Essence and blending it together to brew wine!"

"This thing... why does it sound so much like refining medicine or pills?"

"But instead of giving me a bunch of material properties to memorize, it lets me identify and select them for myself?"

"Drawing on the strengths of all things and harmonizing the spiritual essence of Heaven and Earth... no wonder it's called the Wine God Inheritance."

"Not to mention, I even have the White Jade Wine Pot!"

"This time... I've struck it rich!"