A Hundred Types of Spiritual Essence, Insights on Brewing

Northeast Base City, Eastern Military Region Supply Base.

When the train pulled into this supply base, Chu He followed the flow of people off the train and entered the base.

"Heh, this time, I'm on my own!" Chu He looked back. Most of the martial artists were in groups; lone travelers were quite rare.

"Chu He, hmm, you came alone this time?"

At the base entrance, a staff member looked at the information displayed on the computer and couldn't help but ask, "You know the dangers of entering the Wilderness Zone alone, right?"

"Of course, I'm not tired of living." Chu He nodded.

"Fine, if you know, then it's up to you." The staff member was clearly no stranger to such situations and proceeded to log Chu He's information.

"Here, this is the key to Villa 203. This will be your residence during your time in the wilderness."

"Many thanks." Chu He took the key and turned to head toward his accommodation.

Supply bases established within military regions generally have similar functional layouts, so Chu He easily found the location of Villa 203.

After resting briefly at the base, at noon, Chu He stepped out of the supply base and headed toward the Wilderness Zone.

Chu He's plan for this trip to the Wilderness Zone was to collect and analyze as much spiritual energy as possible. Since he would inevitably be traveling back and forth to the supply base multiple times, there was no need to pick a specific time to head out.

Today was a rare, clear, sunny day in the Northeast Region's winter.

"Not bad, bright sunshine, perfect weather—a good omen!" Chu He looked up at the sun in the sky, his mood lightening.

Following the dilapidated highway, Chu He maintained a speed of about fifty to sixty meters per second. If converted to kilometers per hour... it was much faster than the highway's speed limit.

With his current physical fitness, which was approaching that of a Junior War General, he could maintain this speed for a long time.

On both sides of the cracked and winding highway lay a devastated wilderness. Years ago, this might have been a vast expanse of fertile farmland.

The Northeast Plain was the third-largest stretch of black soil in the world. Agriculture here had once been extremely developed. Now, however, it had all returned to desolation, overgrown with weeds.

After more than half an hour, Chu He arrived at a small county town.

"Pfft!"

Chu He slashed his blade, killing the last Golden-Eyed Jackal before him and clearing out the pack that had occupied this villa.

"Not bad, this villa is still in decent condition; it can serve as a temporary base." Chu He looked around the villa and nodded with satisfaction.

The reason he chose this place was, naturally, because it was located not far from a small forest.

During the day, he could search the small forest for various Heavenly Treasures containing spiritual energy, and at night, he could return to the villa to rest.

Chu He didn't want to be on the move every single day. Although the round trip only took an hour, it wasn't as satisfying as going on a killing spree right here in the small county town.

The problem was that the spiritual energy required for brewing wine didn't just come from Monster body parts; most of the auxiliary ingredients were plants.

Roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits...

These things generally grew in small forests, and there was no guarantee that there wouldn't be Monsters guarding them nearby.

Chu He had no choice but to choose this method.

He couldn't really sleep out in the wilderness, could he?

Cleaning up this villa took quite a bit of time. At this moment, Chu He looked out the window as the setting sun gradually turned red.

Winter nights fell quickly, so Chu He dismissed the idea of going out to search for spiritual energy today.

"Perfect, I'll start by cleaning up the rooms here. It feels like there's a lingering stench from where the Golden-Eyed Jackal lived."

The next morning.

Chu He looked at the dim, early light and stretched.

It was his first time spending the night alone in the wilderness. He had to remain vigilant at all times; he didn't even dare to truly fall asleep.

He splashed his face with cold water to perk himself up, then strode out of the villa and sprinted toward the small forest.

"Very well, let the search for spiritual energy officially begin!"

Days passed.

Ever since Chu He settled into the villa area near the small forest, the Monsters inside had been having a miserable time.

Chu He didn't bother with the procedural righteousness of other martial artists, who would engage in head-on combat with blade and spear. Instead, he fully utilized the mobility of a Spirit Reader.

Feinting to the east while attacking in the west, luring the tiger away from the mountain, beating the grass to startle the snake...

He constantly carried out small maneuvers to attract the Monsters' attention.

Of course, this was mainly because Chu He's primary goal was the Heavenly Treasures guarded by the Monsters. The Monsters' own body materials were not within his scope of collection.

However, because the Monsters in the forest mostly moved in groups, Chu He had more or less collected a large amount of Monster materials as well.

Every time Chu He returned to the base with a bulging bag of valuable Monster materials, the staff responsible for acquisitions would look at him with eyes full of surprise.

On the seventh day after arriving near this small forest.

"It seems that the spiritual energy in this small forest has been completely collected."

Chu He looked at the data for over 180 types of spiritual energy recorded within the White Jade Wine Pot, as well as in his own mind, and nodded with satisfaction.

"It's just a small forest; to have this much is already quite good."

The spiritual energy data contained within included not only plant materials but also data on the body materials of the monsters living in this forest.

This time, Chu He was alone. With no one else around, he naturally stored all the materials containing spiritual energy inside the White Jade Wine Pot.

For the time being, the White Jade Wine Pot could only store materials that could be used to brew Spirit Wine.

If that weren't the case, Chu He could have treated it as a spatial ring and put his entire backpack inside.

The shapes, colors, and other characteristics of these spiritual materials stored in the White Jade Wine Pot were all recorded by the pot. With just a single thought, Chu He could perceive them clearly.

If the required materials for any Wine Recipe were gathered, the White Jade Wine Pot would automatically begin brewing the Spirit Wine.

However, it was a pity that, up to this point, Chu He had not yet gathered all the materials required for any single Wine Recipe.

The one with the highest completion rate reached about 80%: the Red Blood Wine, which used the hearts of the monsters living in this small forest as its main ingredient.

Furthermore, after analyzing the various materials collected from this small forest, the White Jade Wine Pot had also provided many new Wine Recipes.

The functions of these Wine Recipes were much the same, mostly accelerating the circulation of Vital Energy or conditioning the body. Since they were not as effective as the Red Blood Wine, Chu He did not pay much attention to them. After looking through them once, he cast them into a corner of his memory.

However, after seeing so many, Chu He inexplicably began to get a feeling for them.

Although, as of now, Chu He had not yet discovered any materials that could match the Crystal Antlers of that Frost Shadow Deer, and the specific brewing recipe for those Crystal Antlers remained unknown.

But after coming into contact with over a hundred types of spiritual energy and their corresponding Wine Recipes, Chu He vaguely felt that the spiritual energy on the Frost Shadow Deer's Crystal Antlers should be closer to the mental or energy-based spectrum.

If he could brew those Crystal Antlers into Spirit Wine, it would likely provide a significant boost to his mental faculties.

The various materials found in this small forest were basically all related to blood and energy, which were compatible with the heart of the Frost Shadow Deer, but clearly had nothing to do with the Crystal Antlers.

"Very well, this small forest has been fully explored. It's time to head back to the Supply Base to rest."

Returning to the villa area, he shouldered his backpack, looked up to confirm the approximate time, and Chu He strode toward the Supply Base.