"Sorry, sorry to have kept you waiting, Fellow Daoist Liu."
"I was meeting a fellow Foundation Establishment cultivator just now and truly couldn't get away. Please forgive any shortcomings in our hospitality."
His voice arrived before he did. The door had yet to open fully when Jia Fu's voice came through.
Then the door swung wide, and his figure appeared. He cupped his hands slightly in greeting.
After several years apart, Jia Fu's build seemed to have changed-he appeared a little fatter. What remained unchanged was the genial smile on his face and the shrewd gleam in his eyes.
"A little waiting is no trouble at all. Besides, your shop's spirit tea tastes excellent, and the painting on the wall shows remarkable ingenuity!"
"There's no need to stand on ceremony, Fellow Daoist Jia."
A trace of a smile appeared on Liu Yu's face as he rose and returned the greeting.
It had only been about half a quarter-hour. He had that much patience.
"Your taste truly is extraordinary, Fellow Daoist Liu. This tea is called Clear Lake Dragon Well. It is made by roasting leaves harvested from second-tier spirit tea trees-a genuine second-tier spirit tea."
"Drinking it over time sharpens a cultivator's hearing and sight. A single tael costs forty or fifty spirit stones. It certainly isn't cheap."
"Our shop only brings it out for honored guests. Even I can't bear to drink it regularly!"
"But of course, Fellow Daoist Liu, you are an honored guest among honored guests. If you like this Clear Lake Dragon Well, I'll have a servant pack two taels for you later."
Jia Fu laughed heartily at his words, walked over to sit across the table, and spoke.
His tone conveyed sincerity and steadiness. His words and gestures were entirely natural, and his conversation felt