It was already the hour of the Rabbit. Plenty of dew must have condensed outside.
At this thought, Liu Yu immediately opened the wards, left his cave abode, and began collecting dew.
Over the course of the night, the considerable difference between daytime and nighttime temperatures had caused moisture to condense on the leaves of various plants.
It formed crystal-clear dewdrops, some large and some small.
The tiny dewdrops were exquisite, refracting the light and carrying a fresh, natural charm.
The air in this world contained spiritual energy and very few impurities, so the dew that condensed from it was exceptionally pure.
Dew formed atop a spirit vein, in particular, even contained traces of spiritual energy.
Although it could not remotely compare to spirit spring water, it was still far purer than ordinary water.
Only a streak of rosy light had appeared on the eastern horizon, and the sky was still somewhat dim.
Holding a large porcelain bowl, Liu Yu collected dewdrops from the emerald-green leaves one by one.
Each leaf held only two or three drops, but he collected them patiently.
It took a quarter of an hour to fill the large porcelain bowl more than halfway.
Brewing tea actually involved many detailed steps, but Liu Yu did not wish to be so particular just then.
He rinsed the Clear Lotus Tea leaves once, then brought the collected dew to a boil over a low flame.
He then added a few tea leaves. This simple, quick method preserved their medicinal potency to the greatest extent without losing any potency or spiritual energy.
Before long, a refreshing fragrance wafted out, very similar to that of the tea Zhang Chunming had brewed.
Let's see how well it works.
Liu Yu took out an exquisite jade cup and poured it more than half full.
He shook his head slightly and blew on the tea a few times to cool it a little, then took a sip with eager anticipation.
Then he closed his eyes and carefully savored the sensation.
The tea was still somewhat scalding, but such heat was nothing to a cultivator.
Two or three breaths after the Clear Lotus Tea entered his stomach, wisps of cool energy began flowing toward his brain.
More precisely, they flowed toward his Niwan Palace.
The Niwan Palace was where the soul resided, its dwelling place. Since that cool energy could act upon it, the claim that the tea could strengthen divine sense appeared to be true.
Liu Yu reached this conclusion inwardly.
The wisps of cool energy vanished after flowing into his Niwan Palace.
Yet a cooling sensation immediately spread through his divine sense, as though it were soaking in clear water, being nourished and strengthened.
As the cool energy was absorbed, however, the sensation soon disappeared.
It really can strengthen my divine sense a little!
Liu Yu opened his eyes, delight involuntarily appearing on his face. Then he drained the remaining Clear Lotus Tea in his jade cup in a single gulp and closed his eyes to slowly experience its effects.
Once the tea entered his stomach, that cool energy appeared again, flowing from his abdomen toward his brain, then through his brain into his Niwan Palace, where it finally vanished.
The cooling sensation surfaced within his divine sense once more, nourishing and strengthening it.
After drinking all the Clear Lotus Tea he had brewed, Liu Yu distinctly felt that his divine sense had grown stronger, its range increasing by roughly two inches.
The range of divine sense at late Qi Refining was generally around forty-five zhang, or approximately a hundred and fifty meters in the units of his previous life.
Liu Yu's divine sense was slightly stronger than that of an ordinary late Qi Refining cultivator, reaching forty-eight zhang. Drinking the Clear Lotus Tea had extended it by another two inches.
Although two inches was a tiny increase, little drops made an ocean. If he drank this tea regularly, the eventual increase would be quite substantial.
Unfortunately, Clear Lotus Tea had no effect in the Foundation Establishment Realm. Once his divine sense reached that realm's range, it would probably cease to work.
Liu Yu did not brew any more tea. First, he needed to properly adjust to the increase in his divine sense; second, he feared that too much growth at once might carry hidden risks.
Once he had grown accustomed to this increase in his divine sense, it would not be too late to drink more tomorrow.
In the blink of an eye, half a month passed.
There was still a month until the miscellaneous duties performed once every three months. Over the past half month, Liu Yu had brewed a pot of Clear Lotus Tea every day to strengthen his divine sense.
He then meditated and refined qi to purify his magical power while recuperating from his earlier injuries.
After half a month, his injuries had fully healed. Without further hesitation, he prepared to break through the bottleneck into late Qi Refining.
Gather qi and focus the spirit; embrace the origin and guard the One.
Liu Yu sat cross-legged on the stone bed, his eyes tightly closed and his hands resting naturally on his knees.
He gradually entered a state in which both self and surroundings faded from awareness. Slowly, the lake of his mind became utterly still, without a single ripple.
Once his essence, qi, and spirit had all reached their optimal condition, he opened his eyes, his face showing neither sorrow nor joy.
Now!
The thought flashed through Liu Yu's mind. He picked up a jade bottle beside him, opened it, and poured out a pale-yellow pill the size of a longan, then pinched it between his fingers and placed it in his mouth.
It was a Yellow Dragon Pill!
With the pill in his mouth, Liu Yu closed his eyes and formed a succession of hand seals.
He began circulating the Wood Spirit Art, moving his magical power through the greater celestial circuit to assault the bottleneck.
A faint green halo appeared on his face, flickering as it slowly expanded outward. As time passed, the green light grew increasingly intense.
His gray robes billowed without wind.
His sixth-layer Qi Refining magical power flowed through his meridians along the Wood Spirit Art's pathways, circulating without pause.
After twelve greater celestial circuits, his magical power had not increased in the slightest. It therefore flowed naturally toward the pathways of the Wood Spirit Art's seventh layer, seeking to open new meridians.
Yet this step was extraordinarily difficult.
It was as though his magical power had encountered an invisible barrier that stubbornly obstructed its circulation, one that had already forced Liu Yu to retreat empty-handed several times.
At this moment, the magical power within his body was like a slow-flowing river whose course had been blocked by a great dam.
His repeated assaults loosened the dam somewhat, stripping away layers of powder.
But breaking through the dam's obstruction and reaching a new world beyond remained a distant prospect, with no telling how long it would take.
Liu Yu was not at all surprised by what he saw through his inner vision.
His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed the Yellow Dragon Pill.
Once the Yellow Dragon Pill entered his stomach, it was refined into a hot, vigorous current of energy that continued to build.
With a thought, Liu Yu guided this current toward his dantian, circulating it along the Wood Spirit Art's pathways to begin assaulting the bottleneck.
If the magical power within his body was a slow-flowing river,
then the current produced by the Yellow Dragon Pill was water cascading down a waterfall, vigorous and full of force.
Afraid of wasting the pill's potency, Liu Yu relentlessly guided his magical power to carry the hot current along as it charged toward that invisible barrier.
With his magical power and the hot current working together, every assault made the "dam" shudder.
Beads of sweat ran down his forehead, and his brows knitted tightly as he guided the two forces in repeated assaults on the bottleneck.
Finally, after a quarter of an hour, a crack was forced through the "dam," opening a breach.
Joy appeared on Liu Yu's face. He exerted his full strength to control his magical power and the hot current, launching one final assault.
Boom!!!
As though with a soundless thunderous crash, the bottleneck into late Qi Refining shattered completely into nothingness.
The hot current produced by the Yellow Dragon Pill was also exhausted at that moment and vanished.
Liu Yu's expression relaxed as the pressure greatly eased. He carefully guided his magical power through the meridians of the Wood Spirit Art's seventh layer.
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