Has Something Happened?

They had tasted this tea before.

Back then, when we drank this tea, it was only steeped a little, yet we could already smell an extremely rich aroma.

You could say that just smelling the aroma of the brewed tea is already a somewhat enjoyable experience.

But today, the tea leaves were just brewed, and the aroma just doesn't taste right.

The tea leaves seemed to have a slightly rotten smell mixed in.

Daoist Master Fuqing immediately sensed that something was wrong with the smell and his expression faltered slightly.

Looking down, I noticed that the tea was also wrong.

In the past, this tea leaves would have a slightly greenish hue when brewed.

But now, the tea had become quite murky.

This situation left him looking on with astonishment, and naturally, he couldn't help but feel a bit strange.

"Strange, what's wrong with this tea today? The brewed tea tastes so off."

Daoist Master Fuqing felt a little strange and couldn't help but look at his disciple. "Could it be that the wrong tea leaves were taken?"

"This disciple did not take the wrong one."

The disciple standing nearby was also puzzled by these words.

How could he possibly make a mistake in something as trivial as taking a tea leaf?

Upon hearing this, Daoist Master Fuqing glanced at the remaining tea leaves beside him, picked them up, and examined them closely.

The tea leaves were definitely not mixed up.

However, these tea leaves seem to have a different feel to them now.

Previously, when holding the tea leaves in my palm, I could still feel a faint fragrance.

But right now, the tea leaves look like they've been stored for a long time and are already rotten.

This Daoist Master Fuqing feeling utterly bewildered.

"Forget it, this tea is no good for drinking. You should go to the tea garden and pick some to use."

This tea is different from other tea trees; it can be brewed and drunk directly after being picked.

Other types of tea would require additional cooking or roasting processes.

"Yes."

Upon hearing this, the disciple beside him quickly responded and turned to head towards the tea garden.

A moment later, the disciple arrived at the tea garden and, following the previous example, picked some tea leaves from the tea tree.

He hurriedly returned to the main hall.

When Daoist Master Fuqing saw the tea leaves being delivered, he didn't think much of it, picked them up, and prepared to brew another pot of tea.

This time, however, once the tender tea leaves were placed into the teapot, the aroma that wafted out after a short while was exactly the same as before.

The tea leaves, which hadn't yet been poured into the teapot, were now visibly withering.

These are just ordinary flowers, plants, and trees; even picking their leaves wouldn't cause this much damage.

But right now, this tea is extremely strange.

It had only been picked a short time ago, and it smelled like something that had been buried in the soil for a long time and had turned to rot.

How strange!

The other fellow cultivators, who had been chatting and laughing, suddenly changed their expressions upon seeing the tea leaves they had just received.

They all turned to look, their faces showing a hint of confusion.

The tea from Dinggui Mountain is very famous.

The fellow Daoists who came here all wanted to ask Daoist Master Fuqing for a drink.

The fact that this tea has encountered such a serious problem is truly puzzling to them.

This tea has been produced for many years, so why is there a problem now?

Fang Zelin, sitting below, noticed the tea leaves malfunctioning repeatedly. After a moment of surprise, he immediately realized something.

For a moment, a hint of embarrassment crossed his face.

If he wasn't mistaken, the tea leaves had turned into this state perhaps because of him?

"Has something happened at the tea plantation?"

Daoist Master Fuqing glanced at the tea leaves in front of him, picked up one of them, crushed it, and a guess formed in his mind.

"Reporting to Master, nothing happened to the tea tree. On the contrary, the tea tree had already developed sentience, which we disciples only just discovered now."

Upon hearing this, a disciple standing nearby quickly spoke up.

Daoist Master Fuqing, however, did not take these words to heart.

"Ah, I already knew about the tea tree developing sentience. After all, it has cultivated in these mountains for so many years, and it has been touched by the Spiritual Qi of you all, so it's not surprising that it has developed sentience."

"It's just that you haven't paid much attention to it usually, so you haven't noticed it."

He naturally knew that there were spirits among the plants and trees at his own mountain gate.

However, he did not tell his disciples, partly because he felt there was no need to go into details.

Secondly, they also wanted to see which disciple would be the first to discover it.

We cannot lower our guard just because we are practicing in our own temple.

So many years have passed, and only now do disciples learn of this matter?

The disciple standing nearby felt ashamed upon hearing this.

These tea trees have been sentient for so many years, and it's truly a mistake that they only realized this now.

"Besides this, has anything else happened, such as the tree demon's cultivation being damaged?"

Judging from the appearance of these tea leaves, it's clear that they were taken from a tea tree, and that the tea tree spirit itself had encountered a problem in its cultivation.

Therefore, the tea leaves no longer look the same as before.

For these cultivators, drinking such tea would be like drinking poison.

One bite will disrupt one's own Spiritual Power.

"The disciple didn't notice."

Upon hearing this, the disciple in front of him thought about it carefully and then shook his head.

But then, as if remembering something, he quickly continued, "Previously, Senior Fang mentioned that the tea tree spirit's cultivation seems to have encountered a problem."

"That's what Senior Fang said. We are juniors and don't know if he was right or wrong. We were just listening."

"The tea tree spirit scoffed at Senior Fang's words, believing that its cultivation was without error."

Remembering what Fang Zelin had said earlier, the disciple thought for a moment and then repeated what he had said.

After much deliberation, what if the tea tree Demon Cultivator had truly gone wrong?

This senior must have been right.

Senior Fang, isn't that Fang Zelin from below?

Upon hearing this, Daoist Master Fuqing couldn't help but notice Fang Zelin sitting below.

Given the other party's level of cultivation, since they were able to say that something went wrong while the other party was resting, then it's possible that this tree demon really did encounter a problem.

Therefore, the tea leaves that grew there are now withered and rotten, and can no longer be consumed.

At this moment, Daoist Master Fuqing understood somewhat from these few words.

Perhaps this Fellow Daoist Fang is right; the tea tree Demon Cultivator has indeed gone awry.

Therefore, the tea leaves grown by the other party are not edible.

Such situations are actually quite common among the spirits of plants and trees.