Changtian Sect.
Minglu Peak.
Ke Minglu took a sip of tea, a smile on his lips.
But only his dao companion, Wen Yan, could see the twitching and trembling he was forcibly suppressing beneath that calm expression.
But she didn't laugh at her husband, because this tea was indeed far too bitter!
The first time she drank this bitter tea, she had nearly been blasted into the sky by the bitterness, her facial features twisted instantly together.
Luckily, there had been no outsiders around at the time, so her image had been preserved.
Back then, Ke Minglu had even mocked her, saying that at her age, after experiencing so many things, she could still be defeated by a single cup of bitter tea.
Wen Yan had been quite angry at the time.
But she didn't argue. Instead, she poured Ke Minglu a cup of tea as well.
And then, she got to see Ke Minglu's facial features lose all control. She laughed loudly and returned every single word of mockery he had just thrown at her.
After mutually harming each other, the couple quickly reached a consensus and stopped making fun of one another.
It had to be said, this bitter tea was too damn bitter!
They were cultivators who had experienced countless dangers. What experiences had they not been through?
Yet they were still brutally taught a lesson by this bitter tea.
—The world is vast, and nothing is too strange.
That said, although the tea was bitter, its effects were genuinely really good!
"Very good. This tea is quite nice." Ke Minglu set down the teacup, a faint smile on his lips, looking leisurely and immortal-like.
Wen Yan rolled her eyes at her husband.
Putting on airs in front of outsiders and juniors was one thing, but striking the same pose in front of her just made her hands itch.
Ke Minglu didn't mind his wife's complaints and continued leisurely sipping his tea.
Tap tap tap.
Light footsteps approached. The smile on his face vanished instantly. He quickly poured the remaining half-cup of spirit tea into his mouth in one go, then bared his teeth from the bitterness.
Gone was any immortal elegance or calm detachment.
Very soon, the door was kicked open, and a huge spirit beast walked in.
"Neigh neigh~!"
The one who entered was Ke Minglu's contracted beast, a Xuanling Azure Beast.
The Xuanling Azure Beast looked like a horse, with two horns on its forehead and wings on its back.
At this moment, it was stomping its hooves as it entered.
Then it suddenly froze and sniffed the air.
In the next instant, it snapped its gaze toward Ke Minglu, killing intent appearing in its eyes.
Ke Minglu forced his expression under control and raised his cup toward it, "Chang Kong, come drink some tea."
The Xuanling Azure Beast, Chang Kong, stared at him for a long time without moving.
Ke Minglu calmly poured the boiling water at the side into the cup again.
The tea in the cup was now pale in color, completely different from the deep color before.
The second brew, of course, couldn't compare to the fragrance and richness of the first.
"Where did you go, Chang Kong? I was just thinking of drinking tea with you," Ke Minglu said with a composed smile. "Here, it's cooled down. You can drink it now."
Watching her husband calmly deceive his contracted beast without changing expression, Wen Yan lowered her head and said nothing, nor did she expose him.
They had been hiding to drink tea.
Previously, when Chang Kong saw them drinking tea, it had taken a sip as well.
And then, there was no turning back.
Every time it saw them drink tea, it would come over to join in the fun.
But the tea leaves their son sent back weren't much!
Even if they brew it a bit more sparingly, it would only last about half a month.
Right now, there were very few things that were effective for them. Although this bitter tea was bitter, it's really good.
After drinking the tea, their spiritual power didn't increase much, but some of the drifting, unstable spiritual power within their bodies finally settled down.
For them, this was also tremendously good news.
Their cultivation level hadn't risen, but the density of their spiritual power had increased, and their control over it had become more refined.
So even if this tea was bitter enough to peel their skulls open, they still had to drink it.
But the amount of tea leaves was so limited, they absolutely couldn't give any to Chang Kong.
Chang Kong is a spirit beast. It had its own food. It couldn't come and snatch theirs!
Thus, the two of them took advantage of Chang Kong playing outside to hide and drink tea.
They had originally planned to "destroy the evidence" afterward, but Chang Kong suddenly came back, making that impossible.
Ke Minglu brought the brewed tea in front of Chang Kong, "Here, drink it. You'll definitely like it."
Chang Kong looked at him, then at the teacup.
In the end, it still lowered its head and drank the entire cup of tea.
It even chewed on the tea leaves a few times and swallowed them.
It smacked its lips, feeling a bit unsatisfied.
The flavor was good, but there's too little of it!
And the taste was a bit light.
Chang Kong looked at Ke Minglu, but before it could urge him to brew more tea, Ke Minglu suddenly stood up and quickly walked outside.
"Someone's coming!"
Wen Yan looked up and saw her husband stride out.
Looking again at Chang Kong, whose train of thought had been interrupted by this move, she blinked, lowered her gaze, and continued drinking plain water.
"There's clearly someone coming just now!" Ke Minglu looked outside, frowned, then shook his head and sighed. "Looks like I was mistaken."
If others heard this, they might even doubt the authenticity of his Spirit Severing Stage cultivation.
With such a short distance, how could he not know whether someone had come?
But Chang Kong was fooled and really believed Ke Minglu had made a mistake.
However, just as Ke Minglu was about to head back, he saw someone walking over quickly.
"Peak Master, this is the package Young Peak Master Bo sent back."
The person walked up to Ke Minglu and respectfully handed over a package.
Hearing that it was a package sent back by his youngest son, Ke Minglu's eyes immediately lit up.
Wen Yan also ran out from the hall.
Even Chang Kong followed along.
The disciple delivering the item was so pressured by the aura of several big figures that his face turned pale, and he hurriedly retreated.
They had no time to care about the disciple's condition, "Quick, see what's inside!"
Perhaps Ke Chongbo had sent back more tea leaves?!
The couple didn't care about their image at all and immediately started opening it.
After unwrapping the outer cloth, there was a storage pouch inside.
This storage pouch didn't have much space, just a few cubic meters.
Most importantly, it was disposable. Once opened, it couldn't be reused.
Moreover, its price was about the same as other storage pouches.
But for the wealthy Ke family, this meant nothing at all.
They were far more curious about what was inside.
"Our Little Bo is so good, always remembering to send us gifts!" Ke Minglu's smile was extremely bright, blooming like a flower.
"Isn't he?" Wen Yan nodded and began to step on someone else. "How long has it been since Little Zhen came back to see us?"
"Father, Mother."
A low, helpless voice sounded.
The two turned their heads and saw their eldest son's figure.
He must have heard what they just said, and the couple couldn't help feeling a bit awkward.
But their skin was thick. They immediately acted as if nothing had happened and called to their eldest son, "Ah Zhen, come over. Little Bo sent something back again!"
Ke Chongzhen knew his parents' temperament and didn't get angry. He obediently walked over.
Ke Minglu opened the storage pouch, and in an instant, a pile of items appeared on the ground.
Several round balls of varying sizes, brownish-yellow, mixed with black spots, with an eerie smell, appeared right in front of them.
The few of them: "..."