Xiao Yun spent a few days in the broken-down courtyard distilling large amounts of moonshine and collected it in large sealed jars. He took much smaller jars and filled each with distilled alcohol before putting in various fruits and herbs into them like sliced plums and star-anise for flavor before sealing them. These would be the samples presented to the elders. After two days of preparation things were looking ready.
“It’s about time for a test of my own.”
He picked up one of the jars and poured it’s contents into a small jade cup. The liquid within shimmered an inviting golden hue. He’d infused it with a blend of low-grade spiritual herbs known for their invigorating properties, along with the sweet, concentrated juices of sun-ripened mountain berries and fresh honey. He’d painstakingly purified it, removing impurities, concentrating the essence, creating a spirit of remarkable clarity and potency. He took a small sip and smacked his lips in satisfaction. It was slightly sweet with an aftertaste of berries, and the spiritual herb added a taste vaguely like that of spearmint. It felt refreshing.
“Hmm, not quite like the stuff you’d get served in a proper bar but definitely superior to what I’ve tasted in this world so far.”
It was time to show the fruits of his labor to the clan. He went to find his guinea pig. Xiao Yun found Xu Ming in his usual spot, training the poorly equipped family guards. Seeing him appear, the sweaty and exhausted guards stopped their sparring sessions and stared at him with peculiar looks, before the head guard shouted at them to continue, scaring them into resuming their training.
Before Xu Ming could say anything to him, Xiao Yun approached with quick steps. “Greetings head guard. The matter we discussed the other day, the wine is ready for testing.”
Hearing his words, Xu Ming’s eyes shone with a peculiar light. He quickly sent out some of the guards to notify the elders and within one incense sticks worth of time, all the elders were gathered in the Grand Hall, with Xiao Yun and Xu Ming standing before them.
“I don’t believe there is any reason to drag this matter out any further.” Xiao Yun began.
“I have finished making the heavenly wine the ancestor showed to me in the vision, and what better person is there than a wine expert like the head guard to test the wine?” Saying his piece, Xiao Yun had the servants bring in a table and set his experiment results atop it. Five jars of distilled alcohol with different herbs and fruits mixed in.
Xiao Yun took one of the jars and poured some wine into a small cup before presenting it to Xu Ming under the watchful gazes of the seven elders, who were watching things with an almost anxious curiosity.
His current test subject, a hulking man whose scarred face spoke of countless battles, eyed the cup with a mixture of apprehension and morbid curiosity. Xu Ming was a man who understood alcohol. He understood the cloudy, potent brews that dulled the senses and offered temporary solace from one’s troubles. He did not however, understand this clear and fragrant elixir.
“So, young master,” Xu Ming rumbled in a gravelly tone. “This ‘immortal’ brew you speak of. Does it at least taste like it was brewed by something with a mouth?”
Xiao Yun chuckled. It was a genuine laugh. “Prepare yourself head guard. This is a taste you’ve never experienced. It’s… it’s like bottling the essence the sun and the moon.” He embellished his description with exaggerated cultivation terms to make it sound more impressive.
Xu Ming snorted, making a sound not unlike a disgruntled boar. “Moon and starlight don’t usually get a man drunk.”
The liquid glowed in the dim light. Xu ming took the cup closer to his face and sniffed carefully. The aroma, even to Xu Ming’s accustomed nose, was captivating. It was sweet but also herbal, with a hint of something sharp and clean, like mountain air after a storm.
Xu Ming eyed the cup with suspicion. It looked too pure, too refined. He was used to brews that had a certain opacity, a reassuring cloudiness that implied potent, if unpleasant, consequences. And the clearer wines didn’t have such a strong fragrance. This was too elegant, too delicate. It felt like a trap for some reason.
“Are you sure this is safe young master?” he asked, hefting the cup tentatively. “It looks peculiar.”
“As safe as it is delightful.” Xiao Yun assured him, his own anticipation bubbling. He’d tasted it himself, of course, but he wanted Xu Ming’s unvarnished reaction. After all, Xu Ming was a man who knew his wines and more importantly a man who was perpetually drowning his sorrows in them.
Xu Ming took a deep breath, the fragrant vapor filling his lungs. His brow furrowed. He’d heard tales of rare elixirs, of potent concoctions that could heal or harm. This certainly smelled potent.
With a sigh that seemed to carry the weight of his stalled cultivation, Xu Ming brought the cup to his lips and took a small, tentative sip.
His eyes widened.
The initial sweetness, a burst of berry and honey, was quickly followed by a complex layering of herbal notes. It was a subtle and refined taste. But it was the sensation that followed that truly stunned him. Instead of the usual harsh burn, there was a gentle warmth that spread through his chest, a clean invigorating heat that felt revitalizing. It was smooth, dangerously smooth, and the aftertaste lingered with a pleasant echo of sweetness and herbs.
He swallowed, his throat suddenly feeling remarkably unchoked. He blinked a slow dazed blink.
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“By the ancestors,” Xu Ming breathed, his gruff voice hushed with disbelief. He took another, larger sip. And then another. His scarred face, usually set in a perpetual grimace, softened into an expression of pure, unadulterated bliss.
“This… this is…” he stammered, setting the cup down with an unsteady hand. He took a deep, shaky breath, his chest expanding with a newfound lightness. “This feels like drinking the warm essence of the mid spring sun! It’s simply amazing!”
He looked at Xiao Yun, his eyes wide with wonder, then back at the cup, as if it held the secrets of the universe. He was already reaching for it again.
Xiao Yun grinned. “As I’ve said before, this is no mere brew.”
The spectacle of the usually stoic Xu Ming, the head guard whose steadfast demeanor was as firm as a pillar supporting the heavens, being so utterly captivated by a drink was too much the Elders.
Xu Ming had been working for the Xiao clan ever since he was a child, and the Elders were familiar with his demeanor. The stone-faced Xu Ming was almost humming with joy.
The prospect dangled before them like a tantalizing jewel. Xiao Clan was desperate for new revenue streams. Their traditional crafts were no longer profitable, and their martial prowess was insufficient to secure lucrative contracts, so to speak. This world ran on power and theirs was waning. If Xiao Yun’s “immortal brew” was indeed as potent and desirable as Xu Ming’s reaction suggested, it could be their salvation.
“We must see this for ourselves.” Elder Xiao Chong declared, his voice regaining its commanding tone. “Let us have a taste firsthand.”
The First Elder wasn’t particularly fond of alcohol, but he’d been in his share of celebrations and had tasted enough quality wine to have some opinions on it. The remaining elders were also similar in that regard.
Xiao Yun poured seven cups of the same wine he’d given Xu Ming and served the elders.
First Elder was the earliest one to lift his cup and take a sip. His eyes widened almost imperceptibly.
A slow and reserved smile began to spread across Elder Xiao Chong’s stern face. The warmth, the smoothness and the unique blend of flavors, it was unlike anything he had ever tasted. It was refined, invigorating and strangely uplifting.
He took another more generous sip.
“Remarkable!” Elder Xiao Chong murmured, his voice carrying a note of genuine surprise. He looked at Xiao Yun with newfound respect in his eyes. “Remarkable indeed!”
The Grand Hall that had once hosted feasts and important clan gatherings was quiet for a few moments as the remaining Elders curiously tasted the ‘wine worthy of immortals’. The Elders had peculiar expressions on their faces. It was a mix of pleasant surprise, awe and complete incredulity.
“I didn’t know wine could taste like this.” Said the wrinkly faced fifth elder. The fourth elder to the side looked completely drunk after taking couple sips. But of course that was impossible, since he was a Foundation Building realm expert. For him to get drunk off a single cup of alcohol, no matter how potent, was an impossibility. Yet he must have enjoyed the taste so much it intoxicated him emotionally.
Xiao Yun began, his voice clear and steady. “Esteemed Elders, as I have previously stated, our ancestor, Xiao Tianlong has guided my hand. This is the Nectar of Immortality.” He gestured to the jar. “It is crafted from the finest mountain berries, honey and a blend of purifying herbs, all meticulously distilled to achieve unparalleled purity and potency. All ordinary ingredients, but thanks to the ancestor’s divine method, they produced an extraordinary result.” Though not his main job back on earth, Xiao Yun knew a thing or two about marketing.
A murmur went through the assembled elders. They looked at the clear liquid, then at Xu Ming who stood nearby, his face flushed and his eyes sparkling with a goofy grin plastered on his face. He’d already had a few more sips while elders sampled their wine.
“Well, we have tasted the wine and it is indeed of great quality, but what does our wine enthusiast thinks of it?” Questioned the fourth elder, looking tipsy.
“Honored Elders,” Xu Ming boomed, his voice echoing slightly in the vast hall. “This is not just drink; it is joy! It is clarity! It is… it is like a gentle embrace from one’s first love!” Suddenly Xu Ming got a distant look in his eyes and lifted his cup up high:
“He lifts the cup, clear as moonlit frost,
No plum, no age, no gentle boast.
One sip, true fire floods his veins,
Qi roaring wild through hidden chains.
Not wine this sears, then softens slow,
Like first love’s arms that pull him close.
Heat coils deep in heart and sea,
Shaking the roots of his destiny.
A reckless hug, too fierce, too sweet,
Leaving his Dao unsure on its feet.”
…Everyone, including Xiao Yun, looked at Xu Ming as if he grew a second head. Since when did this giant boar of a man start composing poems? It was highly unexpected to say the least. The Elders who’d known him his entire life never knew this side of him. It appeared that under all the scars and muscles lay the heart of a poet.
Suddenly Xu Ming sobered up and realized what he had done. A fierce blush crept up his face, but this wasn’t the blush of drunkenness. He awkwardly cleared his throat and muttered “It’s good wine” before falling silent and refusing to look away from the floor. Half amused and half astonished, everyone else had a quiet and unanimous understanding to not make things too difficult for Xu Ming.
The initial suspicion had now evaporated and replaced by excitement. Xiao Clan that was teetering on the brink had found a new hope, well a second new hope other than the soap sales, but a steadier one this time. Xiao Yun the supposed wastrel had, through his earth-born ingenuity and a touch of ancestor-inspired bluffing, created something truly extraordinary yet again. If this wine could make someone like Xu Ming start reciting poetry, its potential was immense.
“Xiao Yun,” Elder Xiao Chong said, his voice considerably lighter than before. He held up his own cup, the Nectar of Immortality shimmering within. “You have… you have brought great honor to the Xiao Clan today. We had our suspicions regarding the revelations you received from the ancestor, but such a heavenly creation can only come from the upper realm. With such a simple method no less.” Elder Xiao Chong got a peculiar expression.
“It seems that ancestors haven’t forsaken my Xiao clan.” The first elder seemed to be getting a bit emotional. Shouldering the responsibility of the clan’s survival wasn’t an easy task, and Elder Xiao Chong being an injured Golden Core with a weak foundation was almost crushed by the weight, especially after the previous patriarch had gone missing.
‘It seems he’s that type of a drunk huh.’ Xiao Yun was a bit amused.
He bowed deeply, a genuine sense of accomplishment warming him from the inside out. He had not only managed to distract the Elders but had also created something that could genuinely help his new clan, and help him put many more powerful cultivators between himself and the countless dangers lurking in this new world. His value in the eyes of the clan had risen way beyond what it was before his transmigration, but there was still much to do.
“We shall discuss the proper method of production and distribution,” Elder Xiao Chong continued with a shrewd gleam in his eyes. “This… this could be our salvation. And if it is truly worthy of immortals…” He chuckled, a rare rumbling sound. “…then perhaps a few of us old mortals can also partake in a taste of immortality.”
The Elders faces now flushed with the delightful effects of the Nectar nodded in agreement. The air in the Grand Hall shifted from one of solemnity to one of growing hope and cheerful anticipation.
