38 The Brewing of Alcohol Begins, The Dual Wines Hidden in Misty Valley

The haunting spirit manipulation begins immediately, enveloping Qi Tian's soul in ghostly energy, slowly mending the damage to his soul.

At the same time, Qi Tian activates the Qi Family's secret Qi Transformation and Soul-Enhancing Gu, combining it with the Family's Qi Storage Gu to supplement the soul's loss. After a while, the soul has recovered mostly.

The Qi Transformation and Soul-Enhancing Gu, originating from the Qi family's first-generation ancestor, is highly effective in strengthening the soul. It consumes the natural energies of the world, so it must be paired with the Qi Storage Gu.

The Qi Storage Gu is an ancient Gu insect capable of storing various energies from the world. It is now nearly extinct, and even in the Yellow Treasure Realm, it is rare to find. Fortunately, Qi Tian has some stock in the Night Soul Blessed Land.

With the Gu formulation resolved, Qi Tian returns the borrowed Intelligence Path Gu, as each extra day of borrowing incurs extra costs.

During his time in the Celestial Crane Sect, Qi Tian was unable to replenish resources at the Night Soul Blessed Land, which caused him to spend a lot to refine the Gu formulations. Thus, saving every possible cost was necessary.

After a half-month of rest, Qi Tian begins refining Gu.

Qi Tian already has three four-turn Golden Cup Silver Chalice Gu, and he has also obtained a common Step-shifting Gu, a very useful Side Push and Pull Gu, and the Earth Path Gu, a special mountain-enhancing Gu he acquired at great expense, which helps increase the chance of refining successful Gu.

A month later.

Qi Tian sits quietly inside the clam Gu, controlling three glowing orbs before him, guiding them to draw closer and fuse.

Finally, under Qi Tian's full control, the three orbs touch in pairs, bursting out in blinding light.

This step is the most difficult because the three orbs must fuse in three distinct positions simultaneously. They must stay balanced and progress at the same rate; otherwise, the balance will break, causing failure. The failure rate of crafting five-turn Gu is extremely high.

Seeing the right moment, Qi Tian throws the Mountain Nine Rens Gu. Once it takes effect, the three orbs smoothly fuse into a large mass the size of a basin.

Qi Tian begins tossing Yuan Stones into the mass, which gradually shrinks. Eventually, the light recedes, revealing two golden and silver cups—one with gold on top and silver on the bottom, and the other with silver on top and gold on the bottom.

With one in each hand, Qi Tian holds them in his palms, smiling in satisfaction.

"To refine these Gu, I have nearly gone bankrupt, but it was worth it. Now, I'll take the opportunity to accept some sect missions and visit the Misty Valley."

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In the Misty Valley:

Clouds and mist swirl, resembling an immortal realm.

A Crane King lets out a loud, uplifting cry, answered by the cries of the crane flock, their calls echoing in waves. The air is filled with a majestic sound, rolling and surging, dispersing much of the white mist.

The vast crane flock gathers into a long stream, entering the mist.

Among the cranes, the Iron Feather Flying Cranes predominate, mixed with many Cloud Smoke Drifting Cranes and Starry Aurora Cranes.

Qi Tian first arrives at the place where he received the inheritance from the Iron Feather Daoist. It is still on the outskirts of the Misty Valley, within a vast pine forest, relatively open, and free of large beast herds.

Qi Tian settles the crane flock here since there are only a few remaining flocks of cranes, which can be merged without conflict with other beast herds.

After arranging the cranes, he summons a thousand-beast-level Cloud Smoke Drifting Crane and leaps onto its back. The Iron Feather Flying Crane, the leader of the flock, stays in the pine forest.

Riding the thousand-beast-level Cloud Smoke Drifting Crane, Qi Tian delves into the Misty Valley.

Compared to the Iron Feather Flying Crane, the Cloud Smoke Drifting Crane is better suited for this environment, so Qi Tian only brings a flock of them.

Had he brought a thousand Iron Feather Flying Cranes, it would have led to numerous conflicts with the beast herds along the way.

Qi Tian knows the distribution of some major maps and beast herds, so he can easily avoid them. Bringing too many cranes would have been a burden.

Thus, Qi Tian only brings over a thousand Cloud Smoke Drifting Cranes.

This time, Qi Tian accepts a sect mission to explore the Misty Valley. After the Iron Feather Daoist died in the Misty Valley, the sect has paid more attention to it and issued several exploration tasks.

However, the rewards for these missions are not high, so few disciples take them on.

Qi Tian, of course, is not here for the mission but to visit the Night Soul Blessed Land once again.

After returning to the Night Soul Blessed Land, Qi Tian doesn't stay long.

He gives some instructions to the Earth Spirit, leaves the Push Cup and Change Cup Gu, replenishes some resources, and then leaves the Blessed Land.

Although Qi Tian is here for a simple mission and doesn't need to carry Gu to record the process, there is no worry about the sect being suspicious.

However, Qi Tian doesn't plan to stay for long.

He intends to explore the central part of the Misty Valley, not for the sect mission but because he truly needs to investigate it.

Earlier, it was mentioned that Qi Tian needs to collect four kinds of top-tier fine wines.

However, top-tier fine wines are not so easy to find. Although human brewing techniques have greatly improved, the number of top-tier fine wines today is far greater than in ancient times.

However, these fine wines are often possessed by Gu Immortals, and few mortals have the resources or energy to brew them. In the Yellow Treasure Realm, obtaining top-tier fine wines is easy, but in the mortal market, they are hard to come by.

Qi Tian obtained a jar of Snowflake Wine at a large sect auction while carrying out a sect mission. Though the price was within his range, it was hard to come across.

In addition, Qi Tian also acquired a jar of Bluebird Wine as a reward for completing a task. In the Celestial Crane Sect, completing missions not only earns sect contributions but also special rewards for significant missions.

During his year-plus at the Celestial Crane Sect, Qi Tian has typically chosen missions with special rewards, rarely picking ordinary ones because he doesn't want to waste time on them.

Obtaining two types of top-tier fine wines in a short period is rare, but Qi Tian is still half an offering short of his goal.

However, humans aren't the only ones capable of brewing alcohol.

The earliest records of alcohol come from the human ancestors' teachings.

Taichi Yang Mang, under the influence of a Wisdom Gu, became enamored with fine wine, with the saying, "Once one tastes the joy of wine, don't tell the sober."

Under the advice of the Wisdom Gu, he drank fruit wine brewed by Eastern Peach Monkey, bitter wine brewed by Western Spirit Monkeys, strong liquor brewed by Northern Diamond Monkeys, and clear wine brewed by Southern Skywater Monkeys.

Drinking these four types of top-tier fine wines from the four great monkeys, Taichi Yang Mang gained the God Wandering Gu.

These four wines are among the earliest recorded, so in brewing, monkeys actually got ahead of humans.

Regular monkey groups brew various kinds of alcohol, with different flavors depending on the species. These are collectively called Monkey Wines.

After the transformation of the Misty Valley in the previous era, two types of top-tier fine wines were brought out by Gu Masters.

One is the Martial Fist Wine brewed by a group of Drunken Monkeys residing in the Misty Valley. The monkeys' faces are flushed red, as if intoxicated.

This Martial Fist Wine is highly unique. Only the Monkey King in the group is allowed to drink it.

Once the Monkey King drinks it, it causes a "drunken frenzy" or drunken fist. Monkeys fight relying on their fists and strength.

Although monkeys are relatively intelligent among wild beasts, they remain limited in wisdom, with their fighting style relying more on brute force and instinct.

However, after drinking Martial Fist Wine, the Monkey King can fight like a martial arts master.

Although Gu Masters won't receive the same effects, the wine still offers some assistance in improving martial arts practice.

The Martial Fist Wine soon became highly sought after by melee Gu Masters, even attracting the interest of Gu Immortals.

However, it's rare to find a group of Drunken Monkeys in the Misty Valley, and only a Drunken Monkey group with tens of thousands of beasts can brew Martial Fist Wine.

This scarcity has led to many failures, and some even lost their lives, reducing the interest of many.

Of course, it became even more difficult to obtain after the Qi family's inheritance ended, and the Celestial Crane Sect sealed off the Misty Valley completely.

Years after the sealing, a Gu Immortal from the Celestial Crane Sect began raising Drunken Monkeys in a blessed land to produce this top-tier fine wine.

The second wine is the Wenquan Wine, a unique fine wine brewed by a Gu Immortal in the Celestial Crane Sect responsible for exploring the Misty Valley.

The method of production remains unknown, but it is believed to have come from the Misty Valley. The Gu Immortal himself later confirmed this.

Though the production process is unknown, its effects rival the Martial Fist Wine. It enhances the emotions of the drinker, inspiring literary and artistic talents, making it an excellent pairing with Poetry Gu and Painting Gu.

Martial Fist Wine and Wenquan Wine are known as the "Dual Arts of Literature and Martial Arts," and they are the target of Qi Tian's current exploration in the Misty Valley.