Chu Feng sheathed his sword and looked at the others, who were still stunned.
He returned to his seat and casually took a sip of wine.
"Ha… satisfying…"
But just drinking one type of wine wasn't enough. He thought about checking the treasures Chen'er and the others had brought back to see if there was anything suitable for brewing.
Whoosh—
After a long while, a breeze swept through, and only then did everyone return to their senses.
They looked at Chu Feng, who was drinking alone at the table, and all stood up to bow respectfully. "Thank you for your guidance, Master/Sir."
"No need to be so formal. It's enough if you found it helpful."
As he spoke, Chu Feng added inwardly, 'Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed it.'
Half an hour later, everyone packed up and returned to their quarters to rest.
The next day, Chu Feng was surprised to find that, for once, Nie Xiuyuan didn't come to greet him.
After lunch, Xu Caichen respectfully said, "Master, please grant me a few jars of turbid wine. I want to learn through drinking, like you."
"You're a teachable one."
Chu Feng didn't give him strong liquor, but instead selected a few jars of mild fine wine.
"Remember, though the wine is good, don't overindulge."
"Yes, Master."
After replying, Xu Caichen took the wine and left.
"Drinking and reading… can that really work?" Elder Bing muttered as she watched Xu Caichen's figure fade into the distance.
Chu Feng smiled and said, "Give it a year or two and you'll see. I just wonder whether he or Xiuyuan will be the first to take the step. If neither succeeds, I'll have to bring out my signature brew—Enlightenment Wine."
"Enlightenment Wine!"
Elder Bing looked at Chu Feng with excitement. "Sir, that's the legendary sacred wine! Even the Academy of Inquiry has only a few preserved. You can brew it?"
"After last night's drunken insight, I've got an idea. Qin'er, in the last batch of treasures you brought back, was there any Enlightenment Fruit?"
Chu Feng turned to Qin Qin—she was always in charge of managing the storeroom inventory.
Qin Qin stood up and replied, "Master, Senior Brother did find a few Enlightenment Fruits. They're all in the storeroom. If you want them, I'll retrieve them now."
"No need to bring all of them. Just one will do. I'll write down the ingredients needed to brew Enlightenment Wine. If any are missing, use my token to exchange for them at the Merit Hall."
As Chu Feng spoke, he took out brush and paper, and carefully wrote down each required ingredient, then handed his personal token to Qin Qin as well.
Qin Qin accepted the token and list, then turned and left.
That afternoon, Qin Qin returned with all the materials packed into a storage pouch and placed it before Chu Feng.
Chu Feng looked inside and smiled. "Qin'er, you did well. Once the Enlightenment Wine is brewed, you'll be the first to taste it."
"Thank you, Master," Qin Qin replied respectfully.
The next day, Chu Feng got to work. Brewing Enlightenment Wine was dozens of times more difficult than his previous brew, so he took it extremely seriously from the start—there was no room for error. Because of this, he even asked Elder Bing to assist him.
There was no other choice. Nie Xiuyuan and Xu Caichen were both cultivating, so he had to grab someone available.
Day after day passed.
A hundred days later.
Above the wine workshop of the Miscellaneous Dao Institute, a strange phenomenon suddenly appeared. A massive vortex of spiritual energy formed over Miaomiao Mountain, gradually transforming into multicolored divine light that descended straight onto the wine workshop.
Elder Bing saw this and smiled in delight. "Sir, divine light from the heavens—your sacred wine is nearly complete. But be careful of the lightning tribulation. The birth of a sacred item is always accompanied by tribulation lightning."
Chu Feng smiled and said, "No need to worry. If the lightning descends, I'll cut it down with one sword."
As they spoke, the multicolored light had already entered the brewing cauldron.
The sudden anomaly naturally alarmed the entire Academy of Inquiry.
At the Beast-Taming Institute, a chorus of beast cries rang out. Some flying spirit beasts even soared toward Miaomiao Mountain.
The elders stationed at each institute were all alarmed by the anomaly.
As soon as they saw the strange phenomenon, they immediately flew toward the direction of the Miscellaneous Dao Institute.
In the courtyard of the Headmaster's residence.
The Headmaster and the Grand Elder of the Internal Affairs Hall, who had been playing chess, also paused what they were doing.
The Grand Elder said, "Seven-colored divine light from the heavens—this is a sign that a sacred item is about to be born. Judging by the direction, it's coming from the Miscellaneous Dao Institute. It's that brat Xiaofeng again. What is he doing now?"
The Headmaster smiled and said, "That Xiaofeng always manages to surprise me. Let's watch."
The Grand Elder had long lost interest in the chess game. Hearing this, he casually put all the pieces back into the board.
The two of them immediately extended their divine sense toward Miaomiao Mountain.
Inside the wine workshop, Chu Feng had already caught the scent of wine. Excitement flickered in his eyes, and his hand instinctively pulled out his sword from his storage ring.
Even if the Heavenly King himself came today, he wouldn't stop Chu Feng from brewing his sacred wine.
A few hours later, the divine light completely disappeared, and the vortex of spiritual energy in the sky also dissipated.
The evening sun on the horizon was soon covered by a tribulation cloud.
All the institute elders stared at the impending lightning tribulation, their hearts rising to their throats.
The reason sacred items were so rare was because they had to survive the tribulation lightning.
So many rare treasures had been reduced to ash under the heavenly tribulation, vanishing into nothing.
Xu Caichen and Nie Xiuyuan had also been drawn by the anomaly and had long arrived outside the wine workshop.
Staring at the thunderclouds in the sky, Nie Xiuyuan murmured, "M-Master is about to succeed."
Boom!
With a flash of lightning, a bolt of tribulation lightning crashed down from the heavens.
The moment Chu Feng sensed the bolt descending, he swung his sword skyward.
Clang!
Everyone saw a flash of sword light streak across the sky. The massive bolt of lightning, as thick as a heavenly pillar, was instantly dispersed by more than half. Only a tiny thread of lightning, no thicker than a water snake, fell toward the wine workshop.
Bang!
The tribulation lightning landed in the brewing cauldron, but there was no explosion. Instead, arcs of lightning crackled across the surface of the cauldron before vanishing.
The lightning tribulation ended. The tribulation clouds in the sky faded away.
The surrounding spirit beasts dispersed, but the gathered crowd remained frozen in place.
That single sword strike had left everyone stunned.
In the Headmaster's courtyard, the Grand Elder muttered, "T-That Xiaofeng… he's too bold. Cutting down tribulation lightning with a sword—doesn't he fear the heavens will mark him for it? When he tries to break through to the Saint Realm, he might face tribulation several times more intense."
The Headmaster chuckled and said, "Young people these days, they really are full of fire."
"One sword to sever the tribulation—Sir, how did you manage it?"
Elder Bing stared intently at the man before her, voicing the question in her heart without thinking.
Chu Feng casually sheathed his sword and said with a smile, "I just struck while it wasn't looking. You could say I played dirty."
Elder Bing: "..."
Qin Qin: "..."
Outside the door, Xu Caichen finally snapped back to reality after hearing the conversation inside. He turned to ask, "Senior Uncle Nie, you're older and more experienced—do you know how Master pulled that off just now?"
Nie Xiuyuan replied, "I don't. That's already beyond my understanding."
Chu Feng ignored the crowd. He simply took out a top-grade artifact and carefully stored all the freshly brewed sacred wine inside.
At that moment, over a dozen figures descended from the sky, landing just outside the wine workshop…
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