Chapter 204- Common Interests

　　08 Jul 2017

　　The Meng Qi Mountains were quite far from Green Jade Immortal Islands and close to the Demon Beast Plains. Although the region didn’t penetrate the territory of demon beasts deeply, there were still many demon beasts. However, this blood essence hadn’t been found until now.

　　Regardless of what is said, Yang Chen had to go and take a look. That one drop of blood essence of Heavenly Roar Dog could possibly activate some unique ancient beast’s bloodline. His Heavenly Roar himself is a unique beast and this blood essence would be a great supplement for him. Taking a trip there wouldn’t waste anything, but if he found that blood essence, there would be great benefits.

　　Since Guan Yueying already knew that Yang Chen had a flying shuttle which was very fast, Yang Chen didn’t hide it from Shi Shanshan and called out his Flying Shuttle, inviting her onboard. He then controlled it to move towards the Meng Qi Mountain’s direction.

　　Although Shi Shanshan was slightly surprised, she wasn’t that astonished. However, sensing the high speed of Flying Shuttle, she couldn’t help but steal glances at Yan Chen. Seeing from her reaction, it could be assumed that Guan Yueying had spoken with her about this matter.

　　“Is this the magic weapon you had to used to escape from elder Guan when she was chasing you?”

　　After sitting in the Flying Shuttle, no one said anything for a long time, so Shi Shanshan found a topic and asked.

　　“Yes!”

　　Yang Chen nodded affirmatively. He was thinking about Seventh Metal True Qi, so he didn’t speak much.

　　Although he had already obtained the Seventh Metal True Qi, Yang Chen wasn’t anxious to refine it immediately. His fire attribute spirit power had already reached late foundation stage. After successive upgrade in layers, it required some time for consolidation. Right now, forcefully absorbing the Seventh Metal True Qi to cultivate the Seventh Metal True Secrets would certainly not do him any good.

　　However, when he thought of Seventh Metal True Qi and Seventh Metal True Secrets, Yang Chen suddenly remembered that Shi Shanshan was metal attributed. If Shi Shanshan and he became dao companions, then with her full metal spirit root and Yang Chen’s postnatal full metal spirit root, their cultivation would increase at an astonishing speed.

　　However, with the image of his master in his heart, Yang Chen didn’t feel anything towards Shi Shanshan. Perhaps this was also destiny, in his previous life, Yang Chen had coveted Fairy Shi passionately, but in this life, he didn’t have that kind of feeling.

　　“Then what blade did you use to kill Li Qingchen at that time?”

　　During the time of Yang Chen’s life and death challenge with Li Qingchen, Shi Shanshan was also present at the scene, but she also couldn’t see clearly how Yang Chen dealt the final blow. Just one blade slashed down and as a result, countless chins fell down.

　　Shi Shanshan was also one among one of those. At that time, she also wasn’t that optimistic about Yang Chen winning, therefore, she had said that she would remaining faithful to Yang Chen. And now, with Yang Chen sitting by her side, she couldn’t help but ask about this to clarify her thoughts.

　　“My Immortal Executing Blade is a high grade magic weapon.”

　　Yang Chen also didn’t hide and stated the reason:

　　“My strength was very high and was holding the blade with two hands, so it was much more advantageous for me compared to him, who was protecting himself by controlling his flying sword with spiritual awareness.”

　　Shi Shanshan was also an expert, so immediately understood the crux. One side was slashing with physical strength and power of spiritual awareness, moreover, also had a high grade magic weapon, while the other side was careless and didn’t have a high grade magic weapon, so this outcome was completely normal.

　　“Thank you!”

　　Shi Shanshan earnestly thanked Yang Chen.

　　“Because I killed Li Qingchen?”

　　Yang Chen was slightly confused, even if Li Qingchen nagged Shi Shanshan, it should not have gone so far as to give birth to killing intent in Shi Shanshan. And even if she wanted to kill Li Qingchen, Shi Shanshan could have casually led to him to a place where there wouldn’t be any witnesses and have gotten rid of him easily, so why thank him for doing anything?

　　“Because you have saved me a lot of trouble.”

　　Shi Shanshan earnestly replied:

　　“After your life and death duel, elder Li hadn’t come to look for trouble with me, so I was able to remain in peace, therefore, thank you!”

　　Because of Fairy Shi’s words about remaining faithful to Yang Chen for no cause or reason, Yang Chen had become the best shield for Shi Shanshan. Moreover, with elder Guan Yueying’s consent and elder Min Huafeng’s agreement later on, there was no opposition within Green Jade Immortal Islands.

　　Naturally, outsiders also got this news. Those that were chasing after Shi Shanshan couldn’t do anything except rack their brains, loathe and curse Yang Chen as they couldn’t chase after Shi Shanshan anymore. They had already become dao companion, so going after her wouldn’t be admirable, moreover, it will also be disrespectful.

　　Surprisingly, he had once again saved much trouble for Shi Shanshan without any intention, Yang Chen didn’t know what to say in this situation and could only force a bitter laugh:

　　“You need not be so formal!”

　　After that there was silence again, Shi Shanshan also saw that both of them were bored and fished out a beautiful tea set from her qiankun pouch and set it on the table. Then using the teapot and tea leaves, she began to boil tea within the Flying Shuttle.

　　It had to be said, Shi Shanshan herself was a beautiful woman, matchless, cool, and elegant. At this moment, this remarkably beautiful woman was earnestly boiling tea in front of him. Seeing her earnest expressions, Yang Chen also couldn’t help but admire.

　　After a series of tricks, Shi Shanshan placed a mug of aromatic tea in front of Yang Chen. Yang Chen very naturally, picked up the aromatic mug and poured it in the cup and sniffed it once. Then brought the tea cup to his mouth and began to sip slowly, closing his eyes to attentively enjoy the aftertaste.

　　“How is the taste?”

　　Shi Shanshan looked at Yang Chen with an expectant expression, wanting to hear the assessment from his mouth.

　　“This water, is it taken from the spring at the ocean floor after removing the salt?”

　　After sampling for a moment, Yang Chen opened his eyes and asked.

　　“You’re really knowledgeable!”

　　Shi Shanshan was slightly amazed, but when she remembered that Yang Chen had read many random books and his reputation of being extensively knowledgeable, she wasn’t greatly baffled.

　　“Good water, however the tea leaves aren’t properly matured.”

　　Yang Chen slightly shook his head, then continued with his evaluation:

　　“Boiling also wasn’t enough, but getting it to this stage also wasn’t easy for you!”

　　This unrestrained criticism made Shi Shanshan slightly enraged, following which she said coldly:

　　“In that case, today let’s taste your skills.”

　　Yang Chen also wasn’t that polite and nodded his head. Taking out tender leaves of tea trees he had long ago planted in Medicine Garden, he began to roast them in front of Shi Shanshan.

　　Suddenly, the Profound Spirit Furnace appeared in front of them, the Cold Ice Fire flashed and began to dry the moisture content from the green tea leaves. After waiting for some time, he changed the flame to the Profound Wood Fire, a tiny flame began to bake the tea leaves. Yang Chen, using the Profound Spirit Furnace as a ware for sauteing tea leaves, began to stir fry them.

　　With his fire controlling technique, Yang Chen didn’t even need to touch tea leaves and completed all the work. By the time, he placed the well fried tea leaves in a jade cup on the table, Shi Shanshan’s face had turned sluggish, apparently not daring to believe everything she was seeing.

　　“Using the pill concocting furnace to saute the tree leaves, you would be the first one to do so?”

　　After remaining expressionless for a while, she suddenly smiled. When she smiled, it was like cold ice had been defrosted, so beautiful, that nothing more beautiful could be imagined.

　　But only after one smile, Shi Shanshan quickly restored her cold expression from before. She grasped the jade cup with her lily white hand and brought it towards herself. First, she marvelled at the plump tea leaves, afterwards, bringing it closer, she slightly sniffed it.

　　With this one sniff, Shi Shanshan’s ice cold expression transformed again, changing to an expression of not daring to believe the sight in front of her.

　　Yang Chen’s tea leaves were planted in the Medicine Garden. Although they were planted only twenty years ago, the several times transformation in the clean bottle had lead to all the herbs within the Medicine Garden to increase their maturity by hundred years for no special reason. This tea tree was also no exception.

　　They had reached sufficient maturity themselves. Moreover, with the nourishment of fifth earth soil within the Medicine Garden and the medicinal power distributed by countless herbs, this combination made the harvested tea leaves even more unique.

　　Up to here, everything was still normal, but surprisingly Yang Chen had used pill refining technique to fry the tea leaves. Speaking of frying, it is inferior to refining. Even then, he used two different flames and a portion the strong medicinal power of Profound Spirit Furnace had also permeated within it. These were not simple tea leaves, rather, they were clearly tea pill.

　　These kind of tea leaves were completely different compared to ordinary tea leaves. Even if Shi Shanshan’s tea leaves were grown in the region of Green Jade Immortal Islands with plentiful spirit power and fried with utmost care, how could they compare to Yang Chen’s special tea leaves?

　　Just these tea leaves were enough to make Shi Shanshan forget her unwillingness to accept criticism from a moment ago. Furthermore, when she saw that Yang Chen had surprisingly used Nanming Fire within the pill concocting furnace to boil water, she immediately realized what Yang Chen meant by saying that the heat was not enough.

　　Shi Shanshan had a metal spirit root and was not proficient in everything like Yang Chen. Presently, she could only shockingly look at Yang Chen adding water to the tea leaves in a way that was more proficient than her. She didn’t dare to believe what she was seeing. Where did Yang Chen learn such a traditional method of making tea?

　　After a series of techniques, a cup of tea that was even more aromatic compared to previous one was placed before Shi Shanshan, Yang Chen then extended his hand and made an inviting gesture:

　　“Please!”

　　Shi Shanshan gracefully picked up her fragrant cup in her lily white hands and deeply sniffed. Immediately, she sensed a sweet fragrance together with spirit power which comforted her entire body and rush into her nostrils. Just this one sniff had made her unable to control her gasp.

　　Only after the tea entered her mouth did Shi Shanshan genuinely taste what is known as the high quality tea. That refreshing flavour penetrated deeply through her body, making her whole body loiter within that feeling she got after sniffing the tea. Even without speaking about the refreshing spirit power that passed along with aroma of tea, it was not very dense and neither was it too weak. It was just perfect to cleanse the body once, from her lip directly to the sole of her feet, giving the sensation of rushing to become an immortal.

　　After drinking a mouthful, even the Cold Plum Fairy Shi, exposed an expression of admiration and was unable to hide it. After reflecting on the aftertaste for a good while, Shi Shanshan issued a faint sigh.

　　“Such delicacy, at which year, which month, would I be able to enjoy it next!”

　　Shi Shanshan couldn’t help but feel regret, Yang Chen’s current behaviour towards her didn’t resemble one of a dao companion. Shi Shanshan could see that he just didn’t care about her. If this continues, then there would be no fixed time when these two would see each other again, much less talk about drinking Yang Chen’s tea.

　　All her life, Shi Shanshan never had other hobbies except one. Apart from cultivation, she was only fond of tea making techniques. She didn’t spare any effort and even went to the underground spring at the bottom of the ocean to collect water from the core of earth. The tea leaves were also personally grown and fried by her.

　　Initially, she had believed that her tea was already very high quality, however, she hadn’t expected that within one short hour, Yang Chen would manage to produce something which was many folds better compared to the tea produced by her with utmost care for several years. If Yang Chen had also prepared it meticulously, spending several years to take care of it, what kind of delicacy would he produce?

　　“Whenever you wish you drink, just find me!”

　　Yang Chen subconsciously considered Shi Shanshan as an ally, after the words came out he felt a sense of regret, but couldn’t take back his words.

　　Speaking frankly, Shi Shanshan was someone who understood tea and also understood how to appreciate it. Yang Chen’s effort a moment ago, although it seemed simple, was quite dazzling. Showing off in front of the famous Cold Plum Fairy of previous life, Yang Chen also couldn’t help but feel some excitement.

　　When Shi Shanshan drank the tea, Yang Chen also felt some longing. When Yang Chen saw the intoxicated expression on Shi Shanshan, he felt even more complacent. As the maker, the genuine delight for Yang Chen was someone who knew how to appreciate his tea. Therefore, he had started talking without thinking.

　　However, just after he had opened his mouth, Yang Chen immediately regretted it, but this was only a faint regret. Didn’t he not want to become estranged with Shi Shanshan? How could he reply to her like this?

　　Shi Shanshan was greatly exalted. She surprisingly revealed a smile again and thanked Yang Chen.

　　“No need to be polite!”

　　Since he had already said so, Yang Chen wouldn’t be petty. How could he insist on such a trivial matter? He only nodded:

　　“Sometimes, freshly prepared things are far more delicious compared to things which are prepared a long time ago with utmost care. If you like it, then you can come and drink the fresh tea!”

　　Two people, each one holding a cup, were silently sipping tea. Shi Shanshan was immersed within the beautiful taste. After taking a sip, Yang Chen again slightly shook his head:

　　“Unfortunately, the tea is still not the best. Only sometimes do I find some wild tea. Compared to them, these spirit plants are much worse. Although the water is pretty good, but it is only in the sunflower water category and it is not as good as natural ninth water.”

　　The ocean water was precisely sunflower water, having large amounts of salt, even if it is from an underwater spring from the bed of the ocean. It was also the same. Although salt was removed from it, some amount of salt still remained, making it lose its natural flavor. This was the reason of Yang Chen’s resentfulness.

　　While sipping the tea, Shi Shanshan committed Yang Chen’s words to memory. Next time, when she traveled out, if she would find some good type of water and then would surely collect it. She knew she must try what this heavenly ninth water tastes like.

　　As for the tea plant, that could only be encountered by chance and not purposefully found. If she encountered it, she would surely pluck a branch or two and grow them. Using the pill concocting method to refine and further raise the quality, it would probably increase the taste even more.

　　Although not many words were spoken, both of them seemed to have found a common pleasure, each of them sipping their aromatic tea slowly, which took an incense stick burning time to finish. After the tea was finished, the atmosphere between seemed to have become harmonious.

　　“What are you going to do at Meng Qi Mountain?”

　　This time, Shi Shanshan asked Yang Chen’s real goal:

　　“There are many demon beasts there, if it is just for getting experience, isn’t that dangerous?

　　“In near future, I intend to raise a spirit pet. There are many treasures at that place which can substantially increase the strength of my spirit pet, thus I am going there to try my luck.”

　　Yang Chen didn’t conceal anything. In any case, she would be travelling with him through the whole journey. Sooner or later, she would become aware of Yang Chen’s aim. So concealing anything would be of no use, and he told her everything forthrightly.

　　“Spirit pet?

　　Shi Shanshan glanced at Yang Chen and was somewhat surprised:

　　“You should spend more time on cultivation. Refining pills is already difficult enough, but you still want to raise a spirit pet? You must absolutely not become greedy. I remember that during the last ‘great calamity of devil cultivation’, Pure Yang Palace suffered the least loss. Did your master allow you to do this to distract you?”

　　“This is my own matter.”

　　Yang Chen slightly smiled, hinting her not to bother:

　　“Moreover, my spirit pet will be unique and won’t require me to spend much time on it.”