"Is this gold? It's too precious, I can't accept it."
Wu Er could tell from the color of the gold lock that it was worth a lot of money, especially since they had only met by chance. How could he accept such a valuable item from someone he barely knew?
"Just take it. This is a thank you gift for taking me up the mountain last time, where I discovered something incredibly useful." Jian Ning insisted on stuffing the gold lock into Wu Er's hand.
She smiled and waved to him, then continued walking.
Watching her slender figure from behind, Wu Er gripped the longevity lock in his hand, feeling a bittersweet mix of emotions. He couldn't quite grasp the feeling; such a wonderful woman, it was a pity that he and she were not destined to be together.
Jian Ning went straight back to her treehouse without lingering outside, and instead went back into the jade pendant space.
This place is spacious, so there's no fear of the alchemy furnace exploding. Moreover, thanks to the planting of many spiritual herbs, the spiritual energy in the air is much more abundant.
Jian Ning took out more than ten portions of medicinal materials for refining Qi-restoring pills.
Today she discovered that her spiritual energy was recovering very slowly in the miasma. Without the support of medicine, if she encountered a large number of ferocious beasts again, she would most likely perish there.
Xiao Wuyu still hasn't discovered where his true strength lies, and Jian Ning isn't entirely relying on him either. No matter the situation, when facing danger, one can only truly depend on their own strength.
Others' help is only temporary. Although she knows that even if she encounters real danger while challenging the Linglong Treasure Pavilion, she probably won't die, she can't rely on that.
This Qi-restoring pill can quickly restore the spiritual energy in the body in a short period of time. She also happened to have all the necessary materials, so since she had nothing else to do, she decided to refine a few more batches to have on hand, so that she wouldn't be caught unprepared when needed.
An invisible flame was summoned, igniting the alchemy furnace, and the spirit-restoring herbs, tendrils, atractylodes, polygala, and dogwood... were added.
The medicinal herbs were placed into the alchemy furnace one by one, and then the flames were patiently controlled as the alchemy process began.
This invisible flame is actually much gentler than an open flame.
After each pill refining session, Jian Ning felt a stronger connection between herself and the alchemy. Moreover, with the pill refining formulas taught to her by Xiao Wuyu, the success rate was truly impressive.
Today's first batch yielded sixteen top-grade Qi-restoring pills. Each pill was perfectly round, with a beautiful halo around its edge, making them very appealing.
It took Jian Ning three days to refine all ten-odd portions of medicinal herbs. Not a single batch was wasted. The success rate was excellent.
After finishing refining the pills, Jian Ning didn't rush to go out.
Instead, he meditated and regulated his breathing to restore his energy and spirit to their best state before taking out the spirit beast's blood and a blank talisman paper to start drawing talismans.
This time, she went all out. Every single one of them was a lightning-based talisman drawn specifically for the mist beast.
For more than half a month in a row.
Only when everything was fully prepared did he leave the jade pendant space to find Xiao Wuyu.
When Jian Ning came over, Xiao Wuyu showed no surprise at all, as if the two of them had just met yesterday.
Smiling, she extended her hand in a gesture of invitation: "Have you had lunch? Shall we eat together?"
Looking at the black multigrain steamed buns on the table, and the two charred small fish with their scales still on, I saw...
Jian Ning frowned slightly.
"Brother Xiao, you're eating too casually. Come on, let me show you some of my hometown's specialties today: squirrel-shaped mandarin fish, pickled cabbage fish, boiled fish, and steamed sea bass. Today, I'll treat you to a whole fish feast."
As he spoke, he carried plates out, the freshly taken-out dishes emitting a steaming aroma.
Xiao Wuyu's eyes lit up immediately. Looking at the food on the table, he instantly felt that all the fish he had eaten over the years had been a waste.
Compared to the dishes Jian Ning brought out, I felt like I was living worse than a beggar. My life was far too rough.
"Oh, and there's this bottle of Moutai too, Brother Xiao, you can try it too." Jian Ning said, taking out another bottle of liquor and opening the cap. At this, even Xiao Wuyu couldn't sit still.
"Miss Jian, what kind of wine is this? It has such a rich and fragrant aroma!"
"This is a fine wine; you'll know once you taste it."
Jian Ning doesn't actually know much about baijiu, but this particular liquor is widely recognized and sells for such a high price.
There's a reason it's expensive. If it didn't taste good, who would spend so much money to buy it? Her logic is definitely sound.
He then took out another wine glass, poured the wine into it, and handed it to Xiao Wuyu.
He took it, said thank you, and eagerly took a sip.
The difference was immediately apparent upon tasting the wine.
This wine is mellow and has a noticeable viscosity. After swallowing it, it feels very smooth, with a warm current flowing directly to the stomach, accompanied by the bursting aroma of baijiu, leaving him wanting more.
I couldn't help but exclaim, "Excellent wine!"
“That’s right. If Brother Xiao likes it, I have a few more bottles here, I’ll give them all to you.” After saying that, Jian Ning waved his hand and placed five more bottles of Moutai on the table.
"Then I won't stand on ceremony. To be honest, I've never drunk such good wine before."
Needless to say, the wine I drink here is just rice wine brewed by the villagers themselves from grains, and the taste is far inferior. Miss Jian's wine is much more authentic.
After saying that, he picked up his glass and took another small sip. He didn't want to drink too much; he wanted to savor it slowly so that the wine could reveal its true flavor.
"Brother Xiao, don't just focus on drinking. Try this pickled fish; it's absolutely delicious, my favorite. And this squirrel-shaped mandarin fish is a famous delicacy from our area."
After listening to Jian Ning's introduction, Xiao Wuyu also became interested in these foods.
I picked up my chopsticks and took a bite of the pickled fish. The fish was sour with a hint of sweetness, and slightly spicy but not pungent.
The fish slices were tender, fresh, and juicy; one bite and it was absolutely delicious.
"Delicious! This fish is so delicious. It must be a special breed of fish. It doesn't have any spiritual energy yet. If it grew in a place with abundant spiritual energy, this dish would be absolutely amazing."
"The world I live in has very little spiritual energy, and now it is in a state of disrepair, overrun by many mutated plants and creatures."
"It's better to keep this place as a safe haven; at least it's protected by an array, so it's safe and secure."
Jian Ning sighed as she spoke. She didn't fully know what the future world would be like, after all, the original owner of this body died quite young in her previous life and didn't survive many years of the apocalypse. Therefore, she didn't have many memories that she could extract.
"It will be alright. After all, you are there in that world. You are hope!" Xiao Wuyu's evaluation of Jian Ning was a bit too high. Did he think she was a savior? How could that be!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com