Watching the Ironclaw Eagle fall, Song Changsheng put away his treasure gourd, took a swig of wine, and rested briefly before boarding his small boat to give chase.
This eagle had truly gotten under his skin only by roasting and eating it could he truly vent his anger.
Due to its injured wings, the Ironclaw Eagle had lost the ability to fly. By the time Song arrived, it was lying weakly in a thicket, barely clinging to life.
Seeing him approach, the eagle's eyes flashed with despair. It could only launch a few wind blades in a last-ditch effort to resist.
But those posed no threat to Song. With a flick of his finger, a burst of spiritual energy pierced straight through the eagle's skull.
"Spirit fish may be tasty, but they're not yours to take. Better be smarter in your next life," Song muttered, shaking his head. Just as he was about to collect his spoils, he suddenly froze mid-step.
His nose twitched slightly. After a few deep sniffs, he said with surprise, "What's that smell? It's refreshing just to inhale it could there be a treasure nearby?"
Unleashing his divine sense, Song began a meticulous, inch-by-inch search of the area.
Circling, he finally made a discovery: beneath a sloping patch of earth stood a tea plant barely a foot tall, swaying in the breeze and exuding a strange, enticing fragrance.
Intrigued, Song moved closer. He noticed a faint mist swirling around the tea plant. The branches split in a forked pattern, each bearing over a dozen dark green leaves, with fresh buds just sprouting at the tips.
The leaves were oval, edged with serrations, and their veins resembled drifting clouds extraordinary.
"This… could it be Mistveil Tea?" Song exclaimed with joy.
He plucked a leaf and chewed it thoughtfully. A sharp bitterness instantly flooded his mouth, followed by a strange sensation: a mysterious force seemed to be nourishing his soul.
"It is Mistveil Tea! I can't believe I came across such a lucky find here." Delighted, Song's eyes sparkled as he gazed at the tea plant.
Mistveil Tea was a rare spiritual herb. Brewing its leaves produced a tea that nourished the soul and purified spiritual energy.
A cultivator's spellcasting strength depended not only on cultivation level but also on the purity of their spiritual power.
Once purified, spiritual energy not only became more potent but also increased in volume within the dantian. This meant longer-lasting and more powerful spells Mistveil Tea was truly a dream come true for Song.
"Still… most spirit plants are guarded by fierce beasts. Why is this place so quiet?"
Suspicious, Song scanned the surroundings and soon spotted something in the nearby bushes. He parted them to find a large bird's nest marked unmistakably with the aura of the Ironclaw Eagle.
In that instant, everything became clear.
He had always wondered why the eagle hovered near the lake for so long, even returning after being injured. Now he understood it had been waiting for the Mistveil Tea to sprout.
Mistveil Tea wasn't just beneficial for human cultivators; it had even greater effects on spirit beasts. If a beast consumed the tender shoots of the tea, it would receive a tremendous boost to its soul, accelerating the development of its intelligence.
And intelligence was the key for a first-tier beast to break through to the second tier.
That's why, even wounded, the Ironclaw Eagle had refused to leave. On the day the tea finally sprouted, it had tried to eliminate Song to protect its treasure but with Song's recent breakthrough in cultivation, it ended up being slain instead. The treasure it had long guarded ultimately benefited someone else.
"Luckily, Grandpa Wu-Shi is too old to go chasing birds around. Otherwise, with his peak Qi Refining strength, he'd have surely found this tea. Guess this treasure was fated to be mine."
The song was in high spirits. But then another problem arose: how to transplant the tea?
He wasn't a spiritual farmer and had no real experience with delicate plants. A single misstep could damage the roots and ruin it.
After some thought, Song pulled a magic sword from his storage pouch and carefully dug out the entire tea plant, along with the soil three meters around it.
Soon, a large pit appeared on the hillside.
Carrying the block of earth, Song returned to Mirror Lake Island. Using the same method, he dug a new hole, gently set the block into it, filled in the gaps, and thus somewhat crudely completed the transplant of the Mistveil Tea.
To encourage its growth, Song Changsheng buried several low-grade spirit stones around the tea tree.
At the moment, the tea plant was at the peak of Tier One. With ample spiritual energy, it wouldn't be long before it advanced further at which point its leaves would become even more potent.
"Let's see how these new shoots perform," Song muttered as he carefully picked the freshly sprouted leaves and stored them in a jade vial.
He then took out a porcelain cup, placed one of the tender leaves inside, and poured in steaming spiritual spring water.
A refreshing aroma immediately rose from the cup. As the tea steeped, the leaf slowly dissolved into the water, tinting it a pale green. A faint mist hovered over the rim of the cup.
"As expected of such a rare spiritual tea even just the scent brings a sense of calm to the soul," Song said with a look of bliss.
Once the tea had fully infused the water, he didn't bother waiting for it to cool. He lifted the cup and drank it all in one go. As the fragrant tea traveled down his throat and into his stomach, a surge of pure energy suddenly erupted from his Zhongwan acupoint.
Song immediately sat down cross-legged, focusing his mind and calming his breath. He gathered his energy inward and devoted his full attention to refining this newfound power.
During the refining process, the energy split into two streams one surged into his Sea of Consciousness, nourishing his soul; the other flowed into his dantian, where it began purifying his spiritual energy.
After a full day and night, Song slowly opened his eyes. His hands quickly formed a series of seals. "Water Vortex!"
A giant waterspout several zhang high suddenly formed over the surface of the lake, stirring the once-serene Mirror Lake into a chaotic frenzy.
Fortunately, Song hadn't forgotten that this was family property. After only a few breaths, he dispelled the spell.
Watching the vortex vanish without a trace, he beamed with joy. "The power of my spell has increased by at least thirty percent, and it uses less energy too. Mistveil Tea lives up to its name!"
This was a tangible boost to his combat power. Had he possessed such strength during his battle with those demonic cultivators, he wouldn't have been so battered he might've even turned the tables and hunted them down instead!
"It's just a shame… Mistveil Tea offers the greatest benefits the first time it's consumed. Until it advances to Tier Two, it won't do much for me anymore."
Looking at the remaining tea shoots in the jade vial, Song began to consider how best to use them.
According to clan rules, these leaves were his personal property. He could easily trade them for valuable cultivation resources.
But after a moment's thought, he decided to hold onto them for now. After all, the tea tree only produced new shoots once every few years each one was priceless.
Keeping them on hand could be useful, whether for bartering or earning favors.
Just as he was about to store the tea leaves in his storage pouch, a series of bubbling noises by the lakeshore caught his attention.
Following the sound, he saw a slender silver spirit fish blowing bubbles at the water's edge, its tiny pea-sized eyes fixed intently on him.
Song was stunned it was the largest of the three rare Spirit Fish Kings in the lake, a creature that had always gone out of its way to avoid him. Why was it now approaching him on its own?
He glanced down at the jade vial in his hand and suddenly understood.
"You want this tea leaf?" he said with a hint of amusement.