Everyone was puzzled by this.
Chu Jingzhuo spoke up, "How about letting Second Senior Sister tend the fire instead?"
Previously, Qin Yiwei had always tended the fire. Now that it was Jiang Yunnuan, maybe there was a difference.
"Alright!" Qin Yiwei nodded.
Thus, they started a new round of roasting.
The final result once again made everyone fall silent.
"It's about the same as the one roasted just now, but still not as good as Master's."
Everyone's gaze fell onto Mu Shiyue.
Mu Shiyue was speechless, "I didn't hold anything back! Whatever I did last time was whatever I taught this time."
"We didn't think you were hiding something!" Chu Jingzhuo hurriedly shook his head. "We just want to know why it's different."
"Yes, how about Master roast it again and let us watch?"
Facing everyone's burning gazes, what could Mu Shiyue say?
"Alright, I'll do it again."
She added, "I'm saying this in advance, I also can't guarantee the result will be the same as last time!"
She liked to work freely and spontaneously. There's no way to guarantee identical results each time, since this wasn't standardized production.
"Yes yes, we understand!"
Naturally, the disciples had no objections and kept nodding.
Fortunately, this time they had picked many leaves and could roast several batches.
Mu Shiyue took some leaves and directly tossed them into the wok, telling Jiang Yunnuan to start the fire.
Jiang Yunnuan hesitated for a moment, but still followed instructions.
Once the fire was burning, Mu Shiyue began roasting the tea leaves just like last time.
The others watched her every move from the side. Xin Jinrui even took out a small notebook and recorded her steps.
"Make the flame larger," Mu Shiyue said while roasting.
"Yes."
When it seemed almost ready, Mu Shiyue told Chu Jingzhuo to put in ice, then close the lid.
"High heat."
"Yes."
Until the strong scorched-bitter smell wafted out again, Mu Shiyue finally told Jiang Yunnuan to stop.
Once the lid opened, a rich smell floated out.
They immediately began brewing the tea.
This time, the tea once again tasted so bitter their teeth clenched, but they kept nodding, "Yes, this is the taste!"
"Exactly this bitter!"
"The more bitter, the better!"
Earlier, the first two batches they drank hadn't been too bitter.
They even thought their tolerance had improved.
Now they knew it's the previous two batches that weren't bitter enough!
Master was still the best!
Bitter!
That's the right taste!
Feeling the spiritual energy in their bodies again, they all gave a thumbs-up, "This is the feeling!"
Ke Chongbo wished he could hug the tea leaves roasted by Mu Shiyue, this was exactly the taste he wanted!
Seeing their expressions, Mu Shiyue also drank a small sip herself, it was so bitter that all her facial features scrunched together.
Although it was tea leaves roasted by herself, she really couldn't handle this kind of bitterness.
Had all the bile in the world been squeezed into it or what?!
Hugging his small notebook, Xin Jinrui recalled Mu Shiyue's movements, thought for a long time, and finally figured out the difference.
"When Master roasted it just now, it was especially smooth and flowing, especially relaxed!" he said seriously. "When I roasted it, I was too nervous."
"That's the difference?" Ke Chongbo was confused.
"It must be!" Xin Jinrui nodded. "I need to keep practicing and make myself more relaxed!"
Mu Shiyue: "…"
Could she say that when she cooked, she relied entirely on how she felt?
The words "to taste" might've been made for her.
When she cooked, she liked to follow intuition, every seasoning was "to taste."
This mysterious feeling seemed hard to explain.
Thinking of this, Mu Shiyue didn't bother explaining and instead patted her eldest disciple's shoulder, saying seriously, "Not bad, you've already grasped the essence! Don't push yourself too hard when doing things. Remember, too much is as bad as too little."
These words fell like heavenly music. Xin Jinrui's heart trembled, his eyes shining.
"Master, I understand!" His eyes brightened enormously. "Thank you for your teaching! I will definitely work hard!"
"…." Mu Shiyue's mouth twitched. What exactly had he understood?
Xin Jinrui nodded heavily, with a serious expression, "I will practice well and try not to disappoint Master!"
"…Alright, work hard." Mu Shiyue could only tug at the corner of her mouth.
Seeing her disciple full of energy like he'd been injected with chicken blood, Mu Shiyue didn't know what to say and just let him be.
After that, Xin Jinrui roasted a few more batches and actually made progress each time.
Although he still couldn't perfectly reproduce Mu Shiyue's result, everyone's evaluation improved batch by batch.
Xin Jinrui wasn't satisfied with himself, but Mu Shiyue already thought it's fine.
—As long as she doesn't have to work, she's very satisfied.
She gave half of the tea leaves she roasted to Ke Chongbo, while the remaining half was left for several disciples to divide freely.
"Master, you aren't drinking any?" They looked at her.
"No," Mu Shiyue shook her head decisively. "Too bitter."
"But drinking it is good for the body!"
"That's right, drinking it will increase spiritual power!"
Last time, they took the tea leaves and hastily left.
Just now they had asked Meng Fanzé and found out that their Master had given all the tea leaves to the Spotted Spirit Cow mother and calf.
"No, I don't bitter things," Mu Shiyue still shook her head.
"How about adding sugar?"
Everyone coaxed her like coaxing a child.
When they drank tea, they would never add sugar and just gulp it straight down.
But since Master disliked bitterness, then just add sugar!
Seeing her disciples' concerned faces, Mu Shiyue thought for a moment, "Then let's make milk tea!"
"Milk tea?"
"What is that?"
"Milk added to tea?"
Milk and tea, weren't those two separate things?
But Mu Shiyue's interest piqued, "Today, I'll let you see what milk tea is!"
Very quickly, under her instructions, everyone brought the required ingredients.
The Spotted Spirit Cow had just finished drinking tea and was immediately milked for a bucket of milk. It was a bit bewildered.
"Let me show you what caramel milk tea is!"
Full of enthusiasm, Mu Shiyue dumped sugar into the wok and began stirring it.
Everyone watched the sugar melt and change color, completely confused.
When the colour of the caramel was ready, Mu Shiyue poured in the brewed tea.
After the tea came to a boil, she poured in the milk.
Seeing the liquid turn brown, everyone stared at one another.
Can...you drink this?
To their surprise, not only was it drinkable, it was delicious!
Sweet and fragrant, the milk had a lovely taste, the bitterness of the tea was covered up.
Most importantly, since both milk and tea contained spiritual energy, once combined, one plus one was greater than two. The absorption speed was even faster than before!
"Heavens, this isn't any worse than the tea brewed by Sect Master Mu!" Ke Chongbo drank the milk tea, praising repeatedly.
He couldn't help suggesting, "If we use Sect Master Mu's roasted tea leaves to make milk tea, it should be even better, right?"
Everyone exchanged glances, then slapped their thighs, let's try it!
The process of making milk tea wasn't difficult.
They copied the steps and made another pot of milk tea.
But after drinking it, they immediately spat it out.
"So bitter!"
"How is it still this bitter?!"
Everyone began doubting life.
Something wasn't right!