Chapter 69: Chapter 69: Su Ya’s Farewell, Sunlit Honey
Next came another enjoyable period of mining and treasure hunting.
After revealing everything at the Red Jade Flower Sea, Qian Fang and Su Ya no longer hid anything. Along the way, there was not a single thing that could stop them.
Three days passed.
During this time, Su Ya taught Li Ye three spells through various means, but this time they were not as special as the Earth Emotions Technique.
These were the Spirit Storage Technique, which allows excess spiritual power to be stored in Spirit Veins or Spiritual Springs; the Spirit Eye, which observes the operation of spiritual power in Spirit Plants; and the Artifact Nurturing Technique for nurturing magical artifacts.
It was clear that Su Ya had received instructions from the Spiritual Mechanism Vine and knew that Li Ye had reached the peak of the Qi Refining Stage.
He probably needed methods to temporarily suppress mana and might have future needs for nurturing his Lifebound Magical Artifact.
Thus, this exploration of the mine came to a temporary conclusion.
The Miner Ghosts were not entirely lacking in intelligence. After realizing these three individuals were not to be trifled with, they started to hide, and the gains became increasingly scarce.
Nonetheless, even under such circumstances, they gathered several hundred pounds of various spiritual materials, all enhanced by the spirituality of the Miner Ghosts, making them premium materials.
Judged solely by the value of Spirit Stones, the worth came to roughly ten thousand.
After leaving the mine, Li Ye kept some of each kind and fed the rest to the Mineral Tai Sui.
He watched as the Tai Sui slowly divided into chunks of Tai Sui meat of various colors.
"You can feed these pieces of Tai Sui meat to the Spirit Beast or accumulate them for now. Since they won’t spoil, just store them casually in a large jar."
"Those ores can be used to make a nest for the Earthquake Worm, but it’s better to buy an Inch-Sized Mountains and Rivers Box... leave this task to me."
Qian Fang seemed to have thought of something, chuckled, and said, "I’ll go seek out the cultivators from the Mo Family under the guise of a discussion. I can certainly acquire a smaller Inch-Sized Mountains and Rivers Box."
"Junior Brother, I’ll come back to help you build a nest for the Earthquake Worm in a few days. I’ll take my leave now!"
Clearly, he was very focused on this matter, as it involved the crafting of his Lifebound Magical Treasure. He left swiftly.
After he left, Su Ya looked at Li Ye with a gentle smile.
However, he delivered a piece of bad news:
"I will leave the marketplace for a period. I must depart tomorrow; if the Bitter Spirit Gourd can be harvested, submit the materials to Uncle Spiritual Mechanism Vine.
Perhaps the next time we meet will be within the sect."
"Ah!?"
"Senior Brother is in such a hurry to leave; is there some urgent matter?" Li Ye was quite reluctant to part with Su Ya, as this Senior Brother had indeed helped him immensely, and their personalities matched well.
"There are some matters," Su Ya said with a smile, "but it is for the good."
"Leaving Huiya Marketplace and heading east leads to the East Pole Yang Sea.
The Merfolk tribe living there works closely with our sect. Both Mermaid Pearls and Mermaid Silk are excellent spiritual objects.
I need to prepare materials for my Lifebound Magical Treasure, so I must go to their area to seek some good items.
Also... I need to deliver family letters for several Junior Brothers within the sect who have Merfolk bloodlines."
The worry in Li Ye’s heart vanished instantly: "That is indeed a good thing."
He looked up at the sky, which had completely darkened, and invited, "Senior Brother Su, would you mind waiting for a bit? I’ll prepare some dishes, to serve as farewell wine for you, what do you say?"
"I would never refuse the invitation of Junior Brother... Aren’t you going to make the ham gifted by Zhao He?" Su Ya licked his lips.
"Yes, please wait a moment, Senior Brother." Li Ye hurried back to the inner courtyard to start preparing food.
Recently, when he was forced to praise dishes by female cultivators, he learned several cooking methods.
Being someone who loved eating, he also studied them during idle periods, so preparing dishes for guests was no problem.
Soon, he crafted several dishes, took out a full jar of Peach Blossom Wine, weighing six pounds.
"Thank you for waiting, Senior Brother."
At this moment, the moon hung high in the sky, its light shimmering like waves, illuminating the surroundings like daylight. Under the serene moonlight, a table full of delicious dishes added a touch of homely warmth.
Su Ya looked at the table of dishes, visibly moved, and smiled even more broadly: "I troubled Junior Brother to make these tasty dishes."
"Oh, Senior Brother has helped me greatly; I have nothing good to offer, just a table full of dishes."
Li Ye waved his hand, poured a cup of wine, and solemnly bowed: "Thank you, Senior Brother, for your guidance during this period. May your road be smooth and safe."
Su Ya finished the wine in one gulp: "Thanks for Junior Brother’s good words."
The two began casually chatting, and Su Ya intentionally shared a lot of knowledge difficult for loose cultivators to access.
Of course, they didn’t forget to enjoy the delicious food.
The soup made with ham was truly delicious, with a creamy broth and intensely savory flavor, paired with spring bamboo shoots and meat, making it irresistible.
Other dishes like fried fish scales, fried lotus roots, and rock sugar lotus seeds were equally delightful.
Yet, happy times always pass quickly.
Both were cultivators, and suddenly realized they had spent the entire night when they saw a faint red glow appearing in the east!
However, there was no point in feeling sentimental; Su Ya, as always, waved to Li Ye and stepped onto the Flying Shuttle, disappearing into the sky in a flash.
Quickly vanishing into the newly risen sunlight.
Li Ye watched him leave, and an odd thought suddenly crossed his mind—was piloting a Flying Shuttle considered drunk driving?
He even seriously pondered this question for a moment before laughing to himself and called Zhao He over to clean up.
He then slowly walked back into the inner courtyard.
The beaver customarily ran over to grab his coat; this little fellow’s spirituality seemed to be growing stronger, even able to sense Li Ye’s inner feelings.
"It’s alright."
Li Ye reached out and placed the beaver on his shoulder, planning to return indoors.
He suddenly noticed the Mist-Imbibing Magnolia Tree surrounded by Crystal Spirit Bees.
That wasn’t surprising; what was surprising was that they were spitting out some crystal-clear beeswax, beginning to build nests around the magnolia flowers.
Even the Queen Bees were brought out; those bound to the magnolia tree were crawling among the largest magnolia flowers on each tree, surrounded by crystal-clear honey.
"Why suddenly build nests here?"
"Huh?"
Li Ye moved closer and his eyes widened.
As he approached, he realized he had only seen some of the beeswax; there were nearly invisible portions already adhered to the flowers.
The beeswax built bridges and pathways between individual flowers, forming covers with only some rhombus-shaped openings.
This meant the top half of each Mist-Imbibing Magnolia flower had transformed into a giant hive!
The Crystal Spirit Bees busily moved in and out of these pathways, collecting dew to bring back to the magnolia flower cups where the Queen Bees lived.
As the sun slowly rose.
Bright light spilled onto the Mist-Imbibing Magnolia tree, reflecting off the flowers resembling jade cups, seemingly causing a catalytic effect.
A sweet, warm aroma suddenly spread.
Li Ye saw clearly that beside the Queen Bees appeared some thick, golden honey, the source of the aroma, tempting him to lick his lips.
Wouldn’t it be nice to make honey water with this?
Too bad Senior Brother Su didn’t get to try it.