Chapter 41 - Insight

Tang Ling took a glance on the cup and drunk it carefully. The water entered his throat naturally, like it was the missing part and before he realized it, drunk all of it and close his eyes to savour the taste.

Dong !

In Tang Ling's mind, a strike at on a bell could be heard.

"What ? What is that ?" Although he was confused, he didn't dare to open his eyes. No. It wasn't that he didn't have the guts to open his eyes but his mind or something bizarre, his soul inside it screamed to not open his eyes. It seemed like he was in an another universe, strange voices flowed in his ears. He could also 'see' words rising and falling, travelling in different directions like the wind.

"Fire is one of the Five Elements. The most volatile, the fiercest. It burns anything which is flammable and melt metals..."

"Qi comes from Heaven and Earth, the human amass..."

"Vitality is a manifestation of Qi...."

"Spirit constitute the mental fortitude of a man. With great spirit, one can rule the earth..."

"... the future comes from changes of the world, the stars..."

The voices were like books speaking, revealing truth about the world. It was as though words of wisdom flowed inside of him and he could meditate over and over again these passages.

Bang ! It was like he broke invisible shackles in his body. Tang Ling felt liberated and light.

[Words of Wisdom : +1500 EXP]

[Words of Wisdom : +1500 EXP]

[Words of Foundational Wisdom : +2000 EXP]

[Words of Stars : +145 EXP]

[Words of the Righteous : +55 EXP]

[Level up !]

[Level up !]

[Level up !]

[Level up !]

[Increased stats towards Spirit and Constitution !]

[Status Updating...]

[Name : Tang Ling

Level 21

Class : Martial Artist (Second Stage)

Qi : 100/100

Mental Energy : 7/7

Stamina : 100%

Strength : 2.2

Agility : 2.1

Constitution : 2.25

Spirit : 2.2]

The sound of breaking through was heard through the room. It surprised many people including the proud Rose of Shengdong.

"Holy Sh*t ! That's one kind of a breakthrough !" With a single cup of tea, this seemingly ordinary guy broke through the 2nd stage from middle 1st stage. There were many stories of upper quality of Stage which broke through in an instant or peak (almost in the next Stage) breaking through in intense battle but it is quite unusual for the Middle-level 1st Stage to break through instantly. Normally, the nature of 1st Stage and 2nd Stage is quite different and one must refine the qi nature to ressemble more and more to the next level and then, in a single attempt or multiple refining, enter the next stage. The former was called Breakthrough and the latter, Condensing or Blending.

Although there are legends of people breaking two stages in a single breakthrough which surpassed the concept of Condensing or Blending, there are still legends. Modern day 'skipping stages' stories were quickly debunked. Probably only the ancients could do something like that.

Anyway, the 'clear-sighted' effect completely wore off after a cup of tea's time and it was enough for the other disciples to finish their tea, especially with the teacher's guidance but also because of the quite heavy scent of tea.

Master Gu Ze clapped his hand and the session finished.

"The session is finished. You have learnt the basics of brewing Concentration tea. This technique you have learnt is a basic skill of which every disciples of this Wandering Sect's branch is required to learn; the Auspicious Tea Brewing Technique. Other branchs may have different techniques but all of them knows a thing or two about tea. As you have experienced it, Concentration Tea helps with clearing useless thoughts and as such, permits one to concentrate in important matters or focus in a particular subject."

"Yes !" Feng Ci said. "It allowed me clear my mind and understand a problem I have never managed to understand until now. Thank you Teacher for teaching this recipe. "

The other disciples and Tang Ling followed his lead and expressed their thanks.

"Good ! Good ! Good ! The Auspicious Tea Brewing Technique is the specialty of our branch ! But it's nothing special, it's like any other tea brewing technique other than it originated in ancient times. The important thing you need to remember is to brew the Concentration Tea, it needs a Wisdom Tea Leaf or something similar."

Wisdom Tea Leaf ?

What could it be ?

This was the thought of almost every disciples. This could be considered uncommon knowledge by the common people. However, the noble girl wasn't a everyday person, she was of the Nangong Family and the daughter of the head to boot. The so-called uncommon knowledge was but a basic knowledge for anyone to learn for any cultured family.

"In Encyclopedia of Plants, Wisdom Tea leaves comes from Wisdom Trees. These Wisdom Trees are said to only grow in area where fengshui is concentrated. There are perhaps a little more than fifty locations in the realm where it can grow, every gram is worth half the gram in gold and sometimes, it can reach a thousand taels of gold for a gram ! A boorish fellow could gain wisdom as long he ate a stalk of grass growing near the tree !" she exclaimed.

"WHAT ? A THOUSAND TAELS FOR A GRAM ?!" Feng Cai, by virtue of his fearlessness or perharps foolishness, cried out.

The other disciples were shocked inside but did not shout out loud. The two young masters beside the Nangong girl stayed calm. A thousand taels... It should be about three months of savings but it's kinda expensive for a gram.

Like Nangong Xinyue, they knew some uncommon knowledge, a thousand taels gold would be considered cheap if it was the highest tier of tea. Rich people like them liked to throw huge amount of money to buy what would be considered useless for many people like rare vase, antiques or exotic items. For the truly rare and beneficial, the cost is unimaginable.