133: Awakening Fire Spirit Root

Heatwaves hit his face, causing white steam to rise even from the blue tiles of the brewery, and Lin Yan's cuffs were scorched hot.

"Master! The temperature is rising too fast!" Little Wine's voice, filled with urgency, exploded in Lin Yan's Sea of Consciousness.

"I can slow down the fermentation speed, and the temperature will drop, but the final spirit wine's quality won't reach its peak state..."

"Don't worry," Lin Yan sent a message to Little Wine through his Divine Sense. "I've come prepared. Go all out!"

With that, he brushed his fingertips over his Storage Pouch and took out a portion of thousand-year profound ice.

With a "thud," the thousand-year profound ice fell into the stone trough beside the vat. Cold air instantly spread, and the flames inside the vat visibly shrank by half.

The temperature dropped significantly, yet crimson tongues of fire still struggled amidst the ice shards like a cornered beast refusing to give in.

"Still not enough." Lin Yan gritted his teeth and took out his only portion of ten-thousand-year profound ice.

The ten-thousand-year profound ice shimmered with an eerie blue cold light, the freezing air it emitted making his palms ache.

Decisively, he placed the ten-thousand-year profound ice into the vat.

Extreme Yin and Extreme Yang collided instantly. With a "sizzle," a pillar of white steam shot into the sky, enveloping the entire brewery in a cloud of mist.

Lin Yan took half a step back, feeling a stinging pain on his skin, and even his Sea of Consciousness trembled along with it.

For the rest of the day, the brewery remained in this state.

Little Wine kept working hard inside the vat, putting all its effort into fermenting the Fire Crystal Rice.

Lin Yan wasn't idle either, using his spiritual power to protect the fermentation vat and the small brewery, preventing them from being destroyed by the fluctuations of spiritual power.

It wasn't until noon the next day that the mist gradually dispersed.

The flames in the vat were completely extinguished, but the liquid hadn't cooled. Instead, it took on the appearance of flowing liquid gold, as if molten lava were sealed in amber.

Every drop shimmered with tiny sparks. The wine's aroma, a mix of freezing cold and scorching heat, actually made one's blood boil upon smelling it.

"It's done, Master!" Little Wine's voice rang out in Lin Yan's mind.

A trace of fatigue showed on its small face as it jumped from the wine vat into Lin Yan's hand, then flashed into his Sea of Consciousness.

"I'm going to sleep first..."

With that, it sprawled out in Lin Yan's Sea of Consciousness and fell into a deep sleep.

"Good work," Lin Yan murmured. He then couldn't wait to study the newly brewed wine.

Lin Yan scooped up a spoonful of the wine and brought it to his lips for a small sip.

The moment it entered his mouth, his pupils constricted.

A surge of heat went down his throat, and rich fire essence exploded within his Meridians!

Rich and pure!

Wherever the fire essence passed, faint, red, root-like Spiritual Roots began to emerge.

"Fire Spiritual Root!" Lin Yan exclaimed in excitement.

At this moment, the Fire Spiritual Root had not yet awakened and appeared as a phantom. Under the nourishment of the wine, it showed signs of solidifying!

"This spirit wine has the effect of Awakening the Fire Spiritual Root!" Lin Yan muttered to himself.

Although it hadn't awakened yet, he was certain that the fire essence in this spirit wine had reached the level of a ten-thousand-year spiritual item.

It was comparable to ten thousand year willow heartwood and ten-thousand-year bamboo heart dew!

Lin Yan carefully removed all the fire crystal wine from the vat.

It filled exactly one small jade jar.

"That's about one portion's worth!" Lin Yan smiled with satisfaction.

The essence in the wine—one jar was roughly equivalent to one portion of a millennial or ten-thousand-year spiritual item.

Previously, with the crimson flame wine, one jar was roughly equivalent to one Millennial Ginseng.

If all went as expected, this small jar of fire crystal wine would be just enough for him to awaken his Fire Spiritual Root!

He took out a jade cup and poured a full serving of fire crystal wine.

The liquid gold wine shimmered with flame-like light and shadow. He hesitated no longer and tilted his head back to take the first gulp.

Boom... The moment the wine hit his throat, a fierce yet non-violent surge of fire essence rushed through his Meridians, like countless tiny roots reaching into every part of his body.

Wherever it passed, clogged spiritual power was cleansed until it was transparent, and even the spiritual power within his Dantian rejoiced.

Lin Yan didn't stop. A second gulp, a third... He drained the cup.

Finally, he simply held the small jade jar and poured it into his stomach, gulp after gulp.

The wine's aroma was cold yet fierce, hot yet icy. But inside his body, that extreme fire essence from the Fire Crystal Rice turned into an irresistible pull, causing the originally ephemeral phantom of the Fire Spiritual Root to tremble violently.

At first, the Fire Spiritual Root phantom was just a wisp of pale red mist, like embers that hadn't fully burned out.

As the wine continuously flowed in, the mist gradually solidified, turning into countless intricate red lines like roots. They emerged from the Void Realm and took root inch by inch into his Dantian.

"The Fire Spiritual Root is Awakening!" Lin Yan's heart jolted.

He could clearly feel those red lines spreading and taking root within his Meridians.

Within the originally green Wood Spiritual Power, a hint of crimson appeared, making it look brilliant.

After an unknown amount of time, when the last drop of fire crystal wine entered his stomach, the Fire Spiritual Root phantom in Lin Yan's body had completely solidified.

It was a Spiritual Root woven from countless red lines of light, shaped like burning coral, with roots reaching deep into his Dantian and through his entire body.

Although it was only newly formed and of a very low grade, it already emitted an aura that made the fire-attribute Spiritual Qi of heaven and earth take the initiative to draw close.

Even more wondrously, some of the fine roots at the ends of the Fire Spiritual Root were connected to the Wood Spiritual Root, as if they were one.

"Wood feeds fire... So that's how it is!" Lin Yan let out a long breath. "It's finally done..."

Raising his hand, he circulated his spiritual power. A faint liquid-gold glow appeared on his palm, and a wisp of fire-attribute spiritual power seeped from his fingertips, condensing into a fluttering fire butterfly in the air that didn't dissipate for a long time.

Just like when he improved his Wood Spiritual Root last time, Awakening the Fire Spiritual Root also benefited his Dao Foundation.

Lin Yan felt his Dao Foundation become several degrees more solid. The Dao Foundation in his Dantian, which took the form of a spiritual willow, had grown visibly taller.

It seemed to be growing.

The originally completely green Dao Foundation was now infused with red textures, as if branded with the mark of fire.

Little Wine jumped down from the Sea of Consciousness and landed on his shoulder, rubbing its head against his cheek and sending a message:

"Master, your Fire Spiritual Root has awakened! In the future, you can use spiritual fire or exotic fire to nurture the wine grains, and you'll be able to brew even better spirit wine~"

"This fire crystal wine is already powerful enough. If the wine is any better, I'm afraid I won't be able to suppress the heat," Lin Yan replied.

"It's okay, you just need to find a piece of hundred-thousand-year xuanbing~" Little Wine messaged.

"hundred-thousand-year xuanbing... Do you think xuanbing is as common as cabbage..." Lin Yan said, speechless.

"Heehee, I'm going to sleep~" Little Wine laughed and jumped into Lin Yan's Sea of Consciousness, falling back into a deep sleep... The commotion from Lin Yan's brewing attracted the attention of several Cultivators in the Refining Qi Realm within Qingshi City.

They gathered together, wanting to pay Lin Yan a visit.

But seeing the commotion, they knew they shouldn't disturb him and could only wait respectfully outside the alley.

"You few, do you have business with me?" Lin Yan used his Divine Sense to transmit his voice directly to them.

The several old Cultivators were all shaken upon hearing this and hurriedly walked respectfully to the brewery to bow to Lin Yan.

"These humble ones... Do Not Regret... Zhang He... pay our respects to your Excellency."

"You may rise," Lin Yan said with a smile.

Having just awakened his Fire Spiritual Root, he was in a great mood; otherwise, he wouldn't have bothered with these people.

"Excellency, this is a small token of our appreciation. Please accept it."

The old man leading them spoke as he presented a brocade box.

This old man was also the old Qi Refiner who had exchanged gold and silver for Lin Ya before, named Do Not Regret.

Seeing this, Lin Yan didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

He didn't need to open it to know what was inside: three spiritual ginsengs.

They were all first-tier Spirit Medicines.