Xiao Chen received the diary with a somewhat grave expression. Then, a trace of joy appeared on his face. “Grandpa Seven, thank you very much. This thing is very useful to me.”
Grandpa Seven smiled and said, “If it is useful, then take it. You have helped the village a lot these days. I do not know how to repay you, either.”
“Grandpa Seven, you are too polite. Oh, that's right. Previously, you seemed to be hesitating over a decision. It seemed like you wanted to say something?” Xiao Chen prompted softly after putting the diary away.
Grandpa Seven nodded. “There is indeed something I would like Little Brother's help with. However, this old man is simply unable to repay the favor, so I did not ask.”
Xiao Chen smiled and said, “Grandpa Seven is really too polite. I have a fate with this place, although I can't explain it in detail now. However, you can rest assured. Just tell me what you need; consider it as me owing it to you all.”
When Grandpa Seven saw Xiao Chen's sincere expression, he sighed, “There is a Peach Blossom City about one million five hundred thousand kilometers away. It holds a small-scale Peach Blossom Wine Festival every decade and a large-scale Peach Blossom Wine Festival every century.”
Xiao Chen had seen Peach Blossom City once before while wandering the area. A wine fragrance had indeed come from that place; he could smell it from fifty kilometers away.
However, as he had been in a rush, he had not gone to the city to take a look.
“Please, continue.”
“Right. When I was young, I could bring the wine I brewed to the wine festival and participate. Even if I could not stand out, I could sell my wine for a good price. That eased the village's worries about food for a few years. However, thirty years ago, the ancient well outside the village dried up, so I have not been able to brew any good wine.”
When Xiao Chen heard that, he smiled and asked, “Do you intend to make a return and participate in the centennial wine festival? I am also a wine aficionado. Grandpa Seven, what do you need? Just ask.”
Grandpa Seven sighed, “This is not an impulse. Peach Blossom City's City Lord is a major character. If any wine catches his attention during the centennial wine festival, he will agree to a request of the brewer. With just a word from him, he can guarantee our village's safety for one century.
“Although the chances are slim, I would still like to work these old bones and give it a try.”
Centennial wine festival…
Xiao Chen entered deep thought. Grandpa Seven seems to be worrying about something. He always has a worried look on his face.
Unfortunately, I've already drunk all the Heart Burn to stabilize my cultivation and raise it further.
I do still have half a bottle of Thousand Year Flame.
I could pour one drop into the Azure Dragon wine flask and turn it into a full bottle to participate in the Peach Blossom Wine Festival.
Before Xiao Chen drank Heart Burn, he had considered Thousand Year Flame the best wine in the world.
However, after Heart Burn, he had to admit that the best wine in the Great Thousand Realms was even more excellent.
It was hard to say whether Thousand Year Flame could stand out in the Peach Blossom Wine Festival.
“Grandpa Seven, take a look at this recipe. Can you brew this?”
Xiao Chen thought for a while before taking out Heart Burn's recipe. Perhaps Grandpa Seven could brew it.
“This is…a fine wine of the Dragon Race, Heart Burn!”
Grandpa Seven felt slightly startled. Then, he quickly returned the recipe to Xiao Chen. “This recipe has been lost for several thousand years already. If I brewed this wine to participate in the wine festival, it would probably bring a disaster onto me.”
Bingo!
When Xiao Chen saw this reaction, he rejoiced. He smiled and said, “Grandpa Seven, there's no rush. Help me brew this. We won't use it for the wine festival; it's for me. How about it?”
Grandpa Seven said hesitantly, “I can't obtain the ingredients, though.”
“That is fine. Leave the ingredients to me. Grandpa Seven, what wine do you want to brew? I'll settle the ingredients.”
“Great. However, we have to restore the ancient well outside the village. Without that well's water, I won't succeed in brewing either your Heart Burn or the wine that I want to brew.”
“I'll go and take a look. If I can't restore it, I'll go farther away to search for other well water to replace it.”
What well water could be this important?
Xiao Chen was puzzled. When he arrived at the nearby ancient well, he found that it had already dried up.
“Sang, is there anything unusual about this well?” Xiao Chen asked in a soft voice.
Xiao Chen could not make out anything wrong, so he could only get Sang to take a look. The other party was an expert in this area.
Sang came out of the Divine Universe Stele and looked at the dried-up well. Then, he studied the surrounding terrain before his expression changed slightly. He sighed, “This is a Cold Yin Spring. To think that a Cold Yin Spring could appear in the Desolate Sea!”
“A Cold Yin Spring?”
“It is a spring that is born in a land of extreme Yin. A land of extreme Yin is cold and bone-chilling, frigid. It is hard for any water to flow in such a place. If there were any, it would be due to a coincidence leading to the terrain producing a fountain. Such a spring would be known as a Cold Yin Spring. Lands of extreme Yin are very difficult to find. One with flowing water is even harder to find. Furthermore, it needs a fountain created by the terrain, which increases its rarity.”
Sang continued after a pause, “The water of a Cold Yin Spring is indeed suitable for making good wine, and substitutes are hard to find.”
This is somewhat problematic. It looks like Grandpa Seven is right.
If the recipe called for the water of a Cold Yin Spring, there would be no way to brew the wine.
“Why did the spring stop?”
“There are too many possible reasons. The source might have been cut off. The Yin-attributed energy might be too dense, stopping the water from flowing. The terrain might have changed, shunting the underground water elsewhere.”
As the Propping Mulberry Tree's incarnation, Sang understood the workings of terrain and springs like the back of his hand. There was basically no need to doubt his words.
“It looks like I'll have to go down and take a look,” Xiao Chen murmured as he stared at the deep, dried-up well.
“Don't do that yet.”
Sang pulled on Xiao Chen, advising him not to rush.
“What's wrong?”
Xiao Chen felt confused.
Sang replied seriously, “That Grandpa Seven is only an ordinary person. He does not understand much about the Cold Yin Spring. I suspect that this Cold Yin Spring is not natural.”
“It is manmade? That's too ridiculous. Who could so accurately change the terrain, even altering Yin and Yang to create a land of extreme Yin?”
When Xiao Chen heard what Sang said, he was flabbergasted and somewhat incredulous.
Sang countered softly, “Although it is difficult, I have seen it happen before. It is truly difficult for this Desolate Sea to produce a Cold Yin Spring. Going down rashly is not right.”
Xiao Chen thought about it. Then, he looked up at the azure mountain missing a dragon head before looking at the well again.
Sang's words were indeed worth considering.
If the dried-up well and the azure mountain missing a dragon head were connected, it would make one feel a chill.
Chapter end
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