I alone am the Honoured One!

562  Some time with Yao Jing!

Xia Shenyi, who was sitting on the couch, blinked her eyes in surprise "Eh? Tian's birthday?"

Fei Ziyu, who was standing, thoughtfully nodded her head "Mhm.. I am not very sure because of the time dilation within the artifact and the outside world, but I think his birthday should be in a week."

Shi Yixian, sitting beside Xia Shenyi, raised an eyebrow "How do you know his birthday?"

Hearing this, a shy smile appeared on fei Ziyu's face. "I, well... I was obsessed with him during my university days, so I was gathering information about him."

Xia Shenyi's gaze narrowed in thought "Even if his birthday comes, we can't do much about it..."

Fei Ziyu's gaze lowered and she spoke "At least I wanted to bake a cake.. but we don't have ingredients here."

"I can go out with Master to buy the ingredients, but it won't be a surprise to him."

Xia Shenyi smiled faintly "I have an idea..."

...

*tap* Zhao Tian walked to a door and pushed it open, as the strong fragrance of herbs and potions muffled his senses.

On the floor, amidst scattered papers and a few empty bottles, sat Yao Jing, her slender fingers curled around a half-empty bottle of wine.

Her short black hair cascaded over her neck, slightly disheveled, and her cheeks were flushed... whether from the wine or her relaxed posture was unclear.

She turned her head at the sound of the door, her lips curling into a playful smile "Come here, Tian'er..."

Zhao Tian stepped further into the room, carefully walking around the scattered papers, and sat down beside her.

She hurriedly climbed on him and sat on his lap, her back leaning on the warmth of his chest.

With a chuckle, he placed his chin on her shoulder. "You were drinking wine?"

Hm? Yao Jing turned her head to look at him and nodded her head "Yeah, you want some?" She asked, extending it to him.

Zhao Tian took the bottle, looking at it briefly before taking a deep swig.

The wine's rich flavor spread across his tongue, its warmth trickling down his throat and settling comfortably in his chest.

He let out a satisfied sigh as he lowered the bottle. "Oh, it's good." "Hehe..." Smiling, Yao Jing took the wine bottle and took some gulps.

She set the bottle down beside her and tilted her head back to look at him. "By the way, Tian'er, why did you pick a fight with the inner disciples?" Zhao Tian shook his head helplessly "It wasn't anything big. Jia's sister went missing. When those inner disciples came to ask her about it, she told them she didn't know anything… so they started beating her." Oh? A teasing smile appeared on Yao Jing's lips "Hmmmm, getting angry for a woman; do you love her?"

Zhao Tian nodded his head "Well, you could say that."

Yao Jing leaned back further against him, her teasing smile softening into something more contemplative.

"Well, from what I've seen, it looks like she loves you too. Best of luck with that," she added with a light laugh.

As she spoke, she took the papers from the floor; she was reading a while ago "By the way, look at this Tian'er.. I just found this... you're going to love this."

Curiosity flickered in Zhao Tian's eyes as he watched her open it.

The parchment bore a detailed illustration of a plant with jagged leaves and a faint glow depicted around its edges.

Alongside it were intricate annotations and alchemical notes written in her delicate, flowing script.

Yao Jing's eyes sparkled with excitement "This is something I discovered recently while working on a batch of Stellarroot Elixir. You know Stellarroot, right?"

Zhao Tian nodded slowly, though he didn't know what it actually was "Yes, Master."

"Well," she continued, leaning closer as her eyes sparkled with excitement. "Stellarroot is usually refined in its natural state."

"But what if... just what if... we treated it with a preliminary infusion of Starflame Grass before the refinement process? Look at this." She pointed to a section of the paper with intricate diagrams of the two herbs intermingling.

Zhao Tian squinted, tilting his head, with no clue what the symbols even meant... but looking at her excited eyes, his gaze softened.

"If we do this," Yao Jing explained, her voice quickening, "the Stellarroot's inherent energy will stabilize even further, doubling its potency when the elixir is consumed." n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"But the trick is to use Starflame Grass that's been exposed to moonlight for at least three nights, which activates its latent properties. Isn't that incredible?"

Zhao Tian hummed thoughtfully, nodding as though he fully grasped the intricacies. "That sounds... very impressive, Master."

Yao Jing's excitement didn't waver despite his lukewarm response.

She was too engrossed in her explanation, gesturing animatedly with her hands. "The reason no one's thought to try this before is because Starflame Grass is notoriously volatile, especially when mixed with other herbs."

"But I've been testing small batches, and I think I've cracked the method."

Zhao Tian smiled indulgently, resting his chin in his palm as he watched her animated expression. "I'm sure you have cracked it, Master. Your knowledge always amazes me."

Yao Jing finally paused, catching her breath as she realized how intently she had been talking.

She looked at him, her cheeks slightly pink... not from the wine, but from her excitement. "Ah, sorry," she said with a sheepish laugh.

"I got carried away. You probably have no idea what I'm talking about."

Zhao Tian chuckled softly, shaking his head. "I may not understand all the details, but I love when you speak excitedly like that..."

Eh?

Yao Jing softly hit his chest "What a flirt you are... bad boy."

"Hahaha..."

*creek* At this time, the side door opened and two women entered in.

Seeing Zhao Tian, they were surprised and hurriedly rushed to him.

"Little Brother."

Qi Nue and Qi Xue hurriedly sat beside him, looking at him in concern "Why did you pick a fight with seniors?"

"I was scared, Little Brother..."

"Haa, but things ended well..."

"Little Brother, you never told us you were so powerful..."

"And you also cultivated very quickly, which will take us years, how?"

"Did Master give you secret pills or something?"

"Yeah, you did go missing for a month..."

"Master, what is this? Showing favoritism.. just because he is your direct disciple?"

"Even though we are not your direct disciples, we are still your disciple."

-_-

"Calm down, you two."

...

Meanwhile, a beautiful woman was sitting on a golden throne in the grand empty hall, her silver hair cascading down her shoulders, and a golden glint flickered through her eyes.

"Hmmm, soon it's Darling's birthday.. then, I guess, its time to meet my darling officially. Hehe."

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I hope you guys liked this chapter!