Chapter 53 - Arrival

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"Oho? Alright then, Young Master Li– let me ask you this: What breaks yet never falls, and what falls yet never breaks?"

Xia Qiu raised her left eyebrow in slight contempt when she heard the irony in his statement and issued a challenge to Li Qu with another riddle.

"...Hmph, that is simple. The Dao Heart– a Dao Heart may shatter from heartbreak but it will never fall from defeat!"

Li Qu answered confidently after taking a moment to ponder– however, he was quickly put into place by Xia Qiu wagging her index finger in a left and right motion with a mocking smile on her face.

"You're so silly– you only answered the first part of the riddle, and it's still wrong!!! I'll give you two more tries~ Young Master Li, you've got to buck up!"

"Sigh– ...Trust and thinking. Trust breaks and never falls and yet thinking can fall but never break."

Li Qu sighed with a sense of powerlessness. After some deep deliberation, he came out with an answer that seemed reasonable, and yet–

"Wrong~ Stop trying to be so philosophical– it's really just a simple question, don't overthink it. Last try!"

It seemed that Li Qu was someone who had over-complicated brainworks– however, how could one blame him?

When in the Black Heaven Realm– things were not as simple as it would look– even an ordinary-looking pebble caused him to experience something unprecedented in his times.

Thus, Li Qu tried to use basic-thinking and gave an extremely logical answer.

"I really– ...Lunch and water. Lunch breaks and waterfalls."

"I'm speechless, Young Master Li. The correct answer is day and night! Day breaks but never falls and night falls but never breaks! Pffft, hahaha!"

Xia Qiu gave the answer to the riddle and laughed uncontrollably at the deadpan Li Qu trying to maintain his cool.

"I see, that makes sense. Why could I not think of that…? Ahem– Put the riddles aside and drink the Enlightenment Tea before it gets cold. Let me know how you feel after drinking it."

Li Qu smoothly switched the topic and wanted to know how much would the Enlightenment Tea affect someone at the Qi Refinement Realm.

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Xia Qiu settled down and stifled her laughter. She knew the tea in front of her would bring out some magical effects and could not wait to try it– even if she realized Li Qu was trying to avoid some embarrassing things by doing so.

Sip!

Xia Qiu held the teacup towards her lips and took a small sip, she gurgled the tea in her mouth slightly– allowing the taste and scent of the tea to permeate her entire mouth and taste buds; her eyes lit up at the pleasantness of the luscious silvery tea as it slid down to her stomach.

The Enlightenment Tea churned inside her stomach and instantly dissolved into incorporeal wisdom as small waves of comprehension flooded her mind– albeit slowly.

Xia Qiu could feel something slightly activating in her mind but could not make any sense of what was happening, and so she asked Li Qu.

"Young Master Li, I feel something in my mind– like a door that was blocked previously slowly cracking open, but I don't know what it is!"

"No hurry, just enjoy the Enlightenment Tea first. Things will start to make sense in a while."

Li Qu addressed her doubts coolly as he whipped out his phone– paying no heed to Xia Qiu for the time being as he realized that the effects of the Enlightenment Tea needed to take some time for it to activate.

"Alright… If you say so."

Time went by as she sipped on the Enlightenment Tea in pure satisfaction and browsed her FaceJournal timeline for interesting content to quickly pass her time– the door was slowly opening as small streams of ideas and theories started flowing out of it and into her mind.

Like a bubble bursting– several ideas and theories that remained in her head popped just as she was finished with the pot of tea. With jubilance, she started to slowly comprehend some things that seemed vague in the past few days that were stumping her progress.

She briskly stood up and informed Li Qu regarding some changes in her mind while walking towards the corner of the teahouse to sit down cross-legged.

"Young Master Li! I felt that some incomprehensible parts of the Icy Hellfire Scripture I didn't understand previously suddenly started to make sense after drinking the entire pot, this is too magical!"

"Oh? That is a pretty good effect. Hurry up and concentrate– your cultivation speed will most likely experience a significant improvement."

"Got it~"

The excited Xia Qiu closed her eyes; she sensed the change and ideas that seemed feasible but was not thought of before as she marveled in amazement.

'Woah! How's it possible that I didn't think of that?! The ice is the balance of fire, when not harmonized, it would–…'

Xia Qiu's trailing thoughts did not last long as she sunk into deep focus– clearing her mind of any stray thoughts. Her cultivation had unknowingly reached the Peak-Stage Qi Refinement Realm.

'As expected of a top-tiered genius with a Mixed Physique ranking in the top 20's. Her remarkable cultivation speed would leave regular cultivators in the dust.'

Li Qu looked at her deep in meditation as he remarked inwardly– he then put his attention back on the streamer that just went live with her daily Mookbang session as her iconic sweet airy whispers were heard from his phone.

"Hello handsome brothers and pretty sisters, it's me again– your favorite 'CutieFoodie'! Here to bring you satisfaction in the art of eating once again. Our goal this time– 10,000 likes for the spicy nuclear-level Han Country noodles~"

Waves of comments flooded the chat as fans from all over the world rapidly typed.

'IKickedAHotDog: Everyone please spam the like button, that nuclear-level noodle is no joke! It's 3 am here and I'm still wide awake waiting for her to challenge it!'

'DogRaiser442: My Dove-Winged Mastiff loves to watch and listen to you, every time she hears your voice, she'll be filled with an infinite appetite and devour all of the food I give her, thank you!'

'ImAnOrdinaryGuy111: Holy sh*t, the commenter above! Are you from the Fluffy Beast-Taming Sect?! I've always wanted a mutated dog.

(╥︣﹏᷅╥)'

Li Qu spotted that comment and chuckled with bemusement.

"Fluffy Beast Taming Sect? Haha, the Earthlings are pretty creative in their naming senses."

In comparison to the mighty Heavenly Beast Taming Sect in Black Heaven Realm that tamed Seven-Clawed Sky Dragons and Three-Tailed Hell Phoenixes that could raze the entire New Yolk to a scorched flat ground if they wanted to in a matter of minutes– the Fluffy Beast Taming Sect seemed absolutely meek and adorable.

Nevertheless, Li Qu's peace was vaguely disturbed by a mesmerizing high-pitched voice.

"Your Excellency! We're finally here… Woah, everything looks so amazing–"

Two elves with beauty far surpassing the celebrities on Earth walked in the teahouse with an expression of amazement while looking around, followed by a white-bearded elf at the back donning a pointy hat.

Cal Cal had announced her grand arrival, and while she was in the midst of her admiration of the interior, she spotted the wooden tables and chairs– the origin of the material brought her a sense of familiarity.

"Wait– that… That's Ancient and Void Mahogany Wood from Green Heaven! How did Your Excellency obtain it here?! Even my Royal Mother couldn't obtain it that easily, and all of these tables and chairs are made out of it!!!"

…