Chapter 13: Condensed Spirit Pill

The Great Yan Emperor froze, leaning forward to stare at the soil on the table for several seconds without moving.

"Ah," the little one called out.

The Great Yan Emperor came to his senses, swept the soil on the table aside, and found a little dirt on his hand. He rubbed it between his fingers; the soil was slightly damp, loose, and breathable, absolutely suitable for planting.

"Rong Juan," the Great Yan Emperor turned his head to look at the little one: "Get some more soil."

The little one didn't understand, holding the small teacup with its mouth open to bite. The Great Yan Emperor quickly covered the cup with his hand, narrowly avoiding being bitten by the child. The little one gripped the handle of the small teacup with surprising strength.

The Great Yan Emperor spoke gently to negotiate: "Rong Juan, may your Imperial Uncle see this magic treasure?"

The little one clapped, its small hands gripping the handle of the small teacup: "Ah, ah."

The Great Yan Emperor was quite good at coaxing children. He had several imperial sons and daughters; although he hadn't raised children himself, he understood children's temperaments to some extent. So he coaxed the child and fed it a spoonful of soup.

He tentatively reached for the small teacup, and the little one let go.

The chubby Emperor sighed in relief; he had finally coaxed it out. The Great Yan Emperor held the child in one arm and examined the small teacup with the other. The magic treasure was as clean as porcelain, with no energy condensation patterns drawn on it.

He tapped the small teacup lightly on the table, then looked again; there was no soil.

"Eh??!!!"

The Great Yan Emperor picked up the small teacup to inspect it. It was empty, with only a little fine sand inside. Just now, the child had produced soil that stayed on the teacup. Strange, why was there no soil now?

He tried again, and the small teacup still had no soil.

The Great Yan Emperor was puzzled. The little one went "ah, ah" and reached out its small hand to grab the teacup.

The Great Yan Emperor let go with a smooth motion. Rong Juan grabbed the small teacup and giggled. When he was having fun, he flipped the small teacup onto the table, then lifted it, and a pile of soil appeared on the table.

The Great Yan Emperor, like a child, found it novel: "Do it again."

The little one flipped the small bowl one by one. The soil was wet; dry soil wouldn't hold the shape of a bowl. The little one was small and only pretended to do it, so the shapes flipped out didn't look much like bowls.

The Great Yan Emperor was excited; this soil was high-quality. With more of it, they could plant things.

Just as he got excited, the little one couldn't produce any more soil.

Rong Juan became anxious, went "ah, ah," and then started crying.

"Don't cry, don't cry, why is there no soil?" The Great Yan Emperor was worried.

Rong Juan heard the little one crying and hurried over. The Great Yan Emperor quickly handed the child to Rong Juan, pointed at the small teacup, and said: "Rong Juan, your son's small magic treasure isn't producing soil anymore."

Rong Juan held the little one, coaxed him while examining the small teacup. He shook it, and a shimmer of water light flashed across the cup. In moments, a small teacup's worth of water appeared inside. Both Rong Juan and the Emperor were stunned.

"I see this small magic treasure is quite peculiar," the Great Yan Emperor asked: "Who condensed it?"

Rong Juan had nothing to hide: "My wife, Qin Bi, condensed it by chance."

The Great Yan Emperor was surprised, lifted his golden dragon black robe, and sat down. A thoughtful expression appeared on his chubby face.

"After testing confirms spiritual roots, one should go to the small space in the Demon Beast Realm for training," the Great Yan Emperor said after a moment: "This is a world dominated by fortune and luck. There are many opportunities during training. Occasionally, a child's magic treasure can be condensed. His luck is quite good."

At this moment, the little one had stopped crying and fallen asleep with eyes closed.

Rong Juan held the little one, didn't say no, but said: "The child is still young. Let's discuss it later."

The Great Yan Emperor disagreed: "The Princess Consort's lifespan has been damaged. Going to train might restore her lifespan. Her talent is ordinary, but going to the small space in the Demon Beast Realm might let her try to enter the cultivation path."

The Great Yan Emperor had a good temper and was open-minded about everything. He added: "No rush. Think it over carefully."

Rong Juan processed the memorials the Emperor had thrown at him. After the little one slept and woke up refreshed, he carried the child home. He didn't take the soil back; the Great Yan Emperor had kept it.

Qin Bi took the child, and Rong Juan went to the study.

Qin Bi held the child and tried to pour soil from the small teacup, but not a single grain came out. This was strange. She managed to pour out half a teacup of water, but nothing more.

After thinking it over, Qin Bi went to find Rong Juan, took the small teacup to show him: "Who touched Rong Juan's small teacup today? Every day we can pour out a little soil, but today there isn't a single grain."

Rong Juan leaned back in his chair: "The Emperor took the soil away."

She couldn't afford to offend the Emperor. Qin Bi didn't want to disturb the Young Master and held the child, preparing to leave.

Rong Juan remembered something and said: "Give me the child. When you have free time, prepare a lunch. I'll take the child and a food box to court. The Emperor won't provide meals tomorrow."

Qin Bi thought about it, went back, and handed the child to Rong Juan: "I'll try."

Once her cooking skills improved, she would let Rong Juan take the food box tomorrow.

Since the Young Master had spoken, Qin Bi, who had previously been stopped by Rong Juan whenever she wanted to experiment, was now free from interference. Qin Bi walked straight to the kitchen, pondering what dishes to practice.

She certainly couldn't steam rice. Stir-frying had only one method.

She'd give it a try. Qin Bi knew how to steam buns, but obviously, Rong Juan might not eat them, so she wouldn't worry about him. Qin Bi planned to focus only on food for the child. Complex dishes were unsuitable for children, and she couldn't make them anyway.

Qin Bi went to the kitchen in the Young Master's courtyard and tried to learn how to steam egg custard.

She cracked an egg, added salt, and put it in the pot to steam.

The result wasn't smooth. It was edible for Qin Bi, but not for a child.

So, even if Rong Juan hadn't stopped her back then, she wasn't suited for making gourmet food.

The steamed egg wasn't done well. Qin Bi got annoyed and decided to stir-fry instead. She added oil, threw in seasonings, dumped the vegetables into the pot, and then just winged it. A first-class maid tasted the dish, and it didn't suit the Young Master's taste.

Qin Bi lost patience and went straight back to her room to bring out a small alchemy furnace, trying to see if she could refine candy beans for the child.

Spiritual plants were good things. She threw them into the small alchemy furnace but couldn't summon fire, so she had to use a fire spirit stone. She didn't understand alchemy, but she did know how to roast beans.

She didn't cover the alchemy furnace lid. She used chopsticks to stir the spiritual plants and even added a piece of sweet citrus wood. Worried about burning them, Qin Bi kept stirring. The spiritual plants and citrus wood slowly melted. After a quarter of an hour, Qin Bi harvested three orange candy beans.

Only three? Qin Bi thought it was too little, considering how much material she had used.

The problem was, the candy beans weren't big either!

Qin Bi didn't dare to act recklessly. She took them to find Rong Juan: "Look, are the candy beans I refined edible?"

Rong Juan took them: "The child can't eat them."

"Can I eat them?" Since the child couldn't eat them, Qin Bi thought she might as well eat them herself.

Rong Juan was surprised inside but handed them back: "If you're willing to eat them, go ahead. These are Condensed Spirit Pills. People without spiritual roots can take them to awaken their roots. You have spiritual roots, so you don't need to take Condensed Spirit Pills."

Qin Bi felt Rong Juan was deceiving her. Was this how pills were refined? There was a huge difference between candy beans for fun and actual pills.

Rong Juan coaxed the child without looking up: "Your father could take one Condensed Spirit Pill. Anyone close to you could be given one. There are many people in the Hou Fu without spiritual roots."