The walk down the Azure Peak mountain was long, winding, and surprisingly peaceful. For the first time, Li Jian didn't have to worry about meeting a senior disciple who would demand he bow, or a magical beast jumping out of the bushes.
By the time the sun began to dip behind the horizon, painting the sky in hues of violet and gold, he reached a small, abandoned stone shrine near a mountain stream.
"This looks like a five-star hotel compared to that shack," Li Jian muttered, dropping his sack.
He gathered some dry branches, started a small, crackling fire, and pulled out his trusty chipped teapot. He filled it with crystal-clear water from the stream. The System hummed in the back of his mind, guiding his hands with practiced ease.
Step 1: Rinse the leaves. Step 2: Control the flame. Step 3: Let the soul of the water embrace the leaf.
As the steam began to rise, it didn't just smell like tea anymore. The 'Supreme Tea Brewing Technique' was doing something strange. The vapor shimmering above the pot seemed to glow with a faint, silvery light, carrying an aroma so pure it felt like a physical caress on the senses.
"Ah, perfection," Li Jian sighed, pouring a cup.
Just as he was about to take the first sip, a sudden gust of wind nearly blew out his fire.
Clang!
The sound of metal hitting stone echoed through the trees. A shadow stumbled out of the darkness, collapsing just a few feet away from his fire.
Li Jian froze, his cup halfway to his mouth. "Please tell me that's just a very large, very metallic-sounding squirrel."
It wasn't a squirrel.
Lying in the dirt was a woman. She wore white silken robes now shredded and stained with crimson blood. A long, elegant jade sword lay cracked beside her. Even covered in dust and wounds, her beauty was ethereal—pale skin, sharp features, and hair like spun midnight.
She looked like a fallen immortal. Specifically, the kind of fallen immortal that brings a world of trouble with her.
"Water..." she wheezed, her hand trembling as she tried to reach out. Her eyes were glazed, her Qi (spiritual energy) clearly depleted and chaotic.
Li Jian stared at her. His brain screamed: RUN! This is a plot hook! If you help her, a villain will show up!
But he looked at his tea, then at her bleeding wounds. His accountant's heart, though weary, wasn't made of stone.
"Fine," he grumbled, kneeling beside her. "But just one cup. Then you leave, and I go back to being a nobody. Deal?"
She didn't answer; she had fainted.
Li Jian sighed and carefully lifted her head, tilting the cup of 'Bitter Earth Tea' into her mouth.
The moment the liquid touched her lips, something impossible happened. The chaotic, violent energy swirling around her body—the 'Qi Deviation' that usually kills mages of her level—suddenly went silent. The silver steam from the tea seemed to soak into her skin, knitting her gashed shoulder back together in seconds.
A few moments later, her eyes snapped open. They were a piercing, icy blue.
She sat up with a burst of speed, her hand instinctively flying to her broken sword. She stared at Li Jian with a mixture of shock, suspicion, and... awe?
"You..." she whispered, her voice trembling. "That brew... My meridians were shattered. My core was frozen. How did a... a mortal..."
She looked down at her hands, feeling the pure, calm energy flowing through her. "This isn't tea. This is... Divine Dew? Who are you? Which Hidden Ancient Clan do you belong to?"
Li Jian took a calm sip from his own cup and stood up, dusting off his robes.
"I'm Li Jian," he said flatly. "I'm a retired nobody, and that was a two-copper-cent tea leaf. You're healed? Great. There's the road, don't let the mountain spirits hit you on the way out."
The woman—Goddess Ling Yue of the Frozen Snow Palace—stared at him, completely stunned. People killed for a drop of the energy he just gave her for free, and he was treating her like an annoying solicitor.
"I cannot simply leave," she said, her voice regaining its cold authority, though she bowed deeply. "My name is Ling Yue. I owe you a life debt, Senior. Please, allow me to follow you and repay this kindness."
Li Jian choked on his tea. "Senior? Follow me? No! Absolutely not! I'm going to open a tea shop, not a sect!"
"A tea shop?" Her eyes lit up with a terrifyingly loyal spark. "Then I shall be your first humble servant. I will guard your door and slay anyone who dares disturb your peace."
Li Jian looked at the sky and groaned. "System... can I refund the tea? I think I broke the plot."