Chapter 50 - Enlightenment Tea (1)

…

Tobias Rosefield stared at the screen displaying the one-sided battle with a deep frown, he punched the table in front of him with frustration and cussed out shortly after he saw Li Qu leaving in the footage.

Bang!

“F*ck! That wasn’t even a d*mn fight, it was just pure mental torture! If it were me…”

He envisioned what he would have done if he were to be in his friend’s shoes– and came to a frightening conclusion.

“I-I… would have ended up with the same outcome… How can we even obtain his blood like that?! It’s simply impossible, I need to report this to Pontiff Jule.”

With that concluded, he whipped out his phone and gave a call to Pontiff Jule, his breaths heavy from feeling overwhelmed.

Ring!

After a single ring, the call connected immediately– as if Pontiff Jule was holding his phone, waiting to pick up Tobias Rosefield’s call at any given time, he then spoke out with a serious tone.

“‘Five’, have you found anything yet?”

“Pontiff, I’m afraid I have some bad news... I’ll download the footage and send it to you now through the FaceJournal messenger, take a look.”

“...”

Tobias Rosefield copied the file and sent the video through an encrypted messenger using the widely popular social media platform.

“I received it, I’ll watch it now– don’t hang up yet.”

“Got it.”

After a few short minutes of silence, a heavy sigh from the side of Pontiff Jule’s call could be heard. Tobias Rosefield asked in a grave tone.

“Finished watching yet? What does Pontiff think about this?”

“...It seems that he was aware of the surveillance camera but chose not to destroy it– ‘Do not provoke me’, did you see what he muttered before he left? Immediately put all the investigations and plans on hold– I’ll organize another meeting soon to discuss about this issue.”

It seemed that Pontiff Jule had caught on to the words Li Qu mouthed before he left.

“Pontiff Jule, I understand– but he mentally tortured and killed ‘Six’ so mercilessly! I can’t take this lying down!!! He was my only friend…”

Tobias Rosefield got a little emotional, Alejandro Garcia was his long-time buddy– drinking the nights away and having heart-to-heart talks about everything, no one could understand him as much as ‘Six’.

“You’re wearing your emotions on your sleeves. 'Five', do not forget about our goal, so what if ‘Six’ died tragically? It’s not going to affect our conviction– don’t make rash decisions and remember to attend the meeting, I’ll send out a message to all of you soon.”

Tobias Rosefield gritted his teeth, his fists clenched so hard that the fingernails dug into his palm and bled, he answered obediently, although unwillingly.

“I understand… Pontiff Jule.”

“That’s good, I’ll see you in a few days.”

Du!

The call was hung up after Pontiff Jule’s reply. However, Tobias Rosefield’s face was not looking very good. He threw his phone at the wall in anger and shouted.

Bang!

“F*ck you, Li Qu! I swear in the name of Chaos that I’ll make you pay!”

The phone shattered into smithereens and the surveillance room’s metal wall slightly dented in from the strength he exerted in that throw. After he vented out his frustration, he calmly walked out of the house and back to his limousine, albeit with a wrathful expression.

Tobias Rosefield got in the car and gave a short order to his chauffeur.

“Immediately head towards ‘that’ place.”

“Yes, Master Rosefield.”

The chauffeur knew what he meant when he mentioned 'that'; the limousine immediately started and took off from Saint Hilda’s Lakeside.

…

Xia Qiu was pouting as she made the pot of Gold Spirit Tea– she was nearly done when Li Qu walked in and announced while smiling.

“Little girl, a new item on the menu awaits us.”

He walked towards the table and took out the Enlightenment Tea Recipe from the System’s inventory and gave it a skim.

“Hmmm, this is simpler than I thought. The Enlightenment Tea uses Enlightenment Leaves harvested from an Enlightenment Tree that basked in the teachings of Dao from at least a True Immortal expert for ten years straight… Quite straightforward– oh? So the twist is here…”

Xia Qiu's curiosity was piqued from his words as she took a sneak peek at the piece of paper Li Qu was holding and exclaimed in awe while blurting out a series of questions.

“Wow! What’s with all this stuff that I’ve never heard of before? What’s an Enlightenment Tree? What’s a True Immortal– is that a power level?!”

Li Qu gave her a side-eye and sighed while explaining,

“An Enlightenment Tree is quite obvious in its naming– a tree that gained enlightenment from being near and absorbing the teaching of the Dao from an expert continuously for ten years. However, this is just the most basic of Enlightenment Trees– I have seen some Immortal Enlightenment Trees that were sentient and have transformed into humans, as well as Immortal Enlightenment Trees with human bodies attaining atavism and returning to their origin, turning back into trees that were thousands of meters tall.”.

Although Li Qu casually said that, Xia Qiu's jaw dropped from hearing about the phenomena.

“A tree that transformed into a human?! My goodness, that’s too creepy to think about– those Entities seem cute now if I think about it this way, hehe. What about that ‘True Immortal’ part then?”

Li Qu put the Enlightenment Tea Recipe down on the table as he walked towards one of the cabinets while he satiated her curiosity by explaining a little more.

“True Immortal Realm– the realm one will attain after breaking through from the False Immortal Realm, or as Earthlings call it– an Ascended.”

Xia Qiu raised her eyebrows in surprise and her mouth turned into an ‘O’ shape as she said,

“My dad told me that the power limit was capped at an Ascended! How’s it possible to achieve a higher rank? Aren’t you an Ascended too?”.

Li Qu turned his head to stare at Xia Qiu for a few seconds before turning back to face the cabinets– pulling on a specific drawer and correcting her mindset.

“It seems that you have some misinformation regarding power levels. Being an Ascended is the only first step into the Immortal Realms. The levels are far beyond your comprehension at the moment– stop asking anymore questions, I will focus on the recipe now.”

“Wah~ Wait– wait! Please, just one more question! Last one, please~ Young Master Li~”

Xia Qiu was in veneration towards the new world and could not help but pester Li Qu to ask one last question– she wriggled her shoulder in an attempt to act cute.

Li Qu’s hand paused as he looked at her miserable attempt to act cute and shook his head while giving a small chuckle.

“Sigh– fine. Lass, this will be your last question– I will not entertain you anymore after that.”

“Woohoo! I wanna know how far or how many realms away you are from an Ascended!!!”

She did a fist bump and spoke quickly with clear enthusiasm– scared by the fact that Li Qu might suddenly change his mind before she asked.

Li Qu mentally counted in his head before giving a casual answer that would shock her– or anyone that would hear it.

“Hmmm– from an Ascended… I would be 7 major realms away from them. However, if you take my peak into account– that would be 9 major realms away instead.”

“S-S-Seven… AND NINE?! By the grace of my dear sweet heaven!!! I-I’m speechless…”

…