Chapter 94

At this moment, Qi Xiang was overwhelmed with surprise and excitement, his heart pounding with intense agitation, and he was jumping for joy.

If it were a few days ago, Qi Xiang would definitely not have known the mystery of the few droplets of water in the dish. However, after receiving the inheritance from Water Moon Hermit, his experience greatly increased, and his knowledge advanced rapidly.

After a brief verification, he knew that the water droplets in the dish were far from ordinary; they were rootless water.

So-called rootless water refers to water without a source. Generally, it means rain that has not yet touched the ground or the steam condensation formed in the early morning due to the temperature difference.

Such rootless water, in the eyes of ancient Chinese medical practitioners, was considered a medicinal guide. Additionally, in the view of cultivators, this rootless water was also a spiritual dew for nourishing the body and cleansing the impurities of the five organs and six腑 (fu, referring to internal organs).

During the Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che, sought immortality and, upon hearing from the alchemists that consuming dew from the sky mixed with crushed jade could suppress yin energy and generate yang energy, leading to eternal life, he ordered the construction of a bronze immortal holding a dish to collect the dew in the Jianzhang Palace in Xi'an.

Historical records state that because the immortal preferred to live in a tower, Emperor Wu built the Tongtian Terrace, which was twenty zhang (a traditional Chinese unit of length) high, with fragrant cypress used for the beams, and the fragrance could be smelled from ten miles away, hence it was also known as the Bailing Terrace.

Additionally, to collect the rootless water, he had people build a bronze pillar thirty zhang high on the terrace, with an immortal holding a bronze dish and jade cup to collect the dew from the sky, known as the Immortal Dew Collecting Dish.

Therefore, when Qi Xiang saw the dewdrops condensed from rootless water on the dish, he immediately thought of the dew-collecting dish ordered by Emperor Wu of Han.

Of course, compared to the Immortal Dew Collecting Dish built by Emperor Wu of Han, this dish was undoubtedly much smaller. However, in terms of function, there was no significant difference between the two.

In contrast, Qi Xiang felt that this dish seemed even more magical.

After all, despite the grandeur of Emperor Wu of Han's Immortal Dew Collecting Dish, the collected dew was in the form of water. However, the dew in this dish was in the form of beads.

Looking at the few water droplets in the dish, Qi Xiang was amazed and found it hard to believe. What was the reason that the dew in the dish had turned into beads?

Qi Xiang was puzzled and could not figure it out. He could not resist reaching out to pick up one of the clear water droplets to examine it closely. As expected, the water droplet burst upon contact, turning into a puddle of water.

In the cool water, there seemed to be some sediment.

Qi Xiang pondered, gently rubbing his fingers for a moment, and felt that the sediment was like ice...

He leaned closer to the dish and saw that the remaining few water droplets indeed had a small amount of water swirling inside. It seemed as if a transparent ice membrane was wrapping the water, forming the round droplets.

However, the ice membrane on the surface of the water droplets was extremely thin. When he picked it up, the heat from his fingers immediately melted the ice membrane, causing the droplet to burst and scatter.

The question was, how did the ice membrane form on the surface of the water droplets?

Qi Xiang pondered deeply and suddenly reached out to touch the side of the dish, immediately feeling a bone-chilling cold. The crystal-clear side of the dish was as if covered with a layer of ice, making it very cold to the touch.

"What's going on?"

Qi Xiang was stunned but also began to understand how the ice membrane on the water droplets formed.

When he moved the dish, the few water droplets on it suddenly rolled around, as if rolling snowballs, spinning along the side of the dish and not stopping for a long time.

Seeing this, Qi Xiang finally understood what Zhu Hongwu meant by "dew turning into beads."

It turned out that the phenomena of "moonlight gathering" and "dew turning into beads" were both real. However, the "moonlight gathering" phenomenon occurred in the first half of the night, while "dew turning into beads" happened in the second half of the night.

Zhu Hongwu probably stayed up all night, seeing both scenes...

Qi Xiang marveled, and while studying the magical phenomena of the dish, he noticed that as time passed, the temperature in the room gradually increased, causing the water droplets in the dish to start melting.

Around nine o'clock, the sun was high and bright, and the water droplets in the dish suddenly split silently, turning into patches of water.

At this moment, when Qi Xiang touched the dish again, he found that the temperature of the dish had returned to normal, no longer cold, and felt very smooth and delicate, like a piece of jade.

"What a strange dish..."

Qi Xiang became interested. After studying it all morning, he had lunch and immediately rested. After a nap, he got up on time in the evening and prepared to spend the whole night watching the process of the water droplets forming in the dish.

It was a dark night, with a bright and clear moon hanging in the sky like a night lamp.

The clear dish seemed to absorb the moonlight, gathering layer upon layer of gossamer-like moonlight, which eventually reflected in the air, forming a hazy moon halo.

The silver-white moon halo gradually became clear and bright, like a real moon, pure and flawless, cold and noble.

Seeing this illusion again, even though he was prepared, Qi Xiang still lost his composure for a moment. After a long time, he finally managed to steady his mind and focused on observing the dish itself.

Time passed slowly, bit by bit.

Qi Xiang had enough patience, watching the second hand move like a turtle, circling round and round.

Unconsciously, it was already the early hours of the morning, around two or three o'clock.

At this moment, the moon in the sky, which had been clear, became hazy again, with a layer of light halo as if about to dissipate, slightly distorted and swaying.

Noticing this change, Qi Xiang immediately became alert and focused his attention. He saw the hazy moon halo slowly falling from the sky and landing in the dish.

At that instant, a cold aura swirled over the dish, faintly enveloped in mist. When the mist dissipated, five or six crystal-clear ice beads, like pure crystal, appeared before his eyes.

"Ah, this is..."

Qi Xiang was speechless. He thought they were dewdrops, but they were not. What surprised and delighted him even more was that these ice beads resembled something legendary.

"Imperial Flowing Essence?"

Qi Xiang was no longer calm, feeling both excited and hesitant: "Could it be Imperial Flowing Essence?"

In Daoist classics, a term related to moonlight is often mentioned: Imperial Flowing Essence.

Some Taoists believe that the essence of moonlight is Imperial Flowing Essence. In their view, during the Gengshen night, the moonlight contains Imperial Flowing Essence, which appears like countless olives, with myriad golden threads, hanging down to the earth. Plants and trees that receive this essence can become spirits, and foxes and ghosts that consume it can gain supernatural powers.

In other words, for things like plants and trees, which lack intelligence, to become spirits, they must be transformed by the essence of moonlight. Since plants and trees have nature but no life, the flowing essence can supplement their life force; foxes and ghosts, which already have life, benefit greatly from consuming it, increasing their Daoist cultivation.

In short, Imperial Flowing Essence is a good thing, not only having a significant effect on plant spirits but also being highly attractive to human cultivators...

Qi Xiang tried to remain calm, carefully pinched an ice bead, and after examining it, he put it in his mouth and bit down. Without much effort, the ice bead melted into a cool liquid.

Qi Xiang swallowed the liquid, carefully experiencing it for a moment, and his surprise turned to disappointment: "No, it's not Imperial Flowing Essence! Or rather, it's a weakened version of Imperial Flowing Essence, diluted dozens of times, with no noticeable effect..."

"Ah, I knew it, no such luck."

Qi Xiang shook his head. Although the dish was magical, it still had its limitations. It might be that during the firing process, the kiln workers unintentionally added some special ingredients, and after a kiln transformation, the dish gained the ability to condense moonlight.

The problem was that the special ingredients were too few to completely transform the dish. Essentially, the dish was still a precious human artifact, not a mystical treasure from the cultivation world.

"However, such moon beads are not useless. Combined with Xun grass, they might be able to refine a beauty pill, right?" Despite his disappointment, Qi Xiang thought about making the best use of the moon beads and fully exploring their value.

Xun grass is a very rare plant, said to have beautifying effects.

The Classic of Mountains and Seas records that on the Qingyao Mountain, there is a plant that looks like a lily, with a square stem, yellow flowers, and red fruit. Its root is like that of angelica, and it is called Xun grass. Consuming it can beautify one's appearance.

This means that Xun grass has beautifying and rejuvenating effects. Ordinary people who consume this grass can remain youthful and ageless.

Qi Xiang was very clear that people would pay a great price to maintain their youth and beauty. If he could find Xun grass and refine a beauty pill with the moon beads,

Just by letting people know the miraculous effects of the beauty pill, Qi Xiang could imagine how crazy the scene would be. At that time, a single pill might sell for hundreds of millions, and there would be a large group of people vying to buy it...

Qi Xiang was filled with anticipation and slowly returned to reality, smiling bitterly.

Xun grass, a legendary immortal plant, might have existed in ancient times. However, with the dispersion of the earth's spiritual energy, such plants that require spiritual energy to grow might have already become extinct.

Qi Xiang sighed and continued to ponder the functions of the moon beads. Unconsciously, the sky had brightened, and the sun was high, with the crystal-clear ice beads once again breaking and melting.

"I forgot, this has a time limit..."

Qi Xiang did not waste it, picked up the dish, and drank the water from the melted moon beads. Apart from a cool sensation, he did not feel anything special. However, if he could persist in drinking it regularly, there would definitely be some changes.

"Ageless beauty, light as a swallow, free from disasters and diseases, doesn't seem too difficult."

Thinking about this, Qi Xiang felt much better. The only downside was that this process required decades of uninterrupted persistence. For modern people, who are impatient and accustomed to quick results, this would be hard to endure...

Qi Xiang drank the water, carefully wiped the dish clean, and stored it in a box. As long as the dish did not come into contact with moonlight, it would not condense moon beads.

Perhaps the Dong family felt that the water droplets condensed by the dish were useless and only considered it a strange phenomenon, without further research, and thus stored it away, keeping it secret.

When needed, they would take it out to admire and show off...

The last three days are coming up, and I really need everyone's support. Please add to your collection and give recommendations.

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