Li Xiang only fenced in his backyard, not his front yard. It wasn’t the type of courtyard that completely encloses the house, because he was only trying to keep out wild boars and other dangerous animals that might come down from the back mountain.

Although most of the wild boars had been dealt with this year, they reproduced at an astonishing rate and had few natural predators. He estimated their numbers would surge again next year.

This meant his front yard remained open. If a wild boar showed up, he could simply get inside and shut the door.

In rural areas, it wasn’t a good idea to fence in the front. If you did, no one would come by to visit. Li Xiang’s house was already remote and far from the village center. If he fenced it in and closed the gate, who would come over for a chat? His grandmother would only get lonelier.

As it was, people still dropped by every now and then.

Li Xiang rode his three-wheeler into town, heading for the same time-honored distillery he’d visited before.

"Well, well, if it isn’t our county’s big celebrity?" the shop owner greeted him enthusiastically. He had also seen Li Xiang’s video of hunting wild boars. After all, the man had over two million fans. While they were spread across the country and even overseas, a good number of them were local. Even people who didn’t follow his account had seen the video or heard about him.

"It’s nothing, really," Li Xiang said humbly with a wave of his hand, then started to look at the liquor.

He wanted to buy some better-quality liquor to make his Spirit Wine and some regular Snake Wine. The high-proof distilled liquor he’d bought here last time was excellent quality for the price.

The owner gave Li Xiang a tour, introducing each section with the pride of someone showing off their family heirlooms.

The last time Li Xiang had come, the owner hadn’t brought him inside. They had just chatted briefly in the street-facing shop before making the deal.

This time was different. The owner knew Li Xiang had money and was a major customer, so he led him directly into the distillery workshop out back.

In addition to the finished liquor, he showed him the raw material and brewing areas.

Li Xiang couldn’t help but praise him. "You keep this place very clean."

The owner puffed out his chest. "Of course! I’ve been in this business for decades. My customers are all local folks and neighbors. Reputation is everything!"

Li Xiang nodded. ’It’s true.’ The workshop was small, but it had everything it needed. The sanitation standards were probably even better than many large-scale distilleries.

After the tour, the owner brought out some samples for Li Xiang to taste.

The liquor he sold was all 58% ABV. He had a standard version aged for two years, which cost 45 yuan per jin—the same kind Li Xiang had bought before.

Its taste was comparable to bottles sold on the market for two or three hundred yuan, which was one of the reasons Li Xiang had come back.

He also had a three-year vintage for 60 yuan per jin, a five-year for 100 yuan per jin, a ten-year for 180 yuan per jin, and a fifteen-year for 280 yuan per jin. The 45-yuan version was his usual bestseller.

The older the vintage, the smaller the stock. Of the fifteen-year, he only had three unopened jars left.

Li Xiang sampled each one. With the keen senses of an Extraordinary Being, he could tell the fifteen-year vintage was the best. It had the richest aroma and was mellow, full-bodied, and smooth, with a long, sweet aftertaste. The mouthfeel was substantial, elegant, and delicate—a truly outstanding flavor.

Li Xiang smiled. "I’ll take the fifteen-year. All three unopened jars."

The owner was overjoyed and immediately found someone to help Li Xiang load them onto his three-wheeler.

The owner carried one of the jars himself, saying cheerfully, "If you have any issues with this liquor at home, just come back and see me anytime." He spoke with great confidence. Since Li Xiang had only tasted samples and not the liquor from the sealed jars, the owner wanted to reassure his customer.

The three jars, each with a net weight of twenty jin, came to a total of 16,800 yuan. Li Xiang paid promptly, then went to a traditional Chinese medicine shop in town to have some herbs prescribed.

Li Xiang explained that he wanted to make Snake Wine and had several types of snakes for it: black-striped racers, many-banded kraits, pit vipers, and five-pace vipers. The old traditional Chinese medicine doctor at the shop recommended a formula containing astragalus, angelica root, safflower, ginseng, rehmannia root, and cinnamon twigs.

Buying these medicinal herbs cost him about eight hundred yuan, and then Li Xiang headed home.

Back home, he unsealed two of the jars. A rich, fragrant aroma immediately filled the air, and even his dog came trotting over excitedly.

One jar was used to brew the Snake Wine, supplemented with the seven or eight herbs he’d gotten from the medicine shop. The other was for brewing Spirit Wine, using the various Spiritual Medicines he had gathered while scouring the mountains.

He put the last jar in the cellar to continue aging, saving it for another time.

The brewing process made the Spiritual Medicines in the Spirit Wine more potent. By drinking it regularly while practicing his Cultivation, he could progress steadily and build a more solid foundation. He set aside some Tier One and Tier Two Spiritual Medicines to occasionally stew into a soup for his grandmother, sharing a little with the dog and cat as well. Of course, he also saved some for Jiang Cai’Er.

Since Jiang Cai’Er already had Spiritual Power, he saved some of the better-quality ones for her.

The recipe for the Spirit Wine came from the System. It not only maximized the Medicinal Power of the Spiritual Medicines but also ensured the chosen ingredients had no adverse reactions with each other, guaranteeing its safety.

He placed the Spirit Wine in his System Space and stored the Snake Wine in the cellar.

...

Under the warm sun, in the backyard, the Overlapping Waterfall cascaded with a gentle RUSH.

Li Xiang took out eight large gourds. He picked out the three most attractive ones to turn into wine flasks, and planned to make the rest into ladles. That way, his family wouldn’t have to buy any.

Making the gourd ladles was relatively simple. Li Xiang had seen his grandmother make them before, so he decided to start with those for practice.

The wine flasks, on the other hand, were more complicated. He had no experience with them and would have to learn through trial and error, with no guarantee of success.

These large gourds had all come from deep in the old-growth forest. They had been hanging on a withered vine, aged to perfection. They felt incredibly sturdy to the touch. Li Xiang used a saw to cut the gourds in half, scooped out the seeds, and spread them on a winnowing basket to dry under the eaves. He would save them as seeds, and when spring arrived, he’d try planting some in the backyard. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

He had a soft spot for these double-gourds, a shape often called an Immortal Gourd. Thanks to cartoons, they had been his favorite ever since he was a kid.

’Gourds are annual plants, so these were all just Mortal Items with no detectable Extraordinary potential. However, if he planted them at home, generation after generation... by the time the Apocalypse arrived and Extraordinary Particles flooded the world, it wasn’t impossible that a mutated gourd might appear.’

In truth, single-chamber gourds were better for making ladles, but the double-chambered ones worked well enough.

After sawing them and scooping out the seeds, he was left with ten gourd halves. Li Xiang tossed them into a large iron pot, filled it with water, covered it with a lid, and lit a large fire underneath to boil them.

They didn’t need to boil for long—just three to five minutes after the water started bubbling. Then he took the gourd halves out, let them cool slightly, and used a spoon to scrape off the outer skin and any remaining pulp from the inside.

Li Xiang worked meticulously, scraping them completely clean. Then he rinsed them with water and hung them under the covered walkway to slowly air-dry in the shade.

Because these gourds were so old, their shells were thick and hard, so Li Xiang didn’t need to stuff them with anything to hold their shape. With younger gourds, he would have had to pack them with absorbent material to help them set properly as they dried.

Once they were naturally air-dried, he just needed to lightly sand the edges with sandpaper, and they would be ready to use.

His family already had a few gourd ladles, but they were old and several were damaged. Once these new ones finished drying, he could finally throw the broken ones out.