The Path of Immortality: Starts With Creating Water Bear Gu-Chapter 431: A Coffee Tree?

Next, Long Xuan visited various tea stalls again, acquiring even more fine teas. However, none of the famous teas he obtained afterward could surpass Shadow Tea.

Shadow Tea was already the finest tea in this Tea-tasting Gathering. Without the appearance of Enlightenment Tea, no other tea could compete with it.

The next segment was the Gu Battle. The rules were the same as traditional Gu battles, with only one exception—both parties could only use Tea Gu.

The stakes were the tea in their possession. Many participants joined in, eager to show off their peak-grade Tea Gu. The crowd was buzzing with excitement, with cheers echoing all around.

Since Long Xuan didn’t have a Tea Gu at the moment, he could only watch from the sidelines. Even if he had one, he wouldn't participate so openly, as it would expose his hidden cards to the public.

Soon, the competition reached the Tea Battle segment, where each participant had to present their best tea for evaluation.

Those who passed the quality test could proceed to the Tea Sacrificial Ceremony and gain entry into the River God’s Secret Realm. The top 100 participants would receive additional rewards.

Before long, Long Xuan, Shui Lao, and Shui Juanyun arrived at a plaza.

On the tables in the plaza, countless treasures were displayed, all radiating light. The dazzling array of items made the spectators drool with desire.

Long Xuan’s eyes also gleamed as he scanned the table full of treasures. Some of these items tempted even him.

As expected, these treasures were the prizes for the winners of the Tea Battle.

Sweeping his gaze across the table, Long Xuan’s attention quickly locked onto a sapling, his eyes flashing with surprise.

“Shui Lao, you are well-versed in rare items. Do you recognize this spiritual plant? I have never seen any record of it in books.”

Long Xuan pointed at the sapling, glancing at Shui Lao.

Shui Juanyun also turned his gaze toward it, his expression puzzled. He murmured, “This is also my first time seeing such a spiritual plant. Judging by its dense spiritual energy, it is at least of Earth-grade or even Heaven-grade, making it extremely extraordinary.”

“A spiritual plant of such caliber being used as a prize? Isn’t that too extravagant? Is the competition’s organizing committee really this generous?”

Shui Lao stroked his beard with a smile and said, “Not only you two, but even I do not recognize this plant.”

“You must understand, in the early days of the world, when the human race had just emerged and began studying plants, there were no detailed classifications.” 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

“After years of research by our ancestors, plants with special effects were classified as spiritual herbs, plants used for brewing drinks were classified as tea, and plants with no apparent use were all lumped together as weeds.”

“If my guess is correct, this plant is simply a weed with no special effects.”

“Who would bother remembering the names of useless weeds? It’s normal for us not to recognize it.”

“Even though this plant contains immense spiritual energy, if it has no practical use, then its value is limited. That’s likely why the organizers were willing to use it as a prize.”

“Weed, huh?” Long Xuan murmured, deep in thought.

In this world, useless plants were all categorized as weeds. But what if this Heaven-grade plant actually had some incredible hidden effects that humans hadn’t discovered yet? That possibility couldn’t be ruled out.

The reason his gaze was drawn to this plant so quickly was that it strongly resembled a coffee tree from his past life—a tree whose beans had to be ground to make a beverage.

And in this world… coffee didn’t seem to exist yet, did it?

Long Xuan’s eyes suddenly lit up.

This world had only two major beverages: tea and wine. But if this was truly a coffee tree, then he could create the third great beverage—coffee!

Since wine could be refined into Wine Gu and tea could be refined into Tea Gu, then by the same logic… coffee could also be refined into Coffee Gu!

Coffee Gu might not be any weaker than Wine Gu or Tea Gu. If he delved deeper into this research, this world might witness the birth of many new Gu species, possibly even some powerful, heaven-defying Gu insects.

If his speculation was correct, he could establish an entirely new Gu cultivation school and become its founding ancestor—earning the title of the Father of Coffee.

This would be a monumental contribution that would be remembered for generations, influencing the world for tens of thousands of years to come.

Long Xuan’s eyes burned with excitement. He clenched his fists tightly—this was an incredibly exhilarating opportunity!

This was like discovering a new continent, filled with untold treasures waiting to be claimed. He could barely wait to begin his grand endeavor!

“How interesting… In terms of spiritual energy, it seems like a Heaven-grade spiritual herb. But since it has no known effects, it isn’t considered one. What a strange prize. What ranking would I need to achieve to claim it?”

Long Xuan maintained a calm facade as he casually asked the question.

Despite his outward composure, his heart was racing. Even if he knew the ranking required, winning that specific spot wouldn’t be easy.

Unless the coffee tree was the first-place prize, he had no guarantee of securing it.

If the tree was placed at any other ranking, he wouldn’t be able to precisely control his placement to match it.

Shui Lao, unaware of Long Xuan’s inner turmoil, answered casually, “In the previous Tea Tasting Gathering, the higher-ranked participants had first pick of the prizes. They could choose anything from the table.”

“The top-ranking contestants always take the most valuable treasures, while lower-ranked ones can only pick from what’s left.”

“I believe this year’s rules will be the same.”

Hearing this, Long Xuan let out a sigh of relief. This made things much simpler.

As long as he won first place, he could be the first to select a prize—meaning the coffee tree would be his!

“Shui Lao, in this round, everyone must present a good tea to qualify for the River God’s Secret Realm. Didn’t you say you would use low-quality tea and trade up for a top-tier one? Were you successful? Brother Yun seems to have failed.”

Long Xuan finally tore his gaze away from the coffee tree, turning to Shui Lao with a smile.

“Haha! When have I ever failed at something I set my mind to?”

Shui Lao chuckled confidently and retrieved a steaming cup of tea from his storage ring.

Upon seeing the tea and smelling its familiar aroma, Long Xuan’s eyes flashed with surprise—wasn’t this his own Iceheart Tea?!

He had no idea whom Shui Lao had traded with to acquire it.

“Haha! Isn’t this your Iceheart Tea?” Shui Juanyun laughed. “This tea has been the highlight of the entire competition! Everyone’s still talking about it.”

“With this tea, I believe the championship is yours for the taking.”

Shui Lao shook his head and smiled. “Winning the championship with this tea alone is impossible. While this tea is excellent, its strength lies in its unique brewing method.”

“I don’t know what technique you used, but it made the tea far richer than a normal Iceheart Tea.”

“However, this competition has gathered the greatest famous teas from all over the world. There are countless century-old, top-tier teas, making this an incredibly fierce competition.”

“This place is overflowing with legendary teas. Your Iceheart Tea, while good, may not even make it into the top ten.”

“Not to mention, many people have already obtained Iceheart Tea from you. That reduces its competitive value.”

Hearing this, Long Xuan frowned slightly.

He hadn’t expected the competition to be this intense.

If that was the case, he might have no choice but to use Shadow Tea, brewed with Heavenly Water.