"Honored One, what do you think of these items?"
Several elders of the Elf Tribe approached the Eternal Honored One and presented the items Yuanen Yehui had given to the elven girl.
"This is a Life Gem, but it seems to have undergone secondary processing, granting it a form of sentience and greatly enhancing its quality several times over. How was this achieved?" The Eternal Honored One extended a branch to coil around a soul-forged Life Crystal, lifting it for closer inspection.
Life Crystals existed on the Tianxuan Continent as well.
Moreover, most of them were in the possession of the Elf Tribe.
They were simply referred to as Life Gems.
The Eternal Honored One picked up other items: a soul-guided laser cannon, an eighth-tier soul tool, which Yuanen Yehui had obtained from remnants of the defeated Star Luo Empire forces. It had been stored in her soul storage device and never used.
Originally, she intended to sell it to help forge her two-word battle armor with Xia Yi, but after Xia Yi refused payment, she decided to keep it.
There was also an earth-attribute 50,000-year-old spirit herb, a valuable treasure given to Yuanen Yehui by Er Ming, originally meant to aid her breakthrough to Super Douluo.
But since Yuanen Yehui had already broken through to Super Douluo directly, the herb was no longer needed.
Aside from these, the rest were miscellaneous items.
"This spirit herb is excellent. It can be given to the Third Elder to help him advance further in cultivation. As for the Life Gem and this weapon, I still need to study them further." The Eternal Honored One paused, then added, "I wonder whether this secondary-processed Life Gem was something they stumbled upon or created themselves. If they possess this capability, we could consider asking them to help process a batch for us."
"I'll try to test them out at the right moment. Honored One, I'm worried whether these outsiders might bring unnecessary trouble," the Grand Elder of the Elf Tribe asked gravely.
"That's inevitable. One of their group, a Honored One herself, came seeking faith power. In that case, she will certainly confront the Sea Dragon Honored One and the Haotian Honored One. We can simply watch from the sidelines." The Eternal Honored One responded.
"But in that case, if both sides are seriously injured, wouldn't that give the Demon Plane an opportunity?" the Grand Elder raised a new concern.
"All the less likely," the Eternal Honored One replied firmly. "These people clearly aim to lead our plane in defeating the demon legion to gain faith power. They must have studied the Demon Plane in detail and have full confidence in dealing with it; otherwise, they wouldn't take such risks lightly."
Previously, the Eternal Honored One hadn't believed that Yali could gain an advantage over the Sea God Honored One and Haotian Honored One. But when Xia Yi presented the Praise of Life, he began viewing Xia Yi's group as being on par with those two mighty Honored Ones.
To casually gift a divine item—such a gesture hinted that Xia Yi's background might not be inferior to that of the Sea God Honored One or Haotian Honored One.
"In that case, what should our course of action be?" asked the Grand Elder.
The Eternal Honored One thought for a moment, then said, "Try to win them over, but keep it subtle. Don't be too deliberate, or it may backfire. You can decide how to approach it."
"Understood," the Grand Elder nodded solemnly.
Not long after, the elven girl who had previously received Xia Yi's group went to their lodgings.
"Honored guests, our elders have appraised your treasures and found them to be of great value. This is the highest-level cuisine of our Elf Tribe. From now on, I will bring meals of this standard to you daily. We will do our best to ensure variety," said the elf girl. With a wave of her hand, several dishes appeared on the stone table in the wooden hut's living room.
A pot of spirit wine, three dishes, one soup, and a few spirit fruits—simple in appearance.
But as soon as the food appeared, Xia Yi sensed their extraordinariness. A strong, savory aroma filled the air, rich with spiritual energy. Just by smelling it, a wave of nourishing vitality spread through his limbs and bones, invigorating his blood and bringing immense benefits to the body.
Next, the elves brought out three wooden bowls, poured in half a bowl of spirit spring water, then took out a rice bag and added four or five grains of rice to each bowl.
The rice grains were crystal-clear and straight like tiny swords. The moment they touched water, they began to swim gracefully like dragons—quite the sight.
The elf girl lightly moved her finger, summoning a fire magic spell into the bowls. As the spring water's temperature rose, the rice let out cheerful chirping sounds and transformed into a pot of pure, exquisite porridge.
After completing the process, the elf girl bowed and said, "Honored guests, I shall leave you in peace."
Xia Yi lifted his wooden bowl and drank the porridge in one go. In an instant, a surge of spiritual energy erupted from within him, coursing through his entire body.
It gave Xia Yi an indescribable sense of comfort.
"This is good stuff. If possible, we must obtain it, no matter the cost." Xia Yi's eyes gleamed. To him, the rice was only slightly more fragrant than regular rice.
It hardly increased his cultivation at all.
That was due to his high level; the rice no longer had much effect on him.
But if someone just beginning cultivation were to use this rice...
It would benefit their future training greatly.
Of course, Xia Yi wasn't only thinking about soul masters—
But soul beasts, too.
The reason soul beasts couldn't build a civilization like humans stemmed partly from food.
If soul beasts could cultivate this rice, it would be a milestone for their kind.
"But didn't that elven girl say this rice requires the Elf Tribe's natural magic to grow?" Yuanen Yehui also drank her porridge in one go. Just half a bowl left her feeling full.
"The other dishes are also excellent. This mushroom, for example, greatly benefits spiritual power cultivation." Ye Xinglan picked up a piece of multicolored mushroom and put it in her mouth. The aroma surged to her mind, and her eyes immediately lit up. Before her eyes, colorful stars appeared one by one.
They were elemental particles in the air.
One could begin to distinguish only by reaching the threshold of the Spirit Domain Realm in spiritual power.
But unfortunately, as the aroma faded, the elemental particles disappeared too.
In other words, the enhancement to her spiritual power was only temporary.
But that brief moment of enlightenment was real.
"As expected of the Elf Tribe—their food alone is this extravagant." Xia Yi poured himself a glass of wine. He had already decided: even if he couldn't learn the true natural magic, he wouldn't mind a "lite" version.
As long as he could master it, Leng Yaozhu and Gu Yue would surely reward him well.
However, natural magic was a closely guarded secret of the Elf Tribe. If he wanted to learn even a downgraded version...
He'd have to pay a steep price.