He had carefully prepared for a long time, never expecting that this drunken Taoist, seeing thirty-year-old vintage right before his eyes, would actually refuse?
Xu Mingli hastily spoke up, "This junior is not a lover of wine; I was merely afraid of wasting this thirty-year-old vintage and wanted to ask Taoist Tu for a tasting."
"Take it away."
Taoist Tu lazily reclined on a lounge chair, "This thirty-year-old Zhuyeqing has already lost its flavor, and without mixing it seventy or eighty percent with new wine, what's there to drink? With that much new wine mixed in, I might as well just drink the new wine."
As he spoke, he extended his hand toward Lin Yue, "Lin, give me your jug of wine, this old Taoist's liquor worm doesn't fancy that tasteless fancy stuff."
Lin Yue, his eyes creasing with a smile he had anticipated, handed his jug of wine to Taoist Tu.
He spoke while handing it over, "Old drunkard, you say I don't understand wine, aren't you just like a boar that can't eat fine bran?"
Taoist Tu didn't mind, merely taking the jug and downing half of it in one long gulp before breathing out comfortably, "Now this is satisfying!"
Xu Mingli stood silently on the side, looking at the fine wine in his hand, at a loss for words for a moment.
When someone admits they're a boar, what could he do?
After a brief silence, he could only bow and say, "Since Taoist Tu prefers this kind of wine, if this junior gets good wine next time, I will come to ask you for a tasting again."
"Off you go, off you go."
Taoist Tu lazily dismissed him, clearly not wanting to elaborate.
Xu Mingli bowed again, nodded slightly to Lin Yue, then turned and left with his guards.
"Safe travels, Young Master Xu." Lin Yue said with a smile.
He had already figured it out.
This Young Master Xu must have learned somehow of the old drunkard's real identity, hence he deliberately catered to his tastes and came bearing gifts.
But little did he expect that although Taoist Tu loved his wine, catering to his tastes was useless; the only reason he drank was because Xu Mingli had given it to him.
Ultimately, he came away snubbed.
Once Xu Mingli was a good distance away, Taoist Tu toyed with the wine jug in his hands and then smiling ambiguously at Lin Yue, he asked, "You're not rich, yet you buy such good wine for this old Taoist without reason; what do you want?"
"What else could it be?"
Lin Yue didn't beat around the bush and said directly, "It's still that same issue... Every time you say there's no way, but is cultivation truly impossible without any inherent talent?"
Taoist Tu sighed helplessly and shook his head, "I knew you wouldn't give up."
He hesitated for a moment before saying, "You lack Spirit Veins, so naturally, you cannot cultivate. Although there are ways, for you, it's as good as nonexistent."
Lin Yue's eyes lit up immediately, "What ways? At least tell me, or next time I won't bring you wine."
"There are, for instance, some vastly rare Heaven and Earth Treasures that can help open up Spirit Veins," Taoist Tu said leisurely. "Or, as legend has it, those cultivators with heavenly Cultivation could use their unearthly powers to open your Spirit Veins, even potentially giving you extraordinary talent."
Then, he doused the conversation with cold water, "But for a mundane person like you, these methods are as good as nonexistent."
Lin Yue fell silent.
A cultivator with heavenly powers, he neither hoped for nor dared to think about.
Heaven and Earth Treasures, he had thought about those.
But in over two hundred secrets he'd heard that year, despite receiving an extremely rare treasure from one of the top secrets, none were about Heaven and Earth Treasures.
It seemed he still had to keep waiting, didn't he?
"Stop dreaming."
Taoist Tu glanced at him and said, "You're living quite well as a mundane person, aren't you? Just diligently practice the Breathing and Exhaling Technique I taught you; it's far more useful than what others learn."
Lin Yue shook his head slightly, saying nothing.
He then asked, "What's the purpose of the Chief asking us secular disciples to the monastery today? I hear there's a high-ranking military official from the borders in Qingdu looking for someone?"
Taoist Tu half-closed his eyes as he sized him up before replying, "It's the Great Commander who guards the Northwest Pass, and as for the person he wants to find..."
He paused, then hinted meaningfully, "It's that foreign aristocrat you most despise from over two months ago."