Chapter 14: Florida Man Claims Coriander Juice is a New Coffee Blend
Chapter 14 – Florida Man Claims Coriander Juice is a New Coffee Blend
"What a coincidence. I have enough for the level-2 upgrading and the workshop. But seriously, even if I have the workshop, I have no clue about pill-making and alchemy. Also, I need to clear the backyard."
Although the workshop was expensive and the pill-making method was unknown, Leo was motivated. He resumed clearing the bushes and trees, making room for the new building.
As Leo was done with the large trees, he turned his attention to the smaller bushes, starting with the dry and thorny ones. With bare hands, he grabbed the thorny vines of a hard bush and pulled them out.
HISS
A snake suddenly jumped out of the bush and bit the back of his hand. However, its fangs failed to penetrate his skin. Still, it spat poisonous substance at Leo.
Despite being bitten, Leo leisurely grabbed its tail and tossed it toward an empty area. A few seconds later, the snake swelled like a balloon and died from the mutation.
Before Leo could process the snake for meat, a certain cat scooped the dead snake with its vines and put it in its mouth. The chomper plant happily ate anything that contained blood.
Leo scratched the back of his hand, swiping the liquid away as it made his hand itchy. He resumed pulling bush vines, enjoying his little adventure in his backyard.
When the sunset, Leo stopped working. He looked at the vines, which were hardened and blackened because of his radiation. Because of boredom, Leo grabbed the longest vine and cracked it like a whip. It caused a crisp sound as the tail hit the ground.
"Oh, yeah. Leo Belmont is gonna hunt you Dracula down."
Fantasizing himself as the main character from the Castlevania Series, Leo randomly swung the vine whip around.
CRACK!
RUMBLE
The whip accidentally hit a pine tree 30 meters away, cutting it in half. The tree fell and caused a loud noise in the woods.
"…"
Because of the loud noise and the broken tree, Leo flinched. He stopped fooling around and coiled the thorny vines. Then, he silently hung it on the back of the store, keeping it as a toy.
Unfortunately, his free time was cut short. From the corner of his eyes, Leo discovered a flying man in white robes approaching at a high speed.
"Ah, crap. Here we go again."
The visitor was none other than Wu Buyi. This bald man slowly descended and landed in front of the store.
Leo stopped what he was doing and walked to the front of the store. Then, he noticed that Wu Buyi had brought 30 baskets of fruits, vegetables, and herbs.
Wu Buyi looked up. Despite being in the dark, his eyes beamed in green light as if they were a spotlight, brightening the area in front of the store. As soon as he saw Leo, Wu Buyi cupped his fist.
"Oh, hello, Sir Florida Man. I wasn't planning to disturb you. I'm here to deliver the fruits and veggies that you requested me."
"My request?"
Leo paused for a moment and remembered that he asked him to buy some fruits and vegetable seeds from the city.
"Oh, right. The veggies. Thank you very much. How much are they?"
Wu Buyi quickly waved his hands, "You don't need to pay, sir. You've already given me plenty. This is not even half of what I owe you. Oh, this is all that I can find within half a day. I'll visit the neighboring towns to gather more for you."
"…"
Leo didn't hate free food. He nodded and let Wu Buyi do whatever he wanted.
Looking at Wu Buyi, Leo remembered the alchemist subject and the wolf's blood. He asked the old man directly.
"By the way, mister. What do you need the wolf's blood for? Is it for a… cultivation pill?"
Wu Buyi dryly laughed in embarrassment, "Truth to be told, yes, sir. For me, Fenrir's blood and innards are extremely rare ingredients. We couldn't find them anywhere on the mainland no matter how hard we tried. Only the soul-transformation-stage cultivators can risk their lives to get them from a mystic realm. With the blood and innards, the Life Sword Sect will thrive, and even I will benefit from them."
'Fenrir's blood?'
Leo raised his eyebrows in amusement. Then, he asked further to make sure.
"What about the grasses?"
Wu Buyi confessed, "Ah, those? The immortal grasses are the key ingredient to the legendary immortal pills that can extend our lifespan. Wait, I thought you knew about them."
Leo snorted and waved his hand, "Ah, I just wanted to make sure if your culture is the same as mine. Don't worry about it."
Wu Buyi laughed, "Of course. You must be surprised since you've come from a faraway place. Culture shock is a thing. Anyway, is there anything else I can help you?"
"…"
Leo had another doubt. He glanced at the three dire wolves in the cages.
'So, the radioactive weeds are immortal grasses? The mutated wolves are called Fenrir? What the hell?'
Probing for more information, Leo pointed at the dire wolves in the cages. He asked Wu Buyi, "What about them? Are they Fenrir, too?"
Wu Buyi looked at the caged wolves and burst into laughter, "Of course not, sir. They're just regular animals. They're not even a spirit beast."
"…"
Leo had the urge to mutate them in front of Wu Buyi, but he chose to keep it a secret. He mimicked the alchemist and cupped his fist.
"Thank you mister for the fruits and vegetables. You've really saved me."
"That was nothing," Wu Buyi laughed. "Anyway, I'll be going. I'll revisit you again after the trip."
"Sure…"
Wu Buyi took off and left. He disappeared into the night.
.
.
While flying in the dark sky, Wu Buyi laughed in a good mood. After leaving the store for a minute, he looked back to check the conditions of the forest.
The fog got thicker, and it concentrated around Leo's cabin. As for the area around the Sword Saint Boulder, no fog was present. At night, blue pine trees glowed in the dark, bringing color to the plain forest.
Wu Buyi widely grinned.
'The trees start to evolve. Sir Florida Man must have been using an artifact or his ability to convert everything around him into a spirit farm. If my theory is correct, a new spirit herb farm will appear in the forest. If better, he might convert those fruits and vegetables into something new. Also, judging from his demeanor and style, his specialties should be in the botany field. Hehehe, if he's really a botanist, I should invite him to the annual alchemist gathering at the end of the year. I wonder how the other alchemists from Death Sword Sect and Pacifist Sword Sect will react if they know that we have a botanist from the higher realm here.'
Wu Buyi started humming and returned to the Life Sword Sect.
10 minutes later, he got back to his residence and found Gao Yan sitting in the herb garden alone, staring at a sprout of a herb.
Curious, Wu Buyi landed behind Gao Yan. Then, he uttered.
"Is that herb that interesting?"
"Ah, master!" Gao Yan jolted and stood up, "Disciple is studying the spirit coriander. I read from the encyclopedia, and the book said that it had a pleasant smell. I just want to try sniffing on it. And then, I notice that a new sprout is growing at night."
Wu Buyi nodded in approval. He taught Gao Yan a lesson that wasn't in a book.
"Coriander herbs are usually used in cooking. But for that spirit coriander, we commonly use it as an optional ingredient to suppress foul odor because of its pleasant scent and its neutral Qi nature. When we put them in a cauldron to refine pills, it automatically harmonizes the rampaging fire Qi and wood Qi in the ingredients. Many rookie alchemists rely on them to increase their refining success chance because of their traits."
Gao Yan was enlightened. He smiled for a moment before his expression looked gloomy. He seemed depressed.
"But disciple can only use wood Qi. I can't use fire Qi like the other alchemist disciples. I don't know if I belong here."
After coming here, regular outer disciples respected him. However, the other alchemists ignored Gao Yan, and they refused to share their knowledge, making him depressed.
Noticing Gao Yan's inferiority complex, Wu Buyi smacked the back of the disciple's head
"You fool. Your constitution has a high aptitude in wood Qi, but that doesn't mean you can't cultivate fire Qi in the future. When reaches the golden core stage, you can cultivate a secondary elemental Qi. By then, you can use both fire Qi and Wood Qi, and that is when your advantage shines! Your dantian will condense something called "Wood Essence" and it can be used to refine precious herbs that Fire Qi specialists can't do! They will naturally kowtow and beg you to help them refine their herbs in the future! Don't look down on yourself!"
Once again, Gao Yan was enlightened and motivated. He bowed to his master.
"This disciple will keep that in mind! I'll work hard!"
"Hahaha! Maintain that motivation, and you'll quickly learn so many things. Come. Let's go have some tea. I'll teach you more about herbs."
The master and disciple duo continued to chat as they walked back to their residence to rest.
.
.
Meanwhile, Leo checked the 30 baskets of vegetables and fruits. 25 of them contained only cabbages and potatoes. Four were filled with bananas, and the other one was full of corianders.
Interested in the new goodies, Leo carefully picked up one of the cabbages with his bare hand. The green veggies instantly turned purple and emitted red smoke.
Leo sniffed at it, wondering what a mutated cabbage tasted like. Strangely, its odor was the same as regular cabbages.
He peeled its skin and chewed it. It was soft and sweet like freshly boiled vegetables. Also, it had the aroma of Earth and freshly cut grasses.
"This is awesome! I can use this to replace sandwich bread."
Leo finished the cabbages and waited for feedback from the system.
DING
<Your lifespan has increased by five years.>
It was worth the wait. Although eating the entire cabbage made him full, he got something out of it.
Leo put on his gloves and carried the cabbage baskets to his store. He put them in the fridges, filling the rest of the slide-door chests to the brim. Afterward, he returned to check the other goodies outside.
The potatoes were a no-brainer. Leo carried the baskets to the middle of the store and left them there as he couldn't preserve them in a freezer. Bananas were also the same as they came in green. Leo had to wait a few days before it could turn yellow and become edible.
After Leo put the banana and potato baskets in the store, his attention turned to the coriander. He brought them into his store and arranged everything in one of the supermarket display fridges. After all, these delicate herbs required a chilling and humid temperature to preserve.
When Leo finished tidying everything, he picked up a stalk of coriander to get a closer look. Strangely, everything in this batch produced strange blue air, and it was warmer than usual.
"Huh? Aren't they the regular ones?"
Curious, Leo plucked a leaf and put it in his mouth to taste it. As Leo had expected, it had a strong scent of green herb that hit his nose. However, it had an extra flavor.
There was a faint lingering taste of coffee beans at the tip of his tongue.
Although the herb didn't reward him anything, Leo raised his eyebrows in surprise. He had forgotten how the coffee tasted like after the nuclear apocalypse, but he got to savor the bitter aroma once again.
Moving to tears, Leo looked at the remaining coriander. He held his hands in prayer.
"Bless Jesus for giving me coffee coriander! I'll grow them well!"
Leo bit his lower lips and mustered his courage. He picked another coriander stalk with his bare hand, converting it into a mutated plant. The stalk and leaves instantly blackened, and its strong aroma exuded throughout the store. The stalk's temperature rose, and it produced white smoke.
The scent smelled exactly like hot black coffee!
Without hesitation, Leo rushed into the storage room and brought out a cup of water. He put the mutated coriander in the cup for an experiment.
As Leo had predicted, the water turned black. It was also heated up because of the mutated herb's natural hot temperature. Without hesitation, Leo slurped the black water.
The rich aroma of black coffee made his pupils dilate. He almost dropped the cut and the hot water as his theory was correct.
Leo got himself a coffee, a mutated coffee!
"HALLELUJAH!!"
Leo was never this happy. His voice was so loud that birds in the vicinity woke up and flew away from their nests.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone