My CEO Harem Cultivation System

"Good. You've got them all correctly." A pleased smile was on Li Yang's face and if it were to be gauged by any other women, it would have been a reward in and of itself. 

Perhaps it was ordained by the heavens themselves that he would be born with such a face.

Regardless, for someone who had seen it so closely so many times, the Tea Sommelier was more surprised by his words which congratulated her for figuring out the elements in the tea. Seriously? This was pretty basic, even though it was unfamiliar ingredients.

But more than that… this was all intentional?

She already knew it was some test, but was it only this? 

"The main point was for me to be able to evaluate what elements are present?" Bo Lifen asked. "I already know all of this and committed to memory and while I attest that they're strange ingredients from another world, it's easy to sense what they are by simple thought and sense."

Li Yang shook his head and picked up a simple leaf from the table and presented it to both Taiga and Narissa. "Could either of you two be able to tell it from a quick glance?"

"Er… aren't all plants all coming from nature and life energy or something?" Narissa shrugged. "Sure there's things that come from the ocean like seaweed which may have the essence of water, but most are plant energy mostly?"

"Taiga can tell that the energy is a bit er, hot?" The Tigress Spirit tried to swat the leaf in Li Yang's hand to get a better feel for the energy coming off the leaf. "Argh, the energy is a lot and yet so little at the same time. It's really subtle and hard to detect."

"I really don't think subtlety is one of your things, Taiga." The Mermaid dryly said. 

Li Yang wordlessly threw a look at Bo Lifen who only rolled her eyes. She could see what he was doing and she raised a hand to let him know that she understood his intentions to make her feel a bit more competent about her skills. 

"I know, I know, it's a bit niche and some cultivators are so used to seeing large and copious amounts of qi output that even ones coming from ingredients that are very dense in my eyes can seem undetectable." She looked down at the tea and blew on it softly.

Swirls of smoke drifted off into the air and were soon detected by the rest of the people.

"...well, it's not Taiga's fault." Taiga pouted. "You're just very observant."

Bo Lifen cracked up a grin and looked at the Tigress Spirit. "Oh, really?"

Taiga immediately glanced at Narissa and said. "Blue Fish, have you ever seen Yingzhou Island which is said to be just nearby here? Can you access that place by swimming?"

"The what?" Narissa made a face.

It was silly to Bo Lifen that the first time that she caught Taiga actually warming up to her, the tigress would immediately look the other way and pretend it never happened.

"So what exactly can these essences do for those who choose to partake in consuming them?" Li Yang couldn't help but ask her next. Was it a trick question, something to test her knowledge or genuine curiosity, it was hard to tell.

"Tea is great and all, but Taiga knows that she can just buy a cultivation pill in a shop and probably get a more concentrated and powerful effect compared to tea."

"I know that Alchemists are more popular than me," Bo Lifen gently raised the cup up and looked down at the pool of liquid within it. The color was a shade of black which glistened underneath the rays of the sun.

"Aren't Tea Sommeliers only a derivative from Alchemists?" Bao couldn't help but point out to both Narissa and Li Yang who then looked at the creature. The Mermaid with more surprise and the latter narrowed their eyes at the creature. 

For once, Li Yang was glad that it was only him… and Narissa who could hear the creature.

"I am sure that there is something that sets you and those in your occupation apart from Alchemists." Li Yang insisted. 

A part of him really did want to meet an Alchemist and perhaps learn from them, but he would never be the one to diminish how he valued Bo Lifen's presence… not just for sexual encounters, but with how she was as a person. 

Li Yang wouldn't say he'd rather work with an Alchemist than Bo Lifen.

He was here to help her for that very reason.

"Enlightenment tea, I guess? An ordinary or even master alchemist wouldn't be able to unleash the full potential of the tea compared to a tea sommelier who knows things by heart. But that's like something made thousands of years ago, and may not even be available here anymore." 

Li Yang stashed that information away for later use but noticed that the conversation was quickly bringing her down. Somehow, the pride she once held for her occupation seemed to waver in the face and weight of Alchemists.

Bo Lifen sighed and was looking down at her cup. "Well… even the elements of this tea are the same as what one might expect from them."

"That's all you can assume from the tea?" Li Yang asked.

"I mean yeah, the elements of wood and fire are greatly associated with alchemists. Both of them help during the alchemical process which needs precise fire control and also the plants associated with it. I mean earth could be too, but it's usually for defense and combat relating to—"

Bo Lifen sharply gazed up at Li Yang and realized that all of the elements in the tea that she prepared for him we're all part of her spiritual roots. She once had them tested in the past and now the man reminded her of it.

Was this actually meant for her?