A while later, Van came to. In a slow and heavily fatigued motion, Van's eyelids opened. Using all of his willpower, he finally got the eyelids, that seemed to be as heavy as a mountain at that moment, to open. Wincing in pain from over-drafting his mental faculties, Van sat still, paused in thought.

"Even after adjusting my mental state and my approach, I was still only able to obtain one star. Aiyah… the road of cultivation truly is hard. Too difficult… too difficult."

Shaking his head and sighing in frustration, Van was sent out of the strange space and exited the Dao State. Van sat still for a few moments, circulating his Qi, before returning to his normal state. Only then, did he meet the Fairy's gaze. Her eyes shined with a curiosity of unknown depths, forming a nice contrast to her expression of nonchalance. Feeling like a test subject under scrutiny, Van avoided her gaze before picking up the cup of tea for another sip.

To his dismay and unsurprisingly, the cup did not allow him to enter the Dao State once more, but the soothing feeling in his meridians that the tea brought was still a great benefit. His meridians were vastly burdened and were slowly recovering from their forced expansion from about half a year back when he consumed the pill, and the cup of tea was able to help him in the last step, allowing for a complete recovery. His cultivation speed was already extremely fast, but with his full recovery, it would increase tenfold.

Feeling the Qi rushing eagerly through his meridians, he cupped his hands and thanked Fairy Meirong.

“This one gives his deepest gratitude to the beautiful fairy for the transcendent tea.”

Liu Meirong’s eyes flickered with surprise. She had thought that Van would be like other geniuses, haughty but cordially respectful in front of her. But, it seems like she was wrong. Van’s respect truly came from the heart. This gave her the wrong impression that Van was deeply emotional and naïve. She believed that Van was still a country bumpkin that had overestimated the value of the cup of tea, but it was just that the benefit of the tea was truly transcendent, having come at an opportune time to help him enter the Dao State and full repair his meridians. Her evaluation wasn’t completely off, but Van’s horizons were much broader than she thought considering that he was Flowing River Sect Inner Disciple.

She waved her hand as if it was nothing. Considering her status, it truly was nothing. Being able to gain the favor of a young genius like Van was worth much more than a cup of tea. She had full confidence that she had definitely made a profit with this bet.

"I hope you are up for another cup of tea, Young Hero?"

Liu Meirong smiled radiantly as she gestured for the server to bring them some more tea.

"Of course, Fairy Meirong. Drinking transcendent tea with a Fairy of even more transcendent beauty is this one's honor."

Van smiled warmly as he flattered the Fairy. An unnoticeable but unmistakable trace of disgust flashed through Liu Meirong's eyes as she heard his flattery.

It seems she had evaluated this Young Hero too highly. Although there were some young geniuses with some eccentric personalities, any of those of repute at his age with such personalities could be counted on one hand.

Meanwhile, Van, unaware of her thoughts, was extremely self-conscious. He was trying his best to not flaunt his identity and humble himself. He believed that it was best to be humble and meek before others, to go for a haughty and determined stance would lead to unintended conflicts. If he wasn't provoked, he wouldn't seek trouble himself. Never did it cross his mind that lacking the typical blunt arrogance of strong young heroes would give the Fairy a negative impression of himself.

Coupled with the fact that he was a scholar not too well-versed in social situations, he was destined to give off an impression contrary to what he intended.

It would be a lesson that he would have to learn the hard way. In the greater society, one had to keep in mind every detail of their actions, for one slight misstep may ruin opinions forever. It is easier to lose one’s reputation than it is to gain it.

Despite being a scholar, this was an arrangement that Van had at a very young age. Although this would usually be coupled with the strangely high maturity levels that all cultivators have, Van was definitely not a super genius… nor was he extremely mature. All he desired was to be assuaged by the endless pages that he had available to him at a hand's reach. To be able to truly comprehend all this knowledge at his age would take a miracle. Even if he tried his best, he would not be able to truly know all these things until he applied them directly in a social environment.

Now going back to Van's pitiful attempt at progressing his journey as a young hero, he had noticed a slight hesitation in Fairy Meirong's actions as she poured the cup of tea but had put it past as her being surprised at his open-mindedness. He picked up the cup of tea and drank it. Although it was the same tea, same water, and same teapot, he felt that there was something slightly unpleasant from the tea. Placing his index finger just under his lower lip, he started to ponder what significance it could have.

Suddenly, an expression of astonishment could be seen plastered on his face.