Qingxu's guess was correct.
The gift Aether had prepared for him was indeed wine.
But not merely a bottle or two.
That kind of quantity could hardly be called a "surprise" in Aether's eyes.
So Aether had decided to build Qingxu an entire wine pool.
He would fill it with enough liquor to last Qingxu a very, very long time.
"Heh, this is the place, Brother Qingxu," Aether said with a grin.
Qingxu looked puzzled.
Before them lay nothing but barren scenery—there was nothing here at all. Where was this so-called surprise supposed to be?
He didn't quite understand Aether's words yet.
Still, he said nothing, simply standing beside Aether and quietly waiting for the promised gift to reveal itself.
Aether had already fully envisioned the wine pool in his mind.
It wasn't something as crude as digging a random pit in the ground and pouring wine into it.
That might work for a short time—but after a while, would the wine still be drinkable?
Ahem. For demon gods with powerful physiques, even spoiled wine would probably still be drinkable…
But the flavor would certainly become rather… peculiar.
How could he possibly let Brother Qingxu drink spoiled wine? That would be far too disrespectful.
What kind of friend would do such a thing?
If there ever were spoiled wine, he might as well save it for Barbatos, that hopeless drunkard, and let him enjoy it instead—hopefully he'd like it…
Come to think of it, had Barbatos even been born yet?
Aether wasn't certain about the exact timing of Barbatos's birth, but even if he had already come into existence, he would probably still only be in the form of a wind spirit.
Sigh. That fellow really had absurd luck—picking up a godhood for free.
Look at Liyue instead. So many powerful demon gods crowded this land. Once the Demon God War truly began, it was impossible to imagine what kind of hellscape this place would become.
Manifest.
Under the Authority of Manifestation, a flash of white light swept across the mountaintop not far from Qingxu Pool. In the next instant, a traditional-style pavilion rose into existence.
Aether named it the Qingyu Pavilion.
He took one character from each of their names to symbolize the bond of friendship between himself and Qingxu.
This Qingyu Pavilion would stand in the world for ages to come, a testament to their friendship.
Qingxu watched Aether's actions, still somewhat confused.
So the gift was this pavilion?
" This pavilion is called Qingyu Pavilion. It's a symbol of our friendship. How is it? Not bad, right?"
"But I know what you're thinking. I wouldn't just give you a pavilion as a gift—that'd be boring."
"There's more hidden within."
"See the tea set on the table? There are seven cups. They correspond to 7-6-5-4-3-2-1. Rotate them in that order from left to right, and the secret of this pavilion will reveal itself."
"Go on, try it, Brother Qingxu."
Aether explained his masterpiece with an eager smile.
On the surface, it looked like nothing more than a pavilion—but in truth, it concealed something far greater.
This was actually the entrance to a hidden pocket realm disguised as a pavilion.
To prevent just anyone from wandering in and ruining the surprise he had carefully prepared for Qingxu, Aether had added a simple mechanism.
In essence, it was a password lock.
The code looked simple enough, but with seven steps, a single mistake would prevent activation—and three consecutive errors would trigger lightning strong enough to kill a Geovishap.
Anyone attempting to brute-force their way in would find the cost of trial and error exceedingly steep.
After hearing Aether's explanation, Qingxu nodded slightly.
This surprise certainly had a sense of ceremony to it.
Now the only question was what exactly awaited inside.
Under Aether's expectant gaze, Qingxu rotated the cups in sequence according to the instructions.
Activation succeeded.
A flash of white light enveloped them. Qingxu did not resist.
In the next instant, he was transported into the hidden realm within the pavilion.
Aether followed immediately after.
The entire pocket realm was suffused with ethereal, immortal aura, clearly resembling a place fit for an adepti.
They stood upon a floating island of considerable size. Roughly seventy percent of it was occupied by a massive wine pool, filled with bottomless depths of liquor.
Beside the pool stood another pavilion, furnished with exquisitely crafted drinking vessels.
And that wasn't all.
At the edge of the wine pool grew a towering peach blossom tree, its shape carefully cultivated. Most of its branches stretched out over the pool itself.
From time to time, petals drifted down into the wine, imparting a faint peach fragrance—a perfect finishing touch.
The moment Qingxu entered, he was completely captivated by the scenery before him.
Beautiful.
Too beautiful.
Brother Aether's gift—he truly, truly loved it.
Qingxu hurried to the edge of the pool, eager to taste what kind of immortal brew filled this lake.
This time, the wine Aether had poured into the pool was not Maotai, which he usually brought.
In Aether's eyes, what was Maotai, really?
It couldn't compare to the peach blossom brew he had carefully manifested and refined.
That's right.
The entire pool was filled with peach blossom wine.
"Well? Brother Qingxu, do you like this gift?"
"Does this pool of peach blossom brew suit your taste? If not, I can change it to a different flavor."
Aether walked over to Qingxu's side and asked.
Qingxu scooped up a handful of wine.
With just a single sip, he froze.
If he were to classify all the wine he had ever tasted, then after experiencing this peach blossom brew, there would be only two categories in his mind:
Peach blossom wine—and everything else.
He had never tasted anything so ethereal.
As the wine entered his body, he seemed to see endless peach blossoms filling the heavens. Within that sea of petals lay a sharp, cutting intent, as though someone were dancing with a sword beneath the falling blossoms.
Qingxu gradually immersed himself in that vision.
Seeing Qingxu lose himself, Aether was momentarily stunned.
What was going on? Was he drunk already? No… that seemed unlikely.
After some time, Qingxu finally opened his eyes again and looked at Aether with an apologetic expression.
"My apologies. Just now, I comprehended a trace of sword intent from this wine and became absorbed in it."
"I forgot that you were still waiting for my response."
"I am extremely satisfied with this wine—and even more satisfied with this gift."
"My thanks, Brother Aether, for such a generous present."
Qingxu clasped his hands toward Aether in solemn gratitude.
Aether had known this gift would please Qingxu.
Now that he had received Qingxu's heartfelt response, Aether felt thoroughly satisfied.
He laughed. "Haha, so that's what happened. Then I won't disturb you any further in your cultivation."
With that, Aether departed from the hidden realm within the pavilion.
Watching Aether leave, Qingxu picked up the wine set, poured himself a cup of peach blossom brew, and quietly began savoring the sword intent contained within the wine.
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