Watching the two of them work while arguing, Venti couldn't help but urge them on.
"Hey, you two, hurry up!"
"Holding something this heavy with Elemental Power consumes a lot of it."
"I don't have much Elemental Power left. If I run out, this strawberry jam will really fall!"
Arkz and Xing exchanged a look, both rolling their eyes in unison, but they stopped arguing and sped up their movements.
It was true that Venti's Elemental Power consumption was high while maintaining the lift, but claiming he was nearly depleted was definitely a lie.
Since achieving godhood, Arkz had never worried about a shortage of Elemental Power again. The Elemental Power he expended at full strength was less than what he naturally recovered by absorbing it from the surroundings.
If the great Anemo Archon Barbatos were to completely deplete his Anemo Elemental Power, it would surely be counted as one of the Eight Miracles of Teyvat, ranking alongside the Electro Archon being struck dead by lightning, the Pyro Archon being burned to death by fire... and the Heavenly Principles being burst by Elemental Power!
Clearly, Venti said that to hide his identity as the Anemo Archon from Xing.
It seemed Venti hadn't realized Xing was his clone. The System's protection was truly effective.
Although Xing, as Arkz's clone, already knew Venti was Mondstadt's Anemo Archon Barbatos, seeing Venti's dedicated performance, the two decided to play along.
"Venti, all the lids on the brewing barrels are open."
Arkz called out to Venti in the distance.
"Got it. You two step back a bit."
After Xing and Arkz moved away from the brewing barrels, Venti began manipulating the strawberry jam floating in the air to fly into the barrels.
Under Venti's control, the bright red strawberry juice seemed to possess life, flexibly drilling into the brewing barrels. Not a single drop of juice was wasted during the entire process.
This technique of controlling Elemental Power had reached a state of perfection, much like the description of Butcher Ding carving an ox in ancient texts.
"Is it done already?"
Xing asked curiously, looking at the jam inside the barrels.
"Of course not. Brewing wine isn't that simple."
Venti casually broke off a tree branch, used Anemo Element to scrape its exterior clean, and then used it to scoop out some jam to taste.
"Arkz, do you have sugar and yeast culture here?"
Arkz nodded, then shook his head. "I have some sugar left from my last purchase, but I don't have yeast culture."
"I see."
Venti said to Arkz, "You go get the sugar first. I'll go find some yeast culture."
Saying that, Venti transformed into a gust of clear wind and vanished.
It had to be said that when it came to matters related to fine wine, Venti's efficiency was terrifyingly high, showing none of his usual slacking off.
In less than a minute, Venti returned with the yeast culture.
They added the sugar and yeast culture, along with some lemon juice, adjusting the acidity to create an environment suitable for yeast to thrive and multiply.
Finally, they sealed the brewing barrels to prevent contact with the air inside.
Looking at the tightly sealed brewing barrels, Venti nodded and said:
"This should be about it. Place these brewing barrels in a cool place and let time pass. The sweet and sour strawberry juice will ferment into delicious strawberry fruit wine."
Venti looked at the brewing barrels before him, an indescribable joy in his eyes.
He gently stroked the barrels as if they were precious treasures.
Xing found this scene very familiar. Right, it was exactly how she treated trash cans when rummaging through them!
Looking at the brewing barrels before him, Arkz let out a long sigh.
"So the brewing process is this complicated!"
"I thought I could just put the strawberries into the brewing barrel and it would automatically turn into delicious strawberry fruit wine."
Having experienced the entire brewing process, Arkz felt a bit overwhelmed.
Even with Venti's help, the brewing took this long. If the cost of physical labor were added, it would be even less worthwhile.
Venti smiled. "Although the process is a bit complex, you will gain an unparalleled sense of satisfaction when you taste the wine you brewed with your own hands."
"And the better the quality of the wine, the stronger this satisfaction becomes!"
"As long as we can drink delicious strawberry fruit wine, all the effort is worth it."
Venti gently patted the brewing barrel beside him, his eyes full of anticipation. "Just thinking that I can taste the deliciousness inside a year from now makes me impatient!"
However, Venti's words shocked Arkz.
"Wait, you said a year from now!!!"
Venti looked at Arkz doubtfully, his large eyes seeming to ask what was wrong with what he said.
"The strawberry fruit wine will be ready in a year!"
"A year from now, the goose will have long flown away (it'll be too late)!"
"Isn't there any way to speed up this brewing process?"
Venti shrugged and explained:
"This is a necessary process for brewing. One year is already considered short."
"If you want to obtain high-quality wine, after the initial year of brewing, you still need to rack, fine-clarify, adjust sugar, adjust acidity, and adjust alcohol content before continuing to brew."
"My friend, the older the wine, the more delicious and precious it is. That's common knowledge, isn't it?"
This troublesome?
Listening to Venti's explanation, Arkz and Xing's eyes were almost spinning.
After stuffing Venti with a few more strawberries, Arkz promised him a free tasting once the batch was opened, finally sending away the Drunkard.
Looking at the brewing barrels on the farm, Xing and Arkz exchanged glances.
"The traditional Teyvat brewing method is too complicated. Too cumbersome."
"Exactly!"
"It looks like it's time to give the people of Teyvat a little shock from the Stardew Valley brewing style!"
Compared to the brewing method taught by Venti, the Stardew Valley brewing style had both advantages and disadvantages.
The advantage was that the Stardew Valley style was simpler, more convenient, had stable quality, and most importantly, required less time to brew!
One only needed to add crops to the brewing barrel, and the barrel would automatically start brewing. After waiting seven days, the brewing process would be complete.
The entire process required absolutely no human care or participation.
However, the disadvantage of the brewing style was also very obvious.
That is, the wine brewed using the System's brewing barrels was like an industrially mass-produced item; it was difficult to compete in quality with the century-old vintages of Dawn Winery.
But this point could be mitigated by improving the quality of the raw materials. It wasn't an unsolvable problem.
For example, strawberry fruit wine might not impress a discerning connoisseur, but what about when I bring out Gem Berry Wine, or Ancient Fruit Wine? How would Your Excellency respond then?
Besides the issue of wine quality, there was also the matter of crafting the System's brewing barrels.
According to the System's requirements, the brewing barrel was unlocked after Farming Level 8. This wasn't much for Arkz; continuously harvesting strawberries had rapidly increased his Farming Level.
Raising the Farming Level to eight was only a matter of a day or two.
The crux of the issue was—the materials required for the Stardew Valley brewing barrel.
-------------------------
If you enjoy this story, you can read 70+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
Webnovel will keep getting 1 new chapter every day but Patreon readers can stay far ahead.
Maybe it's not a big deal now… maybe it will be later.
[email protected]/Rexlent
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"