by Translator: BornToBe; Author: Ordinary Magician (平凡魔术师); Licensed From: 17k
“I’ve struck gold!” Long Chen jumped in shock. This winemaker had definitely been a big figure in the past. This spatial ring had dozens of King items, as well as various medicinal pills, cultivation techniques, and secret arts.
Most importantly, he saw a huge mountain of yuan spirit stones. That was what excited him the most.
“Long Chen, what’s inside the spatial ring?” asked Xia Youluo curiously.
Long Chen directly handed it to her so she could see for herself. But she merely glanced inside and disappointedly said, “I thought there was going to be some treasure? Are these things useful?”
Long Chen rolled his eyes speechlessly. “Why do I feel like you’re someone who’s never been hungry and don’t know what it feels like? Perhaps a genius like you who has never been lacking cultivation resources will never understand the vexation of poor people like me. Do you know that each increase in resources for people with no background requires risking their lives?”
“Why would you risk your life? Aren’t you doing fine right now?” asked Xia Youluo.
Long Chen gave up explaining it to her. Looking carefully in the spatial ring, he saw that there were many items inside. But now wasn’t the time to take stock of them.
The two of them continued forward and quickly arrived at another pavilion. This pavilion’s doors were closed, and no one came out to invite them.
That was very normal. The Wine God Palace’s disciples spent most of their time making wine as their cultivation. They only occasionally waited outside their pavilions waiting for fated people to come and judge their wine.
After walking past three pavilions, they encountered a female disciple of the Wine God Palace.
This time, Xia Youluo took the initiative to greet her. This woman seemed to be very happy to have someone come and judge her wine, and she warmly invited the two of them in.
However, when Xia Youluo was asked to judge her wine, she could only say that it was a good wine. As for what aspect of it was good exactly, she was unable to express it.
Fortunately, there was a grand swindler like Long Chen who was proficient in the Pill Dao. In truth, there were many similar parts to winemaking and refining pills. No matter what kind of wine he encountered, he was able to say a few specific points about the winemaking process.
Other than that, he had an incredibly sharp spiritual perception from the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art. He could clearly sense the realm contained within the wine and its effects.
He would make a few accurate comments, as well as a few harsh comments. Whatever flaws were contained in their wine, he would describe them clearly in just a few sentences, delighting these disciples.
It had to be known that the Wine God Palace’s cultivation was a kind of mental realm, and winemaking was their only method of cultivating.
The Wine God Palace’s disciples weren’t afraid of others being frank and criticizing their wine. What they were afraid of was that others wouldn’t be able to say anything specific about their wine, wasting it. As long as a person was able to accurately judge their wine, no matter how harsh their words were, they would be delighted.
They continued through dozens of the Wine God Palace’s disciples. Xia Youluo bore witness to Long Chen’s masterful abilities. Each one of the Wine God Palace’s disciples had unique styles of wine, and their characters were all extremely different.
Some were refined and scholarly, some were sloppy like beggars. Some were like fierce butchers, while some were like secluded hermits. To sum it up, there were all kinds and sorts.
As for Long Chen, he was able to recite poetry back to the scholar, he could discuss life with the beggar, he could play a coarse finger-guessing game with the butcher, and he could speak about Buddhist allegories with the hermit. No matter who it was, he would be able to get them to give him their wine.
The thing that shocked Xia Youluo the most was when Long Chen drank wine with the butcher. In the end, they drank so much that they were cursing coarsely, their spit flying everywhere. And in the end, the butcher gave Long Chen all of his best wine.
It wasn’t just the butcher. All those whose wine Long Chen drank, whether they were man or woman, old or young, were plundered by Long Chen.
What made Xia Youluo want to prostrate herself toward Long Chen was that he didn’t even need to open his mouth and ask for their wine. They would take the initiative to give it to him, as if not doing so would make them ashamed for a lifetime.
As for Long Chen, he would always make a tactful refusal at first, but in the end, when the other side was about to get angry, he would reluctantly accept their gifts. This pattern made Xia Youluo want to beat him.
After a long stroll, Xia Youluo had also gained a large pile of benefits. But she didn’t know that what she had obtained was not even a sliver of what Long Chen had received.
These people gave Long Chen spatial rings filled with wine. After speaking with Long Chen, they felt like the clouds had parted. It was like they had transcended. At that time, Long Chen would subtly remind them that they had entered a new era and they should abandon all their old achievements. That was the only way to give them the courage to advance without looking back.
It was unknown if those people really had transcended, but Long Chen definitely had. His primal chaos space was now filled with a mountain of wine jugs.
Each time he obtained a spatial ring, he would use the primal chaos space to pull the wine jugs in and leave a tiny amount.
Long Chen was truly immoral. He would then split that tiny amount with Xia Youluo evenly. Xia Youluo didn’t even suspect him. Seeing Long Chen split his spoils evenly with her made her feel full of gratitude toward him, and she even forgot about all her previous displeasure.
When the sky darkened, Long Chen and Xia Youluo left, completely satisfied. Xia Youluo didn’t even cause any fuss. She was smiling brightly, saying that when she got back, she would give her father and mother a pleasant surprise.
Even in the imperial family, if they wanted to drink this kind of wine, they had to personally go to the Wine God Palace. Furthermore, the disciples’ characters were odd, and they refused to sell their wine even to the emperor.
On the way back, Xia Youluo held Long Chen’s arm happily, almost making Long Chen feel flattered. When this girl wasn’t being foolish, she was quite charming.
Only once they left the Wine God Palace did Xia Youluo let go of Long Chen’s arm and return to the palace with the guards.
Those guards were surprised to see the two of them smiling so brightly. When they had entered, they had appeared hostile to each other, just shy of actually fighting. The guards looked at each other silently. It seemed that whatever wine those two had drunk was definitely good wine. It was no wonder the Grand Xia’s people always said they couldn’t be lacking wine when trying to make relations.
“Long Chen, I really admire you. You know far more than my imperial tutor.” Looking at the hundreds of jugs of wine in her spatial ring, a worshipful expression appeared on Xia Youluo’s face.
She could not be more excited. Any of these jugs of wine was enough to stun people. Right now, she was impatient to start showing them off.
“Hehe, if you muddle along with me, I guarantee you’ll have enough to drink for a lifetime.” Being worshipped by a grand princess made Long Chen feel very refreshed inside.
“Alright, then the next time you go, remember to bring me along. I won’t accompany you to my brother’s place. I’m going home!” Xia Youluo pulled a cute face and then vanished like a wisp of smoke.
“Hmph, how disloyal. But I suppose she hasn’t experienced the world yet. If I asked her to hold back showing off her wine, she’d probably explode.”
Long Chen followed the guards back to Xia Yunchong’s residence. Although it was also part of the imperial palace, it was heavily guarded with countless formations. Without someone leading the way, he would constantly have to go through checkpoints.
“Brother Long, how were y
our gains today?” Xia Yunchong had long since been waiting for him. As soon as he sensed him, he rushed over to meet him.
“Haha, I made plentiful gains.” Long Chen gave Xia Yunchong a gesture of victory. He had truly gained much today.
“Youluo has started to form a favorable opinion of you?” Xia Yunchong was delighted.
“Uh…” Long Chen was struck dumb. Looking at Xia Yunchong’s delighted expression, Long Chen suddenly realized he had misunderstood. The gains the two of them were talking about were not quite the same. He had been so excited over his gains today that he had completely forgotten about the mission Xia Yunchong had entrusted him. He awkwardly said, “I suppose it can count as taking one step in that direction.”
“That’s fine, that’s good. We can’t rush this. That girl is extremely defensive. Right now, I don’t even dare to mention anything about the Grand Han around her or she explodes. Since you’ve only just met her, you should first gain her trust and temporarily not raise any sensitive topics. We don’t want her to also feel defensive toward you,” sighed Xia Yunchong.
Long Chen bitterly smiled inside. She had already started forming defenses around her. And she hadn’t exploded just once today…
“Come, brother Xia, I gained countless fine wines today. Have a taste.”
Long Chen took out jug after jug of wines marked with special symbols in front of Xia Yunchong’s stunned gaze. Seeing those special marks, his eyes almost popped out.
Chapter 1186 The Fierce Yang Butcher, Tu Qianshang
Xia Yunchong was struck dumb as Long Chen took out jug after jug of wine marked with special symbols.
Each wine made by the Wine God Palace’s disciples represented their life and experience. They each contained a different realm and comprehension, and every aspect of their taste was filled with profundities. Therefore, drinking them was not simply drinking wine; this was a way of communicating with the Heavenly Daos.
Now, there were dozens of small wine jugs placed before Xia Yunchong and Long Chen. The two of them carefully savored them and began to discuss the insights within the wine. Xia Yunchong was incredibly excited. Sampling and comprehending another person’s life from the viewpoint of a spectator allowed him to get closer to the Heavenly Daos.
“Pfft! What wine is this?! How can it be so hot and fiery?!”
When he tasted the final wine, Xia Yunchong almost spat it out. He hastily covered his mouth, filled with shock.
The wine was like lava pouring down his throat. A terrifying energy spread through him, making him feel like he was about to ignite.
“Savor it properly,” chortled Long Chen. Back then, he had also been like this, almost causing a certain fierce-looking fellow to laugh at him.
Xia Yunchong managed to swallow it. When the wine reached his stomach, it immediately felt like millions of tiny blades were stabbing through his body.
But very quickly, the energy of the wine scattered through his meridians. When it reached the ends of his meridians, another burst of pain erupted inside him. He felt like his meridians would explode.
It was as though a runner saw a mountain blocking their way and decided to charge right through it.
But as a result, the mountain didn’t collapse and the energy rebounded even fiercer. First the energy had overflowed and spread through his body, and now it was gathering once more.
“Not good!” Xia Yunchong’s expression changed. The wine energy was crashing toward his Dantian wildly. His aura was exploding out of control.
If he allowed that energy to explode, then his residence would be blown apart. Fortunately, Xia Yunchong had a powerful cultivation base and he forcibly restrained his aura.
But rumbling sounds came from his body as though volcanoes were exploding within him. It lasted for several breaths before slowly stopping. Xia Yunchong was filled with shock. “What terrifying energy, what great comprehension, and what a domineering will!”
“Hehe, I was the same as you, brother Xia. I almost embarrassed myself. That fierce-looking fatty really has some skill.” Long Chen nodded. This wine had been made by the butcher.
“A fierce-looking fatty? Are you talking about the Fierce Yang Butcher, Tu Qianshang?” cried Xia Yunchong with shock.
“I don’t know. But he was surnamed Tu. He told me to call him Fatty Tu,” said Long Chen. From the start, he had felt like that butcher’s origins were as big as his stomach. Now seeing Xia Yunchong’s shocked expression, he supposed his guess had been right.
“Brother Long, let me tell you about him. Three thousand five hundred years ago, with just his own power, he annihilated one of the ancient races. In just a single night, he killed hundreds of Soul Transformation ancient race experts, and even their race leader was killed. That race leader was an existence on the same level as your Xuantian Dao Sect’s Xuan Master. His name of the Fierce Yang Butcher came from that time. Having one of their ancient races annihilated infuriated the ancient race alliance. They immediately issued a kill order on him, and all the ancient races’ experts moved out to kill him.
“Encircled by them, Tu Qianshang fled, almost dying several times. He was heavily injured, but he still managed to escape.
“After recovering, he then crazily attacked the ancient races once more, annihilating seven of their races. Those races had all participated in the hunt for him.
“As a result, the ancient race alliance was once more infuriated, and they moved out in huge numbers to kill him. But Tu Qianshang had grown smarter, and he vanished, not giving them any chance to surround him again.
“As he fled, he also launched counterattacks. In three years, the ancient races lost three experts on the level of their race leaders and hundreds of Soul Transformation experts.
“In the end, Tu Qianshang had killed too many of the ancient race experts; hence, someone had gone to Heavenly Fate Island to get the information about Tu Qianshang’s whereabouts. Just as the experts of the ancient races were about to kill Tu Qianshang, the Wine God Palace’s people appeared and saved him. From then on, Tu Qianshang became a disciple of the Wine God Palace.” Xia Yunchong respectfully and worshipfully told Long Chen about Tu Qianshang’s history.
“The ancient races were really willing to swallow their anger and let the Wine God Palace take him away?” Long Chen couldn’t believe it.
“The real question is would the ancient races dare to try to stop them? The Wine God Palace has a true god’s inheritance. Brother Long, don’t look down on the Wine God Palace’s disciples because they only make wine and you can’t see their cultivation bases.
“The majority of those people were all stunning experts of their time, people who had shaken their era. That is why they all have their own different insights toward life, and the wine they make is unique to themselves. Others are all groping around within the Heavenly Daos, while they have already reached another realm.
“The Wine God Palace’s power is such that not just anyone can provoke them. Do you know how powerful Pill Valley is? When the Wine God Palace kicked them out back then, they didn’t even dare to let out a fart. If even Pill Valley didn’t dare to go against them, what qualifications does the ancient race alliance have to challenge the Wine God Palace? They are just some descendants who have been abandoned by the Xuan Beasts.
“Furthermore, the ancient race alliance never liked the human race. They even refuse to admit they are the human race’s descendants. They only say they are the Xuan Beasts’ descendants, and yet the Xuan Beasts don’t want them.
“I digress. Let’s continue speaking of the Wine God Palace. The Wine God Palace’s disciples have already abandoned the martial path in pursuit of the Wine Dao. They abandon suffering and obtain happiness. What they seek is their own chance to become an immortal or a god. But that doesn’t represent that they don’t have any martial might. As long as others don’t provoke them, they won’t do anything. Even if someone offends them, they’ll normally just expel that person. If no one blasphemes the Wine God, the Wi
ne God Palace’s disciples are forbidden from killing,” explained Xia Yunchong.
Long Chen had an urge to slap himself. It seemed he had gone a bit too far this time. Each one of them was a big figure, and he had actually bragged to them about his wine judging skills and swindled them of their wine?
Thinking of that, he began to sweat. This time, he really had been stupid. Those people had to have all gone through their own unique experiences, or they wouldn’t have been able to comprehend their own Daos.
In truth, Long Chen didn’t realize that it was precisely because he hadn’t taken their status seriously that they had welcomed him. In their eyes, the Wine Dao was everything. They no longer cared about the martial path or their old accomplishments on it.
If Long Chen had instead revered them because of their status and cultivation base, they would have had a bad reaction to him. Furthermore, by using his Pill Sovereign memories and his senses from the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art, his bragging and big words had ended up allowing them to find their weaknesses. That was why they had been so generous as to give all their fine wine to him.
“When Tu Qianshang was chased down, he was only at the Soul Transformation realm. He fought across realms to kill Life Star experts! That shook practically all the Central Plains. His wine is his Dao, fiery and fierce, domineering to the peak. It is filled with a will to advance forward obstinately. I cultivate the Undefeatable Dao, so this wine is extremely beneficial to me. Brother Long, this jug of wine… can you leave it for me to comprehend?” Xia Yunchong thickened his face, but he still felt a burning sensation on it as he asked this.
His face was completely red. His brother had invited him to drink wine, and now he wanted him to not drink it and leave it to him. That was a bit shameless.
Long Chen didn’t walk the Undefeatable Dao, so drinking it might be addicting, but it was wasteful. If the wine was given to Xia Yunchong, it would allow him to walk further on the Undefeatable Dao, making his aura even fiercer and more powerful.
