Xiao Chen picked up one cup and drained it in one go. Contrary to its fiery name, this wine was cooling and refres.h.i.+ng. A cold sensation spread throughout his body.
This cold feeling started from the inside to the outside as if Xiao Chen had fallen into an ice cave in that instant. Such an extreme change stimulated his entire body, making him s.h.i.+ver.
The cold sensation was too strong, overpowering the initial fragrance of the wine. Just as one forgot the taste of the wine, it slowly crept back and pervaded the entire body.
The intoxicating fragrance was like a clump of gentle fire, slowly advancing through his body and gradually eradicating that bone-chilling sensation within.
The fire was neither hurried nor slow. As it eradicated the cold in Xiao Chen’s body, the intoxicating fragrance slowly conquered the heart.
This was enjoyment at the very peak. Xiao Chen could not help but lean back in satisfaction. As his right hand gripped the illusory purple crystalline wine cup, he slowly closed his eyes.
The battle between cold and fire seemed to take an extremely long time. By the time all the cold sensation was completely eradicated, it felt like his body was on fire, reaching peak satisfaction.
Thousand Year Flame. This clump of flame seemed like it burned for a thousand years, never extinguis.h.i.+ng. In the instant the cold sensation completely disappeared, the flame reached its peak, a great height.
The flame burned ferociously, the effects of the fine wine erupting completely. Xiao Chen felt extreme satisfaction as sweat permeated his clothes, thoroughly drenching him. This was like a perfect cup of wine.
In his half-drunken-half-sober state, Xiao Chen discovered that the will of ice in his sea of consciousness silently became stronger.
It was as if the will of ice had undergone some kind of tempering, improving vastly. A chill spread through his sea of consciousness, allowing him to stay sober and preventing the wine from knocking him out.
“Great wine. It truly deserves its name of Thousand Year Flame,” Xiao Chen said, unable to restrain himself.
When he opened his eyes, his face flushed red, like he was drunk.
The waiter laughed, “Haha! That is natural. After all, our clan’s Young Miss personally brewed this Thousand Year Flame. Even if outsiders knew the brewing method, they would not be able to do it.”
Indeed, no one else has the same circ.u.mstances she does. Even the best brewer would not be able to do it, Xiao Chen thought to himself.
He raised his head and looked at the waiter. Then, he looked at the remaining nine cups of Thousand Year Flame and could not help but smile. The waiter had clearly tricked him.
When most people drank the Thousand Year Flame, they would fall over drunk with one cup. Those that could drink three were considered heroes. Even a great grandmaster-level Martial Sage would keel over after ten cups.
Ordinary people would not buy ten cups of Thousand Year Flame in one go. The waiter took advantage of the fact that Xiao Chen was an outsider, not informing him of this.
However, it was because of this that Xiao Chen discovered some secrets—secrets that he was very interested in.
Moreover, even if he drank a hundred cups, he would be fine.
Before the waiter’s horrified gaze, Xiao Chen downed the remaining nine cups of Thousand Year Flame one after another, finis.h.i.+ng them all in one go.
Then, he sank his consciousness into his body and carefully observed. He discovered that what he felt earlier had not been an illusion. His will of ice was indeed growing stronger.
Under the stimulation of nine cups of Thousand Year Flame, the changes were even more obvious.
Xiao Chen could not help becoming overjoyed. This effect was truly unexpected. He immediately asked, “Do you still have more Thousand Year Flame? Bring me another ten cups.”
The waiter was somewhat stunned. He only reacted after a long time, smiling embarra.s.sedly. “Sir’s capacity for alcohol is really startling. I have worked in this tavern for many years, and I have not seen anyone who could down more than three cups before keeling over.
“However, it is very unfortunate. We ran out already. What you bought was the last ten cups. We will only sell it again when our Young Miss is in the mood to brew more.”
That was truly unfortunate. Xiao Chen discovered that with the aid of ten cups of Thousand Year Flame, his will of ice almost approached Small Perfection.
[TL Note: In chapter 995, it said, “That is the long-lost Ice Immortal Pearl. Legend says that it is a treasure of the Immortal Epoch. After refining it, one can immediately comprehend a Great Perfection will of ice.” We speculate that the Great Perfection part was just part of the legend, which was not entirely true. There was no previous indication that Xiao Chen did comprehend a Great Perfection will of ice.]
With another cup, he would be able to advance his will of ice to Small Perfection, saving him many years.
The other cultivators in the tavern were all shocked by Xiao Chen drinking ten cups of Thousand Year Flame in one go.
“Incredible. If not for his Martial Monarch cultivation, I would have taken him for some big shot.”
“I heard that the first condition of those talented youths who want to meet with the Young Miss alone is to drink three cups of Thousand Year Flame. Many outstanding talents of the Cloud Sea Domain that advanced to Inferior Grade Martial Sage already did not even dare to drink three cups, which made all of them very depressed.”
“This fellow can drink ten cups in one go. That is unheard-of. I wonder, what will Miss Mo do?”
“So what if he can do that? He is just an Inferior Grade Martial Monarch. He can’t even compare to us. Can it be that he wants to compete with the talented youths of the Cloud Sea Domain?”
After a while, all sorts of jealous and disdainful words rang out in the tavern.
Xiao Chen smiled and ignored them. Even if he wished to, he could not do anything. After ten cups of Thousand Year Flame, his legs had gone soft. If not for the will of ice, he would have fallen over already.
“Young Master Xing is here!”
Two old men with extraordinary auras, wearing embroidered clothes, who had been standing outside the door, slowly walked into the tavern. The Mo Clan cultivators noticed them immediately.
The Mo Clan cultivators all stood up and greeted them respectfully. Some of them were even Mo Clan elders who were Martial Sages and held extraordinary statuses in the Mo Clan.
This Young Master Xing was already an Inferior Grade Martial Sage at such a young age. With one look, it was clear he was a talented youth of the Cloud Sea Domain.
Even the two servants by this Young Master Xing’s side were peak Martial Monarchs, which showed that his clan was extraordinary.
Xiao Chen sized up this Young Master Xing with one glance before looking away.
Then while everyone else was distracted, looking away from Xiao Chen, he slowly relaxed his tightly clenched left hand.
Before Xiao Chen’s eyes appeared a cuboid piece of ice sealing that golden light within and covering up its radiance.
Even so, at such a close distance, he could still feel the extreme heat of the sun. Just a small bit of flames could actually give off such a feeling.
If there was a large clump of this flame, how powerful would it be?
Ao Jiao, you can make out what it is, right?
Ao Jiao, who was in the Immortal Spirit Ring, exclaimed in joy, This is the Solar True Flame!
Xiao Chen nodded and said, This contains even more Yang Energy than my Purple Thunder True Fire. This Mo Clan Young Miss is not simple. She probably has the Solar True Flame’s Origin Flame.
Given the Mo Clan’s strength, they clearly could not have obtained a Flame Seed for the Solar True Flame. Xiao Chen felt that even if he were a quasi-Emperor, he would not dare to barge into the blazing sun.
Such a feat would be even more impossible for a Rank 6 clan. So the Solar True Flame on Mo Chen could only have been inherited from her ancestors.
This Miss Mo really hid herself well. If not for the Golden Crows soaring and forming the scene of ten connected suns, which elicited a reaction with the Golden Crow egg in Xiao Chen’s Dragon Phoenix Cauldron, given his abilities, he would not have discovered it.
In the brewing of this Thousand Year Flame, this Miss Mo fused in the Solar True Flame.
However, this wine was indeed a rare delectable wine. The experts since ancient times probably never thought of using the Solar True Flame for such a small thing like brewing wine.
The Thousand Year Flame could also raise Xiao Chen’s will of ice. The reason was unclear, but he was certain that it had something to do with the Thousand Year Flame containing the Solar True Flame.
Ao Jiao giggled and said, This Young Miss is your lucky star. Your Golden Crow egg now has a chance to hatch.
That is going to be difficult. With my current strength, even with the strength of my physical body, it will be hard to deal with an entire Rank 6 clan. Furthermore, this clan might have some hidden means.
Forceful s.n.a.t.c.hing will definitely not work. I do not like this method, either.
Xiao Chen shook his head. He felt that this matter was very tricky. He continued, If we tried to use something to exchange, don’t even mention whether the other party is willing or not, without enough strength, once a treasure is revealed, they might end up developing malicious intents.
If a Martial Monarch carrying the treasures of a great grandmaster-level Martial Sage tried to carry out a transaction with others, the consequences would be easy to imagine.
What should we do, then?
We will take this step by step. The more urgent matter at hand is recovering my strength. We should inquire into the Cloud Sea Domain’s situation from that waiter first.
Xiao Chen called the waiter over again. After giving him some benefits, he managed to gain the information that he sought.
The ruler of the Shattered Cloud Sea was the City Lord of Shattered Cloud City, a quasi-Emperor. The thousands of islands in the area paid a huge tribute to him at Shattered Cloud City every year.
The situations of the other sea regions in the Cloud Sea Domain were more or less similar, ruled by a quasi-Emperor.
Although the Shattered Cloud Sea’s Mo Clan was only a Rank 6 clan, they excelled at refining. In terms of status and influence, they were much stronger than many Rank 7 sects.
This time, the Mo Clan promised the Shattered Cloud City’s City Lord to refine a Sage Grade Secret Treasure for his son. So it specially set out to sea to search for materials.
Xiao Chen also learned of some other miscellaneous information. After hearing everything, he intended to leave.
However, when he turned, he happened to catch that Young Master Xing’s attention.
Young Master Xing’s gaze was hostile as if he had been waiting for Xiao Chen to turn around.
Xiao Chen did not wish to stir up any trouble, so he started to leave. When he walked past that Young Master Xing, Young Master Xing said, “I heard that you drank ten cups of Thousand Year Flame in one go. Your capacity for alcohol is startling. Tell me the secret to it.”
“It is just drinking; everyone’s capacity varies. There is no secret to it,” Xiao Chen said hurriedly and resumed his departure.
However, Young Master Xing’s two servants blocked the path ahead.
Young Master Xing put down the wine cup in his hand and said placidly, “Did I say that you can go? I’ll give you three thousand Black Astral Coins. Tell me the secret.”
After Young Master Xing spoke, the originally calm atmosphere in the entire tavern became agitated.
“I heard that Young Master Xing always wanted to meet with the Young Miss alone. However, he could not clear the condition of drinking three cups of Thousand Year Flame.”
“This stranger is really unfortunate. Young Master Xing is one of the strongest younger-generation experts of our Shattered Cloud Sea. Even within the Cloud Sea Domain, he ranks within the top twenty.”
“It is best to be more low-profile. He is clearly only a Martial Monarch, yet he showed off like that. It is impossible for him not to have bad luck.”
The Mo Clan cultivators all looked at Xiao Chen with sympathy. A Martial Monarch against the Inferior Grade Martial Sage Young Master Xing, the result was obvious.
The two peak Martial Monarch servants blocking the front stared at Xiao Chen coldly like they were superior to him.
“Brat, our Young Master told you to hand over the secret, so just hand it over. We gave you face, but you refused.”
“Looks like you are not going to feel regret until you see your grave. Beat him up!”
The servant on the right with the larger figure saw the look Young Master Xing gave him. Hence, he raised his hand and sent a slap at Xiao Chen.
This servant’s Quintessence surged, and a flame lit up on his right hand. If this slap landed, it would not be as simple as leaving a handprint.