Chapter 0962: Dao Fruit Wine
Although he didn’t understand why Ning Cheng was brothers with Sheng Houtian, Le Jiesheng quickly reacted and said, “So Brother Ning is a friend of Lord Sheng. I was negligent before.”
Even Ning Cheng had to admire Sheng Houtian. Such a person was too dangerous to have as an enemy. No wonder Le Jiesheng weighed the pros and cons so quickly. The Pill Union wasn’t a part of any of the ten great sects and forces. Yet, it wasn’t any inferior to the ten major factions at all. In fact, in certain respects, the Pill Union was even more powerful than those forces. On the other hand, Le Jiesheng was just a city lord. Even if he was a Dao Fusion cultivator, he was still much weaker than the combined strength and influence of the Pill Union.
Le Jiesheng seemed to have seen the wind and bowed down to Sheng Houtian, but the pride of a powerhouse in his bones made him not take Ning Cheng seriously at all.
Le Jiesheng could bend and stretch depending on the situation without affecting his dao heart, even when yielding at the surface. This made him even more terrifying than Sheng Houtian in certain respects.
After saluting Sheng Houtian, Le Jiesheng also cupped his fists towards Ning Cheng. “Brother Ning, I was wrong just now. Even if I wanted to drive you away, I should have looked for a justifiable reason.”
Ning Cheng simply gave a curt but cold reply. “I don’t have many brothers, but you’re definitely not qualified to be my brother.”
The crowd immediately went into an uproar. A Dao Sculpting Holy Emperor had just said that a Dao Fusion powerhouse wasn’t qualified to be his brother. It was simply too arrogant.
Le Jiesheng’s face turned cold, and a murderous aura started to overflow from him. He didn’t care about temporarily bowing his head to Sheng Houtian. But Ning Cheng, a mere Dao Sculpting Holy Emperor, dared to ridicule him; this was simply seeking death.
“Haha…..” Sheng Houtian walked to the seats marked for the Pill Union and sat down. He then swept his gaze towards the still standing Tong Mingzhe and spoke up with an icy tone. “This sage likes to see who dares to touch my brother today.”
“Looks quite lively.” With another voice, several Holy Emperors walked into the guest hall. This sudden interruption immediately diffused Le Jiesheng’s anger for the moment.
What puzzled Ning Cheng was that the group leader was only a Dao Raising Holy Emperor. Considering this fact and the venue, this person most likely was a powerful alchemist. Moreover, this Dao Raising Holy Emperor looked relatively young with a unique dao rhythm surrounding him. Ning Cheng was a Dao Transformation Pill Sage, so he quickly understood that the aura surrounding him was an alchemic dao rhythm.
Ning Cheng’s courage and guts had already won over Jian Sanshan. Still, when Sheng Houtian stepped forward, Jian Sanshan immediately breathed a sigh of relief. He couldn’t have imagined that Ning Cheng and the Pill Union’s Second Union Master would have such a deep friendship. If that was really the case, other sects would have to be much more scrupulous if they wanted to move against Ning Cheng.
The hatred between Man Huishan and Ning Cheng would never resolve as Ning Cheng had killed Man Huishan’s son, Man Jiuren. But for other sects, if they were to offend Sheng Houtian for the sake of a dead person, it would only bring negative consequences for them. It even had the potential to turn other sects against them.
“Brother Ning, that person is the youngest Dao Transformation Pill Sage in the Grand Essence Realm, Jing Han. A Holy Emperor with the highest chance of becoming a Dao Essence Pill Sage. Plus, he’s also an elder of the Great Spirit Pill Sect. The two pill sages behind him are also from the Grand Spirit Pill Sect.” Jian Sanshan sent Ning Cheng a sound transmission.
Ning Cheng nodded. His alchemic dao rhythm wasn’t very conspicuous because of the nature of his Dao. It became even less noticeable after going through the alchemic epiphany and becoming a Dao Transformation Pill Sage. But looking closely at the alchemic dao rhythms surrounding Jing Han, Ning Cheng realised that Jian Sanshan was right. Jing Han was a Dao Transformation Pill Sage.
“Not bad; this person is indeed a strong alchemist.”
“The Great Spirit Pill Sect isn’t a big sect, but because the Grand Essence Realm’s youngest Dao Transformation Pill Sage, Jing Han, comes from the Great Spirit Pill Sect, it makes it no less than the ten great forces.” Jian Sanshan sighed.
He was a Dao Transformation Pill Deity himself. As such, he naturally knew how difficult it was to become a Dao Transformation Pill Sage. Because of this, he treated Jing Han with admiration and adoration usually reserved for venerable seniors.
Ning Cheng showed a faint smile. “It’s not bad to be a Dao Transformation Pill Sage, but it’s too much to say that he’s the youngest Dao Transformation Pill Sage, right? I’m also a Dao Transformation Pill Sage, and I believe that I’m much younger than him.”
Jian Sanshan smiled and didn’t answer Ning Cheng’s words. He didn’t believe Ning Cheng’s words.
However, he had indeed befriended Ning Cheng for a similar reason. Apart from Ning Cheng’s Empyrean Consciousness Trans.m.u.tation Pill, Ning Cheng also had high alchemic skills. An alchemist with poor talents in alchemy couldn’t have quickly found the central refining point of No Furnace. With his abilities, even if becoming a Dao Transformation Pill Sage wasn’t possible, Ning Cheng still could obtain the t.i.tle of a Pill Sage.
Every alchemist had their arrogance; even Jian Sanshan wasn’t an exception. As such, it wasn’t surprising to him that Ning Cheng had set his goal to become a Dao Transformation Pill Sage.
Once Ning Cheng took a look at Jian Sanshan’s expression, he understood that Jian Sanshan didn’t quite believe him. Therefore, he had to take out a light golden qualification token and say, “Brother Jian, what I said is true.”
Jian Sanshan’s initially unconcerned gaze fell on the qualification token in Ning Cheng’s hand, and he instantly froze as if struck by lightning. He was a Dao Transformation Pill Deity and naturally understood that this light golden qualification token was definitely a genuine Dao Transformation Pill Sage’s token.
Ning Cheng put away the Dao Transformation Pill Sage’s qualification token and showed a warm smile. “Brother Jian, now do you believe that I wasn’t lying to you?”
Jian Sanshan finally took a deep breath and stared at Ning Cheng with a fiery gaze. “I finally understand.”
He now understood why Sheng Houtian had called Ning Cheng his brother, even going so far as to offend Le Jiesheng. He also understood why Ning Cheng wasn’t afraid of Man Huishan.
The fact that he was close to Sheng Houtian made it worth investing in a relationship with Ning Cheng. Let alone the fact that Ning Cheng was a Dao Transformation Pill Sage. Even if Ning Cheng and Sheng Houtian weren’t close, any Pill Union-certified Dao Transformation Pill Sage wasn’t someone others could bully. As long as Ning Cheng had the Dao Transformation Pill Sage’s token, anyone targeting Ning Cheng would become the Pill Union’s number one enemy.
Although he was also a Pill Union-certified Dao Transformation Pill Deity, his status was still far below a Dao Transformation Pill Sage. On the other hand, Ning Cheng was a Pill Union-certified Dao Transformation Pill Sage.
“Brother Ning, it’s truly my luck to be friends with you.” Jian Sanshan finally calmed down. However, although he looked calm on the surface, he still couldn’t keep his heart from beating wildly.
Jian Sanshan recalled a pill Ning Cheng had given him two days ago once he eventually calmed down. At that time, Ning Cheng had merely said that it was the highest grade of pills that he had refined till now and gave him one from the batch. Now that he thought about it, how could Ning Cheng, a Pill Sage, give out an ordinary pill to a Dao Transformation Pill Deity like him?
Immediately, Jian Sanshan took out the jade bottle. He had planned to wait until the end of the City Lord’s banquet before taking out the pill and discussing it with Ning Cheng. He thought that Ning Cheng wanted his help to look at the strengths and weaknesses of the pill and then give him some pointers. But now, he understood that this definitely wasn’t the case.
“Violet Heaven Pill?” Jian Sanshan’s spiritual consciousness swept inside to look at the pill and almost screamed out.
The Violet Heaven Pill was a dao pill that gave Dao Raising Holy Emperors a better chance at reaching the Dao Transformation Realm. But more importantly, this pill was precisely what he needed urgently. Ning Cheng obviously understood his need, which was why he had given one to him.
“Brother Ning, thank you.” Jian Sanshan excitedly put the jade bottle away.
In the past, it was always him helping others refine pills. He got showered with thanks and gifts and many other benefits in return. But now, he was the one thanking Ning Cheng in the same way. He had only helped Ning Cheng because he also needed Ning Cheng’s help. However, his help was only a minor one, yet Ning Cheng had given him a reward that far exceeded it by tens of millions of times.
……
Jing Han seemed to enjoy quite a high status. The warm greetings were only second to Sheng Houtian and Le Jiesheng. At this moment, City Lord Le Jiesheng completely ignored Ning Cheng and personally guided Jing Han to the Great Spirit Pill Sect’s seating area.
Once the crowd finally settled down, Le Jiesheng stood up from the main seat and cupped his fists towards everyone. “Many thanks to all the sect masters, venerable seniors and the strongest alchemists of the Grand Essence Realm for coming to my Heaven Essence Sacred City’s City Master’s mansion as guests. We will begin with a serving of spiritual fruits and dao fruit wines……”
With a gesture from Le Jiesheng, a group of the pretty-looking female cultivators walked into the guest hall carrying jade trays. Each tray had an a.s.sortment of fruits and wines, which the female cultivators gracefully offered to the guests.
Ning Cheng’s heart twitched when he heard about dao fruit wines. If one used dao fruits to craft wines, wouldn’t that be more interesting than a pill? Once you ate pills, it was the end of it. Plus, pills usually had no taste. You couldn’t even taste the dao fruit used for refining the pill. It was primarily because dao pills a.s.sisted in sensing the laws of the dao fruits more clearly. The taste of the dao fruit or the other ingredients had no part in it.
But wine was different. Not only would it have the taste of the dao fruit, but it also contained the laws of the dao fruits used to produce it. This Le Jiesheng had quite the scheming mind. This dao fruit wine alone made it so that the trip here wasn’t a waste of time. Most likely, only Le Jiesheng, with his access to the orchard, could use dao fruits to make wine.
“There are quite a few who use dao fruits to make wine, but the only one who can bring it out to entertain guests is City Lord Le.” Jian Sanshan sent a sound transmission to Ning Cheng.
Using dao fruits to make wine and bringing it out to entertain so many people could indeed be considered generous.
Soon the jade trays containing dao fruit wines and spirit fruits arrived before him. Ning Cheng’s spiritual consciousness swept through them and found only a very faint aura of laws, disappointing Ning Cheng a bit.
But looking at the cup of wine in front of him, Ning Cheng suddenly thought of a way to get rich in his heart. If he could craft dao fruit wines from the fruits and keep the balance of laws and taste, it would definitely be a hundred times more popular than dao pills.
The more Ning Cheng thought about it, the more he felt it was feasible. He even forgot that he was still sitting in the City Lord’s banquet as he lifted the cup of dao fruit wine and took a large sip.
The wine indeed tasted excellent; hints of mellow and rich aura of the spirit and dao fruits rushed down his throat. However, the faint aroma of spirit fruits and the vague aura of laws made Ning Cheng very disappointed. One could craft such wine without effort, even from the most ordinary spirit fruits.
Using dao fruits to make such wine was, at best, just an eye-catcher. It didn’t give one any experience of the dao fruits’ laws or even the fragrance. One could even go so far as to say that it was a waste of resources.
“Hmph, truly vulgar and ignorant of the world. Before City Lord Le could even finish his words, he couldn’t wait to drink the dao fruit wine. Disgraceful to the core.” Shi Yisheng’s voice emerged.
She and Ning Cheng had already clashed in the Grand Essence Mystic Realm when Ning Cheng had disguised himself as Ji He. As such, she seized every opportunity to drop stones on Ning Cheng.
Jian Sanshan, who sat beside Ning Cheng’s side, also raised his cup and took a sip before speaking with a slightly drunk voice. “City Lord Le’s dao fruit wine is just too fragrant. I couldn’t help but take a sip.”
Le Jiesheng laughed and lifted his jade cup, and said, “I’m just here to celebrate the Illusionary Fruit Orchard where everyone can reap a great harvest. Plus, it’s also to celebrate the success of Alchemy Discourse.”
As the first cup of wine went down, the atmosphere in the guest hall also started to heat up. Everyone started to court the various alchemists. As for pill sages like Sheng Houtian and Jing Han, people kept toasting them. Even Jian Sanshan had many people come over to greet him.