Chapter 2064 (Raw 2159): Three Drinks First
On the villa wall, Chu Xiang took a long time to recover her calm. Then, she said, “I could not tell that Young Master Xiao was actually a bladesman. This is surprising.”
Xiao Chen replied softly, “It has been a long time since I used the saber. Fortunately, I’m not too rusty. Miss Chu Xiang’s sword skills should be pretty good. Are you willing to offer me advice?”
“I’d be thrilled to.”
Xiao Chen had not used the saber in a long time. If someone could exchange moves with him, he could improve his newly practiced Entering Hell much faster than practicing alone.
It was great that Chu Xiang could help out.
As for Chu Xiang, she already felt tempted after seeing Xiao Chen’s saber skills.
Even if Xiao Chen did not suggest exchanging pointers, she would have taken the initiative to propose it, as it would also be of great help to her.
“Whoosh!”
Right after Chu Xiang spoke, a sword appeared in her hand. Then, she swung her sword and charged at Xiao Chen.
When Chu Xiang unsheathed her sword, it radiated light. A lush lifeforce immediately spread out in the villa.
Hundreds of flowers suddenly appeared on the ground. The instant the flowers bloomed, Chu Xiang’s sword arrived before Xiao Chen. Amid the hundreds of flowers, her sword was the king of flowers.
It braved the blazing sun and bloomed proudly.
What a strong lifeforce!
Xiao Chen felt startled. Chu Xiang cultivated the Life Dao. This brought to mind the Flood Dragon Human Yan Cangming, who cultivated the Death Dao.
Compared to the Death Dao, the Life Dao was even harder to cultivate.
However, be it the Life Dao or the Death Dao, they were both special Great Dao that stood above elemental Dao like wind, fire, or lightning.
Xiao Chen did not dare to underestimate this strike. He immediately drew his Tyrant Saber.
Xiao Chen infused his Thunder Dao’s Great Dao Energy into his saber and blocked this vast lifeforce.
When the saber and the sword clashed, Chu Xiang was somewhat shocked to realize that the two were evenly matched.
Chu Xiang had been a Sovereign Personage for at least two years already. Her cultivation would definitely be much deeper. However, she could not suppress Xiao Chen, a newly advanced Sovereign Personage.
Without much time to think, Chu Xiang shook her wrist. The hundreds of flowers fell and withered as she quickly changed moves.
Two people—one a bladesman and the other a swordswoman—exchanged moves under the blazing sun.
Neither was willing to admit defeat, not letting their aura and sharpness give in.
Slowly, as the exchange went on, the two fought with increasingly less reservation. They gradually unleashed more of the strength they kept suppressed.
While the two were evenly matched, Chu Xiang held a slight advantage.
After all, Chu Xiang came from the Heavenly Fragrance Holy Land, and she had advanced to Sovereign Personage two years earlier than Xiao Chen did. Furthermore, this was just an exchange; Xiao Chen could not bring out many of his trump cards.
Such a result was logical.
—
The sun rose, and the sun set. Two days passed in the blink of an eye.
Xiao Chen exchanged moves with Chu Xiang during the day and worked on stabilizing his cultivation at night. He did not feel the passage of time.
He still had not fought to his heart’s content, but two days had already elapsed.
Even if he still had not had enough, he needed to stop as the Wine King Contest would start soon.
“I’m calling it quits!” Chu Xiang pulled her sword back and sheathed it. She felt some lingering fear in her heart. During the first day, she still held the upper hand. However, she found that she now could no longer cope with some moves.
Furthermore, this was before Xiao Chen brought out that horrifying killing move. Chu Xiang had not seen a bladesman with such astonishing comprehension ability before.
Xiao Chen’s strong comprehension ability inspired fear in others.
He asked softly, “Miss Chu, do you want to come to the Wine King Contest with me?”
Chu Xiang smiled faintly and replied, “I’m afraid that I can’t. I’m going with the Holy Daughter. Senior Sister is an appraiser here on special invitation. Hehe! You can sneak off and try to pull strings with Senior Sister now.”
Xiao Chen knew that the other party was just joking. He performed a cupped-fist salute and said, “In that case, I’ll take my leave first. I’ll see you at the Wine King Contest.”
“Right. I hope you get good results.”
After saying goodbye to Chu Xiang, Xiao Chen left for the Wine King Contest together with Iron Egg.
—
The Wine King Contest took place in the City Lord’s Residence.
On this special occasion, the City Lord’s Residence was open to the public, making it exceptionally bustling.
However, ordinary people could only watch the Wine King Contest from the outer courtyard and could not enter the inner courtyard.
“Brother Xiao!”
Along the way, someone called out to Xiao Chen. When Xiao Chen turned his head back, he saw it was the Glacial Mountain Manor’s Ye Han.
“What a coincidence,” Xiao Chen replied softly. He had a pretty good impression of this person.
“It is not a coincidence. I have been waiting for Young Master Xiao here for five days already. Since Young Master Xiao never came to my Glacial Mountain Manor’s residence, I can only come here and wait.”
Ye Han did not hide anything, straightforwardly stating that he had waited for Xiao Chen on purpose.
Only now did Xiao Chen recall that the other party had invited him to the Glacial Mountain Manor’s residence before he left the gathering a few days ago.
Unfortunately, time was too tight. Xiao Chen had completely forgotten about it.
“I’m sorry. Why is Young Master Ye looking for me?”
Ye Han looked around. People filled the large street, along with many chariots and horses. However, no one paid any attention to the two of them.
Ye Han walked over and whispered, “If Young Master Xiao wins the Wine King Contest, would you be willing to hand over the Ethereal Immortal Palace key to me? Of course, I will definitely give Young Master Xiao a good price. You will not be disappointed.”
The Ethereal Immortal Palace again!
Xiao Chen’s expression did not change as he said calmly, “Brother Ye really thinks highly of me. Let’s talk later, alright?”
“In any case, that Xiahou Wu will not agree, so I can only place my hope on Young Master Xiao. If you agree, you can come and look for me at any time.” Ye Han did not say anything more. He performed a cupped-fist salute and immediately left.
He did not intend to accompany Xiao Chen.
Xiao Chen looked at the other party, entering deep thought. It seems like I have to spend some time to ask around about the Ethereal Immortal Palace and find out what exactly it is.
He continued walking. One hour later, he arrived at the City Lord’s Residence. After handing over his invitation, he smoothly entered the inner courtyard.
The Wine King Contest took place on a tall platform.
After entering the inner courtyard, someone led Xiao Chen to the tall platform to take a seat.
The tall platform had long filled with people.
Xiao Chen looked around. Most people looked familiar; they had been in the Heavenly Fragrance’s residence that day.
Most of the gazes on him were hostile but did not contain any murderous intent, except for those of two people.
One of the two was Xiahou Wu, the Hound Lion Empire’s crown prince. Great Master Yuanfei stood behind him while smiling coldly at Xiao Chen.
The other person sat next to Pei Shaoxuan. His expression appeared sullen, and his eyes were pitch-black like ink. Exceptionally dense Demonic Qi covered his body.
Demonic Qi showed many variations due to the cultivation of different Demonic Dao Cultivation Techniques. Xiao Chen found that person’s Demonic Qi’s distinctive characteristics extremely familiar. Most of the Heavenly Slaughter Sect cultivators he killed had this aura.
Wang Yun, the Heavenly Slaughter Sect’s Young Sect Master!
A name immediately came to Xiao Chen’s mind. When he guessed this person’s identity, his expression remained placid. He only sat down calmly.
“This Xiao Chen is really bold! Even after seeing Wang Yun, his expression did not change at all.”
“He probably does not know how horrifying Wang Yun’s strength is.”
“The expressions of Great Master Yuanfei and that fellow seem off, as well. Does anyone know what’s going on?”
“Do you not know? Old Seven Du brewed the wine that this fellow brought. Do you think that Great Master Yuanfei will be amiable with him?”
“Haha! This is going to be interesting to watch.” Several people on the tall platform discussed in whispers.
Suddenly, a group of people arrived at the back of the tall platform.
One of them was a middle-aged man who looked extraordinary. He dressed very carefreely, showing an uninhibited smile. His rosy cheeks made him seem somewhat intoxicated.
This was Peach Blossom City’s City Lord, the Peach Blossom Sovereign Emperor.
Aside from the City Lord’s Residence’s experts behind the Peach Blossom Sovereign Emperor, there was also a group of appraisers he had specially invited. The Heavenly Fragrance’s Holy Daughter was among them.
“Greetings, City Lord!”
The Peach Blossom Sovereign Emperor was not an ordinary Sovereign Emperor. He possessed extremely horrifying strength. Even the Demonic Dao outstanding talents had to give him some face.
At this moment, no one dared to be rude. They all obediently bowed.
“Hahaha! There’s no need to be so polite. The centennial wine festival is here again. Thank you, everyone, for going to all that effort to bring me good wine. I do not like convoluted and overelaborate procedures or speaking much nonsense. Have three drinks with me first. We will talk about the Wine King Contest after the three drinks.”
The Peach Blossom Sovereign Emperor appeared very casual. He wobbled to the host’s seat, then waved casually.
In that instant, thousands of wine cups flew out from his wide and broad sleeves.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
The wine cups immediately struck some weak loose cultivators, causing them to vomit blood. Their bones shattered as the impact knocked them into the air in sorry states.
These people fell off the tall platform, losing the right to participate in the wine festival.
Xiao Chen felt somewhat surprised. He had not expected such a move. The other participants found this surprising, too; there had never been such a rule before.
However, the Peach Blossom Sovereign Emperor did things unpredictably. There was no way to anticipate this.
There was also no time to think. Xiao Chen had to catch three wine cups first. Otherwise, he would be eliminated before the contest even began.
