novelraw Chapter 190 : 【Wine Cellar: lv3】; Nine Nether Burning Life
Chapter 190 : 【Wine Cellar: lv3】; Nine Nether Burning Life
Chapter 190: 【Wine Cellar: lv3】; Nine Nether Burning Life
As for verbal concern, Ji Yuan naturally would not refuse.
So, after saying “Not a problem” several times in a row, the two of them went their separate ways.
Ji Yuan did not return to the residence arranged for him by the Great Love Sect, but instead went back to his original lodging in the city. Here, he could freely activate the Stellar Whirl Cloud Barrier Formation without restraint, living with peace of mind.
Upon returning, the first thing he did was take out the few cultivation techniques given to him by the Great Love Sect.
Aside from the escape technique titled 《Black Mist Dispersing Body》, the other two were just ordinary intermediate-level spells, far inferior compared to the Water Dragon Technique, which could both attack and defend.
Holding to the belief that “one can never have too many skills,” Ji Yuan also activated the effects of the Enlightenment Room and began carefully studying and comprehending them.
The spells were not urgent.
That escape technique was also not something that could be mastered in a short time. After reading through it, Ji Yuan temporarily set it aside.
The most urgent matter right now was still the upcoming battle.
Indeed, Ji Yuan himself had not expected that the people of the Great Love Sect would be so daring. It was one thing to attack Ghost-Seeking Pit, but to actually choose to challenge the strongest one—Divine Vulture Palace.
A full twelve Foundation Establishment cultivators— even if three had been persuaded over by the Great Love Sect, there were still nine left.
Adding the nine Foundation Establishment cultivators on the Great Love Sect’s side, there would be eighteen Foundation Establishment cultivators clashing, including two False Core Stage cultivators.
After learning of this, Ji Yuan immediately began to consider another matter.
When the snipe and clam fight, the fisherman profits.
If the Great Love Sect and Divine Vulture Palace fought to the death, even if one side managed to win, it would surely be a pyrrhic victory.
If that was the case, would Skyfire Cave and the Red Dragon Gang simply sit back and watch?
Would they stand by while another power rose up to trample over them?
Seizing the opportunity while others were weakened would likely be the true course of action.
If Ji Yuan could think of this the first time he heard of it, there was no way the Great Love Sect couldn’t. Especially not Qian Xin, who served as their strategist.
Considering that he was valued by the False Core Stage Mourning Taoist, his skills in planning were surely not weak.
This matter… since he could think of it yet still dared to act this way—
He must be confident.
Ji Yuan did not know where his confidence came from. For him, if he could fight, then fight; if not, then he would just run.
The two catties of Corrupt-Firefly Yin Locust wood he had obtained, plus the half catty he already had in hand.
Two and a half catties…
Well, it wouldn’t hurt to try. If it really didn’t work, he would just deal with it later.
Following the same method as before, Ji Yuan built the smallest standard 【Chicken Coop】.
Then he attempted to cover it using a “wood-on-wood” structure.
This time, it worked.
He indeed managed to completely cover the 【Chicken Coop】 with Corrupt-Firefly Yin Locust wood.
But the panel still did not pop up the “Upgradeable” prompt. At this point, Ji Yuan understood.
Building upgrades could not be cheated.
If the panel said a level 3 【Chicken Coop】 required Corrupt-Firefly Yin Locust wood, then the entire structure had to be made from that material.
It was just like how upgrading to level 2 【Chicken Coop】 previously required the use of century-old paulownia wood.
Still, this attempt was not entirely without gain.
Ji Yuan had at least confirmed that although two and a half catties of Corrupt-Firefly Yin Locust wood could not build a complete 【Chicken Coop】—
Another three catties would definitely be enough.
At that time, with the entire 【Chicken Coop】 made from Corrupt-Firefly Yin Locust wood, it could naturally be upgraded to level 3.
Thinking of this, Ji Yuan almost wished he could find that Mourning Taoist right now, pressure him, and make him hand over the remaining Corrupt-Firefly Yin Locust wood.
Unfortunately, lacking the strength, he could only think about it.
Since the 【Chicken Coop】 could not be upgraded for now, Ji Yuan turned his attention to another building—
The 【Wine Cellar】.
Currently, the 【Wine Cellar】 was already level 2. If it could be upgraded to level 3 and produce “Peerless Wine”—
Then in the coming war, it could at least have some impact.
With this thought, Ji Yuan glanced at the panel.
【Wine Cellar: lv3 (Not Upgradeable)】
【Effect: Wine taste +60%; increases cultivation effectiveness after drinking; produces 1 tael of “Peerless Wine” daily (consumption temporarily increases spell power by 20%).】
【Upgrade Requirements: Middle-Grade Spirit Stones ×100; Cold Frost Essence ×10 catties; Body-Burning Water ×10 catties; mastery of at least 5 types of Spiritual Wine brewing methods. (Not Fulfilled)】
Previously, Ji Yuan had been stuck on mastering 5 types of Spiritual Wine brewing methods.
He had long since invested heavily to prepare the recipes and had already begun brewing.
But wine-brewing required time and could not be rushed.
Thus, after preparing the Spiritual Wine in the early stage, he placed them all in the 【Wine Cellar】, letting them mature over time.
Now, more than a year had passed since he placed the last Spiritual Wine in the 【Wine Cellar】.
It should be ready by now, right?
If so, then he could prepare the other two materials.
Cold Frost Essence and Body-Burning Water, ten catties each—both were commonly used in brewing Spiritual Wine.
Cold Frost Essence produced mellow wines, while Body-Burning Water produced fiery wines.
Having mastered six Spiritual Wine brewing methods, Ji Yuan was familiar with such basics.
And judging by the quantity required, these two Spiritual Waters were clearly not rare.
If they were rare, the panel would likely only demand one catty or so.
Ten catties… Ji Yuan set out that very day.
He did not wander aimlessly but went straight to Wu Yunbo’s tavern to inquire. Wu Yunbo did not have them, but he knew where to get them.
Upon learning that this “Senior Qiu” needed them, Wu Yunbo personally led the way, bringing Ji Yuan to a wine workshop.
Cold Frost Essence and Body-Burning Water were both available there, and they weren’t expensive.
Each cost 1 Middle-Grade Spirit Stone per catty.
Ji Yuan spent 20 Spirit Stones to purchase them all, and immediately, the panel refreshed.
【Wine Cellar: lv3 (Upgradeable)】
Ji Yuan glanced at it without hurry, first returning to his residence, heading into the underground secret chamber, and then taking out several dozen jars of wine from his Storage Pouch.
The quantity of wine jars was sufficient, and with the temporary ownership of this room belonging to Ji Yuan, the room automatically activated the 【Wine Cellar】 building effect.
After that, Ji Yuan took out 100 Middle-Grade Spirit Stones, along with the Cold Frost Essence and Body-Burning Water he had just purchased.
He placed them all in the center of the 【Wine Cellar】, silently reciting the upgrade command in his heart.
Before the 【Wine Cellar】 could emit any glow, Ji Yuan had already deactivated the building effect, so for him, the only visible change was the “lv2” on the 【Wine Cellar】 turning into “lv3.”
Oh, no—
Because immediately in the center of the 【Wine Cellar】, two wine flasks had appeared out of thin air.
The flasks were not large, about palm-sized.
They usually appeared as well, but back then it was only one flask, called Wishful Wine. Today, however… Ji Yuan raised his hand to take them over.
With a sweep of his Divine Sense, he distinguished the difference between the two flasks.
He stored away the Wishful Wine intended for Hua Yaoyue.
In his hand, he kept the “Peerless Wine” just produced by the 【Wine Cellar】.
Each was one tael. Ji Yuan weighed it in his hand before taking a small sip.
It burned slightly upon entering his mouth, like the sensation of drinking a fiery spirit.
Suppressing the sting in his throat, he swallowed it.
Immediately, the change occurred—Ji Yuan felt as if his whole body was ignited, his spiritual energy boiling, even his vital energy being stirred.
He glanced at the panel.
“Peerless Wine” — increases spell power by 20% for a short time after consumption.
Damn, looks like it doesn’t just boost spell power.
It seemed to also enhance physical strength, though the effect was less noticeable compared to the boost in spiritual energy.
After taking a sip of Peerless Wine, Ji Yuan silently waited.
About a minute later, the boiling spiritual energy sensation faded.
It appeared that one sip of Peerless Wine only granted one minute of peerless state.
Then what if I refill my cup?
Could I maintain peerless state continuously?
Or, if I drank the whole tael in one go, would I get half an hour of peerless state?
Since the building had produced something new, Ji Yuan naturally had to study it thoroughly.
Thus, for the next two days, Ji Yuan stayed home, experimenting with the Peerless Wine produced by the 【Wine Cellar】.
Two days later, he had figured it out completely.
First, there was no difference between taking a sip and drinking a whole tael.
Both only granted one minute of peerless state.
Second was refilling—
The first drink: one minute of peerless state.
The second drink: duration halved, only thirty seconds.
By the third drink, there was no effect at all; worse, it would send him into a drunken state… Ji Yuan figured this probably varied depending on the person’s constitution.
For someone like him with poor alcohol tolerance, the third drink was already too much.
But for someone like Hua Yaoyue, with high tolerance, it might be possible to drink thousands of cups without getting drunk.
Finally, there was the cooldown period, which Ji Yuan also tested.
Twelve hours—
Exactly one day.
Two days later, Ji Yuan was lying inside the 【Enlightenment Room】, comprehending the 《Black Mist Dispersing Body》 technique.
When he got tired, he summoned the panel, looking at the level 4 【Wine Cellar】 effect.
【Wine Cellar: lv4 (Not Upgradeable)】
【Effect 1: Wine taste +80%; increases cultivation effectiveness after drinking (effect depends on wine quality).】
【Effect 2 (Nine Nether Burning Life): Produces one tael of Nine Nether Burning Life Brew each year; after consumption, burns fifty years of lifespan to forcibly raise cultivation by one major realm, lasting the time it takes an incense stick to burn. (Cannot exceed Nascent Soul Stage)】
【Upgrade Requirements: Middle-Grade Spirit Stones ×888; Heart-Devouring Water ×1 catty; Nine Nether Fragrance ×3 taels; mastery of at least 20 types of Spiritual Wine brewing methods. (Not Fulfilled)】
The effects of the level 4 【Wine Cellar】—
They were nothing short of fierce.
Especially Effect 2’s life-burning feature.
The 【Wine Cellar】 could still produce wine, but the production time had increased greatly, from one tael per day to one tael per year.
Yet the effect was much stronger.
Burn fifty years of lifespan to forcibly raise one’s cultivation by a whole realm—Foundation Establishment to Golden Core, Golden Core to Nascent Soul.
Although limited to Nascent Soul Stage, it was still extremely powerful.
For instance, if a Late Golden Core cultivator was being hunted by an Early Nascent Soul cultivator with no way to escape, taking a mouthful of Nine Nether Burning Life Brew would instantly give them Late Nascent Soul combat strength.
Even with just an incense stick’s worth of time, they could easily reverse the situation and kill the Early Nascent Soul.
In the face of certain death, to break free and live, who would care about losing fifty years of lifespan?
Even burning all their lifespan—so what?
I can die, but you must die too!
Thus, this was undoubtedly an extremely powerful life-saving method. Even at the peak of Golden Core, this wine would still serve as a life-saving trump card… Ji Yuan wondered how many Spirit Stones it could fetch at an auction.
Likely even Golden Core cultivators would fight to the death over it.
But there was also the problem of proving the authenticity of the wine, since Ji Yuan had never heard of the Nine Nether Burning Life Brew before.
Never mind—he would know when the time came.
After all, the 【Wine Cellar】 had only just reached level 3, and he hadn’t even enjoyed the Peerless Wine yet.
Putting away the panel, Ji Yuan refocused on the 《Black Mist Dispersing Body》 technique.
About ten days later, he received a message from Deng Pinghai.
“Brother Qiu, please come over for a discussion.”
This… was it finally time to take action?
Ji Yuan couldn’t help but think so. With that thought, he first deactivated all building effects in his residence, then circulated his spiritual energy.
With a soft “puff” sound—
His seated figure suddenly turned into a cloud of black mist and dispersed, disappearing from sight.
“……”
When Ji Yuan arrived at the Mourning Taoist’s residence—
The others were already there. He quickly went to his spot by the door and sat down.
As soon as he sat, the Mourning Taoist raised his hand to close the door, then cast several restrictions, plunging the hall into darkness.
Ji Yuan quietly sized up the people present… judging from the atmosphere, today was not the day to strike—most likely they were just setting the time.
The action day was not today.
“Tomorrow, at the third quarter of the Yin hour, gather outside the East City Gate.”
The Mourning Taoist finished the meeting’s main point in one sentence.
“Yes.”
Everyone stood and cupped their hands in unison, indicating no objections.
The most hot-tempered among them, Lu Ping, didn’t even wait to sit down before waving his fists and roaring, “Damn, I’ve been wanting to kill them for ages!”
Better keep a distance from this guy in battle—wouldn’t want to get caught in the crossfire… Ji Yuan thought to himself.
“This time, the six of us will depart from Great Love City together. I hope that when we return, we will still be the same six people, with none missing.”
“Furthermore, I hope you will all give your utmost to take down the Divine Vulture Palace. By then, not only will the Great Love Sect’s name resound once more, but we will also gain access to the resources of the Divine Vulture Palace. With resources, how could our cultivation not advance?”
The Mourning Taoist forced a smile.
“I’m sure all of you have thought about living a life where you can lie around all day while resources keep pouring in, right?”
No—I’m already living that life, and with far more resources… Ji Yuan had no interest in the grand promises the Mourning Taoist was making.
He might not be swayed, but that didn’t mean the others weren’t.
First move them with emotion, then convince them with reason.
Perhaps the others present knew even more than this, for as they listened, their eyes grew increasingly heated. Deng Pinghai even lowered his voice and said:
“In the Six Great Immortal Sects of Eastern Shang, at the very least, you have to be a Golden Core Real Person to live this kind of life.”
“But if we can take down the Divine Vulture Palace… then even we Foundation Establishment cultivators can live this way, hehe.”
Strategist Qian Xin, waving his feather fan, said: “Once we take the Divine Vulture Palace, we will be counted among the founding elders of the Great Love Sect. From then on, even if more Foundation Establishment cultivators join us, their status will not surpass ours.”
“Besides…”
“Besides what?”
The seldom-speaking Ye Zhiqiu couldn’t help but ask.
“Besides, this old man is about to form my Core. After we break the Divine Vulture Palace, I will go into seclusion to assault the Golden Core Stage. Once I succeed, we can then seize the other three powers in succession. At that point, our Great Love Sect will occupy the entire Ghost-Seeking Pit.”
“Heh heh heh.”
Sitting at the door, Ji Yuan chuckled.
His strange laughter instantly drew the eyes of the others, their expressions tinged with surprise.
Even Lu Ping thought to himself, ‘That Qiu Qianhai’s laugh is awfully sinister. Probably even in the Demonic Dao, he’d be considered a ruthless character. No wonder he dared to reveal his real name the moment he showed up.’
“All right, for the details, just follow Fellow Daoist Qian Xin’s arrangements. We’ll meet again tomorrow before dawn.”
Once the Mourning Taoist finished speaking, his body abruptly turned into black mist and drifted away.
As soon as he left, the others naturally looked toward Qian Xin, who lightly waved his feather fan, turned around, and swept his sleeve. In front of each person appeared a jade slip.
Ji Yuan imitated the others, sending his Divine Sense into it.
A flood of memory poured in.
Inside was Qian Xin’s arrangement for this mission.
The content was written in meticulous detail, even including a map from Great Love City to the Divine Vulture Palace. However, in large red characters on it were the words:
“Do not fully trust.”
Ji Yuan memorized the map before checking the actual battle arrangements.
Calling it an arrangement was a bit much—in the end, the outcome would be decided by actual combat. To Ji Yuan, the most useful part was the information on the Divine Vulture Palace’s Foundation Establishment cultivators.
It not only recorded their appearances, cultivation levels, and strengths, but also what they specialized in, all written with absolute clarity.
Since it was exactly nine against nine, Qian Xin had even loosely assigned each person an opponent.
The Mourning Taoist’s target, of course, was the Divine Vulture Palace’s Palace Master, also at the False Core Stage.
Reading from start to finish, Ji Yuan found his own opponent—a mid-Foundation Establishment demonic cultivator called “Yin Tongzi.” It wasn’t that Qian Xin was being inconsiderate—
It was simply that in the vast Divine Vulture Palace, the lowest realm was already mid-Foundation Establishment.
Damn, not a single early Foundation Establishment cultivator!
Ji Yuan shook the jade slip in his hand and said to Qian Xin, “Fellow Daoist, I’m only at early Foundation Establishment, and you’re sending me against a mid-Foundation Establishment—what do you think about that…?”
“Brother Qiu, don’t worry. You just need to stall this Yin Tongzi. On our side, Brother Lu is very strong. He’ll soon defeat Chen Hei Quan on the other side. Once he’s done, he’ll come to assist you.” Qian Xin explained with a smile.
Lu Ping patted his chest and said: “Exactly. Old Qiu, don’t be afraid. If you can’t hold on, just call me, and I’ll come save you!”
“Good, then I’ll trouble Brother Lu.”
Ji Yuan cupped his hands in thanks.
At the same time, he kept a cautious mind and checked Lu Ping’s opponent—it was also a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator named Chen Mo, who raised a second-tier demonic hound. This was why he was known as Chen Hei Quan.
A Beast Taming cultivator… his strength would not be to be underestimated.
“All right.”
Qian Xin gently pressed his palms together to draw everyone’s attention, then said in a deep voice: “This is only my preliminary plan. Once on the battlefield, the situation will certainly change rapidly. It’s impossible to follow this arrangement exactly.”
“No matter who you face, remember—preserving your life comes first.”
“Yes.”
“……”
After that, Ji Yuan didn’t return home. Since he had brought all his belongings with him, he simply stayed with the group until the Yin hour the next day.
“Time’s up, let’s move!”