Do You Deserve the Title of Sword Immortal?

Early the next morning.

Li Changtian climbed up from the ground, feeling refreshed all over.

He looked around and spotted a familiar figure.

Wine Maniac.

Wine Maniac was sound asleep, his arms wrapped around a water vat.

The sight immediately brought yesterday's events back to Li Changtian.

He had followed the aroma of wine here and happened to run into Wine Maniac. Both men loved wine as much as life itself.

They had been delighted to meet.

With fine wine at hand, they had forgotten their manners for a time.

All they had cared about was tasting the wine.

Who could have known that the peerless wine would be so potent? Even with their cultivation and tolerance, neither of them had been able to withstand it.

They had made a slight spectacle of themselves.

At the thought, Li Changtian woke Wine Maniac.

"Elder Xuan... wake up..."

Wine Maniac opened his eyes in a daze. Looking at Li Changtian, he asked in puzzlement, "Sword Immortal, where are we? Why was I sleeping with a vat in my arms?"

After Li Changtian explained, Wine Maniac burst out laughing.

"Hahaha... I remember now. Wonderful! That wine was truly wonderful!"

"Elder Xuan, yesterday we were so caught up in drinking that we forgot our manners. We damaged someone's belongings and disturbed his peace. We ought to go and apologize."

"Yes, yes, you're right, Sword Immortal."

Wine Maniac nodded, then ran to the door and pounded on it.

"Is anyone there?"

Watching from behind him, Li Changtian felt a headache coming on.

Wine Maniac had never been one to stand on ceremony, and he was blunt and guileless.

As a result, he had offended many prominent righteous sects and great scholars of the age.

Chen Ning opened the door in irritation, only to see the disagreeable old man first thing in the morning.

It was enough to ruin his good mood for the whole day.

"Oh! I never expected you to be so young, young friend. I really love the wine you brewed. I wonder if there's any left?"

Wine Maniac patted Chen Ning on the shoulder, wearing a smile as though they were old friends.

"No! You two secretly drank all my stock and broke my distiller too."

Chen Ning spoke coldly, thinking about how much he should make the two of them pay.

At that moment, Li Changtian spoke from behind Wine Maniac. "We did damage it, and we should compensate you. I don't go out often, so I haven't brought many worldly possessions with me. I only have three thousand taels of gold here. I wonder if that's enough?"

Li Changtian rummaged around for a while, then took out a gold note and handed it over.

Chen Ning snatched it up.

Much of his anger dissipated.

"At least you know how to handle things. Unlike this old man, who only knows how to stick out his big face and open his big mouth to ask for wine."

At Chen Ning's words, Wine Maniac's face turned green.

Normally, if anyone dared speak to him like that,

he would have ground their bones to dust and scattered their ashes long ago.

But today he was in the wrong, and he also had a favor to ask, so he could only listen to Chen Ning's complaints.

Not only that.

Wine Maniac also had to squeeze a smile onto his wrinkled old face.

Chen Ning coughed and said mildly, "This bit of money really isn't worth mentioning. How about this? Help me find some more materials, and you, go buy me some more wine. Then I'll reluctantly let the matter go."

Three thousand taels of gold had actually far exceeded the value of Chen Ning's distiller and that little bit of wine.

But Chen Ning couldn't be bothered to go out and get the materials and wine himself.

Judging by Li Changtian's clothes and bearing, and the way he had casually thrown out three thousand taels of gold,

Chen Ning figured he might be the son of some wealthy family.

A fool with more money than sense.

It would be a waste not to make use of him.

To his surprise, not only did Li Changtian and Wine Maniac have no complaints, but their faces lit up with joy one after the other.

"Very well! Wait for me, young friend!"

"No problem. I'll go buy the wine right away!"

With that, the two men darted away like ghosts.

"They really are men of action."

Chen Ning sighed.

He had also set the two men to work because they weren't members of the Dragon-Seeking Sect, which made him feel more at ease.

Who knew which of his guards might be some undercover agent's informant?

In less than half a day, the two returned.

Li Changtian set down the materials Chen Ning needed, then began helping him assemble them.

The old man, meanwhile, had bought up all the wine available in several nearby cities.

Wine Maniac was less considerate than Li Changtian. He sat down in the room without the slightest restraint, making himself completely at home.

In truth, he was a little tired.

While buying wine, he had also killed a few fellows in Gold and Iron City who were bidding for fine wine.

If they had merely been bidding for wine, Wine Maniac would not have killed them.

It was because those men had styled themselves heroes of the wine world and mocked him, saying an old thing like him wasn't worthy of buying wine, that they had made Wine Maniac unhappy.

In his presence, who dared call themselves a hero of the wine world?

"Young friend, are you a disciple of the Dragon-Seeking Sect?"

Li Changtian asked casually.

Chen Ning picked up a piece of fine material. "No."

"Then... an overseer?"

"No."

"A hall master?"

"No."

"At your age, you can't possibly be an elder, can you?"

"I'm the sect master."

At those words, Li Changtian's hands stopped moving.

He stared blankly at Chen Ning.

"A-a sect master at your age? I've never heard of such a thing!"

"Now you have."

By the time Chen Ning finished speaking, the new distiller was assembled.

He began pouring in the wine.

Li Changtian, meanwhile, was left in disarray in the wind.

The Dragon-Seeking Sect.

It was one of the most powerful forces in all the Nine Provinces.

Moreover, he had some ties with the previous sect master.

He knew full well what a heaven's chosen the old sect master had been.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to him.

Perhaps the old sect master had seen some hidden talent in him?

That had to be it.

Leaving everything else aside, Li Changtian had drunk his way across the Nine Provinces, yet he had never tasted a spirit as soul-stirring and exquisite as this one!

It seemed Flying Cloud Valley would have to keep closer ties with the Dragon-Seeking Sect in the future.

"Brother Li, would you like a taste?"

Chen Ning poured the finished wine into a jar and placed it on the stone table in the courtyard.

Wine Maniac, who had been waiting nearby for a long time, had already rushed out.

He looked at Chen Ning expectantly.

Chen Ning poured him half a jar too and said with a smile, "Don't break anything next time you come."

Wine Maniac smiled sheepishly, picked up the wine jar, and took an enraptured sniff.

Then he took a great, hearty gulp.

"Ha! Wonderful!"

Wine Maniac was thoroughly content, carefully guarding the wine jar in his hands as though it were some kind of treasure.

Li Changtian took only a small sip, but an expression of pleasure appeared on his face too.

Seeing the mood, Chen Ning drank a little himself.

He had to admit that although these two had broken things yesterday, they were both forthright men.

Being with them wasn't as tiring as being with the people in the sect.

On the contrary, he felt quite comfortable.

Chen Ning spotted a sword lying beside Li Changtian and couldn't help reaching for it with a smile.

"Hahaha, Brother Li, today I'll teach you swordsmanship."

Chen Ning was a little drunk, but more than that, this was a rare moment of relaxation since he had come to this world.

At those words, Li Changtian merely smiled in silence, but Wine Maniac burst into laughter and slapped the table.

"Hahahahaha! Sword Immortal, he's going to teach you swordsmanship?"

Wine Maniac laughed until tears nearly came out.

"Sword Immortal?"

Hearing the title, Chen Ning suddenly thought of someone.

"You think you deserve the title of Sword Immortal?"

Clang!

Chen Ning drew the sword and began waving it wildly, reciting aloud:

"Slay a man in ten steps!"

"Leave no trace for a thousand miles!"

"When the deed is done, brush off your robes and depart!"

"Hide yourself and your name away!"

Boom!

Hearing this, Li Changtian couldn't help but feel towering waves surge in the depths of his heart...