Su Wanqing Realized the Truth

Su Yuanpeng felt that his third sister was beyond saving.

He had clearly told her it was fake wine, yet she stubbornly insisted it was real and would not even let him have a single sip.

"Third Sister, you can't hold your liquor. Don't drink too much at once."

"Got it!"

Though Su Wanqing agreed aloud, she did not find the wine particularly strong. It was sweet going down, without the slightest hint of spiciness.

She drank every last drop in a few gulps, destroying the evidence.

Su Wanqing muttered, "It doesn't even taste like alcohol. That idiot Xiao Chen must have been fooled."

She stood up and opened the door. "I've tasted it. It's real wine, no problem."

"Now I'm going to cultivate. Watch the door for me, and don't let anyone come in and disturb me."

Su Yuanpeng did not believe her at all. "Third Sister, with that little drinking capacity of yours, if it really were Spirit Wine, you'd be sprawled under the table by now."

Before he had even finished speaking, Su Wanqing fell straight backward and fainted in the doorway.

"Third Sister!" Su Yuanpeng was startled and rushed forward.

But before he could move, he sensed waves of spiritual energy disturbances nearby.

Only then did Su Yuanpeng realize. "Could that wine have been real?"

The Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy in every direction suddenly became active, gathering around Su Wanqing as a Water Curtain faintly emerged.

Then, upon the Water Curtain, the phenomenon of a moon reflected in a spring manifested.

Su Yuanpeng was utterly dumbfounded, his eyes wide as bronze bells. "How could that wine have been real?!"

At noon the next day, Su Wanqing let out the very same cry. "How could that wine have been real?!"

When she woke up that morning, she found all her aunts and older female relatives had arrived, standing in a circle around her, chatting as they examined the way she slept.

Su Wanqing was on the verge of collapse. "Damn Xiao Chen! Why didn't you tell me beforehand that drinking Moon Reflecting Wine would make me pass out? That's such an important thing!"

She had completely forgotten that yesterday, she had personally said she would accept the wine on Su Yuanpeng's behalf.

"Third Sister, you're awake!"

The moment he heard that Su Wanqing was awake, Su Yuanpeng ran over and knocked on the door. "There's something I want to ask you."

Su Wanqing pulled the door open with a dark expression. "Where did you go last night?"

Su Yuanpeng answered truthfully, "I went to the lantern festival to buy wine last night, but I just couldn't find any. Third Sister, hurry and tell me, where did you buy it?"

"Su! Yuan! Peng!"

Su Wanqing gritted her teeth. "So you just left me there all alone! In your eyes, is wine more important than your own sister?"

Su Yuanpeng was completely baffled. "What could happen at home? Aren't you perfectly fine now?"

"Hurry up and tell me, where exactly did this wine come from? Who was so capable that they could still get Moon Reflecting Wine at a time like this?"

"I asked everywhere this morning, but there wasn't a single scrap of news about it."

Bang! The door slammed shut.

Su Wanqing shouted, "Get lost!"

Afterward, she hugged her pillow and buried her face in it before she finally began thinking about what he had just asked.

Su Yuanpeng had a whole crowd of wine-loving friends, yet none of them had heard anything. How had Xiao Chen gotten Moon Reflecting Wine?

"Could it be because I gave him Bone Tempering Spring last time, so he wanted to give me a return gift?"

"Because I have a Water Spiritual Root, did he specifically prepare Moon Reflecting Wine for me? It must not have been easy. He must have spent a long time preparing it."

Thinking of this, Su Wanqing suddenly realized, "That's right. After I gave him the Bone Tempering Spring last time, he never accepted any of my invitations again."

"But yesterday, he invited me in for fish soup. Was it because he had already prepared the gift?"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. His pride is pretty strong. He cares that much about saving face?"

Su Wanqing felt that she had grasped the whole truth and guessed what Xiao Chen had been thinking.

"Was it because I didn't tell him beforehand that the Bone Tempering Spring had such a powerful aftereffect, so he got revenge over even this little detail?"

She gave a sly chuckle and punched the pillow. "Hmph, so petty."

Xiao Chen had no idea that, in Su Wanqing's eyes, he had gained the labels of "petty" and "concerned with saving face."

He directly refined the Rosy Cloudfire Fruit. Not only did he immediately feel his strength increase considerably, but over the next few days, he also felt far more energetic.

This thing truly did nourish the Primordial Spirit.

Now, aside from his necessary cultivation each day, he spent all his remaining time repeatedly using mana to inscribe the Talisman Script.

He aimed to reach minor mastery as soon as possible and gain a devastating trump card formed from a thousand strands of Mysterious Fire.

Originally, the Li Fire Sect had planned to gradually resume normal operations starting from the sixteenth day of the first lunar month.

Xiao Chen had also stayed on the mountain rather than going to the Riverbank to cultivate.

But this year, several complications had arisen. The New Year Ceremony was postponed twice in succession before eventually being canceled outright.

It was said that a considerable number of low-level disciples had arrived late or even gone missing.

As a result, many sect affairs were repeatedly delayed as well.

By the evening of the twenty-second, Xiao Chen had even received a third notice from the Merit Hall that some Mission Hall tasks would have their release postponed.

Not long afterward, Elder Qi also paid him a visit and asked whether he had encountered any Robber Cultivators causing trouble during the New Year period.

Xiao Chen shook his head. "Thank you for your concern, Elder. This disciple has not encountered any Robber Cultivators."

His previous attack had occurred before the New Year, so it should not count as during the holiday period.

Elder Qi instructed him with concern, "That's good. Recently, a large number of Low-Level Cultivators from Quanzhou and He Province have poured in. Things are extremely chaotic outside now."

"Yesterday, an Outer Sect Disciple was confirmed murdered, and the sect is pursuing the culprit. Unless you have something necessary to do, stay on the mountain and cultivate. Don't run around outside."

Xiao Chen nodded. "Rest assured, Elder. If this disciple has no urgent business, I certainly will not go out."

He would not go out without urgent business, but he really did have something urgent that required a trip outside.

Tomorrow was the Waxing Moon Period—the time for the Black Market Gathering.

Whether it was to sell off his extra Flying Swords and Storage Bags, buy cheap Wood Attribute Spells, or purchase Quanzhou specialties, he had every reason to visit the Black Market.

He could also take the opportunity to see whether he could gather some intelligence on the activities of Quanzhou cultivators.

Of course, to be safe, Xiao Chen first made a special trip to the market.

He bought six Light Body Talismans and two more effective Ride the Wind Talismans, just in case.

Perhaps because the situation was unstable, Light Body Talismans had risen to three for one Spirit Stone, while Ride the Wind Talismans had risen to two Spirit Stones each—twice their original price.

Well, he still had a Talisman Path Inheritance and the corresponding materials on him.

He had originally planned to keep them for self-study, but now it seemed he had no time to learn them.

Those Talisman Papers, Talisman Inks, and such also needed to be dealt with together, lest they lose their effectiveness after sitting too long and go to waste.

When he had time, he could just buy new ones. He could even get a better Talisman Brush then.

From his experience using the Three-Legged Revolving Fire Pill Furnace, spending Spirit Stones on tools like these really did make them much easier to use.

On the twenty-third, Xiao Chen got up early once more.

Wearing his Stealth Cloak, he arrived southwest of Cattle Village before Chen Shi and a quarter.

There were still four days until next Tuesday, so I'm asking in advance for everyone's follow-up reading that day. Of course, it would be even better if you read every day.

Right now, recommendations are entirely determined by the number of follow-up readers. The fewer readers a book has, the less exposure it gets. Once it fails a PK round, it becomes a vicious cycle.

Thank you in advance for everyone's support for this book!

Orz