Seeing Dijiang about to use the law of space to draw over another huge stream, while the other Ancestor Witches were all eager to join in, Nan Ji refused to have it.
He hurriedly said, "Brothers, don't, don't! Drink more later!"
"Ah, just one sip!" Zhurong glanced at Nan Ji, then held his large head and said, "Your brother just used seven kinds of flames to temper it. I'm exhausted and thirsty. Twelfth Brother, just one sip."
"Right, using those laws just now drained me. I need a sip."
The nine Ancestor Witches all scrambled to look weak, then took huge gulps from the long river.
Even Xuanming said nothing and secretly took a sip as well.
Dijiang swayed unsteadily and said, "Not good. Using the laws from Kunlun Mountain to Buzhou Mountain just now drained me. I need to replenish myself!"
Nan Ji could not help laughing at the eleven Ancestor Witches' antics.
Were these really the Ancestor Witches he remembered? How had they all become... so adorable?
Still, he knew in his heart that the Ancestor Witches would only act this way around their true brothers and sisters, so he simply stopped minding them.
"Hmph, if you're drinking, then I'm drinking too!"
Watching the Ancestor Witches drink heartily, Nan Ji casually scooped up a fist-sized mass of wine and, copying Dijiang, poured it into his mouth.
Seeing Nan Ji do this, the Ancestor Witches all stopped at once and turned to look at him.
As the wine entered his mouth, Nan Ji felt a sensation both icy and fiery spread across his palate. It was fiercer and purer than the baijiu of later generations.
He desperately wanted to spit it out, but seeing the amused looks in his brothers' and sisters' eyes, Nan Ji forced himself to swallow it.
Once the wine entered his stomach, Nan Ji discovered that it contained the power of ten different laws.
At times, it was like a babbling stream; at others, like a surging ocean, drawing Nan Ji into it.
One had to know that for cultivators practicing Daoist methods, even coming into contact with laws required the realm of a Quasi-Saint.
Yet Nan Ji was only at the middle stage of Grand Unity Golden Immortal. His cultivation was clearly insufficient, leaving him drawn in by the laws on one side while intoxicated by the wine's purity on the other.
Only much later, after Houtu and Niu Niu had prepared the ingredients, did Nan Ji recover from his drunken haze.
"Th-this is truly fine wine!"
After waking, Nan Ji could not help praising it.
Its taste and flavor far surpassed the baijiu of later generations, while its effects slowly deepened Nan Ji's understanding of ten laws, including water and fire.
"Another..." Nan Ji had just been about to ask for more when he discovered that the long river of wine had vanished.
Seeing Nan Ji's confusion, Dijiang explained, "I had Little Sister seal the wine within the Nine Heavens Breathing Soil to nurture it. Then I used the law of space to speed up its aging. We still need to wait a while."
Seeing that he could not drink any more for now, Nan Ji could not help feeling disappointed. But the heavy drunkenness also told him that he could not keep drinking.
So he began teaching the Ancestor Witches how to eat hotpot.
This time, Houtu, Duo Duo, Queen Mother of the West, and Niu Niu all worked their chopsticks rapidly, moving so fast that they rivaled even Dijiang, who wielded the law of space.
Before long, the ingredients in the hotpot had been completely swept clean.
"I say, Little Sister, you didn't prepare enough." Zhurong fished around in the pot with his chopsticks for a long while before speaking helplessly.
Houtu merely smiled without saying anything.
Nan Ji had no choice but to explain the essence of eating once more.
Then Nan Ji taught the Ancestor Witches about games like mahjong and Monopoly.
Several months flashed by. From morning to night, from darkness until dawn, the Ancestor Witches played to their hearts' content.
"Hahaha, now I finally understand why Little Sister didn't want to go back. I don't want to return to Buzhou Mountain either." After defeating everyone, Zhurong sighed smugly.
Dijiang, however, fell thoughtful. Only after a moment did he slowly say, "It's time for us to return."
The cheerful atmosphere instantly fell silent at Dijiang's words.
"Don't! Play a little longer!"
It was Nan Ji who said this. Over the past few months, he had felt as though he had returned to his student days, when he could play carefree from morning to night with more than a dozen friends.
There was also the way the Ancestor Witches cared for him in every little detail.
The Ancestor Witches might seem rough and carefree, but knowing that he loved wine, they would often brew it for Nan Ji on their own. Then their eldest brother would compress it into Wine Crystals using the law of space.
A tiny Wine Crystal could condense into an entire river of wine.
And that river was no little stream from later generations. After all, whenever the Ancestor Witches used their laws, they could shake heaven and earth.
Nan Ji had collected more than a thousand such Wine Crystals.
If they had not been so precious, Nan Ji had even thought of using them to smash people if he ever could not defeat them in the future.
Each one not only possessed the force of an entire river, but also contained a great amount of the twelve laws.
Of course, it was only a passing thought. He had seen people hit others with wine bottles before, but who would be willing to use wine itself?
Though his time with the Ancestor Witches had been short, Nan Ji had become deeply attached to this kind of life.
But when the other Ancestor Witches heard Dijiang's words, they all nodded.
"Alright, let's go!" Zhurong's impatient nature made him rise to his feet at once.
Seeing Dijiang and Zhurong stand, the other Ancestor Witches silently rose as well. Even Houtu began packing up.
"Don't... play a little longer. Just a little..." Nan Ji said reluctantly.
"Twelfth Brother, we'll come see you next time!" Gonggong said frankly, patting Nan Ji on the shoulder.
"After all, we still have the Witch Clan!" Dijiang, their eldest brother, explained to the reluctant Nan Ji.
"If you get bored, come find us at Buzhou Mountain. We'll take you to Pangu Hall, which Father God left for us!"
"If you finish all the wine, come find us."
"Big Brother, Duo Duo has to go back..."
The Twelve Ancestor Witches all spoke to Nan Ji in turn.
Nan Ji suddenly felt as though sand had gotten into his eyes. He ran into the hall and brought out the grill, the divided hotpot, and everything else for the Ancestor Witches.
"Take them with you!"
Nan Ji also understood the Ancestor Witches' responsibilities and mission, so he no longer tried to keep them.
"Alright, let's go!"
After Dijiang finished speaking, he once again slashed through the air, creating a rift before them.
Then, after the Twelve Ancestor Witches jumped in one after another, the spatial rift slowly closed.
Nan Ji stared blankly at the rift, then shook his head hard and cast aside his reluctance.
Though the Ancestor Witches had stayed only a short time, that lively, heartwarming feeling was especially hard to let go of.
Fortunately, he still had Niu Niu, so Nan Ji would not be too sad.
In the days that followed, Nan Ji and Niu Niu cultivated while living their lives together.
Until one day, Nan Ji, who had been sitting in meditation, suddenly opened his eyes and said to Niu Niu, "My masters have emerged from seclusion!"
As soon as Nan Ji spoke, three streams of clear light flew over from Kirin Cliff, and the Three Pure Ones appeared before him.
"Greetings, Senior Uncle, Master, Junior Uncle. Have your injuries recovered?"
Nan Ji looked up at the Three Pure Ones, wondering whether the essence blood they had forced out over the past hundred years had recovered.
As usual, Laozi stroked his beard and said with a smile, "No need to worry. We've all recovered."
"Over these hundred years, you've done very well," Yuanshi said with a smile as well.
Tongtian had been smiling at Nan Ji, secretly anticipating something. After hearing Yuanshi finish, he could not help asking, "That's it? Second Brother, didn't you say..."
Tongtian felt terribly wronged.
The smile on Yuanshi's face vanished completely when he turned from Nan Ji to look at Tongtian.
Tongtian was frightened by Yuanshi's gaze. With a jolt, he hurriedly changed the subject. "Little Nan Ji, where's the wine the Ancestor Witches gave you? Your junior uncle has been craving it for ages."
Smack!
"Second Brother, why did you hit me?"
"You're even coveting Nan Ji's wine? Do you have no shame as his junior uncle?"
Before you continue