The Drunken Wine Worm

"Could something have gone wrong somewhere?" Long Xuan's mind was in a tangle. He no longer had any mood to study the forbidden technique, so he pushed the vat lid open a crack and peered inside.

When he saw a little white snake floating motionlessly on the wine with its belly up and eyes tightly shut, looking dead, Long Xuan was immediately shocked.

If not for the progress display, he would have thought the little snake had truly died.

Long Xuan's expression became strange as an unbelievable thought surfaced in his mind. Could this Wine Worm have gotten drunk to death? he thought in utter disbelief.

Innovation came with variables. No one had ever used distilled liquor to refine a Wine Gu before. He had stubbornly thrown the Wine Worm into distilled liquor—who knew what unexpected changes might occur?

The spirit wines of this world were made from all kinds of heavenly treasures and earthly materials, making them incredibly potent.

Yet he had gone and distilled the spirit wine several more times. How strong would that be? It could probably drink a person to death. Even a Wine Worm, famed for its capacity, might not be able to take it, and had simply gotten drunk senseless.

Long Xuan blinked, utterly dumbfounded.

No way, right? Could this Wine Worm really be drunk?

How was that possible? This was a Wine Worm. Wine Worms were renowned in this world for their immense capacity and ability to drink—three vats would not make them stagger.

And now it had gotten drunk senseless? Where was that legendary capacity? Was this even a Wine Worm? Wasn't it embarrassing? Embarrassing for both worm and Wine Worm?

Long Xuan was completely numb. He had never heard of a Wine Worm getting drunk. A Wine Worm could actually drink itself unconscious? This was simply a marvel for the ages, unheard of and unseen. It truly opened his eyes.

What was he supposed to do? Fish it out? He did not dare move rashly. What if all his previous efforts went to waste?

But if he left it alone and it drank itself to death, wouldn't that be a huge problem? He had no idea how many resources this vat of wine had consumed. Its total cost far exceeded the Eye of Heavenly Secrets! Most importantly, there was only one supreme-grade Wine Worm.

Long Xuan hesitated, nearly worrying himself gray-haired.

In the end, he still did not dare act rashly or do anything unnecessary.

Since he did not understand it, he might as well leave it alone. Long Xuan simply smashed the jar and gave up. Let whatever happened happen. If it drank itself to death, so be it. It was only a Supreme-grade Spirit Insect; he could afford the loss.

With that bachelor-like thought in mind, his mood immediately brightened. After sealing the vat lid tightly, he returned to the chair beside it and continued studying the forbidden technique.

In the blink of an eye, another hundred days passed. By then, Long Xuan's forbidden technique was eighty percent developed, only one final kick away from completion.

He rubbed his aching neck and could not help stopping his work. Slowly rising, he walked toward the wine vat, carefully pushed the lid open a crack, and nervously looked inside.

At one glance, his heart immediately sank halfway.

The little white snake was still floating there belly-up, its eyes tightly shut, soaking in the wine as though dead.

Long Xuan let out a faint sigh.

It had been floating in there so long, it was practically soaked through.

And it still was not awake.

Anyone who did not know better would think this was snake wine someone had steeped.

Fortunately, however, the liquid level in the vat had visibly dropped. The wine was slowly decreasing, giving Long Xuan a little hope.

The wine decreasing was a good thing. It proved that it was still drinking, and if it could drink, that meant it was still alive.

It was just that every time it drank, it immediately got drunk unconscious. After finally waking up, it drank a few mouthfuls and passed out again—drinking, getting drunk, waking up, then never quite waking up. That seemed to be the situation.

By now, Long Xuan was even beginning to wonder whether it might truly drink itself to death and become the first Wine Worm in history to die from drinking.

After observing for a while, Long Xuan covered the vat again and continued letting it fend for itself.

Using the distillation method from his previous life to refine Gu was an unknown new path, full of variables. He did not know whether it would succeed. All he could do now was wait. Whether it lived or died depended on its own fate.

Long Xuan sighed and slowly returned to his seat. Picking up his pen, he eagerly continued developing his forbidden technique.

Once again, he forgot the passage of time. Once he sat down, it might be for an entire day.

Sometimes he even forgot to sleep, grinding through the whole night. Other than drinking water and eating meals, he devoted nearly all his time to studying the forbidden technique. Such was the daily life of a Grind Emperor.

With his sleepless and foodless research, the progress was naturally gratifying.

After grinding away for a hundred days and nights, he finally completed this forbidden technique that traded lifespan for immense power.

Lifespan was the most important thing a person possessed, as well as the most mysterious energy within the human body. Most ordinary people lived less than a hundred years, and exhausting one's lifespan meant reaching the end of life.

The attack power gained at such an enormous price would naturally be terrifying.

However, it was precisely because this forbidden technique was too terrifyingly powerful—powerful enough to affect him, the caster, and even blast him into severe injury.

He had calculated that, with the Cockroach Gu, detonating merely a hundred years of lifespan would be enough to injure him to some extent, even if he fled far away in advance.

But it was precisely because it was so dangerous that it was called a forbidden technique. Otherwise, why would it be called forbidden?

The danger of forbidden techniques was one aspect. Another was that the price one had to bear upon using them was simply too great. What it consumed was one's time alive. Spiritual power could regenerate, but lifespan could not. Use a little, and there was a little less.

Only Long Xuan could bear a forbidden technique that traded lifespan for power. If anyone else used it, even if they were not blown to death by the forbidden technique, they probably would not have many years left to live.

Even Long Xuan did not dare use it lightly. His lifespan had not been blown in on the wind, and he could not afford to squander it. He was unwilling to spend even one year of lifespan on a single test.

This technique was destined to become a trump card Long Xuan would rarely use. He had to use it with the utmost caution. Once he used it, it would mean he had encountered a nine-deaths-one-life situation.

However, while he did not dare casually use this forbidden technique in the Reality Realm, there was no problem using it in the Origin Realm.

The Origin Realm possessed one hundred percent realism. Whatever destructive power the forbidden technique could cause in reality, it could cause the same destructive power in the Origin Realm. Even the degree of damage to the environment could be perfectly simulated.

And everything in the Illusion Realm was illusory, so it would not consume lifespan in the real world.

Thus, he could recklessly squander his lifespan in the Origin Realm and test the power of the forbidden technique however he pleased, thoroughly satisfying his craving.

At that moment, Long Xuan entered the Origin Realm once more. Every so often, his hands condensed a white energy sphere, which he then spun, compressed, and detonated. The explosions were deafening, blasting one enormous round crater after another into the ground.

Some craters were actually as large as a football field, terrifying beyond measure.

This was the horrifying destructive power created by consuming lifespan, something spiritual power's destructive force could not compare with at all.

Long Xuan laughed wildly in the Illusion Realm like a demolition maniac, crazily destroying everything around him.

Since he was currently at home, closest to Old Long's residence, and the Origin Realm was limited by distance, he could only replicate Old Long's residence and blast his Household to pieces.

Only after squandering all his lifespan, his hair already turning grayish white, did he finally leave the Illusion Realm with lingering satisfaction.

Looking at the forbidden technique manual he had created on the table, Long Xuan felt filled with accomplishment, the afterglow of excitement still not fading.

After closing the not particularly thick book, he wrote the three words "Energy Bomb" on its cover.

That was the name he had given this forbidden technique.

Finally, he wrote "—Written by Long Xuan◎" in the lower-right corner of the cover. Only then did he set down his pen and reveal a smug smile.

How much could this forbidden technique manual be worth?

Long Xuan could not help feeling curious. He truly wanted to visit an auction house and have them assess exactly how valuable the forbidden technique he had created was.

But reason told him not to do that. Methods should not be lightly passed on. Only when he alone knew a technique and no one else did would it be at its strongest.

The more people who knew it, the more likely he would be to encounter enemies in the future who knew how to counter it. Any technique was most terrifying when it remained unknown.

Once his mood calmed, he carefully put away "Energy Bomb" and hid it.

Suddenly remembering something, his expression froze, and he hurriedly pushed open the door and walked outside.

He had finally remembered the Wine Worm still soaking in its bath and prepared to check on it immediately.

Though he had already prepared himself for the possibility that the Gu refinement had failed, harboring a sliver of luck was human nature. What if it had succeeded? Until the very last moment, no one wanted to give up.

That was a supreme-grade Gu worm. At the thought that he might possess one, Long Xuan's heart pounded with excitement, his hopes soaring high.