Encountering Great-Uncle (with illustration)

Long Xuan impatiently ran to the wine vat and gently pushed aside the lid weighing it down. At once, an adorable little white snake appeared before his eyes.

This little white snake had clearly grown much larger, but the wine inside the vat had been completely drained. Little White was currently curled into a ball in the center of the vat, sleeping soundly, and Long Xuan could even hear its faint snores.

Though it was still asleep, seemingly not yet sober, Long Xuan was overjoyed.

Because the progress bar above Little White's head had changed, completely becoming [0.00000%].

Gu worms followed another system of growth. Once a Spirit Insect transformed into a Gu worm, its progress would be reshuffled. Zero percent progress meant that it had completely transformed into a Gu worm.

It was merely that distilled liquor had too much kick, leaving it unconscious even now.

But this was good too.

While it slept, Long Xuan launched a sneak attack, dripping a drop of blood onto its head and immediately forming a blood pact with it.

Very soon, Long Xuan learned of its abilities through the blood pact.

A Wine Worm would carry different abilities depending on the fine wine it drank. The better the wine's quality, the stronger the ability it carried.

The Four-Flavor Wine of sour, sweet, bitter, and spicy that Long Xuan had created was of exceptionally high quality. How could the abilities carried by a Wine Worm that drank these four wines possibly be simple?

Yet even though Long Xuan had long prepared himself for powerful abilities, Little White's abilities still gave him a fright.

Little White actually possessed domain-type abilities.

You did not need to understand domains in detail. You only needed to know that within the range covered by a domain, its wielder was invincible. Domains were simply the most overpowered abilities there were.

Domain abilities were considered exclusive to supreme-grade Gu worms, and only a tiny minority of supreme-grade Gu worms could possess them. High-Grade Gu Insects and below could never possess domains, no matter what.

Not only did Little White possess domains, it possessed two at once.

One had to know that every Gu worm could only possess one domain. Never in history had there been a Gu worm that carried two domains. Long Xuan's Wine Gu was the first of its kind since time immemorial, blazing a trail through history.

As for the reason, Long Xuan could only attribute it to the distilled liquor. The difference between his method and traditional Wine Gu refinement was that he had used distilled liquor.

He could find no other explanation. Now, it seemed that his innovative Wine Gu refining method had truly been the right innovation. Long Xuan's eyes lit up.

The two domains Little White carried were called the Slowing Domain and the Acceleration Domain.

As their names implied, the Slowing Domain could slow the movements of enemies within its range.

The Acceleration Domain could accelerate the movements of Long Xuan and his allies within its range.

These two domains could be activated at the same time. One slowed the enemy while the other increased his own speed. With one rising and the other falling, how was anyone supposed to fight? If this was not cheating, then what was?

Do not underestimate this ability. Even in novels from his previous life, the Slowing Domain had already been the ceiling of combat power. And Little White had an additional Acceleration Domain, directly becoming an existence beyond the limits.

Long Xuan was wild with joy. He hurriedly picked Little White up from the vat, stroked it like a treasure for a while, then finally put it into the Insect-Rearing Pouch.

The Insect-Rearing Pouch was dark as night, silent, devoid of spiritual power, and filled with stale air. Truthfully, it was not a comfortable place to live.

But he had no better option for now. He could not exactly parade a supreme-grade Gu worm through the streets. One had to know that the entire market did not possess a single supreme-grade Gu worm. From the moment Little White was born here, it was already invincible.

There were spatial treasures in this world that formed worlds of their own, but he had never seen one so far. They were certainly not something he could acquire in a short time, so he could only let Little White suffer for now.

With the Wine Gu successfully refined, Long Xuan was in high spirits. He shaved his beard and finally stepped out of the little house he had not left in a long time. After staying cooped up at home for so long, he was finally ready to see the outside world.

He intended to take a walk outside, stretch his limbs, and check whether the market had any Millennium Ice Marrow.

Speaking of Millennium Ice Marrow, it gave him a headache.

Anything over a thousand years old was devilishly difficult to find.

How many years had it been already?

Ever since he had developed the Divine Ice Flame Formula, how many years had he waited? Yet he still could not find the main ingredient, Millennium Ice Marrow—not even a scrap of news about it.

After auctioning off the location of the Fossil Ore Vein, he had become immensely wealthy. He had long gathered every other material needed to refine Divine Ice Flame, with only Millennium Ice Marrow missing. It had worried him sick.

Divine Ice Flame was not merely an enormous aid in alchemy. This wondrous flame also provided a tremendous boost to combat power. In terms of destructive force, it might even surpass Gu worms.

He had yearned for it for a long time. He had long wanted to see for himself what the frost-releasing flames from novels looked like. Having been stuck at this hurdle for so many years, how could he not be anxious?

Though Long Xuan himself had not returned to Far Western Market in recent years, his Externalized Clone often came here to collect various materials for him. Thus, even after all these years, Long Xuan remained very familiar with this place.

The moment he arrived, he eagerly began browsing the various stalls and inquiring whether there were any trade fairs or auctions.

But he was soon disappointed. Leave aside auctions and trade fairs—there was not even a decent treasure on the stalls. He had not found a single bargain, much less seen that damned Millennium Ice Marrow.

This was why, when creating his own Gu formulas, he always obtained the supreme materials first before devising the formula.

Supreme materials were simply too difficult to find. If he created the Gu formula first and searched for the materials afterward, situations like this might arise. The formula would be complete, but the materials might remain unfound for years or even decades. It was entirely possible that he would never find them in his lifetime.

Long Xuan made another round, but still gained nothing. Just as he was about to leave, a muscular giant of a man approached him and sniffed in front of him. His eyes soon lit up, and he exclaimed, "Good wine!"

Long Xuan lightly sniffed his own clothes, yet he could not smell even the faintest trace of wine.

He cared greatly about his appearance. Before leaving, he had shaved, bathed, and changed into fresh clothes. Could this man still smell wine on him?

"Stop sniffing. I have an animal Gu of the canine type and have perfectly inherited a dog's sense of smell. Scents are difficult to completely disperse. People cannot smell them, but dogs can."

The man revealed a smug smile and continued, "Truly fine wine. In all my life, I have never smelled wine this fragrant. It must be a newly created, exclusive wine formula, yes?"

"I consider myself highly skilled at wine tasting. Take out the wine and let this old man taste it for you. Perhaps I can offer you some good advice."

Long Xuan could not help widening his eyes, wondering if he had misheard. This man wanted to taste his wine for him? Do I need you to do that? How could this man's skin be so thick? Wasn't this just mooching food and drink under another name? How could he have such gall?

But Long Xuan did not dare say what was in his heart, because this man radiated the aura of Marrow Cleansing Peak. He was absolutely not someone Long Xuan could afford to provoke.

Still, the man's gaze seemed very kind, allowing Long Xuan to relax somewhat. He did not know whether it was an illusion, but he always felt that the man's gaze was strange, like an elder looking upon an outstanding junior.

Ignoring that strange feeling, Long Xuan cautiously said, "This junior is Old Long's medicine apprentice. May I ask who Senior is...?"

Long Xuan first gave himself a protective talisman. Alchemists held a noble status and were not people ordinary cultivators could afford to offend. He tried to invoke Old Long's name, that great mountain, so this man would not rashly make a move against him. Old Long's name still carried considerable weight in this market.