Down They All Went

Pei Zhujiu felt as though she were inside a fantastical space.

Like a passerby, a spectator, she watched countless versions of herself live different lives.

A beggar, a wealthy merchant, an emperor, a man, a woman, even a eunuch.

Each life brought her a different insight.

At that moment, Li Shouyi's words came back to her.

"Everyone has a different life, just like wine..."

Those words struck her mind like a thunderbolt.

Within her sea of consciousness, Pei Zhujiu's soul sat with her palms, soles, and crown facing heaven, murmuring.

"The Dao gives birth to one, one gives birth to two, two gives birth to three, and three gives birth to all things..."

As her soul continued chanting, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth outside gathered ceaselessly toward her body.

But without spiritual roots, the energy could not remain inside her.

Then she remembered how drinking too much, too quickly, would make her stomach swell.

That thought flashed through her soul and gave her an idea.

Pei Zhujiu imagined the spiritual energy of heaven and earth as mouthfuls of fine wine, letting her body digest them after drinking them down.

Her once-fragile dantian grew immensely sturdy after being nourished by the spiritual energy.

And so, Pei Zhujiu blazed a path unlike anyone else's.

Her dantian was the vat, and spiritual energy the wine.

Her flesh was the lid, and her spiritual sense the guide.

Boom...

She refined countless streams of spiritual energy into fine wine, then offered it to her soul and body.

At that moment, her cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds, taking her straight into the Foundation Establishment Realm.

It was not that she could advance no further, but that interference from outside interrupted her ascent.

Filled with regret, Pei Zhujiu could only return her soul to her body and open her eyes to look around.

One look was all it took to give her a fright.

At some point, everyone had entered a passage.

Her master and her two senior sisters had all collapsed on the ground, their condition unknown.

A whole swath of people lay fallen ahead of them, too.

Pei Zhujiu found the scene deeply bizarre.

To explain what had caused all this, one had to go back a little.

After hearing the system notification, Li Shouyi approached Su Wan'er with a vicious expression and glared at the sleeping Pei Zhujiu. "You ungrateful disciple!"

"I brewed wine for you out of the kindness of my heart, and this is how you repay your master?"

Su Wan'er and Lin Shuishui stared at Li Shouyi in utter bewilderment.

They could not understand what their third junior sister had done to offend their master.

But what happened next made them understand.

Pei Zhujiu's body, still on Su Wan'er's back, became like a whirlpool, drawing countless streams of spiritual energy toward her.

Seeing this, the two exchanged a glance and silently nodded, thinking to themselves.

Sure enough, our third junior sister has awakened after drinking Master's wine.

Both of them had experienced this themselves, so naturally, they understood why Li Shouyi was so angry.

They exchanged another glance and kept their mouths shut.

They knew better than to provoke Li Shouyi at a moment like this.

Meanwhile, with Li Shouyi still cursing, the three followed the main group into a passage through the mountain.

The island was strange. There were limits to how far contestants could go to either side, leaving them no choice but to keep moving forward.

Anyone who wanted to take a look at the shore would be blocked by an invisible barrier.

Li Shouyi cursed for ages before finally running out of words and shutting his mouth.

But no sooner had he finished than a mocking voice rang out.

"Well, well, isn't this the Golden Core expert who took the Wine Immortal as his disciple?"

The three looked toward the voice and once again saw the one-eyed man.

His voice was so loud that it drew the attention of everyone in the passage.

Everyone turned to look their way.

Li Shouyi was already in a foul mood, and seeing the one-eyed man only made it worse.

He looked the man up and down, then said, "Did your mother push too hard when she gave birth to you?"

"And squeeze your eye until it burst, leaving you a one-eyed bastard?"

Su Wan'er burst into laughter beside him.

Lin Shuishui only looked puzzled. Seeing that her senior sister did not understand, Su Wan'er hurried over and whispered a few words in her ear.

Only then did Lin Shuishui blush and cover her mouth, giggling.

The one-eyed man exploded with rage at those words.

He stepped forward and pointed furiously at Li Shouyi. "Say that again, if you've got the fucking guts!"

Li Shouyi spread his hands and said to the laughing Su Wan'er beside him, "My disciple, let me tell you, this is the first time your master has ever heard a request like that!"

That gesture, dripping with mockery, pushed the one-eyed man's fury beyond his control, and he roared.

He was about to attack.

But Li Shouyi had been on guard against him all along!

Just as a fight was about to erupt between them, a strange fragrance suddenly filled the passage.

Li Shouyi sniffed, then frowned. "What smells so good?"

The instant he finished speaking, his eyes rolled back, and he passed out.

His collapse seemed to trigger a chain reaction.

Thud, thud, thud...

One after another, people collapsed in the passage.

Everyone had only one thought before losing consciousness.

Fuck.

Why did I have to stick around and watch?

At that very moment, Su Wan'er fell to the ground, jolting Pei Zhujiu awake.

"Master, wake up!"

"Eldest Senior Sister, Second Senior Sister, wake up!"

After waking and seeing the three lying unconscious on the ground, Pei Zhujiu hurried over and began shaking them.

After calling to them for a while, she discovered that nothing was seriously wrong with them, but strangely, she could not wake them.

This left her deep in thought!

Pei Zhujiu first looked down the passage, then at Li Shouyi and the other two.

Her eyes darted as an idea flashed through her mind. Smiling, she whispered, "Master, Senior Sisters, wait here for me."

"Once I take first place, I'll get the Heavenly Sword Sect people to come rescue you!"

With that, she headed straight down the passage ahead, singing a cheerful tune.

But why had the Heavenly Sword Sect prepared a trap like this?

It was because, not long before, Zhuo Yifan had received a message from a sect elder while enjoying fine wine in the shade of a tree.

"Martial Nephew Zhuo, it's your martial uncle."

The sudden voice did not startle Zhuo Yifan.

He spoke to the empty air. "Martial Uncle, what did you need me for?"

"Let me make this clear first!"

"If you want to steal Master's wine, you'll have to wait another three years!"

"Ahem, ahem, ahem."

His martial uncle's coughing sounded in Zhuo Yifan's ears.

"Yifan! Don't talk nonsense. I'm contacting you about serious business this time."

"Oh, if you're not stealing wine, what do you want me for?"

Far away in the Heavenly Sword Sect, Zhang Daoyuan nearly bristled his beard crooked with anger.

But after glancing at his smiling senior brother beside him, he could only continue through a private voice transmission. "Something went wrong with this disciple recruitment trial."

"I accidentally put our Heavenly Sword Sect's Shadow-Bearing Sword in there."

"As you know, the Shadow-Bearing Sword is our grandmaster's personal sword, so not a single person can be allowed to pass this recruitment trial."

Hearing this, Zhuo Yifan could not help laughing. "Martial Uncle, I told you ages ago, never try to do anything after drinking my master's wine."

"I don't even have to guess. You must have put it in there while you were drunk!"

After he finished speaking, the air fell silent for a moment.

Then Zhuo Yifan heard a voice that made his heart pound with terror.

"Heh heh, my dear disciple, did your master's wine taste good?"