The Upstart in Jiang Qi's Eyes

Zhang Xuezhou's act of offering the qualification to the Golden Toad Dharma King was no mere formality.

On the one hand, he didn't need any extra qualifications at the moment, and on the other hand, Zhang Xuezhou didn't know what valuable treasures the Xieluosi River Holy Land had to offer.

When his cultivation was insufficient, Zhang Xuezhou felt that the Xieluosi River Holy Land was a treasure trove, containing countless rare and precious heavenly materials and earthly treasures. Even absorbing a few breaths of Spiritual Qi in the Sacred Land was a rare fortuitous opportunity. However, now that he had cultivated to his current level, the Xieluosi River Holy Land was just so-so, with no treasures that would be of special benefit to him, at least not on the surface.

The higher one's cultivation level, the more demanding the requirements become. This involves more common medicines and pills that may have little or no effect on the body, and even poisons are subject to the same criteria.

For example, the Spirit-Forging Pill that Zhang Xuezhou created in reality have little effect on those in the Seventh Sequence and little effect on ferocious beasts.

The Water of Eternity that caused Wang Wenqing and others to have diarrhea would have no effect if Zhu Jiuyin were given a whole bucket of it, and even if Kong Ning drank a few sips, the effect would not be very strong.

The difficulty of advancing to the later stages of cultivation is extremely high due to factors such as cultivation level and race, and very few people can reach the pinnacle of cultivation.

The Ten Thousand Demons Stele Golden Toad Dharma King cautiously said, "If the Holy Son can obtain one treasure, he can directly retrieve the Ten Thousand Demons Stele!"

"Oh?" Zhang Xuezhou asked in surprise, "The Ten Thousand Demons Stele is a relic of the Xieluosi River Holy Land. Is Zhu Jiuyin willing to part with it? What use do you have for the Ten Thousand Demons Stele?"

Zhang Xuezhou originally thought that the Golden Toad Dharma King was holding back some big move, hiding a treasure he didn't know about, but he didn't expect that the Golden Toad Dharma King had set his sights on the Ten Thousand Demons Stele.

To be honest, Zhang Xuezhou wasn't interested in the Ten Thousand Demons Stele.

He acquired the Drowsiness Technique from the Ten Thousand Demons Stele in his early years and used it on different occasions, but Zhang Xuezhou had no intention of learning any more demonic arts through the Ten Thousand Demons Stele.

Demanding this thing back would be a complete waste, and it would also block the academic path of other demons, causing many demons to resent Zhang Xuezhou. It would also lead to a decrease in the cohesion of the Xieluosi River Holy Land, and consequently cause Zhu Jiuyin to have a grudge against him.

Losing money was one thing, but Zhang Xuezhou had no intention of causing trouble.

"Holy Son, you only know that the Ten Thousand Demons Stele Ten Thousand Demons Stele can pass on demonic arts, but you don't know that it can also reveal all kinds of Technique Method," the Golden Toad Dharma King advised. "As long as the Holy Son gains the recognition of the Myriad Ten Thousand Demons Stele Ten Thousand Demons Stele, when you encounter any insurmountable Technique Method, you can have it recorded, and then deduce the solution from within the Ten Thousand Demons Stele, thus defeating your opponent."

"Oh?"

"The Ten Thousand Demons Stele was once a treasure of the Heavenly Court. Zhu Jiuyin was responsible for guarding it in the past, but he took the stele with him when he defected. Bringing it back can be considered returning it to its rightful owner," said the Golden Toad Dharma King.

"I see!"

Zhang Xuezhou nodded, indicating that he understood what the Golden Toad Dharma King meant.

If the Ten Thousand Demons Stele originally belonged to the Heavenly Court, then it doesn't involve any personal grudges, and returning it to its rightful owner would be perfectly reasonable.

Although it is named after the myriad demons, the Ten Thousand Demons Stele does not only record demonic arts, but records everything that is seen. It is just that the Heavenly Court was dominated by demon gods in the past, which is why the Ten Thousand Demons Stele records many demonic arts.

If the Ten Thousand Demons Stele were used to record human cultivation Technique Method, the same thing could be done.

"This Ten Thousand Demons Stele is a wish-fulfilling object; its size can be determined by your will," said the Golden Toad Dharma King. "Holy Son, you can enlarge it to the size of the stele or shrink it to the size of this piece of wood; portability is not a problem!"

Just as Zhang Xuezhou was about to ask again about the immense size of the Ten Thousand Demons Stele, making it difficult to lure opponents to fight in Ten Thousand Demons Stele, the Golden Toad Dharma King had already resolved his concerns before he could even voice them.

Of course, the Ruyi can't be changed at will. Gaining the recognition of the Ruyi magic Law Treasure depends to some extent on luck; otherwise, Zhu Jiuyin would have already taken the Ten Thousand Demons Stele.

"As long as he's willing, we'll have him send the Ten Thousand Demons Stele back then," Zhang Xuezhou finally nodded and said.

"The Holy Son is blessed with boundless fortune; he will surely be able to subdue the Ten Thousand Demons Stele in due time," the Golden Toad Dharma King flattered.

"I only obtained a Drowsiness Technique from the Ten Thousand Demons Stele. I didn't feel anything special at the time, and it was probably like the Zhu Jiuyin —only good for show and not for use!"

Zhang Xuezhou waved his hand, indicating that he wasn't that ambitious.

It was probably placed at the entrance of the Wondrous Dharma Palace after the Ten Thousand Demons Stele was sent back to Kunlun to test its power, but it could not be kept after obtaining it.

"I wonder if the Ten Thousand Demons Stele records any method by which Zhu Jiuyin quickly condenses his Yang Soul Incarnation Technique. If we can't get the answer by asking directly, the Ten Thousand Demons Stele might be a good alternative!"

Zhang Xuezhou couldn't help but make some connections, but ultimately put those thoughts aside and focused his attention on brewing the Nine Treasures Wine.

The initial steps of brewing Nine Treasures Wine are similar to those of alchemy using water. The subsequent steps involve nurturing the yeast. Overall, this can be considered a method of alchemy, except that wine is added as a medicinal catalyst, which enhances the medicinal effect.

This combination is somewhat similar to the effect of the Eight Steps to Immortality Pill on the Creation Pill, and also resembles the catalyst's effect on the Blood Elixir, amplifying and enhancing its medicinal properties to create extraordinary results.

If it were just a matter of brewing a few sips, Zhang Xuezhou could easily handle it all by himself.

However, the rare fruits and herbs in his Lesser Heaven and Earth Bag could fill an ordinary small room, and the water-absorbing and foaming contents could fill half a brewery. Even cleaning, soaking, and sorting them would be no small matter.

The first batch of wine used for the demonstration confirmed that the process was accurate and error-free, and Zhang Xuezhou then began to collect the remaining materials for brewing Nine Treasures Wine.

Once the first batch is successful, he simply repeats the operation, continuously going through the same process.

"Many!"

When Jiang Qi first saw Zhang Xuezhou taking out bundles of medicinal herbs, he was filled with envy. After all, he only needed to smell the aroma of the Nine Treasures Wine to know that it was extraordinary, and being able to make the Nine Treasures Wine meant that a great medicine was ready.

But after Zhang Xuezhou kept taking materials Lesser Heaven and Earth Bag, Jiang Qi realized what had happened.

He had never seen such a heavenly materials and earthly treasures.

As if it were free, after completing the first batch of brewing and fermentation steps, Zhang Xuezhou continuously used magic to guide the process, heavenly materials and earthly treasures he retrieved from his Lesser Heaven and Earth Bag piled up into a small mountain.

Bitter Apricot, Silver Fruit, dried jasmine fruit, thousand-year-old ginseng, Tongxuan grass, Ginseng Fruit, Exquisite Fruit, and Huangjing (Polygonatum sibiricum) aged over 500 years. Among these, Huangjing is the cheapest, but even Huangjing is more valuable than the same weight of gold.

Let alone Jiang Qi, Jiang Qi felt that even Zhu Jiuyin couldn't achieve this level of skill.

Zhu Jiuyin controls the treasure land of the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains and has countless birds guarding and gathering medicinal herbs. He has obtained countless medicinal materials, but Zhu Jiuyin could never produce such a rare and precious fruit and medicinal herb of this quality.

Jiang Qi suspected that Zhang Xuezhou might have emptied Kunlun's treasure vault, or perhaps he had secretly sneaked into the Immortal Court 'Immortal Court treasure vault and taken away all the rare and precious medicinal herbs and fruits of these kinds.

Even as the winner of the grand event, Jiang Qi was well aware that the conditions he proposed were within a reasonable range and could not be demanded indefinitely.

For example, the contestant who defeats Kunlun can ask for Drunken Peach, and the Emperor and Empress will gladly allow it. However, if anyone wants to pick all the Drunken Peach in the Peach Garden, not only can cultivators of their level not do such a thing, but even their elders would not dare to go so far.

Even if Jiang Qi had the Golden Toad Dharma King demand the Ten Thousand Demons Stele, it would still be within acceptable limits, and there are historical factors involved.

Based on his understanding of Zhu Jiuyin, Jiang Qi was certain that Zhu Jiuyin, knowing that Kunlun had redefined the order of the Three Realms, probably wished he could send this hot potato back to him.

It's one thing for the Ten Thousand Demons Stele to be sent to the Emperor and Empress by Zhu Jiuyin, but it's quite another for Zhang Xuezhou to take it back and put it in the Wondrous Dharma Palace.

Jiang Qi clearly preferred the latter to the former.

If Zhang Xuezhou wasn't that interested in the Ten Thousand Demons Stele and continued to stay away from home for extended periods, he would have plenty of time to subdue Ten Thousand Demons Stele.

Because of these various rules, Jiang Qi couldn't figure out the source of Zhang Xuezhou's heavenly materials and earthly treasures.

"The Emperor wouldn't do such a thing. The Empress despises those who neglect their duties. She wouldn't possibly give Zhang Shengzi so many rare medicinal fruits to brew wine. Excluding Kunlun, I'm afraid only the Immortal Court could do it. Could it be that the Jade Emperor wanted to give away all his wealth before he died...?"

Jiang Qi thought about it and felt that unless the Jade Emperor was about to die, he couldn't understand how such a thing could happen in the world.

These precious medicinal herbs and fruits are enough to make wine in just one or two pots; you could even use the wine for a bath without any problem.

Thinking about the final quantity produced, Jiang Qi couldn't help but feel excited.

If he could only gain small advantages in the past to accumulate what he needed for cultivation, now that this matter is accomplished, it is very likely that he will have a great fortuitous opportunity.

For a moment, Jiang Qi's schemes against Zhang Xuezhou lessened somewhat.

After all, if you're involved with a nouveau riche like that, the chances of those around you benefiting are extremely high.