Nine Star Hegemon Body Art (WN)

“What?”

Xu Zhuzi had not introduced everyone to the Wine God, nor had he bowed or done anything to the Wine God’s statue, but Long Chen was still struck dumb by the statue that he saw. Hence, Xu Zhuzi couldn’t help asking what it was.

“The Wine God that I saw didn’t look like this. In the mortal world, the Wine God’s statue that I saw was of a young and handsome refined man,” said Long Chen, gesturing with his hands.

This statue of the Wine God depicted an old man that could be described as disheveled. His clothes were ragged, and he held a wine gourd as he lay there like a beggar. Long Chen almost couldn’t believe it.

“The statue that you saw depicted the Wine God in his youth. This is the Wine God after he grew old. The Wine God roams the nine heavens, and we don’t know where he went. It’s been tens of millions of years since we’ve last seen his tracks. However, after the Wine God left the Wine God Palace, he told us not to allow outsiders to worship his old statue. As for the reason, we don’t know either,” said Xu Zhuzi.

Long Chen nodded. Looking at the statue, although he felt that this elder was slovenly, he appeared even more free and at ease. He was completely unrestrained, having reached freedom of the most profound state.

Perhaps it was because his own realm was too low, he wasn’t able to see any clues. He then walked through with Xu Zhuzi just like that.

Inside the inner Wine God Palace, a familiar sight entered Long Chen’s eyes. In that instant, Long Chen felt like he had returned to the Martial Heaven Continent’s Wine God Palace. The same familiar buildings here made him think of Tu Qianshang, the High Priest, and the others.

Thinking of the High Priest made him think of Tu Qianshang, which also reminded him of his parents and his little sister Long Xiaoyu. Seeing this familiar sight made Long Chen sink back into his memories. His eyes suddenly reddened.

“Long Chen, are you alright?” Yu Qingxuan suddenly saw the pain in Long Chen’s eyes. As a result, her own heart shuddered. This gaze gave her heartache.

“It’s nothing. I just thought of some things from the past. Let’s go. The dueling arenas that the seniors of the Wine God Palace have arranged are up ahead. As long as we win those duels, we’ll have more wine to drink,” said Long Chen, taking a deep breath to settle his emotions. He then smiled at Yu Qingxuan.

Since Long Chen didn’t answer, Yu Qingxuan didn’t press him further. But for some reason, when she saw his eyes redden, her own eyes felt wet and her heart ached. She didn’t know why she would feel this way.

As they continued on the small path, small huts appeared. Although there were some differences compared to the Martial Heaven Continent’s Wine God Palace, it was mostly the same arrangement.

Long Chen and the others first went to Xu Zhuzi’s house. This house didn’t look big from the outside, but the interior actually wasn’t that small. Even with over ten of them walking in, it still didn’t feel cramped.

As Xu Zhuzi took out a wine jug for everyone, they were delighted. It had to be known that normally, drinking a single cup of the Wine God Palace’s wine was as difficult as ascending the heavens.

Although they were the peak heavenly geniuses of various major powers, they were not qualified to interact with the Wine God Palace. Hence, for them to be able to drink wine inside the Wine God Palace was enough for them to brag about for a lifetime.

Most importantly, Xu Zhuzi actually offered them various kinds of fine wine. If they didn’t come here, they wouldn’t have a chance to drink any of this in their lifetime.

Based on the Wine God Palace’s rule, anyone who could say the particularities of their wine or pick out some flaws would receive the Wine God Palace’s finest wine.

As for Long Chen, he was an expert. He was no good at making wine, but when it came to tasting wine, he definitely excelled. As every wine entered his stomach, he was almost always able to say its origins, the work that went into it, and even some of the adjuncts that were added to it. Although it wasn’t the entire thing, ninety-nine percent was right on the mark.

As a result, Xu Zhuzi was delighted and offered Long Chen all the fine wine that he had created. The others simply benefited from him and got some wine as well.

Regretfully, they were only able to say that it was good wine and nothing else. They were like fools watching Long Chen’s display.

Now, they felt a bit regretful. Did they exist just to make Long Chen appear even more brilliant? Was it their ignorance that contrasted Long Chen’s learning?

However, even if they were unhappy, there was no way they dared to show it here. They could only endure it.

On the other hand, Feng Xiang had become much steadier after Xu Zhuzi’s warning. He also formed a trace of admiration for Long Chen’s learning; it was no longer pure jealousy.

At this moment, Yu Qingxuan’s eyes twinkled. Long Chen’s comprehension of the Wine Dao was incredibly deep. Furthermore, as he judged the wine, he would also brush upon the Pill Dao. The principles that he spoke of then were just as profound. Only she could grasp just how unfathomable Long Chen’s realm was.

Long Chen’s ease and confidence when he evaluated the wine was particularly attractive. Also, Long Chen would occasionally say a few jokes that made people laugh.

“Brother Long, today it really is all thanks to you. Your judgments have benefited me immensely. I’m preparing to go into seclusion to make more wine. However, I’ve given you everything that I have right now. You should go chat with the senior apprentice-brothers and sisters over there. I suddenly feel like I’ve brought a wolf into the house, hahaha. I have a feeling that you are about to earn plenty of jugs,” said Xu Zhuzi with a bitter smile.

Long Chen’s comprehension of the Wine Dao was amazing, and he was also an expert alchemist. Moreover, he had previous experience with merging the Wine Dao and the Pill Dao, so he could be called an old master.

Long Chen found that while the Wine God Palace’s experts had high cultivation bases, when it came to mental realms, they seemed to be somewhat lacking compared to their experts in the mortal world.

Perhaps it was due to the immortal world’s experts having such long longevity, so the rhythm of life was too slow. It wasn’t like in the mortal world where people aged, grew old, got sick, and died so quickly. That short life was precisely what allowed people to comprehend the true meaning of life and the workings of the Heavenly Daos.

Long Chen was quite shameless, directly saying that he would come try the wine that Xu Zhuzi would make in the future and that he would definitely handle the ‘disposal’ of all his old wine.

Long Chen shamelessly sucked in thousands of jugs of Xu Zhuzi’s wine, making Zhao Mingxuan and the others’ eyes redden. Those were priceless treasures.

After accompanying him for half a day, other than drinking a few cups of wine, they were entirely just there to show off how brilliant Long Chen was. In the end, Long Chen took all the wine. Yu Qingxuan’s gaze had almost never left Long Chen, so all of this was driving them crazy.

Xu Zhuzi then turned them away, so Zhao Mingxuan and the others said goodbye and left.

However, Feng Xiang actually stayed behind, causing Zhao Mingxuan, Wu Yang, and the others’ expressions to twitch. But they didn’t say anything.

It was only once they left could Feng Xiang thicken his face enough to ask Long Chen whether he could give him a few jugs of wine to bring home for his father. He also had to apologize to Long Chen for what had happened in the restaurant.

Although Feng Xiang’s strong young master air was dislikable, no matter what, Long Chen had eaten his food and drunk his wine. He couldn’t be stingy in return, right?

Long Chen actually gave him three different jugs of wine. Hence, Feng Xiang was delighted, hastily thanking Long Chen before leaving.

Now, it was just Long Chen and Yu Qingxuan remaining here. Long Chen then smiled at Yu Qingxuan.

“Let’s go. I’ll bring you to get rich through conning. We’ll split everything fifty-fifty.”