“The reason you don’t find it tasty is because you drink too little. You can only feel the stimulation and pungency of the alcohol on your body. Once your body adapts to this feeling, you’ll be able to savor the other flavors in the wine.”
The Grand Elder refilled his cup, drank it in one gulp, and let out a satisfied sigh.
“Flavors?”
An Chen still didn’t quite understand.
What kind of taste could alcohol have? Even if this wine was made from grain, it might carry a grain aroma, but those flavors weren’t strong. No matter how fragrant, it couldn’t be that fragrant, so how could it make people almost go crazy for it?
Furthermore, if the purpose of tasting such a small flavor was to endure that kind of stimulation, wouldn’t it be more loss than gain?
“Hmm, it’s fragrant, alright.”
The Grand Elder laughed heartily and pointed at the wine pot again.
“Of course, some people drink for other reasons, too. Drowning your sorrows, you know?”
“I know that.”
This was something An Chen could understand.
He had heard of people who would force themselves to drink to get completely drunk, and such characters appeared in many films and literary works.
“Don’t think about these useful or useless things anymore, hurry up and eat.”
The Grand Elder looked up and beckoned a waiter, asking him to bring a pot of water. He also took a cup, and the Grand Elder personally poured the water and placed it in front of An Chen.
“Drink water, don’t choke.”
“Thank you, Grand Elder.”
“You eat. Let me tell you, tonight I’ll take you to an inn to stay. Tomorrow, you can wander around the city. I’ll be here handling various matters related to the start of the Qingfeng Secret Realm. We’ll also stay in the same place at night, so you can rest well. The day after tomorrow at noon, I’ll take you to the Qingfeng Secret Realm entrance to meet up with our other fellow disciples, understand?”
“Understood.”
An Chen nodded, put a chicken leg into his mouth, and a few seconds later, a bone was spit out.
“I’m full.”
The Grand Elder glanced at the messy table, tossed two Spirit Stones onto it, and then led An Chen away.
Just as the Grand Elder had said, he took An Chen to an inn, arranged a room for An Chen to stay in, and then, without getting a room for himself, quickly disappeared.
Only after the Grand Elder had gone far away did An Chen take out his tongshen jade talisman to check the messages from the past few days.
Ye Xinning had sent him a large number of messages again; half of them were sharing interesting people and stories she encountered while selling cosmetics, and the other half were about her plans after arriving in Qingfeng City.
She planned to come over with Hongshan Senior tomorrow.
However, An Chen had been in the Pagoda of Spiritual Connection these past few days and hadn’t replied, so by the later messages, Ye Xinning’s displeasure was evident.
An Chen quickly replied to each one, detailing his experiences over the past few days.
It was predictable that once An Chen sent this message, Ye Xinning would quickly seek out Hongshan Senior and request to enter the Pagoda of Spiritual Connection.
After all, An Chen had gained a lot in the Pagoda of Spiritual Connection and had even broken through a Realm.
Ye Xinning was too competitive, afraid of falling behind in her progress.
There were also some messages from Su Xiaojiu, though fewer in number.
He realized upon reading them that people from the Fire Phoenix Sect had already arrived this afternoon, and Su Xiaojiu even asked if they should meet.
An Chen quickly sent a message refusing.
Are you kidding? How could they meet!
According to Su Xiaojiu, the Elder leading the Fire Phoenix Sect was also in the Late Stage of the Soul Transformation Stage, comparable to Zhao Qingfeng, and he would definitely be observing Su Xiaojiu with his Divine Sense.
When the two of them met, the Grand Elder and the Fire Phoenix Sect’s leading Elder would certainly notice.
Logically speaking, An Chen and Su Xiaojiu should not have any interaction. The closest they should have been, in the eyes of outsiders, was when Su Xiaojiu fled to the wilderness near the Qingfeng Sect, but there was no reason for them to meet.
However, if combined with the recent Transmigration event, it wouldn’t be difficult to deduce.
In that case, An Chen’s fake identity would be completely wasted.
An Chen finished sending the message and lowered his head in thought.
Once inside the Secret Realm, he would also have to be careful not to act as if they were very familiar with each other.
Su Xiaojiu might also act with her fellow disciples, making it difficult for him and Ye Xinning to cling to her.
An Chen didn’t think by himself; he also sent this question out.
The tongshen jade talisman also had a group chat function. Currently, there were only four people in the group: Ye Xinning, Su Xiaojiu, Hong Shan, and him.
Hong Shan quickly replied with a message.
“Disguise, then. It’s not difficult. I see that on your Earth, people can change their faces with cosmetics, right?”
An Chen’s mouth twitched.
Indeed, some people could do it, but he couldn’t.
“If that doesn’t work, getting some Magical Artifacts for disguise isn’t too difficult either.”
“I have one. When I enter the Secret Realm, I’ll disguise myself, then discard the positioning stone given by the Fire Phoenix Sect and just say I accidentally lost it.”
Su Xiaojiu immediately replied.
An Chen gasped.
In the end, he was the only one who couldn’t solve the problem?
“Are disguise Magical Artifacts expensive?”
“They’re alright, not particularly expensive. A few thousand Spirit Stones should be enough to get a high-quality disguise Magical Artifact that can be used up to the Spirit Nurturing Stage.”
Looking at Hong Shan’s reply, An Chen felt a pang of toothache.
A few thousand Spirit Stones, he would have to have them first.
Most of his wealth had been spent on buying tickets to the Pagoda of Spiritual Connection. Now he only had one or two hundred Spirit Stones, not enough to buy anything.
An Chen sighed and looked up at the ceiling.
The disguise tools must be Acquired before entering the Secret Realm, otherwise An Chen was afraid of more complications once inside. Even if he let Ye Xinning or Su Xiaojiu bring him one, if someone was traveling with him, it would be inconvenient for him to meet up with Ye Xinning or Su Xiaojiu.
It seemed he could only use some connections.
An Chen entered a string of numbers into the tongshen jade talisman. It was a new number.
This number was left to him by Zhang Youcai, who had also instructed him to contact him after returning to Kyushu, but An Chen had been in the Pagoda of Spiritual Connection and had forgotten about it.
Jubao Daoren was famously rich in treasures, and his disciple naturally wouldn’t have few. Asking him for a disguise tool would be simple.
Moreover, An Chen had helped Zhang Youcai with no small favor. Now that Zhang Youcai should have been released by the Kunpeng, this favor should be worth more than a disguise Magical Artifact.
After all, if it weren’t for An Chen, Zhang Youcai didn’t know how long he would have been imprisoned.
More importantly, meeting Zhang Youcai was much more convenient.
As a “public figure,” it was quite reasonable for him to be recognized on the street, wasn’t it?
He just sent a message to say hello, unexpectedly, the other side replied very quickly.
Zhang Youcai seemed very enthusiastic.
After An Chen acted as a persuader to convey the Kunpeng’s demands, An Chen left and didn’t know what happened between the Kunpeng and Zhang Youcai afterward.
Zhang Youcai then recounted his subsequent negotiations with the Kunpeng and the story of his release.