There Is a Better Wine
“Auction?” Sun Qingxue was stunned by the question. It wasn’t because she thought Yang Chen wanted to join the auction was inappropriate. It was just because of the timing. “There will only be one in a few days’ time. If Brother Yang Chen wants to buy something, perhaps I can help you.”
“But I don’t really have a specific target.” He was not in a rush anyway and could still afford to wait for a few days. The Clear Sky Sect often auctioned quality goods and he was wondering what he would come across this time. But there wasn’t a need to hide anything from her, so he said, “I’m planning on buying some ingredients to brew wine. I’ll also want some miscellaneous books if there are any.”
Yang Chen’s love for miscellaneous books was well known. After saving Hua Wanting last time, he immediately asked for two thousand books. Sun Qingxue was at the scene when it happened, so she understood what was going on.
“There probably won’t be many books at the auction,” she said and shook her head, “Only items with exorbitant prices will be auctioned. Items used for concocting pills or refining tools are auctioned the most. Miscellaneous books definitely will not be there.”
Yang Chen was not thinking of buying miscellaneous books in the auction actually. It was just a cover. He came to Clear Sky Sect just to check out if there were any good items in the auction. He had nothing he was specifically aiming for.
“There is, however, a place for you to buy the ingredients for brewing wine. You don’t need to wait until the auction to buy them.” She then immediately started planning and preparing his other request. “In the market at the inner sect, there is a famous wine called the Stream of Clear Sky Immortal. That is actually the sect’s special wine. If you like it, I can buy some for you.”
The Stream of Clear Sky Immortal made by a certain low-level disciple who had a hopeless cultivation journey. After a few modifications by experts, it became a wine that was only obtainable in the Clear Sky Sect. The people outside the sect or the people with no close relations could not even get a taste of it. Yang Chen had already come twice. But because his timing was not right, he did not get to taste the wine.
Previously, Sun Qingxue could not buy the wine with her qualifications as a foundation building stage disciple. But now that she is under Elder Hua Wanting, it would no longer be a fuss for her to buy some of the Stream of Clear Sky Immortal. Furthermore, with the qualities she displayed, many people would be willing to buy it for her if she were to reveal any purchase intention.
Of course, Yang Chen was now eligible to buy it. He even had the qualifications to join the auction, let alone buying the Stream of Clear Sky Immortal.
In his previous life, he had also heard of the Stream of Clear Sky Immortal before, but lacked the opportunity to taste it. Now that Sun Qingxue mentioned about it, he must at least have a sip.
“Good! We shall now go to taste this Stream of Clear Sky Immortal. I wonder how the taste is like.” Yang Chen’s excitement was aroused and he stood up immediately.
With a sweet smile on her face, Sun Qingxue then rushed to him and quickly led the way. Both of them flew with their flying swords and in no time they arrived at the market in the inner sect.
The Clear Sky Sect was indeed a first-class major sect; even the market of an inner sect was so lively. The Pure Yang Palace was much inferior when compared to this. It also rarely held auctions inside the sect. Solely comparing the number of disciples, the Pure Yang Palace still had a long way to go.
The market was filled with crowds coming and leaving. There were relatively many foundation building stage disciples but they did not lack Jindan experts either. Occasionally there were even some Yuanying experts as well. The sect encouraged its disciples to exchange the items they had obtained and also to learn from each other to make up for any deficiencies. Almost every big sects had this behaviour.
Dragging Yang Chen, they quickly reached the front of a shop. The shop did not seem like it would catch the attention of any passersby. It was because the shop was small and there was only a room inside. There was just a simple wooden shelf and there were three wine jugs on it. Other than these, there were no other things inside, not even a stool for people to sit down.
The owner of the shop was a middle-aged person. His cultivation was just average as he had the look of a mid foundation building stage cultivator. His clothes were tidy and clean. He was holding a wine ladle and was pouring wine into a small jug.
However, compared to the simple exterior, there was a surprisingly long queue outside the shop. Most of them were holding either a utensil to scoop the wine up, a bottle gourd, a small bottle or a jade container. Everyone was waiting eagerly.
“Oh no, it seems like we won’t be able to make it today.” Sun Qingxue contracted her brows while judging the current situation. “The Clear Sky Sect only sells three wine jugs everyday. What do we do if we don’t make it?”
It was rare for Yang Chen to stop by Clear Sky Sect. Now that he wanted to drink wine, he stumbled across so many people, making things difficult for Sun Qingxue. Perhaps they could see if they recognised anyone from the front of the queue and probably trade their Stream of Clear Sky Immortal.
The scent of wine was wafting through the air. The closer he was to the shop, the stronger the fragrance. Yang Chen raised his head and took in a few deep breaths.
His action was just like an alcoholic’s. A few people in the queue saw it and started giggling. Maybe they had also done the same thing before.
Nevertheless, though they were regular comers, none of them wanted to give up their position in the queue. There were only three jugs a day and each person could not take more than half a kilogram. This meant that only a hundred people could get a taste of the wine each day. Who would want to give up their golden opportunity of tasting the wine for a random person?
Sun Qingxue glanced from the beginning of the queue to the end of it and she was greatly disappointed. No one seemed familiar to her among the long queue of people. Furthermore, the queue was not just a hundred people, there were at least three hundred people queing up. It seemed that the fate of their share of the wine had been decided.
There was no possibility of cutting queue at the inner sect. Maybe if they were somewhere else, they might be able to cut the queue with their strength as backup. Here, even the strongest person dared not break the rule. This was the strength of the Clear Sky Sect.
Seeing that there was no way of letting him taste the wine, Sun Qingxue was so worried that she almost burst into tears. Yang Chen had a hard time coming by yet they stumbled upon such a situation. How could she accept this?
“Don’t worry, Little Xue!” Yang Chen was touched when he saw the anxious look on her face. He then comforted her by saying, “I can already smell the fragrance of the wine. It is okay if i can’t drink it.”
But the more he said it, the more distressed she became. She frowned and suddenly said, “I will go look for master and find a solution!”
It was just half a kilogram of wine and Yang Chen did not even take it that seriously. And truthfully, the smell of the Stream of Clear Sky Immortal was actually just average. After tasting the yeast in the bottle gourd left by the Dragon King, this level of wine would not excite Yang Chen anymore.
“You musn’t!” She had to be joking. It would be rude to disturb a Dacheng expert just because of some wine. Yang Chen then blurted out, “The smell of the wine is just average. It’s not like I must drink it. I’ll let you taste some of my self-made wine that is going to be out of this world.”
“You are boasting shamelessly!” Before Sun Qingxue could express herself, the people around them were already furious and started criticizing him loudly.
Both of them then gazed to the source of the voice at the same time. Even the people who were queing up to buy the wine were curious and glanced over there as well.
There was a magnificent restaurant and it was totally different from the simple shop here. The four-storey restaurant looked grand and occasionally there were people going into and out of the restaurant.
Cultivators were people too, so they naturally had the desire for good food as well. However, most of their time was spent on cultivating instead of focusing their attention on the enjoyment from this aspect. But it didn’t mean there was none who would do so. And the person who had yelled earlier was at the third floor of the restaurant.
“Kid, the Stream of Clear Sky Immortal is known across the world. Its name is not to be simply tarnished by you,” the person spoke again. His voice was carried a stern tone.
“I was just cheering my little sister up. What does that have to do with you?” Yang Chen did not fall for this trick and replied him in retort.
The people in the queue had seen the anxious look on Sun Qingxue just now so they understood why Yang Chen replied him that way. Strictly speaking, he was really just cheering her up and he didn’t mean any of the things he just said. Hence, the people below did not comment anything about it. On the other hand, after hearing Yang Chen comment that the Stream of Clear Sky Immortal was just average, the person on the upper floor immediately reprimanded him for saying so. He did not even bother about the reason he had said so.
After hearing what Yang Chen had to say, he then realised his interruption was uncalled-for. However, Yang Chen’s words left him no way out, so all he could do was continue debating with Yang Chen. “If the Stream of Clear Sky Immortal is just average, then what is a nice wine? Kid, you better give an explanation or I’ll have to go and talk to your seniors!”
At the inner sect, nobody dared to fight or kill at will. That was the reason he said that to Yang Chen. If this had happened somewhere else, maybe Yang Chen would already have to compensate what he had said with his head.
“Only a person who had never seen the outside world would treat this kind of wine like a gem.” Yang Chen gave a snort and said, “An explanation? Why should I give you an explanation?”
“Because I am called the Wine Immortal!” The person upstairs could not bear it anymore. Yang Chen was relentlessly belittling the Stream of Clear Sky Immortal and even the people who were praising the wine highly before began to believe Yang Chen. This was why he could not just let the matter slide.
Ignoring the person upstairs, even the people who were queuing to buy the wine were staring at Yang Chen with a nasty look. What did he mean by they had never seen the outside world before? There were so many of them who were buying the wine. Could it be that all of them had not seen the outside world before?
Suddenly, a middle-aged person appeared out of nowhere in front of the crowd. An immense strength was contained within him though he did not express it. Also, there was a shapeless, tremendous force pressuring Yang Chen.
But it was pity that this pretentious act had no effect on Yang Chen. His effort of showing off his strength was futile as Yang Chen did not react to it a single bit.
After hearing the name of the Wine Immortal and seeing him appear in the flesh, Sun Qingxue knew that things were not well. She then tugged Yang Chen’s sleeves lightly and whispered to him, “Brother Yang, Senior Wine Immortal is serving in our sect’s court.”
Although her master was a Dacheng stage expert, she still had a lot of respect towards the people serving in the court. She then reminded Yang Chen, “Senior Wine Immortal drinks wine like his life depends on it and he has tasted all the wines in this world. The price of any wine he prices will skyrocket.”
To speak the truth, she was getting slightly worried. Yang Chen had displeased the Wine Immortal and it looked like they were about to clash with each other. If both of them were to clash, it would be Yang Chen who was a junior at the foundation building stage that lose out. All this would happen because of her and this only made her more agitated. Her uneasiness was showing clearly in her words and behavior.
“I am on the same page with the lady.” It seemed that the Wine Immortal was directed against Yang Chen. Nobody asked him to comment that the Stream of Clear Sky Immortal was average. “Kid, I don’t care why you have said so. You either have to apologise to the owner of the Stream of Clear Sky Immortal or prove that the wine is average. Otherwise don’t blame me for being rude.”
“Wine Immortal? Did you grant yourself that title?” Yang Chen could not stand people like this who looked for trouble. He then laughed sarcastically and said, “After drinking just few nice wines, you’re self-proclaiming to be the Wine Immortal? You are just tricking me so that you get to drink some good wine, aren’t you? Are you taking me for a child?”
Asking him to show proof that the Stream of Clear Sky Immortal was average was practically asking Yang Chen to take a better wine out. Reading between the lines, there was indeed a suspicion of him tricking Yang Chen so that he could drink some good wine. Furthermore, Yang Chen seemed to have decapitated the real Wine Immortal already at Immortal Executioner Stage. Why would he bother so much about a guy in the mortal world who proclaimed himself as the Wine Immortal?
The Wine Immortal was a Yuanying expert yet he was left speechless by Yang Chen. The formidable Wine Immortal became a rascal who just tricked people for wine to drink? How could the Wine Immortal endure this kind of disrespect?
“How rude!” Someone around them shouted out unexpectedly. The people who were queuing up loved good wines and they had also heard of the famous name of the Wine Immortal. How could the dressing-down from Yang Chen not make the crowd furious?
“Great! Great! Great!” The Wine Immortal who was enraged smiled and pointed at Yang Chen. He then said, “I have not gone out for quite some time and it sure looks like the juniors now are quite proud of themselves. I am not trying to trick you so that I can drink some wine today. As long as you can bring out a wine that tastes better than the Stream of Clear Sky Immortal, you can choose any one of my items.”
“For real?” Yang Chen raised his eyebrows as he asked him with a deep voice. A cup of wine in exchange for a Yuanying expert’s item. That sounded like a good deal.
“A promise is a promise,” the Wine Immortal said arrogantly while holding his head up. He was that proud because he had drunk all the good wines in the world. Even the Wine of Chaos from Five Phases Sect was just on pair with the Stream of Clear Sky Immortal. Both of the wines were equally as good and there was almost no deviation between the two. Nevertheless, it would be absurd to say that it surpassed the Stream of Clear Sky Immortal. “Everybody here can be the witness.”
“Excellent!” Yang Chen immediately gave him a reply.
“However, if you are unable to bring a better wine out, how are we going to deal with it?” the Wine Immortal did not give Yang Chen the opportunity to deceive him and responded with a question again. Just like adding fuel on top of fire, the crowd was urging Yang Chen to give an answer.
“What do you want?” Yang Chen was not unreasonable and replied him straightaway.
“Seeing that you’re just a youth and a junior, I suppose you don’t have anything to give me anyway.” The Wine Immortal then showed his forgiveness and generosity as a senior. He swayed his hands and said relaxingly, “You just have to apologise to the shop owner in front of the crowd and admit that you were just talking nonsense.”
Hearing him fight for the name of the Stream of Clear Sky Immortal, the crowd immediately cheered loudly. They were behaving as if they had already won.
“Senior, are you sure you will not regret this?” Yang Chen suddenly asked, revealing a faint smile.
“What is there to regret about?” At this moment, the Wine Immortal was certain that Yang Chen was just looking for an opportunity to escape. He was sure not to give Yang Chen any chances and said, “I will definitely not regret it!”
“You are not afraid that once you have tasted the nice wine today, you will not be able to enjoy any other wine anymore?” Yang Chen’s smile was getting brighter and brighter.