Translator: chuchutrain Editor: DavidT , Rock
Inside Third Master Yu’s heart, it would be an unforgivable crime if he were to even waste a single drop of such an exceptional wine! When sampling the wine, he couldn’t help but cast his eyes in disdain towards the two drunkards there. Those two commoners, did they even know how to appreciate wine? Such good stuff was given to them, but it was akin to giving malt to a commoner, a waste of good grain! Just look at me, the Third Master! See, this is how the elegant should behave when sampling wine!
Third Master, how is the wine?
Ling Tian walked over carrying his winecup. Off to one side, the ladies were discussing something in hushed tones, and when Ling Tian walked over he was banished by a flurry of small fists and slim legs. Left without a choice, he could only chat with the ‘uncultured person’.
Oh, good wine! Hahaha, the best I’ve ever had!
Third Master Yu roared with laughter, but suddenly ended with a sigh!
Aiii! What a good wine. Dammt, I can’t believe that I only can drink it in this place! Kid, you’ve triggered the alcoholic bug in this daddy, if I can’t get it in the future, what am I to do?
As he spoke, he quickly glanced towards Ling Tian shiftily, his meaning clear. Kid, why don’t you be a good boy and give me a few more jars to bring back!
Ling Tian acted as though he didn’t understand him, nonchalantly replying,
Oh, hehe, then Third Master can come to visit more often! I still have some left, enough to satisfy Third Master for the next ten days to half a month.
Yu ManTian was completely depressed. This kid was quite the looker and even looked erudite, so why couldn’t he understand the facts? There are so many people in this world that would love to gift wine to this here Third Master, but even after I gave you so many praises and hints, you still couldn’t get it? Are you acting dumb?
Scratching his head, Yu ManTian spoke unwillingly,
Oh… my old pal… this wine, do you have a lot? You can’t finish it all yourself, can you?
The meaning was clear, This daddy will elevate your status to that of my pal, that is a great honor! You should know how to be satisfied, and since you can’t finish drinking it, you might as well give a little to me!
Ling Tian held back his smile, distractedly nodding his head, then shaking it later.
While I do have some and I definitely can’t finish it all myself, I can always give it to people as I deem fit. I’ve already given away quite a few jars!
If he hadn’t said this sentence it would still be alright. However, once it was spoken, Third Master Yu nearly died of anger on the spot. You’ve actually given a lot away? Why don’t you give your life away too, since you can’t even take my obvious hint to gift one to me? Don’t tell me, as the highly regarded Yu Family’s Third Master, I’m below those whom you have given wine to? Or do you not like me?!
Third Master Yu lowered his head, discovering for the first time in his life that there was actually someone who didn’t hold the Yu Family in high regard at all! And it just had to be a weak scholar! This almost made him brush his sleeves and leave in anger. If not for the heavenly wine, which he had fallen in love with the moment the first cup entered his stomach, how could he still stay?
Yu ManTian took a few deep breaths, before deciding that he should just continue drinking his wine and ignore the kid! Depressed beyond words, he could only rely on drowning his sorrows in wine and so drained two jars in one sitting. Since he couldn’t take advantage of him, might as well just live in the moment!
Ling Tian resisted the urge to smile upon seeing Yu ManTian’s defeated look. He leisurely poured himself a cup of wine as well and smiled as he downed it in one sitting…
Drowning one’s sorrows with wine would just create more sorrows. Third Master Yu fully embodied that statement. Very quickly, he ended up just like the Xue Brothers on whom he had cast looks of disdain, ‘collapsing the golden mountains and toppling the jade pillar’.[1]
However, he was indeed a prince of wines. Just before he toppled down drunk, he carefully took the jar and put it in a safe place before sliding off the table in satisfaction.
After just a few moments, an earth-shattering sound of snoring sounded out. Even the tables and chairs were trembling due to the intensity! Ling Tian hurriedly covered his ears and quickly left.
While Third Master Yu was deep in his dreams, Ling Tian received the latest news: The rest of the major powers had coincidentally entered Sky Bearing City that very afternoon!
A gathering of dragons and tigers! There was opportunity in this unstable situation!
The overindulgent Third Master Yu, who ended up so drunk he resembled a dead pig, was carried to the guest room. Under Ling Tian’s intentional arrangement he slept in the same room as the drunk Xue brothers. The three of them surfaced back to reality when being carried, fine examples of a martial arts expert’s awareness; but when they found out nothing was amiss, they squeaked out a few words and collapsed back into blissful slumber.
Understand that Ling Tian’s wines were all dutifully recreated from his previous life. Put in the context of the twenty-first century, their alcohol content would be classified at 50% or more! These were definitely high-level alcoholic drinks, with each jar containing at least two liters, and each of the three drunkards had imbibed almost three jars each. Especially Third Master Yu, being a wine connoisseur, not only did he not waste a single drop, he even drained the jars of every possible drop. For him not to be drunk would be nothing short of a miracle!
After Ling Tian had settled the three drunkards in their room, it was already the time when lamps were lit. As for Yu BingYan and Wei XuanXuan, they didn’t get to come out very often and even had sufficient reason to stay to take care of the drunk Third Master. The two lasses obviously couldn’t avoid Sir and Madam Wei’s odd looks if they went back now, so they stayed with a clear conscience. Yu BingYan felt that her family had totally thrown away their face today. Be it in disposition or words, her uncle had thrown all their face away, and so the moment her painting lesson ended she immediately manhandled the bedraggled Wei XuanXuan into their room for a heart-to-heart talk. She never came out after that.
Those two little demons actually didn’t continue to annoy me today , Ling Tian thought as he shook his head, feeling a headache coming on. With one writing and one drawing the whole day just now, they seemed to be overflowing with excitement as they left, but his study now looked like it had been robbed. The beauties’ ink and brushes were scattered all over the place. However, Ling Tian was more concerned with other matters. Looking at Yu BingYan’s posture when she was painting just now gave him a bizarre idea, and though it didn’t have a definite shape yet he was definitely mulling it over.
Integrate painting with martial arts! Comprehending the old through the new! Ling Tian couldn’t help but remember Marquis Xi Bai from the
Twin of Dragons
show. But it remained a difficult question to solve as to how he could integrate artwork into martial arts.
Yu BingYan’s physique was limited due to the congenital problem with her meridians, and for her to obtain a profound level of cultivation could be considered to be impossible. Only a new method different than the usual cultivation methods had a chance to overcome this flaw. However, what path she took wasn’t important as long as she could achieve success! This was how Ling Tian intended to treat Yu BingYan’s illness. Although his idea was in the initial stages, Ling Tian had absolute faith that he would be able to succeed!
After telling Ling Chen to send out a summons to Ling Jian, he gazed up at the round moon up in the sky, and after changing into a black suit he silently floated out of the window and disappeared in the night.
Ever since he stepped into the ninth stage of the Divine Shocking Dragon Formula, he had felt that his strength had taken a qualitative leap. His internal strength had already stepped into the ceaselessly circulating, incessantly renewing level of the XianTian realm.
Ling Tian’s original internal strength was indeed at the XianTian realm, but this strength was as a result of him cultivating in the womb with XianTian Qi. Coupled with the top-notch Divine Shocking Dragon Formula, this resulted in his internal strength being almost at the XianTian realm. However, possessing XianTian energy and stepping into the XianTian realm were altogether two different matters. A master at the XianTian realm would definitely possess XianTian energy, but a person with XianTian energy might not be in the XianTian realm! While Ling Tian’s skills had long reached the realm of Saints, his cultivation could only be considered to be at the extreme peak of HouTian, one step away from the XianTian realm.
The cultivation realms of martial arts were very mysterious, similar to Buddhist Arhat enlightenment. In Ling Tian’s words, either you understood it or you didn’t. If you thought you understood it, then you did. If you didn’t understand it, then no matter how much it was explained, you still wouldn’t understand it!
While all these comprehension levels sounded abstruse and mysterious, the truth was that one would discover a new level of existence each time after they had broken into the next realm.
For the eighth stage of the Divine Shocking Dragon Formula, other than a strong and resilient body, meridians, tendons and more, one had to take the step from HouTian to XianTian energy as the supposed ‘fundamental change’. However, because Ling Tian’s body contained pure XianTian energy to start with, this allowed him to progress directly to the ninth stage. Cultivators term this as the actual XianTian stage, with inner energy described as ‘ceaselessly circulating, incessantly renewing’.
The true XianTian realm brought with it another benefit, which was to greatly heighten the sensitivity of a person’s six senses. This was what the Arhats termed the ‘heavenly eye’. In fact, this was just a state where one developed an ability to scrutinize the most minute details of what they sensed around them!
XianTian realm naturally matched with XianTian internal energy, thus causing Ling Tian to have a huge breakthrough, arriving at the ‘Swaying North and South, swapping East and West’ boundary, the Shocking Dragon stage of his Divine Shocking Dragon Formula!
Lamps flickered and were extinguished in the houses as the evening progressed, and a blanket of silence fell over Sky Bearing City. However, in one particular place of the city, the lamps were still brightly lit and the air was filled with the sounds of the zither and reed pipes. Likewise, the flow of people going in and out of the house never stopped and it seemed to be extremely lively.
[1] It actually just means kneeling down and bending over. Golden mountains probably describes the kneecaps and jade pillar should refer to the backbone.
