That night, the Stone Gate Sect held a sumptuous feast for Tang Jie.

There were quite a few toasts throughout the meal.

Qiu Shuyu sat at the head of the table. Raising up a wine jar, he poured wine into Tang Jie’s cup. “This is Seven Rainbow Sunset Wine. Wanniang makes it using the special spirit millet of the Blackwater Plains, and the water of the Heavencaller Spring on Heavenlink Mountain. After large amounts of spiritual energy are added in to ferment it, it is buried for sixty years. There are only ten jars, and we normally don’t take it out for guests. But after witnessing the heroic feats of Young Master Tang, Wanniang decided to take it out to treat you, and the three of us are also allowed to enjoy some. Young Master, you must not pass up this opportunity.”

This Rainbow Sunset Wine had five enchanting colors, appearing like a rainbow in the light of the sun. But upon drinking it, one found it to be rich in alcohol, with a powerful delayed effect.

And it was spirit wine, so even cultivators could get drunk from it. Tang Jie had already drunk several large cups, and the world was spinning, his speech slurring. “No… I can’t… drink more… Any more… and I’ll really get drunk.”

The short and fat Liang Xingbang replied, “Young Master Tang, don’t be a stranger! What does it matter if you get drunk? You’ll just have to sleep a while. We’re all family here, so we’ll take care of you. And there are some things that only become easy to do once you’re drunk.”

As he spoke, several pretty women surrounded Tang Jie, calling him “Young Master” while diligently filling his cup.

Tang Jie was young and full of energy, so with all these beautiful women around him urging him to drink, he gradually lost his restraint and drank more and more. In the blink of an eye, that large jar of spirit wine was all in his belly and he was so drunk that he couldn’t even stand. In the end, he collapsed onto the table and snored away.

When Yu Wanniang saw him collapse, she dismissed the maids and said, “My Rainbow Sunset Wine can even fell Celestial Heart True Persons. For this Tang Jie to last this long with his Hundred Refinement body is quite impressive.”

Shi Jingzhai sneered, “So what? He was still brought down in the end.”

He looked at Tang Jie with contempt.

Qiu Shuyu replied, “Don’t be careless. He’s a smart and clever kid, not someone who easily takes the bait. He might be pretending to be drunk.”

Yu Wanniang covered her mouth and laughed. “Senior Brother, you’re looking down on us too much. He’s only a puny Mortal Shedding. You think we can’t tell if he’s pretending to be drunk or really drunk? In his view, everyone here is stronger than him, so we could have easily dealt with him without resorting to such methods, so he wouldn’t have his guard up.”

She grabbed Tang Jie’s wrist and felt his pulse. “His pulse is disorderly, his spiritual energy is running amok, and his blood energy is in turmoil and difficult to control. And the Intoxication Powder I added in has traveled throughout his body. If this is fake drunkness, then no one in the world has ever really been drunk.”

“That’s good.” Qiu Shuyu seemed very confident in Yu Wanniang’s judgment.

Just as Yu Wanniang said, if four Celestial Heart True Persons couldn’t tell if a Hundred Refinement kid was drunk or only pretending to be drunk, they might as well hang themselves. This was precisely why Qiu Shuyu, despite telling them to be careful, had said such things in front of Tang Jie.

Qiu Shuyu said, “Since he’s drunk, use the secret art to ask him what he saw.”

“Watch me.” Yu Wanniang smiled. She used her fingers to open Tang Jie’s eyelid and looked into his eyes. “Tang Jie, wake up!”

Her eyes flashed with a strange light.

Under this light, Tang Jie’s eyeball moved around.

Yu Wanniang let her fingers go, and Tang Jie’s eyes opened on their own, but they were dull and unfocused.

Yu Wanniang asked, “Tang Jie, what did you see in the cave?”

“An Earth Devil Ape,” Tang Jie answered.

“What about the ore? How much spirit stone ore did you find?”

“The spirit ore is almost out. There are only around a thousand tons left.”

Qiu Shuyu was delighted. “Do you have anything you’re confused about?”

After a pause, Tang Jie answered, “Why did the Earth Devil Ape suddenly attack me? Wasn’t it supposed to avoid cultivators?”

Qiu Shuyu nodded at Yu Wanniang, who immediately said, “The Earth Devil Ape didn’t come out to attack you. Rather, as it was a scourge on the mine, as a disciple of the Basking Moon Sect, you took it on yourself to protect your homeland and remove this disaster. You ventured deep into the mine, drew out the Earth Devil Ape, and did what the Stone Gate Sect could not. The Stone Gate Sect was extremely grateful to you and full of admiration for your prowess.”

Tang Jie woodenly nodded. “Yes, I went to find the Earth Devil Ape and killed it. I’m a hero…”

Yu Wanniang added, “The spirit ore is on the verge of running out, and you killed the Earth Devil Ape, so everything here is settled.”

“Yes, everything here is basically settled,” Tang Jie mechanically repeated.

Qiu Shuyu exhaled and said to Yu Wanniang, “The job’s done. Send him back to rest.”

Yes,” Yu Wanniang replied. After some thought, she said, “Senior Brother, what are we going to do with this?”

A crystalline stone appeared in Yu Wanniang’s hand. On the stone was the scene of Shi Jingzhai criticizing Tang Jie for comprehending the art and invoking the celestial music.

This was a Photo Stone, an extremely valuable treasure in the cultivation world. It could record conversations and scenes. When Shi Jingzhai had been making trouble for Tang Jie, Yu Wanniang had been recording the entire thing.

Qiu Shuyu looked at the stone and shook his head. “This was going to be our back-up in case Tang Jie found out our secret and refused to take a bribe. We can’t kill him, so we would have used this as evidence to accuse Tang Jie of being biased against us and trying to frame us. Since he didn’t find the secret, there’s no point in keeping it around. Give it to me and I’ll remove the scene. This is a rare item, and it would be a pity to waste it.”

“Yes.” Yu Wanniang gave the Photo Stone to Qiu Shuyu.

Qiu Shuyu left with the Photo Stone, leaving behind Shi Jingzhai, Liang Xingbang, Yu Wanniang, and Tang Jie.

The three of them watched Qiu Shuyu leave, upon which they smugly laughed.

Yu Wanniang fired off several bolts of energy from her finger into various places in the hall, after which she said, “We can talk now.”

Shi Jingzhai snorted, “I didn’t think things would go so smoothly. Everything is ready, and that idiot Qiu Shuyu will cover for us, so we don’t have to worry about any consequences.”

Liang Xingbang smiled. “This is all thanks to Junior Sister and her peerless schemes. Some ore was enough to drag that old thing down, and he actually thinks that he gained from all of this! He has no idea about the even more valuable Crystallized Sandworms. Once we dispose of this batch, our Stone Gate Sect will have a large stockpile of resources and is bound to thrive!”

“And there’s that mantra for advancing to Violet Palace!” Yu Wanniang added.

At the mention of this, the eyes of Shi Jingzhai and Liang Xingbang began to burn with a fervent flame.

Yes!

A mantra for advancing to Violet Palace!

With this mantra, this Stone Gate Sect would no longer be a minor sect, but would jump into the middle tier of sects. And once they reached Violet Palace, they would be the major figures behind the Stone Gate Sect’s ascendance.

As for Qiu Shuyu, so what if he was a little older than them?

Once the excitement had passed, Yu Wanniang looked at Tang Jie and finally released the hand that had been holding his wrist. “Nothing strange.”

The conversation just now had been a test. A normal person would have been shaken after hearing such heaven-shaking secrets, allowing Yu Wanniang to confirm whether Tang Jie was really pretending or not.

But it was clear that Tang Jie wasn’t faking it.

He was really drunk!

A complete mess of a drunk that knew nothing of the world, so drunk that he was no different from a corpse and could sleep through the end of the world.

No matter what Yu Wanniang had asked him, he wouldn’t know and wouldn’t remember.

This secret art would make a person forget the memories they had of the time. In normal circumstances, this gap in memory would draw suspicion, but drunkenness served as a cover to explain this missing period.

After several more tests to make sure that nothing was wrong, Yu Wanniang had a maid carry Tang Jie to his room.

In the small room, Tang Jie was inelegantly splayed out on his bed. Eyes continued to watch him from the darkness, but no matter how they watched, they felt that he was no different from someone who was drunk.

Of course, they couldn’t have known about what was happening far away, in another dimension.

———————————————

A vast range of towering mountains extended into the distance.

White clouds drifted above and birds flew back and forth. Farther above was an invisible energy barrier that enclosed the mountain range like an overturned bowl.

On the northern end of the mountain range was a vast valley. Numerous flowers grew across the valley, as did trees laden with fruit, and green grasses and strange stones could be seen throughout.

Someone with an eye for goods would soon realize that these weren’t ordinary flowers. Every existence in this valley was a special flower, a strange grass, a precious fruit, a spiritual tree, or a jewel.

Nine Heavens Phoenix Grass, ten-thousand-year Violet Sandalwood, thousand-year Fiendwhite Lotus, Heavenly Secret Stone, Yellow Rebirth Fruit, Jade Feather Red Treasure… There were several dozen varieties, and they were all at the thousand-year or ten-thousand-year level.

Numerous rare and exotic fruits grew in this valley. In the outside world, they would have made the world go crazy, the six major sects dropping any semblance of dignity to grab at them. The entire Rosecloud Domain would have fallen into turmoil.

In the back of the valley was a red mountain which burned with flame all year. Lava flowed from the summit and formed a pool of lava at the base, yet this pool never overflowed.

The terrifying heat of the lava pool distorted the light and air above it, but there seemed to be something stopping it from terrorizing the valley. Thus, the valley was divided into two different worlds: one which was in eternal spring and brimming with life, while the other was a desolate hellscape.

On the other end of the valley, in a grass clearing.

Tang Jie stood at the entrance to the valley, staring at a distant stalk of grass.

The grass grew on a large rock. It was about half a meter tall and pure white. A little ball grew on the top of it, swaying in the wind.

This was Jade Return Grass, a rare kind of spirit grass that grew atop rocks. Its greatest function was that it could be refined into a medicine that could increase spiritual energy. The Langya Blessed Land had also had this kind of spirit grass, but the oldest had been eight hundred years old. The one in front of Tang Jie was an incredible ten-thousand-year-old spirit grass.

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While it seemed small, its roots had infiltrated the entirety of the rock, perhaps even extending several dozen meters into the ground.

Tang Jie stared at the grass while cautiously glancing at his feet.

At his feet was a white line that someone had drawn. Tang Jie was currently standing at the edge of this line.

He breathed in and out a few times, and then he charged at the spirit grass at maximum speed.

As he crossed the white line, a giant bird of flame suddenly emerged from the pool of lava on the other end of the valley.

This bird was so enormous that when it unfurled its wings, flames swept through the sky like a cloud of fire.

Creee! A bright cry resounded through the mountains.

The bird of flame spat flame down below.

This flame shot at Tang Jie like an arrow, creating a blazing line in the sky. It almost instantly pierced through Tang Jie’s body, and before he even had time to scream, he disappeared in a cloud of smoke. The remaining flames landed on the ground, where they disappeared without harming a single blade of grass on the ground.

Of course, the Stone Gate Sect elders turned out to be hiding something. It’s a good thing Tang Jie has that other self of his…wait.