“A wine tasting party?”

“John Doe sent out a huge number of invitations to Wulin people this time round!”

“Something momentous is about to happen in Wulin. Every time John Doe appears, great events will follow suit. This time, all the forces in Wulin have received his invitation. It seems John Doe wants to gather everyone. What has he got up his sleeve?”

“The gathering can’t be as simple as getting together to drink some wine, can it?”

“Well, isn’t he following those social activities favored by modern officials and nobles to Wulin?”

“I heard many people have received invitations. Anyone who has met John Doe would receive one. We’ve never met him, so does this mean we can’t attend?”

“It is only common courtesy on his part to tell Wulin people that he would be having a party. This time, John Doe invited various forces of all sizes from Wulin, even including cultivators who do not belong to any force. Besides, it seems to me that an invitation card is not necessary for attending the party. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have arranged for the party to be held at Mount Hua.”

“So, everyone can go there, even the uninvited?”

“Great! I have to go and take a good look.”

“That’s right. It’s hard for weak practitioners like us to chance upon such a big scene. We can’t miss such a golden opportunity.”

John Doe’s party gave rise to a heated discussion on the Wulin online forum.

Everyone was particularly curious about the wine tasting party initiated by him.

As soon as everyone learned an invitation card was not a requirement to attend the party, they became excited and many people said they would definitely turn up in person to have a look.

……

Everyone was aware that John Doe enjoyed an unrivaled reputation and status in Wulin. With so many invitation cards sent out, this party would be a splendid gathering of movers and shakers in Wulin!

No one would let such a big chance slip away.

…

A voice sounded in a room in an inconspicuous northeastern hotel.

“A wine party?”

In the room, an old man whose face was ghastly pale sat on the bed, his hands cupping his lower abdomen. Looking at the animated discussion on the Wulin online forum from his phone, he suddenly burst out laughing in a sinister sort of way, and said, “My opportunity came so quickly!”

This person was none other than Ma Chunyu.

After escaping from the Peace Faction, he hid in this small hotel room. Thanks to the millions of yuan he had collected from Zhang Yiran in the past few years, he had enough to live the rest of his life in comfort and ease.

However, Ma Chunyu, once a respected elder in a sect, found it hard to swallow the indignity he suffered and how he had to spend his remaining years without any of his kung fu skills.

He knew he did not have many more years to live.

He initially planned to break through to the guru level and extend his life for a few decades. But then, Lin Qingyi’s palm strike completely smashed his hope of living for a few decades more, which made him deeply resentful.

He didn’t blame John Doe. Nevertheless, even if he did, there was nothing he could do.

Therefore, his target was Lin Qingyi.

“Lin Qingyi, you promised to protect me, but you ruined my kung fu skills in front of everyone. I will seek revenge against you!”

The more Ma Chunyu thought about his misfortune, the more maniacal he became!

No matter how intense his desire to take revenge was, Ma Chunyu, being seriously injured, did not even have the strength to put together a plan. After all, he had become an ordinary person. For him, to provoke Lin Qingyi and the Peace Faction for revenge was akin to committing suicide.

But when he saw John Doe sending out lots of invitations to various cultivators to a drinking party on Mount Hua, he immediately had an idea.

Under such circumstances, there was no need for him to be afraid of Lin Qingyi.

The wine tasting party on Mount Hua would be packed with numerous people!

For him, the more people there were, the safer he would be!

…

After coming back to Beijiang, Fang Qiu had been working together with He Gaoming to make wine. He bustled about and even cleared out a utility room.

“What are you doing?”

Seeing Fang Qiu and He Gaoming busy with their activities, He Xue walked into their office and looked at Fang Qiu in confusion.

“We’re making some wine.”

Fang Qiu told her.

“Gee, that sounds fantastic.”

Hearing Fang Qiu’s answer, He Xue was slightly surprised and said, “Our superfine herbs should make perfect medical liquor. If the base wine successfully soaks up their effective components, the liquor will be a new and great source of revenue.”

Hearing this, He Gaoming suddenly became worked up.

He instantly turned around and stared at He Xue, searching hard to come up with a retort. But faced with such a girl, he was suddenly at a loss for words.

“Don’t even think about it.”

Seeing that He Gaoming didn’t know how to come up with an answer, Fang Qiu shook his head with disapproval and said, “All the medicated wine is for the man who gave us the big tiger.”

He Xue had also seen the giant tiger with her own eyes.

Therefore, Fang Qiu’s words immediately made her calm down.

The giant tiger was definitely priceless.

More importantly…

The man who sent the giant tiger seemed to be a mighty and influential person in Wulin. Since he owned the medical liquor, there was no need for her to fight for it. After all, the group she worked for was not short of ways to make money. It was fine to let this opportunity go.

However, He Xue still looked a little disappointed.

“I think you are getting back to your normal way of life.”

He Xue’s face fell slightly, and Fang Qiu immediately asked with a smile, “Now you’ve devoted your heart and soul to making money. Your family has never tried to force you to get married again, right?”

“You’re right.”

He Xue spread her hands and asked, seemingly unintentionally, “It’s strange. Why didn’t the person who helped me secretly dare to admit it?”

Hearing that, Fang Qiu shook his head with a wry smile.

He knew she deliberately said this in his presence.

Yet, Fang Qiu did not make any comments.

He Xue couldn’t resist a sidelong glance at him. Then she turned around and left with a slight smile on her lips.

Before long, the two of them finished mixing the herbs and the distilled spirits according to the proportions, prepared the 100 wine jars and even made a neat gadget so the medicated liquor could easily be poured into each jar. As long as the liquor was ready, they could quickly complete the last step: fill each jar with the liquor.

“All done.”

After putting the lid on the large wine vat, Fang Qiu spoke, “Let’s go. You seldom visit my cultivation base. I’ll show you around. Then you can rest for two days.”

“No!”

He Gaoming immediately shook his head and refused, saying, “I’ll stay here with the liquor and won’t go anywhere.”

“Are you sure?”

Fang Qiu was stunned.

“Of course.”

He Gaoming nodded seriously and said, “The liquor is very important. I must stay here to prevent any untoward incidents from taking place.”

“Okay, it’s up to you.”

Fang Qiu spread out his hands and said, “I have to remind you about something. The herbs have begun to react with the white spirits. In the following three to seven days, no one is allowed to open the lid. Once the aroma of wine escapes, all the liquor in the vat will be wasted.”

“I know.”

He Gaoming sneered as he said with pride, “We Wulin people know more about making wine than you do.”

“In fact, the herbs can steep for a few more days with the white spirits. Frankly, it will be best if you can wait for three months, but you said you need to take it away after three days. I really don’t know why you are in such a hurry.”

Fang Qiu muttered.

“Let’s talk about it later. First, I need to guarantee the first batch is properly made,” He Gaoming said bluntly.

“See you then.”

Fang Qiu nodded and said, “I’ll ask someone to deliver your meals to you three times a day.”

“Thank you.”

He Gaoming nodded his thanks to him.

…

For the next three days, He Gaoming kept an eye on the liquor all the time. As he said, he didn’t go anywhere else.

In fact, no accidents would happen to the liquor in the cultivation base because it was within a restricted military area!

Fang Qiu even found some time within these three days to see his patients in a city.

Three days later, Fang Qiu came to the utility room again.

“Time’s up?”

As soon as the door opened, He Gaoming, who was sitting on the ground and practicing, immediately opened his eyes and looked at Fang Qiu.

“Well, it has been 72 hours.”

Fang Qiu nodded.

“Good.”

He Gaoming immediately stood up and said expectantly, “Open the vat.”

“Go ahead.”

Fang Qiu pointed to the lid of the big wine vat.

Without hesitation, He Gaoming immediately removed the lid.

The wine vat was opened.

The rich aroma of the medicated wine immediately wafted towards them from the wine vat.

Inhaling the scent, He Gaoming couldn’t help but be thrilled.

He remembered this smell.

It was the same wine fragrance as that of John Doe’s wine!

“Let me try it first.”

As he spoke, He Gaoming took out a bowl that he had prepared in advance. Then he ladled some of the wine from the vat into the bowl and poured it all into his mouth

In one gulp, he drained the bowl.

“Good wine!”

He Gaoming couldn’t help smacking his lips. Then he saw Fang Qiu near the wine vat staring at the wine while smelling it. He hurriedly warned him. “Be careful. You’d better not taste this wine. It will blow your mind!”

Fang Qiu stared back, not saying anything.

“Okay, do me a favor. Let’s move the wine into the jars,” He Gaoming said.

Before they transferred this big wine vat here, they had already installed two taps at the bottom of the vat. After the base wine had been soaked with the herbs for some time, the medical liquor would flow out as soon as someone turned on the tap. There was no need to tilt the heavy vat sideways laboriously to pour the wine out.

With Fang Qiu’s help, they soon divided the wine up into one hundred jars, one catty of wine per jar.

He Gaoming made a call and booked a transport truck.

In addition to the hundred jars of wine, he even took away the giant vat. After all, the medicinal herbs inside it were still valuable. They could get another batch of medicated wine after soaking these herbs into newly-bought white spirits.

When it came to doing business, He Gaoming was a typical businessman who was calculative and unwilling to make the slightest unnecessary sacrifice.

That was what Fang Qiu wanted.

When he left Beijiang, He Gaoming contacted a brother who happened to be in the area distributing invitation cards and asked him to send the wine vat back to Beijiang. Meanwhile, he sent the one hundred jars of wine to Mount Hua using the transport vehicle.

Upon arrival at Mount Hua, He Gaoming paid lots of money to rent an inn and he bought many period costumes that made them look like waiters in ancient times. All the brothers were required to dress up in this manner.

One after another, the other brothers came to the inn to help after sending out the invitations.

“Where has the oldest been these days?”

“The wine tasting party will soon begin. He should be back soon, right?”

“Heaven Dew smells so good. I’m always drooling over its fragrance.”

“Tell me, how many catties of our fragrant wine can be sold at this wine party?”

“At least 100?”

“100! Seriously? We have prepared 100 catties.”

“I think each person will book ten catties. If a hundred people come, it will be 1,000 catties, and our profit will be 4,500,000!”

Everyone’s eyes lit up.

“You underestimate Wulin people.”

Suddenly, a voice came.

Hearing the voice, everyone looked over and saw a familiar figure coming in from outside the door.

John Doe?

It was definitely him!