Chapter 163 – Pushing it to the limit

Song Shang had contested and won several wine making contests over the span of his life, and so he was obviously not short on confidence! In fact, he would usually remain calm even if he was contesting against hundreds of people at once.

His confidence in his ability had always been absolute! Therefore he had always been sure that no one is capable of beating his wine’s quality! No one can beat me!

However this time Song Shang found himself in a very different situation; he was nervous. Unable to understand the reason behind this nervousness was making him even more uncomfortable. On top of that, the pressure he was being subjected to was coming from by a teenager! He slanted his eyes and glanced at the two jars which Jun Mo Xie had brought with him, is his wine actually better than mine?

Although this wine making contest was the most insignificant one that he had ever participated in, but the quality of the wine he was producing was unprecedented!

Even though there were only two judges for this contest, but one of them was the King’s Brother! And the other was amongst the finest and most powerful experts in the Xuan Xuan continent!

And then, the only spectator….. was a prince!

As for the stake of this bet….. that too was unprecedented. Song Shang wasn’t just betting his reputation on it, he was also gambling with his freedom!

“If I lose, then I’m willing to accept him as my master!”

Since this sentence had been spoken in the presence of a Prince, it was as solid as a contract!

This is ridiculous! I’m a renowned wine maker…. He’s nothing in front of me!

I’m just nervous because I’ve put up my best wine for this contest… and these guys will finish it all!

But then I can’t really say no to these guys then, can I? Offending a prince isn’t the best way to seek refuge in his country…..

Even though he was unaware of the mysterious expert’s true identity, he knew that the man too wasn’t to be offended under any circumstances!

Therefore, even though this was only a small bet, Song Shang had still somehow landed himself on sheer cliffs and precipitous rock faces!

Since he had already decided to ride a tiger, it was hard to get off now…… fighting with his back against the river was the only option left!

“Amazing wine!”

The prince raised the glass to his mouth, and took his first sip. Then, he allowed the wine to roll in his mouth for a while, absorbing the flavor and smell, and then swallowed it down.

He gently closed his eyes and enjoyed the aftertaste of the wine as it brought a wonderful feeling along with it!

I’ve had a lot of wines in my life, but this wine is something different and special… I really don’t think that I’ve ever had something this special…. I really need to drink more of this! The Solitary Falcon’s face was clearly reflecting the same feeling.

No wonder Song Shang was so confident about his wine…. He only staked his life on it since he knew that his wine is extraordinary. Not even the imperial wine maker’s wine is capable of overshadowing his work…. In fact, it’s not even fair to mention the two wines in the same breath!

Jun Mo Xie smiled as he gently started shaking the wine glass. The originally clear wine started getting blurry, and then a few bubbles started to bubble up. Upon a closer look, it was obvious that the originally clear wine was now becoming slightly turbid.

“This isn’t professional enough.” Jun Mo Xie shook his head and sighed: “Impurities in wines have always been a taboo!”

Song Shang almost choked while his eyes widened in shock.

His years of mental and physical effort, skill, determination, dedication, and pains had actually been called unprofessional by a kid!

Is this kid just ignorant…. Or is this his arrogance?

Both the judges had already finished their cups, and even though they hadn’t asked for more, it was evident that their fingertips were itching to move towards the flask for more. It was obvious that they were eagerly waiting for the contest to end, so they could just announce Song Shang as the winner and then devour the rest of his wine.

“Little Brother, we should taste your wine as well now. This competition has been very interesting from the beginning, and this wine alone has been worthy of making this trip.” The Royal Highness smiled gently as his remark made it rather obvious that he was already expecting Old Song to be the winner. In fact, he had been looking at Old Song’s wine from the corner of his eyes ever since he had tasted it.

The prince’s intentions seemed rather obvious…..after I declare Old Song as the winner, I will ask him to ditch the man in black, and then give these two wine jars to me as a gift. But I’ll have to keep a close eye on this man…. if he steals this wine, then I won’t get to drink it again…. Anyway, Old Song said that these two flasks were the last of it……

As for the outcome of this contest…. The result is rather obvious now. Song Shang’s wine has always been the best in the city, and this particular wine is even rarer and better than anything he’s ever produced before.

The Solitary Falcon had been maintaining his calm and composure throughout so far, and even though the prince couldn’t read his mind…. Jun Mo Xie could tell that the Solitary Falcon and the prince were both thinking the same thing.

“It’s too early to say anything right now; the outcome of this battle should only be decided once both the wines have had their chance!” Jun Mo Xie leaned over and picked up wine jar, and slapped the cork off in one movement…..

“Bang!” the three pair of eyes flinched at the same time. Even young Yang Mo stared at Jun Mo Xie with a look of nervousness on his face.

“Huh?” The three men exclaimed at the same time.

The smell hasn’t changed even one bit….. there’s absolutely nothing seductive about its fragrance!

Whenever the seal to a wine jar is opened, the aroma of the wine pours out of it…..

But how could there be no scent? What is this kid up to?

The three men couldn’t stop their faces from turning red initially, but a closer look revealed that the even though Jun Mo Xie had opened the seal, there was still a thin layer of oil soaked paper which was tightly wrapped around the jar, which was probably blocking its scent!

The faces of the three men reddened once again since Jun Mo Xie was unwrapping this oil soaked paper at a very slow pace.

He was practically teasing their desires!

The oil soaked paper was finally removed, but there was still no scent!

The eyes of the three people simultaneously opened up wide in surprise: wait, is that a real layer of animal skin under that oil soaked paper? It seems that the animal skin actually belonged to a level six Xuan Beast.

But then the three of them noticed something new again: there’s a thick layer of orange wood under the animal skin…. That’s the real reason why there’s no odor!

Orange wood doesn’t have any smell of its own, but it’s capable of isolating any kind of smell!

No wonder we haven’t been able to smell anything so far.

But wait, his wine jar was already smaller than the usual size, and now this just means that the real size of his jar is actually half of its originally perceived size! This is….. way too much… less!

And now what?….

Jun Mo Xie’s hands stopped at the critical moment, and then he suddenly stood up and slowly took two steps back. Then, he opened his arms wide and stretched his chest; he took a deep breath, hummed a few times, then placed his hands on his hips and revolved his waist around a few times. Then he twisted his buttocks a bit, and then swung his arms around, and then started stretching and loosening up his neck a bit. Then, he crisscrossed his fingers, and started cracking them all…. one by one……

His Royal Highness, Song Shang and the Solitary Falcon were all staring at him dumbstruck.

The three men had the same impulse guiding their hearts at the moment: don’t waste your energy in stretching your neck, let me twist it for you! I will certainly twist it like it’s never been twisted before!

Little Yang Mo wanted to ask Jun Mo Xie if he was feeling alright; perhaps out of innocence……

Once Jun Mo Xie was done stretching his entire body, he strode forward with cat-like elegance, and removed the orange wood covering his wine without sparing any effort for the task, and then threw it down to his feet with a ‘bang’.

The sound of the orange wood’s fall broke the silence of the room, and all three men raised their eyebrows provocatively.

Jun Mo Xie’s hands were still blocking the opening of the flask, which was still prohibiting the wine’s aroma from spreading into the atmosphere. The hearts of the three men were itching: just open the forsaken bottle now!

As the three men continued to stare at him with a look of indignation on their faces, Jun Mo Xie looked down at his wine flask affectionately, and stated in a duck-like voice: “ah! …….. before you drink… smell it; the flavor of its scent is ten times more intoxicating than anything else!”

“Damn you!” the three men cursed in unison; even the usually calm and collected Solitary Falcon was no exception. Jun Mo Xie had obviously tested everyone’s patience and had pushed it to the limit by now!

But then, the three people’s cursing seized in a flash, while the anger on their faces froze in its place!

Because at that exact moment……

Jun Mo Xie removed his hand, and allowed the aroma of the wine to infuse with the air.

An unspeakable…. Unspeakably wondrous flavor filled the entire room, suppressing their objections, almost as if a dominant warrior had stepped into a room full of cowards!

Perhaps a better description would be….. the fragrance spread through the room like moonlight from a shiny night sky, and covered every nook and corner of the room!

This is the smell of a transcending dream!

This fragrance isn’t from the human world…. It’s from a land of wonders! No, not even that! Even a land of wonders isn’t capable of producing such an amazing aroma!

The three men felt as if the wine’s aroma was the seventh heaven lingering over their heads, and a strong desire to step into its bliss was inciting them to float and rise upwards…. And upwards… and upwards…..

What kind of a wine is this? Is it really possible for a wine from this world to produce such intoxicating aroma?!

Hum…..I’m too moved…..

Jun Mo Xie had already poured the wine into four cups by the time the three men recovered. The wine’s amber color felt quite magical in the jade-shade glass.

“Before you drink… smell it; the flavor of its scent is ten times more intoxicating than anything else!” the prince got up, having already forgotten his manners. He roared in a trembling voice as tears streamed his cheeks: “Far more than ten ah ah ah ah ah ah……….”

Song Shang picked up his glass with tears in his eyes; he held the glass so carefully that it almost felt as if he was trying to hold onto a priceless treasure…. He stared at the wine for a long time, almost as if he was unwilling to drink it; not because he was afraid of losing the contest….. he was afraid that the wine may not be anything more than a fragrance…. And drinking it would sour his current blissful state…..

Just the mere smell of the wine had sent the three men into a dream like state, and neither of them wanted to wake up from this beautiful dream!