Chapter 1216: The Wine Madman
Zhang Ruochen browsed the martial market in Taiyin Ancient City but did not find suitable protective treasures or offensive treasures.
At his current cultivation level, if he needed to use protective or offensive treasures, it would certainly be because he had encountered a Saint-level powerful enemy.
It was well known that protective treasures capable of withstanding a Saint's attack could only be refined by the major medieval aristocratic clans and ancient sects. Moreover, their numbers were extremely scarce, and only important figures could carry them.
Originally, the Blood God Sect's "Sect Leader's True Fire Token" was a powerful protective treasure, but it had been taken away by the previous Sect Leader and was not passed down to Zhang Ruochen.
Offensive treasures capable of injuring a Saint were even rarer.
The Five Calamities Saint-Suppressing Talisman that Shi Qiankun gave to Zhang Ruochen counted as one. As for the Saint Talisman that the Supreme Elder gave to Zhang Ruochen, it was an incredibly powerful offensive treasure.
The greatest characteristic of offensive treasures was that they could suppress an opponent regardless of cultivation level.
Of course, Zhang Ruochen did not return empty-handed from Taiyin Ancient City. He still purchased some rare medicinal herbs.
According to Xiao Hei, using these medicinal herbs, along with the sacred medicines from the Azure Dragon Dynasty's national treasury, he could refine a type of pill capable of healing Saints.
Below the Saint realm, the best healing pill was the Withered Wood Pill.
As long as a cultivator took one Withered Wood Pill, even if they had only a single breath left, they could be saved.
However, upon reaching the Saint realm, the life essence of a cultivator underwent earth-shattering changes, and their life level transformed. The medicinal effect of the Withered Wood Pill would decrease significantly.
In fact, for Saints of the Xuanhuang Realm, the Withered Wood Pill had lost all healing effects.
Upon reaching the Saint realm, whether it was healing pills or pills to enhance cultivation, they had to be Saint Pills to have any obvious medicinal effect.
Saint Pills were rare and hard to come by.
Therefore, most Saints relied on their own enlightenment and long-term accumulation to break through to higher realms. It was very normal to spend a hundred or two hundred years to break through one realm.
Only by finding a Saint Pill could they accelerate their cultivation speed.
Xiao Hei sorted through the medicinal herbs Zhang Ruochen had just bought and said, "The Azure Dragon Dynasty's national treasury should have a ten-thousand-year-old Willow New Grass, right?"
Zhang Ruochen took out the Golden Light Storage Bag, searched for a while, and pulled out a green, glowing sacred grass. "This Willow New Grass should be about twenty thousand years old, right?"
Willow New Grass looked very much like a willow branch that had just sprouted tender buds. Strands of sacred light flowed over its leaves, emitting an intoxicating fragrance.
Xiao Hei's eyes lit up. "Not bad. The older the Willow New Grass, the stronger its medicinal power. The Rejuvenation Pill refined from it will have a better healing effect."
"You want to refine the Rejuvenation Pill?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
"Exactly, the Rejuvenation Pill."
The Rejuvenation Pill was definitely a Saint-level pill, capable of healing Saints.
If a Saint possessed a Rejuvenation Pill, it was equivalent to having an extra life.
If Xiao Hei could really refine the Rejuvenation Pill, then Zhang Ruochen would have a bit more confidence entering the barbaric wilderness.
Xiao Hei took out a pill furnace and began refining the Rejuvenation Pill.
Zhang Ruochen sat cross-legged not far from the pill furnace and continued his cultivation. Earlier, after refining a sacred fruit, Zhang Ruochen's cultivation had increased significantly, and his body had reached a saturated state.
According to his judgment, he should have reached the peak of the Second Tribulation Quasi-Saint.
It was all thanks to the sacred fruit; otherwise, his cultivation speed would not have been so fast.
"My physical body and spiritual power have both reached the Saint realm, and my foundation is even more solid than that of a Quasi-Saint. I can undergo the Third Quasi-Saint Tribulation, the Life-Death Tribulation, at any time."
Zhang Ruochen made a decision: after passing through the space wormhole to the Eastern Domain, he would immediately undergo the tribulation.
Only by passing the Third Quasi-Saint Tribulation could he condense a Saint Source and become a true martial Saint.
Next, Zhang Ruochen took out the Space-Time Secret Scripture and continued studying the third realm of the Time Sword Art, the Twelve Hours Sword Art.
The Twelve Hours Sword Art represented twelve swords, each with different characteristics, containing infinite and profound time rules. The more one comprehended it, the more one could feel the exquisiteness and power of the sword art.
Time was the most unpredictable, formless and intangible, invisible and ungraspable. If it were not for Xumi Saint Monk combining time and sword techniques to create the Time Sword Art, Zhang Ruochen probably would not have even gotten started.
"Senior Xumi Saint Monk must have put a lot of thought into creating the Time Sword Art. This way, I can use the sword art as an entry point to comprehend the mysteries of time," Zhang Ruochen said.
While comprehending the sword and grasping the mysteries of time, Zhang Ruochen was completely immersed.
"Boom."
A loud noise came from the direction of the door.
Zhang Ruochen and Xiao Hei were both startled. A gray figure crashed through the door and rushed to the side of the pill furnace.
It was an old man reeking of alcohol, wearing a wrinkled gray robe and a tattered gray cloth hat. Messy, graying hair stuck out from under the hat, making him look no different from a beggar.
"Whoosh."
The old man's hands caressed the pill furnace, which had already turned red-hot. His nose pressed against the furnace wall as he sniffed vigorously, looking intoxicated. "Willow New Grass... twenty-three thousand six hundred and forty years old... Such a sacred medicine, used for alchemy, what a waste."
Zhang Ruochen stood up, looking at the suddenly intruding old man with a wary gaze.
Clearly, the old man had smelled the fragrance of the sacred medicine and barged in. However, before refining the pill, Xiao Hei had set up a formation to block the medicinal fragrance from spreading.
How sensitive must the old man's nose be to smell the sacred medicine's fragrance through the formation?
Furthermore, the pill furnace was already red-hot. How high was the temperature? The old man touched it with his bare hands without getting hurt. This alone showed that he was no ordinary person.
"With my spiritual power, I can only roughly judge that the Willow New Grass is about twenty-three thousand years old. He just smelled it and could tell the exact age. Truly remarkable."
Zhang Ruochen tried to stay calm and walked toward the old man.
The old man seemed completely oblivious to Zhang Ruochen and Xiao Hei. He just hugged the pill furnace with both hands and sighed, "A Saint-level Willow New Grass should be used to brew Willow Floss Wine. Using it to refine the Rejuvenation Pill is a complete waste."
Xiao Hei extended his two claws, which glowed with a cold light, ready to strike.
Zhang Ruochen stopped him.
Although the drunken old man was a bit strange, he did not seem to want to snatch the pill furnace. It was best not to attack first, so as not to provoke a powerful enemy.
Zhang Ruochen, wearing a white Daoist robe, looked elegant and refined. He walked behind the old man and said with a smile, "Senior, you seem to have a deep understanding of both brewing and alchemy. May I ask your name?"
The old man let go of the pill furnace and turned to look at Zhang Ruochen behind him. "What understanding? I only know a little bit."
After a pause, the old man continued, "I've drunk too much wine, and my mind is a bit numb. I can't even remember my own name. However, those who know me call me the Wine Madman."
"He really does look like a wine madman," Xiao Hei said coldly.
The Wine Madman was not angry. He grabbed the gourd hanging from his waist and tilted it to his mouth. In an instant, he drank the entire gourd dry.
"What a pity the gourd is too small. I finished it in one gulp."
The Wine Madman hung the gourd back on his waist, took a wine pouch from his back, sat down beside the pill furnace, and continued drinking.
Xiao Hei transmitted a message to Zhang Ruochen: "This Wine Madman is definitely no ordinary person. He might already know your identity and is pretending to be crazy to get close to you and steal your treasures."
"Let me test his background."
Zhang Ruochen walked toward the Wine Madman. Suddenly, he accelerated, turning into a series of afterimages, and appeared beside the Wine Madman. He extended two fingers to snatch the wine pouch from the Wine Madman's hand.
Unexpectedly, he met no resistance from the Wine Madman and easily took the wine pouch.
The Wine Madman looked up, slightly stunned, and asked, "What are you doing?"
Zhang Ruochen held the wine pouch and looked at the Wine Madman's pure, innocent eyes. He was a bit at a loss.
"Haha, I get it. You like drinking too, right?"
The Wine Madman jumped up from the ground like a child, turning several somersaults in excitement.
Just as Zhang Ruochen breathed a sigh of relief, he smelled a strong odor of alcohol.
The Wine Madman had come right in front of Zhang Ruochen, very close, staring at him with a somewhat manic look. "Drink! Since you want to drink, don't be polite with me. Just one word: drink."
Zhang Ruochen thought for a moment. He felt that he had been too tense lately, seeing everyone as a malicious villain. Sometimes, he needed to change this state of mind.
Zhang Ruochen showed a smile. "Thank you for the wine, Senior. I'll drink."
Grabbing the wine pouch, Zhang Ruochen tilted his head back and poured it into his mouth.
The Wine Madman's wine was not some spiritual wine or sacred wine. It could not enhance cultivation or improve spiritual power, but it was extremely strong and potent.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen drink the wine, the Wine Madman became even more excited. He then pulled Zhang Ruochen to go outside, saying he would take him to drink elsewhere and not stop until they were drunk.
Zhang Ruochen could also see that the Wine Madman had no ill intentions; he was just a drunkard.
Zhang Ruochen also wanted to take this opportunity to adjust his state of mind and avoid planting a demonic heart. So, as if possessed, he went out with the Wine Madman to drink.
The Wine Madman took Zhang Ruochen to an underground wine cellar, filled with large and small wine vats.
Zhang Ruochen's spiritual power and physical body had already reached the Saint realm, so he was naturally not afraid of strong wine. He was confident that no matter how much he drank, he would not get drunk.
He and the Wine Madman each drank three vats.
The Wine Madman put down his wine vat and looked at Zhang Ruochen, who was still standing, somewhat surprised. "Dragon Spirit Mad Bull Wine ranks seventeenth among the world's strongest wines, and you can drink three vats without falling. Kid, your drinking capacity is comparable to mine in my youth. Not bad, not bad."
"What Dragon Spirit Mad Bull Wine?"
Zhang Ruochen's mind was already a bit fuzzy. He could not feel the sacred energy inside him running wild. Every strand of sacred energy was like a mad bull, and even the flow of his blood had doubled in speed.
"Boom."
Just then, a deafening roar came from above ground.
The wine cellar shook, and a large amount of dust fell, as if it were about to collapse.
"Gu Linfeng, come out and die."
A cold, emotionless voice came from above ground into the wine cellar.
In the night, the Death Knight, holding a blood-red long spear, shattered the city gate of Taiyin Ancient City and charged into the city. The roar just now was the sound of the city gate breaking.
...
(The Wine Madman is a character mentioned a long time ago. Attentive readers might be able to guess who he is.)