Chapter 121: Wancheng

When Uncle Nan woke up, it was already noon of the following day. Wancheng was close at hand, and not far away, the brand-new ebony city gates were clearly visible.

He still felt somewhat hazy, remembering only that he seemed to have taken a sip of immortal wine before losing consciousness entirely.

The wine's potency surged up again. Uncle Nan let out a wine-soaked hiccup, and only then did he truly savor the taste of the Dragon-Tiger Bone-Strengthening Wine, finding the aftertaste endlessly lingering as he smacked his lips in appreciation.

"Uncle Nan, you're being so gross." Qinggui’s voice rang out. He immediately looked around and realized he was lying on a horse-drawn carriage while everyone else was walking on foot.

Because riding horses was prohibited near the city gates, even Zhou Bai was walking and leading his horse by the reins.

Uncle Nan blushed slightly and leaped down from the carriage, but failing to control his strength properly for a moment, he went headfirst straight into the ground, smashing his nose and causing it to bleed.

"This is..." He couldn't help but murmur to himself. Thinking of a possible reason, both of his hands began to tremble slightly.

"How is the wine?" Zhou Bai blinked at Uncle Nan, quite curious about the effects it would have on a mortal.

The medicinal efficacy of the Dragon-Tiger Bone-Strengthening Wine was relatively mild; even if one couldn't absorb it, it wouldn't cause any backlash.

"Are you alright, Uncle Nan?" Shengli asked with some concern, though she also knew Zhou Bai had no reason to harm them.

A look of uncontrollable joy spread across Uncle Nan's face. Unable to contain himself, he began to dance around while shouting loudly, "It worked! It actually worked! A bottleneck of several decades......!"

The commotion he caused was quite significant. In the distance, the yamen runners guarding the gate exchanged glances and walked over.

Only then did Uncle Nan barely manage to regain his composure. Following that, tears of old age streamed down his face as he felt the internal energy flowing smoothly and unobstructed through his Dantian.

"Just like that... I've reached the First-Rate realm." Even he had never expected that a bottleneck which had trapped him for nearly thirty years would be broken by a single cup of immortal wine.

One must know that across the entire Xuzhou, there were very few first-rate martial artists in the pugilistic world, yet this fortuitous encounter had arrived just like that.

Shengli looked at Zhou Bai with shock. Was this what they meant by "when a person achieves the Dao, even their chickens and dogs ascend to heaven"? Even ordinary wine consumed daily could allow a mortal to shed their mortal coil and undergo a complete transformation?

Only Zhou Bai knew that his Dragon-Tiger Bone-Strengthening Wine wasn't as unfathomably miraculous as imagined. It could indeed enhance a martial artist's internal energy cultivation and reinforce their bones.

However, just a single sip wouldn't have brought about such a dramatic improvement; the primary reason was the decades of accumulation where Uncle Nan had been stuck merely a step away.

At this moment, the yamen runners at the city gate walked up to the caravan and directly blocked their path.

"No shouting allowed on the official road of Wancheng. What is going on with you people?"

Uncle Nan reacted immediately. Forcing himself to calm down, he fished out some silver coins and actively slipped them over.

"Apologies, my emotions were simply too excited. No offense intended, no offense intended."

After accepting the money, the yamen runner's expression relaxed, but this instead stimulated the greed within his heart.

"Move your carriage to the side and let me search it for contraband."

Shengli frowned. Naturally, there was a considerable amount of gold and silver jewelry inside the carriage. If these were hauled out in broad daylight for all to see, it would undoubtedly draw attention and cause no small amount of trouble.

Seeing this, Zhou Bai stepped forward from the procession, and the guards consciously cleared a path for him.

Noticing that he was tall and robust with a long saber strapped to his waist, the yamen runner immediately placed his hand on the hilt of his weapon.

The very next moment, however, an extra token appeared in Zhou Bai's palm, with the name of the Underworld Registry carved upon it.

Cold sweat instantly broke out on the yamen runner's forehead. Without a second thought, he bowed respectfully.

"Immortal master, please go right in."

"Do you still need to search?" Uncle Nan patted him on the shoulder.

"How would I ever dare?" The yamen runner's heart was bleeding. He took back the silver he had just accepted, added a few more taels of his own, and shoved them into Uncle Nan's hand.

"Keep this to buy some wine."

Uncle Nan declined the extra money and directed the caravan to proceed into Wancheng.

Upon entering the city, Zhou Bai bid farewell to the group, knowing he wouldn't linger in Wancheng for long before moving on.

He had already made up his mind: regardless of whether there were any gains concerning Xuzhou, he would set off immediately.

Most of the buildings in Wancheng were newly constructed. The people on the streets were mostly able-bodied young men who had fled here as refugees from Xuzhou, to the extent that it was difficult to spot even a single elderly person.

Zhou Bai led his horse with Ah Huang following closely behind. Having undergone another day of baptism by dragon blood, the skinny horse's physique had grown even sturdier, faintly emanating a powerful aura.

"Miss, what are you looking at? You wouldn't happen to have feelings for Immortal Master Bai, would you?" Seeing Shengli staring fixedly at Zhou Bai's retreating figure, Qinggui couldn't help teasing her.

Shengli shook her head with utter calm. "Ever since... I swore an oath that for the rest of this life, I would never again harbor romantic affections in my heart."

After saying this, nothing remained in her eyes except for a deep, yearning aspiration.

"Qinggui, I want to become an immortal."

"Miss..." Qinggui's face was filled with astonishment, only to hear her continue.

"If not for the matters of Xuzhou troubling me, I would even be willing to kneel before Immortal Master Bai in public and beg him to take me as his disciple."

Zhou Bai, not far ahead, also overheard what Shengli said, and his pace involuntarily quickened once more.

At the same time, he glanced back and seemed to catch a glimmer of light in Shengli's eyes. Touching the martial arts manual tucked inside his robes, a sense of appreciation for her naturally arose in his heart.

He immediately executed the Ventriloquism Divine Ability, and a voice echoed softly beside Shengli's ear.

"Fates come and go. If we should have another chance to meet, I shall ferry you across to immortality."

She stood frozen in place, snapping back to her senses only after Uncle Nan urged her forward a few times. Following that, Shengli recovered her usual calm and wise demeanor.

Zhou Bai had already walked far ahead, making his way toward the Xu Family Firm. He hadn't placed much hope on gaining anything from the credential token he had taken from the bandits.

Anyway, it required no effort on his part. If he could acquire a Daoist method for free and add one more immortal divine ability to his arsenal, perhaps he might finally be able to sense the non-existent spiritual qi.

As he walked, Zhou Bai used his Yin-Yang Eyes to survey Wancheng. Sure enough, he detected several unusual auras within the city, and since they were concentrated in one location, it indicated that members of the Underworld Registry were indeed stationed here.

Among them, the aura emitted by one strand of demonic energy vaguely felt somewhat familiar to him. After pondering over it for a long time, it suddenly clicked in his mind just as he arrived before the gates of the commercial firm.

"Old Rat Li? Why would this old fellow show up in Wancheng?"

Zhou Bai pulled out his token and attempted to contact him, and to his surprise, it went far more smoothly than he had imagined.

After the two communicated via divine sense for a moment, Zhou Bai immediately understood the reason.

The fellow had actually taken the lead in organizing a small-scale exchange gathering in Wancheng, primarily focused on trading spiritual materials.

It was hard to imagine why someone of Old Rat Li's character would go out of his way to undertake such a thankless task, but he didn't pry too deeply, merely dropping a mysterious hint that the fortuitous encounters within should on no account be missed.

Originally, Zhou Bai had zero interest, but upon learning that the exchange gathering featured quite a few useful spiritual materials—especially a type of spiritual material known as the Vermilion Fruit, which could enhance demonic cultivation—he changed his mind.

As long as he ingested it, he would be able to directly attempt the heavenly tribulation of the demonic path.