Chapter 394: Hua Gu Reviews Wine

"Fake wine?" Ning Zhuo's brow furrowed at Hua Guzi's assessment. "Are you sure?"

Hua Guzi thumped her chest vigorously, vibrating with earnestness. "My lord, I am a spirit chef! While I may not specialize in winemaking, spirit wine falls under my purview."

"This wine formula is truly contradictory. There's no mistake."

She paused, then continued, "I took a sip just now and tasted two main ingredients in this wine. One is Yellow Springs water, and the other is Night Roaming Grass."

"Yellow Springs water can solidify the soul and spirit, and is often used in alchemy and talismans. But as a winemaking ingredient, it is too yin and cold, and will directly harm the drinker's yang energy."

"Night Roaming Grass grows in dark and damp places and can enhance spiritual and soul power. However, its nature is阴沉 (yīnchén - somber, gloomy). Therefore, it is unsuitable for cultivators in the yang realm, but rather suitable for ghost cultivators in the yin realm. Thus, it often serves as a resting place for Night Roaming Gods."

"Night Roaming Grass and Yellow Springs water are both yin and cold substances. Their powers are extremely similar and cannot produce complementary effects. Instead, they easily lead to a singular wine nature, causing阴寒之疾 (yīnhán zhī jí - yin and cold ailments) for cultivators."

After discussing the main ingredients, Hua Guzi moved on to the auxiliary ingredients.

She took another small sip of the幽思冥酿 (Yōusī Míngniàng - Dark Thoughts Elixir), her fingers forming rapid incantations.

After a moment, she looked at Ning Zhuo and asked, "Young Master Ning Zhuo, I believe the auxiliary ingredients in this wine must include Moon Dew,冥玉 (Míng Yù - Dark Jade), and鲛人泪珠 (Jiāorén Lèizhū - Merman's Tears). Am I correct?"

Ning Zhuo shook his head slightly, no longer concealing the truth. "To my knowledge, the first two are correct. However, the latter is not Merman's Tears, but rather Nine-Tailed Fox Tears."

Hua Guzi hummed in understanding, her expression solemn. "Although Moon Dew has the effect of moisturizing the heart and spirit and is inherently clear and cold, often used to neutralize hotter components in spiritual food and elixirs, in the Dark Thoughts Elixir, it purely enhances the coldness. Not only does it lack a balancing effect, it exacerbates the overall coldness of the wine body, making the wine extremely potent."

"Dark Jade is a specialty of the yin realm, often used in the creation of magical artifacts. Its properties are steady and yin-aligned, excelling at protecting the soul and stabilizing the spirit. But as an auxiliary ingredient, it is too heavy and涩 (sè - astringent). The flow of spiritual energy in the wine body will be hindered, preventing it from maintaining a light mouthfeel. Dark Jade has an extremely strong absorption ability and easily absorbs other spiritual essences in the wine, leading to a dull wine body that loses its proper liveliness and layers."

"The last item is Nine-Tailed Fox Tears. These tears are relatively rare and precious, having the effect of clearing distracting thoughts and purifying the soul. However, they are guided by emotion and are often highly volatile and difficult to control. Compared to the aforementioned yin and cold ingredients, while Nine-Tailed Fox Tears possess a sense of warmth, they cannot harmonize with these overly cold main and auxiliary ingredients."

"Because the dosage is too small! I didn't taste it at all just now! In that case, the Nine-Tailed Fox Tears were excessively tainted by the coldness in the wine, rendering their own efficacy ineffective and causing them to be swallowed by the wine body."

Hua Guzi finished speaking and concluded, "So, to sum it up. The main ingredients in this wine formula are too similar in nature, weakening the variation and depth of the wine body and leading to a rigid wine nature."

"The auxiliary ingredients, Moon Dew and Dark Jade, not only failed to harmonize the main ingredients but instead exacerbated the coldness and dullness of the wine body."

"The only one with potential, the Nine-Tailed Fox Tears, had too small a dosage and could not harmonize the yin nature. Furthermore, due to their emotional volatility and resonance, they are incompatible with the cold wine body and are likely to cause a massive emotional contrast. If the drinker's mindset is unstable, they may fall into soul tremors, indirectly leading to drastic and even uncontrolled emotional changes."

Hua Guzi pondered, "If it were me, I would remove some of the main and auxiliary ingredients and use warm and yang ingredients to harmonize."

"For example, Blazing Sun Fruit, Red Flame Spirit Ganoderma, Purple Yang Lotus Seeds, or even bolder, Phoenix Gold Fluff."

Hua Guzi's attitude towards Ning Zhuo was different from that of others.

This explanation was delivered wholeheartedly, without the slightest pretense.

Ning Zhuo pondered for a moment and asked her, "Can this wine allow one's thoughts to extend to the yin realm to perceive the wisdom of predecessors and receive guidance from the netherworld?"

Hua Guzi's eyes widened, and she smiled. "How is that possible? Has my lord been deceived?!"

Ning Zhuo fell into deep thought again.

He tasted the wine again; the taste was the same as before.

Had Linghu Jiu deceived him?

Based on his understanding of Linghu Jiu's temperament, this was completely illogical.

Had Linghu Jiu given him fake wine? If he didn't want to give it, there was no need to set aside the last坛 (tán - jar) of wine. He could have simply said he had finished it, wouldn't that have been easier?

Why go through such trouble!

Seeing that Ning Zhuo hadn't finished speaking and was frowning in thought, Hua Guzi also wanted to share Ning Zhuo's burden and proactively suggested, "My lord, there are actually many ways to communicate with the netherworld and obtain guidance from predecessors."

"The most orthodox and safest method is ancestral worship ceremonies."

"Because of blood ties, yin realm ghosts will not easily harm us. They will benefit more from the ceremonies, maintaining rationality and regaining humanity."

"Actually... the separation of the yin and yang realms is a natural pattern of heaven and earth; it has its reasons."

"The yin and cold nature of things in the yin realm is profound, capable of distorting temperament, filled with hatred, resentment, and other malicious emotions, to the point of having jealousy, craving, and destructive desires towards the yang realm and things full of life."

"As cultivators in the yang realm, we should not come into contact with it too much."

"Otherwise, it can easily lead to many lingering problems."

Hua Guzi was worried about Ning Zhuo and expressed sincere concern.

Ning Zhuo, however, did not listen carefully, but was pondering the matter.

As his investigation progressed, and Hua Guzi's assessment of the Dark Thoughts Elixir, the whole matter became even more complicated.

"What is the truth?"

"Where did I feel that it was strange?"

"Was Hua Guzi really wrong? She and Linghu Jiu are completely opposite..."

"No, or perhaps both of them are correct?"

Ning Zhuo thought about these things, lost in contemplation.

Hua Guzi, standing beside him, carefully watched Ning Zhuo's face, secretly feeling thrilled. "Indeed! Young Master Ning Zhuo looks so refined even when he's frowning and thinking!"

"I really want to embrace his head and rub it vigorously."

Hua Guzi's emotions were too fervent, so much so that Ning Zhuo quickly sensed it through the thread of human fate.

Ning Zhuo: ...

He quickly asked Hua Guzi to leave.

"I was chased away, Young Master Ning Zhuo chased me away!" Hua Guzi walked out of Ning Zhuo's洞府 (dòngfǔ - cave dwelling), her eyes glazed over with anger, her face flushed.

Ning Zhuo returned to his cave dwelling, but no longer contemplated.

"At present, there is a heavy fog, it is better to wait for the results of the ancestor's further negotiations before making a judgment."

The spiritual plant cabin in the Myriad Miles Drifting Dragon was already empty.

The Spirit Concealing Willow had been taken away by Ning Jiufan.

This also made Ning Zhuo feel empty and quite uncomfortable.

Soon after, Ning Jiufan found him again and informed Ning Zhuo of the progress of the further negotiations.

The news was mixed.

The good news was that after Lin Bufan personally investigated, he had taken over the Spirit Concealing Willow and stated that it could be properly treated, but it would require considerable effort—

It would take a lot of time and resources to slowly heal.

Many of these resources involved Nascent Soul-level resources. As a result, Ning Jiufan immediately used his Fiendish Fire as a deposit and paid it to Lin Bufan.

The bad news was that regarding the Dark Thoughts Elixir wine formula, Lin Bufan directly stated that it was a non-negotiable, non-salable item and was forbidden from being sold externally.

After Ning Jiufan and Ning Zhuo communicated, they found that the Dark Thoughts Elixir no longer had any effect on Ning Zhuo. He advised, "The current negotiation situation is grim. It's better to put the Dark Thoughts Elixir aside for now and focus on the Spirit Concealing Willow."

"Sect Master Lin Bufan's intention seems to be to benefit from the Spirit Concealing Willow as well. He also wants to争取 (zhēngqǔ - strive for,争取 - strive for) several usage slots for the cultivation seeds within his sect. Of course, this is all based on the premise of successfully healing the Spirit Concealing Willow."

"I think this is perfectly acceptable! Of course, this depends on your wishes, after all, the Spirit Concealing Willow was given to you by the Mountain God of Misty Concealment Mountain."

Ning Jiufan suggested this.

His meaning was simple, mainly two points.

First, agreeing to such cooperation could greatly reduce the pressure on the Ning clan in terms of payment.

Second, giving several usage slots to the Myriad Medicine Sect could also extend and deepen the content of the cooperation between the two parties, making their relationship more solid, resilient, and lasting.

Ning Zhuo nodded, expressing his agreement with Ning Jiufan's opinion, and adopted it immediately.

At the same time, he also informed Ning Jiufan of Hua Guzi's assessment.

This time, Ning Jiufan also felt confused and strange.

The Ning family ancestors and grandson speculated with each other, but without any progress.

"The Dark Thoughts Elixir has become a minor detail, overthinking it is useless. It's better to focus on the main point. What do you think?" Ning Jiufan finally said.

Ning Zhuo sighed, nodding helplessly.

He pretended to agree, but in fact, he couldn't let it go.

This strange feeling became more and more severe, and gradually, a strong intuition grew—the Dark Thoughts Elixir was a loophole that he had accidentally unearthed. The truth buried within was likely astonishing!

That night, Ning Zhuo tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.

In the early morning, he solemnly instructed Sun Lingtong, "Boss, there is a very important letter that needs you to deliver personally!"

He had Sun Lingtong quietly pilot the Myriad Miles Drifting Dragon away from the Myriad Medicine Sect first, deliberately escaping the sect's sphere of influence, and then send the letter to the capital city through the relay station of the Southern Bean Kingdom.

That's right, this letter was still for Zhu Xuanji.

One could imagine that Zhu Xuanji would be quite surprised to receive this letter. He hadn't expected Ning Zhuo to send him a second letter so quickly.

But in fact, even Ning Zhuo himself hadn't thought of writing to Zhu Xuanji again so soon.

After Sun Lingtong secretly piloted the Myriad Miles Drifting Dragon back and Ning Zhuo confirmed, he took the National Cellar Yearning Wine and visited the Myriad Demon Cave again.

"Brother Linghu, I'm here again!" Ning Zhuo carried the wine jar, his spirits high.

Linghu Jiu also laughed heartily. "Please come in, please come in."

"Good brother, what fine wine have you brought this time?"

Linghu Jiu's nostrils twitched, but he couldn't smell the wine. This was because the jar of wine that Zhu Xuanji had taken from the royal treasury was meticulously made and sealed tightly, with not a single hint of wine escaping, firmly locked within the jar.

Ning Zhuo did not stand on ceremony. After entering the cave, he sat down directly and placed the wine jar on the stone table.

He lightly patted the wine jar. "Brother Linghu, allow me to keep you in suspense. What kind of wine this is, you will know once I open the jar, won't you?"

"Where are the wine bowls?"

(End of this chapter)

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