Chapter 349 - Chapter 349: Chapter 69: Wang Shouzhe Becoming an Important Figure_1

Chapter 349: Chapter 69: Wang Shouzhe Becoming an Important Figure_1

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Soon afterwards, Wang Shouzhe and two others dismounted their carriage. After they made a gesture of courtesy, Lei Yangyu left immediately on some pretext. Even Xu Anbang found a random excuse to leave the carriage.

Lei Yangyu glanced at him sideways: Brother Anbang, isn’t this your carriage?

Xu Anbang shrugged helplessly.

What else could he do?

Sigh~ It’s not easy being a family head these days~

Not to mention their legal entanglements at hand, on the other side, Wang Shouzhe led Xiahou Hongde onto the carriage.

Inside this carriage, the two sat face to face.

Facing Xiahou Hongde’s slightly sharp gaze, Wang Shouzhe remained calm and relaxed, as if the Lord of the City opposite was not here to make trouble.

He elegantly brewed a pot of Spiritual Tea and served him with a cup: “This is ‘Biyu Hook Green’, a treasure collected by the Xu family of Changning. It has a clear, bitter taste and a lingering flavor, making it perfect for enjoying in this refreshing autumn season.”

This tea leaves resemble tiny green jade hooks, which complement the Sheep Fat Jade Porcelain Tea Bowl perfectly.

Xiahou Hongde remained silent and still, maintaining his stern demeanor. He picked up the tea cup and took a sip, slightly frowning: “It’s a bit too bland.”

“I’m afraid I overlooked that,” Wang Shouzhe laughed lightly, “City Lord Xiahou, as a military hero himself, is used to an imposing spirit of overriding the world with force, naturally, he would not enjoy the light taste of this Spiritual Tea.”

“Overriding the world with force?! What an imposing spirit!” Xiahou Hongde’s eyes sparkled, revealing a look of admiration, “Is this the act of a fellow of the Purple Abode? But even a Master of Purple Abode wouldn’t be able to move a mountain, would they? Maybe those Purple Abode fellows who focus on War Body cultivation could move a smaller mountain?”

…

Wang Shouzhe’s eyelid twitched. He barely kept his composure.

I’m talking about the ambiance with you and you’re discussing possible practical operations? Are these even related?!

But he understood.

The descendants of military families, due to their upbringing, have different philosophies from those of the local Profound Martial families, and especially unconventional perspectives.

Their internal culture prioritizes hot-blooded valor and military ethics.

No wonder that phrase resonated with the other party.

Wang Shouzhe then swept across his Storage Ring and pulled out a bottle of wine. He poured him a glass of high-quality glass: “City Lord Xiahou, have a taste of my homemade ‘Fire Crystal Burn’.”

Fire Crystal Burn?

Xiahou Hongde stared at the crystal clear glass. The wine looked red like fire, and its pungent smell quickly filled the carriage.

He frowned: “It seems to be Spiritual Wine ‘Red Flame Rosy Clouds’, which is brewed from Red Crystal Rice. It just has a stronger fiery color and the wine is clearer.”

The Red Flame Rosy Clouds is a kind of Spiritual Wine well-liked by military officers. It’s sold at the renowned Hundred Flavors Pavilion.

As for why the officials welcome it? Of course, it’s because the average Profound Martial soldiers cannot afford to drink the “Red Flame Rosy Clouds”.

“This ‘Fire Crystal Burn’ of mine is indeed brewed from Red Crystal Rice,” Wang Shouzhe explained with a smile, “However, the method and technique are quite different. How about City Lord Xiahou have a taste?”

In fact, at tonight’s feast, the Huangfu Clan also brought out some good wine for hospitality, and Xiahou Hongde had quite a share. With his level of cultivation, it’s not easy for him to get drunk.

He really didn’t think that Wang Shouzhe could have better wine than the treasures owned by the Huangfu Clan.

However, if Wang Shouzhe could take it out so formally, this wine should have something unique. And indeed, the aroma of the wine was quite strong.

Out of slight curiosity, Xiahou Hongde picked up the wine glass and drank half of it in one breath.

“Hiss!”

The wine smoothly went down his food pipe into his stomach. Wherever it passed, it first brought a sense of coolness and comfort, and then, as if a fire was burning in his stomach. Even a master like Xiahou Hongde suddenly felt his blood speed up, and an uncontrollable flash of red appeared on his face.

His eyes widened in surprise.

It wasn’t until ten or so breaths later that he relaxed, breathed out a sigh of relief and praised with bright eyes: “What a ‘Fire Crystal Burn’! Indeed, it is good wine, quite powerful! Compared with this, Red Flame Rosy Clouds can only be given to those gentle girls.”

He was full of praises for the Fire Crystal Burn, so much so that he forgot how much he used to like Red Flame Rosy Clouds. He was clutching the glass, staring intently at the Fire Crystal Burn, as if he had found a new love.

No wonder he had such a reaction, this Fire Crystal Burn was not brewed in an ordinary way. It was a strong distilled liquor brewed by Wang Shouzhe’s attempt.

Coupled with the fiery energy contained in Red Crystal Rice itself, it naturally resulted in a palate of high alcohol coolness and a burning sensation in the throat.

The famous “Red Flame Rosy Clouds” is just the equivalent of a rice wine with a few dozen degrees, while “Fire Crystal Burn” is a high-strength liquor with sixty or seventy degrees, which can be ignited directly by fire.

They are absolutely not comparable.

“You little fella, you really know how to cater to people’s desires. You’ve got some good skills.” After Xiahou Hongde had half a glass of Fire Crystal Burn, he started to feel a little exalted. He talked with less restraint and more of his true color, “No wonder, the downtrodden Ping’an Wang family, in your hands, has achieved such a dramatic change in just ten years.”

Speaking of this, Xiahou Hongde was somewhat sentimental.

He had been stationed as the City Lord of Changning for seventeen years.

In the first seven years, he hardly remembered the so-called Ping’an Wang family. In his opinion, they were just a decaying small family barely surviving in some remote corner of Ping’an Town, appearing to be on the verge of collapse anytime soon.

But to his surprise, one day, this rundown family rose abruptly. Suddenly, the other two families in the same Ping’an Town vanished…

If it ended there, it wouldn’t have been a big deal to Xiahou Hongde. But unexpectedly, the family continued to prosper, not only becoming a Grade Eight Prominent Family but also growing step by step to the point it is today, possessing the qualifications and abilities to influence the situation in Changning.

This time, he had deliberately stirred up a storm in secret, involving many powerful families in Changning. He indirectly went head-to-head with the Huangfu Clan, causing the esteemed Celestial Huangfu Family to suffer a great loss.

“Marquis Xiahou is too kind,” Wang Shouzhe chuckled, respectfully filling his wine glass. “As the family head of the Wang family, all I wanted to do was to do my best so that the family could live a better life. It was not about whether I was competent or not.”

“But that doesn’t mean I will forgive you so easily.”

After showing his appreciation, Xiahou Hongde’s expression turned stern in an instance. His profound energy cascaded from his body to envelop the whole carriage.

The vast pressure bore down on Wang Shouzhe like a mountain.

“You’ve been meddling behind the scenes and caused such a big commotion in Changning without mentioning it. Furthermore, you dared to manipulate me, turning me into your puppet, even the Defense Second Battalion and Three Camps Patrol ended up as your tools, indirectly drawn into the family feud. Wang Shouzhe, tell me, how should I deal with you?”

He was also somewhat infuriated out of humiliation, unknowingly, he had been manipulated by this young man! He wanted to ask him, where do you think I stand? Or perhaps, should we change roles?

Another Spirit Platform Realm person might already have been sweating bullets facing the imposing pressure from a Heavenly Human Realm.

However, amidst the pressure, Wang Shouzhe remained as steady as a rock. He resembled a boat amidst a storm, seemingly in jeopardy but it wasn’t overturned no matter how huge the waves crashed.

He smirked unflusteredly, “Marquis Xiahou is joking. I believe the Marquis, having served in Changning for close to twenty years, would undoubtedly understand our sentiments and is familiar with the Wang family’s past.”

“The Ping’an Wang family only wanted to quietly farm, develop the economy, earn more resources and provide a better future for the next generation. However, as the saying goes, the tree may prefer calm but the wind will not subside. The Ping’an Wang family just did not wish to repeat past mistakes. If there have been any offenses made during this, we hope the Marquis could be lenient.”

Wang Shouzhe did not deny what he had done, even though he was behind the scenes controlling the matter. But who amongst the higher-ups in Changning would take this lying down?

“Forget it, forget it.” Seeing his appeal for mercy, Xiahou Hongde’s anger dissipated quite a bit and he drank down the Fire Crystal Burn in his glass.

He was in truth left with no recourse against Wang Shouzhe as well.

This young man had done things so impeccably that even though he had manipulated the Defense Battalion and Xiahou Hongde, in reality, there was evidence to prove the opponent had colluded with the Yinsha Sect, undeniably.

“In the incident with the former Ma Huangfu Clan, they indeed brought it upon themselves,” Xiahou Hongde waved his hand, licked his lips with a lingering taste of the Fire Crystal Burn, and said, “How about this, one hundred jins, no, two hundred jins of Fire Crystal Burn and I’d forgive you.”

Wang Shouzhe couldn’t help but chuckle secretly.

Marquis Xiahou, the price of your forgiveness is quite cheap, I must say~

Even though Fire Crystal Burn was brewed using Red Crystal Rice and the consumption in doing so was not negligible, the cost of two hundred jins worth of liquor was merely a few hundred Qian Gold at most, which was nothing compared to the worth of a powerhouse in the Heavenly Human Realm.

However, he did not answer directly, instead, he took out a flat seabowl made of Sheep Fat Jade Porcelain, filled more than half of it with Fire Crystal Burn and said, “The way Marquis Xiahou consumed Fire Crystal Burn earlier was not the authentic method. Allow me to instruct you on the true way to enjoy it.”

Xiahou Hongde’s attention was instantly drawn.

He stared at the seabowl, wondering what tricks this young man Wang Shouzhe could pull off?

Wang Shouzhe then took out a piece of Fire Spirit Stone, activated his profound energy to ignite it and the Fire Spirit Stone immediately started burning.

Then, Wang Shouzhe cast the burning Fire Spirit Stone into the seabowl.

In an instant, the Fire Crystal Burn in the flat seabowl suddenly started burning without warning, the fire blazed brightly, forming a brilliant blue flame at the mouth of the seabowl.

“What, what!”

Xiahou Hongde was astonished by the fact that Fire Crystal Burn could actually burn, hence the intensity.

Xiahou Hongde didn’t realize that spirits with alcohol levels above fifty degrees could catch fire and spirits with sixty to seventy degrees when burnt, the flame color would be extremely beautiful.

“Marquis, please drink this swiftly while it’s hot,” Wang Shouzhe made a gesture of invitation.

Xiahou Hongde hesitated slightly. He had lived for so many years, yet he had never drunk spirits that were burning. It was too much.

However, compelled by his inquisitive nature and relying on his Heavenly Human Realm cultivation, he hardened his heart, held up the seabowl, tilted his head back, and swallowed the Fire Crystal Burn and the Fire Spirit Stone in one shot.

Seeing this, Wang Shouzhe twitched at the corner of his mouth.

The intense flavor of burning fire momentarily “ignited” Xiahou Hongde, sliding down his esophagus and into his stomach. He felt as if he was surrounded by a blazing inferno, his entire face flushed. His pores opened instantly and there was a faint steam arising from his body.

This kind of formidable stimulation was something he had never experienced in his two hundred odd years of life.

After a long while, he came to his senses, slapped his thigh excitedly, “Good, great wine! This is what Fire Crystal Burn is! The authentic way to drink Fire Crystal Burn. Great taste~! The only issue is that it requires pairing it with a Fire Spirit Stone every time, it’s kind of hard to afford~”

“This…” Wang Shouzhe wiped the sweat off his forehead and said cautiously, “Marquis, did you also swallow the Fire Spirit Stone?”

“Yes I did. It felt great,” Xiahou Hongde smacked his lips, relishing the aftertaste, then frowned and said, “It’s still burning in my stomach. I had to use my profound energy to encapsulate it…. what’s the next step? Do I digest it?”

“This, this…”

Wang Shouzhe was speechless, befitting of a monster in the Heavenly Human Realm.

He coughed lightly, being very cautious as he explained, “Marquis, you should find a secluded place and spit it out later. That was used for lighting the fire…”

Sigh~ Just wanting to give a treat of a drink, ended up losing a Fire Spirit Stone.

…