The Master and His Wealthy Fiancée

Wang Wan'Er wasn't actually foolish. After thinking about Chen Dong's words, she realized he was very likely right. The Wang Family didn't even have a single Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator. Even if Master Wang's senior brother was still around, that would only make four of them. They stood no chance against eight opponents. Left with no other choice, she followed Chen Dong toward the Drunken Immortal Tower.

The Drunken Immortal Tower was as grand and imposing as ever, yet it retained an air of elegance. At this moment, its first floor was packed to the gills and buzzing with conversation. Many of the people there were Cultivators.

"They're moving! They're moving!"

"Fairy Mu Qingzhu is heading to the fifth floor!"

"See? I told you! Fairy Mu Qingzhu has a slight edge."

"Don't be so quick! Fengwei Fairy is moving too!"

"No way, it's still a tie."

"Now we'll have to see how long it takes them to get to the sixth floor."

"I bet it'll take at least a month. Only these Immortal Masters could spend so long on a single round of drinks."

Chen Dong squeezed into the main hall. On a large scroll in the center, a white dot and a red dot were slowly advancing toward the fifth floor. Besides those, there were about a dozen ink dots of various colors on the second floor, and five more on the third floor—one white, one yellow, two blue, and one purple. The fourth, sixth, and seventh floors were all empty.

Chen Dong knew that each ink dot represented a person drinking the Drunken Immortal Brew and attempting to ascend the tower, but as for what the colors represented, he had no idea.

He didn't ask any questions. 'I have a thousand Spirit Stones in my pocket now. Restoring my strength is the top priority.'

He shouted, "Shopkeeper, I want to taste the Drunken Immortal Brew!"

The crowd of onlookers instantly erupted, and a wave of jeers, laughter, and arguments followed.

"Here comes another one."

"Ever since the two Fairies started their ascent, the copycats have been showing up one after another."

"You don't get it. This is the charm of a Fairy. Three hundred Spirit Stones! How many golden leaves is that? And these people don't even bat an eye!"

"True. If you pass out drunk, those three hundred Spirit Stones are just wasted! Look at this guy, his cultivation doesn't seem very high. He probably won't even make it past the first floor."

"Wouldn't it be better to use those Spirit Stones to buy pills for cultivation? But no, he has to come challenge the Drunken Immortal Tower and show off."

"I think the Drunken Immortal Tower is making a killing this time."

Amidst the crowd's whispers, a portly middle-aged man stepped forward.

"I am the Shopkeeper of the Drunken Immortal Tower. Young brother, are you certain you want to taste the Drunken Immortal Brew and challenge the tower?"

Chen Dong nodded. He used his True Qi to open the storage pouch in his hand, took out three hundred Spirit Stones, and placed them on a nearby table.

The Shopkeeper didn't collect the Spirit Stones. Instead, he asked, "Do you have proof of identity or a recommender?"

Chen Dong shook his head. "No. I'm a Loose Cultivator."

The Shopkeeper took out a Talisman and said to Chen Dong, "This is a True Words Talisman. If you want to taste the Drunken Immortal Brew without proof of identity or a recommender, you must answer a few questions. Do you still wish to challenge the tower? Let me warn you first, the True Words Talisman can potentially harm your divine soul!"

Chen Dong hadn't expected so much hassle just to get a drink. 'This True Words Talisman is clearly not cheap,' he thought. 'The Qixia Sect obviously has no intention of actually selling the Drunken Immortal Brew.'

And that was indeed the case. The Qixia Sect had only been forced to build the Drunken Immortal Tower in this location because of the Door-Cleansing Spirit Spring. The three-hundred-Spirit-Stone price tag for a taste of the Drunken Immortal Brew was only posted because of a pact among the five great sects. As far as Loose Cultivators were concerned, the Drunken Immortal Tower was not a welcoming place.

Just as Chen Dong was hesitating, Wang Wan'Er stepped forward. "He is the son-in-law of my family, Shopkeeper Li. You can rest assured."

Having lived in Drunken Immortal City for over a decade, Wang Wan'Er naturally recognized the Shopkeeper.

Upon hearing this, the Shopkeeper smiled. "Ah, so it's Miss Wan'Er. If this young brother is the Wang Family's son-in-law, then there's no need for questions."

The fact that the Wang Family's son-in-law had run off with a maid had been suppressed by the family, so very few people in Drunken Immortal City knew about it yet.

At that moment, among the patrons on the first floor, a local woman lamented, "What a shame for such a handsome and refined gentleman!"

Another young man said sourly, "Look at him. He probably can't even pass the first floor. He only has the Spirit Stones to taste the Drunken Immortal Brew because he married into the Wang Family!"

This scene was also being watched by the "Eight Immortals" from a viewing platform outside the tower.

The lanky man was the first to ask in confusion, "What? That guy is actually a Loose Cultivator?"

The eight of them were disguised as traveling merchants and appeared to be admiring the scenery of the Drunken Immortal Tower, arousing no suspicion.

Hao Niu also asked, "What's this about a Wang Family son-in-law? It can't be *that* Wang Family from Drunken Immortal City, can it?"

Zhuang Zheng frowned, equally confused. He gave an order, "Second Brother, go ask around!"

The Fox Daoist nodded and left. Among the group, he was the most sociable one.

Meanwhile, in the Drunken Immortal Tower, the Shopkeeper collected the Spirit Stones and cleared a table. With a flash from the Storage Ring on his hand, a row of seven milky-white porcelain cups appeared before Chen Dong.

"Please!"

Chen Dong smiled faintly and picked up a porcelain cup. 'I can finally taste this Drunken Immortal Brew. I wonder how much of my cultivation base I'll be able to recover.'

'I could have recovered quickly just by taking pills, but that wasn't an option at the Wang Family's home. Then, at the Xiayun River, I was covertly forced to concoct a counterfeit version of the Drunken Immortal Brew, so I couldn't restore my cultivation quickly then either. Despite drinking that second-run brew for the past ten days, my cultivation has only returned to the Celestial Spirit Realm, which is only equivalent to the Fifth-Layer Qi Cultivation back in the Wangyou Realm.'

Chen Dong downed the first cup in one gulp, and his brows furrowed instantly.

'Something's wrong!'

'Completely wrong!'

'Although the taste and medicinal effects of this wine are nearly identical to my counterfeit version, the recipe is completely different.'

Chen Dong had a sudden realization. He now understood why the Qixia Sect didn't sell its Drunken Immortal Brew.