Su Yuanpeng listened to their conversation, utterly speechless.
'My sister must be completely smitten with this Xiao Chen,' he thought. 'Otherwise, why would she believe every single thing he says?'
'How could that possibly be a real Fireball Technique?'
'Even though it looked the same, it was clearly a high-level Magic disguised as the Fireball Technique. Its level was definitely high, or I wouldn't have been defeated so decisively.'
'Xiao Chen insists it was just the Fireball Technique and refuses to tell the truth, probably because he's afraid of exposing the secrets of his Cultivation Technique.'
'And then Su Wanqing actually backs him up, saying she believes it was the Fireball Technique. She's blatantly lying through her teeth!'
After she said that, she even gave Xiao Chen a gentle, dopey smile, which made Su Yuanpeng's eye twitch.
'Ah, forget it.'
'In any case, Xiao Chen is truly formidable. He must have some powerful inheritance. It proves my sister's judgment isn't so bad after all.'
'A bet's a bet, and I lost. I'll just let her have her way.'
Su Yuanpeng's expression turned solemn. He walked over and bowed sincerely. "Junior Brother Xiao, I'm sorry. I was wrong. I take back the offensive things I said earlier. Please forgive my recklessness."
"Here are your Cyan Wood Spirit Liquid and Cultivation Technique. Also, this is a small token of my apology. Please accept it all!"
He extended both hands. In his left was a Glazed Bottle containing the Spiritual Liquid, and in his right was a Secret Manual and a small jade vial—surprisingly, it was a bottle of Qi Gathering Pills.
Xiao Chen couldn't help but look at him in a new light.
'For an Inner Sect disciple at the Late Stage of Qi Refining, and a Cultivator from a prominent family, Su Yuanpeng is surprisingly a good loser.'
'He isn't using his higher Cultivation to oppress me, nor is he bringing up his family background. He's just cleanly admitting defeat and apologizing.'
'He's nothing like the arrogant, domineering young masters from other prominent families you hear about in rumors.'
'Compared to those spoiled brats, this perfectly normal behavior seems almost commendable.'
Xiao Chen reached out and took the Spiritual Liquid, Elixir, and Magic. "It's nothing. In that case, I'll gladly accept."
Seeing this, Su Wanqing also took out her portion of the Spiritual Liquid and handed it to Xiao Chen. "Here, Xiao, your Spiritual Liquid."
Xiao Chen accepted it. "Thank you, Wanqing. You're very thoughtful."
Su Yuanpeng immediately followed up with a suggestion. "Since I interrupted Junior Brother's meal, please give me another chance. Let's go back and have a proper round of drinks."
Xiao Chen was about to refuse. After all, he had already obtained the Spiritual Liquid he wanted most.
But Su Yuanpeng became exceptionally insistent, saying he had to apologize over drinks and physically blocking Xiao Chen from leaving.
Su Wanqing chimed in as well, trying to persuade him to at least finish his meal. "Xiao, it's almost Midnight. You should eat a little something. Don't go back on an empty stomach."
"Su, Junior Sister Su, I appreciate the thought. But look, it's already so late. Baiyu Studio has probably closed for the night. Let's just make it another time."
Su Yuanpeng puffed out his chest. "Don't worry about it! I know the Shopkeeper. It's no problem at all. Let's go!"
...
「The next day at noon」
The sun was high in the sky when Xiao Chen finally stirred, groggily waking up in his bed.
"HSSS—!"
The slightest movement sent intense, aching pains all through his body, as if he had just undergone a strenuous workout.
'What's going on? That's right, it was the wine!'
It was all coming back to him. Last night, the Su siblings had taken turns toasting him.
He hadn't intended to drink, but Su Wanqing had been especially insistent, even running to the Shopkeeper to get a pot of treasured Spirit Wine called "Bone Tempering Spring."
It was said to replenish one's Qi Blood and strengthen the body. Long-term consumption could even rival the effects of a common Body Refining Technique.
All in all, it sounded like truly good stuff.
Xiao Chen figured that since it was already open, it would be a waste not to drink it, so he decided to have a taste.
The mellow liquid entered his mouth and instantly transformed into a warm current, sliding down his throat into his stomach before rapidly spreading to every corner of his body.
He then felt his entire body grow hot, as if he had just finished an exhilarating workout.
Su Yuanpeng wanted to have a few more sips, but Su Wanqing swatted his hand away. She then took the wine pot for herself, sat next to Xiao Chen, and dedicated herself to pouring for him.
Considering the wine didn't taste very alcoholic, didn't seem too strong, and was clearly having an effect, Xiao Chen drank a few more cups.
He even remembered, with perfect clarity, saying goodbye to the Su siblings, walking back to the Second Division, and entering his small cabin.
His memory was clear up to that point; everything was normal.
But he was so drunk that he couldn't remember anything after that. He only woke up when the intense noon sun hit his face, making him realize he hadn't closed the window properly last night.
Bone Tempering Spring was a genuine treasure for Body Forging. One of its main features was using intoxication to suppress the pain a Cultivator experiences during the process.
It was made with a special, secret formula, making it smooth to drink but with a vicious delayed kick that even Cultivators found difficult to resist.
Normally, a single pot of this wine was meant to be shared among four people. That way, by the time they woke up, the Body Forging process would be complete, and the pain would be minimal.
However, not only was this Xiao Chen's first time drinking it, but he had also downed more than half the pot by himself, causing the medicinal effects to be far too potent.
He lay stiffly in bed for a full two hours before he finally managed to recover a bit of strength.
'To think the cultivation world has secret formulas like this. I'll have to be more careful in the future. No drinking with anyone I don't know well,' he thought.
Xiao Chen struggled to sit up, and his stomach immediately let out a ravenous growl.
He felt as if he hadn't eaten in three days; it was like his stomach was stuck to his spine.
He grabbed a flatbread from the food box by his bed and started gnawing on it.
'Su Wanqing must have insisted I bring the food box back last night. She must have known this would happen.'
'If so, why didn't she try to stop me from drinking so much?'
'Huh? What's this?'
After devouring eight flatbreads in one go, he discovered a small, folded note at the very bottom of the food box.
The note contained a few lines of elegant script; it was obviously a message from Su Wanqing.
"Xiao, I'm so sorry about yesterday. I didn't communicate properly with my brother beforehand, which led to the misunderstanding."
"The 'Bone Tempering Spring' for Body Forging actually has another, hidden effect: it can repair a Cultivator's meridians, slightly increasing the chances of breaking through to the Late Stage of Qi Refining."
"I had originally prepared this as something to trade with you, but after what happened, I decided to give it to you as an apology instead."
"I hope this gift will be of some use to you. Please don't be upset with me for being so presumptuous."
Su Wanqing had originally intended to use this invitation to strike some new deals with Xiao Chen.
But the situation had developed in a way she hadn't anticipated, and the unexpected duel made it awkward to proceed with the trade she had in mind.
Considering the strength Xiao Chen had displayed during the duel—and the fact that he was still just an Outer Disciple at the Middle Stage of Qi Refining—Su Wanqing decided to use the precious Bone Tempering Spring to create a personal favor.
'Oh? So that's what it was.'
After reading the note, Xiao Chen immediately tried circulating his Qi Nourishing and Breathing Technique. As he'd expected, he found his Magical Power flowed much more smoothly than before.
If he could maintain this state, the difficulty of breaking through to the Late Stage of Qi Refining would be cut in half.
'No wonder those prominent families produce so many talents, as if there are no mediocre ones among them so long as their bloodline is pure. So this is the sort of advantage they have.'
'This gift wasn't just "of some use"—it was a massive help!'
For an ordinary Cultivator, this could save several years of arduous training.
Even for someone like him, it would save several months of accumulation.
Reaching the Late Stage of Qi Refining should have taken him another year.
But now, it felt like he was just one final step away.
If everything went smoothly, Xiao Chen was confident he could achieve his breakthrough within a month and become an Inner Sect Disciple.