Chapter 533: Seeing Tie Ta Again (Four)
Upon hearing the name of Changyang Xiangtian, Bai En’s face grew shocked once more. Hurriedly bowing to Jian Chen, he spoke, “Bai En pays his respects to the honored Imperial Protector!”
Although Jian Chen had once been a student of Kargath Academy, his status now was completely different from before. Not only was he a Heaven Saint Master, he was the very first Imperial Protector of the Gesun Kingdom in several hundred years. Compared to before, it was completely useless to try and compare statuses. Even a vice-headmaster like Bai En would have to bow to Jian Chen now.
As soon as the entire audience heard the fact that the white-robed outsider that came along with Ming Dong was the extremely famous Imperial Protector of the Gesun Kingdom, Jian Chen, everyone became stupefied once more. Straight away, a clamor could be heard as they all looked at him with looks of both adoration and fear.
If Ming Dong was a person to be idolized and worshipped in the hearts of the students, Jian Chen was a deity in comparison. One that they could never dare to offend.
In the past, Jian Chen had been a person of influence in Kargath Academy. Even now, the achievements he had accomplished in the academy had been preserved to the present times. The champion of newcomers, the one who had gathered a shockingly large amount of monster cores, and the one who had defeated the Saint Ka Di Yun despite not even being a Saint himself. Then finally, the very same Saint who had cut off Cheng Mingxiang’s arm from the Hua Yun Sect while also forcing several other students to sustain injuries.
Each and every story Jian Chen was mentioned in caused the students of Kargath Academy to become extremely interested.
Now after a span of several short years, Changyang Xiangtian’s strength had already reached the realm of the Heaven Saint Masters. Furthermore, he was also the Imperial Protector of the Gesun Kingdom. Such dazzling achievements like the ones that Changyang Xiangtian held were enough for every single student to deify him within their hearts. Even the envious students didn’t dare to ever show this on the outside.
The entity that was known as a Heaven Saint Master was an existence that every student could only hope to look at in their lives. This was a boundary that many of them would perhaps never be able to reach in their entire lifetime.
Underneath the arena, Ka Di Qiuli’s limpid autumn eyes widened in shock as she looked at the white-robed Changyang Xiangtian with a complicated look of envy.
“H-he’s really Changyang Xiangtian? No wonder he felt so familiar to me.” Seeing the handsome and positively brimming face of masculinity, Ka Di Qiuli began to mutter to herself. In her mind, she couldn’t help but think back to the events that had happened in the past with every possible feeling she had ever felt.
Thinking back, Changyang Xiangtian, her, and her two brothers had only just entered Kargath Academy. Everyone wasn’t even a Saint or had barely just became one. It had only been several short years since then. She and her two brothers were now the strongest in Kargath Academy, and her eldest brother Ka Di yun had just recently made the breakthrough to become a Saint Master. They hadn’t even left Kargath Academy yet while Jian Chen had, in these short years, become a high and mighty Heaven Saint Master.
Heaven Saint Masters were part of a world where everyone yearned to be.
Now that everyone knew that these two men were Changyang Xiangtian and Ming Dong, the only ones that could be relatively calm were the Ka Di siblings. Ka Di Yun and Ka Di Liang could only look at Jian Chen on the platform with complicated looks. For a long time, they were silent. They both could distinctly remember the rather unhappy feelings between the both of them way back then.
Despite becoming a Heaven Saint Master as well as becoming an Imperial Protector for the Gesun Kingdom, Jian Chen hadn’t the slightest air of arrogance to him. Hurriedly lifting Bai En up, they began to speak several words of conversation.
“Ah, Changyang Xiangtian, you’ve finally returned. Please, come on over to my place and allow me to do the honor as the host.” Khafir smiled. Jian Chen coming to Kargath Academy meant that he had not forget about this place. This little insight made Khafir feel joy and pride in his heart.
“Then, I’ll trouble the headmaster with this matter.” Jian Chen cupped his hands with a smile.
“Haha, no worries. No worries at all. You coming here brings great honor to the entire Kargath Academy.” Khafir laughed merrily before slowly ascending into the sky to reach the tower in the center of the academy.
Unwilling to be left behind, Jian Chen began to gather the wind elements in the world to carry him and Ming Dong high into the sky. At a leisurely pace, he began to follow Khafir away from the arena, leaving behind a large group of students that could only look up in envy.
Soon enough, Jian Chen had brought Ming Dong to the tallest point of the tower where Khafir was. This was not only the place where Khafir conducted business, but it was also where he slept and received his guests to talk about several important things.
Khafir walked straight on over to the table and sat down. Calling for the two to sit down with him, he took out a bottle of wine from his Space Ring to serve to the two. “This is a drink that an old friend, who specializes in drinks, distilled for me. Its name is the Hundred Flower Wine; a drink that is made from a hundred different ingredients before being refined and distilled by an expert. It is precious enough that I rarely get to enjoy it. Come, take a sip and see how well the taste suits you.”
Jian Chen and Ming Dong made no motions to be polite and took the drink to savor. With just a small mouthful, they both let out a sigh of praise, “It is truly a fine wine. Even in the palace, I wasn’t able to drink something as delicious as this.”
Jian Chen had drained his cup in a single gulp. It went without saying that Khafir had brought out an exquisite wine, but compared to the Hundred Grass Wine that the Ape King had bestowed to him, it was still quite lacking.
After finishing his drink, Jian Chen placed the cup gently back on the table. Then, taking out a jade bottle from his Space Ring, he said, “Headmaster Khafir, allow me to treat you to a genuinely matured bottle of wine.” He took out the thousands of year old Hundred Grass Wine. Back then, the Ape King had gifted him roughly ten catty of the drink where Jian Chen had used nine out of the ten to increase his strength. All that was left was this single catty.
The very moment Jian Chen began to pour the Hundred Grass Wine for everyone to drink, a strong smell of wine began to flow out from the cups and fill the entire room.
Smelling the intense scent, the headmaster was startled. “What a wine! It is truly a fine wine. Even the scent alone is enough to make a man drunk from his heart on out. This is an exceptionally excellent wine. Changyang Xiangtian, where did you get such a wine?”
“Woah, Jian Chen, you’ve been hiding such a great wine from us! Quickly, pour us a cup, I want to try!” Ming Dong impatiently pushed his cup to Jian Chen with sparkling eyes.
Laughing, Jian Chen poured Ming Dong a cup, “Slow down a bit. This wine of mine is something even money can’t buy. When I was in the Cross Mountains, I had to spend a great amount of time in order to convince the Ape King of the Spirit Apes to give me some. That was a beast of the Saint Ruler level, I don’t have much of it left, so every little bit counts now.”
Upon hearing that this was the wine given to Jian Chen by an Ape King of the Spirit Apes, Khafir’s entire body began to wrack up as if experiencing a seizure. There was a look of utter disbelief in his eyes as he stared at Jian Chen. The Cross Mountains was a designated forbidden area for humanity. Every single person that entered that area was basically guaranteed to never come back out alive. He hadn’t thought that Jian Chen was not only able to enter, but he was also able to convince a Saint Ruler level individual to hand over such an excellent wine. Such a feat was mind boggling.
Ming Dong didn’t look surprised at all. He already knew that this wine had to be very hard to obtain and simply drank a sip of the Hundred Grass Wine. Then, closing his eyes from the intoxication, he began to relish the sensation of the fine wine entering his body.
Seeing the intoxicated look on Ming Dong’s face, the wine enthusiast Khafir could no longer hold himself back. Pushing away the questions he had, Khafir pursed his lips and took a sip. Straight away, two bright rays of light could be seen in his eyes as he let out a praise of admiration, “Truly a splendid wine. Such a wine like this is something I have never drunk before! After drinking this, I feel as if every single wine I have tasted in my entire life is dull in comparison!” With that, Khafir drained the remaining cup in a single gulp.
Closing his eyes to bask in the intoxicated sensation, Khafir leaned back. This wine could not only increase one’s Saint Force, it could also expand the spirit of the drinker. After drinking the wine, Ming Dong and Khafir couldn’t help but close their eyes to experience it.
Jian Chen smiled as he looked at the two. When he had drunk the Hundred Grass Wine, he too did the exact same thing as these two.
Suddenly, Jian Chen started. Staring in surprise at the headmaster, he could see that there was a faint layer of the energy of the world gathering around the headmaster’s body. The energy of the world began to grow even more intense before finally disappearing into his floating body. At the same time, a strong amount of energy dispersed from him in such a strong wave that it shook Ming Dong from his drunken stupor.
“What’s happening?” Seeing how Khafir’s body was suddenly floating in the sky, Ming Dong asked Jian Chen in confusion.
Jian Chen slowly pulled Ming Dong away before smiling, “Headmaster Khafir has made a breakthrough.”
“What? A breakthrough?” Ming Dong was startled. Looking at the cup of wine in his hands, he let out a look of disbelief, “Don’t tell me he made a breakthrough after drinking a cup of wine!”
Jian Chen nodded his head without a word. The effects of the Hundred Grass Wine were something he was all too familiar with.
The headmaster’s body continued to disperse waves of energy one after another for some time before finally growing calm. His body gently descended back to the ground before he opened his eyes with apparent joy in them.
“Congratulations to headmaster Khafir for climbing to the next level!” Jian Chen congratulated.
Khafir broke out into a smile, “Hahaha. It is all thanks to this exceptionally fine wine, what a truly magical effect it has! Two years ago, I was at the pinnacle of the Third Cycle, but I found myself unable to make any more progress. I didn’t think that today I would be able to break through that bottleneck and become a Fourth Cycle Heaven Saint Master after drinking a cup of wine!”
“Does this wine really have such an effect like that?” Ming Dong was skeptical. Immediately following Khafir’s example, he poured the rest of the cup into his mouth and closed his eyes.
Afterward, Ming Dong had finally digested the rest of the wine into his body. Surprised, he spoke, “Although I didn’t breakthrough, I can feel my Saint Force growing even stronger. Furthermore, I feel that my willpower has grown stronger as well. This wine… this wine is a priceless treasure that even tens of thousands of gold wouldn’t be enough to purchase it!”
“What use is gold? This Hundred Grass Wine is something that only the magical beast clans would have. You won’t find such wine outside of their clans.” Jian Chen admonished.
“Jian Chen, pour me another cup!” Ming Dong pushed his cup to Jian Chen with a pitiful look.
Jian Chen placed the jade bottle back into his Space Ring with a pained look. “I don’t have much of this Hundred Grass Wine left, how can I support your drinking habits like this?”
Grimacing, Ming Dong muttered to himself, “If you don’t let me drink, fine then. I’ll wait until I become a Saint Ruler and go to that Spirit Ape for some.”
Jian Chen laughed after listening to Ming Dong’s words. Then turning to Khafir, he said, “Headmaster Khafir, I came this time to seek Tie Ta. After so many years, I wish to see my old friend. Where might Tie Ta be at this moment?”