Oversight Committee.
Inside a lavishly decorated hall.
A woman dressed in dark purple robes sat upon a wide, comfortable daybed. Her long hair was elegantly pinned up, her features were stunningly beautiful, and her figure was graceful. Every gesture she made exuded an air of refined elegance.
Beside her, a maiden attendant held a palm glowing with faint blue flames, within which floated an exquisite white jade bottle. As the blue flames danced, a subtle aroma of fine wine wafted from the bottle.
Clearly.
The maiden was brewing some kind of exquisite liquor.
Not far away, an elderly woman who appeared quite aged stood quietly, leaning on a cane.
In the center of the hall, a formation was operating. Above the formation floated a Water Mirror, and within the mirror, flickering images were displayed.
The formation was a Profound Light Formation.
The Water Mirror was, in fact, a Mysterious Light Mirror.
And the scenes within the Water Mirror were precisely those of the gambling house.
"I must say, this man is absolutely the most prodigious drinker this old woman has ever seen," the elderly woman remarked, gazing at the scenes in the Water Mirror with astonishment. "After playing just a few rounds of dice, he actually drank over four hundred pots of Bitao Wine, and he showed not the slightest hint of intoxication."
"What's even more bizarre is that he possesses no cultivation or spiritual attainment whatsoever—he's just a Mortal. It's truly baffling."
"That's right, this fellow is just too good at drinking," the maiden attendant chimed in. "Over four hundred pots of Bitao Wine! That's worth over ten million! His initial stake to enter the premises was only four million. Even if he lost it all, he'd still be ahead."
As she spoke, the attendant continued, "But how can this guy drink so much Bitao Wine without getting drunk? My cultivation is at the Great Luo Golden Immortal stage, and I'd start feeling tipsy after seven or eight pots at most."
Bitao Wine was brewed from special resources. Once ingested, it would react with one's Immortal Energy. And Immortal Energy, much like a heart, pulsed incessantly every moment, allowing the continuous circulation of immortal essence within the body.
In the Great Desolate, all fine wines were brewed using a special resource during fermentation: Mist Spirit Essence. This Mist Spirit Essence was a great tonic for cultivators, especially for tempering Immortal Energy. However, under normal circumstances, no one would use Mist Spirit Essence to temper their Immortal Energy, because while it was a potent tonic, it also caused the Immortal Energy to become intoxicated.
This was the fundamental reason why wine could make people drunk.
The more one drank, the more Immortal Energy absorbed, and the more it absorbed, the easier it became intoxicated.
Of course.
If the Immortal Energy didn't absorb it, one wouldn't get drunk.
However, merely drinking without absorption was not only a waste but also harmful to the physical body.
After all, the resources used to brew fine wine were special. Once refined, they were a great tonic. But if left unrefined and stagnant within the body for a long time, they became not a tonic, but a potent poison.
"Many of the servants in our Fengyue Small World are just ordinary cultivators; they don't even have Immortal Energy. Relying solely on their primordial spirit, they can't refine the potency of Bitao Fine Wine at all—they can't even handle one pot. He's a Mortal, lacking not only Immortal Energy but even a primordial spirit or Nascent Soul... so how could he...
But if he didn't refine it, forget four hundred pots, even drinking just one pot, his flesh-and-blood body shouldn't be able to withstand it."
The maiden attendant kept muttering to herself, pondering this question. But no matter how much she thought about it, she couldn't reach a conclusion. Unable to restrain herself, she asked, "Auntie Bai, what do you think is really going on with this guy?"
"Lacking cultivation doesn't necessarily mean he is just a Mortal," the elegant, beautiful woman said softly, her gaze fixed on the scene in the Mysterious Light Mirror. "A Mortal's flesh-and-blood body could not withstand over four hundred pots of Bitao Fine Wine. A Mortal facing an enormous sum of eighteen billion would not remain as composed and indifferent as he is, so utterly unperturbed."
"He is not a simple, ordinary Mortal. Absolutely not."
The elegant, beautiful woman took a cup of wine from the maiden attendant beside her and said, "His physical body is also definitely not an ordinary flesh-and-blood one."
"Auntie Bai, are you saying this guy's body might be some kind of Creation Body?"
"Perhaps. Only by seeing him in person can we determine that."
The beautiful woman took a gentle sip from her cup and added, "However, compared to his physical body, I'm more curious about how he managed to win those eighteen billion."
"How he won eighteen billion? How else? He just stumbled upon heaven-defying luck."
The maiden attendant looked at the scene in the Mysterious Light Mirror and laughed. "It's also the fault of that young master from the Golden Crow Secret Realm's Li Family. He kept provoking the other party again and again, ending up not only bankrupting himself but also helping the other guy win eighteen billion. I've never seen a more amusing gambling match. Just thinking about it makes me laugh. If I were that Young Master Li, I'd find a block of tofu to bash my head against—too embarrassing."
"The problem lies precisely there. The more I watch, the less this gambling match seems as simple as it appears on the surface. The more I watch, the more it seems... it wasn't Young Master Li provoking that self-proclaimed 'nouveau riche,' but rather..." The beautiful, elegant woman slightly furrowed her brows, pondered for a moment, then shook her head gently. "I don't know how to describe it either. It just feels very strange. The impression he gives me is as if he knew what the next roll would be."
"Miss," the elderly woman said, "do you suspect this self-proclaimed nouveau riche was cheating? That shouldn't be possible, right? The Little Thousand Fate Chaos Formation has no rules, no discernible order. To this day, no one has been able to see through its mysteries. How could he possibly know what the next roll would be?"
"Having no rules does not mean it lacks the Dao. Having no order does not mean it lacks principle. That no one has seen through its mysteries to this day does not mean no one ever will. Although the Little Thousand Fate Chaos Formation is infinitely profound and infinitely layered, when all is said and done, it is still just a formation."
Gazing at the scene in the Mysterious Light Mirror, the beautiful woman murmured, "In all things between heaven and earth, there is never anything absolute."
After saying this, the beautiful woman asked again, "Where is he now?"
"Chief Administrator Li is probably taking him through the procedures. He should be done soon."
"I'd like to meet this person. Arrange it for me."
Standing up, the beautiful woman added, "Xiao Ya, go prepare some delicacies, and then... prepare some Five Evils Wine as well."
Hearing 'Five Evils Wine,' the maiden attendant named Xiao Ya seemed to realize something. "Auntie Bai, are you going to give this guy Five Evils Wine to drink?"
"What? Is that not allowed?"
"We don't have much Five Evils Wine left to begin with. Giving it to this guy to drink is simply a waste of a precious treasure!"
Xiao Ya said sulkily, "This guy drank over four hundred pots of our Bitao Wine, worth over ten million, and won eighteen billion Immortal Stones from us. Not settling accounts with him is already being generous. How can you still invite him to drink our Five Evils Wine?"
"Wine is meant to be drunk, after all."
The beautiful woman offered a faint smile. "Moreover, I'm very curious to meet this strange man who calls himself a nouveau riche."