Initially, when Bai Susu said that Gu Qingfeng was absolutely not an ordinary mortal, Xiao Ya hadn't quite believed it. It wasn't until Gu Qingfeng merely sniffed the air and named the Five Evils Wine that Xiao Ya finally believed. Not only did she believe Gu Qingfeng was no ordinary mortal, she even believed he was a mortal of extraordinary knowledge and experience.
Xiao Ya had once heard Bai Susu say that Five Evils Wine was a very rare and niche liquor. In the Great Desolate, the number of Immortals who knew of Five Evils Wine was absolutely few.
Five Evils Wine could not be brewed in the current era. It was made by an old senior in the ancient times, who collected the Five Evils spiritual energy from a newly gestated small world to brew it.
Ten thousand years had passed since the dawn of the current era, and the Five Evils spiritual energy had never appeared again.
That wasn't the important part. The important part was that the old senior who brewed the Five Evils Wine was an old demon who roamed the Great Desolate.
And Five Evils Wine wasn't some fine wine that could temper immortal spirit. Not only could it not temper, if one absorbed it, the Five Evils would corrode the immortal spirit and rot the fleshly body.
It was precisely for this reason that so few in the Great Desolate knew of Five Evils Wine.
Because Five Evils Wine simply wasn't something Immortals could drink; it was for those demonic fiends and monsters to consume.
Immortals in their cultivation pursued the Great Radiance, emphasizing Great Purity.
The Five Evils, however, were profoundly Yin, clashing with the Great Radiance and Great Purity that Immortals sought.
But, heretical demonic paths pursued the Great Darkness, emphasizing turbidity.
The Five Evils were a deadly poison to Immortals, but a great tonic to heretical demonic paths.
Looking at Gu Qingfeng now, Xiao Ya finally understood why Bai Susu had told her to prepare the Five Evils Wine.
With just this one cup of Five Evils Wine, it had already been tested that this Tuhao Grand Lord was absolutely not some inexperienced mortal, but a master of exceptional knowledge who had weathered storms—at least he had been in the past. Otherwise, it would have been absolutely impossible for him to name the Five Evils Wine just by smelling it; it meant he had drunk it before.
Daring to drink Five Evils Wine, this fellow in the past must have either been a great demonic head who roamed the heavens and earth, or he truly was a mighty Immortal Dao Great Old Master who had shaken a region.
Thinking of this, Xiao Ya grew increasingly impressed with Bai Susu, thinking to herself that the young mistress was truly formidable, having long seen that this fellow was no simple character and telling her to prepare the Five Evils Wine.
"This humble one isn't very accomplished; I usually just enjoy a drink," Gu Qingfeng said. "This Five Evils Wine is brewed from Profound Yin Five Evils, can be said to be brimming with baleful aura, its wine aroma is also quite unique. Once you've drunk it, you'd never forget it."
As he spoke, Gu Qingfeng tilted his head back slightly and drained the cup in one go. He nodded. "Not bad, not bad. When it comes to the skill of brewing wine, the heretical demonic paths are definitely the ancestors. What the Immortal Dao brews, can that even be called wine? It's practically more bland than plain water. Only the wine brewed by old demonic heads has enough kick."
Watching Gu Qingfeng just drain a cup of Five Evils Wine like that, Xiao Ya was dumbfounded. The old matron leaning on her cane beside them also deeply furrowed her brows.
In their minds, even if this fellow really had been some mighty Great Old Master who shook a region in the past, now he had no cultivation, was completely a flesh-and-blood body. How could he drink a cup of Five Evils Wine and be completely fine?
This was Five Evils Wine! Forget about undying, deathless Great Luo Golden Immortals, even Spirit Immortals with fused spirit and flesh would have to refine it immediately, unable to withstand the erosion of the Five Evils if they were even a little slow.
But this fellow acted as if nothing was wrong.
Could it really be as Bai Susu said, that this fellow's fleshly body was absolutely not the simple flesh-and-blood form it appeared on the surface? That it was some kind of Creation Body?
That also didn't seem very likely.
Any Creation Body, be it Extreme Body, Peerless Body, Venerable Body, Tyrant Body, or Saint Body, all had obvious traces of Creation aura. But on this fellow, apart from basic human breath, there was nothing, not even spiritual breath.
Just what was going on?
They didn't know.
Xiao Ya didn't know.
The old matron didn't know.
Bai Susu didn't know either.
Gu Qingfeng set down his wine cup and laughed. "Big sister, what are you spacing out for? Pour this lord another cup."
"Oh."
Realizing that Gu Qingfeng might really have been a region-shaking Great Old Master in the past, coupled with the peculiarity of his fleshly body, Xiao Ya didn't dare say anything more and obediently poured Gu Qingfeng another cup of Five Evils Wine.
Bai Susu said lightly, "It seems the Great Old Master drank quite a bit of fine wine from the heretical demonic paths in the past."
"Of course."
Gu Qingfeng drained another cup of Five Evils Wine and laughed. "I dare not boast about other things, but when it comes to drinking wine, the amount of wine this lord has drunk is more than you'll see in your entire lifetime."
"Is that so..." Bai Susu had been sitting in her chair the entire time, her beautiful face not showing much expression, her demeanor somewhat cool and aloof. Yet her beautiful eyes stared at Gu Qingfeng, occasionally flashing with a strange light. "In that case, the Great Old Master must have had a past that is hard to look back on."
"Who doesn't have a past that's hard to look back on?"
Gu Qingfeng drank cup after cup. In just this short while, he had already downed seven or eight cups of Five Evils Wine. The white jade bottle of Five Evils Wine was almost empty. At Bai Susu's signal, Xiao Ya took out another bottle and continued pouring.
"I imagine the Great Old Master was also a towering giant who roamed freely across the Great Desolate in his time."
"I have to say, big sister, you really have a good eye."
Drinking happily, Gu Qingfeng crossed his legs and said teasingly, "Back in the day when this humble one roamed the Great Desolate, I absolutely swept across the wasteland, shook the heavens and earth, unmatched by anyone. When this lord stamped his foot, the Three Thousand Great Daos would tremble three times. Be it the Immortal-Buddha Radiance Dao, the Demon-Monster Darkness Dao, even the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth—this lord fought them all back then."
To the side, Steward Li and Horse King had been standing obediently the whole time.
Especially Horse King. Ever since entering this lakeside pavilion, he had kept his head lowered, not even daring to breathe heavily.
He had originally thought that the Oversight Committee suspected Tuhao Grand Lord's winning of 1.8 billion chips was somehow improper, which was why Bai Susu was personally intervening today. But now it seemed that might not be the case. If it were really an interrogation, after all this time, they wouldn't have not mentioned a single word about the gambling matter.
Horse King was no fool. Having listened for so long from the side, he naturally could see a bit of the meaning. He pondered that Bai Susu should be interested in the Great Old Master, and seemed to have also discerned that the Great Old Master was no ordinary mortal, so she wanted to use this opportunity to probe a bit?
The more Horse King listened, the more he felt this was the case.
However.
What made him rather embarrassed was, wasn't what Tuhao Grand Lord said a bit too exaggerated?
Even if you, Tuhao Grand Lord, wanted to bluff Bai Susu, you should at least say something believable. How could you just spout any nonsense?
Swept across the Great Desolate?
Shook the heavens and earth?
Unmatched by anyone?
Stamped his foot, and the Three Thousand Great Daos tremble three times?
Fought the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth?
Heavens!
He had seen people boast before, but never one who boasted so outrageously.
Not even ghosts would be fooled by such talk, and you want to fool Bai Susu who rules over half of the Fengyue Small World?
Had the Great Old Master gotten drunk on that whatever Five Evils Wine or what?
Xiao Ya had initially started to believe that Gu Qingfeng might have been a region-shaking Great Old Master in the past, but after hearing his bout of bragging, she really couldn't hold back anymore and said, "Hey, you! Do you think we're all fools? Swept across the Great Desolate? Shook the heavens and earth? Unmatched by anyone? Stamped your foot and the Three Thousand Great Daos tremble three times? Pah! Do you think you're the Nether Emperor or something?"