Gu Qingfeng's drinking habits always depended on his mood.
When drinking alone, he usually took small, slow sips.
If he was in a good mood, he would basically drink in large gulps.
And if the feeling struck him, he would drink directly from the wine jar.
Of course.
If he was drinking alone directly from the jar, it wasn't because the feeling struck him—it was because his alcohol addiction had flared up.
When someone offered him a toast or proposed a bottoms-up, Gu Qingfeng typically never refused. Like this time, with Lei Lie toasting him jar after jar and proposing bottoms-up after bottoms-up, Gu Qingfeng accepted them all.
The two of them went through jar after jar here, while Lei Lie's group of junior brothers, knowing their own alcohol tolerance wasn't up to par, naturally didn't dare to drink so recklessly alongside them.
One must understand that this fine wine was not the fine wine of the mortal world.
Drinking to drunkenness with mortal world wine merely meant a muddled consciousness and a serious hangover.
But getting drunk on Great Desolate wine not only muddled the consciousness—it could also kill.
Because these fine wines were brewed from special resources and contained special spiritual energy. This special spiritual energy wasn't harmful to the physical body; on the contrary, after refining it, it could even be a great tonic.
However.
Precisely because it was a great tonic, one couldn't drink too much of this stuff.
Drinking too much, if one couldn't refine it and it remained stagnant in the body for a long time, would cause damage to both the immortal spirit and the physical body. In mild cases, the internal organs would be damaged; in severe cases, the immortal spirit might shatter from being unable to withstand that special energy.
As the drinking reached a lively point, Lei Lie noticed Old Huang still taking small, slow sips and couldn't help but say, "I say, Old Huang, I invited you here to keep us company, not to drink with those tiny cups!"
"Ah, this old bone of mine doesn't dare drink like you."
"Old Huang, I'm only a Grand Luo Golden Immortal. Even a Nine Luminaries perfected Grand Luo Golden Immortal is still just a Grand Luo Golden Immortal. But you, old sir, are a Great Desolate Spirit Immortal! I'm not afraid, so what are you afraid of? This bit of wine should be nothing to you, right?"
Old Huang shook his head with a helpless bitter smile.
He was indeed a Great Desolate Spirit Immortal, and one who had achieved that rank back in the Ancient Era.
It was precisely because he was an Ancient Era Great Desolate Spirit Immortal, having experienced that era of scarce resources, that he deeply understood how hard-won cultivation was. Therefore, he cherished his own cultivation more than anyone else. Although he also enjoyed drinking, he usually only took small, slow sips. He had never recklessly downed over twenty jars in a row like Lei Lie, nor did he dare to drink so wildly. After all, drinking too much of this stuff offered not the slightest benefit.
As for why Lei Lie, with only Grand Luo Golden Immortal cultivation, dared to drink so wildly, Old Huang knew it was because this fellow wasn't merely a Nine Luminaries perfected Grand Luo Golden Immortal. On top of that, he possessed three great fortunes, one of which was a fortune-body that would make anyone envious—the 'Unshakable Vajra Treasure Body'.
Old Huang had once sparred with Lei Lie and witnessed his Vajra Treasure Body. It truly was as unshakable as the legends said, extremely difficult to budge. At the very least, with Old Huang's nearly hundred-thousand-year cultivation as a Great Desolate Spirit Immortal, even if he exerted all his strength, he wouldn't dare claim he could definitely injure Lei Lie. Forget injuring him—he wasn't even confident he could budge him.
Moreover, besides this unshakable Vajra Treasure Body, Lei Lie had two other fortunes.
Exactly what these two fortunes were, Old Huang didn't know. Since it involved another's privacy, he had never asked. After all, the two of them had only met aboard this Xuantian Great Vessel, and their friendship wasn't that deep.
"Come on!
Old Huang!
Don't be modest. Switch to a jar, and let's have a few together."
Lei Lie directly picked up a jar of wine and placed it in front of Old Huang.
"Alright, this old man will throw caution to the wind today and drink to our hearts' content with you two."
Old Huang stood up, also opened a jar of fine wine, and looked at Gu Qingfeng. "Having the honor to meet a remarkable person like you, Fellow Daoist, is this old man's good fortune. Let me introduce myself. This old man's surname is Huang, Dao Title Canghe. May I ask your esteemed name, Fellow Daoist?"
"Ah!
Right!
No wonder something felt off. We've been drinking all this wine, and I still don't know your name, Fellow Daoist."
Hearing Old Huang ask Gu Qingfeng's name, Lei Lie finally realized—they'd been so focused on drinking earlier that they'd forgotten this matter.
"My surname is Gu, Dao Title Chixiao."
When they heard Gu Qingfeng's Dao Title was 'Chixiao', Old Huang suddenly froze. Not only him, but Lei Lie also froze. However, neither of them said anything. Old Huang smiled and said, "So it's Fellow Daoist Chixiao. Meeting for the first time, this old man will finish this jar first to show respect."
With that, Old Huang downed a whole jar of fine wine.
The three of them drank several more jars in succession. Lei Lie leaned forward, clearing his throat, and asked, "Um...
Fellow Daoist, there's something I'm not sure if I should ask..."
"What is it?"
"Why did you choose 'Chixiao' as your Dao Title?"
"What's wrong?"
Gu Qingfeng asked curiously, "Is there a problem?"
"Do you know of You Di?
The Nine Nethers Emperor who rampaged across heaven and earth and shook the Great Desolate in the Ancient Era?"
"I've heard of him. What about it?"
"Since you've heard of him, then you should also know that his esteemed Dao Title is Chixiao, right?"
"So what?
Does that mean only he can have the Dao Title Chixiao in all heaven and earth, and no one else can?"
"Well...
It's not that others can't take Chixiao as a Dao Title, it's just...
just...
After all, that is his esteemed Dao Title. Most people would avoid it out of respect."
The facts were exactly as Lei Lie said. In the myriad realms of the Great Desolate, when choosing names or Dao Titles, most people would consciously avoid overlapping with the names or Dao Titles of great powers.
The reason was simple.
Those great powers were without exception legendary overlords of their time, whose Dao Titles were thunderously famous throughout the myriad realms, known to all.
If one took the same Dao Title as a great power, not only would they be ridiculed and despised, but it would also be a sign of disrespect and offense toward those overlords.
One must understand that those overlords who shook the Great Desolate were either kings of this Great Dao, emperors of that Great Dao, or sovereigns of another Great Dao. Disrespecting such existences was akin to disrespecting the Great Dao itself—no different from seeking death.
Especially the Dao Title of the Nine Nethers Emperor—it absolutely had to be avoided.
Because in the Present-Ancient Era today, You Di's Dao Title had almost become a taboo.
Not because You Di's existence was both a Demon Path monarch and the Nine Nethers Emperor, but because back then, You Di had openly opposed the Three Thousand Great Daos. Not only that, he had challenged the hegemony of the Three Thousand Great Daos. Both the Demon Path and the Monster Path had submitted to him. The Western Heaven Buddha Path had been trampled by him. And the Heavenly Dao had been defied by him time and again.
Most importantly, in the Present-Ancient Era, the Immortal Path claimed to be the leader of the Great Daos, dominating heaven and earth.
And everyone knew that You Di, even in his youth, had formed deep enmity with the Immortal Path. Not only had he destroyed the Immortal Dynasty in the mortal world, but in the Great Desolate, he had nearly burned down the Nine Heavens with a single fire.
Thus, in this Present-Ancient Era dominated by the Immortal Path, You Di's name had naturally become a taboo.