Chapter 1442
Chapter 1442: The Wine of Immortality!
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
“Your signaller is beeping. Are you the one who got that hoverboard?” Traveling Buddha pointed at the vibrating device in Xia Fan’s hand.
Xia Fan’s signaller really was vibrating. The notification that one had won a treasure worth one hundred thousand gold coins would be sent three times in order to ensure that the winner would not miss their newfound wealth.
The notification on the screen stated that Xia Fan had two choices: if he wanted to take the treasure, then once the chest opening was done, he could find an employee to arrange for delivery of the item.
If Xia Fan didn’t want the antique space hoverboard, the company would pay him one hundred thousand gold coins and then keep the hoverboard. Perhaps in the future, the hoverboard would appear in another treasure chest for some lucky winner.
Xia Fan chuckled and showed his signaller to Traveling Buddha and Tony.
!!
Their eyes widened, and disbelief appeared on their faces.
Tony turned red as he shouted, “You really got it! This is a treasure worth one hundred thousand gold coins!” It was clearly Xia Fan who had won the treasure, but Tony was the one getting excited.
“As expected, it was you, you lucky guy!” Traveling Buddha grumbled.
Traveling Buddha didn’t care about some space hoverboard. As the second young master of the Holy Buddha Clan, he could get that sort of thing easily.
Traveling Buddha cared more about how lucky Xia Fan was. Traveling Buddha had bought over forty chests, spending almost thirty thousand gold coins, but all he had gotten was a pile of souvenirs. Xia Fan had only bought twenty-three chests, but he had managed to get a treasure worth one hundred thousand gold coins! There was simply no comparing them!
“Rich! You’re rich!” Tony shouted excitedly, and the people around them cast envious gazes in their direction.
As the saying went, one’s class determined the broadness of one’s vision. If Tony were to know that Xia Fan’s spatial ring contained forty-seven Tier 9 energy crystals left to him by the Disasters, enough to buy half of an A-class habitable planet, he would probably have been scared to death. In his eyes, a hundred thousand gold coins was already an enormous fortune.
The surrounding strangers all toasted Xia Fan to celebrate his win, and Xia Fan very politely raised his glass of fruit juice and acknowledged their congratulations.
More than seventy percent of the people here were businessmen from the Outer Frontier, and they all had an excellent impression of the young, graceful, calm, and smiling Xia Fan. They speculated as to what trade he might be in and whether they could work with him or not.
The chest opening continued. Two of the most valuable treasures had appeared, but there was still no sign of the priceless treasure. Two-thirds of the chests had been opened, and people began to wonder if that priceless treasure would appear at all.
It wasn’t like it was unheard of for no one to bid on a chest. After all, there were an astonishing seventy-two thousand chests, and not every chest had a bidder.
Humans had always been a very peculiar species. When gambling, some people believed in probability while some people believed in lucky numbers. In any case, most people liked to entrust their gambling to very vague and ethereal things.
During the bidding, this mindset became even more prominent. Chests with lucky serial numbers were warmly welcomed, the bids rising to as much as ten thousand gold coins, but those with unlucky numbers and those that didn’t look right were all ignored, with no one even willing to bid ten coins for them.
Moreover, bidding wars were a frequent occurrence. If someone started bidding for a chest another person wanted, the two bidders would feel like the opposing party knew the truth, and if they didn’t try and outbid the others, the other party would be given a free chance at enormous fortune. The mindset caused the price to crazily rise.
When a person entered that sort of mindset, they would cast aside all apprehension. From a probabilistic perspective, all of the chests actually had about the same chance of containing a treasure. Rather than bidding against others for chests, it was better to bid on a chest that nobody wanted.
It was 5:07 PM when the third treasure chest was opened.
It was an oil painting by the famous Outer Frontier painter Kastemon. The genius artist had been born in poverty and had learned painting while working. In the end, he founded the Dream Painting School, which used numerous bright colors and exaggerated lines. The people and vistas in his paintings were so fantastical that they could only appear in dreams, never in reality.
Kastemon was still alive, and had been hired as an esteemed professor at the highest art college in the Sacred Federation, the Imperial Art Academy, as the Director of Painting. He was famous in both the Inner Territories and Outer Frontier.
As a fish who had leapt through the dragon gate and become a dragon, Kastemon was the pride of the Frontier. His paintings were warmly received in the Outer Frontier, and the rich took pride in being able to own one of his paintings. After all, he was a hero in their hearts!
But in the Inner Territories, Kastemon’s paintings were not necessarily that valuable.
The name of the painting was “Listening to the Sounds of Nature”; the lucky winner was an Inner Territory businessman. His dark hands were adorned with jeweled rings and his fat neck bore a jeweled necklace. It looked like he was afraid that people wouldn’t know he was rich.
Racial discrimination was everywhere, and the Outer Frontier businessmen all had looks of contempt. Letting this guy get a Kastemon painting was like sticking a flower in a pile of feces. How could the vulgar Inner Territories people understand art?
The Frontier people had the right to be proud, but alas, Beacon City’s two largest companies had been opened by people of the Inner Territories, and the majority of customers were also businessmen from the Inner Territories.
Although the Frontier people called the Outer Frontier their home, it was the people from the Inner Territories that controlled the region. Whether it was commerce, finance, politics, or war, the Inner Territories’ influence was ever-present, much to the grief of the Outer Frontier’s people.
Three of the treasures worth one hundred thousand gold had appeared. Now, all that was left was the priceless treasure. The chest opening was proceeding swiftly, and eighty percent of chests had now been opened. The remainder were all chests that had no bids, which numbered nearly twenty thousand.
Had the priceless treasure really been won by nobody?
The mood became tense. People either stared at their signallers, sweat forming on their hands, or focused on the large screen.
Xia Fan was also very nervous, not because of some priceless treasure, but because of that core.
In his view, that was the most important treasure tonight. Had someone from the company noticed that the chest didn’t have just an engine, but also a priceless core, so they decided to remove it?
Although it was said that the company valued its reputation, that was still a legendary core! It wasn’t completely impossible for them to violate the contract for the sake of a core…
Suddenly, the crowd grew excited.
That giant floating screen flashed, prompting everyone to look in its direction. Everyone grew extremely excited, some of them even standing up.
The screen flashed for an entire minute to make sure it had everyone’s attention, and then the image became that of a bottle of red wine!
“What is that?”
“That shouldn’t be the priceless treasure, right!?” someone asked loudly in a shocked voice.
At this moment, the Jiang Clan’s steward, He Jinting, held the microphone and spoke in a most energetic tone, “My dear friends, please turn your attention to the screen. The ultimate prize of the chest opening has finally appeared!
“Let me introduce it to everyone. This priceless treasure is a bottle of wine.”
His words immediately stirred up a storm of chattering.
“A bottle of wine? How can a bottle of wine be a priceless treasure? Even the most expensive Difonali wine doesn’t exceed more than a thousand coins, no?”
“Yeah, what’s the Jiang Clan up to? Wine is simply a beverage. How can it be considered a priceless treasure?”
“What’s the point in all this speculation? Let’s hear what the steward has to say. I feel that this bottle of wine definitely has a background. Look at that red hue, almost like blood.”
“The bottle is also exquisitely made. It should be crystal, yes?”
He Jingting let them talk, a smile growing on his face.
After a brief pause, He Jinting’s eyes suddenly glowed, and he said in a loud voice, “Ladies and gentlemen, I know that you have many questions. Why would the Jiang Company’s priceless treasure be a bottle of wine?
“And I also know that many of you have mountains of gold and silver back at home, and even the most expensive Difonali red wine is treated like mouthwash!”
“Hahaha!” Laughter resounded across the lawn. He Jinting was clearly telling a joke. Who would be so dumb as to use Difonali as mouthwash? That clearly wasn’t scientific.
He Jinting continued, “Dear guests, let me clear up this mystery.
“This bottle of wine you see is no ordinary bottle of wine, but the legendary Wine of Immortality!”
Boom!
There was an uproar, but in Xia Fan’s view, most people were in a stunned state. After all, even though Xia Fan had been taught almost everything in the universe by the Disasters, he had no idea what the Wine of Immortality was, so how could these businessmen know?
“Oh, the Wine of Immortality? No wonder. That is something really good. I wonder which lucky scoundrel managed to get that treasure,” Traveling Buddha muttered as he crossed his legs.
Xia Fan was startled. There were few things that the young master of the Buddha Clan would consider a treasure.
Traveling Buddha had never cared about anything, but today, he seemed to envy the person who had obtained that Wine of Immortality.
He JInting said with a smile, “I’m sure that everyone knows about the dragons, yes?”
The guests nodded along dumbly. Everyone knew about the dragons, holy creatures from an ancient era that had once ruled the Great Chiliocosm.
“All worlds” here didn’t just refer to the Ashen Moon Universe. The existence of the Cosmic Gate made everyone believe that there were still more universes, and all these universes together made up the Great Chiliocosm.
Alas, there was no opening the Cosmic Gate. Other than that one time the fiendish Skywing Clan had broken through the Cosmic Gate and invaded Ashen Moon forty thousand years ago, no one had ever passed through it.
Why the Skywings had come to Ashen Moon, how they had come in, and how they had left remained eternal riddles of the Ashen Moon Universe.
He Jinting saw the crowd nodding and continued, “According to the legends, dragons could once be found throughout the Great Chiliocosm, and they were its kings.
“Moreover, there were many, many types of dragons. The high dragons were the Black Abyss Dragons, the Golden Dragons, the Holy Dragons, and the Light Dragons.
“There were also the Yggdragons and Servant Dragons.
“The Yggdragons had bodies very similar to those of dragons, but they lacked their holy might, which was why they were Yggdragons, for they were second only to dragons.
“This Wine of Immortality was brewed from the blood of a Yggdragon!”
The collective gasp of tens of thousands of guests could be heard for several dozen kilometers.
Everyone was dumbfounded. Wine brewed from the blood of a Yggdragon? Wasn’t that a sacred wine?
After all, dragons were mythical creatures, and while Yggdragons were second to dragons, it still meant that they dominated all other creatures!
What sort of person would use the blood of Yggdragons to brew wine?
Would drinking this wine turn one into an immortal?
“A priceless treasure! Truly a priceless treasure!”
“Using Yggdragon blood to brew wine? Heavens! This trip really wasn’t a waste. My eyes have been opened!”
“The Jiang Company is incredible! To think that they could take out this sort of priceless treasure! The Di Company is much pettier than the Jiang Company, not at all as generous as the Jiang Clan!”
This sort of praise made He Jinting very happy.
Why was the Jiang Company running this sort of loss-making chest opening event? It was all for reputation!
The heavens were vast and the earth was vast, but nothing was greater than the reputation of a merchant!
Everyone in the Jiang Company was happy to see the Di Company being negatively compared to them.
“Can this Wine of Immortality grant immortality and eternal youth if you drink it?”
“If it’s really that incredible, why didn’t the old master drink it himself, as opposed to giving us the opportunity?”
A few people started asking questions. Xia Fan guessed that these were probably people from the Di Company who had come to make trouble.
The steward wasn’t angered by these words. On the contrary, he even laughed.
He loudly said, “According to legends, drinking the Wine of Immortality really can bestow immortality and eternal youth. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have this name. And while immortality and eternal youth might be exaggerated, an extended lifespan and a strengthened body are not.
“We would also like to keep such a priceless treasure. If possible, my master would want to drink a bottle every day!”
He Jinting suddenly changed his tone, saying in frustration, “But alas, the Wine of Immortality cannot be drunk by just anyone. After all, this is a divine wine made from the blood of Yggdragons. The wine is extremely strong, and if an ordinary person drinks it, their intestines will rot away, and they would die on the spot!
“The legends say that there are two major conditions one must meet before one can drink the Wine of Immortality.
“The first is… one must have reached Eternal rank!”
Numerous people moaned in disbelief. What did it mean to be at Eternal rank?”
The power system divided special ability users into the Four Stars and Three Transcendents.
Above the Star Light rank was the Star Base rank, and above the Star Base rank was the Star Domain rank, and above that was the Star River rank.
As these ranks all had “Star” in their name, they were known as the Four Stars.
And what were the Three Transcendents?
The Eternal rank!
The Legend rank!
The Immortal rank!
The special ability users who reached the Three Ranks had transcended to become divine. They were no longer considered humans, and had entered the ranks of the gods! That was why those ranks were called the Three Transcendents.
One needed to be at the Eternal rank to drink the Wine of Immortality? That was too much! Absolutely none of the people present had reached the Eternal rank, and it was certain that they never would.
Thus, they could only sigh in sorrow. Even if they had money to buy such a nice thing, they could not benefit from it!
Moreover, those at the Eternal rank could not die normally. When a special ability user reached that rank, they would become a god and obtain an undying body.
A wine that only someone with an undying body could drink really could be called the Wine of Immortality!
He Jinting smiled. “Dear guests, you’ve only heard the first condition and already can’t take it?
“Listen closely! There is a second and more unbelievable condition to drinking the Wine of Immortality!
“According to legends, not only must someone be at the Eternal rank to drink this wine, they must also have unlocked the Power of Laws!”
The crowd gasped, stunned once more. These businessmen could be said to be in a shambles today, for they truly didn’t understand a single word of what He Jinting was saying.
Xia Fan was taken aback.
The Power of Laws?
Before leaving, Grandpa Blind had given him an ancient book called The Law of Gold!
It was said that it contained the ultimate secret of their Twin Golden Pupils Race, more valuable than even the remains of their ancestors, and even more valuable than Grandpa Blind’s life!
Alas, there wasn’t even a single word in the Law of Gold book!
Whenever Xia Fan thought about the Disasters, he would flip through the book, but he was always left baffled. Had there been something wrong with Blind Grandpa’s mind? Why had he worked so hard to protect this wordless book?
After hearing He Jinting’s words, Xia Fan realized that Law Power seemed to be an existence even more formidable than special abilities!
He Jinting looked at the dumbfounded merchants on the lawn and smiled. “Don’t go and ask me. I don’t even have a special ability, so how could I understand what Law Power is?
“In any case, it seems like Law Power is something even more impressive than special abilities, but it doesn’t matter. For people like us, special ability users who have reached Eternal rank are already gods that we need to prostrate to. Those with Law Powers are simply more powerful gods.
“Thus, even though my master wants to drink this Wine of Immortality, he is unable to benefit from it, and his family does not have special ability genes. They have been businessmen for generations, and they probably won’t produce any special ability users in the future.
“Since that’s the case, it would be better to be magnanimous and give away this Wine of Immortality!
“If you appreciate our kindness, please spread the good name of the Jiang Company!
“Everyone here is an important business partner, and we highly value our partnerships with all of you and hope that we can continue working forever!
“Even if we can’t do business for a lifetime, we must be friends for a lifetime!”
Clapping erupted as the crowd applauded enthusiastically.
It had to be said that He Jinting was excellent at talking. He had improved the impression the guests had of his company, and he made them feel that the Jiang Company was brimming with sincerity, even willing to give away the incredible Wine of Immortality.
He Jinting hadn’t said much about this wine’s value, for it simply wasn’t necessary.
Although the Wine of Immortality couldn’t be drunk by ordinary people, this sort of divine wine could be gifted to those old immortals who had reached the Eternal rank.
How much face would one receive if they were gifted such a wine?
An old immortal would grow healthy and strong after drinking such a wine, and in their joy, they would certainly care for and support the person who had gifted it to them!
Did it even need to be said what it meant for a businessman to get in the good graces of a Transcendent immortal? One’s descendants would be blessed with good fortune for generations!
In this way, let alone ten million gold coins, even one billion or ten billion gold coins would be worth it to buy that one bottle of the Wine of Immortality!
For the Jiang Company to be willing to let go of this divine wine in the treasure chest opening was truly an unbelievable level of generosity!
Suddenly, a tense drumming could be heard.
He Jinting raised his voice and shouted, “Now! I will officially announce them… the lucky winner of the Wine of Immortality is…
“The holder of Signaller number 7361!”
There was another gasp, as everyone felt like they were about to go crazy!
That was because this wasn’t the first time Terminal No. 7361 had appeared. Before this, the owner of this terminal had already won an antique space hoverboard worth one hundred thousand gold coins!
And now, he had won again!
The world made no sense! How could someone be that lucky? It was an absurd level of luck!
Once the number was announced, Xia Fan glanced over at Traveling Buddha and Tony.
As he expected, the two were staring at him, their eyes about to pop out of their sockets…