"Last time you said you loved this wine, but the new batch hasn’t been brewed yet. This is the last jar I have stored. You can take it with you."

Chen Yan looked at the owner, "How much?"

The owner lowered his eyelids and waved his hand, "It’s on the house."

Chen Yan sighed, "You’ve been conscripted too, haven’t you?"

The owner nodded, "The new clan leader said that the Demon Race disrespects our ancestor, and the ancestor is very angry, so we are ordered to crusade against the Demon Race and reclaim the City of No Return."

Chen Yan looked at the owner, "Do you know where the City of No Return is?"

"I don’t know, I’ve heard it’s very, very far away."

"Then, have you ever seen the ancestor?"

"...How would I have such good fortune?" The owner glared.

Chen Yan sighed again, "Are you... willing to go to the battlefield?"

This time the owner’s tone was very earnest, "Everything the Ghost Race has is given by the ancestor. Ghost Race People should respect the ancestor and fight for him, to quell the rebels."

Chen Yan was silent for a while, then he smiled, "Quell the rebels, that’s a phrase I wouldn’t expect you to say."

The owner chuckled, scratching his scalp, "That’s the phrase written in the clan leader’s decree. When it was read that day, it sounded good, so I memorized it."

Chen Yan looked at this wine-selling vendor owner.

In fact, he had no remarkable qualities, just the skill of brewing local wine, and that skill was only average.

The brewed local wine tasted slightly tart, not exactly a good flavor.

As a person, he was somewhat ignorant, somewhat simple, but also not without a bit of cunning.

But at this moment, looking at this guy, Chen Yan suddenly felt an inexplicable stir in his heart.

At the ancestor’s command, countless Ghost Race People like him would go to bleed and die.

...Because someone disrespected the ancestor.

Chen Yan took this jar of wine, thought for a moment, and fished out a Fortune-Telling Talisman.

"Carry this talisman paper with you, and when you go to the battlefield, gently tear off a corner." Chen Yan also pulled out a Bone Pill and slipped it into the owner’s palm, "Keep this Elixir. If you’re seriously injured, take it, it can save your life."

The owner knew that this distinguished guest was someone even the previous Cave Maiden treated with respect, so he quickly accepted them and bowed gratefully.

Chen Yan looked at this owner, whose face was as simple as a mountain villager’s, and suddenly tugged at the corner of his mouth, "Did you deliberately give me a jar of wine today?"

"Uh..." 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"You knew that Zhan Li has been following me, thought I was an important person, so you used this gesture to please me, knowing that I would certainly give you some luck in return."

The owner chuckled, his manner respectful but his eyes still carried a hint of cunning, "The distinguished guest has come here so many times, I know you are a kind-hearted person."

Chen Yan sighed in his heart.

Perhaps he’s not suited to be any kind of big shot, nor suitable to be a leader.

·

From this day onwards, Chen Yan no longer wandered around the village, confining himself in his earthen building room, shutting the door for cultivation every day.

Until a few more days passed.

On this day, Chen Yan had just completed a "sharpening" exercise to hone his Divine Sense. The intense pain made him break out in sweats, and he had Zhan Li bring hot water with the servants so he could bathe and change.

Stepping out in soft, clean clothes, he saw Zhan Li kneeling respectfully before him in the outer hall room.

Chen Yan glanced at her, "What is it?"

Zhan Li remained kneeling, lifted her head to look at Chen Yan, "These past few days, I’ve seen you practicing... were you Tempering your Primordial Spirit, Tempering your Divine Sense?"

Chen Yan frowned, "You’ve been watching me in secret?"

Zhan Li said nothing, only looked at Chen Yan.

Chen Yan sneered, "Go ahead, ask what you want."

"I’ve watched you meditate and cultivate in a strange and special way every day, even releasing Evil Qi for yourself to consume.

This isn’t circulating Primordial Qi, it must be a method to temper the Primordial Spirit.

But I’ve never heard of any Cultivation Technique using Evil Qi to temper the Primordial Spirit."

Chen Yan shook his head, "This is not a Cultivation Technique for tempering the Primordial Spirit. It’s just... a small trick, it won’t increase the Cultivation of the Primordial Spirit, it will only make the Divine Sense more compactly refined."

Zhan Li frowned, "Tempering, compact?"

"Just like a whetstone," Chen Yan said blandly.

Zhan Li’s eyes lit up, "With... what method?"

"Pain."

"..."

Zhan Li fell silent.

She seemed to lower her head in thought, "Pain..."

"Right, directly using your Divine Sense to contact the Evil Qi, allowing the Evil Qi to stimulate the Divine Sense and make yourself feel pain. This pain is even harder to endure than physical pain.

But once the Divine Sense is stimulated, it’s like a blade honed on a whetstone, growing sharper and more compacted."

As he spoke, Chen Yan paused for a moment, then continued, "This doesn’t increase the ’amount’ of your Primordial Spirit Cultivation, but it further tempers your Divine Sense, expels inflation and impurities, pressing it to be tight and dense."

Zhan Li took a deep breath, looked up at Chen Yan again, "Could you teach me this method?"

Chen Yan raised an eyebrow, "Though it’s not a Cultivation Technique, just a minor method... but, what will you trade for it?"

Zhan Li was startled, "I have Elixirs and Magical Artifacts..."

Chen Yan smiled, "You have seen Master Stone Furnace and Master Golden Saber helping me in Pharmaceuticals and Magical Artifact crafting. Can you offer anything better than what these two masters have crafted?"

Zhan Li was taken aback, "I also have Cultivation Techniques..."

However, after uttering a few words, she stopped herself.

The Cultivation Techniques and Spells she learned from the Ghost Race, could they possibly attract the person before her?

Even Lord Sword Master regards him so closely, and he holds an unknown intimate connection with the ancestor.

If he wants to learn something, does he need to go through her?

Thinking of this, Zhan Li hesitated for a moment and slowly stood up from the ground.