The Master and His Wealthy Fiancée

Both had twenty-one medicinal herbs, but more than half of them were different, as were their ratios.

Chen Dong wasn’t from this world, after all, so he had blind spots in his knowledge. Many of these herbs tasted similar, yet their medicinal effects were worlds apart.

The ingredients for the original brew were all formulated around the Door-Cleansing Spirit Spring; without it, the brew lost most of its potency. A single spring couldn’t produce much brew annually, and even if they wanted to, they couldn’t sell it elsewhere. This wasn’t even mentioning the Washing Door Spirit Array beneath the Drunken Immortal Tower. Without this Array, the Drunken Immortal Brew’s effects were halved again. Any Drunken Immortal Brew taken outside the Drunken Immortal Tower would only tarnish its own name.

Chen Dong’s imitation, however, was a formula he reverse-engineered from the finished Drunken Immortal Brew, using knowledge from his previous life.

Not only were his ingredients cheaper, but the final brew’s taste and effects were nearly identical, and it was free from the limitations of the Door-Cleansing Spirit Spring and the Washing Door Spirit Array.

In comparison, what Chen Dong had created could hardly be called an imitation. It was an improvement—a new brew that surpassed the original Drunken Immortal Brew.

A sense of crisis instantly gripped Chen Dong. ’I can’t let the ”Eight Immortals” keep selling this brew. Otherwise, I, the source, am bound to get into trouble sooner or later.’

’Thankfully, they haven’t sold much, and it’s only circulating around the Xiayun River. If it reaches Drunken Immortal City, I’m done for.’

Chen Dong knew this problem had to be solved. He secretly decided that after he finished ascending the tower, he would go find the ”Eight Immortals.”

While Chen Dong was lost in thought, frowning, the patrons on the first floor were watching him intently.

”What a lightweight. Can’t even handle one cup? A complete waste of three hundred Spirit Stones!”

”Yeah, seriously! I’d do better than him up there!”

The woman who had initially pitied Chen Dong now sneered, ”So he’s just all flash and no substance. Utterly useless. No wonder he had to marry into the Wang Family!”

Chen Dong heard their chatter, of course, but he paid it no mind. Ascending the tower would take time, but the ”Eight Immortals’” decision to sell only small amounts of the brew gave him a sliver of hope that his secret wouldn’t be discovered. Even so, his drinking pace quickened noticeably, and he downed the remaining six cups one after another.

”Whoa, look! The Wang Family’s son-in-law is getting desperate! He’s really going for it now!”

”At that rate, he’ll probably pass out before he even makes it to the second floor!”

”Careful what you say! You can tell he’s the type who cares about his reputation. Watch out, or he’ll have the Wang Family come after you!”

Chen Dong glanced over the crowd, ignored them, and turned toward the second-floor stairs.

Just then, Shopkeeper Li stepped in front of him, offered a bow, and said amiably, ”Sir, before you ascend to the second floor, you must choose a color to mark your position.”

Shopkeeper Li’s attitude toward him had shifted considerably. ’To finish the first course of Drunken Immortal Brew so quickly, and with such steady steps... this son-in-law of the Wang Family is definitely not as simple as he seems.’

Without a second thought, Chen Dong blurted out, ”Black!”

It was only when he reached the second floor that he realized there weren’t any black ink dots on the first-floor scroll yet. He cursed under his breath, ’This damn luck!’

The second floor was neatly arranged with seats in a circle. Thirteen people were on this level, each at their own table, tasting the brew. There were eleven male cultivators and two female cultivators, all appearing to be young. Some were red-faced, swaying their heads; others stared grimly at their cups; and some had their eyes closed, circulating their energy...

Chen Dong walked to an empty table and sat down. Shopkeeper Li followed close behind, taking seven celadon cups filled with Drunken Immortal Brew from his Storage Ring.

”Please,”

Shopkeeper Li had barely finished speaking when—THUD!—a young man in white collapsed to the floor, dead drunk.

Shopkeeper Li clapped his hands and said casually, ”Take him down to rest.” Two waiters appeared at the sound, skillfully carrying the young man in white away.

In that brief moment, Shopkeeper Li turned back to Chen Dong, only to see him already standing and heading for the third-floor stairs.

”The brew...”

Shopkeeper Li was about to say he couldn’t go up without finishing the brew, but then he saw that the cups on Chen Dong’s table were empty.

The surprise on Shopkeeper Li’s face was replaced by a look of contempt, as if he were waiting for a good show. ’And here I was just starting to think this kid was something special,’ he thought. ’Turns out he’s just another glory-seeker. Does he think he can cheat my Drunken Immortal Tower? Trying to go upstairs without finishing the brew? Does he take the rules of my Drunken Immortal Tower for a decoration?!’

He was now certain that Chen Dong had hidden the brew somewhere, merely using the challenge at the Drunken Immortal Tower to quickly make a name for himself.

Anyone who knew the rules was aware of the restrictive barrier between the second and third floors. Those who hadn’t finished the first two courses of the Drunken Immortal Brew would be thrown back by it. Chen Dong clearly didn’t know the rules, and Shopkeeper Li was eagerly waiting for the show to begin.

’It’s been a while since someone was thrown out onto the street by the barrier, making a public spectacle of themselves,’ he thought. ’It seems the youth of today have forgotten. How dare they dream of taking shortcuts!’

His look of anticipation then turned to surprise, and then to utter shock.

Chen Dong ascended to the third floor without any resistance.

”He actually passed through... Does that mean he really drank it all? Who in the world is this person?”

He had never seen anyone drink the second course of the Drunken Immortal Brew so quickly and still be able to ascend. Not even Feng Wei or Mu Qingzhu possessed that kind of tolerance.

Shopkeeper Li muttered, ”The Wang Family has truly found an incredible son-in-law. A True Dragon is about to emerge!”

At the same time, a huge uproar erupted from the first floor as the patrons began to scream and shout.

”AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

”What is that? What in the world is that? Am I seeing things? Am I drunk?”

”Impossible! Absolutely impossible!”

Someone else shouted in disbelief, ”The scroll! The scroll must be broken!”

The crowd was in an uproar for one reason: on the scroll, the black dot representing Chen Dong had just reached the third floor.