Nine Star Hegemon Body Arts

Chapter 1183 A Con

Translator: BornToBe

“Just what I would expect from a disciple of the Wine God Palace. People with faith are truly different. No matter how angry you get, you are able to use the power of your faith to control your emotions.” Long Chen gave him a thumbs-up.

The middle-aged didn’t say anything. In truth, he was extremely angry, because Long Chen’s last words had rattled his Dao-heart.

“In truth, I said this in order to test you. If you had really been unable to endure my words and directly kicked me out, then there would be no need for me to further explore the Wine God Palace,” said Long Chen calmly. “From the moment I entered this room, I could tell that you are extremely meticulous. You refuse for there to be any blemishes or flaws. From the way you cleaned your hands, to when you took out the bowls, to when you poured the wine. Even the positions of the wine jug to the wine bowls must be perfect. When you finished pouring the wine, you placed the wine jug where it was exactly. So when I raised my bowl with one hand and gulped it down in one mouthful, your emotions clearly began to change...”

As Long Chen spoke, the middle-aged man’s furious expression gradually faded to be replaced with dense shock.

Even Xia Youluo looked at Long Chen with shock. He had actually seen such details? She hadn’t noticed a single one of them.

Long Chen continued, “Because my conduct is not in accordance with proper conduct in your eyes, you became uncomfortable. You are someone who pursues perfection. It is precisely because you pursue perfection that your path forward has been blocked. Your wine is a masterpiece that has gone through thousands of refinements. It is almost flawless. But have you not found that you are currently stuck in a bottleneck that you cannot break out of no matter what?”

“Yes, yes! I’ve been stuck at this bottleneck for seven years already, and I’ve been unable to advance an inch. I even once went out and wandered the land in search of an opportunity to break through, but I’m still stuck. Please enlighten me.” The remaining anger on his face had long since vanished.

At this time, the middle-aged man was staring at Long Chen with a pleading light in his eyes. Seeing this dumbfounded Xia Youluo. She was almost unable to believe it.

The always incredibly prideful disciple of the Wine God Palace could actually make such an expression? Her eyes had truly been opened to the world.

“In truth, the Wine God bestowed you an opportunity to break through one year ago. Regretfully, you were unable to seize it,” said Long Chen with a smile that was not quite a smile.

“One year ago? Are you talking about... her?” The middle-aged man was filled with shock.

Xia Youluo was still dumbfounded. How had she become his opportunity to break through?

“Correct. One year ago, she came and said some things she shouldn’t have said. You kicked her out, but in truth, she was your opportunity to advance,” said Long Chen.

“Please point me onto the right path.” The middle-aged man bowed deeply toward Long Chen.

“You’re too courteous. I came to the Wine God Palace in order to sincerely pursue my learning. I was lacking manners, but you still didn’t kick me out. Your magnanimity is admirable. Since that’s the case, I will be direct. When the seventeenth princess came last time, she was your chance to advance because she is simply naive and immature. She had no schemes in her heart, and no matter her actions, she had no intention of blaspheming the Wine God Palace. At that time, if you would have been able to forgive her and not quibble with her, you would have broken through your bottleneck,” said Long Chen.

“I’m still confused. Can sir please explain it clearer?” asked the middle-aged man.

Seeing as how there were no taxes for bragging, Long Chen solemnly said, “Your Wine Dao is also one of the Heavenly Daos, and you strive to reach the highest realm in this Dao. But could it be you do not know that there is no such thing as perfection in this world? The sun and moon wax and wane, the flow of destiny ebbs and rises. Right and wrong, Yin and Yang, positive and negative. Even the Daos of the Heavens are filled with irreparable shortcomings. When something reaches a peak in one aspect, it can only go in the opposite direction. A tree sometimes thrives, and a tree sometimes withers. You always pursue perfection, which is innately a dead end. The Heavenly Daos are in a perfect cycle that continuously rotates. Because there are flaws, there can be Yin and Yang complementing each other in constant movement. Ask yourself, if the sun and moon only waxed and never waned, if creatures were only born and never died, just how would this world work?”

The middle-aged man looked at Long Chen with shock, but he was still at a loss.

You still don’t understand? Long Chen continued, “And so, there is no absolute right in this world, nor is there any perfection. Only when there are flaws can things change and have room for growth. Absolute perfection cannot exist, because absolute perfection only signifies destruction.”

The middle-aged man’s lost expression gradually faded. His body suddenly became covered by a halo of light, and a strange fluctuation spread which caused Long Chen and Xia Youluo to jump. It seemed this person was undergoing a moment of sudden enlightenment, instantly breaking through to some kind of realm.

“Disciple Luo Yan kowtows in thanks for your pointers. I will never forget your favor.” The middle-aged man suddenly knelt on the ground toward Long Chen, and then he bowed to Xia Youluo, saying, “Seventeenth princess, I formally apologize for my rudeness to you back then.”

“I... I...” Xia Youluo was so frightened she was hiding behind Long Chen, not even daring to speak.

In her memory, this person would always be that fierce person who had scolded and kicked her out of the Wine God Palace. But now he was bowing toward her, and she had no idea what to say.

“Since you’ve become enlightened, you’ll definitely advance by leaps and bounds in the future. We won’t disturb you for now.” Long Chen stood.

“For your great favor, I should provide you my greatest hospitality. But I really must solidify my comprehension, so I truly cannot accompany you. This is the stock of what I’ve refined during these years. Please, you absolutely must accept it, or I wouldn’t be able to rest my heart.” The middle-aged man offered a spatial ring to Long Chen with both hands.

“I can’t possibly accept. However, since you’ve been enlightened, the wine you make in the future will be the truly fine wine. I’ll help you get rid of this stuff.” Long Chen very shamelessly received the spatial ring.

Stealthily taking a peek inside the spatial ring, he saw over a thousand jugs of wine as big as a person, and there were also all kinds of different sized jugs that were too numerous be counted. But Long Chen’s shamelessness had been tempered through a great deal of experience, and he didn’t betray a look of shock.

“Many thanks.”

Long Chen took his spatial ring, but it was the middle-aged man who said his thanks to Long Chen. He sent the two of them out of his pavilion and then went directly into seclusion.

The dumbfounded Xia Youluo didn’t even know how she left the pavilion. She only reacted once they were a ways away.

“Long Chen, you’re amazing! Can you teach me all that knowledge in the future?” asked Xia Youluo.

“How impudent. Call me grand-uncle,” said Long Chen stiffly.

“You... you evil person, don’t even think about it!” raged Xia Youluo.

“Hehe, if you don’t call me grand-uncle, I won’t give you a gift.” Long Chen raised his eyebrows a few times, waving the spatial ring in his hand. That was the gift from the middle-aged man.

“Hmph, I won’t surrender.” Xia Youluo was clearly moved by the spatial ring, but after a long moment of hesitation, she refused to submit.

“Haha, I’m just joking.” Looking at her aggrieved expression, Long Chen felt bad teasing her. “See, this spatial ring has a total of ten large jugs and dozens of small jugs. Don’t blame your uncle for bullying you. Since we’re working together, we’ll split it equally. Here’s one jug for you, one for me, one for me, one for you...”

Long Chen found a secluded place and began dividing the wine. Now Long Chen didn’t look like someone capable of preaching about the Dao. He was clearly a little swindler proudly counting his spoils.

“Heavens, there’s this much?!” Seeing these huge jugs, Xia Youluo clamped her hands over her mouth.

This was actually just a small fraction of Long Chen’s spoils. It wasn’t even one percent of his total gains. Long Chen gave ‘half’ to Xia Youluo and solemnly said, “Put them away. You deserve them. Stealing is also a Dao, and conning is also a strategy. Your uncle Long won’t mistreat you,” chortled Long Chen.

Now it was Xia Youluo’s turn to feel bad. This wine was far too precious. This was that Wine God Palace disciple’s personal wine. Even in the Grand Xia’s imperial family, there wasn’t a single drop available.

“Thank you.”

Xia Youluo looked at Long Chen, slightly red in the face but absolutely delighted. If she used this wine when treating others, her prestige would definitely soar.

“Long Chen, you really are amazing. You know so much about wine! And you’re also an alchemist? How do you know so much at such a young age?” Xia Youluo looked at Long Chen admirably.

“I’m not young. I’m an uncle figure. Now that I look back at the past, it seems so long ago...” Long Chen sighed emotionally.

“Tch, stop making the same joke. I was wrong, alright? Long Chen, teach me your abilities. When you were talking to that person, you really were very godlike, very handsome!” said Xia Youluo excitedly.

“There wasn’t any real ability. It’s all just a con; I was only blindly guessing and got it right. Let’s not waste time. We’ll continue and see if there are any good places to get some more good wine,” said Long Chen.

Xia Youluo looked at Long Chen oddly. He looked like a completely different person than the refined Long Chen who had so perfectly described the wine’s pros and cons. Now he looked like a swindler in the streets.

“Foolish girl, what are you just standing there for? Hurry up. Time is wine.”

Long Chen had taken a few steps and saw that Xia Youluo was still just dumbly staring at him. He grabbed her and continued onward.

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