"What? Not stopping until we're drunk..." Ye Qingcheng's beautiful eyes curved into crescents as she smiled. "Are you drunk?"

Wang Xiaoqiang was taken aback, then smiled. Of course, he couldn't get drunk, and neither could the beauty in front of him because they could both use their spiritual power to neutralize the alcohol's effects.

"Let's not use our spiritual power to counteract the alcohol and see who can really hold their liquor," Wang Xiaoqiang suggested, raising his glass to Ye Qingcheng.

"Okay, let's make a bet then..." Ye Qingcheng said with interest.

"What are we betting?"

"We're betting spells..." Ye Qingcheng blinked and said.

Wang Xiaoqiang had bet clothes and kisses with Xu Qingxue, a Hummer car with Zhou Mingjun, and liquor and fights with Lin Juxiong. He had won all these bets, and now someone was betting spells with him—an interesting bet. But he didn't have any spells to wager. He couldn't say he had none. Even if he did, Ye Qingcheng might not believe him. So, he asked, "Can Taiyi Sect's spells be passed on so casually?"

"Of course not, but inner disciples are allowed to teach each other," Ye Qingcheng said, staring intently at Wang Xiaoqiang. "Once you enter the sect, you will receive the basic cultivation techniques and a spell..."

Ye Qingcheng paused and then continued, "If you lose, you'll teach me your spell. If I lose, I'll teach you my 'Water Dragon Technique.' Fair enough...?"

"Sure!" Wang Xiaoqiang said. "But no cheating with spiritual power..."

"As if! That's exactly what I was about to remind you," Ye Qingcheng said. "Let's get started then..."

"Alright!"

So, the two really started competing in drinking. They began with red wine and later switched to liquor. After finishing off three bottles of red wine and four bottles of strong liquor, the result was that Ye Qingcheng lay sprawled on the table, unable to get up, while Wang Xiaoqiang, seeing her quite drunk, made a feint with his hand in front of her beautiful face. A surge of Water Element Spiritual Qi rushed to her face, helping her sober up a bit.

Ye Qingcheng opened her bleary eyes and looked at Wang Xiaoqiang, "You... you cheated..."

Wang Xiaoqiang blushed upon hearing this.

He really had cheated.

However, it wasn't an active attempt to cheat, but rather a passive one, because the spiritual energy inside his body was hidden within 228 Five Elements Spirit Springs. Of these 228 Spirit Springs, only 3 were within his Dantian, while the remaining 225 were scattered throughout his flesh and bones, arranged in positions that mimicked a certain zodiac constellation in the sky, not bound to the Dantian, existing freely within his body and capable of neutralizing the alcohol without needing to be activated.

Moreover, one Spirit Spring was always circulating silently through his organs following a 24-hour biological clock. Just now, when a large amount of alcohol entered Wang Xiaoqiang's liver, that Spirit Spring naturally altered its path, entering the liver to aid in detoxifying and sobering up...

So, Wang Xiaoqiang felt unfairly accused; his cheating was involuntary.

In fact, when it came to alcohol tolerance, Ye Qingcheng was not inferior to Wang Xiaoqiang. Otherwise, she wouldn't dare to bet with him. It's just that the spiritual energy inside her was all within the Dantian Qi Sea, and wouldn't come out to neutralize the alcohol's effects unless she triggered it. And unfortunately, facing a "master" like Wang Xiaoqiang, she didn't dare to cheat, so her embarrassing defeat was inevitable.

High-level cultivators could manipulate vital energy in such a way that those of a lower cultivation base couldn't sense it, so Ye Qingcheng's accusation was just a guess without evidence. But Wang Xiaoqiang didn't want to deceive her, and with a sheepish smile, he said, "Sorry, I have a flow of spiritual energy inside me at all times, out of my control, so it just cheated for me a moment ago..."

"Hmph, I knew it, you did cheat..." After sobering up and mobilizing her spiritual power to dispel the effects of the alcohol, Ye Qingcheng was nearly fully conscious. She pointed at Wang Xiaoqiang accusingly, "Tsk, to think you, an old senior, would bully a junior like me. Believe it or not, I could spread this around, and you'd be too ashamed to show your face in the Martial World..."

Wang Xiaoqiang, who didn't have much of a reputation in the Cultivation Realm nor cared about it, didn't want to bully Ye Qingcheng either. He clasped his fists with a smile, "Let's say I lost, is that okay now?"

"Hmph, that's more like it!" Ye Qingcheng's pretty eyes brightened.

"However, Sister Qingcheng, would you be willing to teach me your 'Water Dragon Technique'?" After a few drinks, Wang Xiaoqiang's true character emerged, coaxing her sweetly.

In both the secular world and the sect, many men had called her Sister Qingcheng, but these men ended up either crippled or dismissed with a cold glance. Of course, it was clear that those who were crippled had a lower cultivation base than Ye Qingcheng, while those who received the cold glances had a higher cultivation base. Wang Xiaoqiang was probably the luckiest one. Not only was his "cultivation base" higher than Ye Qingcheng's, but he also had saved her in the Thai Sinkhole. So, he didn't provoke Ye Qingcheng. On the contrary, his address of Sister Qingcheng didn't annoy her but rather swept across her heart like a sweet spring breeze.

This was something that even Ye Qingcheng herself found inexplicable. However, a girl's pride needed to be maintained, so she eventually gave Wang Xiaoqiang a sidelong glance, "Who is your sister? I'm older than you!"

"Ah, yes, I forgot that you're older than me. How about this, then—I'll call you Sister Qingcheng..."

"Tsk! Why should you call someone sister when everything is fine?"

"After I join Taiyi Sect, I'll be a stranger in a strange land, and I'll definitely need Sister Qingcheng's care. So, isn't it appropriate to call you sister?" Wang Xiaoqiang reasoned.

"Call whatever you want, I can't be bothered with you." Ye Qingcheng rolled her eyes at Wang Xiaoqiang. Clearly, she seemed to prefer being called 'little sister.' Women, after all, don't want to age, and being called 'sister' at a young age made them feel older by several years.

"Sister Qingcheng, would you be willing to teach me the 'Water Dragon Technique'?"

"Alright, once we reach the sect, I'll exchange spells with you after getting the basic cultivation techniques and spells..."

"It's a deal then!?"

"It's a deal!" Ye Qingcheng couldn't help but laugh inwardly, "This fellow, a Golden Core Stage expert, is actually so concerned about a spell meant for Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators. It's as if he hasn't seen a spell for many lifetimes, really strange!"

Little did she know, Wang Xiaoqiang had only ever come in contact with one "Daoist Qi Guiding Technique" in this lifetime. In the world of cultivation, the Daoist Qi Guiding Technique was trash; no one would even give it a second glance if it were thrown on the ground, so of course, Wang Xiaoqiang was immensely intrigued by the spell.

"Hey, Little Qiang, when do you plan to join the Taiyi Sect?" asked Ye Qingcheng.

"The sooner the better, you arrange it..."

"Let me arrange it? Then let's set off tomorrow!" Ye Qingcheng said, "Take the morning flight to Lhasa, and from there we'll use Sword Flight to the Land of Sacred Emptiness..."

"Why wait until tomorrow? How about we move out this evening..."

"This evening... I'm afraid there won't be any flights, right?"

"We'll use Sword Flight, how cool that would be!" Wang Xiaoqiang suggested with a glance at the bundle hiding the flying sword behind Ye Qingcheng.

"Pssh, you think I'm a Golden Core? Flying from the farthest east to the northwest of Chinese territory, I'd probably die from exhaustion before reaching our destination..."

"But you have me!" Wang Xiaoqiang patted his chest and said.

"Oh right, how could I forget, there's you, the Golden Core expert. Let's go, right now..." Ye Qingdi said, surprised and delighted.

Arriving at the hotel front desk, Wang Xiaoqiang settled the bill. He drove his Rolls-Royce with Ye Qingcheng all the way to a villa by the sea. There, he asked Ye Qingcheng to stay in the car while he went alone into the villa to speak to Liu Juyi, Qiao Zhi, and the others, explaining that he was heading to Tibet for some business. The women, especially Liu Juyi, were somewhat reluctant to part with him. Liu Juyi, on her first long-distance trip, had suddenly come to a big city like Hong Kong and depended on Wang Xiaoqiang for everything. Now that Wang Xiaoqiang was leaving, she couldn't help feeling a sense of emptiness. However, she did not try to stop him, instead she comforted him saying, "Go ahead without worries, we can take care of ourselves just fine..."

Wang Xiaoqiang nodded, then reminded Qiao Zhi to take good care of Liu Juyi. Qiao Zhi nodded in agreement.

She knew that Liu Juyi used to be Wang Xiaoqiang's sister-in-law, so she didn't feel jealous, but she faintly felt that Liu Juyi was a bit dependent on Wang Xiaoqiang. She thought about it, after all, a woman from the countryside, leaving her home for the first time, might naturally feel lonely, so she had always taken good care of Liu Juyi.

After giving his instructions, Wang Xiaoqiang handed the car keys to Qiao Zhi, telling her to boldly go forth and develop the market. Qiao Zhi nodded firmly and told Wang Xiaoqiang to rest assured.

Wang Xiaoqiang left the villa and called Ye Qingcheng. The two walked out of the villa compound, crossed the road in front of the villa, and headed towards the sea. After descending a few slopes, they arrived at the seaside. In the quiet night, the place was deserted except for the sound of the waves crashing against the shore.

The two stopped, looked around to make sure no one was in sight, nodded to each other, and then Ye Qingcheng took out her bundle from behind, produced the Jade Crystal Sword, performed the Hand Gesture, and the sword flew up, landing at knee height. Ye Qingcheng pulled Wang Xiaoqiang onto the sword, and both stepped onto it.

With a wave of her Hand Gesture, the Jade Crystal Sword slowly ascended, then shot off like a meteor towards the vast ocean depths.

"Wow, this is awesome!" In midst of high-speed flight, the cool night breeze and the glittering stars above brought an exhilarating feeling. Wang Xiaoqiang, experiencing such flight for the first time, couldn't help but exclaim excitedly.

"Senior, is this your first time at Sword Control? Haha..." Ye Qingcheng tightened her grip on Wang Xiaoqiang's hand, waving the Hand Gesture repeatedly to gain more speed, a feeling much more thrilling than racing cars,

"Wrong, it's the second time," Wang Xiaoqiang admitted truthfully, as he really didn't want to deceive Ye Qingcheng.

"Where was the first time?"

"The first time was in the Thai Sinkhole. I didn't expect Miss Ye to be so forgetful, ha ha..."

"Pfft, that doesn't count. That wasn't Sky Manipulation, that was falling into a pit..." Ye Qingcheng said seriously,

"Falling into a pit, haha, you make it sound so terrible,"

"Haha, it does sound bad," Suddenly, Ye Qingcheng seemed to remember something urgent and said, "Senior, you don't know the spell for Sword Control, do you?"

"I really don't,"

"Ah, you... you're just looking for trouble then. What will we do when I run out of Spiritual Power?"

"I don't know Sword Control, but I know Sky Manipulation..." Wang Xiaoqiang said. Actually, Wang Xiaoqiang didn't really know Sky Manipulation either. He simply had a Spiritual Spring — with 228 Spirit Springs, he could definitely sustain their flight. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, I welcome you to vote for it on Qidian with recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please browse m.qidian.com to read.)

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