When Chen Xu drank the third mouthful of wine, the Monkey King had actually wanted to stop him.

But Chen Xu's actions were too swift, leaving the Monkey King dumbfounded.

Perhaps the Monkey King had a moment of hesitation in his heart—

After all, bringing this Thousand Treasures Wine to Chen Xu was meant to see if he was willing to take a gamble?

Yet the Monkey King both wanted to see him gamble and feared seeing him gamble.

Was it fear of him winning or fear of him losing?

At this moment, Chen Xu indeed drank the third mouthful, prompting a light sigh from the Monkey King.

It had sighed too many times today.

In its sigh, it unconsciously leaned its upper body slightly forward.

This was an unconscious action of tension, and the Monkey King didn't even realize what it was doing when it made this move.

In its mind, like fleeting lights, many things flashed instantaneously.

In the cyan pool monkey cave, it quietly projected its primordial spirit, deciding to meet that mysterious young man from the Human Race.

None of the other monkeys knew of this, except for the Monkey King's most trusted Curltail, who was astonished and anxiously advised:

"My King, projecting your primordial spirit is absolutely unacceptable. If you're truly curious about that young man, I... at worst, could invite him over!"

But the Monkey King said, "The Black Monkey Tribe is constantly watching us. While a few little monkeys traveling is fine, if you were to bring in an outsider, I fear Black Sky Split would do something unpredictable."

Black Sky Split was the name the Black Monkey King chose for himself.

Such an arrogant title could only be dared by the young and fierce Black Monkey King.

The Gray Monkey King also said to Curltail, "That person easily crushed Black Wind Roar and moreover gifted Spirit Fruit to two little monkeys. His words and deeds are disciplined, worthy of my personal meeting."

It took the Thousand Treasures Wine in its pouch, and seeing this, Curltail couldn't help but advise again:

"My King, this... this is the Thousand Treasures Wine, and there's less than one pound left in the Hundred Fruit Cave!"

The Gray Monkey King said, "It's enough, three taels will do. We'll save three taels more, and you and I will share it."

Curltail could only smile bitterly, "My King, I'm afraid to drink this Thousand Treasures Wine.

My King, you carry this precious gift to see that human master; are you asking for his assistance to eradicate the Black Monkey Forest?"

Saying this, Curltail hesitated again:

"But if that human master truly drinks the Thousand Treasures Wine and instead harms himself, or even, even explodes... what would we do then?"

"Curltail, you still don't understand, there's a difference between humans and demons." The Gray Monkey King shook its head and said, "The enmity between us and the Black Monkey Tribe can only be settled internally, not outside of our tribe.

No matter who wins or loses, it's our monkey tribe's internal matter. Life and death are fate, victory and defeat belong to the heavens, that's all.

But if a human master gets involved directly, then the situation becomes vastly different.

I'm going to meet that person not for assistance in fighting."

"If not for assistance, then for what?" Curltail asked cautiously, heart pounding.

But the Monkey King remained silent, stepping out of the monkey cave and floating gracefully across the cyan pool.

The other monkeys gathered by the pool's edge, yet none could see its phantom primordial spirit figure with the naked eye.

It moved silently for a long way until it passed through the dense forest on the eastern side of Cloud Cliff Peak before transforming from a phantom into a solid form.

It met Chen Xu under the moon, gifting him the Thousand Treasures Wine.

This was a top-grade spirit wine too precious for Curltail to drink, and a coveted treasure eagerly eyed by Black Sky Split.

Moreover, it was something the Gray Monkey King itself cherished with the utmost caution, never daring to drink a third mouthful.

Yet Chen Xu, before it, drank the third mouthful without hesitation.

At this moment, a myriad of thoughts flooded the Gray Monkey King's mind, and it even forgot to continue mimicking breathing.

Its chest stopped rising and falling, its form in the moonlight suddenly became ethereal, closely watching the young man before it to observe any changes in his aura.

But at some point, the overwhelming aura like the surging sea of stars suddenly seemed to plunge into a still abyss—

For an instant, it was as if the person opposite wasn't there.

Clearly, he sat cross-legged right there, his shadow stretching long in the moonlight.

Yet his entire form seemed to become a void vortex.

At this moment, the moonlight from the sky, the breezes between the mountains... and even the spiritual energy wandering in the night were all absorbed into that seemingly bottomless vortex.

Finally, in the instant when the Monkey King was filled with dread and doubt, everything anomalous burst forth in a flash.

Like the first bloom of a nebula, the Milky Way cascading down, chaos birthing life.

The Monkey King nearly exclaimed in shock.

It even felt that the being sitting before it wasn't human but an eye-piercing, bizarre light cluster—

The Monkey King nearly got blinded by the brilliance.

It almost couldn't resist closing its eyes, but at the climax of all conflicting emotions, all phenomena before it disappeared entirely.

The Monkey King only heard the pounding of its primordial spirit's heart, "thump thump thump."

The primordial spirit has no heart, so perhaps it wasn't a real heart pounding but the "illusion" of the Monkey King or perhaps the aging heart in the physical body back in the cyan pool monkey cave miles away—

The sound of the physical body's heartbeat, miles away, was transmitted into the primordial spirit's ears at that moment.

The young human across him opened his eyes, his gaze deep, calmly looking at the Monkey King sitting opposite him.

So, even though the world seemed turned upside down before the Monkey King's eyes, he calmly drank three mouthfuls of Thousand Treasures Wine as if untainted by worldly fire and smoke.

He succeeded!

No agonizing struggles, no bursting body and dying.

Even, at the moment he opened his eyes, the young man's aura seemed even more serene in the Monkey King's perception.

His breathing faint, at first glance, seemed like an ordinary young mortal!

The Monkey King was speechless, almost losing its voice.

Until the Little Mouse Ah Shi standing on Chen Xu's shoulder suddenly let out a long sigh, exclaiming joyfully, "Scholar, you're okay!"

Chen Xu sat cross-legged, remaining still.

He merely showed a slight smile on his face and said, "Luckily, I'm fine. The Thousand Treasures Wine indeed deserves to be the treasured wine of the monkey tribe, truly tastes quite good."

Is it just the taste that's good?

The Monkey King finally found its voice again, looking at Chen Xu, spitting out a word: "You..."

With a smile, Chen Xu said, "Monkey King, the Thousand Treasures Wine deserves to be a top-grade spirit wine in the world. But I also have a spirit wine here, which, although not possessing longevity-extending effects, has the ability to offer enlightenment.

I wonder if the Monkey King would like to taste it?"

As he spoke, with a sweep of his sleeve, he removed the Intoxicated Spirit Wine and the cups from the small table before him.

A delicate wine pot and two jade cups appeared on the table.

[Jade Liquid Heart-Clarifying Wine can test the Dao Heart. But if one cannot achieve enlightenment, drinking this wine may instead provoke the Heart Demon.]

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