Chapter 62: The Spirit of Wine

“Sister, I’m over here.” Ji Jiuxuan called out toward the direction of the voice, but Meng Jiao seemed not to hear her at all.

The cellar was spacious, but not so vast that voices could be completely lost. Moreover, her senior sister’s voice didn’t sound far at all—so why was it like this?

The white mist sprite chuckled softly, its voice light and airy. “She can’t hear you.”

Ji Jiuxuan looked at the mist sprite, full of certainty. “Is this your doing?”

She had been able to see the formations causing illusions before, but here there was not a single visible array, only all-encompassing fog.

“System, do you know what this is?” The surrounding mist carried an intense spiritual energy, tinged with a faint aroma of wine. The scent made Ji Jiuxuan dizzy.

Her cultivation technique began to circulate faster, and the speed at which spiritual energy condensed in her core was unprecedented.

“It’s me. I like you. Stay here and keep me company,” the mist sprite’s voice was seductive. “Here, your power can grow without limit. When you leave, you’ll be unmatched—a true powerhouse.”

The temptation in its words was strong, and the intoxicating fog nearly drew her in.

“Staying here will only increase my spiritual energy, not my actual strength. How could I be invincible?”

The mist sprite was briefly surprised, but then delighted. “Strength will be no problem, just watch.”

With that, the sprite transformed into a slender misty figure. Suddenly, a long sword appeared in its hand, and it leapt gracefully. Its swordplay was ethereal, as if barely tangible, yet the power behind it was unmistakable.

Wind followed the movements of the sword, swirling the spiritual energy around, and within the gentle breeze was a sharp, murderous intent.

Ji Jiuxuan watched without blinking, completely captivated by the sword technique. She had seen many techniques since starting her cultivation, even high-level ones, but none had ever resonated with her as deeply as this.

Standing there, she sensed the lingering waves of spiritual energy, then closed her eyes. The entire sword technique replayed in her mind, becoming clearer and clearer.

“How about it? I know many techniques like this. If you stay, I’ll teach you all of them. You’ll become a peerless master.”

The mist sprite didn’t realize that after demonstrating the sword technique only once, Ji Jiuxuan had already memorized it perfectly, with the details growing ever sharper in her mind.

As the swordplay surfaced in her mind, Ji Jiuxuan faintly noticed a yin-yang fish array forming in her core. She wanted to study it closer, but the sprite’s voice drew her back to reality.

“How do I know you don’t just know this one technique, and you’re trying to trick me into staying?” This place felt strange to her.

Staying was out of the question.

---

The mist sprite flashed with an odd expression, thinking it had hidden its intentions well, but Ji Jiuxuan had observed everything.

“I know much more. If you’re willing to stay, I’ll teach you everything.”

Her senior sister’s voice became more urgent, and Ji Jiuxuan could sense her worry.

She tried to contact her sister using a communication jade, but it was completely unresponsive, clearly blocked.

“System, what is this thing?”

This was the end of the wine trial—there should only be wine here, nothing else.

But what kind of wine could create a sentient being like the mist sprite?

“A wine spirit.”

What luck she had, to encounter such a thing!

“System, are you sure it’s a wine spirit?”

If one practiced the Dao of Wine, meeting a wine spirit would be a chance to advance a realm and improve one’s aptitude—a rare opportunity.

Usually, wine would give birth to a wine sprite.

“Yes, but it’s useless to you,” the system replied. Its host was not suited for the wine path, but the encounter wasn’t wasted. “If you memorized that sword technique, it’s yours to use.”

Its level was no less than the Flame Sword Technique.

Ji Jiuxuan was not discouraged, but spoke happily: “You must have some way to subdue it and take it out, right?”

She herself didn’t need it, but her sister did!

“Sorry, such things can only be obtained on the spot. If your sister searched for you so long but couldn’t get in, it means she has no fate with this wine spirit.”

She had hoped the system knew another way, but had to let it go. “Since I don’t need the wine spirit, how do I leave?”

The formations here were profound. She could see them, but not break them.

“Close your eyes and follow my voice.”

She glanced at the mist sprite still waiting for her answer, then closed her eyes, clearing her mind, and walked in the direction guided by the system.

“Hey! Hey! Where are you going? I told you I’d teach you so much! Why are you leaving?”

“Why are you leaving? It’s so rare for someone to come here.”

“I’m really so bored!”

---

The mist sprite’s voice drifted farther and farther away, its pitiful pleas almost made Ji Jiuxuan want to turn back and take it with her, but she resisted.

She didn’t know how long she walked; the spiritual energy around grew denser, and the wine aroma stronger.

“Hic!” A drunken hiccup echoed through the space, reverberating off the walls.

It was at this moment that Meng Jiao saw her.

Seeing Ji Jiuxuan’s flushed cheeks and hazy eyes, Meng Jiao’s heart sank. Oh no! Their master would kill her! The little junior sister was far too young for wine, and now she was thoroughly drunk, even walking unsteadily.

Ji Jiuxuan smiled at her sister and, trying to steady herself, hugged Meng Jiao’s leg. “Sister, why are you swaying so much?”

The moment she said this, Meng Jiao knew she couldn’t escape a beating.

She picked Ji Jiuxuan up. “Let’s get you out of here.”

Normally, Ji Jiuxuan was obedient and gentle, but now she was clearly not herself. With her hand over her mouth, she whispered, “Shh! Sister, aren’t we here to steal Uncle’s cellar? Let’s start moving things! I’ll stand guard for you.”

With those words, she promptly fell asleep, leaving Meng Jiao in tragedy, staring at Nie Xingyuan who suddenly appeared before her.

She wished she could dig a hole and disappear.

Guiltily, she looked at Nie Xingyuan. “Master, you’re here! Why?”

Regret made her vow inwardly never to let her little junior sister touch wine again. This girl, so proper in daily life, turned wild after drinking.

“Did you coax your junior sister into helping you raid the cellar?” He was still puzzled how his disciple had broached the topic of the cellar with Xiao Jiu, who then insisted on coming to see it.

Thankfully, he hadn’t trusted Meng Jiao’s reliability and decided to check in—good thing, too, or he might have exploded in anger at what he found.

“And why did you let her drink?”

Meng Jiao, already bowing her head, buried it even lower.

She had no idea she was being wrongly blamed. Ji Jiuxuan had simply gotten drunk from leaving the wine spirit’s domain and inhaling the intoxicating wine mist.

One must know, for a wine spirit to form, the wine must be tens of thousands of years old. Its potency was such that a single drop would send someone like Ji Jiuxuan, who’d never tasted wine, into a deep slumber, uncertain when she’d wake.

Let alone having inhaled so much—it was truly worrying.

Nie Xingyuan placed his hand on Ji Jiuxuan’s wrist, checking her condition, and said to Meng Jiao, “After today, accept your punishment.”