Chapter 3229: Eight-Treasure Glazed Nectar

Dozens of Wang family cultivators, including Wang Rumian, Wang Shenfeng, and Wang Guangming, stood on the deck of a large blue ship. The Trading Hall's elder was purchasing a significant quantity of spirit wood from the Zhou family, prompting Wang Rumian to personally oversee the transaction.

Wang Shenfeng and Wang Guangming, who currently work for the Trading Hall and are responsible for escorting goods, received an order from Wang Rumian: "Shenfeng, Guangming, deal with these demonic beasts as quickly as possible."

Wang Shenfeng and Wang Guangming acknowledged the order, leaped from the large blue ship, and immediately activated their Dharma Idols.

They had performed well in the previous racial conflict and received a reward. Wang Shenfeng's parents, who had stopped at the Nascent Soul stage, left him a substantial amount of merit points, which helped him condense his Dharma Idol to two-tenths. In contrast, Wang Guangming's Dharma Idol was only condensed to one-tenth.

Activating his magic art, Wang Shenfeng's human-shaped phantom projected a purple light directly at the Fire Owl. The Fire Owl, however, reacted swiftly, disappearing with a gentle flap of its wings. The purple light then struck a fifth-rank Earth-Rending Rhino, which emitted a wretched cry as its body rapidly dissolved into a pool of blood.

Wang Shenfeng then conjured a small, golden-red mirror, the Qianfire Mirror. A small piece of Qianlei Crystal had been refined into this artifact, making it an incredibly powerful, albeit low-grade, Heaven-reaching Spirit Treasure.

With a flash of red light, a thick golden-red thunder-fire shot out, plunging into the horde of beasts and reducing countless low-rank demonic beasts to a rain of blood.

Meanwhile, Wang Guangming activated his Dharma Idol, unleashing a vast expanse of sharp sword energy that eliminated a group of low-rank demonic beasts. Simultaneously, he summoned five shimmering blue flying swords and activated a sword art.

The five blue flying swords immediately surged with spiritual light, transforming through magical power into five blue flood dragons, each over ten zhang in length.

The five blue flood dragons then plunged into the beast horde, turning every low-rank demonic beast they encountered into a bloody mist, their very souls unable to escape.

Realizing the dire situation, the Fire Owl and Ice Wind Lion transformed into two streaks of light and fled.

The Fire Owl had not gone far when a thick golden-red thunder-fire shot towards it. With a powerful flap of its wings, the Fire Owl narrowly dodged the fiery blast.

The golden-red thunder-fire then struck the ground with a mighty explosion, creating a massive, charred crater hundreds of zhang in diameter.

A purple light then struck the Fire Owl, eliciting a shrill cry from the creature, followed by another golden-red thunder-fire streaking towards it.

The Fire Owl continued to evade the golden-red thunder-fire, but its speed gradually diminished. Seizing the opportunity, Wang Shenfeng conjured a purple gourd, which emitted a stream of purple light, instantly capturing the Fire Owl and refining it into a puddle of blood.

The Ice Wind Lion, having not fled far, was swiftly overtaken by the five blue flood dragons and torn to shreds.

With both sixth-rank demonic beasts slain, the remaining creatures broke ranks and fled without a fight. Wang Guangming and Wang Shenfeng did not pursue them.

Zhou Guangjian flew out of the market city and expressed his gratitude: "Thank you for your assistance, Fellow Daoist Wang. We would have been in serious trouble otherwise."

"It was merely a small effort, Fellow Daoist Zhou," Wang Rumian said with a smile. "Now, let's discuss our business."

Zhou Guangjian promptly invited them into the market city and dispatched personnel to clear the battlefield.

Upon arriving at a sprawling manor, Zhou Guangjian and Wang Rumian settled into a blue stone pavilion, where they sipped tea and engaged in casual conversation.

"Madam Wang, these are the items your Wang family requested," Zhou Guangjian said, presenting two blue storage rings to Wang Rumian.

Wang Rumian meticulously counted the contents, and upon confirmation, she nodded and handed a golden storage ring to Zhou Guangjian.

"Madam Wang," Zhou Guangjian began, his face full of anticipation, "our Zhou family has long admired yours. We would like to propose a marriage alliance, and perhaps this batch of goods could serve as a dowry?"

Zhou Guangjian’s face was filled with anticipation, as he knew forming a marriage alliance with the Wang family was far from simple. It wasn't merely a matter of a Zhou family member marrying a Wang family member; the union had to be officially recognized by the Wang family's senior echelons, otherwise, the Wang family would be burdened with innumerable in-laws.

A female cultivator from a Nascent Soul family marrying into the Wang family would be considered marrying up, not a true marriage alliance.

"A marriage alliance?" Wang Rumian shook her head, a slight smile playing on her lips. "Fellow Daoist Zhou, we are here to discuss business, not a marriage alliance." She found the suggestion amusing; countless cultivation families desired an alliance with the Wang family, and the Zhou family, having had little prior interaction, was making an overly bold proposal.

She then retrieved a blue communication disk, cast a magic art into it, and her brows furrowed.

"Fellow Daoist Zhou, how audacious of you!" Wang Rumian said, her expression darkening. "You've been impersonating our Wang family's in-laws? The deed isn't even done, and you've already spread the news publicly!"

Zhou Guangjian had unilaterally declared to the outside world that the Zhou family was forming a marriage alliance with the Wang family. This unilateral announcement meant that if the Zhou family were to provoke any powerful enemies, the Wang family would inevitably be dragged into their conflicts.

"Madam Wang, I was compelled to do so," Zhou Guangjian explained. "This old man is sincere. I offer you the recipe for the seventh-rank spirit wine, the Eight Treasures Glazed Brew. This wine is known to significantly enhance a cultivator's resistance to lightning tribulations, and our ancestor acquired it from an alien race on the Xuanguang Continent."

He then produced a blue jade slip and presented it to Wang Rumian.

"The Eight Treasures Glazed Brew!" Wang Rumian's expression showed keen interest. A seventh-rank wine recipe was exceedingly rare, and spirit wines effective in resisting lightning tribulations were even scarcer.

After a quick scan with her divine sense, she frowned and inquired, "Have you ever brewed the Eight Treasures Glazed Brew yourselves?" She distinctly recalled the Drunken Immortal Sect in the Azure Glaze Sea Domain, whose founding patriarch had created a seventh-rank spirit wine called Nine Nirvana Jade Dew, which similarly enhanced a cultivator's resistance to lightning tribulations. The Eight Treasures Glazed Brew seemed to possess a strikingly similar effect.

"No, we haven't," Zhou Guangjian affirmed, thumping his chest. "I swear on my inner demons that I am not deceiving you in the slightest."

While Zhou Guangjian was not lying, it didn't necessarily mean the wine recipe was authentic; it was possible his ancestor had acquired a counterfeit one.

"Wine recipes, much like pill recipes, are notoriously difficult to verify for authenticity," Wang Rumian stated, a troubled expression on her face.

"What if we add a piece of Ice Soul Divine Soil?" Zhou Guangjian pressed, his voice gaining urgency and his face still filled with hope.

Ice Soul Divine Soil is revered as one of the ten great divine soils. It is indispensable for cultivating certain exceptionally rare ice-attributed spirit herbs that simply cannot be grown in ordinary spiritual soil.

To avert his family's crisis, Zhou Guangjian was willing to offer even the most precious Ice Soul Divine Soil. If the Zhou family were to perish, these treasures would inevitably fall into enemy hands.

"Very well," Wang Rumian finally agreed. "Bring the Ice Soul Divine Soil and your proposed marriage candidate, and return with me to Azure Lotus Island."

For the Wang family, securing the Eight Treasures Glazed Brew recipe and a piece of Ice Soul Divine Soil through an alliance with the Zhou family made it an exceptionally worthwhile transaction.

Zhou Guangjian, profusely grateful, readily agreed.

"Fellow Daoist Zhou," Wang Rumian asked out of curiosity, "has your ancestor ever been to the Xuanguang Continent?"

"Yes, he did," Zhou Guangjian sighed. "He returned not long before he perished under the Great Heavenly Tribulation. Our Zhou family ancestor had cultivated to the mid-Integration stage but was stuck at a bottleneck. He allied with other Integration cultivators to cross the seas and finally reached the Xuanguang Continent. There, while vying for treasures, he engaged in combat with an alien Integration cultivator and sustained severe injuries, losing all his defensive artifacts. Upon returning to the Xuanling Continent, he died during his fourth Great Heavenly Tribulation."

Without high-grade defensive artifacts and suffering from severe injuries, even the fourth Great Heavenly Tribulation posed an immense danger.

Both the Eight Treasures Glazed Brew recipe and the Ice Soul Divine Soil were brought back by the Zhou family ancestor from the Xuanguang Continent.

After their ancestor's demise, the Zhou family experienced a period of fluctuating fortunes and never again managed to produce an Integration stage cultivator.