Chapter 1516: The Layout of the Grand Wine Festival

The Grand Libationer, holding a whisk, emerged from the Heartless Abode. He said with a smile, "The wine isn't finished yet. Why the rush?"

The red-faced old man grumbled impatiently, "If I don't leave now, will you keep me in Taicang Great State to be exploited like a beast of burden?" Without waiting for the Grand Libationer to pursue him, he soared onto the small teleportation island that led to Divine Weapon State.

Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly sensed something, stopped, and looked around. When he noticed the ten-foot-tall Evil Sword floating behind Jiang Fan, he was startled. He immediately teleported over and asked with surprise and doubt, "This couldn't have been forged from that meteor, could it?"

Jiang Fan had a hunch about the red-faced old man's identity. He quickly bowed and replied, "Senior, this was forged by a senior from Divine Weapon State."

The red-faced old man bristled with anger and cursed, "A bunch of scoundrels squandering their ancestors' legacy without a shred of pity! While I was away, you've wasted all the good things in Divine Weapon State, haven't you?"

"Wait!" He suddenly found the voice somewhat familiar. He looked down at Jiang Fan's face, and his eyes widened again. "It's you, you little rascal?" He hadn't forgotten how Jiang Fan had scammed him, selling him a single Yin-Qi carrot for a hundred times its price!

Jiang Fan gave an awkward smile. "If fate decrees, we were bound to meet again. It's a pleasure to meet you, senior."

The red-faced old man grumbled, "Who wants to be fated to meet *you*? Your Taicang Great State doesn't have a single good person! One little trickster, one old trickster – the losses I've suffered in my entire life aren't as much as what you two combined have caused! I'm leaving! You two had better die on the battlefield; I never want to see you again!"

After speaking, he no longer dwelled on the matter of the Evil Sword. As if fearing Jiang Fan would scam him again, he flashed away. As a massive spatial beam of light shot skyward, he completely left Taicang Great State.

Jiang Fan looked speechless. "I just got yelled at for no reason. If it weren't for him being so old, I would have collapsed on the ground."

The people around him subtly twitched their lips. Only Jiang Fan dared to say such a thing. That red-faced old man was clearly one of the supreme experts of Divine Weapon State. He could stand shoulder to shoulder with the Grand Libationer, and yet had no divine halo behind his head. Most likely, he was a Sage!

"What a pity," the Grand Libationer sighed with regret. "I wanted to keep him in Taicang Great State to help us deal with the Ancient Giants." He then looked around and said, "The state-level teleportation arrays will be closed before sunset. Please be aware of this."

Jiang Fan suddenly realized why the red-faced old man had been in such a hurry to leave. He then remembered that the Grand Libationer had once said that after the Ancient Giants descended, to prevent fallen states from becoming a springboard for them, all state-level teleportation arrays across the Nine States would be closed once the great war began. But then a thought occurred to him: If that was the case, how would the various states exchange information?

As he pondered, the Grand Libationer smiled and looked at Jiang Fan, his gaze falling on the Evil Sword behind him. "Fortunately, he didn't notice the extraordinary nature of your artifact spirit. Otherwise, today I would have had to shamelessly ask you for this Evil Sword back. He originally intended to forge this sword into a quasi-world artifact."

Jiang Fan secretly clicked his tongue in amazement. Forge a quasi-world artifact directly? There was no need to guess the red-faced old man's strength; he was definitely in the Sage realm. It was highly likely that, like Sage Ci Xin, due to physical ailments or other reasons, he was unable to go to the battlefield where Sage Tian Mu had gone, and thus remained in the Central Plains. Thinking that he had once scammed him, Jiang Fan felt extremely uneasy.

He cleared his throat and changed the subject. "Grand Libationer, let's move the Sky-Connecting Black Pillar now." Green Pearl was still in the Celestial Realm, waiting for the Sky-Connecting Black Pillar to move before she dared to return. They really couldn't delay any longer.

The Grand Libationer nodded slightly and said, "I'll make some arrangements first." He looked around at the crowd and said, "All of you, take the teleportation array and proceed to the central hinterland of Taicang Great State. Gather outside the Forbidden Land of Misfortune. Additionally, those below the Nascent Soul Middle Stage should first go to Commander Bai Xin and Commander Six Paths to collect a piece of equipment each."

As his voice fell, Commander Bai Xin and Daoist Six Paths descended from above. Each of them held a large spatial storage artifact. Bai Xin waved her hand, and pieces of equipment extremely familiar to Jiang Fan appeared before their eyes. Some were gigantic ballistas, some were cannons, and others were chariots equipped with sharp blades.

Jiang Fan had seen all of these before in the secret space of the Great Wall in Boundary Mountain. A thousand years ago, they were powerful weapons used by humanity against the Ancient Giants. Unfortunately, the equipment in those spaces had been ravaged by time and would turn to dust upon leaving the space. Jiang Fan had always wondered why, with Taicang Great State preparing for the Ancient Giants, those pieces of equipment hadn't reappeared. It turned out that the Grand Libationer had invited a Sage-realm artifact forging master, who had forged equipment for Taicang Great State for a full sixty years!

The Grand Libationer had begun planning for today as far back as sixty years ago. He seemed to have done nothing, but in reality, he was meticulously strategizing and controlling the overall situation. Jiang Fan's confidence suddenly doubled. These large pieces of equipment all had immense destructive power against the Ancient Giants. If each of the more than 1,500 Nascent Soul Early Stage cultivators had one, it could somewhat bridge the power gap with the Ancient Giants. If there were no army from the Central Tribe, their chances of winning this battle would be very high.

He was somewhat anticipating the Grand Libationer's arrangements for the Sky-Connecting Black Pillar. Could it be that forbidden land was another powerful weapon against the Ancient Giants?

Once the Grand Libationer finished his arrangements, he said to Jiang Fan, "Let the two of us go first." Others could go directly to the forbidden land, but they needed to go to the Sky-Connecting Black Pillar first and move it towards the forbidden land.

So, Jiang Fan bid farewell to the Heavenly Secret Pavilion members and teleported with the Grand Libationer to White Horse Temple. Afterward, they arrived at the northwestern part of White Horse Temple. The Sky-Connecting Black Pillar was still there. Last time, the various tribes had descended using it. Thinking of this, Jiang Fan asked, "Grand Libationer, have the Asura tribes in the Celestial Realm been properly settled?" He had promised the various tribes that he would properly settle their people.

The Grand Libationer said, "They've been settled on an island in a vast sea. Ten Asura powerhouses at the late Nascent Soul stage were left with them. Unless Taicang Great State falls, they will be very safe."

Only then did Jiang Fan feel relieved. Immediately, without another word, he picked up the Sky-Connecting Black Pillar, and then, led by the Grand Libationer, rapidly moved towards the hinterland of Taicang Great State.

Meanwhile, in the Celestial Realm, beside the Sky-Connecting Black Pillar, Green Pearl, who was sitting cross-legged, sensed the Sky-Connecting Black Pillar moving and slowly opened her eyes. She sighed and said, "Little trickster, you've finally moved the Sky-Connecting Black Pillar. I've been gone for so long without returning; I'm afraid the Five-Star Giant King has long suspected me. With his ability to foresee the future, he has probably already figured out my whereabouts. You're going to get me killed!"

She looked distressed, hesitating whether to return. If she returned hoping for a stroke of luck, she feared the Five-Star Giant King would expose her on the spot, and the consequences would be unpredictable. But if she didn't return, she still had a wisp of her soul in the Five-Star Giant King's hands. He could still kill her.