Chapter 395: Section 182: Ptooey Ptooey Ptooey
Having investigated the situation, Sanda and Cang Xu quickly left their hiding place and headed to the target tavern.
But as they neared the destination, they couldn’t get any closer.
The street where the tavern was located was heavily guarded by numerous guards.
Among these guards, there were those from the Yellow Sand Giant race, as well as giants from the City Guard of Fire City. There were several Golden Level leaders.
Whether it was Sha Ji or sand thorn, both held high authority within the giant race.
Sanda, with his head down, tried to blend into a corner of the street but was immediately spotted. A giant guard barked angrily, “Get lost, you green stinker!”
Sanda pretended to be terrified and fled in haste.
After this attempt, Cang Xu and Sanda immediately realized that not only were there numerous guards near the tavern, but tight magic surveillance was in place at all times.
They wanted to disrupt the meeting between the two at all costs, but they couldn’t even enter the tavern.
Sanda’s face turned ashen, “The strength gap between us and them is too big.”
Cang Xu, however, narrowed his eyes and whispered, “I could try using a ghost to sneak in.”
“You only brought one portion of the material, right?” Sanda asked, puzzled, but a glimmer of hope resurfaced on his face.
Cang Xu sighed, “To be precise, that’s the only portion we had in our inventory, and we’ve just used it.”
For a spell fluctuation capable of countering the surveillance in Fire City, and that even amateurs like Cang Xu and Zi Di could set up, naturally, there was a tremendous price to pay elsewhere.
This price involved some very rare alchemy materials.
Even in Fire City, these were exceedingly rare.
Zi Di had never even tried to collect them because the costs were too high.
But Cang Xu continued, “The alchemy array has not been dismantled yet; we should be relieved that the tavern is within a thousand meters of the array.”
“My ghosts can float farther, but this distance is the limit if I need to control them for precise surveillance.”
Sanda was overjoyed upon hearing this.
The two hurried back, and the Undead Mage cast his spell again.
Three ghosts set out and successfully bypassed the guards and the entire tight surveillance set, finally entering the tavern.
There were several Golden Level giant guards at the entrance of the tavern, guarding it loyally. Inside the tavern, there were only the two parties involved.
It was indeed Sha Ji and sand thorn.
Sha Ji, his skin yellow, still sported dirty braids. Yet, he’d clearly dressed up today, wearing ornate clothing, with half leather armor on his upper body, revealing his thick, muscular arms. On his left arm, he wore a gold-trimmed jade armband.
As for sand thorn, like the City Lord of Fire City, she too had red skin, her hair carelessly parted, with two helical small horns on her head. She seemed to have tattoos, with her exposed skin showing straight black lines laid alternatively across. The lines formed rectangles piled upon one another, like bricks.
Cang Xu, through his ghost, observed the two.
Though his alchemy talent was extremely lacking, his insights were impressive.
He immediately noticed that the brick-like tattoos on sand thorn were extraordinary, containing powerful alchemical secrets.
Sha Ji and sand thorn had apparently been chatting for a short while.
Sha Ji was smiling, but sand thorn was leaning back, arms crossed, looking out the window.
She had chosen a good seat, through the window, she could overlook the main city gate from afar, an excellent view.
After a while, seeing sand thorn was distracted, Sha Ji, with a casual tone, said, “By the way, I’ve brought you some small gifts for our meeting.”
“Someone come.” Sha Ji called towards the tavern’s entrance.
Then, the door of the tavern opened, and a Yellow Sand Giant guard came in holding a pile of Treasure Boxes.
Of course, for safety, two Golden Level Commanders from Fire City’s City Guard also immediately followed inside.
“Beautiful and captivating Miss sand thorn, let us play a simple game,”
Sha Ji pointed to these treasure boxes.
“Inside these boxes, there are different treasures.”
“Please choose any three.”
“Whatever you choose will be my gifts to meet you.”
Upon hearing this, sand thorn finally moved her gaze from the window back to Sha Ji.
Sha Ji, as the next successor of the Yellow Sand Giant, took this marriage alliance very seriously and put much thought into pleasing sand thorn.
“Oh? Three gifts, it seems like it’s a custom from your side related to a legendary story,” Zi Di said.
“That’s right, it’s the story of the Divine King’s three treasures. So, just like in the story, there’s a grand prize here that’s worth much more than the other treasures.”
Sha Ji laughed heartily, then continued, “I can reveal a little bit more.”
“This is a treasure of the Holy Domain level.”
“It’s extremely helpful in the field of alchemy!”
Zi Di couldn’t help but raise her eyebrows, “That’s interesting. Then… I’ll choose this one.”
She casually pointed and picked the top one from a pile of treasure boxes.
When the treasure box was opened, inside was a bottle of wine.
“Lucky Miss Zi Di, this is a Holy Domain level fine wine, perfect for your use,” Sha Ji said as he took the wine jar out of the treasure box and opened the stopper.
Instantly, Zi Di smelled an aroma similar to flowers, but much richer than any floral scent.
Through the bottle’s opening, she saw that the liquid inside was orange-red and exuded a dragon’s aura.
“This is Dragon Blood Sand Thorn Wine, a specialty of my clan,” Sha Ji indicated with his eyes, and immediately someone brought over wine cups.
While pouring the wine, Sha Ji continued, “To brew this magic potion wine, two main alchemy materials are necessary.”
“One is the sand thorn, a type of shrub that grows in the desert. Only short bushes are visible above the sand, but beneath the sand, there is an extremely lush, ancient wood-like complex root system.”
“With our Yellow Sand clan’s generations of careful cultivation, we now have three Holy Domain level sand thorns and twenty-six Golden Level sand thorns.”
“Besides the sand thorn, there’s another main material. I’m sure Miss Zi Di has already guessed it.”
Zi Di nodded slightly, “Smelling this aroma, I knew one of the main materials must be dragon blood.”
At this moment, Sha Ji had already filled a cup. After setting down the wine bottle, he applauded gently, his face full of sincere admiration, “Truly worthy of Miss Zi Di, your mastery in alchemy is so profound. It’s also my fortune to catch a glimpse of the strength of a Noble Clan Leader like you. What an honor.”
“Please,” Sha Ji gestured with his hand.
Zi Di picked up the wine cup, first sniffed it, then dipped her finger into the wine, withdrew it, and rubbed her stout fingers together.
During this process, she emitted waves of mana, and her hands glowed brilliantly with colorful lights from within.
The light penetrated the wine, which quickly evaporated, filling the air with a foul odor like manure.
Sha Ji’s smile momentarily froze.
Then, Zi Di suddenly stuck out her tongue.
Her tongue, clearly modified by alchemy, extended about 20 centimeters, reaching up to the mouth of the cup, dipped into the wine, and then scooped up a spoonful.
Then her tongue retracted and Zi Di closed her large mouth.
Bang bang, gurgle gurgle, sizzle…
A series of strange noises came from her mouth, starting like small explosions, then resembling the sound of boiling water, and finally like the rush of air through a tiny hole.
Finally, Zi Di opened her mouth wide, and her tongue once again stretched out.
But the surface of her tongue had turned black, as if it had just been scorched by fire.
The previous wine had hardened into a layer of black powder, resembling charcoal dust.
“Ptui ptui ptui.” Zi Di continuously spit, ejecting all the black carbon powder.
The black carbon powder scattered on the ground, some even landing on Sha Ji’s feet.
“Indeed, good wine.” After cleaning up, Zi Di stretched out her large palm, rudely wiped her mouth, and said to Sha Ji with a smile.
Sha Ji also smiled, but his expression was much more stiff than before.
Zi Di continued, “This wine can boost Fire Element Fighting Energy, and if diluted, it can even help young giants replenish their body’s nutrients.”
“Many giants grow up stunted and weak due to a lack of nutrients during their growth period, feeling inferior for a lifetime.”
“Huh?”
“You don’t seem taller than me either.”
Zi Di seemed to just realize this issue.
Sha Ji: …