Inside the Heart of the Tree Hall, Yi Quan invited Yang Kai to take a seat.
With the other party being so hospitable, Yang Kai didn't stand on ceremony. Although there was a vast gap in their cultivation, it was immediately obvious that Yi Quan was the type of person who didn't fuss over trifles, so there was no need to stand on ceremony.
Then, as if performing a magic trick, Yi Quan produced a jar of wine, two cups, and poured one for himself and Yang Kai each.
"So this is the Monkey God Wine you mentioned earlier, Senior?" Yang Kai's eyes lit up. He took a deep breath and was immediately greeted by a wondrous fragrance. The wine aroma that permeated the surroundings seemed to have a profound effect on the soul as well. As the scent entered his body, he felt incomparably comfortable.
"Indeed!" Yi Quan smiled faintly, then lifted his cup and took a light sip. With a proud air, he said, "What we produce here is entirely different from what you have on the outside, but it has its own unique character. This Monkey God Wine was painstakingly brewed by the Spirit Monkey Clan of Celestial Demon Mountain over an enormous investment of time and effort. It is immensely beneficial to the soul."
"Your cup isn't full, Senior…" Yang Kai glanced at Yi Quan a bit sheepishly and pointed at the cup before him.
When Yi Quan had poured the wine, he had only filled Yang Kai's cup halfway.
"Ha ha!" Yi Quan laughed heartily at Yang Kai. "Drink that half cup first, and if you can still handle more, I certainly won't be stingy."
Hearing this, Yang Kai immediately understood that this Monkey God Wine was likely quite potent — not something an ordinary warrior could handle. In Yi Quan's estimation, with Yang Kai's mere Third Stage Dao Source Realm cultivation, half a cup was probably his limit.
At that thought, Yang Kai said nothing further. He picked up the cup before him and began to drink slowly.
The spirit wine entered his mouth as sweet as nectar, but as he swallowed, it felt like a blast of ice. A frigid sensation surged from his throat straight to the top of his head, jolting his spirits. Once the wine reached his belly, however, it brought a scorching heat that circulated through every limb and bone.
Shifting between extremes, its potency was relentless.
Yang Kai let out a soft grunt and carefully observed the changes within himself.
He discovered that the minor damage his spiritual soul form had sustained during the earlier battle with Ban Qing was beginning to repair itself at a speed visible to the naked eye.
This discovery sent a jolt of excitement through Yang Kai. Without further hesitation, he began drinking in large gulps.
"Slow down!" Yi Quan quickly called out in a low voice when he saw this, afraid that Yang Kai's greed might harm him.
But before his words had even fully left his mouth, Yang Kai had already set the cup down. He said nothing, simply sitting upright in place with his eyes closed, a look of savoring satisfaction on his face.
"Aigh…" Yi Quan let out a soft sigh, muttering to himself, "I was hoping to chat with you more about the outside world. Looks like I'll have to wait a few days."
In his view, with Yang Kai's meager cultivation, drinking half a cup of Monkey God Wine in one go would put him out cold for at least several days. He couldn't help but smile bitterly. He'd brought out the Monkey God Wine with good intentions — he'd noticed that Yang Kai had been in a fierce battle and his spiritual soul had sustained some damage. He hadn't expected to inadvertently derail his own plans.
"Senior, what did you want to discuss?" Yang Kai suddenly opened his eyes. They were crystal clear, without the slightest trace of intoxication.
"Hmm?" Yi Quan was stunned, staring at Yang Kai with a peculiar expression. "You're fine?"
"Do I look like something's wrong, Senior?" Yang Kai smiled slightly. Even as he spoke, he reached out without the slightest politeness and took the jar of Monkey God Wine from in front of Yi Quan. He then filled his own cup to the brim, downed it in one gulp, and praised in a deep voice, "Excellent wine!"
One and a half cups of spirit wine in his belly, and the damage to his spiritual soul form had completely healed. Not only that, but his soul had been thoroughly tempered as well. The surplus energy contained within the Monkey God Wine all surged into the Seven-Colored Soul Nurturing Lotus, where this heavenly treasure absorbed it readily.
Just as it had absorbed that supreme-grade Soul Jade before, the Soul Nurturing Lotus now absorbed every last trace of energy from the Monkey God Wine, then steadily and methodically fed it back to Yang Kai's spiritual soul form, allowing him to continue benefiting from it.
"This…" Yi Quan was completely dumbfounded, his face frozen in utter astonishment.
At his level of strength, very few things in this world could still surprise him, yet Yang Kai's actions left him utterly baffled. He couldn't understand why Yang Kai showed no signs of intoxication whatsoever.
After all, even Wen Zishan, who had first visited this place all those years ago, hadn't dared to drink Celestial Demon Mountain's fine wine like this. No one could withstand that manner of drinking — and yet Yang Kai acted as if nothing had happened.
"It seems… you really are somewhat exceptional!" Yi Quan quickly recovered his composure and smiled faintly. "Not everyone from your world drinks like that, I presume."
"Of course not," Yang Kai laughed. "It's just that I have some…" He paused for a moment, uncertain how to explain, and could only say, "I have certain methods that can neutralize it."
Yi Quan nodded and didn't press further. Just as he was about to speak, he saw Yang Kai pick up the wine jar with both hands, saying, "This junior thanks Senior for the gift!"
With that, he began drinking straight from the jar in great, unrestrained gulps.
Watching him chug away like that, the corner of Yi Quan's mouth couldn't stop twitching.
In barely the time it took to breathe a dozen times, Yang Kai had drained the entire jar of Monkey God Wine to the very last drop, leaving not a single bit behind. He licked his lips with a somewhat unsatisfied look and gazed earnestly at Yi Quan. "This wine… is there any more?"
"You want even more?" Yi Quan's eyes went wide. "What do you think this stuff is? Monkey God Wine — even the Spirit Monkey Clan can only brew one jar per century! What you just drank represents an entire century of their efforts!"