Chapter 318: No Good Banquet (I)

"I have been busy with many things and have not been able to come to meet you. I hope you will forgive me."

Ren Wuya's voice came slowly from the cabinet, but no one came out for a long time, which made Liu Xunyi more and more curious about the mysterious Lord of Yulong Palace.

"Senior Ren, I haven't seen you for a year. How have you been?" Song Yu spoke first. Judging from his tone of voice, he seemed to be quite familiar with Ren Wuya.

"Thanks to Master Jinwu, my old bones are still strong." Ren Wuya said with a faint smile.

"That's good!" Song Yu flattered, "I, the junior, have been ordered by the owner of the fort to bring some Jiangnan silk, Dali Yun tea, pearls and jadeite on this trip, to honor you and wish you a long life with great achievements!"

"I appreciate Master Jinwu's kindness." Ren Wuya said, "But I don't want to receive gifts without merit. Please take these things back, Master Song."

Hearing this, Song Yu's expression changed slightly, and he said thoughtfully: "It's just a small gift, not a sign of respect. If I take it back intact, I'm afraid it will be difficult to explain to the owner of the dock."

After saying that, without waiting for Ren Wuya to decline, Song Yu rolled his eyes and quickly added: "What's more, Jinjianwu and Yulong Palace have long been a pair of swords, and it is human nature to exchange gifts. Please do not refuse, senior."

"This..." Ren Wuya hesitated for a moment and reluctantly agreed, "In that case, these things will be temporarily stored in Yulong Palace, and Master Jinwu can send someone to retrieve them at any time."

Seeing Ren Wuya and Song Yu chatting happily, Liu Xunyi felt a little embarrassed for being left out, so he took the opportunity to say, "Master Jinwu, the Northern Sage King sent me..."

"Master Liu, please be patient." Before Liu Xunyi could finish his words, Ren Wuya suddenly interrupted, "The name of tonight's banquet is 'Five Flavors', which are sour, bitter, sweet, spicy and salty. It just so happens that my Tianshan Mountain has five unique flavors, which correspond to the five flavors. I would like to invite all the distinguished guests who have come from afar to taste the five unique flavors of Tianshan. Only those who can taste all the five unique flavors are qualified to drink and chat with me. As for those who cannot taste all the flavors, you are not destined to be with me. Please leave early. I will not see you off."

"hiss!"

Ren Wuya spoke directly to the point without any reservations, which surprised Liu Xunyi and others.

Five Wonders? Five Flavors? They were all confused and had no idea what it meant.

"What do you mean?" Liao Hai asked Liao Chuan beside him with a confused look on his face, and whispered, "What exactly is the Jade Dragon Palace up to? We are so anxious about the alliance, who has the leisure to accompany them for food and drinks?"

Liao Chuan shook his head and said, "Perhaps there is some mystery hidden in the five flavors?"

"Sour, bitter, sweet, spicy, and salty? Could you bring us some bowls of soup?"

"It's not that simple!" Liu Xunyi said in a serious tone, "This banquet is actually a test from Palace Master Ren. Although I don't know what the Five Wonders of Tianshan are, since Palace Master Ren took them out so solemnly, I guess they are definitely not ordinary things."

Xunzhen nodded and said, "He can use the Five Wonders of Tianshan as a condition for further advancement, which shows that this level is not easy to pass."

"Isn't it just eating?" Tang Cong curled his lips and said nonchalantly, "What kind of difficulty is this? I thought the Jade Dragon Palace Master would make some shocking demands? In terms of martial arts and wisdom, I may not be worthy of being reused, but in terms of eating and drinking, what's the difficulty? No matter whether it's sweet, salty, sour or spicy, it's just a matter of closing my eyes and opening my mouth. To complete the instructions of the Palace Master, even if he brings out a bowl of shit today, I can lick it clean without leaving a drop. There is no need for the Sect Master to take action for this matter, just rest aside and watch me taste his five unique Tianshan specialties."

"I wonder what Palace Master Ren's requirements are for tasting the five specialties of Tianshan?" Su He spoke slowly with a pale face.

"Only one person can taste it, and you have to taste all five flavors." Ren Wuya said, "You can't use others as a pretext, and you can't be perfunctory. Whoever can taste all the five wonders of Tianshan can stay and discuss important matters with me."

"If everyone is ready, I will serve the dishes. Hehe..." Ding Ao said to Liu Xunyi and others with a smile.

"Be careful of fraud, don't take it lightly." Xunzhen reminded him with a hissing voice, "Let them test their depth first, and you can take action later."

Hearing this, Liu Xunyi suppressed his anxiety and nodded heavily with a serious expression.

"The first taste is extremely sour, like plums from the sea."

Ding Ao gave an order, and two disciples carried a copper pot into the pavilion. In the pot was a pool of "green water", and at the bottom of the water were three crystal clear green plums.

"This plum is one of the five wonders of Tianshan. It tastes extremely sour and bitter. I wonder who would like to try it first?" Ding Ao explained.

"I come!"

Before he finished speaking, a disciple from Red Wind Ridge walked out first. Under the curious and nervous gazes of everyone, he stared at the green plums in the pot, holding his breath, and after a moment of silence, he resolutely reached his hand into the water.

"laugh……"

"what!"

What was unexpected was that the man's right hand had just been immersed in the "green water" and had not yet touched the plum, but his five fingers were instantly corroded. When he hurriedly pulled his hand back, the five fingers had already turned into five bloody, rotten flesh and charcoal bones.

The severe pain caused the Red Wind Ridge disciple to let out heart-wrenching howls, and his terrifying right hand raised high made everyone present tremble with fear, as if sitting on pins and needles.

"The pot contains... green vitriol oil!" Xunzhen exclaimed, "I never thought Palace Master Ren would come up with such a difficult question."

"Green vitriol oil can rot flesh and bones. Once anything gets soaked in it, there's no way back." Liu Xunyi said in astonishment.

"This..." Tang Cong, who was originally eager to try, was stunned and extremely embarrassed when he saw this situation.

"Master, isn't this going to kill me?" Liao Chuan complained. "Reaching out is already so terrifying. If I swallow it, won't it... burst my intestines and rot my stomach?"

"I respect people who are brave and knowledgeable the most in my life. If you don't even dare to try the first taste, please leave on your own!" Ren Wuya's voice sounded again from the cabinet.

"What do you three think?" Ding Ao looked around at Liu Xunyi, Song Yu, and Su He meaningfully, and asked, "Who among you dares to give it a try?"

"There must be a way!" Xunzhen frowned and muttered to himself, "There must be a way to take out the plums..."

"Let me try." Suddenly, Jian Zhong, who had not said a word, spoke up, "But I have a condition." His voice was completely different from his rough appearance, very clean and clear. "What's the condition?"

"Others must not imitate the method I used," Jian Zhong said bluntly, "lest someone take advantage of it."

"This..." Ding Ao hesitated and turned his complicated gaze to the cabinet.

After a moment, Ren Wuya's voice came out quietly: "That's right. If you don't want others to take the lead, you can try it first."

"That's great!" Jian Zhong sneered, stood up suddenly, and said, "As long as I can taste the plums, I don't care what method I use."

"That's right." Ding Ao nodded, "But you can only use your hands, you can't use weapons."

"It's natural."

Before he finished speaking, Jian Zhong suddenly stretched out two fingers, and a fierce force instantly shot out from his fingertips and went straight to the outer wall of the copper pot.

"Oh!"

With a muffled sound, the copper pot was pierced with a hole by his terrifying finger force. Half of the pot of green vitriol oil gurgled out, and three green plums came out and rolled down at Jian Zhong's feet.

Jian Zhong's eyes turned fierce, his five fingers formed into claws, he sucked in the air, and a green plum immediately flew into the sky.

In mid-air, Jian Zhong made his hands into swords and flew up and down. Under the exploitation of the strong energy, the green plum quickly shed a layer of skin, was thrown high into the air, and finally landed steadily in Jian Zhong's palm.

"it is good!"

This scene made everyone exclaim in admiration.

Jian Zhongping held up the green plum and showed it around in Piaomiao Pavilion, then put it into his mouth and swallowed it whole, which immediately attracted cheers from the crowd.

Jian Zhong won the first victory, and Ding Ao's smile began to become a little unnatural.

"Who's next?" Song Yu was complacent, looking around at Su He and Liu Xunyi provocatively.

"I'll do it... ahem..."

As soon as Su He moved, he started coughing violently.

"Brother Su, your injuries haven't healed yet, how can you mobilize your true energy?" Liu Xunyi advised, "Even if you barely pass this level, there are still four levels to go, how can you hold on?"

"But……"

"Su He." Ren Wuya's voice suddenly sounded, "I invited you to the mountain to be a witness. I have no intention of making friends with Yan Wuji. I think you are a man of integrity, so I don't want to embarrass you. Just stand by and watch. There is no need to end up in vain."

Hearing this, Su He was horrified and said hurriedly: "Palace Master Ren, Master Yan Ling is sincere..."

"Humph! If Yan Wuji was sincere, why would he come up with such a cunning trick of playing both sides?" Ren Wuya said angrily, "I want to save some face for Chifengling, so there are some things I don't want to make clear."

"What do you mean, senior? Please speak frankly!"

"In my life, I hate sneaky people the most. It's understandable that Yan Wuji wants to leave himself more escape routes, but he must not treat my Yulong Palace as a puppet!"

Su He's expression suddenly changed, and he asked unwillingly, "Why do you say that, Senior?"

"Not long ago, Yan Wuji left Mobei and went to the Central Plains to collude with Longxiang Mountain. Now he sent you to Tianshan to pretend to be loyal. If this is not playing two-timing, what is it?" Ren Wuya said coldly, "If you don't want others to know, then don't do it! There is no wall that is impenetrable. I have already seen through Yan Wuji's tricks clearly."

"This..." Su He was speechless and pale after Ren Wuya revealed Yan Wuji's secret.

In fact, Su He was not aware of the relationship between Yan Wuji and Longxiang Mountain. At this moment, being scolded by Ren Wuya, it was inevitable that he was a little flustered.

After all, Su He risked his life to travel to the Western Regions, but was tricked by Yan Wuji in secret.

Liu Xunyi was also puzzled by this. Ren Wuya was far away in the Western Regions, thousands of miles away from the Central Plains. How could he know Yan Wuji's every move so quickly?
Thinking of this, Liu Xunyi's eyes suddenly fixed, and then he looked at Xunzhen with shock. Before he could ask, Xunzhen nodded lightly with an indifferent expression.

It turned out that the secret of Yan Wuji's secret collusion with Longxiang Mountain was secretly revealed to Ding Ao by Xunzhen last night, and then Ding Ao told Ren Wuya.

To achieve the goal, one must do whatever it takes. In this section, Xunzhen used his fiery passion.

"Master Liu."

At some point, Ding Ao had walked up to Liu Xunyi and whispered in a voice that only the two of them could hear: "My eldest lady and I have secretly eliminated an opponent for you. The rest depends on you. Jian Zhong pierced through the copper pot and tasted the first flavor, so you must find another way and can't use this trick anymore."

"What do you mean?"

Facing Liu Xunyi's questioning, Ding Ao just smiled and said nothing. He suddenly turned around, raised his hand, and a brand new copper pot filled with green vitriol oil appeared in front of everyone.

"Master Liu, it's your turn."

……

(End of this chapter)