Chapter 49: Encountering Great Uncle (with illustration)

Long Xuan ran impatiently to the wine jar, gently pushed aside the lid pressed on top, and immediately, a cute little white snake appeared in his line of sight.

This little white snake was significantly larger in size, but the wine in the jar was completely gone. At this moment, this little white one was curled into a ball in the center of the jar, fast asleep; Long Xuan could even hear faint snoring.

Although it was still in a deep sleep, as if it hadn't sobered up yet, Long Xuan was overjoyed.

Because the progress bar above the little white one's head had changed; it had completely turned into 【0.00000%】.

Gu worms are a different growth system. After a spirit insect transforms into a Gu worm, the progress is reshuffled. A zero percent progress meant it had completely transformed into a Gu worm.

It was just that the aftereffect of the distilled wine was too strong, and it hadn't woken up yet.

But this was also fine.

Taking advantage of its deep sleep, Long Xuan launched a sneak attack, dripping a drop of blood onto its head, and immediately completed the blood contract relationship with it.

Very quickly, Long Xuan learned of its abilities through the blood contract relationship.

Wine Worms carry different abilities depending on the fine wine they drink; the better the quality of the wine, the stronger the carried ability.

The sour, sweet, bitter, and spicy four-flavored fine wine that Long Xuan created could be said to be of the highest quality. How could the abilities carried by the Wine Worm after drinking these four types of wine be simple?

However, even though Long Xuan had long been mentally prepared that the ability would be very strong, he was still startled by the little white one's ability.

What the little white one carried was actually a domain-type ability.

You don't need to understand what a domain is at all; you only need to know that one is invincible within the domain's coverage, and that a domain is the most awesome ability.

Domain abilities are exclusive to top-grade Gu worms, and only a very small number of top-grade Gu worms are likely to carry them; it is impossible for anything below a superior-grade Gu worm to carry a domain regardless.

The little white one not only carried a domain, but it actually carried two at once.

You must know that every Gu worm will only possess one domain; in history, there has never been a Gu worm that could carry two domains. Long Xuan's Wine Gu could be considered the first in history, setting a historical precedent.

As for the reason, Long Xuan could only attribute it to the distilled wine. The difference between his method and the traditional Gu-refining method was the use of distilled wine.

Besides this reason, he couldn't find any other explanation. Now it seemed that his innovation of the Gu-refining method was indeed correct. Long Xuan's eyes brightened.

The two domains carried by the little white one were called the Slowing Domain and the Acceleration Domain.

As the name suggests, the Slowing Domain can make opponents within the domain's range move slowly.

The Acceleration Domain can make friendly forces and oneself within the domain's range move faster.

These two domains can be activated at the same time; one side makes the opponent move slowly, while the other side makes oneself move faster. With this increase and decrease, how can there still be a fight? Isn't this just playing dirty?

Don't ever underestimate this kind of ability. In the novels of his past life, the Slowing Domain was already the ceiling of combat power in the books, and the little white one added an Acceleration Domain, directly becoming an existence that exceeded the standard.

Long Xuan was ecstatic, hurriedly picked up the little white one from the jar, petted it for a while like a treasure, and only then put it into the insect breeding bag.

The insect breeding bag is dark, soundless, has no spiritual power, and the air is turbid; to be honest, living there is not comfortable.

But he didn't have any good solutions for the time being. He couldn't just walk around the market with a top-grade Gu worm. You must know that there wasn't a single top-grade Gu worm in the entire market; the little white one was an invincible existence here from the moment it was born.

There are space treasures in this world that form their own world, but he hadn't seen one yet, and it certainly wasn't something he could get in a short time. He could only let the little white one suffer for now.

After the Wine Gu was refined, Long Xuan was in a great mood. He shaved his beard and finally walked out of the long-lost small cottage. Having been a shut-in at home for so long, he was finally prepared to go see the outside world.

He planned to go outside to relax, stretch his muscles and bones, and by the way, check the market to see if there was any Thousand-Year Ice Marrow.

Speaking of this Thousand-Year Ice Marrow, he felt exhausted.

Anything that reaches a thousand years is a real pain to find.

How many years had it been?

Ever since he researched the Ice God Flame formula, he had been waiting for so many years, yet the main material, Thousand-Year Ice Marrow, simply couldn't be found; there wasn't even any news of it.

After he auctioned off the address of the fossil mine vein, his wealth skyrocketed, and the materials for refining the Ice God Flame had long been gathered by him, except for this Thousand-Year Ice Marrow, which made him anxious.

You must know that the Ice God Flame is not only of great help to alchemy, but this kind of magical flame is also a huge boost to combat power; in terms of destructive power, it might even be a notch above Gu worms.

He had been longing for it for a long time; he had long wanted to see with his own eyes what a flame that could release cold air, as described in novels, was like. Having been stuck for so many years, how could he not be anxious?

Over these years, although Long Xuan hadn't come to the Far West Market again, his external avatar had come often to collect various materials for him, so even after many years, Long Xuan was very familiar with this place.

As soon as he arrived, he impatiently began to patrol the major stalls and inquire if there were any trading fairs or auctions.

But he was quickly disappointed. Let alone any auctions or trading fairs, there weren't even any decent treasures at the stalls. He didn't pick up a single bargain, let alone see that damn Thousand-Year Ice Marrow.

This is the reason why he creates Gu formulas only after having top-grade materials.

Top-grade materials are simply too hard to find. If he created the Gu formula first and then looked for materials, this situation might occur: the Gu formula is there, but the materials might not be found for years or even decades; it's even possible they won't be found in a lifetime.

Long Xuan took another round, but really had no harvest. Just as he was about to leave, a burly man covered in muscles walked over, sniffed in front of him, and soon his eyes lit up, saying, "Good wine!"

Long Xuan gently smelled his own clothes, but couldn't smell even a hint of wine.

He is a person who pays great attention to his image, so he shaved his beard, took a bath, and changed his clothes before going out. Could this also be smelled as wine?

"Don't smell anymore. I have a canine animal Gu, which perfectly inherited a dog's sense of smell. It's very difficult for a scent to dissipate completely. People can't smell it, but dogs can."

The person revealed a proud smile and added, "It really is good wine. This old man has never smelled such good wine in his life. It should be a unique wine recipe newly created, right?"

"This old man considers himself top-tier at tasting wine. Take the wine out and let me taste it for you; perhaps I can offer you some good suggestions."

Hearing this, Long Xuan couldn't help but widen his eyes, suspecting if he had misheard. He even wanted to taste the wine for him? Do I need you to taste it? How can this person's skin be so thick? Isn't this just sponging off food and drink in disguise? How can his face be so big!

However, Long Xuan didn't dare to say the words in his heart, because this person had the aura of a peak Essence Refining stage, which was definitely not someone he could afford to provoke.

But seeing that this person's gaze was very kind, Long Xuan felt slightly settled. He didn't know if it was an illusion, but he always felt that this person's gaze was strange, just like an elder looking at an excellent junior.

Long Xuan ignored this strange feeling and said cautiously, "This junior is a Medicine Boy under Long Lao. I wonder who the senior is..."

Long Xuan first put a protective talisman on himself; the status of an alchemist is noble and not something an ordinary person can afford to provoke. He tried to bring out Long Lao, this big mountain, to make this person not easily move against him. Long Lao's name was still very useful in this market.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 50 =====