378: Chapter 378 Battle Failure, Level 5 Shop

Chu Sheng sat in the chair, turning the already cold teacup in his hand, his gaze falling on the simulator panel.

He thought about it and decided to run a simulation first to see the situation.

Five hundred points were not many, but they were enough for him to see whether this path was viable.

"Simulation Event: Forcefully make Qu Xiaohuan stay."

[Consumed 500 simulation points. Current balance: 28300. Simulation event activated——]

[Chu Sheng stood in the courtyard, watched the Bearded Uncle turn around, and called out to him: "Senior, please stay."]

[The Bearded Uncle stopped in his steps, looked back at him, his gaze carrying a trace of surprise.]

[Chu Sheng did not beat around the bush: "Xiao Huan cannot go with you."]

[The Bearded Uncle was silent for a moment, showing no Life Qi, and only asked a question: "On what grounds?"]

[Chu Sheng said: "On the grounds that she does not want to leave right now, and on the grounds that she has the right to make her own choices."]

[The Bearded Uncle looked at him for a long while, then nodded, as if he had already confirmed certain matters.]

[He did not speak again and directly made a move.]

[The two of them fought from the sky to the ground, and then from the ground to the sky. Most of the clouds within a radius of thousands of li were scattered, and the ground split open with several bottomless ravines.]

[Grandmaster Jiang sensed that fluctuation in the imperial capital, stood on the city wall and looked from afar. In his cloudy old eyes flickered disbelief, "Where did these two Seniors come from to fight in my territory?"]

[He turned around and returned to the hall, without sending people to investigate.]

[The Bearded Uncle's attacks were endless, every palm strike carrying a kind of strength Chu Sheng had never seen before.]

[Chu Sheng propped himself up with the four swords of zhuxian to barely stabilize his footing, but he was clearly at a disadvantage.]

[In the end, he was pressed back to the ground by a palm strike. The Bearded Uncle stood mid-air, lowered his head to look at him, and said: "You are not bad. But you cannot make her stay. Not right now, at least."]

[Then he descended and left with Qu Xiaohuan.]

[Before leaving, the Bearded Uncle casually said: "This wine is not bad."]

[Chu Sheng's gaze swept across the gourd hanging at his waist, silently remembering it in his heart.]

[Simulation event ended. Settling—No substantive rewards.]

[Critical information acquired: The Bearded Uncle extremely loves drinking alcohol.]

Chu Sheng turned off the panel, leaned against the back of the chair, and went through the images from the simulation just now.

He could not win in a fight, which was nothing to be ashamed of. The Bearded Uncle's cultivation was unfathomable; trying to forcefully make someone stay in his current state really had no chance of success.

However, the sentence "This wine is not bad" in the simulation gave him a bit of inspiration.

He opened the simulator's mall panel and looked at the currently redeemable options.

He had already upgraded the prize pool several times before, and it was currently level four.

He thought about it and spent 2000 simulation points to upgrade the mall to level five.

After the level five mall was opened, the list became noticeably much longer. Items of various grades were categorized and arranged, ranging from Medicinal Pill to Magic Treasure, spiritual plants, and sundries, everything was available.

He roughly scanned the price range.

Among the tier-nine items, the most expensive were Magical Artifact and spiritual plants.

Magical Artifact easily started at tens of thousands of simulation points, because each piece involved the refining of a large amount of Materials and complex procedures, making them obtainable only by chance.

Spiritual plants were even more expensive, because spiritual plants were living things that could continuously produce high-tier Materials. A tier-nine spiritual plant was equivalent to an endless resource point, so its price naturally rose along with the demand.

Just like why the Phoenix clan was not afraid of the old Dragon—it was because they had an immortal wutong tree in hand.

Medicinal Pill came second. The price of tier-nine Medicinal Pill ranged from several thousand to over ten thousand, depending on the specific efficacy and appearance.

The cheapest ones were actually alcohol and consumable Materials; their prices were relatively affordable, basically all within a few thousand.

Chu Sheng jumped directly to the alcohol column, glanced at it, and his gaze landed on one of the rows.

[A Dream for a Thousand Autumns (Tier-Nine Alcohol): Brewed with ten-thousand-year spiritual grains and nine kinds of tier-nine spiritual fruits, aged for over a thousand years. Drinkers can briefly enter the state of self-forgetfulness, with clear mind and spirit, having miraculous effects on Bottleneck Breakthrough and state of mind refinement.]

[Suitable for gifting, also suitable for drinking oneself. Price: 1000 simulation points.]

Chu Sheng looked at that price and quickly weighed it in his heart.

One thousand points was not much, but it was not cheap either.

His current balance was over twenty thousand, and spending this one thousand points would not hurt his vital foundation.

But if what he exchanged for was merely the Bearded Uncle saying "This wine is not bad" without any practical effect, then it would be a bit of a loss.

However, in the simulation just now, the Bearded Uncle's attitude toward him had indeed loosened because of that wine.

If he could use these one thousand points to exchange for his goodwill, at least in the matter of Qu Xiaohuan, he could strive for more time.

Chu Sheng hesitated for a moment, then clicked to purchase.

[Consumed 1000 simulation points. Current balance: 25300. Acquired: A Dream for a Thousand Autumns (Tier-Nine Alcohol) × 1.]

A palm-sized cyan-porcelain wine jar appeared beside his hand, its mouth sealed with red mud seal.

Faintly, a very light fragrance could be smelled, not intense, but very persistent, like something slowly awakening.

Chu Sheng placed the wine jar on the table without opening it, merely calculating in his heart that the Bearded Uncle was still at the courtyard entrance, and taking it out right now was just right.

The Bearded Uncle stood in the twilight outside the courtyard door, having just finished saying the words "I will take her back sooner or later," his gaze still falling on Chu Sheng.

Chu Sheng did not answer, but turned around, picked up that cyan-porcelain wine jar from the table, walked back to the courtyard entrance, and pushed it toward the Bearded Uncle.

"A Dream for a Thousand Autumns, tier-nine alcohol, Senior, please try it."

The Bearded Uncle's gaze fell on that wine jar, and his brow raised slightly.

He reached out to take the wine jar, pulled open the mud seal, and lowered his head to sniff it.

His expression remained calm, as if confirming the taste of this wine, but Chu Sheng noticed that the fingers holding the wine jar tightened slightly, as if afraid it would drop.

He did not speak, only resealed the wine jar properly, hung it at his own waist, and then opened his mouth to say: "I accept this wine."

Having finished these words, he turned around, walked back to sit beside the stone table, slapped open the wine jar again, and poured himself a cup.

Chu Sheng paused for a moment, then also walked over and sat opposite him.

Qu Xiaohuan was still standing in the courtyard, clutching that dish of spiritual fruits in her hand, looking blankly at the two of them.

The previous second was a sword-drawing and bow-bending standoff, and the next second the two of them were already sitting face-to-face in front of the stone table.

The Bearded Uncle held his wine cup and drank cup after cup, while Chu Sheng sat opposite him and poured himself a cup as well.

The aroma of the wine diffused in the twilight, carrying an indescribable and unnameable warm aura.

Qu Xiaohuan stood in place and watched for a long while, even forgetting to put down the dish of spiritual fruits in her hand.

She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but did not know what to say.

In the end, she just stood in the distance, watching Chu Sheng and the Bearded Uncle she had just been conversing with start drinking alcohol, the aroma of the wine diffusing in the twilight.

She watched for a long while before finally recovering her senses, lightening her footsteps to walk aside and sit down.

She thought to herself, she would probably never figure out all the twists and turns of adults.

The night wind blew from outside the courtyard, passing through the open courtyard door, carrying the earthy aura of Qingshi Town, mixed with the aroma of the wine, and slowly diffusing in the twilight.