"So, it's Hua Yan," Hua Pan said, nodding in response, "Very well. You meet my requirements for a follower. Bold, strong and rash. These are just the qualities I'm looking for. Come, have a drink."
Hua Pan tossed over a wineskin to Hua Yan, gesturing with his hands for him to drink it.
This was a custom here.
Whenever a new member was initiated, he would be first invited for a drink. Typically, the more he could drink, the more respect he would garner from his fellow gang mates. Hence, this was actually a very special event for all of the new recruits.
Furthermore, a new initiate would usually be given a drink by one of his fellow gang mates.
For the boss to hand out one himself was very rare. Usually, Hua Pan only personally offered his men a drink when he was praising them for their great deeds. New members couldn't possibly be treated in such a manner.
Just this action alone of the boss paying special attention to Hua Yan made it fairly clear to all the other thugs that Hua Pan placed great importance on Hua Yan, or else he would have no reason to give him such an honour that the other members could not even dream of obtaining.
A drink served up by the boss himself! Every single gangster lusted after such a thing.
As for Hua Yan… he found it annoying.
He was not very good with alcohol. He never had a chance to build his tolerance to it because he couldn't afford it. So, he was not the best drunk. He couldn't handle his liquor very well.
He didn't want to drink the alcohol, but seeing everyone's urging looks, and Hua La's pleading eyes, he knew he had to. If he didn't, then all of his efforts to get into Hua Pan's good books would be for naught!
He hated wasting effort, so he took a large swig straight from the wineskin.
As the burning liquid flowed down his throat, his cheeks naturally turned into a shade of pink. All the gangsters could see him getting drunk real quick and they started to murmur amongst themselves.
Thinking that the powerful youth was nothing more than a weakling when placed up against alcohol, they threw out a great number of taunts and words of mockery. The boss didn't stop them, completely encouraging this activity to keep his boys entertained and lively; he didn't want them to lose their edge.
"Heheh, look at how red his ears are!" one thug commented.
"Are you sure the boy's head's not gonna explode?" another goon jeered, "He's as crimson as a cherry!"
"Maybe he's just shy because this handsome young lord is near!" A shirtless fatty snickered, "No wonder he's blushing brighter than pineapple!"
"Idiot, pineapples aren't red..." a shrewd fatty remarked.
"They are when they're as flushed as this lad!" a man with so much fat that he couldn't see his own toes exclaimed, proceeding to laugh his head off.
"Hahahhaha!" a thug chuckled, soon followed by almost everyone in the room.
Hua Yan was feeling dizzy and the constant chatter of the thugs felt like mosquitoes buzzing around his ears. He was starting to get mad and Frenzy began waking up.
Strangely, what should have been a bad thing with the awakening of Frenzy, actually turned out to be a boon in disguise.
The more of Frenzy's presence he felt, the less of an effect the alcohol was having on him. It was as if… Frenzy was absorbing the drink, robbing him of his intoxication!
If things were like this, he could drink all day without being even the slightest bit affected.
Soon, Hua Yan had emptied out the wineskin. He turned it over to show the thugs that it was empty, and then tossed it back to the boss.
"Got any more?" Hua Yan asked in a very rowdy voice, sounding like nothing short of a devil.
Even the thugs that thought they were badass characters couldn't help but drop their jaws at Hua Yan's stunning display. Hua Yan appeared to have already reached his limit, yet he was putting on such a strong front. This alone took a certain level of skill that most couldn't accomplish.
Of course, not all of the thugs were pleased with his acting though. They wanted to compete with Hua Yan and test who had a better drinking capacity.
"Brother Yan," a fat bandit, Hua Bull, that was probably as strong as Hua Chin stepped up. There was a big barrel of alcohol in his hands, "This is a recent shipment of some fine spirits that I obtained from the Southern Barrack's meadery. Would you like to share it with me?"
Though the fatty was inviting Hua Yan for a drink, it was clear that his gaze contained no friendly intentions. He wanted to completely humiliate Hua Yan.
Even though he had served the boss from the time back when Hua Pan and he were still guards, Hua Pan had never personally poured him a drink before. Though this had to do with Hua Bull's lazy character for the most part, he couldn't stand it that this nobody got to be acknowledged by the boss in such a fashion.
He wouldn't be satisfied today if he didn't vent out his frustrations against Hua Yan in a contest.
Since it was beyond him to bully someone that had no cultivation, as he himself was an 11th level Complete Ballooning Stage expert, he didn't challenge Hua Yan to a direct confrontation. He decided to use alcohol as a medium to wage a war.
Hauling over his big barrel, he dropped it onto a nearby table with a thud. He quickly snapped the top open with brute force alone and quickly filled up a wineskin with alcohol. He proceeded to then fill up a second wineskin and tossed it over to Hua Yan.
Hua Yan caught it, and the two looked at each other.
With a nod of their heads, they both began to drink at the same time.
Hua Bull was an experienced drinker. Drinking was perhaps the only thing he did these days besides eating, sleeping, and make loud noises to scare people. As such, he was very quick to finish whatever he had in his wineskin.
In Hua Yan's case, though he was not attuned to drinking, Frenzy's sudden hunger for the alcohol allowed him to receive almost no effects from drinking.
He wasn't even the slightest bit intoxicated!
He was able to drink everything in his wineskin down like it was water. In fact, it was even easier than drinking water, because he felt nothing throughout the entire process.
The two finished their shares at the same time. Hua Bull was rather surprised that Hua Yan could keep up with him, but that didn't mean that he thought Hua Yan had any chance to beat him.
Hua Bull wanted to give Hua Yan a cuel awakening and teach him just who the better man was.
Hua Bull refilled his wineskin and gestured for Hua Yan to do so as well. After they were both refilled, Hua Yan and Hua Bull began drinking again. This time, they emptied their skins even faster than the first time.
Hua Pan and the rest of his thugs were looking on with interest. Every time they thought that Hua Yan would faint from all the alcohol intake, they were proven wrong.
Soon, a 3rd round took place, and then a 4th, followed by a 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th.
By the 14th round, even the bystanders were feeling drunk watching these two monsters empty wineskin after wineskin of hard spirit.
A few of the thugs even puked directly, seeing how painful everything looked.
There was almost no life on Hua Bull's face by this time. He felt like he dying after drinking so much.
His usual intake limit was around 11 rounds, but he had actually gone 3 higher than that just because he didn't want to lose to Hua Yan. His face was on the line here, so he was really pushing himself.
But, no matter what kind of a front he tried to put up, his body could not lie. Hua Bull soon collapsed onto one knee, panting for breath while clutching onto a table for support.
Hua Yan ignored him and looked over towards all the other gang members. They were staring at him as if he were some kind of God.
Perhaps lost in the moment, Hua Yan walked up to the big barrel of spirits and picked it up. There was perhaps more than half of it still remaining. Hua Yan and Hua Pan each finished a quarter of the total amount that the barrel could hold in their earlier 14 rounds.
Because Hua Yan wanted to test just how far Frenzy could go and how much alcohol he could take, he titled the barrel over and started drinking directly from it.
In the baffled eyes of those that were watching, what Hua Yan was doing was equivalent to asking for death. A human body was simply not made to consume that much alcohol! It wouldn't be surprising if Hua Yan became nothing more than a bloated corpse after drinking this much.
But he didn't stop. He drank, and drank and drank until there was nothing more left in the barrel to drink!
He tossed the barrel onto the floor, displaying its empty insides to all the thugs. They inadvertently all backed up a step as they looked up at Hua Yan in awe.
Even Hua Pan wanted to stand up and pay his respects to this Alcohol God.
"Is there any more?" Hua Yan asked, making the thugs doubt if they were hearing things right, "Ah, never mind, I'll be heading home for the day. See you tomorrow."
No one dared to stop him. In fact, a lot of people backed up in fear as he walked by them! This was solely because of how oppressive he was!
Hua La quickly chased after Hua Yan. His back was a little straighter and his head was held higher a bit higher compared to when he had first entered the pavilion. After all, he now had such a fearsome "son". Even the goons had to behave quite deferential towards him from this point forth!
This was probably the only good thing that had come out of the whole incident for Hua La!