"The audacity! Who does he think he is? A 9-Star Demon Ale Master? The female receptionist could no longer hold her anger anymore.
"What is wrong with this fellow? How did I end up with such an arrogant and reckless gangster? Where are the morals and formalities? Dong Chen almost fainted from shock, his mind began to corrode.
The thought of smacking Zihao to death began to build up. The chaotic crowd could no longer hold their dissatisfaction with the young man before them.
"Who do you think you are? To hell with you" The angry crowd lashed out at the young man before them.
To challenge a 1-Star Demon Ale Master openly, this kid is sure gutsy. The crowd became even more agitated to eat the young man alive.
"Enough! Ale Master Ye Heng waved at the crowd. And the noisy crowd quieted down.
"Young man! Have you studied the way of the Demon Ale before? Ale Master Ye Heng asked the young man before him.
"No! Zihao answered.
"No? Ale Master Ye Heng was shocked to hear that. "Then what gave you the nerve to challenge Ale? Ale Master Ye Heng became furious.
"He has never studied the way of Demon Ale? The crowd flared up once more, "Arrogant! Reckless! The crowd began to insult him.
"Enough! Ale Master Ye Heng barked and the crowd quieted down. "Young man, do you know the implications of your actions? You have 2 options if you want to get out of this mess. Either you have a duel with me or face severe punishment from the Demon Ale Guild.
"Fine then! I chose dueling with you but you will have to lower your cultivation" Zihao consented.
"Lower my cultivation? You are thinking too much, I only want to challenge you in the ways of Demon Ale. I want to see how extensive your knowledge is, or else you won't escape punishment from the guild" Ye Heng became more furious looking at the arrogant young man before him. Even if he started learning from birth, his knowledge wouldn't be a match to his" He reassured himself of emerging victorious.
"The truth is I have not studied about the ways of Demon Ale before but can I use the guild library? I want to go over a few books Zihao suggested.
" Why putting up an act here? Just get ready to be punished" Ye Heng's darkened as called out to one of the Apprentices to fetch the Guild leader.
A few moments later, the Guild leader appeared before them. He was furious to hear that a nuisance challenged an esteemed 2-star Demon Ale Master who came to visit their branch.
"What is the meaning of this madness, does it mean that young people of this generation no longer know their place? Guild Leader Zhang Hao reprimanded the young man before him.
"Guild Leader Hao! Is this the type of people you grant access to the Guild? Ye Heng criticized Guild Leader Hao. "Get the illusion orb, I want everything recorded" He ordered the Guild leader. The Guild leader is a 1-star Demon Ale master while Ye Heng is a 2-star Demon Ale Master sent by the higher branch to supervise the upcoming Demon Ale examination.
"Go and get the illusion Orb" the Guild leader Hao instructed one of the apprentices.
"Guild leader Hao! Can I use the library? Zihao requested.
"Only the members of Demon Ale Guild are permitted to use the library since you don't have our Yu token " Guild leader Hao rejected his request.
"I will lend mine to him," Ye Heng said as he was so determined to crush the young man before him.
Zihao took the token and headed straight to the library with the guidance of an apprentice.
"What is wrong with this fellow? Trying to learn about the ways of Demon Ale on the spot? No way! He will further disgrace himself" Dong Chen was overwhelmed with thoughts. I must stop him once he comes out, it will save him from further embarrassment and punishment, maybe a little compensation and pleading will help in this matter" Dong Chen made up his mind to stop Zihao from engaging in the duel.
"Guild Leader Hao! Why don't you send some of our security men to guard the door so that the young won't be able to escape without our knowledge" The receptionist spoke up.
"Yes! Yes!! The crowd screams out, as they conform to the advice of the receptionist. 2 guards are sent to the library to check and monitor Zihao.
Inside the Library, Zihao is busy collecting books on Demon Ale.
"Time to compile! Zihao chuckled, he slipped his consciousness into the Qingxi memory vault and went through the books one after the other
"These books didn't say much about Demon Ale but it's better than zero knowledge" Zihao comforted himself. "Assimilate" He muttered. But nothing happened.
"Are you not supposed to shatter and merge with my proficiency? Zihao was puzzled at the weird silence of the Divine gift. "Assimilate! He muttered once more and still nothing" He felt like diving into the ground.
"This is ridiculous! What an unreliable gift! Zihao was so furious to the extent of wanting to give the Heavenly Qingxi memory a beating it would never forget if it was a person.
"I must come up with a plan to escape this place," Zihao thought to himself. He walked gently to the door, and was about to sneak out, but met the 2 patrols standing at the door.
"Are you planning to escape? One of the patrols asked him
"Escape? You must be dreaming about it, let's head back to the main hall" Zihao said knowing that there was no way of running away, the only option now was to hope that Ye Heng fell for one of his antics.
Coming back to the main hall, Zihao settled down in his former position.
"Did you fall asleep in the library while trying to grasp the ways of Demon Ale?" Ye Heng sneered. "I am not the type to bully my junior, so I will allow you to choose the format of the challenge," Ye Heng said as he put up a front.
"How magnanimous! He is even letting him decide on the format" The crowd praised Ye Heng for his benevolence.
"You want me to choose? Zihao was surprised to hear that, he was thinking of how to trick the other party, but the ram offered himself to his slaughterhouse. Zihao felt like leaping in Joy.
"What? Are you going to Chicken out, without giving it a try? Ye Heng mocked.
" This fool just gave me his face to slap it hard, but what if the tasting part fails like the other? Zihao thought to himself.
"Chicken out? You are thinking too highly of yourself. Why don't we have the Guild leader brew a fresh Demon Ale, each one of us will appraise his work, and anybody with the most accurate and detailed appraisal wins the challenge" Zihao submitted.
"Format accepted! Ye Heng giggled, he had known the Guild leader for 20 years, so he felt like it would be easy to appraise the work of his good friend.
Guild leader Zhang Hao flips his storage ring, and a Brewing cauldron appears before them, along with the ingredients. He poured a keg full of distilled water into the cauldron and drove his cultivation using his Nâo qi energy force to heat the cauldron.
Moments later, he began to hurl the ingredients into the cauldron with precision and timing, one after the other until the last ingredient fell in.
He began to control the fire with his Nâo qi to avoid overheating, after one more heating, he poured out the already-formed Demon Ale to cool. After which 2 cups were filled to the brim
"Why don't you go first? Zihao urges Master Ye Heng. Knowing that Ye Heng stood no chance, he decided to give him the chance to make the first move.
While Guild Leader Hao was preparing the Ale, Qingxi's memory vault picked out the brewing techniques, ingredients, and flaws along the line.
" Alright then!" Ye Heng picked up a filled-up cup and sipped a little, he nodded in satisfaction.
"This is Spirit Soaring Demon Ale, very pacifying and well prepared. The techniques you use while brewing are the Clambering flowing water technique and the Golden silk technique, which is best suited for Spirit Soaring Demon Ale, any cultivator with a blocked meridian will be able to achieve a breakthrough within one year.
"Your discerning proficiency is indeed unmatched" Guilder leader Zhang Hao praised his old friend.
"Zihao! it's your turn to appraise Guild Leader Hao's Ale. Hope you don't fall asleep while trying to appraise" Ye Heng mocked Zihao.
"Master Ye Heng! You have said it all, this fool has nothing to say furthermore" a voice sounded from the crowd. The crowd burst out laughing.
"Let's give him a chance to embarrass himself further " Ye Heng sneered.
"Guild leader Hao! Your Clambering flowing water technique was recently modified while watching a young warrior training at a Riverbank, the young warrior has Yin attributes that froze the water, each time she swirled the water ripples" Zihao explained in detail as shock could be seen on the Guild leader Hao's face.
"You are a demon! How did you know about this, I completed the modification 2 nights ago, and this is the first time I am using the modified technique" Guild leader Hao nearly fainted from shock.
"While brewing the yellow zest would been thrown in 5 seconds after the marshland hop but you just wasted a 100-year-old yellow zest for a mere tier-1 Demon Ale while it could have been a tier-3 Demon Ale. Due to your sluggishness," Zihao reprimanded
He went on and on to explain the flaws and also rectified all the flaws one after another.
The guild leader was shocked, Ye Heng felt like his world was coming to an end.
"Brother Zihao! Your knowledge and discernment ability are indeed greater than mine, there is no need to take the examination, here is the Apprentice Demon Ale Token once I get to the higher branch I will apply for a 1-star Demon Ale Master token for you" Ye Heng pleaded.
" I hope you can forgive my good friend and forge ahead, you have a bright future. Who knows one day you might end up as the Guild leader or even attain a higher level'' Guild leader Hao pleaded on behalf of his friend.
"Guild leader Hao, you are being too courteous, I have no grudges against senior Ye Heng," Zihao said as he waved off the earlier humiliation.
After the settlement, he left the Guild with Dong Chen.
"I wonder why I couldn't assimilate the book I picked up from the library, I have to find out before this unreliable cheat code disappoints me one day," Zihao thought to himself, on their way out of the guild