Even if there is no credit, there is still hard work.

Rong Ya drank a great deal, Gao Le drank himself into a heavy stupor, and likewise, the six surviving members of the War Alliance Valley drank even more fiercely.
Where once Yi Sheng and Qing Zhou Sheng stood at odds across a divide, they were now exchanging sweet endearments, much to the bitter envy of Old Bear Three.
Having received the Emperor-grade cultivation technique imparted by Ant-Camel, they expressed their utmost satisfaction and repeatedly offered sincere thanks before preparing to depart.

Before leaving, Ant-Camel finally spoke: "A great calamity is about to descend upon the entire Immortal Realm. You must cultivate diligently; only upon reaching the Immortal Emperor realm will you possess the true capital to preserve your lives."

From beginning to end, Wuyun's avatar remained silent, save for Yue Qi, who grunted and muttered in skepticism, questioning why Yi Sheng and Qing Zhou Sheng were drinking happily without a trace of sorrow.
After being swatted away by Long Yi with a wave of his hand, the banquet came to an end.

Surveying the empty mountain ravine, the bickering between Family Guest and Dao Yuan, and the fine wine brewed by Luohua Wu, Ant-Camel sighed and said, "Senior, if they attain the Emperor realm, they will surely have their memories restored and discover the truth that you are not dead!"

"By that time, I will have already left this Immortal Realm. Does it still matter?"
"Will they curse themselves for being fools? Will they leave shadows and deep emotions within their Emperor souls?"
"Indeed they will! You horse, if you have something to say, just spit it out. I know you want an Emperor artifact. However, these Emperor artifacts are not quite suitable for you. In time, you will come to realize that Emperor artifacts are as common as cabbages in a vegetable patch!"

"Cabbages!" Ant-Camel was stunned. What kind of miraculous world was that!

Following Rong Ya's departure, Gao Le and the six members of the War Alliance Valley also took their leave of Ant-Camel, though Gao Le insisted on lingering in this star domain to temper himself.
Ant-Camel did not stop him. After agreeing to the request of Elder Lingtong, he said, "Convey my greetings to him. I can sense a wisp of his probing divine sense. Tell him not to harbor tigers to invite future calamity!"

Knowing what the black horse implied, Lingtong nodded and replied, "Upon returning to the Valley, we shall all have the confidence to challenge the Immortal King realm. I will persuade the Grand Patriarch to abandon those alien demons from beyond the domains."

"That would be for the best!"

Parting is always sorrowful, until one day, while Wuyun's avatar was sipping small draughts of wine, he ran right into Luohua Wu...

His true body was cultivating while his avatar was drinking, which was tantamount to cultivating while imbibing. Consequently, the overseers Old Bear Three and the Battle King were dragged into a exquisitely constructed grotto-heaven. Luohua Wu said without a trace of mercy, "Since this Valley Master is responsible for watching over Yue Qi as he grows safely, every word and action of his must be strictly monitored!"

Wuyun stared blankly, feigning foolishness as he said, "You are this young master's maidservant! Come, come, pour this young master a full cup of wine!"

"Crack!" The wine was downed in one go by Luohua Wu. Afterward, she seated herself beside Wuyun, crossed her legs in mid-air, and said with a beaming smile, "Blocking is inferior to dredging. How about I join you in your drinking?"

"In all my life, aside from sharing drinks with my master and mistress, the few Immortal Emperors I have met merely offered toasts out of ritual courtesy. Walking through the Immortal Realm with saving the world as my duty, I have found the immortals I encountered to be utterly pathetic. In particular, those mighty figures at the Immortal King level would drown their sorrows in wine, numbing their own divine souls, only to end up mentally deranged and losing themselves. Living like walking corpses, what meaning is there in such an existence..."

Luohua Wu raised her cup and drained it in a single gulp. This improved wine, once known as "Sleeping Three Thousand," had now been renamed "Drunk Three Thousand." As the liquor slid down her throat, she praised, "Truly well-deserved of its reputation. After being refined, this wine burns the divine soul and the physical body, continuously forging them through cultivation to achieve unexpected results."

"I never bully living beings. How about this: you take a sip, I drink a cup. With your two uncles here as witnesses, you are not allowed to use immortal energy to disperse the alcohol. Can you do it?"

Faced with such provocation, how could Wuyun endure it—especially since no man could ever admit he couldn't hold his liquor. Yet, his current physical state truly couldn't.

"Very well!"

Wuyun took a tiny sip, while Luohua Wu polished off another full cup!

Those who do not drink never speak of how good wine tastes, and those who love to drink never say that teetotalers know how to have fun. When one wishes to enter a state of bewilderment and confusion, becoming another irrational version of oneself, the fermentation of alcohol is absolute necessity.

Old Bear Three and the Battle King, however, were already thoroughly drunk. The two of them rambled incoherently, speculating wildly about where the springtime of their romantic fates might lie.

Luohua Wu laughed magnanimously, as if mocking herself, and said, "To be addressed as 'Senior' by Ant-Camel... by the Black Horse fellow-daoist, is something I truly never dared to imagine. Yet he has indeed created a miracle. If he were not dead, I would willingly become his dao companion. Would that be considered basking in his glory?"

Faced with Luohua Wu's provocative remark, the Battle King said sincerely, "I'm afraid you are not worthy!"

"You are not worthy!"

As Luohua Wu raised her cup, it suddenly expanded tenfold. A tenfold portion of Drunk Three Thousand was swallowed down by her in one breath. Refusing to show weakness, the Battle King likewise poured the entire amount straight into his divine soul.

Only the dazed Old Bear Three swayed unsteadily on his feet, muttering, "It's over, it's over, we've drunk way too much!"

His divine soul struggled to endure the erosion of the wine; even attempting to purge it with immortal energy felt like pouring water into a cauldron of boiling oil, stirring up ever-higher waves of fire. Meanwhile, the Battle King transformed into a medium-sized golden figure, striking poses as if breaking into a dance.

The little bug, perched atop a green leaf and peeking from afar, hurriedly retreated, muttering softly, "Never assume the Senior will lose. In fact, if he loses, he will make things miserable for the winner behind the scenes!"

The green leaf understood this deeply. Having learned to speak less and observe more, she had reaped immense benefits, and her cultivation had advanced by leaps and bounds. She had already reached the late True Immortal stage, and perhaps the next person to break through and become an Undead King would be none other than her!

Cup after cup after cup—despite Wuyun's attempts to wriggle out of it, and after Old Bear Three and the Battle King had stumbled away drunkenly shouting, he was forced into taking another cup by Luohua Wu!

They always said his calculations never missed a single detail, but today...

It took only half a small cup, forced down his throat while his jaw was pinched, to send him swaying and staggering.

This was a sensation he had never experienced before, a perilous endeavor. Had Luohua Wu harbored ill intent, she could have instantly breached Wuyun's divine soul and seen through every last secret of his.

Drunkenly, Wuyun grabbed Luohua Wu's hand, swaying as he said, "What, do you think I'm drunk?"

Luohua Wu shook her head and said, "Drink some more!"

Wuyun wrapped his arm around her waist instead, asking, "How could I possibly be drunk?"

Swatting away his wandering hand, Luohua Wu pinched his cheek and said, "Yue Qi, you are far too cute. At such a tender age, you're already learning bad habits from them. Truly, rats from the same nest, incapable of learning anything upright. Today, I am going to properly discipline you!"

Chanting a few immortal incantations, she sent Wuyun floating half-suspended in mid-air as wine poured down his throat like water from a running tap.

He tried to close his mouth, but his esophagus was propped open by a stream of immortal qi, and his stomach even expanded. Only after pouring a full ten large vats into him did Luohua Wu finally stop and say, "This specially brewed wine will not harm your divine spirit. I hope you savor it properly. Perhaps in the future, it will leave a shadow on you and make you never want to drink again!"

"You little minx, you stay right there for this granddad!"

Having been dropped back down, Wuyun's memory began to fragment and black out completely...

When he awoke, he found himself comfortably sprawled on a soft cloud bed bathed in brilliant, colorful light. Without even needing to speak, a set of immortal robes spontaneously materialized over his bare body, shifting freely into his preferred clothing style. Immediately afterward, a splitting headache struck him, causing him to leap up with a start—because lying right beside him in the clouds was a woman clad only in undergarments.

Leaving aside her boundless charm and the gorgeous scenery around them, Wuyun only felt a stabbing pain in his mind. As he clutched his chest, he was shocked to discover that a sword wound had pierced straight through his torso from front to back. To this day, the lingering malevolent aura was still transforming into miniature soldiers, locked in a fierce struggle with the immortal techniques repairing his body.

For the first time, panic gripped him. Staggering unsteadily, he accidentally kicked a heavy object—which turned out to be a severed head. The head immediately bellowed at the top of its lungs, "Granddad, Granddad, spare my life! Spare my life! It was all my fault, I beg you to let me go and allow me to enter the cycle of reincarnation!"

Wuyun was dumbfounded. He demanded, "Who are you?"

"This humble one is Ju Mo, a subordinate under Immortal King Jumo!"

Wuyun tried for a long time without recalling the name, muttering, "Ju Mo, Ju Mo..."

Meanwhile, the graceful and glamorous Luohua Wu drifted over with an air of nonchalance. Leaning close to Wuyun's ear, she breathed hot air against it and said, "Granddad, have you forgotten? General Ju Mo, master of the distant-setting general star..."

"I..."

Looking at the tearful, elephant-sized head and its eyes brimming with terror, Wuyun simply could not believe that this fellow had been staring at him sleep the entire time.

Reaching out his hand, just as he was about to call for Old Bear Three, Ant-Camel, and the others to get to the bottom of this, Luohua Wu chimed in once more: "You lost, didn't you? I said that once you woke up, I wouldn't kill him. Honor your bet..."

Before she could even finish the sentence, Wuyun pointed a finger and gathered up the sealed divine soul of Ju Mo. In that instant, sudden understanding dawned on him.

Drinking invariably leads to trouble and ruins matters—truly, this was the absolute truth.

As Luohua Wu wrapped both arms around his waist, everything felt as surreal as a dream. The next second, Wuyun struggled out of her embrace, shook his head, and said, "We are not suited for each other!"

"We've already tried it out, and you even said it was good, so how can you go back on your word now? Or are you planning to use the excuse 'I was drunk and it doesn't count' to regret your actions from back then?"

Cornered by Luohua Wu's words, Wuyun found himself utterly defenseless. Last night—no, last month—he had indeed been in a state of continuous drunkenness. As for what he had done, reflecting upon it now, it was entirely out of character for him. Clutching his face, he sat helplessly on the ground, quietly waiting for Ant-Camel and the others to show up.

When Ant-Camel finally limped into view and saw that Wuyun had sobered up, his expression of excitement instantly mirrored that of the former Left General's head, and tears streamed down his face.

"Senior Wuyun, you're finally awake! Oh? Where is that head?"

Just as Wuyun was about to release it, his brow furrowed. He struck a restrictive seal onto the released divine soul. A colorful bubble rose up, reenacting its origin for a moment before a single finger flick shattered the Left General's divine soul completely, sending its residual true spirit plunging into a spatial tunnel to enter the cycle of reincarnation.

"Damn you, you black horse!"

Amidst his irritation, Luohua Wu piped up, "Things have reached this point, and Immortal King Jumo will soon tear through space to arrive here. I'll repeat what I said before: if you marry me, I'll smooth things over for you!"

"It's all your fault, everything is your fault! Flowers may have feelings—bah, it's ruthless! Toying with my emotions and still forcing me to take responsibility for you! You just wait... wait, where are the remaining two Emperor artifacts?!"

Hearing this, Ant-Camel spun around on the spot, kicked Wuyun flying with a single blow, and stormed off while cursing under his breath.

After he left, Old Bear Three sheepishly poked his head out and whispered, "Young Master, you probably don't know this, but you gave this fellow's Emperor bone away to someone else."

Wuyun was speechless...

"As for the Emperor artifacts, you gave the pouch to Luohua Wu. That staff... and Dao Yuan—you cast a divination pointing to the heavens and sent him away to train together with Jueli."

"Is there anything else?" Wuyun continued to press. Long Yi, who rarely showed his face, finally appeared, though his horns had been broken off and were still in the process of regrowing. He huffed, "Ant-Camel exhausted all of his Emperor might just to keep you alive. Right now, the little bug and the green leaf are inside the Myriad Life Immortal Emperor Pouch. If you want them, go ask her!"

Before Wuyun could even open his mouth, Luohua Wu declared, "I will marry you. We can even just go through the motions of holding a ceremony!"

"Didn't you say that only high-dimensional divine goddesses and sovereigns were worthy of you? Well, I'm cutting in anyway! Even if everything you said is true, a minor concubine like me serving a down-and-out you might not earn great merits, but at least I've done hard labor. At the very least, I won't let your unforgettable goddess and primary wife chase you away!"