176: Chapter 176 Green Snake Watches the Transformation into a Dragon
"In that case, it is naturally possible."
"I will get it for Her Highness right away."
The Dragon Girl flipped her hand and took out a command token.
Then she performed a hand Seal with both hands.
"Clatter, clatter..."
The faint sound of chains rang out as two chains dropped down, releasing the treasure chest entwined at their ends.
The treasure chest slowly opened.
One treasure chest contained a jade bottle, and the other contained a simple, yellowed ancient book.
On the cover of the book were three large characters: "Green Jiao Art."
"Please check them, Your Highness."
The Dragon Girl handed the treasure chest to Xu Qing.
Xu Qing took the treasure chest, nodded, and opened the mouth of the jade bottle.
Inside the bottle was half a bottle of liquid, shimmering and full of Spiritual Qi.
It was indeed heavy water.
Inside the bottle was approximately a pond's worth of volume; the water lived up to its name, being incredibly heavy.
As for the other item, the Green Jiao Art.
It looked ordinary, seemingly just a common book.
One wondered if it really was the original manual of the Cultivation Technique, personally written and painstakingly deduced by the Green Jiao.
"Your Highness can try burning it with spiritual fire."
"Then you can determine its authenticity."
The Dragon Girl reminded Xu Qing.
Xu Qing didn't stand on ceremony and gave it a try.
With one hand, he condensed a ball of Demonic Fire and brought it close to the Green Jiao Art.
The Green Jiao Art hurriedly began to tremble, opening from the middle of its pages and flapping like a bird to dodge the flames.
"It indeed possesses the spirituality to seek good fortune and avoid disaster."
Xu Qing withdrew the flames and reached out his hand.
Only then did the Green Jiao Art stop flapping, landing in the palm of Xu Qing's hand and returning to its ordinary book form.
"Is Your Highness satisfied?"
"Very satisfied."
Xu Qing flipped his hand to take out the heaven-stealing lamp and cast a spell to lift its lid.
Instantly, the aroma of wine overflowed, filling the entire treasury.
Even many treasures with extraordinary spirituality sensed the aroma of the wine filled with Spiritual Qi and began to vibrate.
"Truly extraordinary."
The Dragon Girl's eyes lit up.
Compared to this green snake saliva wine, her own Ambergris Wine was far inferior.
"This wine is called green snake wine."
Xu Qing emphasized the three words 'green snake wine' heavily.
Everyone kept calling it green snake saliva wine, making him, the Green Snake, seem like some kind of pervert.
The heaven-stealing lamp tilted, pouring out a full jade bottle's worth, which he then handed to the Dragon Girl.
The bottle was cold to the touch, and wisps of cold air mixed with the wine's aroma leaked bit by bit from the mouth of the bottle.
The coldness paired with the fragrance.
It actually carried a bit of the Concept of 'the fragrance of plum blossoms comes from the bitter cold.'
The Dragon Girl was already extremely interested in all kinds of fine wines; she almost picked up the jade bottle to drain it in one gulp.
But out of responsibility for her younger brother, she held back.
After all, she had already tricked her brother once; she couldn't very well trick him a second time.
However, a small sip probably wouldn't be noticed.
This is a processing fee, a processing fee.
She had been busy running around, so it was only reasonable to collect a bit of a processing fee, right?
She performed a hand Seal with one hand and brushed over the mouth of the bottle.
Demonic Power formed a Seal, sealing the wine's aroma and cold air escaping from the bottle's mouth inside, not letting a single bit through.
"My thanks to Your Highness."
The Dragon Girl bowed to Xu Qing.
"It was a fair trade, there is no need for thanks. Dragon Girl, Your Highness, there is no need for such ceremony."
Xu Qing fully displayed the poise of an Auspicious Beast.
Combined with that face that appealed to both genders, the Dragon Girl actually stared in a daze.
"Dragon Girl, Your Highness?"
"Ah... I must still thank Your Highness."
Being reminded while mooning over someone, even the Dragon Girl felt her cheeks burning and turning slightly red.
The two of them left the treasury, one after the other.
Xu Qing was still secretly happy and didn't notice the Dragon Girl's odd behavior.
Right now, besides thinking about how to use the treasures he had traded for...
...he was reminiscing about the Dragon Palace's treasury.
From now on, the Green Snake would no longer need to use 'Rich Snake' as his persona.
"Please make yourself at home, Your Highness."
"This Dragon Girl needs to go and report to my Royal Father."
The Dragon Girl curtsied to Xu Qing.
"Goodbye, Dragon Girl, Your Highness."
Xu Qing returned the gesture.
He continued to eat and drink heartily back at the Birthday Banquet.
Afterward, the Dragon King left the table for a while.
Presumably, he went to see if the green snake wine had any effect.
"If it has no effect, surely they won't take back the things they gave me."
Xu Qing pondered.
If it had no effect, the Dragon King and the others might think he was selling fake wine, which would be awkward.
And he would have ruined the reputation of green snake wine himself.
Then how would he be able to swindle... in the future?
Earn money.
"If I had known, I would have added more walnuts when brewing the wine."
"I could have brewed it into 'Six Walnuts' to nourish the brain."
While Xu Qing was still deep in thought...
...Jiang Mo, who was beside him, suddenly stood up.
His gaze became incredibly determined.
"Your Highness, I am going to find the Dragon King now."
"To borrow the leaping dragon gate."
"If I can't borrow it, I'll keep kneeling before the Dragon King until he lets me."
Jiang Mo had an expression of 'do or die.'
He wanted to transform into a Jiao; it was already becoming an obsession for him.
"Go ahead, go ahead. I'll be supporting you in my heart."
Xu Qing didn't mind the trouble as long as he could watch the spectacle.
It was a good chance to test the Dragon King's current mood to determine if the green snake wine was actually effective.
And if failure angered the Dragon King, maybe a dish of 'Szechuan Peppercorns Stir-fried with Half-Jiao' would be served.
Xu Qing had even thought of the dish's name.
The Black Snake's Szechuan Peppercorns.
At that moment, the Dragon King happened to return to the Birthday Banquet.
"Then I'm going."
Jiang Mo strode toward the Dragon King.
"Dragon King."
"This humble deity wishes to borrow the leaping dragon gate to transform into a Jiao!"
Jiang Mo knelt on one knee, his face full of determination.
In his mind, he had already prepared a hundred-thousand-word mental draft.
As someone who had read extensively, he was about to display his talent at this very moment.
All for the sake of convincing the Dragon King to lend him the leaping dragon gate.
'Perhaps all those years of reading were for this moment...'
Jiang Mo couldn't help but think this.
"Oh, sure."
The Dragon King nodded with a smile.
"...Eh?"
The hundred-thousand-word mental draft seemed to have been prepared for nothing.
He agreed just like that?
Where was his 'debating the scholars' or his 'eloquent speech'?
Where was his 'improvisation' or his 'torrent of eloquence'?
Happiness came so suddenly that Jiang Mo froze on the spot.
Watching from below, Xu Qing felt reassured.
It seemed the Dragon King was in a rather good mood.
Maybe his green snake wine was unexpectedly good for nourishing the brain?
Xu Qing looked at Silly Snake, who was gnawing on a large prawn, and the latter looked back at him.
Then, after a moment of daze, the snake quickly stuffed the entire prawn into its mouth, puffing out its cheeks.
As if afraid he would steal it.
Alright, he was overthinking it.
It doesn't nourish the brain.
"I am happy today."
"There's no better time than now; I shall grant you the opportunity to transform into a Jiao!"
"Someone, bring forth the leaping dragon gate!"
The Dragon King waved his hand, and a group of Yakshas and aquatic tribesmen received the order and withdrew to the treasury to carry the dragon gate.
After a while, the dragon gate was moved out.
The Dragon King rose with a smile and waved his hand, his Demonic Power surging toward the leaping dragon gate.
The latter burst with spiritual light.
Dragon roars echoed.
In the blink of an eye, it flew out of the Dragon Palace, growing larger and larger, stirring up several whirlpools on the sea surface.
Then, it broke through the sea surface, pierced through the clouds, and reached straight into the sky.
The massive dragon gate reached down to the Nine Netherworld and up to the firmament.
"Creak..."
The gates opened.
The dragon roars reached their peak.
"Eh?"
Jiang Mo still hadn't come to his senses.
The dragon gate was already positioned ahead, just waiting for him to leap over it.
"Jiang Mo, if you don't leap now, then when?"
The Dragon King's words jolted Jiang Mo awake.
A bewildered Jiang Mo.
Who am I? Where am I? What am I supposed to do?
Is this... a dream?