Reversing the Milky Way

Bai Cheng quickly finished the two plates of food in front of him, and he could barely manage to eat the second lap of food.

'Damn it! This huge stone table won't budge. What am I supposed to do if I want to eat something else?'

Just as he was thinking this, he suddenly saw a plate of food in the sixth circle directly in front of him suddenly enveloped by a spiritual force and float into the air, then slowly fly to the front of a cultivator.

Bai Cheng's eyes widened upon seeing this.

'Holy crap! So that's how it is! I almost forgot I don't know how to manipulate objects with spiritual power.'

Bai Cheng's gaze also caught the attention of that cultivator. The man already knew that Bai Cheng's cultivation level was still quite far from the Qi Condensation stage. After seeing that Bai Cheng could not control objects with his spirit, he revealed a disdainful expression and muttered, "Sigh, some people don't know where they stand or what they're capable of. They should know that some occasions are not just about having connections to get into a banquet."

Upon hearing this, the cultivator who had launched the attack earlier immediately echoed his words.

"Hehe, that's right! Even if some people get a seat, they'll probably only get to eat the few dishes in front of them, hahaha!"

After saying that, the man quickly raised his hand and then manipulated a plate of spiritual vegetables from the ninth circle to fly in front of him.

As soon as these words were spoken, many people present burst into laughter.

Upon hearing this, Bai Cheng felt a surge of emotion; it was clear that this was an insult. For a moment, Bai Cheng blushed with embarrassment, but he quickly calmed himself down. He knew this was a rare banquet, and it would be a huge loss to let himself be offended just for the sake of saving face.

After all, after finishing the two dishes in front of him, he could clearly feel that the spiritual energy contained in the spiritual vegetables was much higher than the spiritual energy he absorbed during his cultivation. And the dishes in front of him were only of the first-grade spiritual vegetables. Thinking of this, he also looked at the center of the table.

'Damn it, each dish is spaced twenty centimeters apart. Even with long arms, I can only barely reach the third layer of dishes, and still can't eat any of the second-grade or higher spiritual dishes.'

Bai Cheng didn't show his expression on his face, but the cracking sound of his bones in his hands indicated that he was in a terrible mood.

As the banquet progressed, dozens of women dressed as maids emerged from the main hall entrance, each carrying a large cauldron in their right hand.

As the women arrived at the venue, they used their spiritual power to transport the cauldrons in their hands to the center of each stone table. Then, it seemed as if some mechanism was triggered in the center of the stone table, which firmly fixed the cauldrons containing wine in place.

Then, a powerful voice came from the main hall.

"This is a spirit wine brewed by my Bai family, called Biquan Lingyun. It is made from fourth-grade spirit fruits and third-grade spirit herbs. It is very beneficial to cultivators. Today, I am bringing it out for everyone present to enjoy together."

As soon as the words were spoken, the venue erupted in cheers.

"What?! This is actually spirit wine!"

"My goodness! It's actually brewed with fourth-grade spirit fruit! This cup is worth more than a hundred silver coins!"

As the surrounding chatter grew louder, Bai Cheng stared intently at the bronze cauldron holding wine in the center of his stone table, which was about ten meters away from him.

'Based on the information I've gathered, the spirit wine in that cauldron is extraordinary. Since a single cup costs a hundred silver coins, I must try it no matter what. But how do I prepare it?'

Bai Cheng also started to think of ways to get a drink, no matter what.

Just then, a cultivator sitting not far away suddenly spoke up: "Strange, there don't seem to be any holes around this cauldron. How can we hold wine in it?"

After saying that, the man looked at the maid standing to the side.

The maid smiled at the man and then said, "Please don't be impatient, everyone. The old patriarch of the Bai family has a message for you. Because this wine is too precious, each person can only have one chance to serve it."

Upon hearing this, the cultivator immediately became angry.

"What?! Weren't we supposed to drink together?! How come it's now only one chance to pour wine?! Aren't you kidding us?!"

After hearing this, the maid slowly explained.

"Gentlemen, this is how it is. Although the old patriarch wishes to drink with you all, how much you can fill depends entirely on your skill. This wine vessel is made of a special metal that can resonate with spiritual energy. There are several mechanism holes on the surface of this vessel. When affected by spiritual energy, the mechanism will open, and wine will flow out. At that time, you must maneuver your wine cup to fill it. The time it takes for the mechanism holes to open is also related to the spiritual energy affecting the vessel. However, regardless of success or failure, everyone here only has one chance. If you violate the rules, you will be immediately expelled from the banquet!"

After hearing the maid's introduction, everyone present started discussing it, while Bai Cheng pondered what the maid had just said.

"According to the maid, the mechanism will open and the wine will flow out once the vessel is affected by spiritual energy. However, to be affected by spiritual energy, one must attack the vessel with spiritual energy. But the maid didn't seem to mention that attacking the vessel is necessary to open the mechanism. Let's see how others do it first."

At this moment, a monk suddenly spoke up.

"In that case, I'll go first. Isn't it simple to let the vessel be affected by spiritual energy?"

After saying that, he opened one hand, and a spiritual energy began to condense in his palm. Then, he raised his hand and waved it, and the spiritual energy in his hand flew out and hit the vessel in the middle of the stone table.

The moment the spiritual energy collided with the cauldron, the person's spiritual energy instantly merged into the surface of the cauldron. Immediately afterwards, patterns began to appear on the surface of the cauldron, and eventually the patterns converged to form a dot. Then, the mechanism hole opened in the dot.

The moment the mechanism opened, a rich aroma of wine, accompanied by a surge of spiritual energy, rushed towards everyone.

"Great! Success!"

Upon seeing this, the man immediately controlled the wine glass in his hand to fly under the mechanism hole.

As the spirit wine in the hole fell into the wine glass below, a thick spiritual light connected the hole and the wine glass together like a ribbon of light.

Bai Cheng was also greatly shocked when he saw this, because although it was daytime, the spiritual energy in the wine was already so strong that it was visible to the naked eye.

Bai Cheng stared intently at the scene.

'Is this the spirit wine?! Judging from the concentration of spiritual energy it emits, it's truly extraordinary.'

However, before Bai Cheng could think further, he saw the round dot on the surface of the cauldron grow dimmer and dimmer until it disappeared. Then the mechanism immediately closed, and no more wine flowed out.

Upon seeing this, the cultivator who had received the wine frowned slightly, but he still managed to make the wine cup fly back into his hand. Then, he looked down at the wine cup in his hand and began to ponder.

'Damn it! It's only half full?'

Without thinking much about it, he picked up the glass and savored the half-glass of spirit wine.

As the man swallowed the spirit wine, his pupils suddenly contracted, and then a powerful surge of spiritual energy erupted from his body.

"This! No wonder it's spirit wine! The effect of just one sip is comparable to a fourth-grade cultivation pill!"

Upon hearing this, everyone around was immediately surprised.

"What! This spirit wine has such effects!? I'll try it too!"

The speaker was the same cultivator who had attacked Bai Cheng earlier. His cultivation level was in the mid-stage of the Qi Condensation Realm, the same as the person who had served the wine.

Then, he followed the example of the person before him, condensing a ball of spiritual energy in his hand and quickly throwing it at the cauldron in the center. His strength was basically the same as the previous person's, but what he didn't know was that the previous person had only taken half a cup.

Then, patterns quickly rose on the surface of the cauldron, converging into a single dot. Upon seeing this, the man swiftly maneuvered his wine cup to the bottom of the dot.

However, to his surprise, the mechanism hole on the cauldron only opened for a few seconds before quickly dimming and closing.

"What?! How could this happen?!"

He reluctantly steered the wine glass back into his hand, and when he looked down, he realized that the glass wasn't even half full.

Upon seeing this, he immediately stood up angrily and slammed his hand on the stone table in front of him, a move so forceful that it startled everyone present.

"Damn it! This is outrageous!"

After saying that, he immediately raised his hand and launched another spiritual attack at the cauldron in the center of the stone table, this time using nearly 70% of his strength.

Upon seeing this, the person next to him immediately shouted, "Fellow Daoist! What are you doing? Do you want to smash the cauldron?!"

However, just after that person made the attack, a sharp voice came from the banquet hall.

"roll!!!"

As soon as the sound rang out, the spiritual energy attack that the person had unleashed was torn apart by an invisible force and vanished instantly.

The force generated by the sound did not stop, but rushed straight towards the man. In just an instant, the moment the man was touched by the invisible force, blood gushed from his entire body, and blood flowed from his seven orifices. At the same time, he was as if struck by a tremendous force, flying backward and then crashing heavily to the ground, where he lay motionless.

Upon seeing this, the others were immediately filled with astonishment. Some were so frightened that they instantly stood up and took two steps back. The cultivators sitting at the stone table also witnessed this scene, and they were equally astonished. Bai Cheng, who witnessed all of this, gasped in shock.

Meanwhile, a cultivator who had been standing next to him looked at the spilled spirit wine on the ground with regret in his eyes.

"Oh dear! What a waste!"

Bai Cheng was also stunned by what was happening before his eyes.

"Holy crap! That person was supposed to be a mid-stage Qi Condensation Realm cultivator, yet just a single syllable from his voice caused the other to bleed from all seven orifices. What kind of terrifying power is that?!"

Immediately afterwards, a solemn voice rang out from inside the banquet hall.

"I already let you off the hook when you provoked me before, but you still haven't learned your lesson and keep testing my patience and bottom line. If you're not punished, what will become of the Bai family's reputation?!"

As the words fell, Bai Cheng also learned that it was Bai Muxuan, the patriarch of the Bai family, who had made the move—or rather, made the order.

Bai Muxuan's words also stopped some of the cultivators present who were harboring wicked thoughts from having any ideas.

Then, Bai Cheng saw two guards from the Bai family approach the man from either side. As they helped him up, Bai Cheng noticed that the man's pupils were rolling upwards and his body was completely still. The two guards then dragged the man towards the main gate of the Bai residence.

"This! Is he dead?!"

Bai Cheng couldn't help but ask a question.

However, the words of the man in black sitting next to him drew his attention back.

“I don’t think so. I estimate that person still has a breath left. You have to understand that this is an attack from the Tonghai Realm. Not to mention him, even a Qi Condensation Realm Great Perfection Realm might not be able to withstand that kind of attack. If the Bai family patriarch wants to kill him, then he will not only be bleeding from his seven orifices.”

After saying that, the man in black chuckled strangely, and then continued, "Heh, this kind of person deserves it. He thinks that just because he has some cultivation, he can act domineeringly and disregard the rules. He has no idea how terrifying a Tonghai Realm expert is. Just because he is the first Tonghai Realm cultivator since the founding of Baifeng City, the Emperor of Huoyun Kingdom had to meet him immediately. This shows how great his influence is."

As he finished speaking, the man in black slightly raised his hand, a small ball of light condensing at his fingertips, which he then quickly flicked towards the cauldron in the center.

As the sphere of light touched the surface of the cauldron, the patterns on the surface quickly lit up, then converged into a single point. Without hesitation, the man in black swiftly manipulated the wine glass to move below the point.

As the mechanism opened, the spiritual wine, radiating a spiritual glow, flowed continuously into the wine cup.

However, as the glass was nearly full, there was still no sign that the mechanism would close.

Immediately afterwards, the man in black raised his hand and waved it. Another wine glass in front of him flew rapidly downwards towards the mechanism hole. As soon as the first glass was filled, the second glass was quickly filled in, ensuring that not a single drop was wasted.

As the second cup of wine was filled, the dots around the mechanism slowly dimmed, and the mechanism slowly closed. The man in black then manipulated the two cups of wine to fly back to him.

Bai Cheng's seat was only one meter away from the man in black, but the rich spiritual energy, mixed with the aroma of wine, was like a gentle breeze constantly impacting Bai Cheng's face. When Bai Cheng looked at the wine in the man in black's glass, he could even see the visible spiritual light scattering out of the glass like stars. Seeing this, Bai Cheng clenched his fists, his expression extremely solemn.

'Strange, the force this person exerted just now was completely less than the previous two, yet the closing speed of the cauldron's mechanism hole was much slower than the previous two.'

Thinking of this, Bai Cheng turned his gaze back to the cauldron in the middle of the stone table.

'Could it be that the key lies in the patterns that illuminate the surface of the cauldron and the final convergence of the dots?'