Fortunately for Zhiran, the hideous scene of debauchery between the two monkeys didn’t last long. As if the system sensed his complaint, the vision abruptly shifted to another incident.
This time, Zhiran found himself in the middle of a dense forest, standing before a massive tree.
Looking at the forest from up above, he was sure that it was the Deepwood Forest just outside the Azure Flame City. Just the location was quite deep.
Zhiran then saw that at the base of the massive tree, a deep burrow had been carved into the trunk, winding downward like a natural chamber.
Around it, besides the monkey leader and his mate, a large group of monkeys gathered, chattering and cheering excitedly.
Their tiny fists pounded the ground, tails flicking in unison, creating a chaotic rhythm that filled the forest air.
’Are they performing a wine-making ceremony?’
Zhiran thought, as he saw a large number of monkeys pouring various berries and fruits into holes carved in the tree.
Using their innate Wine Monkey ability, they stomped and pressed the fruit with uncanny precision, their spiritual energy subtly accelerating fermentation while their excited squeaks created a chaotic, almost ritualistic rhythm.
’But...what is the point of this memory?’
Although the wine-making ceremony was something worth looking at, Zhiran felt it was just that. He didn’t get the monkey’s unique trait of fermentation.
So, what was the point?
Just as Zhiran was thinking like this, he saw the leader of the monkeys leaving the crowd and entering the complex chambers inside the massive tree.
As with his previous disappearance, Zhiran’s vision shifted abruptly once again.
Only this time, he appeared in a dark, damp passage with no light in sight. It seemed to be the deepest part of the chamber.
The leader was alone, without his companion, moving agilely from corner to corner, navigating the complex space at a dizzying speed. Just watching it made Zhiran feel almost lightheaded.
Fortunately, it didn’t take long for the monkey to arrive in a large cavern, surrounded by dense roots, with the rest of the cavity empty.
"What now?"
Zhiran was curious about what the monkey would do next, since the room appeared completely empty.
But when he saw it move to the far-right corner and perform a series of complex hand movements imbued with spiritual energy, he grew confused.
’What is it trying to do?’
For a moment, he thought the monkey was just playing around, until suddenly a section of the chamber shifted open, roots rearranging themselves to clear a pathway.
It almost looked like an opening of a hidden vault in the modern world.
’Natural array... So this palace has a separate room hidden by a natural array?’
But Zhiran realized what it was as soon as he saw it.
After all, he had witnessed arrays in operation before and was familiar with the concept of a Natural Array; an array formed by nature itself, guided by complex spiritual pathways.
In fact, it was said that humans had learned this art by observing nature.
It was just, such arrays were extremely rare and only found in special locations with certain characteristics.
Zhiran never thought he would see one here today.
’What is inside?’
Realizing what it was, Zhiran’s heart skipped a bit in excitement. He felt that this must be the treasure vault of the Monkey Leader.
And seeing how easily he opened the barrier, he seemed extremely intelligent. So the stuff inside must be good, right?
Just as Zhiran was thinking about it, he saw the leader enter the chamber swiftly after the array opened. Simultaneously, his vision shifted, placing him inside the hidden vault.
’Gold?’
As soon as Zhiran’s vision cleared, he saw the entire chamber bathed in a golden glow. For a moment, he thought the vault was filled with gold.
Such a conclusion immediately made him frown, as mortal treasures held no value for a cultivator.
"Splash!"
Suddenly, a low splash of water drew his attention to the center of the vault.
Only then did he realize that the golden hue wasn’t from gold at all, but from a small puddle of golden liquid, shimmering softly and reflecting the light, its true nature hidden in plain sight.
’Is this... r-royal wine?’
As soon as Zhiran saw the puddle of golden liquid, his heart skipped a beat. For a moment, he even wondered if he was hallucinating.
But when he saw the Monkey Leader sitting at the corner of the pond, carefully picking up spirit fruits from the ground and imbuing each one with his pure spiritual essence before tossing it into the liquid, he immediately realized his guess was correct.
The golden liquid was indeed Royal Wine.
’Fuck... so this monkey is on the verge of a breakthrough? No wonder.’
Zhiran immediately understood the ins and outs of the matter.
After all, a royal wine could only be made by a peak Qi Condensation Wine Monkey that was about to break through.
When the time for its promotion came, the Wine Monkey would gain a special temporary trait that let it imbue spirit fruits with its very essence. Using that trait along with normal fermentation, it could produce a royal wine that acted as a catalyst for breakthroughs.
It was similar to a Foundation Establishment pill made by humans, only far better.
Unlike pills, royal wine was an extremely pure natural treasure and caused almost no harm to humans.
In fact, it could even help someone build a foundation with less risk of failure. That’s why it was such a valuable treasure and so hard to find.
Zhiran really never thought that he would encounter one like this.
After all, he was sure that the head of that monkey didn’t belong to a foundation establishment beast. And from how secluded that vault was, he doubted the hunter managed to find that place.
Didn’t that mean that Royal Wine belonged to him?
Zhiran never thought that he would be so lucky all of a sudden.
"Hmm? Luck?"