CHAPTER 121: CELEBRATION

Nighttime... barely an hour after the boss monster was hunted.

Despite the scare, everyone returned home with smiles. After patching up their shelters, destroyed from the brief earthquake, they regrouped outside the castle, carrying tables, chairs, pots, pans, and ingredients.

In celebration of successfully repelling the monster wave, they were having a feast!

Of course, one might wonder how they could enjoy a feast with nothing but a few repetitive ingredients... But that, too, became irrelevant when Xu Tao revealed what he’d received from the boss monster’s loot box.

[

Item Name: Immortal Scribe’s Alchemic Converter (broken)

Rarity: Ultra Rare (UR)

Type: Miscellaneous

Effect: An item made by the Immortal Alchemist Flamel—who still walks the world to this day, guarding the secret to immortality—during his prime. Able to transmute anything of equal value into another... even life itself.

Note: The machine is currently broken, with many of its functions sealed, but it can still be used. The exchange output will be randomized, but of the same type and equal value.

]

The item itself, despite sounding like some sort of machine, actually looked more like a blood-red stone that released an unsettling aura. Xu Tao found it curious at first upon getting his hands on it and tested it out with a loaf of bread.

After laying the bread on the ground, he held the Converter in his hand and willed it to transform the item. As he did—

[Using the Immortal Scribe’s Alchemic Converter will consume gold proportional to the quantity of items to be converted (Current cost: 1 gold). Will you continue?]

—a notification popped up. He didn’t hesitate, answering "Yes" without pause.

The moment he agreed, the stone glowed in his palm.

His eyes were briefly blinded, and when his vision returned, a change had occurred. The bread on the ground was no longer there, replaced instead by a round, red fruit—an apple!

"This... is usable!"

And with that event, the idea of converting all their food ingredients at least once was born.

Using it en masse did hit his wallet a bit, but he hadn’t found any other use for his gold anyway, so he took it as a necessary expense. Thankfully, his idea was proven correct.

Food items, when converted, returned as random food items. Thanks to this, they now had access not only to bread and dried meat, but also to various fruits, vegetables, and—rarely—even some unknown items and cooked foods.

"Macarons? Cakes?! I call dibs!"

Yifa even recognized a few items Xu Tao couldn’t begin to name. She offered to trade items she got herself back in the desert for the dessert!

With new food types suddenly available, a banquet was quickly prepared.

"CHEERS!"

It was messy, with drinks of various kinds—like Russian roulette, in a way—served at each table. Some were cackling with glasses clinking, while others had already passed out from drinking spirits too fast. Still, the celebration continued uninterrupted.

In the middle, a large bonfire was lit, a custom of the locals when hosting festivals. Seated closest to that bonfire were the few individuals who had practically "carried" everyone through the entire monster wave.

"I’m really not used to festivities like this..." Xu Tao grumbled. "I prefer celebrating in a much calmer manner."

He was seated at the very center of the long table, with two beauties sitting on either side of him.

To his right sat the newly summoned UR character, Wu Zetian—refusing to leave his side no matter what. To his left was Jehanne, who was clearly uncomfortable with Xu Tao being so close to Zetian. Sitting further beyond Jehanne was Arthur, while Yifa sat at the far end opposite him.

"I concur, my Emperor," Zetian smiled, casually grabbing Xu Tao’s hand. "Why don’t we go somewhere more private instead? I have a lot of things I want to tell you..."

"Uhh..."

Xu Tao felt awkward. While he was torn between accepting or declining her invitation, a voice of reason rang out from his other side.

"You can’t! You’re the main character of the celebration, sho you should at least stay here until halfway in, Shir Tao!" The one on his other side, Jehanne, complained, pulling his arm to her chest. "If you leave too early, it would affect the morale of the troops!"

"...!"

Of course, Jehanne was still wearing her incomplete bunny girl set. At that moment, Xu Tao could feel various soft things rubbing against his arm... But weirdly enough, he didn’t feel the usual painful heartbeats that usually came with contact against the bunny-fied Jehanne.

"Hmph, vulgar girl... Are you drunk already?" Zetian scoffed, glaring at her. "We don’t have soldiers here, but commoners. What does morale have to do with them?"

"A tenth of them are soldiersh! Boosting their moral ish required, or else they might become deshertersh!" Jehanne insisted, her speech slurring further as her excitement grew.

Not taking no for an answer, she went so far as to pull Xu Tao to his feet before shouting toward the crowd.

"Everyone! I’m sure some of you still haven’t seen his face, sho let me introduce him once again!" she declared, her tongue miraculously becoming more fluent the longer she spoke.

"This man beside me is Sir Xu Tao! The original leader of this settlement, and the one who brought me and Sir Arthur to this world!"

There were about a thousand people present now, and almost every pair of eyes locked onto Xu Tao’s figure.

He was used to being seen—he had given hundreds if not thousands of speeches back in the Azure Dragon Sect—but being used to it and feeling comfortable were two different things.

Silence fell as they stared. Awkward and overbearing.

Xu Tao knew they were waiting for something... So he didn’t disappoint them. He released his Qi, an intimidating air radiating from his body. But rather than instill fear, it was meant to inspire awe and assert dominance.

"I am Xu Tao! Great Elder of the Azure Dragon Sect! As long as I’m here, you’ll all enjoy safety beyond imagination! Those who fight with me will be rewarded according to their contribution! And those who go against me—"

BOOM!

A bolt of lightning fell on the empty space before Xu Tao, causing nearby people to jump back in panic.

"—shall face an ending worse than death!"

Once again, silence gripped the entire venue. Xu Tao grinned, nodding to himself. It had gone exactly as planned.

Not waiting for the crowd to catch up, he sat back down and resumed his meal.

"O-Oh... OHHH!"

And then, delayed cheers erupted.

Nothing was more reassuring than seeing the extent of their protector’s power, after all!

"That same domineering air... There’s no mistaking it," Zetian whispered under her breath, covering her lips with her black fan. "As expected of my Emperor."

"Ah..." Xu Tao exhaled, belatedly absorbing his own words.

"Right—rewards. I need to distribute them to those who participated in the defense..."

It was long past sundown, but his job was still far from over!