Su Yi thought for a moment, then said, “For now, it’s hard to say, but what I can say for sure is that the Azure Continent is in no way simple.”

In truth, he’d already deduced a few possible answers. However, they were still nothing but vague conjectures, and furthermore, they were overly shocking. He couldn’t say for sure that any of it would happen, either.

If he spoke of them now, it would be overly alarmist. 

When they heard that, the crowd felt a bit disappointed, but they were all in strong agreement.

It was true: after what they’d just been through, who among them dared say that the Great Azure was merely a spiritually barren world?

That night, Su Yi and company left Bloodthistle Yao Mountain and returned to the Greenplate Army’s camp.

The Spiritmartial Marquis, Chen Zheng, arranged a banquet, treating Su Yi, Ning Sihua, Shen Jiusong, Mu Xi, and the others with great hospitality.

During the feast, Su Yi became the target of their toasts. Naturally, Su Yi didn’t refuse.

When it came to drinking, he was no coward.

But then, he knew his limits, too. When he neared the point of intoxication, he got up and left the banquet. When he returned to his room, he circulated his cultivation and silently rid himself of the uncomfortable warmth of the alcohol.

“If Cha Jin were here, she could at least make me a bowl of hangover soup.” Su Yi sat on his bed. He suddenly rather missed the House of Waveswept Rocks. “Tomorrow, as soon as I’ve refined that sword embryo, I’ll head straight back to the Imperatorial Provincial Capital.”

At tonight’s banquet, Su Yi learned that the Greenplate Army’s encampment had a forge. It was specifically built for crafting weapons and armor.

Naturally, it had no shortage of facilities for forging swords.

Su Yi planned to finish forging his next sword before he left.

Before long, he shook his head, cleared his head of all scattered thoughts, then sat down and started meditating. 

Morning the next day.

Mountain-Subduing King Mu Xi, Pu Yi, Jiang Tanyun, and Lu Zhangfeng left together.

Before their departure, Mu Xi met with Su Yi, smiled, and said that it might not be long before they met again.

Su Yi didn’t take this to heart. He simply responded with a perfunctory nod.

As soon as Mu Xi and the others left, the Spiritmartial Marquis led him to the Greenplate Army’s forge and arranged for a private work room.

“This is Malevolent Yang Flame. It’s useful for forging spiritual weapons, and I trust that it will be enough to meet your needs, Young Lord Su.” Chen Zheng stood before a massive bronze forge and smiled. 

The furnace was already lit with searing black flames. Tongues of flame licked the air, emitting terrifying waves of blistering heat. 

“Not bad.” Su Yi nodded. “All you need to do now is ensure I’m not disturbed.”

“Alright.” Chen Zheng agreed, then left.

Su Yi was now the only person present. He waved his sleeves, and various spiritual materials floated into view.

Of them, the most precious was the Shooting Star Iron Essence. It was a rare tier-five spiritual material, as radiant as silver and as sharp as cold lightning. It contained the fierce destructive power of the stars.

If you added even just a little of it while forging a sword, it could dramatically increase the weapon’s quality!

Aside from the Shooting Star Iron Essence, the other materials were all tiers three and four. All were valuable.

But all of them combined were far from comparable to the sword embryo made of Abstruse God Wood. 

“Rather than saying I’m ‘forging’ a sword, I ought to say I’m ‘sealing’ the sword embryo’s power….”

The look in Su Yi’s eyes was a bit strange.

The sword embryo’s power was simply too great. Although it wasn’t a complete spiritual weapon, in terms of sheer quality, it far surpassed typical spiritual weapons!

To the best of Su Yi’s knowledge, even Origin Dao cultivators’ ultimate-tier origin weapons were a level below the sword embryo.

Of course, a sword embryo was, ultimately, still an unfinished project. It wasn’t much different from a peerless spiritual material.

Even so, its power was exceedingly terrifying! But alas, more power wasn’t always a good thing.

Given Su Yi’s current strength, if he used the sword embryo to slay his foes, he could only last about five, maybe ten minutes before exhausting the power of his cultivation base. 

The reason was simple: displaying the sword embryo’s full strength required an exorbitant expenditure of his own power. 

It was no exaggeration to say that, were he any other Grandmaster, he would have been too weak to use the sword embryo at all. 

At the end of the day, the best sword for a sword cultivator was the one best suited to them. Only a perfectly-matched spiritual weapon could perfectly coordinate with one’s own power, and only then could one display their full strength in battle. 

It didn’t matter whether a spiritual sword was too weak or too strong. Both had their disadvantages, and both would negatively impact their user.

Thus, Su Yi was effectively sealing the sword embryo’s power so that it was a better fit for his current cultivation. 

“Right, I should melt Mountain’s Eminence down first. It’s a rare spiritual weapon. Once I melt it down, I can combine it with these spiritual materials. That’ll be enough to let me carve a Spirit-Devouring Edict on the sword embryo…..

“With this edict, going forward, I’ll just need to gather spiritual materials and let the sword absorb their spirituality. That’ll be enough to compensate for the expenditures of maintaining and repairing the blade. It can also nourish the sword’s spirituality, and I won’t need to spend time on improvements….

“When I step into the ranks of Xiantian Martial Ancestors, I might well be able to dispel the seal and use a unique secret method to reforge it into a true divine blade!”

After pondering for a while, Su Yi got to work.

……

“Ol' Ma-zi, so long as you agree to give up on all thoughts of revenge, I guarantee you a path to survival.” The Spiritmartial Marquis, Chen Zheng, sat in a tent and let out a long sigh. “Out of consideration for our past friendship, I hope you won’t refuse.”

Vice Commander Ma Shanwei stood not far away, his expression shifting and uncertain.

After a while, he said in a raspy voice, “Marquis, might you give me a reason?”

Just a few days, as soon as Su Yi arrived at the Greenplate Army encampment, he trampled and beat Ma Shanwei over what he’d done to Huang Qianjun. 

It might seem as if the entire incident had already blown over, but Chen Zheng knew that deep within his bones, Ma Shanwei was frenzied and paranoid. There was no way he’d simply swallow this insult. 

Chen Zheng pondered for a moment, then said, “You’ve served the Greenplate Army for years. Your temperament might be a bit extreme, but I’ve always seen you as my fellow soldier. I naturally don’t wish to see you throw your life away.”

“Throw my life away?” Ma Shanwei froze, stunned.

Chen Zheng said gravely, “I can tell you that, with your paltry abilities, it won’t matter how long you wait. There is absolutely no way you’ll ever get the chance to take revenge. I don’t care whether you believe me or not. You can tell me what you’ve decided now.”

“I….” Ma Shanwei’s chest heaved. Some time later, he gnashed his teeth. “Fine. Marquis, I agree. So long as I shall live, I’ll never stand against Su Yi ever again!”

Chen Zheng inwardly sighed in relief, but outwardly, he said coldly, “You’d best keep your word, and you’d best not feel wronged. I don’t mind telling you that even the mighty vice sect master of the Deathbringer’s Gate, Hua Liuye, an old devil capable of going toe-to-toe with State Preceptor Hong Shenshang, couldn’t take so much as a single swing of Young Lord Su’s sword! In the end, even his soul was destroyed. Tell me, are you stronger than Hua Liuye?”

Ma Shanwei shook from head to toe. He couldn’t help but blurt, “Is he really that strong?”

Chen Zheng said flatly, “If I spoke a single false word, may heaven and earth strike me down.”

It was true that Su Yi had borrowed the power of the restriction formation, but that didn’t change the fact that he had indeed killed Hua Liuye in a single attack.

Ma Shanwei slumped as if he’d lost his soul, and his forehead was covered in sweat. “Marquis, please rest assured. I’m not so stupid as to seek my own death…”

Chen Zheng nodded, then suddenly asked, “Did you imprison Nan Ying?”

“That’s right,” said Ma Shanwei.

“Go ahead and kill her,” said Chen Zheng. “This is the military. We cannot allow a woman to cause a disturbance in our ranks.”

Ma Shanwei’s eyes flashed with cold light, and he went off to carry out the marquis’s orders.

Before long, Zhang Yiren rushed into the tent and proffered a sealed missive. “Your Excellency, this is a secret letter from the Firedome King, Xia Houlin.”

“The Firedome King?” Chen Zheng was stunned.

In his youth, he and the Firedome King, Xia Houlin, had once been friends. Although they weren’t exactly best friends, their relationship was still rather decent.

However, in recent years, they’d rarely exchanged letters, and they almost never met face-to-face.

Chen Zheng thought for a moment, then opened the sealed letter. 

After reading through its contents, his expression filled with uncertainty.

The message was simple: it was a clear warning that he’d best distance himself from Su Yi. Otherwise, the Jade Capital’s Su Family would see him as their enemy! 

“What exactly is going on here?” Chen Zheng furrowed his brow. He was well aware that Xia Houlin was one of the three non-Zhou kings to emerge from the Su Family. They said that it was thanks to Su Hongli’s support that Xia Houlin got a lucky break and stepped into the ranks of Xiantian Martial Ancestors. 

It was also thanks to his relationship with the Su Family that Xia Houlin was directly appointed a non-Zhou King upon becoming a Xiantian Martial Ancestor.

But Chen Zheng didn’t understand how Xia Houlin learned about his bond with Su Yi, nor why he was using the Su Family’s power to threaten him into severing that bond!

“Come, let’s go visit Marquis Shen.” Chen Zheng rose and hurriedly left to pay Shen Jiusong a visit, taking Zhang Yiren with him.

Shen Jiusong was currently drinking in his residence. When he learned why Chen Zheng had come, his pupils constricted, and he blurted, “The Jade Capital’s Su Family plans to act against Young Lord Su?”

But this response only made Chen Zheng even more confused. “Brother Shen, what exactly is going on here?”

Shen Jiusong calmed himself down, then explained everything that had happened at the Western Mountain’s Tea Party. He didn’t leave out Su Yi’s relationship with Family Head Su Hongli, either. 

After learning all these secrets, Chen Zheng felt enlightened, but also frightened. He had only just learned that although Su Yi was Su Hongli’s son, he and the Su Family were like water and fire. They were essentially enemies. 

Furthermore, this was his first time hearing that, at the Western Mountain’s Tea Party, Su Yi had slain the Su Family deacon, Yue Changyuan, without the slightest reservations!

Even the fifth-level Grandmaster the second prince had invited to attend, Qin Changshan, had fallen beneath Su Yi’s blade. 

This entire sequence of events was unquestionably shocking, to the point that Chen Zheng stood there in a daze for quite some time before coming back to his senses.

But then, Shen Jiusong knit his brow. “Brother Chen, you’re a marquis, yet the Su Family is using their power to threaten even you. I’m afraid they’ve long since set their sights on everyone else connected to Young Lord Su!” 

He took a deep breath and said gravely, pausing for emphasis between each word, “And if that’s the case, this is serious!” 

What is “hangover soup”? I think the name makes it pretty clear that it’s intended to clear your head after drinking too much, but what goes into it? I googled it in both English and Chinese, and thought I’d share some of what I found.

First, I’m seeing a few people say that congee works for this purpose.

But I’m getting far more results for Korean variants in both English and Chinese. 

There’s also a Creole variant, Yakamein, which is also a purported hangover cure. It looks like it got its name from Cantonese. I say that, but the article I linked says that the popular origin story is that American soldiers picked it up in Korea. Who knows? Not me, that's for sure.

Anyway, most of the soups I found when I searched in Chinese were some variant of clear, meaty broth with various solids floating in it. Here are a few examples.