The eight great masters
The eight great masters
"What's this? Only two jars?" the prince was somewhat disappointed.
"You think these two jars are insufficient?" Jun Moxie batted his eyelids: "These jars are worth eleven thousand taels of silver each, which makes their combined worth twenty two thousand taels of silver."
Old Song grunted: "I've never heard of a wine which costs eleven thousand! The price of this is over hundred times of what a wine should normally cost, so this itself is an eye-opener for me." It was rather obvious that Old Song was being sarcastic.
"A man with limited knowledge and experience always thinks big of himself! You haven't seen every nook and corner of this world yet." Jun Moxie replied back bluntly: "What are you waiting for? Hurry up; I need to go back early tonight."
[I've really never seen a blend of wine which is worthy of being this expensive!]
The arrogance of the youngster obviously angered the three men. The man in black sized up the jar: "The wine looks fairly normal to me; I don't think it's that special."
"You really won't be able to tell the quality of the wine, and which one is better unless you've tasted them first!" Jun Moxie replied coldly.
The three guests sat down on their chairs. The two judges had already made up their minds; [if the two wines are similar, or even if this youngster's wine is slightly better, we'll still vote for Old Song! Just look at this kid, he's way too arrogant!]
[One small jar of wine for over ten thousand taels of silver? No one can afford this! This wine could empty the state treasury!]
"Oh? I didn't realize that there was a little girl present here!" Jun Moxie looked at Yang Mo: "You're very pretty! You'll certainly turn into a very beautiful woman once you grow up! He he…."
"I'm a man! I'm a big man!" Little Mo Yang retorted furiously as he let go of his father's clothes and clenched his fists tightly, while his big and round eyes glared sharply at Jun Moxie.
"Really? I don't think so…. You even sound like a girl." Jun Moxie shook his head as he tilted his head to glare back at the boy: "Maybe you should peek down your pants and confirm it."
Jun Moxie was obviously joking around; young boys don't have coarse voices!
"I'm a man!" the little boy tightly clutched his waistband as his face started to flush with the embarrassing thought of removing his pants to affirm his manhood.
"Maybe you're a man…" Jun Moxie smiled evilly: "But you still look like a young female version of him." He said pointing towards the prince.
"I am a man!" the little guy shouted back in a sharp voice: "And that's because he's my father!"
"Ha ha..." everyone broke into laughter at the same time. Jun Moxie rubbed his hair: "Well good, I won't say that again, so let's just believe that you're a man, okay?"
"Well, well…." The little guy didn't understand Jun Moxie's words properly, but came closer to him and whispered in his ear: "If you don't believe me… then I'll remove my pants and show you."
Jun Moxie was left dumbstruck and.... beaten!
Even though the boy whispered this into Jun Moxie's ears, everyone obviously heard it. The men present in the shop were all experts, and their senses were extremely sharp; even if the boy had whispered this in an even softer tone, they would have all still heard it very clearly. Everyone obviously burst into laughter once again, and the atmosphere in the room suddenly eased down.
Jun Moxie secretly smiled… the hitman was experienced enough to understand that it is better to have a contest in a harmonious environment since it helps in maintaining order.
[This kid is definitely going to be somebody someday!]
Realizing that the kid had a lot of fire within, Jun Moxie decided to leave the kid alone… for his own good.
Old Song went into the back room, and returned carrying two jars in his hands. The thick cover of dust on the jars made it evident that these jars had been in storage for a long time now.
"Since you've only brought two jars of wine, I must also produce only two; for the sake of fairness." Old Song was very proud of these two jars of wine. He had travelled across mountain and rivers to procure the materials for this wine during the prime years of his life, and had fermented this wine with all his skill.
"This wine is twenty-eight years old. I crossed snow-cladded mountains, glaciers, rivers, lakes, forests… I spent five years travelling around the world to find the right materials for this wine during the prime of my years." Old Song's face reflected a hint of sadness: "These two jars contain the last remaining samples of my finest creation."
His words incited a strong interest in the hearts of the Solitary Eagle and the prince.
"You travelled the world for five years to find the right ingredients for making a wine…" the Solitary Eagle shook his head: "That sounds a little far-fetched to me! But that itself makes this wine worthy of greatness!"
"Worthy? He he..." Old Song smiled in a strange manner, seemingly a bit hurt: "This wine is the best wine that I've ever made…. The best in the world!"
"Well…. The quality of the wine is secondary, but your sheer dedication is worthy of praise." Jun Moxie applauded: "However, dedication isn't synonymous with success. The quality of the wine isn't decided by the effort that goes into making it."
The three men immediately glared at Jun Moxie; it was obvious that his words had offended them again. [Dedication isn't synonymous with success? Okay, maybe this wine isn't the best in the world, but what is he trying to imply here? Does he mean that the referees may be biased?]
The Solitary Eagle looked at Jun Moxie coldly. The youngster he had taken a liking to earlier, was now turning to someone really annoying. [He's singing a completely different tune now, and it seems that he's also questioned my ability to judge?] He couldn't help asking in a cold manner: "Young man, what do you mean…. Dedication isn't important? Off all the success stories from the past, can you recall even one where the person managed to achieve something great without persistence?"
"Dedication is important, but it all depends of the value of that dedication…. And whether the goal is worthy of it or not!" Jun Moxie stated fearlessly: "Dedication paves the way for success, and should always be admired, but if you're dedicated to a lost cause, then you're no more than a fool!"
"And yes, all the successful people in the world have always had one thing in common, persistence! Once they identified a goal, they never back off, and worked very hard to build something great, which is why their stories serve as an example to us all. For example, Heavenly Scent's founding Emperor, Yang Kai Tian, worked his Mystic Qi to the peak, everyone knows about that! So you're right about that! But there are several other masters at the peak, but they never made it to the top like the Emperor did!"
"The masters of this world? What do you know about them?" the Solitary Eagle started taking interest in Jun Moxie's words once again.
"The world only believes in the eight great masters. The first ranked master is untouchable, Yun Biechen. People say that he walks with level nine Mystic beasts by his side. It is said that he reached the peak of Spirit Mystic several years ago! They say that he's capable of turning the entire world upside down on his own!"
"Yes," the Solitary Eagle nodded slowly. His Royal Highness and Old Song had also heard about this man's name, and knew what he was capable of. Yun Biechen was practically a legend! An immortal legend!
"The Second isn't as strong, but is still a legend in his own merit, Li Juetian! People say that he's indifferent to everything, and only acts according to his own fancies…. But his Mystic Qi is already at the peak of the world, and I believe that no one can question that fact!"
"The third should be Blizzard Silver City's overlord, Han Fengxue." The moment Jun Moxie mention his name, a wave of emotion rippled across the Solitary Eagle's face.
"The fourth is Mo Wen Tian!" Jun Moxie's eyes were constantly scanning everyone's reactions secretly: "This master is said to belong to the Heavenly Scent Empire."
"Fifth, would be the cold-blooded Li Wu Bei."
"The sixth is a great scholar from the Shen Ci Empire. It is said that he's a mortal enemy of Mo Wen Tian's, and that they would do anything to kill the other! This person, Shi Changxiao, is also rumored to be inside the Heavenly Scent City at the moment!" Jun Moxie smiled coldly.
"The seventh great master choses to live in seclusion perennially, Meng Hong Chen."
"As for the eighth, huh ... " Jun Moxie smiled calmly: "That's difficult to conclude."
"What's so difficult to conclude?" the Solitary Eagle raised his eyebrows, and coldly looked at Jun Moxie: "It's nothing more than a name. Is it really that difficult to say it?"
"The Eighth position is tied in the eyes of the world between two people." Jun Moxie smiled in a mysterious manner: "The Savana's Solitary Eagle and Kuang Feng's Feng Juanyun are both considered to be rank eight. It is said that they tried to sort this out by the means of a battle almost half-a-lifetime ago, but their battle bore no result! Therefore, the eighth spot is shared by the two of them!"
"What difference does it make if there was a winner or not? That Feng Juanyun doesn't deserve his reputation! He's nothing in front of the Solitary Eagle!" the Solitary Eagle snorted.
"I've also heard the same before. I've heard that the Solitary Eagle often goes off to snow covered mountain peaks alone in order to improve his martial skills; in fact, it is said that he trains with hundreds and thousands of bald eagles! If this rumor is true, then the Solitary Eagle is sure to be a tough man!" Jun Moxie said this with a look of worship on his face: "If such is the case, then the Solitary Eagle is definitely superior to Feng Juanyun!"
The Solitary Eagle couldn't help feeling a sense of greatness: "I didn't think that a young man like you would actually know so much about the eight great masters of the world…. I guess you're more knowledgeable than I imagined."
Old Song and the prince simply didn't get it: [Everyone knows about this… there's nothing great about this! This doesn't exactly qualify as some great knowledge…]