"Ah, beer is so refreshing!" Ye Xiu sighed contentedly, motioning for an attendant to refill his mug. "I never imagined that in this era, our great nation had already mastered brewing beer. Those Europeans are clearly just imitators."

"You can actually drink this!" Ajiao peeked over, looking at Ye Xiu with great surprise. "You must have never tasted it before; this is a specialty of our Water Clan."

Ye Xiu scoffed, stood up to offer a toast to everyone again, and drained his cup once more.

"General Ye has quite the tolerance! To drink our Water Clan's Cold Water Jade Elixir for the first time and enjoy it so thoroughly." The Palace Master was delighted, giving Ye Xiu a hearty thumbs-up.

"Wait, this isn't beer?" Ye Xiu felt strange hearing 'Cold Water Jade Elixir.' It was clearly beer, just without the carbonation, and frankly, not as crisp as what he was used to.

"Beer, hahaha!" Ajiao nearly burst out laughing. "I didn't realize your talent for making up names was top-notch! Care for another cup?"

"No problem! Cold Water Jade Elixir it is." Ye Xiu poured another measure, thinking he could easily handle ten bottles of standard beer; translating that to these mugs meant at least seven or eight cups.

"You can drink more!" Ajiao was somewhat astonished; she herself dared not touch the stuff.

At this moment, Lang Taotian raised his cup and winked at Ye Xiu. "Our Water Clan's Cold Water Jade Elixir is the finest wine; most people can't get used to the flavor. Even those with great capacity usually stop after three cups. General Ye has already finished three upon arrival; truly a dragon among men."

"Let's drink, stop chattering," Ye Xiu, completely flattered, felt like he was walking on air. Back in college, he was the lightest drinker in his dorm. To think these people considered three cups a feat! He tilted his head back and instantly downed the entire cup.

"Excellent, excellent! Truly a hero," the Palace Master clapped, immediately signaling attendants to refill Ye Xiu's cup and bring forward delicacies. "The wine is good, but you must try our Water Clan's cuisine."

Ye Xiu was surprised. He hadn't expected the Water Clan to be so civilized. Unlike the people of the Qin Dynasty in the Central Plains who ate with their hands, these beings used forks and knives—a surprisingly European style.

"What is this..." Ye Xiu picked up a fork, intending to spear a piece of meat from the platter, but upon closer inspection, he vaguely recognized the creature and couldn't quite place it.

"What's wrong? This is a highly venomous Spirit Monkey, a specialty of Cangshan Sea," Ajiao said, a wicked, malicious smile playing on her lips.

"A monkey!" Ye Xiu was aghast that these barbarians had steamed a monkey alive. The sight was distressingly familiar. "This thing is lethally poisonous!"

"General Ye, please eat without worry. While the Spirit Monkey is toxic, we have prepared a potent antidote." Lang Taotian quickly explained. "Consuming the highly venomous Spirit Monkey followed by the highly venomous Grass Serpent—the neutralization of these two toxins within your body will clear the mind and ensure unimpeded internal energy flow."

"What!" Ye Xiu was so terrified he dropped his fork. He looked at the Palace Master, then at everyone else happily spearing the monkey meat. "Doesn't that turn the entire body into a toxic mixture? If the neutralization fails, you've just thrown your life away!"

Ajiao, sitting beside Ye Xiu, viciously stabbed a piece of meat, chewed it, and glared at him from the corner of her eye. "And they call you a great general? So hesitant just eating something."

Ye Xiu swallowed hard, feeling a flicker of concern for these strange beings. "You eat first, I'll wait. By the way, how are you planning to eat the monkey brains?"

Ajiao giggled endlessly. She raised her knife, brought it down with a clean slice through the Spirit Monkey's skull, and then, using her fork, pierced the exposed brain cavity, skewering it as if it were a candied fruit.

"Holy hell!" Ye Xiu nearly gagged, completely unable to stomach such a barbaric way for a woman to eat. He hadn't touched anything and was about to throw up.

Seeing Ye Xiu's obvious distress, Ajiao only ate with greater relish. The attendants, recognizing that the spread didn't suit Ye Xiu's palate, quickly brought forward more bizarre dishes. "General Ye, this is highly venomous lizard; this is a venomous creeping vine flower; oh, and here is a famous dish called the highly venomous Water Spider."

The mere sound of those names made Ye Xiu's teeth chatter. He gestured wildly, almost frantic. "Do you have anything... anything not poisonous! Or just bring me a bowl of rice!"

"What is wrong, General Ye? Are you not enjoying the banquet at the Water Palace?" The Palace Master noticed something amiss. Though he was thoroughly enjoying himself, slighting Ye Xiu was unthinkable.

Ye Xiu hastily waved his hands. "These dishes are too rich. I've had an upset stomach these past few days, so I can't eat much. If you have plain white rice, just one bowl would be perfect."

"Heh, General Ye can drink well, and he can eat well too! Very good, bring General Ye a bowl of white rice." As the Palace Master spoke, he casually removed a lizard leg from his plate.

Although the Palace Master’s comment felt odd, Ye Xiu finally breathed a sigh of relief, spared from the cursed poisons. He had initially believed the Water Clan to be peace-loving and elegant; it turned out they were utterly deceptive. These people were wilder than the brute-force-inclined Beast Clan.

"General Ye, please partake," the attendant's voice was quite sweet, but... Ye Xiu's jaw dropped as he stared at the "rice" placed before him, almost spitting out the saliva he'd been holding. They promised a bowl of rice, one bowl of rice, but this was not a bowl; it was a massive wooden tub.

"I only asked for one bowl," Ye Xiu mumbled quietly, but Ajiao overheard him.

Ajiao couldn't stop laughing. She dismissed the attendant and solemnly addressed Ye Xiu. "Where we come from, those small utensils aren't called bowls; they're called guan. One bowl of rice here is equivalent to eighteen guan."

"Then can I have one guan?" Ye Xiu silently cursed Ajiao for not mentioning this discrepancy in measurement sooner. No wonder the Palace Master had praised him so effusively for asking for one bowl of rice.

"That won't do. My father hates it when people say one thing and do another; you could be dragged out and executed," Ajiao barely managed to suppress her laughter, while Ye Xiu at that moment felt a desperate urge to die.

While Ye Xiu was struggling with the sheer volume of food in the Water Clan domain, Wan Jian Xuan Hu had personally led the Human Army to the edge of the Desolate Gobi, the territory where the Beast Clan had vanished. Simultaneously, Yi Zi Jian Jun and Ye Feng Bei Ming led their respective forces toward Hantian Valley.

Along the route, Xuan Hu’s Black Sword Guard army encountered numerous skirmishes. The Beast Clan truly was the fiercest among the three races, fielding a citizen army where even ordinary folk utilized all four limbs for increased speed during resistance. However, the Black Sword Guard possessed the Myriad Sword Art at the Fifth Stage and utilized the Myriad Sword Array for support, making them virtually unstoppable. Yet, the scene on the Desolate Gobi presented a challenge even for Xuan Hu.