Even after reading to the sixth floor, Zhang Xuan was still unable to find a solution for Wei Ruyan’s Innate Poison Body. According to the introduction on Poison Master Bai in the Library of Heaven’s Path, it was reflected that the other party was a 7-star pinnacle poison master from the headquarters. Given so, the other party had access to knowledge greater than what was contained in this Hongyuan Empire Poison Hall, so he might know some secrets regarding the matter.
Besides, it was normal for a soul to suffer from memory loss if it were to be fragmented or exist for too long. Putting aside everything else, Vicious was in the same state as well.
This point would serve to bring greater credibility to his argument, making it easier for him to win the trust of the other party.
And as expected, upon hearing those words, Poison Master Bai suddenly had an epiphany. Nodding, he contemplated for a brief moment before saying, “I have heard of those possessing the Innate Poison Body losing control of their strength and bringing calamity on the world before… However, I am not too sure how it can be suppressed either. However, Poison Master Hai has read some related materials, so he might know a thing or two about the matter.”
“Poison Master Hai?” Zhang Xuan was stunned.
Could it be that the other party wasn’t the only envoy from the headquarters?
The Library of Heaven’s Path could only reflect the flaws of individuals whom it came into contact with. As Poison Master Hai had never entered the Compendium Hall, Zhang Xuan had no chance to learn of the other party’s existence either.
“Poison Master Hai is my companion who has accompanied here. He is a 7-star pinnacle poison master as well, and he has read many books regarding you. Perhaps, he might have a solution toward this problem!” Poison Master Bai explained.
“How many people from the headquarters have come here with you?” Zhang Xuan couldn’t help but ask.
“It’s just the both of us!” Poison Master Bai dared not lie to the founder of the Poison Hall.
“Just the both of you?” Zhang Xuan heaved a sigh of relief internally.
If it was only the both of them, this matter would still be under his control. He had already beguiled one over, so as long as he were to push a little harder, he should be able to win the trust of the other easily too.
After a moment of hesitation, Zhang Xuan whipped out a gourd of fine wine and passed it over, “Invite him here. Tell him that this gourd of wine is a treat from me!”
“You are treating Poison Master Hai to a drink?” Poison Master Bai was perplexed.
“Indeed. There are some medicinal herbs contained within the medicine which might prove to be useful to you all in furthering your cultivation.” Zhang Xuan nodded with an empathetic look, seemingly showing earnest concern for his junior.
“It is useful in furthering one’s cultivation? Then why would I…” Poison Master Bia was taken aback.
“Are you wondering why the wine is ineffective on you even though you have drunk it?” Seemingly seeing through the other party thoughts, Zhang Xuan said.
“This…” Having his thoughts pointed out, Poison Master Bai’s face flushed in embarrassment.
He had already drunk the wine, but he hadn’t felt any boost in his cultivation at all. However, as a junior, he wasn’t in a position to question the other party’s decisions.
“All medicinal herbs only work upon reaching a certain dosage. You have only drunk two mouthfuls, so naturally, the effects on you are minimal. As long as you drink a few more mouthfuls, the effects will become apparent to you.”
Smiling, Zhang Xuan adopted an unfathomable image.
“Drink a few more mouthfuls?” Poison Master Bai was taken aback for a moment before nodding in agreement.
Indeed. Most medicinal herbs only worked their wonders after reaching a certain dosage. Considering that he had only drunk two mouthfuls, it was inevitable that the effects would not be apparent.
With such thoughts in mind, he raised the wine gourd, which the other party had passed him a moment ago, and lifted it up. ‘Gudong! Gudong!’, the other party drank more than a dozen mouthfuls.
For one of their cultivation realm, as long as they didn’t intend to get drunk, ordinary alcohol were ineffective on them.
After drinking, Poison Master Bai closed his eyes. As expected, a surge of warm energy began flowing out from his abdomen, headed towards his Yuanshen acupoint.
For several centuries, he had used all kinds of methods to attempt to break open his Yuanshen acupoint, only for his efforts to end in futility eventually. At this moment, when he felt the surge of warm energy flowing over, he began drawing the strength within his body towards the Yuanshen acupoint too. With a light knock, ‘jiya’, the seal on his Yuanshen acupoint actually shook.
“This…” Poison Master Bai’s breathing hastened, and he nearly leaped up in agitation.
For someone of his level of cultivation, it was apparent what the shaking meant.
The seal of his Yuanshen acupoint was loosening! In other words, as long as he were to persevere on in the future, there might be a chance that he would be able to knock it open!
To think that a gourd of fine wine would actually achieve what his centuries of effort was unable to do, wasn’t this wine a little too formidable?
“Is it effective?” Chuckling softly, Zhang Xuan spoke in a leisurely yet unfathomable voice.
“Thank you, founder!” Poison Master Bai replied in agitation, awed by what he had just experienced.
After feeling the benefits the fine wine had towards him personally, he harbored no longer any doubts towards the gourd of wine anymore.
“Alright, you can leave now. I will be heading to the seventh floor now. Have Poison Master Hai drink the wine and look for me later on.” Seeing that he had won the other party’s trust, Zhang Xuan waved his hands casually and dismissed the other party.
“Yes!” Hurriedly nodding, Poison Master Bai left excitedly.
To him, this journey had brought him great rewards. Not only was he able to ascertain Sun Qiang’s real identity, he was even able to reignite his confidence and obtain a mystical gourd of wine from the founder which could very well become the key for him to achieve a breakthrough in the future.
After sensing that the other party had left, Zhang Xuan waited for a moment longer before opening his eyes and standing up.
Beguiling a 7-star pinnacle poison master was no easy task, but it was fortunate that everything had gone smoothly.
The reason why he was able to fool the other party wasn’t because the other party was too foolish, but that the effects of the Library of Heaven’s Path and Heaven’s Path zhenqi were simply too inconceivable, and Zhang Xuan had utilized them perfectly to catch the other party off guard.
On top of that, disguise had always been his forte. If he wished to, not even a 7-star master teacher could see through his disguise. Fooling a 7-star poison master wasn’t anything much in comparison!
“Alright, hurry in…”
Knowing that it would take some time before Poison Master Hai arrived, Zhang Xuan decided to head straight for the seventh floor to gather the books first.
The books on the seventh floor were clearly much fewer, consisting of around a few thousand books. With a quick sweep of his gaze through the room, he collected all of them into his head.
After which, he sat onto the floor and began scanning through all of the books he had just collected. Not too long later, he shook his head with disappointment on his face.
There were at least a dozen books which had records on the Innate Poison Body, but they were extremely vague. Most of them only elaborated on how powerful the constitution was, but there was nothing about how one could control the poison aura and prevent it from leaking into the surroundings.
In other words, even after reading all of the books, he still hadn’t found a solution to resolving Wei Ruyan’s present condition.
“It seems like it will be impossible for me to find a solution directly through the records. I will just have to research it on my own…” Even though Zhang Xuan was disappointed, he didn’t despair.
With all of the books regarding poison in the Library of Heaven’s Path, there was no doubt that his comprehension of poison could reach at least 7-star pinnacle after he studied all of them, putting him on par with or even beyond Poison Master Bai.
With such deep mastery in the Way of Poisons, he would be able to deduce plausible treatment methods for Wei Ruyan’s condition.
But of course, to internalize all of the knowledge he had learnt and raise his understanding of poison from 3-star to 7-star, it would take several hours. Before then, he should listen to whatever Poison Master Hai had to say first.
Thus, Zhang Xuan sat down and began to wait. Not too long later, Poison Master Bai returned with an old man following behind him.
The old man was even taller than Poison Master Bai, and the aura around him was overwhelming. He was a powerful Saint 4-dan pinnacle expert as well.
At this moment, the other party was looking at him deferentially, without much doubt in his eyes. Most likely, he must have already heard about the matter from Poison Master Bai.
It seemed like the other party had deep trust in Poison Master Bai’s judgement. This was definitely for the best. He would be spared from the effort of putting on another act to convince the other party to submit to him.
Walking up to Zhang Xuan, Poison Master Hai bowed deeply and said, “I have indeed read in a book that those possessing the Innate Poison Body can bring disaster to those around them, and vaguely, I recall seeing the treatment method for the issue on the same book as well!
“The treatment would require the cooperation of many poison masters. A unique formation would be set up to convert the poison aura accumulated within the host’s body into energy which one could utilize to achieve a breakthrough… If the treatment were to succeed, not only would the host be able to resolve the threats of the Innate Poison Body, one would also be able to advance one’s cultivation by leaps and bounds!”
“Unique formation?” Zhang Xuan frowned. “Do you know what kind of formation it is?”
“I am not too sure about it myself either. However, those of the headquarters are bound to have heard of it. Also, if I were to recall correctly, the collaboration of 8-star and even 9-star poison masters would be required in driving the formation!” Poison Master Hai said with a frown on his forehead.
“The collaboration of 8-star and 9-star poison masters…” Zhang Xuan’s complexion darkened as a dark shadow gloomed over his eyes.
Putting aside the fact that he had nowhere to find such powerful poison masters, even if he were to find one, there was no way he would be able to beguile the other party into helping him given his current strength!
What founder or that sort, those were all nonsense! It was only through using the information detailed in the Library of Heaven’s Path that he was able to induce Poison Master Bai and Poison Master Hai to believe in him. Such a method wouldn’t work on true experts, no matter how good his acting was!
“Yes!” Poison Master Hai nodded. “Only a poison master of that caliber would be able to gather the poison aura emanated by the Innate Poison Body and complement it with various poisons so as to concoct it into something that could raise the host’s cultivation swiftly. Once the process succeeds, breakthroughs will become as easy as drinking water, and the day that you return to your peak state won’t be too far away as well.”
“Un.” Zhang Xuan nodded.
Even though he hadn’t internalized all of the books in the Library of Heaven’s Path yet, he had already browsed through all of the books regarding the Innate Poison Body amongst them, granting him a deeper understanding of the matter.
With the steady consumption of poison, those possessing the Innate Poison Body would find it harder and harder to suppress the poison aura within their body. However, if there were poison masters in the area who could gather all of her poison aura together and refine it with various medicinal herbs, it could indeed become a powerful force that would allow one to achieve breakthroughs at an astounding pace.
At this point, Poison Master Hai suddenly looked at Zhang Xuan hesitantly and asked, “Founder… Are you intending on using this body to regain your strength?”
“What’s wrong?” Noticing the peculiar edge in the other party’s tone, Zhang Xuan frowned.
“It’s nothing much, but… founder, aren’t you a female? Why are you using a male body instead…” Poison Master Hai said awkwardly.
“Female?” Zhang Xuan was stunned.
He knew that the founder of the Poison Hall did possess the Innate Poison Body, but thinking back, he had indeed never heard whether the other party was a male or a female… No wonder Poison Master Bai would doubt his identity!
“Wait, if the founder of the Poison Hall is truly a female, this will make things even more convenient for me…” A thought flashed across Zhang Xuan’s mind, and his body began trembling in agitation.
Previously, he had been thinking about how he could bring Wei Ruyan into the picture without incurring the other party’s doubts. However, if the founder was a female, this would make things convenient for him.
With a light chuckle, Zhang Xuan glanced at the duo. Even though his eyes were closed, Poison Master Hai still felt as if there were a sharp pair of eyes gazing on him. “I am indeed a female. It is out of no choice that I ended up depositing my soul on Sun Qiang’s body. However… I have already found a body that complements my soul perfectly. However, due to certain circumstances, I will lose consciousness once I enter the body, thus losing control of the power in my body as well… This is the reason why I came to the Poison Hall in seek of help!”
“You have found a body that complements your soul?” Poison Master Bai and Poison Master Hai glanced at one another, surprised by what they had just heard.
“Indeed. Not only so, my soul is currently very weak. Once I possess the body, it is very likely that I will lose all my memories. Unless I were to return back to my peak state, otherwise the other party will still be the leading consciousness. As such, I have been hesitating, not daring to make a move easily!” Zhang Xuan sighed.
“This…” The two poison masters frowned deeply.
They had never thought that there would be such extenuating circumstances surrounding this matter.
However, considering how their founder’s soul had suffered the battering of time for several dozen millenniums, it wouldn’t come as a surprise regardless of whatever state it was in.
A little late, this is the chapter for yesterday night. I had an event this morning where I had to make a speech (kind of) so I ended up spending the night memorizing it. Anyway, I will get working on the chapters as soon as I get time.
