Chen Zhe was the person who revealed the intelligence from Zhang Yinqiu to the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe, causing the latter to nearly be unable to return from the Qiu Wu Palace. A person like him should be deeply condemned by the Master Teacher Pavilion, and yet, Principal Zhang was proposing to offer the highest of compliments to him?
This was too bizarre!
On the other hand, seeing that Wu shi didn’t comprehend what he was driving at, Zhang Xuan shook his head and explained, “At this point, Chen Zhe’s crimes are only known to a handful within the Master Teacher Pavilion. This is actually disadvantageous to us. In order to officially indict Chen Zhe of a crime and justify his arrest, we’ll need to convince the entire Master Teacher Pavilion of our case, and that would require more evidence than just Old Principal Zhang Yinqiu’s testimony. However, that is one thing that we are lacking at the moment. If we were to disregard that and forcefully pin an accusation on Chen Zhe, it will appear as if we are trying to conceal our depraved actions instead. On top of that, the fact that Chen Zhe has even passed away in the Master Teacher Pavilion plays against us as well. Think about it, we have captured Chen Zhe, but Chen Zhe ended up dying in captivity. What do you think the others would think about the matter?”
“This…” Wu shi fell silent.
It was normal for others to sympathize with the weak, but whether the weak was truly weak or not was often one thing that couldn’t be clearly seen on the surface.
If they were to really attempt to pin a crime on Chen Zhe, as long as someone were to work behind their backs and fabricate a story to accuse Wu shi of abusing his authority to deal with Chen Zhe, the common populace would be unable to discern which point of view was true. In such situations, the tendency was for them to naturally sympathize with the victim, Chen Zhe.
By then, the tables would be turned. Their advantageous situation would turn into a deeply disadvantageous one in an instant.
“On the other hand, if we were to declare that he has died and bestow his family with huge riches for the matter, the other party might think that news has been leaked and panic. By then… the other party might very well do something that would give themselves away. As long as we can lure the other party out, the rest would be simple. As for Chen Zhe, it wouldn’t be too late to indict him of his crime then.” Zhang Xuan said.
“I see…” Wu shi came to a realization.
That was indeed the best plan they had at the moment.
Not only would it resolve the adverse effects brought about by Chen Zhe’s death, it could also potentially bait the other party out. Truly two birds with one stone.
“I’ll have it done now!” Nodding, Wu shi quickly turned to the 6-star master teacher beside him to issue instructions.
“What else should we do?” After making arrangements, Wu shi asked once more.
“For the time being, this should be enough. Tonight, we’ll still be attending the Appraisal Convention that you spoke about… Don’t worry, we have already placed the bait dangling before them. Now, we just have to wait to hook something up.” Zhang Xuan smiled.
Wu shi nodded before falling silent.
After leaving Chen Zhe’s cell, Zhang Xuan headed straight for the Master Teacher Pavilion’s library.
With Wu shi’s identity token in his hand, he was qualified to access the Saint 3-dan and Saint 4-dan cultivation techniques in there. In less than two hours, he had already collected everything into his Library of Heaven’s Path.
After that was done, he took out the books which Emperor Chu Tianxing had given him and collected them into his Library of Heaven’s Path too.
Compile!
The Library of Heaven’s Path jolted, and two new books materialized before Zhang Xuan’s eyes.
They were the Saint 3-dan and Saint 4-dan Heaven’s Path Divine Art.
Swiftly browsing through them, Zhang Xuan’s eyes lit up in excitement.
“They have both reached the level of Heaven’s Path, I can cultivate them right now!”
This seemed to be the first time he had collected the Heaven’s Path Divine Art for two realms in advance. With these two, he would be able to make a breakthrough on the spot to Saint 4-dan Primordial Spirit realm!
“However, the sky seems to be getting dark. I should first head over to the Appraisal Convention with Wu shi before cultivating…”
Zhang Xuan glanced out of the windows and saw that the sun had already set. The Appraisal Convention that Wu shi had mentioned previously should be starting any time soon, so he couldn’t afford to spend any time on cultivation for the time being. Thus, he stretched his back lazily and walked out of the library.
In any case, everything would be simple once he had the required cultivation techniques. At most, it would only take him two hours or so, or at the very worst, four hours… Either way, he could have it done very quickly.
Besides, there was no such thing as a cultivation bottleneck to him. Once he cultivated, the technique would surely reach the mastery of Consummation.
Thus, for the time being, it was more imperative for him to bring all of his supporting occupations to 7-star and become a 7-star master teacher first.
“Principal Zhang, let’s set forth!” Wu shi said with a smile upon seeing Zhang Xuan walking towards him.
After which, the duo headed out together.
…
While Zhang Xuan and Wu shi were heading to the Appraisal Convention, in a vast hall in the royal palace…
“Damn it, damn it!”
King Zhongqing paced around the room as he clenched his teeth tightly in fury. Hatred burned within his eyes like a raging inferno, as if they would burn down everything in their sight.
“Enough! You sure have gotten brazen to attempt to make a move against a 6-star master teacher without making ample preparations!” Chu Tianxing harrumphed coldly.
“Your Majesty, I…” King Zhongqing quickly clasped his fist to explain himself.
“Forget it, you don’t have to explain anything to me. Just learn from this lesson and make sure that you never commit it in the future. Know that it took me a heavy price to bail you out!” Chu Tianxing waved his hand impatiently.
“I apologize for my ineptitude.” King Zhongqing lowered his head and said.
“Alright, that’s enough of that. For the next few days, you should remain in my royal palace to cultivate and reflect on where you have gone wrong. For now, you can’t afford to have anyone finding any more handles on you, or else no one will be able to save you!” Chu Tianxing instructed.
“Yes!” King Zhongqing nodded. “Don’t worry, there shouldn’t be any more problems. The main issue at hand lies with that Zhang Xuan, he really isn’t an easy fellow to deal with. Furthermore, his cultivation is much higher than we have previously anticipated…” As King Zhongqing spoke about Zhang Xuan, he couldn’t help but grit his teeth furiously. However, as soon as he said those words, his face suddenly paled, and his body began shaking uncontrollably.
“This is bad…” King Zhongqing narrowed his eyes as goosebumps rose all over his body.
“What’s wrong?” Chu Tianxing frowned.
“I-I have been poisoned! Pu!” King Zhongqing’s body began convulsing non-stop, and large mouthfuls of blood spurted from his mouth. He felt as if all of his organs were about to shatter anytime soon.
“Poisoned? How did you get poisoned?” Chu Tianxing’s eyes widened in alarm.
King Zhongqing had been beside him for the last few minutes, so how could he be suddenly poisoned without any warning?
“I have no idea either!”
The immense pain rendered King Zhongqing incapable of standing on his feet, and he rolled around the ground wildly, hoping that it would alleviate his pain somehow. Cold sweat trickled down his entire body, and no matter how he contemplated over the matter, he simply couldn’t recall when he was afflicted with the poison.
“Did you eat or drink anything today?” Chu Tianxing asked anxiously.
For even King Zhongqing, a Saint 4-dan pinnacle expert, to be unable to tolerate it, the poison was truly fearsome.
An individual who had such a potent poison in his possession and could poison King Zhongqing without the latter noticing had to be a 7-star pinnacle poison master at the very least!
But if such a figure had appeared by King Zhongqing’s side, he would have known it. Why did he have no impression of it whatsoever?
“Today…” King Zhongqing began recalling everything that had happened earlier, “That Zhang Xuan fed me several gourds of fine wine, and that Sun Qiang sprinkled salt and pepper over my body…”
There couldn’t be anything wrong with the food in his King Zhongqing Manor, and he hadn’t touched the food in the Master Teacher Pavilion either. The only thing left was Zhang Xuan’s wine and Sun Qiang’s condiments.
“Sprinkled salt and pepper over your body?” Chu Tianxing was stunned.
What the heck was that?
However, he knew that this wasn’t the time to be asking about that. With a deep frown, he remarked, “From the looks of it, the culprit seems to be that Zhang Xuan… Just that, what kind of poison is this? Men, summon Royal Physician Sun over!”
“Yes!” A guard quickly bowed and rushed out of the room.
Not too long later, an elder entered the hall.
“Your Majesty!”
“Un. Royal Physician Sun, King Zhongqing has been poisoned, and I would like you to analyze what kind of poison it is and treat him…” Chu Tianxing instructed.
Royal Physician Sun was a 7-star pinnacle physician specially employed by the royal court, and his comprehension of the Way of Medicine had already reached a profound level. If anyone could treat King Zhongqing, it had to be him!
“Your Majesty, rest assured, As long as the poison isn’t beyond grade-7, I’m confident that I’ll be able to resolve it easily!” Royal Physician Sun smiled, revealing a row of perfectly yellow teeth.
With a flick of his finger, he swiftly weaved his zhenqi into thin threads, which swiftly wrapped itself around King Zhongqing in the shape of a sphere.
This was his exclusive diagnosis and treatment method—Sonar Diagnosis Cocoon.
By linking his zhenqi threads to the vitals and acupoints of the patient, he would be able to take a closer examination of the patient’s condition through the vibrations through the zhenqi threads, and thus make an accurate diagnosis of the patient’s condition.
“Hm? There’s something really weird about the poison…” Royal Physician Sun analyzed King Zhongqing’s condition for a moment, and a deep frown surfaced on his forehead.
“Weird?” Chu Tianxing’s face darkened. “Can he be treated?”
“Your Majesty, rest assured. Even though the poison is elusive and nearly indiscernible, I should be able to figure what is going on by sending my zhenqi threads into King Zhongqing’s body through the Zhenqi Thread Diagnosis Method, and from that, resolve the poison!” Physician Sun said confidently.
“Hurry up then!” Seeing King Zhongqing’s face turn ghastly pale, as if he would succumb to the poison at any moment, Chu Tianxing urged.
“Yes!” Royal Physician Sun nodded. Taking a deep breath, he flicked his fingers forward.
Tzzzzzzz!
A surge of zhenqi shot from his fingers into King Zhongqing’s glabella, and it swiftly dived its way into the latter’s meridians.
The Zhenqi Thread Diagnosis Method involved sending zhenqi threads into the body of the patient to examine the latter’s inner condition to determine the source of the injury or illness, thus allowing the physician to treat the issue at its root.
Since the Sonar Diagnosis Cocoon wasn’t sufficient to determine the lethal poison which King Zhongqing was suffering from, he could only resort to this method.
Hu!
Before long, his zhenqi had already made its way around King Zhongqing’s body, but there was still no lethal poison to be seen. Perplexed, Royal Physician Sun retracted his zhenqi and contemplated with a deep frown.
He had checked every nook and cranny within King Zhongqing’s body, but there was not a trace of any poison to be seen. Yet, the other party’s internal organs were corroding, clearly the doing of a lethal poison. These contradicting situations had left him deeply bewildered.
“How is it?” Chu Tianxing asked anxiously.
“There’s something really bizarre about the poison. I need some time to think of a solution…”
Halfway through his words, Royal Physician Sun’s face suddenly turned ghastly pale. His body abruptly fell heavily onto the ground before convulsing wildly. Huge mouthfuls of blood spurted wildly from his mouth, rendering his face a shade paler each time. “Darn it, I was poisoned as well…”
As he said those words, his body convulsed a few more times before he passed out altogether.
“This…” Chu Tianxing was astonished.
It was just a moment ago that the other party declared confidently that he would be able to resolve the poison, and yet, before he could even determine what kind of poison it was, he had already passed out…
The other party was already the most formidable physician in the royal palace, but he still ended up succumbing to the poison.
Against a lethal poison which could affect even a 7-star pinnacle physician unknowingly, what could they possibly do?
“Your Majesty… I have a handful of poison masters imprisoned in my manor… Bring one of them over…” King Zhongqing uttered weakly.
“Hold on, I’ll send my men to bring them over!” Chu Tianxing said before turning to his men to issue some commands.
Under the orders of the emperor, the guards swiftly made their way over to the King Zhongqing Manor, and not too long later, they returned with a black-robed young man.
He was no other than Butler Qin!
“Old Master, the poison masters in the residence have been released by Zhang Xuan!”
“Released? Pu!”
At this point, King Zhongqing was already withered internally and externally. At this moment, he didn’t even have the strength to move around anymore, as if an old man languishing on his deathbed.
“There are no poison masters left, and the physicians aren’t capable of treating it either… I’ll go look for Zhang shi personally! To think that a master teacher would actually resort to such underhanded tricks…” Chu Tianxing roared lividly.
He had to pay such a heavy price in order to bail King Zhongqing out. If the latter were to die of poison shortly after, wouldn’t his Qingyuan royal family become a laughingstock of the populace?
“Zhang shi? Poison?” Upon hearing those words, Butler Qin swiftly turned to Chu Tianxing and asked with his head lowered, “Your Majesty, was our Old Master poisoned by Zhang Xuan?”
“It must be him! No one else had a chance to strike other than him!” Chu Tianxing harrumphed in anger.
“If he’s the one behind the poison…”
Butler Qin paused for a brief moment as confidence emerged on his face, “I know how to alleviate the poison!”
