“Yes!”
Gu Mu knew that his physical condition had already deteriorated to the worst possible state, so he thought it would take several months to treatment for the other party to alleviate his situation. Yet, contrary to his expectations, the other party said that three treatments were sufficient. Thus, he couldn’t help but feel amazed by his ‘senior granduncle’ once more.
“Your current condition shouldn’t pose any problem to you in the short term, so I will arrange for the other two treatments at a later date. Also, I’ll leave the matter regarding the Crimson Flame Lotus Seed up to you! After all, you’re the envoy, so I will stay out of this matter!”
The carrot and stick each has to be employed at the right moments for it to be useful. Knowing that Gu Mu was completely impressed by him, Zhang Xuan wasn’t worried about being attacked by him again. Thus, as he spoke, he walked up and sat at the centermost position in the hall.
Gu Mu nodded before turning to Liao Xun and the others, “Other than the Vice Hall Masters and the elders, the rest of you can leave now!”
“Yes!”
No one dared to disobey the words of the envoy. Soon, only the four elders and the three Vice Hall Masters remained in the room.
“I’m here for two matters!”
Flinging his sleeves, Gu Mu scanned the surroundings.
Even though he behaved as an obedient junior before Zhang Xuan, acting cautiously and subserviently, it was a fact that he was still a Zhizun realm pinnacle expert and a 3-star pinnacle poison master. Destroying this branch didn’t mean anything at all to him.
His absolute strength granted him unparalleled authority, and no one dared to talk back to him.
“Envoy, please speak!”
Liao Xun and the others quickly bowed.
“Firstly, I will choose the new Hall Master. Secondly, I am here to pick the Crimson Flame Lotus Seed, which should have matured by now.” Gu Mu said.
“Crimson Flame Lotus Seed…”
Liao Xun and the others shuddered, their faces turning pale at the same time.
“Crimson Flame Lotus lives in the regions where the earth flames burn, and it feeds on lethal poison to nourish itself. Both the flower and the leaves contain lethal poison, and they are ideal ingredients to concocting poison. However, despite the lethal poison on the other parts of the lotus and its surroundings, its seeds remain untainted. On the contrary, it is an unparalleled treasure for cultivators trying to surpass Zhizun realm. The reason why the Red Lotus branch was established several thousand of years ago at this spot was to monopolize this lotus.”
With an authoritative tone, Gu Mu spoke, “Now that the lotus seed has matured, I’ll take the seeds and leave the flower and leaves to you. I presume that you have no problems with this, right?”
“There’s… no problem!”
Liao Xun and the others smiled bitterly as they nodded.
The envoy had already spoken, and the ‘senior granduncle’ was observing beside. Even if they had a problem with his words, they wouldn’t dare to voice it out!
“That’s good. How much longer will it take before the lotus seeds mature?”
Seeing the lack of opposition to the matter, Gu Mu nodded his head in satisfaction before asking.
He chose this period of time to come after having estimated the maturing of the lotus seed, but the specific date that it would fully mature eluded him.
“Reporting to the envoy, there’s still ten days to its maturity!”
Liao Xun replied.
“Ten days? Good. Prepare the best room in the Poison Hall for my senior granduncle. In this ten days, I will pick out the new Hall Master!” Gu Mu said.
“Yes!”
Everyone nodded in response to the envoy’s instructions.
Knowing that it would take ten days before the Crimson Flame Lotus Seed mature, Zhang Xuan decided to make use of this time to digest the information which he had just absorbed to analyze the poison aura within his body.
In any case, since he hadn’t yet cured the other party completely, so even if Gu Mu were to realize a lapse in his statements and conclude that this ‘senior granduncle’ of his was a fake, it was unlikely he would do anything to him.
Besides, he had displayed numerous incredible feats which even 5-star poison masters were incapable of. Most probably, he wouldn’t dare to pick a fight with him either.
…
Ignoring the issue of selecting the new Hall Master, Zhang Xuan sat quietly in his room after instructing the Great Herb King and Butler Lu to guard his door. He was analyzing the books which he had gathered, and his mind operated at maximum efficiency.
“Correct!”
Muttering under his breath, the countless books on poison on the shelves merged into one and formed a thick secret manual.
Knowing that this was the [Heaven’s Path Poison Art] that he wanted to compile, he grabbed it lightly and started browsing through it without hesitation.
“Poison is a type of medicine. It can kill, and can also save lives…”
Written on the first page of the book was an introduction to poisons.
This Heaven’s Path Poison Art manual formed with the books on poison here was clearly much more advanced, detailed, and profound than the one formed with the books in Tianxuan Kingdom. Zhang Xuan’s understanding of poisons deepened with each page he read.
After an unknown period of time, Zhang Xuan’s eyes suddenly opened. The confusion which could be seen in his eyes before was replaced with clarity.
“To think that the study of poison is so vast and profound as well!”
Recalling the content he has just learned moments ago, Zhang Xuan felt amazed.
It was no wonder why poison masters were the subjects of fear for countless people. In terms of the complexity, it wasn’t inferior to apothecary, blacksmiths, and the other Upper Nine Paths occupations. In terms of offensive ability, it might even exceed them.
For example, with Zhang Xuan’s current cultivation, he would definitely be unable to match a Zongshi realm intermediate stage cultivator. However, if he were to utilize poison, he could easily kill a Zongshi realm pinnacle expert!
Or perhaps, even a Zhizun realm expert!
Of course, poison wasn’t omnipotent either. Without a sufficiently high cultivation, one would be unable to conceal the killing intent within them, and their attempt at poisoning the other party would be easily detected. If so, they would probably be killed before they could even do anything.
Furthermore, there were some formidable poisons which required a poison master to use his blood essence and zhenqi to trigger its effects.
Even if a person who wasn’t a poison master or didn’t possess sufficiently high cultivation were to be given a potent poison, he would be unable to utilize it. On the contrary, he might even be killed by it instead.
It is just like how everyone knows about the might of the atomic bomb, but without sufficient knowledge and strength, it is impossible to control. Even if you were given one, you wouldn’t be able to threaten anyone with it. On the other hand, you might even put yourself in danger by wielding it.
Potent poison is just like a powerful weapon. Without sufficient strength and mastery, putting aside coming into contact with them, even if one was several hundred meters, or even several thousand meters away, it was possible for him to be poisoned to death by it!
It is an incomparably dangerous tool!
Initially, Zhang Xuan thought that if he formulated a potent poison, he wouldn’t have to fear even Zhizun realm pinnacle experts. But from the looks of it, he had been overthinking.
“While I don’t intend to harm anyone through poison, I can avoid being harmed by others with this knowledge!”
The strength that a poison master could potentially wield alarmed Zhang Xuan.
While he didn’t intend to kill anyone with poison, he had to be careful to not allow anyone to obtain a chance of poisoning him.
It was just like the poison aura in Zhang Xuan’s body. If he had been guarded against all poison masters beforehand, he wouldn’t have landed himself in such a difficult situation.
“According to the manual, the highest level that a poison master can attain is to create the Poison Body. It is entirely possible for me to cultivate it!”
Zhang Xuan smiled.
Just like any other occupation, being a poison master is heavily reliant on talent.
Talented poison masters would possess Innate Poison Body. Not only does the Innate Poison Body grant one incredible sensitivity to poison, it would also give them extraordinary resistance toward it. That is to say, if a poison master possesses this constitution, even if he were to consume the poison concocted by other poison masters, he wouldn’t suffer any effects or damage, as though eating an ordinary meal.
Even more so, rumors have it that a person with such a constitution can absorb the energy contained within the poison they consume in order to raise their cultivation.
Of course, this constitution is incredibly rare. Even within billions of poison masters, there might not even be a single one.
Similar to Zhao Ya’s Pure Yin Body, one had to be born with this constitution to possess it, so it was impossible for Zhang Xuan to cultivate the Innate Poison Body. However, the countless secret arts that poison masters cultivate contained in the books of the Poison Hall had formed a corresponding cultivation technique alongside the Heaven’s Path Poison Art.
And if he were to cultivate according to the cultivation technique, even if he is unable to reach the level of the Innate Poison Body, he would be able to significantly increase his physical immunity to poison. This was much more efficient than the special techniques poison masters utilize to temper their physique to make it more resilient toward poison.
“I should give it a try!”
Without any hesitation, Zhang Xuan willed for the book on the cultivation technique to appear and started browsing through it.
After an unknown period of time, he exhaled a mouthful of turbid air and stood up all of a sudden.
Geji! Geji! Geji!
The bones throughout his body crackled as though fried beans and his aura evolved in an instant.
“Even though it pales in comparison to Innate Poison Body, it grants me immunity toward ordinary poisons. In my current state, consuming poisons formulated by a 3-star poison master wouldn’t hurt me in any way!”
Sensing the changes in his body, Zhang Xuan smiled.
There was an obvious change in his body after cultivating the Heaven’s Path Poison Art and his immunity toward poison had increased.
Even though it wasn’t the Innate Poison Body, he had achieved perfect immunity to poisons concocted by 3-star poison masters and below.
“More importantly… After cultivating the Heaven’s Path Poison Art, on top of curing people and inducing a breakthrough in their cultivation, my Heaven’s Path zhenqi can also be turned into lethal poison with a single thought, killing an enemy instantaneously!”
Rather than his physical body, the greatest change from cultivating the Heaven’s Path Poison Art was actually his zhenqi.
The purity of the Heaven’s Path zhenqi made it an unparalleled tool in healing injuries, rejuvenating one’s stamina, augmenting one’s life force, and inducing a breakthrough in cultivation…
And after cultivating the Heaven’s Path Poison Art, Zhang Xuan was now capable of converting the Heaven’s Path zhenqi into a lethal aura that was impossible to withstand. Once it seeps into one’s veins, even a Zhizun realm expert would be unable to neutralize it.
As clear as spring water, it was capable of diving into any holes or acupoints within the human body. Even if one were to know where it was, without sufficiently pure zhenqi, it would be impossible to expel.
This was no different from terminal stage cancer. Even if one knew the cause and solution to the problem, it was impossible to treat.
As expected of the Heaven’s Path zhenqi. Life and death hinged on just a single thought.
Zhang Xuan didn’t know that it could wield such an incredible power.
“Now that I’m done cultivating the Poison Body, I should check on the poison aura!”
Having finished cultivating the Poison Body, Zhang Xuan exhaled deeply. He turned his attention once more to the poison aura hidden in the depths of his body.
In the past, he understood very little about poison, and thus, he was unable to ascertain what the poison hiding in his body was. Now that his knowledge was comparable to a 3-star poison master, such that Gu Mu might not even be a match for him, he finally possessed the capability to look into the origin of the poison aura and find a way to expel it.
Upon entering the state of Heart of Tranquil Water, Zhang Xuan’s mind began clocking at a rapid speed.
“This poison aura can hide within my bloodstream and escape the pursuit of my Heaven’s Path zhenqi…”
As he examined the poison aura hidden in his body, books after books of poison appeared before his eyes, and countless knowledge flooded his mind.
There was more than a million type of poison in the world, and every single one of them had a different concoction and cure. Even the slightest mistake could cause a huge difference in the result.
Thus, Zhang Xuan didn’t panic. He took his time and sieved through the countless books in the library slowly.
“Green Spirit Poison, that’s not it! Phantom Shadow Toxic, that’s not right either! Clear Snake Venom, that doesn’t seem like it…”
Zhang Xuan compared the poison based on its color and traits to those listed in the books one by one. After a period of time, Zhang Xuan suddenly halted. His face paled, and his eyes were filled with disbelief.
“To think that it would be this. How… How is this possible?”
—
Clarifications:
A Heaven’s Path (perfect) cultivation technique is formed along with the Heaven’s Path Poison Art. While the book is called Heaven’s Path Poison Art, the cultivation technique is also called Heaven’s Path Poison Art.
Cultivating Heaven’s Path Poison Art will grant you the Poison Body.
