Library of Heaven's Path
Chapter 992-999

Chapter 992: The Violetleaf King Submits

Translator: StarveCleric Editor: StarveCleric

The Violetleaf King wasn’t given much time to brood over his plight. Upon hearing the middle-aged man’s command, the Otherworldly Demon puppets had already charged forward.

If it had been before, against these Saint 3-dan puppets, the Violetleaf King would still have been able to stand his ground. However, plagued with lethal poison, he was barely able to fight at all. A few moments later, his entire face was filled with footprints, and his head had swollen up to the size of a ripe watermelon. Lying on the ground feebly, his breathing was weak, and it seemed like he would die at any moment soon.

With the wine cup in his hand, Zhang Xuan walked up gracefully and glanced down at the Violetleaf King, “Become my servant, and I can pardon you.”

With the experience from the previous Kings, it was indeed unlikely for any of the Otherworldly Demon Kings to submit to him. Nevertheless, it was still worth a try. Were he to succeed, he would have a Saint 4-dan Otherworldly Demon serving him. If so, he would have more cards to play should he replace himself in dire situations.

At the same time, he could also learn of the secret plans that the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe was up to—Why did they dispatch so many Kings over to the Master Teacher Continent? Why were they looking for the Poison Hall?

“You… dream on!” Hearing that request, the Violetleaf King clenched his teeth furiously.

To think that someone actually wanted to enslave a respected Otherworldly Demon King like him… Intolerable!

“Very well then!” Zhang Xuan turned his head around and commanded, “Continue beating him up!”

He didn’t have the slightest shred of goodwill or pity for the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe. If the other party was unwilling to submit to him, he would just have to kill the other party.

Peng peng peng peng!

The Otherworldly Demon puppets launched yet another tirade of punches and kicks, and it didn’t take long before the Violetleaf King’s face to turn completely pale. He was pummeled so badly that he couldn’t even replace the strength in him to talk.

This time, Zhang Xuan had learnt from his previous lesson. He had sealed the other party’s acupoint to ensure that he would be unable to draw his Primordial Spirit out. This way, the other party wouldn’t be able to pose any threat to him.

After pummeling for a while longer, Zhang Xuan noted that the Violetleaf King was just a step away from death, so he had his puppets pause for a moment before instructing, “Vicious, I will leave this fellow to you. You must uncover the motive behind the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe seeking out the Poison Hall from him…”

Since Vicious seemed to have a way to deal with the Otherworldly Demon Kings, Zhang Xuan couldn’t be bothered to conduct Soul Search. After all, the other party’s strength was far stronger than him, and conducting a Soul Search forcefully could very well wound his soul.

“Don’t worry, young master!” Vicious reassured.

In the next moment, a finger abruptly materialized in the air and tapped on the Violetleaf King’s glabella.

“This is… the aura of an Otherworldly Demon Emperor?” Sensing the strength exerted by the finger, the Violetleaf King suddenly felt a wave of helplessness.

The finger before him emanated the aura that was exclusive to Otherworldly Demons, and the concentration of the killing intent emanated had most definitely reached the level of an Otherworldly Demon Emperor.

An Otherworldly Demon Emperor actually acknowledged this young man as his master?

“Don’t kill me! I… I am willing to acknowledge you as my master…”

The realization that an esteemed Otherworldly Demon Emperor had taken the young man before him as his master seemed to have struck a chord within his mind, becoming the hammer which crushed the final shred of determination that he was firmly holding onto. All of a sudden, the idea of becoming the other party’s servant didn’t seem to be as big as a deal as death.

He knew that he would be branded as a traitor for acknowledging a human as his master, and he could very well suffer a death worse than death were he to be caught. However, he had no other choice.

If he were to reject it, he knew that he would suffer the same fate which befell the Goldenleaf, Greenleaf, and Waterleaf King.

On the other hand, if he were to submit, he might still have a chance to survive.

“You wish to take me as your master?” Zhang Xuan was slightly taken aback. He didn’t think that it was very likely to succeed, so he was surprised when the Violetleaf King gave in. With a light chuckle, he nodded and said, “Offer your soul!”

If he wished to gain absolute control over the other party, he would have to grasp the other party’s soul in his hand.

“Yes!” A bitter smile emerged on the Violetleaf King’s lips. Nevertheless, as one of the Kings of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe, he had gone through many things in the past, allowing him to make crucial choices decisively. Since he had made his decision, he didn’t hesitate for long before tearing a portion of his Primordial Spirit out and drew it out through his glabella to offer it to the young man before him.

On the other hand, Zhang Xuan took in the portion of the Primordial Spirit and absorbed it into his soul.

In an instant, every single thought in the Violetleaf King’s mind became apparent to him. As long as the other party were to even raise the thought of betrayal, he would be able to kill the other party in the blink of an eye.

“What a powerful soul! Could it be that he isn’t a poison master but a soul oracle?”

On the other hand, the Violetleaf King was also astonished to sense the astounding strength which Zhang Xuan’s soul possessed.

It was impossible for a Nascent Saint to possess such a powerful soul. The only plausible explanation was that he was a soul oracle.

Just that… didn’t the soul oracles go extinct long ago? How did his new master obtain their heritage and cultivate his soul to such a frightening level?

And more importantly, wasn’t he a poison master? Was he practicing the two occupation simultaneously?

“Master, since I have already submitted to you, can you resolve the poison in my body now?” The Violetleaf King had many doubts in his mind, but he knew that this wasn’t the time to ask them. With a bitter look on his face, he kneeled onto the ground and kowtowed deeply as he said.

He had taken a look at the poison in his body earlier, and he realized that he had never seen such a poison before. None of the antidotes he had in his possession seemed like it would work on it.

“Don’t worry. Since you have submitted to me, i won’t mistreat you!” Zhang Xuan nodded.

Hong long!

In the next moment, the Violetleaf King felt the lethal poison in his body working up once more. His face warped in horror, and he immediately started to plead for mercy. However, in the next moment, he realized that his wounds were beginning to recover under the nourishment of the ‘lethal poison’.

“T-this…” The Violetleaf King was dumbfounded.

An incredibly potent poison which even he was helpless before had turned into an unparalleled Saint recovery medicine in the blink of an eye!

Poison in a thought, medicine in another, was the person before him an existence transcending a 7-star poison master? If that was really the case, that was really frightening!

One must know that if a poison master of that caliber were to enter the otherworldly battlefield, the entire Qingtian Lineage might very well be wiped off the face of the world!

In the midst of his shock, the Violetleaf King’s wounds had already recovered to a fair extent. It wasn’t a complete recovery, but at the very least, it wouldn’t affect his basic movements.

Nevertheless, to be able to recover that quickly, the Violetleaf King was filled with awe and admiration for the young man before him. He kneeled to the floor and kowtowed once more, but this time, his feelings were earnest.

“Master!”

“Call me young master in the future.” Zhang Xuan waved his hand. “Since you have already submitted to me, I will tell you my true identity. In truth, I am a… master teacher!”

“M-m-master teacher?” Dumbstruck, the Violetleaf King nearly fainted on the spot.

He had guessed that the other party could be a poison master or a soul oracle, but the other party was actually telling him that… he was a master teacher?

When in the world did master teachers began cultivating their souls and immersing themselves in the study of poison as well?

And more importantly, weren’t master teachers supposed to be upright and dignified figures who conducted themselves righteously and morally?

When did they become so despicable and shameless, luring him into a scheme and doing him in so badly?

Even if such a person was a master teacher, there was no way he could win the acknowledgement of his peers and the Master Teacher Pavilion!

Just as such thoughts emerged in his mind, the young man before him continued speaking nonchalantly.

“I am the principal of Hongyuan Empire’s Master Teacher Academy.”

Pu!

Unable to hold himself back anymore, the Violetleaf King spurted a mouthful of blood.

As the passageway was linked to the Subterranean Gallery located in Hongyuan Empire, naturally, he understood the significance of being the principal of the Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy.

He thought that the principal of a Master Teacher Academy should be a respected and austere old man. Yet, who could have thought that it would turn out to be a shameless and despicable young lad instead… More importantly, the other party was even skilled in the utilization of poison and soul arts, the very occupations scorned by the Master Teacher Pavilion.

Was the Master Teacher Academy blind, or did the eras fly too quickly by for him to catch up with the latest trends?

“Alright, you should continue disguising yourself as a human!” Unaware of the other party’s thoughts, Zhang Xuan instructed after he introduced himself.

Due to being pummeled by his Otherworldly Demon puppets, the Violetleaf King inadvertently released his disguise due to the severe injuries he suffered, reverting back to his original form as an Otherworldly Demon.

It was fortunate that they were within a grade-7 Beguilement Formation, so no one was able to see what was going on here. However, if the Violetleaf King were to walk out in such a form, it would indubitably cause a huge pandemonium. To be safe, it would be better for him to maintain his human disguise instead.

“Yes!” The Violetleaf King nodded before reaching his hand for his chest. A brilliant flash of light shrouded his entire body, and a moment later, he reverted back to his human form.

“You depend on this to disguise yourself?” Noting the other party’s actions, Zhang Xuan was intrigued.

Unlike him, the other party didn’t depend on warping his muscles and bones to disguise himself. Instead, he made use of some kind of unique artifact.

“This is a Button of Disguise which we obtained from offering a tribute to our Spirit God. As long as one possesses bloodline on par with an Otherworldly Demon King, he would be able to activate it and disguise himself impeccably as a human, such that even master teachers wouldn’t be able to tell the difference!” the Violetleaf King replied.

“Spirit God?” Noting the unfamiliar term, Zhang Xuan asked with a frown.

This was his first time hearing of such a being.

“Yes, the Spirit God is a deity which our tribesmen worship. It is under the guidance of the Spirit God that we came here!” the Violetleaf King replied.

“You are saying that… it is under the guidance of your god that you found the Master Teacher Continent?”

All along, Zhang Xuan thought that the reason why the Otherworldly Demon was invading the Master Teacher Continent was due to a racial strife. However, from the looks of it now, the matter seemed to be deeply related with the Spirit God the other party spoke about instead.

“Yes, I also only heard of it from the Qingtian Emperor. However, those are matters which have happened ages ago, so there is no way to assess whether they are true or not. However, it is indeed true that we can earn generous rewards by tributing the souls and corpses of master teachers to the Spirit God, and this Button of Disguise was obtained through that method as well.” the Violetleaf King explained.

“Un.” Zhang Xuan nodded. He knew that these matters were still too far away from him, so there was no point brooding over it, especially since the Violetleaf King weren’t too sure about them himself either. Thus, he decided to put the matter aside for the moment and continued his interrogation, “Why are you all looking for the Poison Hall?”

If the goal of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe was to devastate the human race, they could have just attacked the Hongyuan Empire straight. Why would they bother sending out two Kings and go through so much effort to replace the Poison Hall?

“Reporting to young master, we have found an ancient domain which might very well contain an artifact that can help us to break open the seal in the passageway… If we are able to obtain it, our tribesmen will be able to enter the Master Teacher Continent in droves and reclaim the land which we have lost!” the Violetleaf King explained.

“However, that ancient domain is simply too dangerous. A few Kings which we have dispatched previously ended up being trapped within it, unable to escape even to date. After some investigation, we found out that there is a high chance that the Poison Hall may contain a detailed map of the ancient domain… Thus, Qingtian Emperor dispatched the both of us here to infiltrate the Poison Hall and secure the map!”

“Map? Ancient domain?” Zhang Xuan frowned. Looking deeply into the Violetleaf King’s eyes, he asked, “Could the ancient domain you spoke of be at Firesource City?”

The old principal had also been trying to uncover the location of the Poison Hall before he entered the ancient domain. Considering the words that the Violetleaf King had just spoken, could the ancient domain in the other party’s mouth be the same one as he was thinking about?

“Un, it is indeed in Firesource City!” the Violetleaf King nodded.

The Violetleaf King instinctively wanted to ask how did his young master know about it, but recalling that the other party was the principal of a Master Teacher Academy, he immediately came to a realization.

If the top brass of mankind didn’t even have the sources to acquire such crucial news, the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe would have long breached the defenses of humanity and conquered the Master Teacher Continent. They wouldn’t have been trapped in that wretched land to date.

“I see…” Upon hearing the other party’s confirmation, Zhang Xuan nodded in realization.

If it was an artifact that could break the seal in the Subterranean Gallery open, that would explain why the old principal would head into the ancient domain despite knowing that it was very likely he would not be walking out of there alive.

If the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe were to successfully acquire that artifact, it would spell a huge calamity to mankind.

Chapter 993: Heading to the Poison Hall

Translator: StarveCleric Editor: StarveCleric

After asking for a while longer, it seemed like the Violetleaf King didn’t know anything much about the ancient domain in the Firesource City either. Seeing that it was impossible to obtain any more useful information from him, Zhang Xuan shook his head.

At this point, Vicious had also managed to procure information out of the Waterleaf King’s Primordial Spirit, and the result was similar to what he had received from the Violetleaf King as well. They were only aware of the existence of the map, and everything other than them was vague.

It was said that when the ancient domain first appeared two thousand years ago, many powers had attempted to vie over the possession of the map. Eventually, it fell into the hands of the Poison Hall.

However, for some reason, the Poison Hall didn’t dispatch anyone to search for it. On top of that, the Poison Hall had always been secluded from the rest of the world, so it didn’t take long before the news regarding the map to fade from the minds of the world.

It was only through a very thorough investigation did the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe learned of its existence. After much preparation, they finally found a perfect opportunity to dispatch two of their Kings out to search for the map. However, who could have thought that the two powerful Kings they sent would end up being done in by Zhang Xuan before they could even catch a glimpse of the Poison Hall.

“What about the Goldenleaf King and Greenleaf King? What is their motive?”

The motive of the Waterleaf King and Violetleaf King for coming to Jingyuan City was to procure to map, so naturally, the Goldenleaf King and Greenleaf King had to be up to something as well. It was just that they were already killed before they could achieve anything, so up to this point, Zhang Xuan still had no idea what they were planning to do.

“Their motive is to… kill the principal of the Master Teacher Academy, that is to say… you, young master. They hope to create chaos that can divert the attention of the Master Teacher Pavilion away from everything else…” The face of the Violetleaf King reddened as he spoke.

“Kill me?” Zhang Xuan was taken aback.

He never expected that the goal of the Goldenleaf King and Greenleaf King was to deal with him. It was fortunate that he found them early, or else, if he were to replace himself challenged by two Saint 4-dan experts out of the blue, there was a good chance that he might have just died then.

He could already imagine what would happen if the two Kings and the two hundred or so Saint realm Otherworldly Demons were to appear at Hongyuan City. It would definitely stir up a huge mess, and even the Qingyuan Conferred Empire Master Teacher Pavilion would be embroiled into the conflict. By then, there would be no one paying attention to the ancient domain, allowing the Otherworldly Demon to sneak the artifact away easily.

“This…” Looking at the surprised on his young master’s face, the Violetleaf King couldn’t help but shake his head lamentably.

The Goldenleaf King and Greenleaf King sure had died pitifully.

They were dispatched to kill the principal of the Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy, only to end up being killed by their own target. On top of that, it turned out that their target didn’t know anything about it at all. How indignant they would be if they were to learn of it in the afterlife!

“It seems like their deaths aren’t unwarranted…” Zhang Xuan remarked meaningfully.

What goes around comes around. Those Otherworldly Demons in the Subterranean Gallery were planning to kill him, only to end up being killed by him instead.

“I have a folded space. You should enter it for the time being!” After asking all of the questions plaguing his mind, Zhang Xuan ushered the Violetleaf King into the Myriad Anthive Nest.

It took him a lot of effort before he could convince Elder Xu that he was a poison master. If the other party were to see him together with the Violetleaf King at this moment, the trust which he had cultivated painstakingly would shatter immediately, rendering his previous efforts futile.

Thus, it was best for the Violetleaf King to remain hidden for the time being.

Hu!

After keeping the Violetleaf King into the Myriad Anthive Nest, Zhang Xuan tore away the grade-7 Beguilement Formation. At that point, Hu Yunsheng and the others hadn’t gone far yet. He instructed for Hu Yunsheng to mobilize the troops of Inkcloud Quarter to take down the guards before writing a letter and arranging for it to be sent to Hongyuan City and its Master Teacher Pavilion.

The collusion between the city lord of Jingyuan City with the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe was a matter for Yu Shenqing to frustrate over. It was the other party’s call how he would deal with the traitor.

Nevertheless, one thing was for sure. As long as this letter was sent into Yu Shenqing’s hands, that arrogant city lord would become a thing of history.

Returning back to the chamber, Zhang Xuan noted that Elder Xu’s wounds had mostly recuperated. His condition was much better than before, but his face was still ghastly pale due to the immense damage his soul had sustained earlier.

A thought surfaced in Zhang Xuan’s mind, and he swiftly took out a beetle before passing it over, “I went to the City Lord Manor just a moment ago and retrieved this for you.”

The beetle was Elder Xu’s Lifebound Venomous Bug, and he had been feeding it with his blood essence for many years. It would be a huge loss to Elder Xu if he were to lose it, so Zhang Xuan had the Violetleaf King hand it over after the latter submitted to him.

Thinking back, it seemed like the beetle was also the reason why the Violetleaf King was able to trace them down to Inkcloud Quarter so quickly. Otherwise, considering the huge size of Jingyuan City, there was no reason why they should conduct a search on Inkcloud Quarter first.

“This…” Upon seeing the beetle, a look of agitation surfaced on Elder Xu’s face. He hurriedly took the beetle and replied, “Thank you!”

This was his Lifebound Venomous Bug. If it were to die, he would definitely sustain heavy damage. He thought that it would be impossible for him to retrieve it after it fell into the hands of the Saint 4-dan expert. Yet, who could have thought that the man before him would actually risk his life to retrieve it for him!

He couldn’t help but feel touched by this gesture.

“Are you injured anywhere?” Keeping the beetle, Elder Xu asked with a concerned tone.

He had witnessed with his own eyes how fearsome that Saint 4-dan expert was. To steal something from the other party’s grasp was a deed so difficult that he could hardly fathom it.

“Rest assured, I am fine…” Zhang Xuan said with a gentle smile when his face abruptly paled, and his body staggered.

Spurting a mouthful of fresh blood, Zhang Xuan’s body suddenly slumped weakly to the ground, as if having succumbed to the severe injuries it had sustained.

“Ah! Are you fine?” Alarmed, Elder Xu hurriedly rushed forward to help Zhang Xuan. Deep worry could be seen arched in his brows.

To actually put himself in danger to retrieve his beetle, how could he ever thank the other party for this?

More importantly, the other party even claimed that he was uninjured despite having sustained severe injuries for fear that he would worry… This was exactly the type of person which one should befriend and entrust one’s back to!

Elder Xu quickly took out a few recovery poison pills and fed it to Zhang Xuan. Seeing the latter’s complexion gradually recovering, he heaved a sigh of relief.

“It isn’t safe to remain here. We should leave quickly!” After recuperating for a moment, Zhang Xuan exhaled deeply and said.

Elder Xu nodded in agreement.

Had the other party not gone to retrieve his beetle, that Saint 4-dan expert might have thought that the both of them had already escaped far and thin his forces to comb the surroundings.

But now… the other party definitely knew that they were still at Jingyuan City. With their search area reduced, there was a good chance that they could be found very soon.

“How do you feel at the moment? Do you still need to rest for a while longer?” Elder Xu asked worriedly.

While escaping was important, he couldn’t allow the other party’s injuries to worsen because of it. Otherwise, he would feel guilty for his entire life.

“It’s fine, my injuries are still within a tolerable range. Let’s quickly leave this area first. I can slowly recuperate once we reach the Poison Hall!” Clutching his chest, Zhang Xuan spoke strenuously.

“Alright then. Let’s prepare to set forth!”

The both of them swiftly planned their route before discreetly making their way out of the chamber. They proceeded stealthily towards the city walls, and not too long later, they managed to make their way out of the city gates.

They stepped into the forest just beyond the city wall and descended into a mountainous valley. Soon after, a massive saint beast appeared before their eyes.

“This is the saint beast of our Poison Hall. Elder Xue and I rode this when we came here earlier…” Speaking up to this point, Elder Xu fell silent for a brief moment as sorrow surfaced in his eyes.

The Elder Xue whom he spoke of was the shorter fellow who was with him back in the City Lord Manor. In order to save him, the other party had stepped forward to face the Violetleaf King’s palm strike, resulting in his immediate death.

“Elder Xue gave his life to save you. The best way you can repay his sentiments is to return to the Poison Hall safely.” Zhang Xuan consoled.

“Un.” Understanding that Zhang Xuan was trying to console him, Elder Xu nodded and fell silent.

The duo got on the saint beast and began making their way towards the Viridian Cloud Sea.

The Viridian Cloud Sea was the largest inland sea of Hongyuan Empire, spanning a diameter exceeding a hundred thousand kilometers. There were many powerful saint beasts whose cultivation reached Saint 3-dan or 4-dan within the sea, making it an extremely dangerous area to explore. As a result, it had always been considered as one of the restricted lands to the cultivators.

The saint beast they were riding on was a Saint 1-dan intermediate stage Steelarmored Winged Dragon. It wasn’t particularly adept at speedy maneuvers, but its stamina was top-notch.

After flying for half a day, they finally caught sight of the boundless sea. Staring into the distance, the beautiful blue sky and the emerald seawater seemed to close in on one another, creating a breathtaking painting which harmonized the beauty of heaven and earth as one.

Gazing upon it at extended periods of time would widen one’s mind, granting one greater composure and a stronger disposition.

“There are a total of 27 poison formations on the pathway to the Poison Hall. Even a Saint 3-dan cultivator could be easily poisoned to death if he were to attempt to infiltrate the Poison Hall recklessly.” Within the wooden hut on top of the aerial saint beast, Elder Xu gazed down at the emerald seawater beneath and remarked.

“27 poison formations?” Zhang Xuan was astonished.

“Indeed. Furthermore, the poisonous formations are located around the dens of the Saint 3-dan saint beasts. Thus, if one were to attempt to avoid the poison formation, one would come under their attack instead. As such, most of the cultivators who sought the Poison Hall ended up dying on the journey there. Even by conservative estimates, there are at least several hundred casualties each year.”

At this point, Elder Xu shook his head.

“Several hundred casualties… each year?” Zhang Xuan was astonished.

Those who dared to venture into the Viridian Cloud Sea to search for the Poison Hall were bound to be not too weak themselves, reaching Saint realm at the minimum. Yet, there were actually a few hundred deaths of experts of such calibers each year… While this wasn’t the direct doing of the poison masters, it was intricately tied to them.

It was no wonder the occupation was feared throughout the continent, it was indeed a powerful force that one should be careful around.

“But considering how deeply hidden the Poison Hall is, how does it sustain its heritage?” Zhang Xuan asked with a deep frown.

Every occupation needed influxes of new blood to pass down its heritage, but considering how deeply hidden the Poison Hall was, most people wouldn’t even be able to replace it. Given so, how could they pass down their wisdom to the next generation?”

“Poison masters would usually venture into the world in search of talented individuals to take under their wing. There are also some who would adopt a lot of orphans and expose them to lethal poison from young, and only those who survive at the end of it are qualified to acknowledge the poison master as their teacher.” Elder Xu explained.

Zhang Xuan frowned.

That was a method similar to raising gu—placing all of the venomous insects together, allowing them to fight it out. Eventually, the final survivor was the victor.

As orphans, they were bound to have no experience with poison whatsoever. Exposing them to it abruptly was bound to give rise to casualties. How many lives would have to be lost in order to nurture just a handful of poison masters?

“Given that you didn’t come from any particular lineage, how did you become a poison master?” After explaining the matter, Elder Xu turned to look at Zhang Xuan and asked doubtfully.

Even those who had inherited the lineage of a poison master was unable to achieve such high resistance to poison. On the other hand, the man before him had never been to the Poison Hall, and yet, he had achieved a feat which most poison masters were unable to accomplish. Just how did he do so?

“Actually… I have been to a Poison Hall before, but it isn’t this one. It is a branch located in a remote location under Xuanyuan Kingdom called the Red Lotus Mountain Ridge… After I left the area, I began exploring the world, and by a stroke of coincidence, I happened to obtain a secret manual regarding the Way of Poison. Studying it carefully, I eventually became who I am today…” Zhang Xuan casually replied.

If he were to say that he had never come into contact with poison masters and yet achieved such mastery in the Way of Poison, the story would be too inconceivable for anyone to believe. Thus, he mixed truth and falsehood within the words, making it difficult for the other party to discern the authenticity of it.

“A secret manual regarding the Way of Poison? To be able to grant you such astounding capability, it must be a rather powerful secret manual!” Elder Xu complimented before turning his gaze towards Zhang Xuan. “Will it be convenient for you to allow me to look at the secret manual you spoke of? Rest assured, I won’t open it. I am just curious to see which master did the book come from!”

“This…” Zhang Xuan’s lips twitched.

He was just making things up on the spot, so how could he have any secret manual of that sort?

But for the other party to be asking such a question… could it be that the other party still harbored doubts regarding his identity?

Chapter 994: The Poison Master Examination

Translator: StarveCleric Editor: StarveCleric

“It’s fine if it isn’t convenient for you…” Noticing the look of distress on the other party’s face, Elder Xu shook his head.

“It is not that it is inconvenient, but that it isn’t my place to be spreading the heritage around… How about this? Why don’t I detail the 1-star and 2-star fundamental knowledge to you instead so that you can fathom the origin of the secret manual through it?” Seeing that the other party was just posing it as a casual question and not to investigate his origins, Zhang Xuan heaved a sigh of relief.

He didn’t have the secret manual, and his knowledge of poison was still capped at 2-star. The only reason why he seemed fearsome in the eyes of the other party was due to his Heaven’s Path zhenqi, which granted him near complete immunity to poisons.

As such, he could be considered to be an amateur to poison. Nevertheless, if it was just fundamental knowledge of 2-star and below, he was confident that there was no one who could rival him.

“That would be great!” Elder Xu’s eyes lit up.

Lineage was extremely important in the Master Teacher Academy, so it was indeed inconvenient for the other party to expose his heritage to an outsider.

It was understandable why the other party was unwilling to speak anymore about that. As for knowledge of 2-star and below, as it involved only the fundamental knowledge of poison, there was no harm to sharing them.

“Based on the explanation of the book, poison can be viewed as a medicine of one kind as well. To put it simply, it is used to complement the Yin-yang and Five Elements of the human body. As long as one achieves a balance in the Five Elements, one will be able to develop an immunity to all poisons…”

Recalling the 1-star and 2-star Heaven’s Path Poison Art, Zhang Xuan began to speak.

“T-this…”

Elder Xu initially thought that there couldn’t possibly be anything new to the fundamentals, but as he listened on, his face gradually warped in astonishment. Gripped by agitation, his entire body began trembling, and his breathing hastened.

The other party had reshaped the understanding of poison through the concept of Yin-yang and the Five Elements, and through it, he was able to theorize the concept of poison immunity.

It was possible to poison a person to death, but was it possible to poison the heavens to death?

The fundamental knowledge that the other party spoke of was directed towards the very essence of poison itself. As long as one were to cultivate according to it, it was almost certain that one would be able to forge the Poison Body.

Even though it was already too late for him to switch his cultivation technique, he could already foresee the huge uproar it would cause in the Poison Hall should this piece of knowledge ever be made public.

“Poison can be a tonic as well. It can save and can treat. As long as one were to use it well, it can definitely become a valuable tool to the world…” Zhang Xuan continued speaking.

The more he listened, the deeper a trance Elder Xu found himself falling into.

The main reason why poison masters was so widely feared was due to their ability to plant poison discreetly, making it extremely difficult for an average cultivator to guard against them. However, if their poison really could make a positive contribution to the world, just like what the other party had said, it might be possible for the Poison Hall to walk out of its isolation and stand openly on the Master Teacher Continent once more. They could come under the protection of the Master Teacher Pavilion, and they wouldn’t be shunned and snubbed by the world as they were now.

With such thoughts in mind, Elder Xu subconsciously turned to look at Sun Qiang with a look of agitation on his face.

“Alright, this is all I have understood from it…”

After casually sharing some of the knowledge of poison that he possessed, Zhang Xuan finally came to a halt. Lifting his gaze, he noticed that Elder Xu was looking at him with a fiery gaze. Alarmed, he quickly glanced downward at his clothes, but… nothing was open!

If nothing is open, what are you getting agitated over?

It can’t be that your sexual orientation has changed from listening to a lecture?

It doesn’t seem like there is any master teacher in the world who possesses such an ability!

“Cough cough!” Noticing Zhang Xuan’s actions, Elder Xu knew that he had acted inappropriately for a moment there. He adjusted his expression before continuing with a grim look, “Poison Master Sun, the secret manual that you have is simply too astounding. It will be best for you to keep its existence hidden from the others, or else, I fear that… you might meet with danger!”

Which poison master didn’t dream of a body that boasted high resistance to poison? Which poison master didn’t hope to concoct an even more potent poison?

If the other poison masters were to learn that the man before him had such a formidable secret manual in his possession, they surely wouldn’t hesitate to resort to all kinds of underhanded means to obtain it, thus putting the other party in grave danger.

Zhang Xuan nodded in agreement.

Unlike master teachers, poison masters had no regards for rules and morals. If they were to learn of the existence of the secret manual, they might even attempt to snatch it in broad daylight.

Nevertheless, Zhang Xuan had no fear.

The main reason why he wanted to head to the Poison Hall was to collect books regarding poison and save Wei Ruyan. If the poison masters knew that was best for them, he could still consider getting along with them.

Otherwise, he didn’t mind teaching the other party the meaning of fear.

After a moment of hesitation, Elder Xu added, “You should conceal your poison-resistant constitution as well. Make sure not to show it to anyone easily. Otherwise, you might be stoking their greed!”

“Un.” Zhang Xuan nodded.

While he didn’t possess the Innate Poison Body, his ability to neutralize most poisons was indeed something that would interest most poison masters, if not all. Others could very well go after him in hopes of uncovering his secrets and cultivating the same poison-resistant constitution for themselves. For this reason, it would be best for him to maintain a low profile at the Poison Hall.

In any case, this happened to work in his favor. He was a humble person at heart, and he never liked to boast to others anyway.

“I intend to take the poison master examination later on at the Poison Hall, but I’m not too sure how it is conducted there. Can you shed some light on the matter for me? Also, will I be able to access all of the books in the Poison Hall if I were to clear the examination?” After chatting for a while longer, Zhang Xuan asked.

His main goal at the Poison Hall was to collect all of the books on poison there, so naturally, that was also the matter that he was the most concerned about.

“The poison master examination at our branch is slightly different from that of the others. Rather than the typical concoction of poison, the crux of our examination lies in… poisoning!” Elder Xu said.

“Poisoning?” Zhang Xuan was perplexed.

“Indeed. The ability to concoct potent poison is formidable, but what that makes a truly great poison master is his ability to poison a person whose cultivation realm is equal or even greater than him discreetly!” Elder Xu explained.

“Are you saying that the poison master examination will come in the form of a poisoning match?”

“That’s right. For the 6-star poison master examination, the examinee will be challenging a 6-star poison master. The examiner would be fighting with his full strength as well, and if the examinee is able to wound the examiner through his poison, he would be considered to have cleared the examination!” Elder Xu explained.

“But poison… it shouldn’t be easy to control it in combat, right? What will happen if one side accidentally poisons the other to death?” Zhang Xuan frowned in bewilderment.

Precise control was required to wound an opponent without dealing lethal damage, and this was something extremely difficult to control in combat. Use too little poison, and it might end up being ineffective. Use too much, and one could accidentally kill one’s opponent. Given so… wasn’t it a little too risky to conduct such an examination?

“If one were to be poisoned to death in the midst of the examination, it can only mean that he hasn’t worked hard enough in his studies. He has no one but himself to blame!” Elder Xu shook his head and sighed. “This is simply how things work here!”

Not expecting that the poison master examination would be so risky, Zhang Xuan shook his head helplessly. A moment later, he asked, “May I trouble Elder Xu to fill me in on the situation in the Hongyuan Empire Poison Hall?”

At the current moment, he knew nothing about the Poison Hall at all. If he could learn a thing or two about it, he would be more well-prepared for whatever he would face there.

“Of course, that’s nothing much to ask of!” Elder Xu chuckled.

“The Hongyuan Empire Poison Hall branch is in fact a grade-7 branch. We have a 7-star poison master as our hall master, and this means that it is possible to take the 7-star poison master examination at our branch. If one can defeat the hall master in a poison match, one will be qualified to become a 7-star poison master immediately.

“Other than the hall master, the Poison Hall also has three 7-star vice hall master, as well as twenty-two 6-star pinnacle elders. Elder Xue and I are amongst the twenty-two 6-star pinnacle elders.

“As for poison masters below 6-star, there should be at least several dozen thousand of them.”

‘Several dozen thousand?” Zhang Xuan was stunned.

The utilization of poison could be considered to be an unorthodox art, so he thought that there wouldn’t be too many poison masters in the world. Yet, who could have thought that just this single branch would have numbers nearly on par with the Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy!

It was fortunate that they had chosen to isolate themselves at Jingyuan City. Otherwise, their presence could easily bring unease or even chaos upon the entire Hongyuan Empire!

“The Poison Hall is known for its Three Great Halls. The first hall is the Compendium Hall, which boasts a huge collection of books accumulated over the past ten thousand years. Most who wished to advance as a poison master would devote most of their time to studying the books in there.

“The second hall is the Poison Experimentation Hall. Researching and practicing the concoction of poison require a vast amount of medicinal herbs. If one were to work with real herbs each time, even a mountain of medicinal herbs could be easily depleted within days. Within the Poison Experimentation Hall is a unique formation which could accurately simulate the unique properties of each medicinal herb. Through experimenting with the herbs here, one could lessen the wastage of herbs!

“The last one is the Sparring Hall! Just like with most other occupations, poison masters who have an irreconcilable conflict with one another would head there and settle it through a life-and-death duel. While it was named the Sparring Hall, it was also the location where many poison masters had died!” Elder Xu shook his head.

“Other than the Three Great Halls, there is also the Two Forbidden Grounds. One of them is the Mausoleum of Hall Masters. It is the location where the the hall masters of every generation rested. Only the incumbent hall master was allowed to enter the grounds, and anyone else who tried to circumvent the rule would replace themselves being poisoned to death! The other forbidden ground is the herb fields. Planted in the fields are the medicinal herbs used in the Poison Hall, and they are strictly controlled. Anyone who needs any medicinal herb must apply for it beforehand. No one was allowed to enter it casually, or else death would be what they would face!

“Other than that, there is nothing else. Given your strength and your immunity to poison, there should be nothing for you to worry about…”

‘Un.” Zhang Xuan nodded.

7-star master teacher, Three Great Halls, and the Two Forbidden Grounds…

Since he was intending to only go through the books of the Poison Hall, he would probably only pay a visit to the Compendium Hall and go nowhere else.

“Actually, the Poison Hall isn’t as frightening as others put it out to be. As fellow poison masters, everyone actually treats one another rather amiably… Not to mention, you are my savior on top of that!” Elder Xu said with a kind smile.

The Poison Hall might seem like an incomparably frightening existence in the eyes of others, but internally, they still got along with one another harmoniously.

While fellow friends might occasionally spike each other’s drinks or something, they would usually prepare the antidote beforehand, so no permanent harm would be done.

Zhang Xuan continued asking on several matters concerning the Poison Hall, and Elder Xu, seemingly convinced that he was a real poison master, didn’t hide anything from him at all.

Half a day later, Zhang Xuan finally gained a deep insight into the Hongyuan Empire Poison Hall.

While it was located within the territory of Hongyuan Empire, it was in truth the largest and most formidable Poison Hall in Qingyuan Conferred Empire. This was also the reason why there were multiple 7-star poison masters holding the fort there.

整个毒殿,不光有毒师,毒药,还有很多毒虫,毒草,甚至喝的水中,都极有可能有毒…换做别人,许长老肯定会多加提醒,但是眼前这位百毒不侵,吃六级巅峰毒药,都跟吃点心一样,提醒不提醒都无所谓了.

The Poison Hall was also a really dangerous place for the average cultivator. Not only were there poison masters and poisonous herbs, there were even poisonous worms, poisonous plants, and even the drinking water itself was poisoned… Had it been anyone else, Elder Xu would have surely made sure to warn them sternly beforehand. However, the man before him was no average cultivator. He was an existence who could munch of grade-6 pinnacle poisons as if they were mere snacks.

In any case, he was certain that the other party couldn’t possibly be poisoned to death, so there was nothing to warn him about.

“Alright, we are arriving at the Poison Hall…”

After flying for two days straight, Elder Xu abruptly stood up and pointed forward. Turning his gaze over as well, Zhang Xuan saw the boundless blue ocean with a brilliant sun hanging at the horizon.

In the next moment, the saint beast twisted its body slightly, and the sight before him cleared up. A massive island abruptly came into sight.

To Zhang Xuan’s astonishment, the island was actually concealed by a massive Hidden Formation. Had it not been for Elder Xu leading him here, it was very likely that he might have never found the Poison Hall.

Chapter 995: Hongyuan Empire Poison Hall

Translator: StarveCleric Editor: StarveCleric

The island had a diameter of around a hundred kilometers. From afar, Zhang Xuan could see that it was filled with all kinds of towering plants, granting it a lush appearance. Surrounded by a massive formation, the spiritual energy within was particularly concentrated, and from time to time, one could see formidable saint beasts dancing in the air above.

“To be able to conceal an island with a diameter of hundred kilometers, the man who set up the formation must be at least a 7-star formation master!” Zhang Xuan noted in astonishment.

He was currently a 6-star pinnacle formation master, but even so, a formation of such scale was still far beyond his means. Just how powerful must the senior who had built the Poison Hall here be?

“The founder of the Hongyuan Empire Poison Hall wasn’t only a 7-star poison master, he was a 7-star pinnacle formation master as well. Even so, he had still spent an entire fifty years to construct this massive Hidden Formation!” Noticing Zhang Xuan’s shock, Elder Xu explained with a smile.

“Fifty years?” Zhang Xuan’s lips twitched in astonishment.

Not even a single year had passed since his transcension until now. To spend an entire fifty years just to construct a formation… this was something that Zhang Xuan would never do.

“That’s right. This formation taps on the volcano beneath it as its energy source, concealing the entire island amidst the vast sea. If one couldn’t locate the proper entrance, all one would see was just yet another plot of empty sea while flying over it.” Elder Xu said proudly.

“Over the years, many 7-star master teachers and formation masters had flew across this land, but none of them had noticed the Poison Hall here. It is due to this that the Poison Hall was able to retain its complete heritage even after ten thousand years, never having suffered an attack before.”

“Incredible!” Zhang Xuan nodded. Activating his Eye of Insight, he assessed the formation before him.

He had to admit that the design of the formation was indeed exquisite. The Hidden Formation was constructed through making use of the unique geographical advantage of the island, making it perfectly harmonized with its surroundings. Even via his Eye of Insight, he could barely make out the existence of the formation. It would be hard for him to decipher the formation within a short period of time.

If he really wanted to break the formation, it would take him around… ten minutes!

A formation that would take him so long to decipher could already be considered to be extremely powerful.

“Let’s head down!” Noticing the stunned look in Zhang Xuan’s eyes, Elder Xu chuckled as he drove the aerial saint beast down upon the island.

Around ten minutes later, they landed on a massive elevated platform.

“Elder Xu!” A few youngsters rushed up to welcome the returning Elder Xu. However, when they saw that it was a middle-aged man whom they had never seen before instead of Elder Xue who walked out of the wooden hut, they were bewildered for a moment.

“Poison Master Sun here is my savior. Prepare an accommodation for him.” Elder Xu instructed. “I will be seeking an audience with the hall master now!”

“Yes!” Hearing that the other party was Elder Xu’s savior, a gleam of admiration surfaced in the eyes of the youngsters as they nodded hurriedly.

“Poison Master Sun, they will lead you to your accommodation to rest. I need to meet the hall master first to report the happenings earlier at Jingyuan City to him.”

After which, Elder Xu took two steps forward before halting once more. Without turning his head around, he sent a telepathic message to Zhang Xuan, “The members of the Poison Hall could have a rather bad temper. However, they do admire the strong, so there is no need for you to hold back should anyone attempt to provoke you.”

“Got it.” Zhang Xuan nodded.

Considering that one of the elders of the Poison Hall was killed, this matter should indeed be reported to the hall master as soon as possible.

And it went without saying that he had no intentions to be a samaritan should anyone try to step over his head too.

“I will report your matter to the hall master as well and apply a slot in the poison master examination for you.” Elder Xu added before hurriedly heading off.

A moment later, he had already disappeared in the distance.

“Poison Master Sun, this way please!” Seeing that Elder Xu had left, the youngsters stepped forward and gestured to Zhang Xuan.

Without wasting a word, Zhang Xuan followed behind them.

Shortly after leaving the elevated platform, a massive town unfolded before his eyes. Innumerable buildings of differing heights could be seen here and there. However, the architecture was rather ancient, seemingly having thousands of years to them.

A bustling crowd moved to and fro the streets, doing everything that one could think of. In a sense, it was truly no different from a huge city.

Walking amongst the crowd, Zhang Xuan could occasionally see a light mist drifting out from the cracks in the windows and doors of several houses. It had a pleasant smell to it, but it seemed to fill one with lethargy, inducing one to a deep sleep.

There was no doubt about it, the mist definitely contained poison.

That wasn’t the only peculiarity that Zhang Xuan noticed. From time to time, he would see poisonous bugs and snakes with bright, glistening colors glaring at the passers-by with a menacing gaze, seemingly ready to strike at any moment. The faint-hearted would probably be frightened unconscious on the spot upon seeing this sight.

“Don’t worry, these poisonous snakes don’t bite easily…” As if noting the apprehension on Zhang Xuan’s face, one of the young men explained with a smile. At that moment, however, a scream of agony suddenly sounded in front. A middle-aged man was running forward frenziedly, and taking a closer look, there was a poisonous snake hanging off his bottom. Its sharp fangs were sunk deep into the middle-aged man’s flesh, refusing to let go no matter how forcefully the other party struggled.

“Screw this shit, whose snake is this? If no one dares to own up, I will skin this bastard alive today!”

Soon after, another bellow sounded from the crowd, “Try to eat my snake, and I will have you poisoned to death right here right now!”

A figure flitted out from the crowd and began crossing hands with the middle-aged man who was bitten by the snake.

“T-this… It’s just a coincidence. These poisonous snakes and bugs are usually rather friendly…” Meeting with this sight right after saying that the poisonous snakes wouldn’t bite, the young man scratched his head in embarrassment.

He hurriedly tried to reassure the guest who he was escorting, “Even though these bugs might attack one another from time to time, there is no need to worry. We, poison masters, are a harmonious community. We respect one another and promote neighborliness, so rarely will there be any fights breaking out!”

“Un.” Zhang Xuan nodded.

However, before they could take another step forward, an even louder scream sounded.

“Which screwed up bugger poisoned my pillow? You better pray that I don’t replace out who you are because you can be heck sure that I will skin you alive when I do!”

Right afterward, a young lady with a round face darted out from one of the doors.

The young lady had a beautiful figure, but her face was swollen as though a watermelon. There were even quite a few parts which had pus flowing out. Her appearance was truly as hideous as a zombie who had climbed out from its grave.

“Which idiot spiked my porridge?”

“To dare to plant a poisonous bug in my shoes, you must be tired of living!”

“Stuffing medicine in my nostrils? You must be asking me to chop off your hands!”

…

Such voices sounded relentlessly in the surroundings. Following which, one by one, victims whose appearances were disfigured in all kinds of ways rushed out from their rooms.

The face of the young man who had just said that the poison masters promoted neighborliness reddened in awkwardness.

“Cough cough. They are just jesting with one another, so you don’t have to worry about that! They are just testing out the poisons that they have just concocted, so you can think of it more like a prank. It’s really harmless actually…”

“Harmless? Then, that is…” With a perplexed look, Zhang Xuan pointed in a certain direction. There, two poison masters who were fighting intensely with one another, seemingly unwilling to rest until one side had fallen dead.

“…” The young man.

After walking through the streets for a moment longer, Zhang Xuan gained an understanding of the prevalent culture in the Poison Hall.

Unlike the Master Teacher Pavilion, the Poison Hall didn’t have many rules. Whenever a poison master succeeded in formulating a new poison, they would usually try it on those around them. Appearances were something that commonly changed within this city. A person could look this way yesterday but assume a vastly different appearance tomorrow. In fact, there had even been cases where one’s gender had changed due to the side effect of some poison…

In other words, your neighbor could very well be an elderly man today, a middle-aged man tomorrow, a ravishing young lady the day after tomorrow, and perhaps even a monstrous behemoth the day after the day after tomorrow…

But of course, if you were to ask the other party’s name, you would replace out that ‘they’ were all the same person all along. It was just due to the consumption of bizarre poisons that resulted in the continuous warping of his form.

“It’s fortunate that they are all on this island. If the poison masters were to do the same in Hongyuan City, it will only be a matter of time before they are pummeled to death…” Zhang Xuan shook his head.

It was probably only on this land could they do something as ridiculous as this. Hongyuan City had a Master Teacher Pavilion and Master Teacher Academy to uphold order, and willfully poisoning another in such a manner was against the rules. Should one be caught doing so, even ten lives wouldn’t be sufficient to amend for one’s sin.

How could Elder Xu bring himself to say with a straight face that the poison masters were an amiable bunch when such was the chaos here… To live in fear, not knowing who would poison one or who one would turn into the next day… This sure wasn’t his definition of amiable!

“Alright, Poison Master Sun. This is your accommodation!” After walking a while further and seeing bizarre acts of all kinds, the young man finally came to a halt.

Taking a look at his accommodation, it was decently clean residence. While the building looked a little old, the surroundings were rather tranquil and peaceful.

“Alright!” Knowing that he wouldn’t stay here for too long, there was no need for him to get picky about it.

Just as Zhang Xuan was about to push open the door to enter, a few young men suddenly walked over.

“Li Yuan, this person looks very unfamiliar. I don’t think I have seen him around before.”

“He is a guest whom Elder Xu just brought in from outside.” Li Yuan, the young man who had brought Zhang Xuan over, replied.

“Elder Xu brought him here? Could it be that he intends to take that person as his disciple? To be able to move that obstinate old fogey’s heart, his talent must be spectacular. Let me see how capable he is…” the other young man chuckled.

He snapped his fingers, and a surge of smoke suddenly gushed in Zhang Xuan’s direction.

“Liu Xu, don’t mess around. Poison Master Sun isn’t Elder Xu’s disciple.” Li Yuan explained. However, before he could finish his words, the smoke had already reached Zhang Xuan, giving him no time to stop the latter at all.

Just as he was about to exclaim for the middle-aged man before him to be careful, he suddenly noticed a hint of a smile from the corners of the latter’s cheek. The next moment, his silhouette vanished like a phantom and materialized right before Liu Xu.

Peng!

The crisp sound of bones shattering echoed resoundingly in the air. Before Liu Xu could even cry in agony, he was already sent flying before eventually ending up being hung on the branch of a nearby tree, passed out.

“Ah…” Everyone was dumbstruck.

As fellow poison masters, if an individual were to be attacked by poison, he should retaliate in the same manner. Yet, this fellow actually sent the other party flying with a single punch… How violent!

“You… As a poison master, how can you resolve matters with violence? Just how crass can you get?” A young man behind Liu Xu stepped forward and waved his hands righteously, “I shall challenge you to a poison duel right now. Do you dare to acce…”

But before he could finish his words, a foot was already planted in his face.

Peng!

Just like Liu Xu, before the young man could utter a word, he was sent flying and eventually ended up being hung on a nearby tree branch as well.

“You…” The faces of the remaining young men warped in fury. Their companion had already challenged the other party to a poison duel, but the other party still continued to attack them with brute force.

“Let’s make a move together!” One of the young men exclaimed.

Peng peng peng peng!

…

A few breaths later, the energetic young men from a moment ago were lying unconscious on the tree not too far away.

“This…”

Li Yuan and the others who had escorted Zhang Xuan over were flabbergasted.

Chapter 996: Sneaking In (1)

Translator: StarveCleric Editor: StarveCleric

One’s ability to utilize poison had always been used to determine one’s standing in the Poison Hall, so naturally, the duels conducted were usually centered around the utilization of poison as well. Yet, the fellow before them actually sent them flying with his fists and kicks without any hesitation… How could there be a person as violent as him?

“Poison Master Sun, you… you are really too reckless!”

Upon recovering from his daze, Li Yuan suddenly recalled a matter, and his complexion darkened. “They are the subordinates of Senior Duan Ren, so if you were to injure them, the latter will surely be displeased…”

“Indeed! Senior Duan has always been biased towards those whom he was close with, and he had an explosive temper as well. Those who had offended him never ended well…” Another young men added with an awful look on his face.

Had Poison Master Sun held himself back, the most that could have happened was for him to be poisoned for a brief moment, and the matter could have passed just like that. Yet, Poison Master Sun actually beat the other party up to such a state… Senior Duan was bound to be displeased. If Senior Duan were to exact vengeance for his brothers, who could possibly stop him?

“Senior Duan?” Seeing how frightened the young men were, Zhang Xuan couldn’t help but ask curiously.

“Senior Duan Ren is Vice Hall Master Ming Zhen’s direct disciple, and he is a 6-star poison master possessing the cultivation of Saint 1-dan advanced stage… He is considered the strongest poison master in his generation, and all of us have to address him respectfully as our senior. Liu Xu, whom you have just beat up, is his most loyal subordinate!” Li Yuan hurriedly explained.

The hall master and the elders were the most senior generation in the Poison Hall at the moment, and their disciples and students were all considered to be in the second generation.

But despite being in the same generation, Duan Ren was leading far in front of the others, to a point where the others could only look on in admiration.

“A Saint 1-dan advanced stage 6-star master teacher? Is he going to take it out on me just because of a subordinate?” Seeing how frightened the others were, Zhang Xuan shook his head.

No matter how unreasonable the other party may be, surely he had to at least give some respect to Elder Xu!

Elder Xu was amongst the most senior generation in the Poison Hall, and he was Elder Xu’s savior. Duan Ren might be arrogant, but as a junior, surely he wouldn’t risk getting on Elder Xu’s bad side just over a mere subordinate?

“Poison Master Sun, I am really not exaggerating the matter. There was one incident in the past where Liu Xu had acted disrespectfully to Senior Wu Haiyuan, so Senior Wu Haiyuan taught him a lesson. Upon learning of the matter, Senior Duan flew into a rage and poisoned him mute. Even to this day, Senior Wu Haiyuan is still unable to utter a single word…” With a tearful face, Li Yuan hurriedly explained.

“Senior Wu Haiyuan is a 6-star poison master, and his cultivation has reached a staggering Saint 1-dan…”

“There’s such a matter?” Zhang Xuan was bewildered. With a doubtful look, he asked, “To offend a fellow 6-star master teacher over a mere subordinate, isn’t that very reckless of him?”

It was no wonder why Zhang Xuan found it hard to believe this matter.

He had taken a look a Liu Xu earlier, and the latter was only a Transcendent Mortal 8-dan Ethereal Treading realm cultivator. Most likely, he was only a 5-star poison master as well. There were plenty of those who could rival him easily in the Poison Hall, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to replace another person to replace Liu Xu as his subordinate. To offend a fellow 6-star poison master over this fellow… Wasn’t Senior Duan needlessly bringing himself enemies for no good reason?

“This…” Hearing those words, Li Yuan hesitated for a moment, and eventually, gritting his teeth tightly, he said, “As a newcomer, it is not surprising that you are unaware of it, but… Liu Xu isn’t just Senior Duan’s subordinate. He is also Senior Duan… gigolo!”

“Gigolo?” Zhang Xuan was perplexed. “Senior Duan… is a lady?”

Gigolo referred to men who were financially supported by a woman to become her escort. Could it be that the Duan Ren person they had been talking about all along was a lady?

The other party had been addressing Duan Ren with ‘he’ all along, so he had assumed that Duan Ren was a male. Perhaps he might have just misheard him.

Nevertheless, considering how ugly Liu Xu was, just how bad could that Duan Ren’s eyesight be?

“Senior Duan Ren… is a male!” Li Yuan said with an incredibly awkward expression on his face. “Due to consuming too much poison, his sexual orientation has changed as well…”

“Cough cough!” Zhang Xuan choked on his saliva.

He could have never thought that Duan Ren was a homosexual!

However, thinking about it once more, it wasn’t really too surprising.

Poison masters spent their days alongside poison, and to concoct potent poisons, they might sometimes opt to try the poisons out of themselves… Putting aside changing one’s sexual orientation, it wouldn’t be impossible for one to fall in love with spirit beasts, saint beasts, trees, or even rocks and plants.

Also, there were poisons which could induce hallucinations. Even though Liu Xu looked incredibly ugly to him, there was no saying that the other partymight be a huge beauty in Senior Duan’s eyes.

“That’s right. Such situations aren’t too uncommon here. Senior Duan will surely fly into a rage if he were to learn that you have beat his gigolo up. If he were to come and get even with you… that will be a huge disaster!” Li Yuan said worriedly.

There was no one in the Poison Hall who was unaware of how fearsome Senior Duan was. This was precisely the reason why no one dared to offend him. Yet, this fellow actually beat Liu Xu up to such a state without any warning… There was no way to resolve the conflict peacefully anymore.

Even though Elder Xu could be considered to be a senior to Senior Duan, he was also only a 6-star master teacher, so there wasn’t too huge of a gap between their standings. Furthermore, the latter could very well become an elder if he could advance his capability a step further, thus putting the both of them on equal standings.

“If he wishes to come for me, so be it!” Stretching his back lazily, Zhang Xuan replied leisurely.

What Senior Duan or something, he couldn’t care less about it.

If the other party intended to cause him trouble, he didn’t mind releasing the Violetleaf King and stir up a huge mess within the Poison Hall.

In any case, he had already found the Poison Hall, and the Compendium Hall was located just a walk away. There was no need for him to pretend to be a samaritan to a bunch of fellows who only thought about poisoning others every single day.

“But…” Seeing how laidback Zhang Xuan was, Li Yuan and the others glanced at one another and smiled bitterly. They were at a complete loss as to what to do.

At that moment, a young man with an incredibly awful look on his face walked over with widened strides.

Upon seeing the young man, the faces of Li Yuan and the others immediately warped in fear, “Senior Duan…”

Speak of the devil!

The accommodation prepared for Zhang Xuan might be peaceful, but there were still quite a handful of men in the vicinity when Poison Master Sun sent Liu Xu flying with a punch. News spread swiftly, and it didn’t take long for Senior Duan Ren to learn of it and rush over.

Doomed… It was already too late to escape at this point.

Hu!

Swiftly walking forward, Senior Duan Ren leaped up and carried Liu Xu down from the tree branch. He carefully fed the latter some pills with an frighteningly chilling look on his face.

“Senior Duan, I challenged that fellow to a poison duel, but he assaulted me instead… I beg of you to redress my grievance!” Upon coming to, Liu Xu raised his finger and pointed it at Zhang Xuan with gritted teeth.

“Don’t worry!” With narrowed eyes, Duan Ren stood up and glared at Zhang Xuan coldly, the killing intent in his eyes flaring furiously, “I will make him pay the price!”

“Senior Duan, Poison Master Sun over here is Elder Xu’s savior…” Seeing that the situation was heading down a very dangerous path, Li Yuan clenched his jaws in determination before hurrying forward to explain.

Elder Xu had entrusted the other party to them, so they had to take care of him well. If the other party were to be poisoned to death right after arriving at the accommodation, they would have to take responsibility for his mishap as well.

“Scram!” Duan Ren roared furiously.

Deng deng deng deng!

A powerful shock wave surged forth from Duan Ren. Li Yuan’s face paled, and he was knocked back eight steps before spurting a mouthful of blood.

Possessing only the cultivation of Ethereal Treading realm, he was completely no match for a Saint realm expert like the other party.

I don’t care how you are related to Elder Xu or anyone else. Anyone who dares to hurt my man has to pay the price!” Duan Ren stomped forward and glared at Zhang Xuan with wintry eyes. “I will give you two choices now. You can either kneel down and apologize to Liu Xu right now, and allow him to do whatever he wants to do to you, or I will make a move personally and show you what a living hell looks like…”

There was no one who didn’t know that Liu Xu was his gigolo, and yet, this fellow still dared to lay his hands on his man. This was a blatant disregard for him. If he didn’t teach the other party a lesson, how was he going to establish his authority within the Poison Hall?

“Interesting. What if I choose neither of them?” Zhang Xuan said with a wry smile.

It was no wonder why Elder Xu said that the Poison Hall wasn’t peaceful and told him to be careful. From the looks of it now, that was indeed the case.

There were simply far too many fools who overestimated themselves here…

He was planning to keep a low profile here, but looking at the other party’s punch-seeking face… It seemed like he would be letting himself down if he didn’t give it a good one!

“Choose neither of them? You are seeking death!” With a fearsome roar, Duan Ren leaped forward, and with swiftness reminiscent of a streak of lightning, he appeared before Zhang Xuan at the very next instant. Clenching his fingers into claws, Duan Ren swiped at the middle-aged man before him.

A powerful surge of zhenqi burst from his fingertips. At the same time, a unique powder cloaked the air before him.

This powder was a lethal poison which he had spent great effort developing and concocting. Even a Saint 1-dan pinnacle expert would succumb just by coming into contact with a tinge of it.

“Hah!” Facing the other party’s surge of zhenqi and poison powder, Zhang Xuan shook his head with a pitying look in his eyes.

Hu!

He raised his palm and sent a direct slap towards the other party, not even bothering to utilize any battle technique at all.

Facing Zhang Xuan’s attack, Duan Ren sneered in disdain. However, in the next moment, his eyes abruptly narrowed in astonishment, and he hurriedly gathered the full strength in his body into his hands to block the seemingly simple slap.

However, he was too late. Just like Liu Xu, before he could even let out a scream of agony, he fell atop one of the tree branches and fainted.

Zhang Xuan’s current cultivation might only be Nascent Saint pinnacle, but not even the Saint 2-dan Liao Song was a match for him. For this Duan Ren guy, a mere Saint 1-dan advanced stage, to challenge him, the other party was truly seeking death. It would take nothing more than a mere snap of fingers for hm to destroy the other party.

“This…” The faces of Li Yuan and the others paled, and their bodies began shivering.

This was way too frightening!

They were well-aware of Senior Duan Ren’s strength, having witnessed it themselves. Paired with his poison, not even a Saint 2-dan primary stage cultivator would dare to fight him face-on. Yet, this Poison Master Sun actually knocked Senior Duan Ren out with a single slap…

Just how powerful could he be?

“Alright, I will be heading in to rest now!” Couldn’t be bothered to explain the matter to the others, Zhang Xuan waved his hand before shooting a glance at Li Yuan. “If anyone still wants to provoke me, make sure to report it to me beforehand!”

Leaving those words behind, he stepped into the residence.

“Yes…” With twitching lips, Li Yuan and the others quickly nodded.

…

After entering the residence, Zhang Xuan closed the door and swiftly located the area where spiritual energy seemed to converge towards before taking a seat.

“Since I am already at the Poison Hall, I should quickly finish reading the books and replace a way to save Wei Ruyan. This matter mustn’t be stalled for any longer!”

Even though he had stabilized Wei Ruyan’s condition for the time being, every second wasted meant an additional second of danger for her. Since it was the Poison Hall that he was in, there was no need for him to bother about the rules of the Master Teacher Pavilion. The important matter at hand was to swiftly finish reading those books and analyze a plausible solution to treating Wei Ruyan.

Hu!

With a thought, Zhang Xuan’s soul slipped out from his body.

He wouldn’t be allowed to access the books in the Compendium Hall until he took the poison master examination, so there was no way he could march there in his body openly. In any case, it was equally efficient for him to read in his soul form as well, so there was no need to delay this matter any further.

With a slight movement, Zhang Xuan flew into the air.

It was still the day, but as a practitioner of the Heaven’s Path Soul Art, he was unaffected by the yang energy of the sun rays. On top of that, after sharing soul essence with Wei Ruyan’s soul, his soul had gained a certain immunity to poison. As such, the poisonous gas shrouding around the island was completely ineffective towards him.

After flying a decent altitude high, Zhang Xuan lowered his head to get a bird’s eye view of the entire city.

“Elder Xu said that the Compendium Hall is one of the Three Great Halls of the Poison Hall. Naturally, it should be the highest and grandest building here…”

Sweeping his surroundings with the Eye of Insight, Zhang Xuan soon caught sight of three particularly towering halls in the area.

Chapter 997: Sneaking In (2)

Translator: StarveCleric Editor: StarveCleric

The three halls were around seventy meters tall each, and they towered above the other buildings in the area, making them particularly conspicuous.

“Poison Experimentation Hall, Sparring Hall, and Compendium Hall… The first two are areas where poisons are frequently utilized, so no matter how they are cleaned, there are bound to be traces left behind… As for the Compendium Hall, considering that it is a location where books are stored, the usage of poisons should be restricted there…”

The Poison Experimentation Hall was a ground for poison masters to practice the concoction of poison. It was inevitable that there would be lingering traces of poison even if one were to attempt to neutralize it with the corresponding antidotes. The same applied for the Sparring Hall as well. As poison masters clashed with one another, it was inevitable that poison would be spilled in the surroundings, leaving behind many unerasable scars on the building. Using this as a gauge, it shouldn’t be too difficult to determine which was the Compendium Pavilion.

With such thoughts in mind, Zhang Xuan began to examine the Three Great Halls carefully.

Under the sharp glint of his Eye of Insight, the interiors of the three halls appeared clearly before his eyes. Indeed, two of the halls felt incredibly turbid, as if they were plagued with poison.

“That should be the Compendium Hall then!”

Zhang Xuan’s eyes lit up. Without any hesitation, he immediately began heading to the cleanest hall of the three.

The building was even taller than the other two, and the old scent of books seemed to linger around the building. There was a particularly powerful formation set up around it, making it difficult for anyone to enter without the possession of an artifact to bypass it.

Upon seeing the formation, Zhang Xuan chuckled softly.

His current proficiency of formations was already on par with 7-star formation masters, and he possessed the Eye of Insight on top of that, Finding a flaw in the formation around the Compendium Hall to slip through it was an extremely easy task for him.

With sharp eyes, Zhang Xuan examined the formation, and a moment later, he found a small gap in the formation. He swiftly slipped through it.

While a soul was formless and intangible, making it impossible to perceive it with one’s eyes or touch, it could disrupt the flow of spiritual energy in the air, thus betraying its presence. The interior of the formation happened to be rich in spiritual energy, which meant that Zhang Xuan would still have to proceed carefully within the formation.

Advancing forward through exploiting the flaws of the formation, it didn’t take long for Zhang Xuan to arrive right before the entrance of the Compendium Hall.

There were two Saint 1-dan poison masters keeping guard. Zhang Xuan quickly calculated an ideal route to take before sneaking past the both of them discreetly and slipping into the Compendium Hall through the gaps in the door.

The first floor of the Compendium Hall was filled with many bookshelves with innumerable books shelved on top of them. Taking a swift glance, they were all regarding poison.

“Deciphering the Way of Poison”, “Qing Yuanzi’s 36 Art of Poison”, “Neutralizing Poison Walkthrough”, “Fundamental Theories to Poison Cultivation”… All kinds of books relating to poison could be seen placed all around the area, creating an amazing collection.

These were the blood and sweat of innumerable poison masters ever since the establishment of this Poison Hall branch ten thousand years ago. They were intermixed with both the correct and wrong interpretation of poison. To others, they would dare not read all of them recklessly for fear that they might end up confusing themselves. However, such a problem didn’t exist for Zhang Xuan.

Sweeping his gaze across the room, Zhang Xuan swiftly found himself a comfortable position.

Alright, time to begin!

With such a thought in mind, Zhang Xuan began sweeping through rows of books with his sharp eyes.

Hualala!

Book after book was collected into the Library of Heaven’s Path. Through compiling them together, a flawless Heaven’s Path Poison Art was gradually being formed.

Two hours later, all of the books on the first level had been swiped clean.

“This is the 1-star Heaven’s Path Poison Art…” Zhang Xuan took a glance at the compiled book in the Library of Heaven’s Path before withdrawing his consciousness out and headed towards the second floor.

The layout of the Compendium Hall was similar to the libraries in the Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy. Each floor corresponded to a star each, and if one’s rank hadn’t reached the required level, one would be forbidden from accessing the floor.

While Zhang Xuan had already compiled the 1-star and 2-star Heaven’s Path Poison Art back at the Red Lotus Mountain Ridge Poison Hall, the collection of books here was clearly much greater and more varied. Since he was already at the Poison Hall, it would be best to collect all of them. He wasn’t in a rush for time anyway.

Besides, there was no saying that the method to saving Wei Ruyan would be contained in these seemingly unimportant books. As such, he dared not to get careless.

Soon, he finished taking in everything in the second floor.

After which, he moved on to the third floor.

…

While Zhang Xuan’s soul slipped into the Compendium Library to browse through its books, a huge ruckus had broken out in the residence where his physical body was seated.

Staring at the tree where Senior Duan hung, many poison masters trembled in fear.

They had thought that the newly-arrived guest would end up being silently oppressed, but who could have thought that he was actually a rampaging dragon that devastated any who dared to provoke it!

With just a single move, he had knocked out the strongest Senior Duan Ren amongst them!

“Hurry up and report this to Vice Hall Master Ming…” Someone amongst the crowd shouted.

“Alright!” A poison master replied before heading anxiously in a certain direction.

Vice Hall Master Ming Zhen was a 7-star poison master, as well as Senior Duan Ren’s teacher. The reason why Senior Duan Ren was able to get away with acting so arrogantly in the Poison Hall was due to his backing. For Senior Duan Ren to be pummeled by a newly-arrived fellow… without a doubt, Vice Hall Master Ming Zhen would surely fly into a terrible rage.

Rushing over, it didn’t take long for the poison master to arrive at Vice Hall Master Ming Zhen’s residence. He tried to enter it, but someone blocked him at the entrance.

“Vice Hall Master Ming is currently in a conference with the other elders. If you have something important to report, tell me and I will relay it to him instead.” the guard spoke nonchalantly.

“Vice Hall Master Ming is in a conference?” Frowning, the poison master hesitated for a moment before he eventually made up his mind and reported, “Someone has pummeled and knocked out Senior Duan Ren!”

“Someone has pummeled and knocked out Senior Duan Ren?” the guard was taken aback by the abrupt news.

“Yes! The assailant goes by the name of Sun Qiang, and he is a guest whom Elder Xu has brought in.” The poison master revealed everything he knew, not daring to hide anything.

“Alright, I got it. I will report it to Vice Hall Master Ming right now.” The guard knew that Senior Duan Ren was a disciple which Hall Master Ming Zhen valued greatly and had high expectations of. In fact, the latter had been considering the matter of promoting Senior Duan Ren to become an elder of the Poison Hall as well, and it was likely that the motion would be proposed in the near future.

Not daring to hesitate in the least, the guard hurriedly rushed in.

A moment later, he returned and beckoned the poison master in, “Vice Hall Master Ming Zhen invites you in.”

Nodding, the poison master headed in.

Not too long later, he arrived at the main hall. Upon seeing the impressive line up within, he couldn’t help but cower in fear.

Within the room wasn’t just Vice Hall Master Ming Zhen but the other two vice hall masters too, as well as all of the 6-star pinnacle elders of the Poison Hall, with the exception of Elder Xu and Elder Xue.

“What happened?” Upon seeing the poison master enter the room, Vice Hall Master Ming Zhen turned his authoritative gaze upon him and asked.

Vice Hall Master Ming Zhen was a white-bearded old man who looked like he was in his sixties. His black robe, paired with his sharp and chilling face, granted him a powerful presence which induced others to cower before him.

“The matter is like this…” The poison master swiftly explained everything that he had seen earlier.

“You are saying that the guest whom Xu You brought in has willfully injured Duan Ren?” Vice Hall Master Ming Zhen’s eyes narrowed in suppressed fury.

“Yes…” The poison master nodded fearfully.

“Very well! I have no idea where that lad came from, but how dare he cause trouble in the Poison Hall!” With a chilling glint in his eyes, Vice Hall Master Ming Zhen laughed coldly. “Bring me over. I want to meet the audacious man who dared to make a move against my student!”

“Yes!” Not daring to hesitate, the poison master hurriedly led the way.

“Vice Hall Master MIng, since we are free at the moment, why don’t we accompany you there as well?”

“Indeed. Normally, guests at our Poison Hall would be so nervous as to dare not utter a single word at all, yet, this fellow actually dared to make a move on our men. I sure would like to meet the amazing figure he is.”

The remaining two vice hall masters stood up simultaneously as well.

“We are also interested to meet the person whom Xu You has brought back from his trip!”

“How can I miss a matter as interesting as this?”

…

The remaining twenty elders smiled with an interested gleam in their eyes.

After spending so many years on this island, rarely were there any matter that could interest the poison masters. Thus, upon hearing that an arrogant guest had visited their Poison Hall, they were eager to catch the drama that would unfold very soon.

“Fine by me.” Seeing that the two vice hall masters and the other elders wanted to tag along as well, Vice Hall Master Ming waved his hand casually before following the poison master, heading for Zhang Xuan’s residence.

It didn’t take him long to arrive at his destination. There, he saw his student and a few subordinates being hung pitifully atop a tree. Seemingly having suffered a heavy blow, his student had quite a few bones shattered, and his injuries were extremely severe.

“Damn it!” With a livid face, Vice Hall Master Ming Zhen clenched his fists tightly together.

The other party clearly knew that Duan Ren was his student, and yet, the other party still chose to deal Duan Ren such a vicious strike. This was a huge insult towards him as well.

“Open the doors!” Vice Hall Master Ming Zhen beckoned for one of the elders to take care of Duan Ren before heading over to the residence door and harrumphed coldly.

“V-vice Hall Master Ming… P-poison Master Sun said that…”

Upon seeing the sudden arrival of so many vice hall masters and elders, Li Yuan and the others were scared speechless. With quivering lips, Li Yuan tried to explain the matter to them.

“Do my words mean nothing to you?” Vice Hall Master Ming’s eyebrows shot up as he bellowed furiously.

“No! Of course not…” Knowing that it would be unwise to challenge the authority of a vice hall master, Li Yuan could only obediently open the doors for him.

He was intending to head in to inform Poison Master Sun Qiang of the matter in advance, but from the looks of it now, it seemed like he wouldn’t get an opportunity to do so.

“Hmph!”

With a cold gaze, Vice Hall Master Min stepped into the residence, and the two vice hall masters and the other elders hurriedly followed him.

They were interested to meet the person who dared to beat Duan Ren into the pitiful state he was in.

After entering the residence, they soon saw a figure seated in the area which boasted the highest concentration of spiritual energy in the residence. His eyes were tightly shut, seemingly in the midst of his cultivation.

“You are Sun Qiang?” Seeing how the other party was still in the mood to cultivate despite their arrival, Vice Hall Master Ming’s turned so dark that it seemed like ink would seep out from it.

After saying those words, he waited for a while, but the fellow in front him still refused to open his eyes, as if they were non-existent.

“Audacious! Do you know who I am?” Not expecting that a vice hall master like him would be snubbed so blatantly, Vice Hall Master Ming Zhen felt so furious that he could explode.

No matter, he was an esteemed 7-star poison master. It was one thing for the other party to not rise to his feets to welcome him, but to be unwilling to even open his eyes, the other party was inconceivably arrogant!

With so many people entering his residence and all the shouting that had gone on, he didn’t believe that the other party would be oblivious to his presence!

If this was the level of awareness he had, he would have long died in this world. There was no way he could have survived this long!

Hu!

Despite bellowing furiously, there was still no response from the other party. It was as if the person in front of him couldn’t hear him at all.

“You…” Raging with fury, Vice Hall Master Ming’s face flushed crimson.

He had seen plenty of arrogant individuals in his life, but he had never one who dared to put on airs like that. Three vice hall masters and twenty elders, that was a line up that consisted of nearly the entire top echelon of the Poison Hall! Yet, despite calling repeatedly, the other party continued to sit nonchalantly on the floor, not bothering to respond at all…

“Audacious! Do you think that you can do as you please just because you have Xu You’s backing? Very well, I would like to see how Xu You can help you out of this situation today!”

Unable to tolerate this blatant disrespect any longer, Vice School Head Ming roared furiously as his zhenqi burst forth from him, ready to make a move.

“Hahaha, Vice Hall Master Ming. How can you dirty your own hands teaching a person of this caliber a lesson? Allow me.”

At this moment, a chuckle sounded in the room, and an elder stepped forward.

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Chapter 998: The Invincible Zhang Xuan (1)

Translator: StarveCleric Editor: StarveCleric

“Elder Huang?” Upon seeing who the one speaking was, Vice Hall Master Ming hesitated for a moment before nodding in agreement.

It was indeed beneath his standing as a 7-star poison master, an esteemed vice hall master, to make a move against the guest of an elder. It would cast him under the suspicion of oppressing his juniors. As such, it would be best if Elder Huang was willing to make the move for him.

Elder Huang’s strength was not beneath Xu You’s, reaching Saint 1-dan pinnacle as well. At the same time, his comprehension of poison had also reached 6-star pinnacle. With such strength, it should be more than sufficient for him to teach this fellow a lesson.

Upon receiving Vice Hall Master Ming’s permission, Elder Huang stepped forward and glared at Sun Qiang with narrowed eyes, “Your name is Sun Qiang, isn’t it? To keep your eyes shut even in all of our presence, you are truly presumptuous. However, it is presumptuous individuals like you who tend to have early deaths. I will give you three seconds to kneel down and apologize to Vice Hall Master Ming, and I can consider sparing your life. Otherwise, don’t blame me for getting nasty…”

Three breaths later, the other party’s eyes were still tightly shut, as if he was dead.

“I have already given you a chance, but you are the one who refused to grasp it. Very well, let’s whether you boast strength comparable to the arrogance you are putting up!” With the other party ignoring him entirely, he seemed as if a clown speaking to himself in a mirror. Enraged, he raised his palm and struck it towards Zhang Xuan.

Boom!

An overwhelming surge of zhenqi burst forth from his fingers, and innumerable poison bits immediately shrouded the middle-aged man before him as if falling flower petals.

Tzzzzzzz!

Before the poison bits could even come into contact with the middle-aged man, the flowers and plants in the courtyard had already begun to wither, turning as black as charcoal.

“That is… A Smile of Liberation Powder?” An elder exclaimed in astonishment.

A Smile of Liberation Powder was a poison specially concocted by Elder Huang. Just by a whiff, even a Saint 1-dan pinnacle expert would die within a smile. Due to the frightening potency of the poison, it was deeply feared even amongst the upper echelons of the Poison Hall.

“Not bad.” Seeing that someone recognized the poison, Elder Huang nodded in glee.

These poison bits were indeed his greatest masterpiece. Since the other party didn’t know his place, he would just have to ingrain it deeply into him!

Hualala!

In just a few moments, the poison powder fell upon ‘Sun Qiang’s’ body, creating a layer of white flakes reminiscent of snow.

“A Smile of Liberation Powder can seep into one’s body through the skin, so it is futile to hold one’s breath. With so much of it on him, that fellow is a goner. Not even the deities will be able to save him at this point…” Upon seeing the sight, one of the elders shook his head and remarked.

Putting aside breathing in such a potent poison, even just a single flake falling on one could easily lead to fatality. Considering that Elder Huang had thrown so many of it at once and even infused it with his zhenqi, the poison should have already seeped into the middle-aged man’s skin. At this point, it was already too late to save the other party.

“Wait a moment, something is wrong. Look!” Just as the crowd was lamenting over the imminent tragic death of the middle-aged man before them, another elder suddenly pointed forward and exclaimed. “Why does it seem like… nothing is happening to that fellow at all?”

Hearing that question, everyone quickly turned their sights over.

The person, who was seated cross-legged before them, was still in the same position as before, not moving in the least. His eyes were tightly shut, as if he was asleep. It was as if the A Smile of Liberation poison powder cast by Elder Huang was completely ineffective against the person before his eyes.

“Typically speaking, right after being poisoned by A Smile of Liberation, a person’s body will start to convulse, his lips will uncontrollably curl upwards… Yet, this fellow is still showing the same nonchalant expression as before, as if his face has stiffened up… Elder Huang, could it be that your poison has lost its effectiveness?” Another elder couldn’t help but ask.

“This…” Hearing those words, Elder Huang hurriedly took a closer look at the other party.

Even though the other party was completely motionless, as a 6-star pinnacle poison master, he could still easily discern whether the other party was poisoned or not.

A radiant complexion paired with smooth and supple skin… Not only did the other party show no signs of being poisoned, it seemed as if the other party had consumed some kind of incredible tonic, nourishing his body further…

The heck! Can’t you at least squeeze out the slightest hint of being poisoned for me? At the very least, make your face redden a little…

Otherwise, how am I to face my fellow peers in the room?

“It is no wonder why that fellow is so arrogant. He must have consumed the antidote beforehand!

The more Elder Huang thought about it, the more furious he felt. “Since he doesn’t fear poison, let’s see if a mere Nascent Saint like him will be able to fend against my rampaging might!”

Right after saying those words, he sent a powerful punch right towards Zhang Xuan!

Elder Huang had no idea what kind of antidote the other party had consumed that actually rendered his A Smile of Liberation futile, but it was likely that he would only embarrass himself further if he were to continue using poison. Since that was the case, he felt that it would be safer for him to use brute force instead.

He had to let the other party learn the price of acting arrogant!

Hong long!

The strength of a Saint 1-dan pinnacle cultivator rampaged, and in an instant, a huge gust of wind was whipped up within the courtyard. The bluestone pavements on the ground creaked under the immense strain of the might, seemingly ready to shatter in innumerable pieces at any moment.

“That fellow… still isn’t going to open his eyes?” an elder exclaimed.

Elder Huang was preparing his strongest technique, and the overwhelming zhenqi he exerted was so great that even his breathing had hastened… and yet, the target facing the attack, ‘Sun Qiang’, still refused to open his eyes. He remained motionless on the spot, not bothering to dodge or retaliate…

Wasn’t this going a little too far?

Peng!

The fist which commanded incomparable might fell upon ‘Sun Qiang’s’ face!

Kacha!

The sound of bones breaking echoed clearly within the room. Following which, everyone saw Elder Huang leaping backward furiously with his left arm clutching tightly onto his right arm. The unbearable pain in his arm left his face twitching uncontrollably, and tears glistened in his eyes.

“This…” Everyone blinked their eyes in a daze, dumbfounded.

Elder Huang had utilized his full strength to strike on the other party’s face, and yet, without even scraping the other party’s skin, his arm was broken instead…

Was this for real? Was that fellow that thick-skinned?

“Damn it, I will rip you into pieces!” Noticing everyone’s bizarre gazes on him, Elder Huang felt so embarrassed that he could die. Roaring furiously, he drew out a sword and charged at the fellow before him.

“Elder Huang, you mustn’t get reckless!”

Upon seeing Elder Huang’s actions, everyone was astonished.

If that ‘Sun Qiang’ fellow were to die under Elder Huang’s poison, he could still justify it as having failed to control his poison properly. On the other hand, the drawing of his sword could be interpreted as an attempt to kill in the Poison Hall. If the deed was really done, there would be no backing out.

Si la!

Blinded by his rage, Elder Huang couldn’t hear anyone’s voice anymore. He hacked his sharp sword down upon the fellow seated before him furiously, intending to split the fellow before him into two. However, just as the sword was about to land, the other party suddenly raised his palm and struck upwards.

Hong long long!

The loud rumbling of a thunder resounded deafeningly in the courtyard. Elder Huang’s sword qi dissipated entirely under the immense momentum of the palm strike, and in the next moment, his head was forcefully struck into his chest.

Putong!

Elder Huang’s body fell lifelessly onto the ground, never to move again.

“What?”

“Elder Huang was killed in a single palm strike?”

“That strike didn’t just neutralize Elder Huang’s attack, it rebounded Elder Huang’s strength back upon him! Is that fellow really just at Nascent Saint?”

…

Looking at the dead Elder Huang, everyone’s body stiffened.

That was an elder, a Saint 1-dan pinnacle expert! The other party was an existence who boasted equivalent strength to them, and yet… he was actually killed in a single palm strike…

Just how powerful could that palm be?

“He didn’t even move the rest of his body at all, and his eyes had never opened at any point in time either…” A quivering voice sounded amidst the group.

Hearing those words, everyone suddenly recalled the situation back then, and it seemed like ‘Sun Qiang’ had been seated on the floor all along, moving only his palms. And more importantly… his eyes had never opened at any point in time!

In other words… the other party hadn’t even got serious yet! It was a casual palm strike to the other party, and yet, it was sufficient to claim Elder Huang’s life!

“There is something really uncanny about this fellow. Nevertheless, we can’t allow him to get away scot-free for killing Elder Huang. Let’s attack him together, don’t let him escape!” A person roared.

In the next moment, the remaining nineteen elders swiftly flitted through the courtyard, surrounding Zhang Xuan tightly.

The reason why they held themselves back a moment ago was because it would be unseemly for elders like them to make a move on the juniors, and there would be no way they could account this matter to Elder Xu either. However, now that the other party had killed Elder Huang, there were no grounds for reconciliation anymore. Not even Elder Xu would be in a position to stop them anymore.

“Indeed, let’s attack him together!”

“I sure do want to see if he is able to withstand by Yama Incapacitation Powder!”

…

Huala!

The nineteen elders struck simultaneously, and in an instant, the courtyard was suddenly filled with all kinds of poisonous mist. Several poisonous bugs and snakes leaped furiously towards Zhang Xuan, eager to sink their teeth into his flesh.

With so many lethal poisons compounded together, even a Saint 2-dan primary stage expert would replace himself succumbing to the poison within seconds. Yet, when the mist finally scattered slightly, everyone was shocked to realize that… the other party was still completely motionless, as if he couldn’t even feel the poison around him.

“The antidote that fellow took is too potent, our poisons are completely useless against him… Let’s just make a move on him straight. I don’t believe that he will be able to withstand the attacks from all nineteen of us simultaneously!” Someone amidst the group bellowed, and the others nodded in agreement.

Despite having utilized all of their strongest poisons simultaneously, that fellow wasn’t wounded in the slightest. There wasn’t even the slightest hint of anomaly on his face. This went to show that something was amiss.

They had no idea how the other party managed to do it, but it seemed like poison was completely ineffective against him. Since that was the case… they had no choice but to settle it with violence!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Right after hearing that bellow, the nineteen elders charged straight for the middle-aged man seated at the middle.

Feeling the overwhelming force that had gathered around him, the seated ‘Sun Qiang’ seemed to have finally sensed that his life was in danger. Standing up, his figure flitted as if a streak of lightning, swiftly diving amongst the group.

Rather than Nascent Saint, the agility of his movements was more like that of a Saint 2-dan expert. While threading nimbly amongst the many attacks headed for him, he retaliated with fists of his own as well. His punches seemed to be direct and straightforward, but for some reason, it seemed to be infused with some compelling force that prevented them from evading them.

Peng peng peng peng!

Every single punch launched would accurately strike upon an elder, sending the latter flying away. The overwhelming strength that the other party exerted was far beyond what all of them combined could handle.

On top of that, it wasn’t just the other party’s punch that they had to guard against. The other party’s leg arts were formidable as well. His kicks were abrupt, swift, and precise, making it nigh difficult to guard against it.

“H-h-his eyes… His eyes are still closed!”

The longer the fight went on for, the more stifled the elders felt. Nineteen Saint 1-dan pinnacle experts had encircled a Nascent Saint cultivator and attacked him simultaneously, and yet, not only did the other party manage to remain unharmed before their assault, they even realized that they were gradually being suppressed… And most importantly of all, the other party’s eyes were still shut!

It was as if the other party was sleepwalking! All of his actions and movements seemed to be instinctive, derived solely from his combat instincts!

To be able to overwhelm the simultaneous assault of all nineteen of them just by his combat instincts in itself…

The elders felt as if they were going insane.

The vice hall masters watching the situation also couldn’t help but gape at the inconceivable situation.

“We need to help them! The elders won’t be able to hold on for much longer…” One of the three vice hall masters exclaimed.

It was in consideration of their standing that they were unwilling to make a move earlier. After all, for 7-star poison masters like them to lower themselves to deal with a measly Nascent Saint cultivator was truly unseemly… However, at this point, they realized that if they didn’t make a move soon, the nineteen elders could very well end up in the same state as Elder Huang. That would be a devastating blow to the Poison Hall.

“Alright, let’s go together…”

Vice Hall Master Ming Zhen’s eyebrows shot up as he raised his palm and charged forward.

Chapter 999: The Invincible Zhang Xuan (2)

Translator: StarveCleric Editor: StarveCleric

Vice Hall Master Ming Zhen was a 7-star primary poison master, and he possessed a cultivation of Saint 2-dan primary stage. Exerting his full might, an immense pressure fell from the heavens, crumbling the walls of the courtyard into dust.

Seeing that Ming Zhen had made a move, the other two also stepped forward without any hesitation.

Just like Ming Zhen, they were also Saint 2-dan primary stage cultivators which possessed astounding fighting prowess.

With the three experts collaborating with one another, an overwhelming force swept into the surroundings like a calamitous tide, destroying everything in its path.

“What is going on?”

Seeing the collapse of the courtyard walls and sensing the fearsome shockwave that lingered in the air as a result of the fighting, Li Yuan and the others, who were still guarding outside at the moment, turned their eyes over, and upon taking a look, their faces began twitching uncontrollably.

Wasn’t Vice Hall Master Ming going to just get even with Poison Master Sun over this matter? Why would they suddenly start fighting like that?

Not to mention… for the three vice hall masters and all of the elders to gang up against a mere Nascent Saint cultivator… Weren’t they being a little too shameless?

“It seems like… Elder Huang has died…” A quivering voice sounded in the air.

It was after hearing the voice did Li Yuan notice that an old man was lying on the ground with his head sunk into his neck, as if someone had smacked it in with his palm. It was an extremely eerie and bone-chilling sight.

Without a doubt, that was definitely a fatal blow!

“Most likely, they must have provoked Poison Master Sun, and out of anger, the latter ended up doing this…” Li Yuan’s heart jolted in fear as he continued staring intently at the situation.

With the three Saint 2-dan vice hall masters joining the fray, the tables seemed to have been turned. Having to fend off more than 22 experts simultaneously, Poison Master Sun was placed under great pressure. With a forceful strike, Poison Master Sun knocked two of the elders who were engaging him at the moment before swiftly flicking both of his wrists.

A spear appeared in his right hand and a sword appeared in his left.

Hu la!

With a simple pierce, the spear whizzed across spear and appeared right before an elder. In the blink of an eye, the spear had already impaled the other party’s throat. Under the immense force of the pierce, the lifeless body of the elder was sent flying out.

Moving simultaneously along with the piercing spear, the sword in Zhang Xuan’s left hand moved in an elegant arc, and a sword qi harnessing the inviolable authority of the heavens abruptly burst forth.

The elder who was standing to the left of Zhang Xuan hadn’t expected that he would be able to effectively utilize both weapons simultaneously… Before he could react, he suddenly felt a chilling sensation strike his neck. In the next moment, as his head rolled off its base, a fountain of blood spurted forth from the neck of the decapitated body.

“He is killing the elders…” A chilling sensation abruptly assaulted Li Yuan and the others, and they began shivering involuntarily.

Each of these elders was reminiscent of transcendental existences to them, mighty figures whom they could never hope to equal… Yet, at this moment, it was as if someone had torn the veil of mystery and grandeur shrouding them. Like any other mortals, they were bleeding and dying…

That powerful impact from the sight left their throat tensing up, rendering it difficult for them to breathe.

“Doesn’t it seem like… throughout the course of the entire battle, Poison Master Sun hasn’t even opened his eyes once?” Someone amongst the group suddenly exclaimed in astonishment.

After hearing those words, it suddenly dawned on Li Yuan and the others that that was indeed the case. From the start of the battle until now, Poison Master Sun Qiang had his eyes tightly shut, seemingly only retaliating instinctively to whoever who was attacking him.

Every spear that whizzed forth would have the throat of an elder in its path. Every single sword slash would send an elder into death’s embrace…

It was as if the other party was Yama 1 himself, an unstoppable force which they couldn’t hope to stop no matter how they struggled.

in just a few moments, another ten more elders were killed.

“This won’t do. If this goes on, all of the elders will be killed by that fellow…” Seeing the number of elders of the Poison Hall swiftly diminishing, Vice Hall Master Ming panicked.

If this were to go on, in less than ten breaths, every single elder in the Poison Hall could very well lose their lives here!

To think that a Nascent Saint cultivator would be able to claim the upper hand while rivaling 22 Saint realm experts simultaneously and even kill ten of them consecutively… Just what kind of monster was he?

“All elders, listen to my command! Retreat to the backline, I, Vice Hall Master Ming, and Vice Hall Master Qian will deal with that fellow ourselves!” Realizing the same, another vice hall master commanded with an authoritative voice.

As there were too many people involved in the fight earlier, and most of them were their close friends on top of that, they were unable to exert their full might as Saint 2-dan cultivators for fear of harming them accidentally. What they had to do now was to have the other elders back out of the battle first so that the three of them could better collaborate with one another to kill the fellow before them!

“Yes!” Upon hearing the command, the remaining elders heaved a sigh of relief. They hurriedly leaped out of the battle with fear reflected in their eyes.

Honestly speaking, there was really something unsettling about that fellow. It was one thing for the other party to be impervious to their poisons, their greatest weapon, but how could the other party wield such frightening physical and zhenqi strength as well?

It was as if he was a gargantuan monster packed in the form of a human, wielding inhuman might in every single one of his strikes.

Despite so many of them teaming up against him, he was still able to emerge unscathed and even kill more than ten of them so easily… Not to mention, from the start to the end, he had never opened his eyes at all!

If he was already so powerful without his eyes, how frightening would he become when he opened them?

If only they had known earlier, they would have never gotten involved in this matter… From the very start, this was a matter caused by the student of Vice Hall Master Ming. It had nothing to do with them, and they were supposed to be there as mere spectators…

…

Right after the elders left, the three vice hall masters swiftly surrounded ‘Sun Qiang’. Driving zhenqi in their body to the limits, they launched powerful blows one after another towards the other party.

Hualala!

With the combined strength of three Saint 2-dan acting against him, a powerful force sealed the space around Zhang Xuan tightly, effectively caging him in.

Despite being trapped, Zhang Xuan showed no signs of faltering at all. On the contrary, he seemed to be getting more and more powerful as the fight went on.

All of a sudden, with a piercing shrill, the spear in Zhang Xuan’s right hand burst forth.

Ding ding ding ding!

The spear tip struck the walls of the cage forcefully. In the blink of an eye, cracks began appearing on the stable wall of zhenqi. Following right after, a sword sliced through the cracks in the wall.

Huala!

Just like that, the powerful Zhenqi Spatial Lock was sliced into two.

Pu! Pu! Pu!

Vice Hall Master Ming Zhen and the others spurted fresh blood simultaneously as horror surfaced in their eyes.

For a Nascent Saint cultivator to tear apart the Zhenqi Spatial Lock set up by three Saint 2-dan experts so easily… the other party’s strength had far exceeded their expectations! Furthermore, what was even more frightening was that the zhenqi harnessed by the other party seemed to have no bounds!

Despite executing such powerful attacks multiple times within a short frame of time, the other party was still as vigorous as ever, as if those attacks hadn’t depleted him in the least!

Just how in the world did he do it?

“Trinity of Heaven and Earth Formation!” Bellowing anxiously, Vice Hall Master swiftly flitted to the side and assumed a specific position.

Hearing his words, the other two vice hall masters nodded and swiftly got into their positions as well.

Trinity of Heaven and Earth Formation!

This was a formation that could amplify their combined fighting prowess. As long as they were to use it well, even a Saint 2-dan pinnacle expert would be no match for them!

Hu!

As soon as they got into position, their raging zhenqi began connecting with one another, forming something reminiscent of a metal chain.

Seemingly sensing a threat from their movements, ‘Sun Qiang’ took a step back and kept the spear in his hand with a flick of his wrist. Even so, his eyes still didn’t open.

“Go!”

Tzzzzzz!

With the formation augmenting them, the aura of the three vice hall masters surged. Drawing their swords, they flicked their wrists and sent innumerable surges of sword qi towards Zhang Xuan as they charged forward.

However, before any of the sword qi could strike ‘Sun Qiang’, the latter abruptly leaped up and kicked thrice consecutively in the air.

The three kicks didn’t seem to have any particular rhythm to them, but yet, they landed accurately in their path of movement. With just this simple move, their collaborative offense was sent into disarray.

“He… broke the Trinity of Heaven and Earth Formation?”

Upon seeing this sight, the surviving elders narrowed their eyes in astonishment.

The three kicks might seem to be random and illogical, but it had destroyed the tempo of the Trinity of Heaven and Earth Formation, thus effectively nullifying it!

To be able to overcome such a formidable formation with just a couple of kicks, could it be that the other party possessed deep understanding in formations as well?

It was one thing for the other party to be so powerful, but to have such a deep understanding of formations on top of that… how were they supposed to win against this freak?

Not only would their formations be completely ineffective against the other party, the other party could even utilize formations against them as well. The situation was very disadvantageous to them.

Puhe!

While the elders were still overwhelmed with shock, ‘Sun Qiang’, who was still surrounded by the three vice hall masters, abruptly swept his sword forth, severing Vice Hall Master Ming Zhen’s arm along with his entire shoulder. Blood immediately spurted frenziedly in the air.

“AHHHHH!!!!” With a cry of agony, Vice Hall Master Ming Zhen hurriedly retreated backward with a pale face. At this point, he could no longer replace the strength to fight on any longer.

No matter how he thought about it, the situation was just inconceivable to him. How could the collaboration of three Saint 2-dan experts fail to subdue a mere Nascent Saint cultivator?

…

WIth the formation broken, there was no longer anything to fear from the trio anymore. ‘Sun Qiang’ advanced towards the other two remaining vice hall masters. With the sword in his hand, he rendered them completely incapable of retaliating, leaving them no choice but to retreat continuously.

“Wait a moment… is it just me, or is Sun Qiang’s offense always targeted towards the person who is attacking him at the present moment? As long as one were to stop his attack, he wouldn’t pursue the other party any further…” All of the sudden, an elder suddenly exclaimed.

“Now that you speak of it… that does seem to be the case!” Another elder nodded in agreement.

Thinking back, as powerful as Sun Qiang’s fighting prowess was, he didn’t just attack any of them randomly. Instead… it seemed like his attacks were only focused on whoever that was attacking him!

It was almost as if… he was moving on reflex…

“Vice Hall Master Qian and Vice Hall Master Sun, stop attacking him! There is a very good chance that he will cool down once you stop your offense!” Upon realizing this point, one of the elders hurriedly shouted over.

“Stop attacking him?” Hearing that shout, the two vice hall masters suddenly recalled the details of the battle and realized the same anomaly as well. With a frown, they leaped out from the area of battle.

Hula!

As soon as they leaped away, the other party, which was sending out innumerable lethal sword qi at them a moment ago, abruptly lowered his sword before keeping it with a flick of his wrist.

Hu!

Following which, he sat down cross-legged on the floor once more, paying no heed to the huge crowd around him at all.

“This…” Seeing that the other party had finally stopped his offense, the duo heaved a sigh of relief. As the tension finally left their body, they realized that they were completely soaked with cold sweat.

Had it not been for that elder realizing the anomaly regarding the other party’s attack, it would just be a matter of time before they were killed.

For a Nascent Saint to kill a dozen Saint 1-dan pinnacle experts and corner three Saint 2-dan experts to the point where they could hardly catch a breath…

Where did Elder Xu replace this monster from?

“It seems like… he was in some kind of trance due to his cultivation. Rather than attacking us consciously, it is a reflex action from his body in response to danger…” Vice Hall Master Qian remarked.

“This…”

Hearing the other party’s explanation, everyone contemplated for a moment before nodding in agreement.

There was some sense in what the other party had said. From the start to the end, ‘Sun Qiang’ had been sitting there silently. It was only upon their offense that he was forced to retaliate…

Furthermore, throughout the course of the battle, he only retaliated against those who were attacking him at that moment. Those who had attempted to claim his life ended up having their lives claimed by him instead. Thinking about it now, it seemed they had only survived the ordeal because they had held back in their attacks…

“If even his reflexes are so powerful… just how formidable will he be in a conscious state?” An elder trembled in fear as he spoke.

Everyone fell silent.

Reflexes were the instinctive reactions of a body in face of a certain stimulus. Actions made under such circumstances were devoid of consideration, so naturally, one’s fighting prowess would be limited.

Yet, under such a state, the other party was actually able to corner nearly all of the elders and vice hall masters of the Poison Hall… If that Sun Qiang fellow were to recover from his state of cultivation, wouldn’t he become a huge threat to all of them?

Who in the Poison Hall would be able to stop him?

“Quick, call Elder Xu over!” Unable to stand it any longer, Vice Hall Master Qian commanded anxiously.

“It seems like Elder Xu has gone to meet the hall master…” One of the elders replied.

“Call the hall master here as well then!” Vice Hall Master Qian snapped.

Gritting his teeth, he turned his gaze towards the dead elders by the side, and tears began streaming down his eyes.

What the heck was this?

When had their Poison Hall suffered such great grievances?