Chapter 264: Heaven’s Path Disguise Art
Translator:StarveCleric
Editor:GaiaNova
White clouds floated by and the wind whistled.
The Steelfang Howling Firmament Beast’s massive body soared through the skies. Sensing the powerful aura of a Half-Zhizun, the other savage beasts immediately fled in fear.
In the housing on the savage beast’s back, Zhang Xuan and Mo Yu were seated opposite to each other.
“There are so many savage beasts in the air. If not for the Howling Firmament Beast, even though our safety wouldn’t have been a problem, we would still face quite some hassle with them.”
Mo Yu said as she stared out of a window to observe the boundless sky.
Zhang Xuan nodded in agreement.
Through the books in the library, Zhang Xuan had gained some understanding on this matter.
The aerial space may seem peaceful like a safe haven, but in truth, it was actually no different from the world below. In the end, the strong still preyed on the weak.
If the savage beast one rode on wasn’t strong enough, there was a probability of it being targeted and attacked by other savage beasts.
This was precisely the reason why the cost of savage beasts increased exponentially along with their cultivation realm.
As much as it was a matter of speed, it was also a matter of safety.
“To find the Poison Hall, we’ll have to first head to Red Lotus City!”
After a night of rest, Mo Yu finally managed to suppress her anger and reverted back to the prideful and cold princess.
“Red Lotus City?”
“Right, it is an ancient city at the foot of the Red Lotus Ridge. One has to pass through the city in order to enter the mountains. The person whom I spoke of previously lives in the city.” Mo Yu nodded.
“Is he a poison master?” Zhang Xuan asked.
“No, he’s a herb king!” Mo Yu replied.
“Herb king?” Zhang Xuan was puzzled.
Regardless of whether it was for pill forging or to treat illnesses, there was great demand for medicinal herbs. Herb kings were people who had special connections to those who cultivated, purchased. and sold these medicinal herbs.
Given the sinister nature of the Poison Hall, why would a herb king have ties with it?
“This is a classified secret of the kingdom. I only happened to overhear people speaking of it.”
Frowning, Mo Yu explained, “The Poison Hall is hidden in the depths of the mountains. Every year, countless people attempt to scale the mountain in hopes of learning the Way of Poison. However, most of them end up dying because of the poisonous mist. Rumor has it that the only way to find the Poison Hall is through the herb kings. The reason is that the Poison Hall requires intermediaries to purchase a large amount of medicinal herbs for the crafting of poison, as well as to sell their poison… And the intermediaries are the herb kings! There is a total of thirteen herb kings in Red Lotus City, and the one that I’m bringing you to is the greatest of them all, the Great Herb King.”
“The Great Herb King controls the flow of medicinal herbs in the Red Lotus City, and if anyone has connections to the Poison Hall, it must be him. However…”
Mo Yu hesitated for a moment before continuing, “I heard that the Great Herb King is already advanced in age and has gone into seclusion. It would be almost impossible for us to meet him and get him to bring us to the Poison Hall.”
“Impossible? You said that you were going to bring me to the Poison Hall…” Zhang Xuan was speechless.
This person said that she would help me find the Poison Hall. Yet, it turns out that it would be impossible to meet with the Great Herb King and, not to mention, for him to bring me there. What kind of help is this?
“I only said that I will you to find that person. As for whether you can meet him and convince him, that’s none of my business!”
Mo Yu said gleefully.
Aren’t you always trying to anger me?
See how I’ll get back at you!
“Ah, that seems to be the case!”
Recalling carefully, it was true that the other party only mentioned that she would bring him a person who knew the way to the Poison Hall. She had never said that she would bring him to the Poison Hall.
Zhang Xuan felt that he had been taken advantage of, having guided the other party in pill forging only to receive such a miserable amount of information in return.
All along, he had been the one to hoodwink others. To think that this fellow would get the better of him.
Even so, Zhang Xuan wasn’t too bothered. Compared to his previous situation, at least he now had an idea of where he should begin to work from.
“Un?”
Mo Yu thought that the other party would panic upon hearing her words. In the end, he only said an ‘Ah, that seems to be the case’ and fell silent. Sneaking a peek at him, she saw a relaxed expression on the other party’s face, as though none of it concerned him.
“Aren’t you worried that the other party might refuse to meet you?” After a moment, Mo Yu couldn’t hold back her curiosity anymore.
I said that the Great Herb King is advanced in age and doesn’t meet anyone. Why isn’t this fellow flustered at all?
“Of course I’m worried!” Zhang Xuan replied.
“Then, you…” Mo Yu blinked in surprize. Is this how you look when you’re worried? I can’t tell at all.
“But there’s no use worrying about it. Rather than wasting my time, I might as well think about when you’ll pay me my money…”
At this point, Zhang Xuan stared at her doubtfully, “Right, can it be that your identity as a princess is impersonated? Otherwise, how can you be so poor? Having not paid the fee, how can you be so thick-skinned as to ride on my Beast Mount?”
“…”
Mo Yu’s slender body swayed violently.
She initially thought that she had finally won one over Zhang Xuan and would be able to admire the exasperated look on his face, but contrary to her expectations, he appeared completely calm. On the other hand, the moment he spoke, her rage soared once more.
Damn it!
I knew that nothing good can come out from this man’s mouth…
Looks like I should avoid talking to him in the future. Otherwise, it would just be a matter of time before I die from his words…
“Hmph!”
Mo Yu ground her teeth together, but she didn’t dare to say anything else. She decided to ignore the other party and pouted her mouth.
“Sigh, despite owing money, you refuse to let me speak about it. Why are people so thick-skinned these days?”
Muttering under his breath, Zhang Xuan stretched his back.
“You…”
Mo Yu felt a strong regret for following this fellow to Red Lotus City.
On seeing her beauty, everyone would always act carefully for fear of offending her. Yet, this fellow managed to push her buttons with every single word he said. It was as if he wouldn’t be content until he gave her a heart attack.
How can there be such a fellow in the world?
She thought that she would die from anger in the two-day journey, but unexpectedly, the fellow didn’t pay her any attention. Rather, he sat quietly in a corner of the room and remained in… a daze.
“What is he up to?”
Initially, Mo Yu thought that the other party was intentionally putting on an act to vex her. However, his trance lasted for an entire day, and his eyes had reddened in fatigue. Deciding that it was unlikely for the other party to go such great lengths just to prank her, she became perplexed.
Speaking of provoking others, this fellow was capable of murdering with his words.
In terms of talents, even Mo Yu, a renowned genius, wasn’t a match for him.
In terms of wisdom, he had been in a mindless daze. What was he up to?
Staring at the fellow before her, she realized that the more she knew about him, the less she comprehended.
Oblivious to the other party’s confusion, Zhang Xuan was occupied inside the Library of Heaven’s Path, fully engrossed in reading through the books.
Given that his awareness was immersed entirely within the library, it looked as if he was in a daze from the outside.
Zhang Xuan was able to access the books duplicated in the library with a single thought in his mind. However, while they were stored in the library, this knowledge didn’t yet actually belong to him. He was still unable to utilize it freely under all situations.
Having transcended into this world for over twenty days, Zhang Xuan knew that he mustn’t just rely on the Library of Heaven’s Path if he wants to become a true master teacher. He has to read more books and learn more. Only with sufficient knowledge will he be able to reach greater heights.
While the golden book has the effect of assimilating the content within all of the books in the library into his very own knowledge, no one can tell when it would be formed. In any case, since Zhang Xuan didn’t have Heaven’s Path Divine Art for the Half-Zongshi realm to raise his cultivation and was free, he might as well read some more books and take in more knowledge. Perhaps, it might even turn out to be useful to him later on.
“Hm? To think that there would be so many books on disguising in the Tianxuan Kingdom’s Book Collection Vault.”
Sweeping through the innumerable books he had collected in the kingdom’s Book Collection Vault, Zhang Xuan stopped before a particular bookshelf all of a sudden.
There were more than a thousand books placed on it and all of them were about altering one’s appearance and disguise.
“I heard that when Emperor Shen Zhui was younger, he once roamed around the world. Could he have collected these books then? After all, as an emperor, there are too many people who wish to take his life. It would be much safer for him to don a disguise.”
An idea popped into Zhang Xuan’s mind.
Rumor has it that Emperor Shen Zhui once traveled around the world when he was younger to train himself and to widen his boundaries. However, if he were to have walked around in his original appearance, he would have probably been killed by his enemies back then.
After all, the allure of a throne is too great.
Even blood-related brothers would brutally slaughter one another for that one and only seat.
When Emperor Shen Zhui was traveling around the world, his cultivation had yet to mature. He probably collected these appearance altering and disguise books in consideration for his safety.
“Since there are so many books here, I might be able to form a Heaven’s Path secret manual!”
Thinking so, Zhang Xuan started to organize the correct content within the books. Soon, they melded together to form a single book.
“It worked!”
A delighted gleam flashed through Zhang Xuan’s eyes.
“The art of disguise is centered around intent. Changing one’s appearance with pills and suppressing one’s voice is actually the most mediocre type of disguise. A true disguise requires one to have absolute control over their muscles…”
The book was filled with knowledge on disguising oneself.
After having flipped through a few pages, Zhang Xuan couldn’t help but smile bitterly.
It was no wonder why Liu Ling and the others could tell that something was amiss when he was disguised as Yang Xuan. After reading through this book, he realized how subpar his disguise then was.
It was due to the lack of powerful experts in Tianxuan Kingdom that no one could see through his disguise.
Otherwise, even if it weren’t Tianwu Kingdom, Zhang Xuan’s disguise would have been exposed in any other Tier 2 Kingdoms.
Very quickly, he finished reading the entire book.
“Even though these are just the fundamentals to disguising, I should be able to hide my appearance from most people!”
Even though the books in Tianxuan Kingdom covered just the bare fundamentals of disguising, after mastering these, Zhang Xuan was nevertheless able to easily alter his appearance to the extent that even Liu shi and the others would find it difficult to notice.
“This disguising method has a demanding requirement on one’s control over their muscles as it works by moving muscles around to change one’s appearance. It would be impossible for anyone else to cultivate this technique because being able to control every single muscle in their body is a nearly impossible. However, it’s a different story for me! After cultivating the Heaven’s Path Golden Body, the muscles in my body have gained immense flexibility and I am able to move them as I please.”
Zhang Xuan smiled gently.
Just by reading through the Heaven’s Path Disguise Art, Zhang Xuan had more or less mastered the skill.
At this moment, even without using pills for his disguise, Zhang Xuan was able to easily alter his appearance without anyone noticing anything amiss.
With this ability, even if Zhang Xuan was unable to defeat someone, he would be able to avoid him by altering his appearance.
This meant that Zhang Xuan had just gained another mean for survival.
“We’ve reached!”
Zhang Xuan was about to test out his disguising technique when Mo Yu’s voice resounded.
Looking out of the windows, Zhang Xuan could see massive mountains appearing before his eyes.
The entire ridge extended for several thousand kilometers. The barren land was devoid of any greenery and its crimson surface was filled with sand and rocks.
“Is that the Red Lotus Ridge?”
The rise and fall of the geographical terrain extended toward the horizon, and one couldn’t see the end with a single glance. It looked as though a massive red lotus had spread across the vast area of the earth.
It was no wonder why Mo Yu said that it would be impossible to locate the hall by casually fumbling around. Given the massive size of the ridge, it would be indeed difficult to discover an intentionally concealed Poison Hall.
“That’s right. That over there is Red Lotus City!” Mo Yu pointed.
Following her finger, Zhang Xuan saw an ancient-looking city beneath the glow of the morning sun.
