Chapter 351: Chrysanthemum
Translator: StarveCleric Editor: StarveCleric
The process of diagnosing wasn’t a child’s play—one mustn’t be negligent in it. All the other party did was to walk over and touch the savage beast. Without even examining the savage beast’s fur, physical condition, heartbeat, or breathing rate, he came back… What was this?
Don’t tell me that you are already done examining the other party’s condition, and you already have a solution for the matter?
Mo Tianxue and Mo Yu were perplexed. They couldn’t tell what Guild Leader Liu was up to.
After he returned to their side, they thought that he would say something, but to their frustration, he simply stood on the spot… and fell into a daze.
Without examining anything, he touched the other party and fell into a daze. Even Grandmaster Lin Tao, who had seen innumerable diagnoses from different top-notch physicians before, was perplexed.
“Cough cough, Guild Leader Liu, can the Gold-tailed Lion… be saved?”
They waited for a very long time, but the other party’s face only brightened and darkened periodically. Unable to stand the anxiety any longer, Mo Tianxue asked.
You should at least tell me whether there is hope or not! Are you trying to kill us with anxiety by standing there?
“Oh. I’ve a few items that I need, so I’ll have to trouble you to prepare them as soon as possible!”
Recovering from his daze, Zhang Xuan instructed with a grim expression.
“Yes!”
Mo Tianxue nodded.
“Boneless Flower, Gold Blood Venom, Three Thousand Worm Blood…”
Zhang Xuan casually listed a few medicinal substance.
“These… are all poison?”
Mo Tianxue thought that the other party would list out nourishing medicinal substances, but contrary to his expectations, all of the items the other party listed possessed lethal poison. Just hearing those names sent shivers down Mo Tianxue’s spine.
“Un. I need them!” Zhang Xuan replied.
“Can these poisonous substance really treat the Gold-tailed Lion’s illness?” Mo Tianxue was perplexed.
The Gold-tailed Lion was reaching the end of its life, and it even went on a rampage several times to express its frustration. Logically speaking, they should be feeding it nourishing medicinal herbs so that it could regain its spirit and recover.
Why would you look for these poisonous substances instead?
“Father, let’s just listen to Guild Leader Liu’s words. Since he asked you to obtain these material, he must have a use for them!” Sensing her father’s hesitation, Mo Yu immediately urged him telepathically.
Having witnessed Zhang Xuan’s treatment of the Great Herb King, she knew that the latter possessed astonishing means. Since he asked for her father to prepare these poisonous substances, he must have a plan in mind.
“Alright!” Agreeing to the matter, Mo Tianxue waved his hand. A split moment later, a gray-robed man appeared, and Mo Tianxue issued several instructions to him.
The Tianwu royal family possessed exceptional efficiency in getting things done. It didn’t take them long to gather all of the required medicinal substances.
“Guild Leader Liu, what should we do now?”
Seeing the bunch of poisonous substances placed on top of a huge table, the corners of Mo Tianxue’s lip twitched and he hurriedly averted his gaze.
Just any single one of these medicinal substances was sufficient to poison a Zongshi realm expert to death. But at this moment, dozens of them were piled up together. Mo Tianxue truly couldn’t imagine a use for these items.
“Do you have any pikes? Prepare 36 of them for me!”
Instead of answering, Zhang Xuan listed another request.
Pikes were a common weapon used by the guards in the royal palace, so it wasn’t too difficult to gather them. A few minutes later, a pile of pikes were stacked up in the courtyard.
“Prepare another forty cows and lambs. Slaughter them and fill their blood in buckets…
Zhang Xuan continued instructing.
Even though Mo Tianxue had no idea what was going on, he didn’t think that Guild Leader Liu would do pointless things. Thus, he had his men prepare those as well.
Soon, when everything was in place, Zhang Xuan heaved a sigh of relief. Walking over to the table of medicinal substances that the other party had collected, he smacked on the table.
Hu!
A dozen of medicinal substances immediately flew into the air. Zhang Xuan closed his palms together, and with a burst of zhenqi, he crushed them all into medicinal powder and mixed them together one by one. The final product was a green powder which sent one’s goosebumps rising.
Without a doubt, this powder which comprised more than a dozen of lethal poisons was incredibly potent. If a Half-Zhizun were to get a whiff of it, he would at least pass out for half a day.
“This is… the concoction method of a poison master? Could it be that… Guild Leader Liu is a poison master?”
As the poison powder flew around the place, they reacted with one another, causing the substance to change colors continuously. Mo Tianxue and Grandmaster Lin Tao stared at the sight warily.
Poison masters possessed the might to kill those who possessed a cultivation realm beyond them.
Liu Cheng’s cultivation could be considered as negligible in comparison to theirs, but the notoriety of poison masters was simply too deeply ingrained in their minds. No one knew what kind of poison he was concocting, and there was a chance that they might end up dead if they were to be negligent at this point.
There were many such precedents, and this was also the reason why this occupation was extremely feared by many.
The fact that Guild Leader Liu was able to fuse so many lethal medicinal substances together so casually showed that he had a comprehensive knowledge over the properties of these medicinal substances, and he had an extremely high control over his concoction skills. Could he really a poison master?
“Formidable physicians dabble in poison for their treatment as well. It isn’t surprising for him to know a thing or two about the properties of poisonous medicinal substances!”
Sensing the doubt of the duo, Mo Yu sent a telepathic message to them.
Physicians and poison masters were actually two sides of the same coin. Both of them utilized medicinal herbs, but one used it to save lives while the other one used it to claim lives.
It was said that the very first poison master was initially an extremely proficient physician. After his wife was killed by his enemies, his personality became warped and he started to research lethal poison to exact vengeance. Eventually, he wiped out the entire clan of his enemies, and before his death, he left behind a book—the [Art of Poison].
Of course, as it was too long in the past, no one could verify the authenticity of this legend. Even so, this legend clearly indicated that there were many points of overlap between physicians and poison masters. As such, it wasn’t too surprising for formidable physicians to be capable of concocting poison either.
“I’m done…”
Just as the trio was discussing, the young man finally came to a stop. He was done concocting the poison powder, and he casually threw it into the pail by the side. The clear water within the pail immediately turned dark gray.
After doing all of these, Zhang Xuan heaved a sigh of relief. He circled around the Gold-tailed Lion before stopping finally before Grandmaster Lin Tao.
“Is there a way to activate the confinement formation quickly?”
“Activate the confinement formation quickly?” Lin Tao was stunned.
“Un!” Zhang Xuan nodded.
Back then, when he was at the Beast Hall, he had the opportunity to see a formation being activated, and it seemed to be a troublesome process requiring much preparatory work.
“It’ll be best if you can do so within half a breath!” After contemplating for a moment, Zhang Xuan added.
“Half a breath?” Lin Tao nearly choked on his own saliva. “How is that possible? Given the size of this grade-3 formation, it would require a minimum eight Zongshi realm pinnacle experts infusing zhenqi into the formation simultaneously at eight different locations to activate. Only when their zhenqi has completely fused with the formation will the formation be triggered… Even with the fastest method, it’ll at least take ten minutes!”
“Ten minutes?”
“Un. If one possesses the strength of a Zhizun realm cultivator, one would be able to activate it alone, and the time taken will be significantly reduced as well. Even so, it’ll still be impossible to activate it without two to three minutes!”
Lin Tao was completely speechless.
Do you really know formations?
The triggering of a formation may sound simple, but it requires one to infuse zhenqi to drive and stimulate the formation. This process is extremely complex and troublesome to carry out.
Anyone who had the slightest understanding of formation would understand this. As a person capable of pausing a grade-3 formations with a single kick, how could you not know this?
“That is too long…”
Zhang Xuan frowned. “Do you have any better ideas?”
“I do, just that… I can’t do it alone!” Lin Tao said hesitantly.
“Oh? Tell me about it!” Zhang Xuan hurriedly turned to look at him.
“Every single formation has a core, and that is where the entire formation is centered around. If one infuses zhenqi directly into that spot, the formation can be activated swiftly… This is also the fundamental principle behind how formation plates works!”
At this point, Lin Tao suddenly looked slightly awkward, “However, you should know that only 3-star formation masters are capable of inscribing on a formation plates. I’m only a 2-star pinnacle formation master… so I’m still a little lacking in that aspect!”
In truth, formation plates were created through using a special method to compress massive formations into a small personal object that one could bring around conveniently. When the need comes, one just has to infuse zhenqi into it. Even if one wasn’t a formation master, one could still activate it easily.
While its prowess was significantly lacking as compared to a real formation, its strength lay in its ability to be activated instantaneously. Furthermore, due to its convenience in carrying around, many people use it as a survival mean.
Mo Yu had one on her as well. This was also the main reason why Mo Tianxue was willing to allow her to explore outside on her own.
“You mean that as long as I find the core of the formation… I’ll be able to activate the formation quickly?”
Zhang Xuan asked.
“That’s right!” Lin Tao nodded. “But while that’s the case, it isn’t that easy to find the core of the formation. Different from a formation plate, where the core is fixed at a certain point, the formation core of huge formations tend to change depending on the geography and time. Even I am unable to find it, lest to say… activate the formation through it!”
“Oh!”
At this moment, Zhang Xuan froze for a split moment before turning to look at a specific point in space.
Then, without any hesitation, he picked up a pike and walked up to the Gold-tailed Lion.
With a swift jerk, he dipped the pike into the bucket of lethal poison, and a sizzling sound could immediately be heard from the surface of the pike, as though the metal was being corroded.
“Go!”
Raising his eyebrows, Zhang Xuan took out the venom-soaked pike, pulled it back, and threw it with a swift motion.
Sou!
As though a javelin, the pike flew out with astonishing strength and impaled the body of the sleeping Gold-tailed Lion.
“Ah?”
They were just wondering what the other party was going to do when this sight abruptly unfolded before them. Cold sweat immediately gushed down Mo Tianxue, Lin Tao, and Mo Yu’s bodies.
That was lethal poison… Putting aside whether the guardian beast would be poisoned to death for the moment, this was a direct provocation to the other party!
This fellow already had a been in an unstable condition recently, going around eating others. If it were to fly into a temper at this moment, wouldn’t it slaughter everyone?
Roar!
As expected, before they could recover from their shock, a furious roar reverberated in the air. The sleeping Gold-tailed Lion abruptly opened its eyes, and its large eyes instantaneously turned scarlet.
“We’re done for…”
Upon seeing this sight, their hearts turned cold.
Huala!
Lowering his head, the Gold-tailed Lion saw the pike stabbed into its body. In an instant, its fury surged and it bellowed deafeningly, tremoring the heavens. Standing up, its massive figure, reminiscent of a small hill, became even more pronounced. Even without making a move, the immense pressure that it exerted had already made their legs go weak.
“Guild Leader Liu, danger…”
Mo Yu shouted anxiously.
Even a Zongshi realm pinnacle expert like her father couldn’t withstand the wrath of the Gold-tailed Lion. The other party was only at Zongshi realm primary stage, so how could he possibly survive an attack from it?
She thought that the young man would retreat immediately after hearing her voice, but contrary to her expectations, the other party simply picked up another pike, soaked it in venom, and tossed it once more.
On top of that… the area which he was aiming for… was the orifice at the end of the Gold-tailed Lion’s alimentary canal.
Puhe!
The pike accurately stabbed straight into the opening, and fresh blood immediately gushed frenziedly along the body of the pike.
“Roar!”
This time, it wasn’t just the Gold-tailed Lion who went into a frenzy. Mo Tianxue, Lin Tao, Mo Yu found the boundaries of their sanity being forcefully pushed on.
It had just barely opened its eyes to identify the arrogant aggressor who dared to attack it when this fellow grabbed a pike and tossed it into the end of its alimentary canal. Rage immediately clouded its mind.
Huala!
It immediately swept its massive tail straight toward Zhang Xuan. Due to its astounding speed, a sonic boom burst the air.
Seemingly aware that it would react in this manner, Zhang Xuan didn’t panic. Instead, with a swift leap, he dashed to the spot around a dozen meter away where he glanced momentarily at just a moment ago and forcefully kicked at it.
Huala!
Along with the sound, the vision before Mo Tianxue, Mo Yu, and the others blurred. The formation had activated once more, concealing the interiors of the courtyard.
“The formation… has been activated?”
Grandmaster Lin Tao widened his eyes.
—
Chrysanthemum, or juhua (pronounced as jee-hwa) in hanyupinyin, is a slang referring to the opening of a human’s alimentary canal…
