Chapter 1008: Contest of Poisons

His current cultivation was only at the Saint 1-dan level. Although he could use various methods to potentially contend with a Saint 2-dan expert, he was still far too weak to face a Primordial Spirit realm powerhouse.

Rushing in recklessly would almost certainly lead to his immediate death.

Unless... he could somehow inject Heavenly Dao True Qi into the opponent's body to poison them.

However, given the Purple Leaf King's current state, that was impossible.

"My goal is to rescue someone, not necessarily to kill the Purple Leaf King. That makes things considerably easier. As long as I can make him believe me and approach, just like I did with the Golden Leaf King and the others..."

He pondered.

His current objective was to rescue Elder Xu without raising any suspicion. Otherwise, he could simply unleash his puppet and easily beat the Purple Leaf King to death.

But... convincing the other party wouldn't be easy at all!

The previous three successes were due to catching his targets off guard. This one was prepared, making it much harder.

"Right, I can start with the Water Leaf King..."

A flash of inspiration struck him, and he thought of a reason.

The Water Leaf King and the Purple Leaf King were both among the Ten Kings of Qingtian. Their simultaneous appearance in Jingyuan City suggested they might be there for a common purpose.

In other words, they could both be searching for the Poison Hall. That was why the Water Leaf King had gone to the auction house, hoping to acquire the Earth Treasure Flower... only to be killed by him.

"That's it!"

He glanced down and saw that Elder Xu could be killed by the opponent at any moment. Knowing there was no time to deliberate, he moved slightly and slowly descended from the tree.

The surrounding formations had already been activated. With his understanding of formations, he could approach completely undetected.

Soon, he retreated outside the formation. His entire body, bones and muscles, writhed as he transformed into the appearance of one of the Water Leaf King's two guards.

After doing this, he clasped his hands and called out loudly towards the courtyard.

"City Lord, bad news... The elder you told us to guard has been killed at the auction house by a 7-star master teacher. He's already heading this way..."

"The Water Leaf King was killed? By a 7-star master teacher?"

As the words ended, the formation before him vanished, and a figure abruptly appeared in front of Zhang Xuan.

It was indeed the Purple Leaf King.

He still held the beetle in his hand. Not far away, Elder Xu had been subdued and lay weakly on the ground, seemingly gravely wounded.

"Yes!" Zhang Xuan feigned a look of shock and quickly nodded.

"What exactly happened? Explain the details!"

The Purple Leaf King's expression darkened as he spoke.

He knew that the Water Leaf King's jade tablet, which represented his aura, had shattered, as they had come to Jingyuan City together. That was why he had rushed back to the City Lord's manor.

Now, seeing the guard who had accompanied the Water Leaf King, he couldn't help but ask.

"That elder was about to enter the auction house when someone stopped him, claiming to be an old friend and wanting to drink together. He told us not to follow, so we don't know the exact details of what happened. We only know that after a while, when we found him, he was already dead. According to eyewitnesses, a 7-star master teacher was responsible..."

Zhang Xuan's words were a mix of truth and fabrication, ambiguous yet plausible. In any case, the opponent wouldn't be able to distinguish truth from falsehood in such a short time.

And that time window was exactly what he needed.

As long as he could make the other party temporarily believe his identity, he could easily rescue Elder Xu, who was not far away, and make his escape.

"A 7-star master teacher? How could there be a 7-star master teacher here?"

Seeing that the other party's explanation had no flaws, the Purple Leaf King frowned.

This was Jingyuan City; how could a 7-star master teacher appear in such a remote place?

And why would they attack the Water Leaf King?

He was confident that his disguise was flawless, and even a master teacher of that level might not be able to see through it.

But... if it wasn't a 7-star master teacher who acted, he truly couldn't believe there was anyone else in Jingyuan City capable of killing the Water Leaf King with his strength.

"I don't know!" Zhang Xuan replied. "I only found his corpse, so I brought it here..."

With a flip of his hand, the Water Leaf King's shriveled body fell to the ground.

"This is... burning his Primordial Spirit and forcibly leaving his body?"

The Purple Leaf King's pupils contracted.

As a fellow king of the Otherworldly Demons, he knew what that body signified: it was the result of a secret art that forcibly detached the Primordial Spirit, a technique that guaranteed death upon use. What kind of powerful enemy could have forced him to resort to such a desperate, all-or-nothing move?

Could it really be a 7-star master teacher?

If so, that would be terrible!

If targeted by a master teacher of that caliber, even he would find it difficult to escape.

"No, I must immediately interrogate him for the exact location of the Poison Hall!"

On high alert, the Purple Leaf King dared not linger. He hastily looked towards Elder Xu, who was not far away, and frowned. "What are you doing?"

He saw that the guard who had just reported to him had, at some point, approached Elder Xu and seemed to be about to help him up.

"Nothing, I just thought his injuries seemed quite severe..."

Zhang Xuan gave an awkward smile.

"You're not needed here. Withdraw!"

Seeing a mere guard dare to act on his own initiative, the Purple Leaf King's face darkened.

"Yes!" Zhang Xuan nodded, then pulled Elder Xu, took two steps back, and suddenly stomped his foot on the ground. The formation, which had previously deactivated, instantly flared to life, and a dense mist enveloped the entire courtyard.

"Hmm?"

His expression grim, the Purple Leaf King surged forward, but the formation before him seemed to have been altered. Even he couldn't locate the other party for a moment.

Only then did he realize that the other party definitely had a scheme.

"Damn it!"

His face twisted ferociously, and unable to suppress his murderous aura, he reverted to his Otherworldly Demon form in the blink of an eye. With a grab of his hand, he attacked the formation before him.

He intended to violently shatter the formation.

With his Saint 4-dan strength, breaking a peak 6-star formation would only take one or two moves.

"Elder Xu, are you alright?"

Seeing that the formation could collapse at any moment, Zhang Xuan looked at the dispirited old man before him.

"Who are you?" Elder Xu asked, looking at him with confusion.

"I am a poison master, but now is not the time for explanations. We need to escape quickly, or we might both die here!"

The formation swayed twice, on the verge of collapsing, and Zhang Xuan was filled with urgency.

"A poison master?" Elder Xu frowned, but still nodded. "Indeed, now is not the time for detailed discussion. Let's escape first!"

"Understood!"

Zhang Xuan said, "I've been in this City Lord's manor for a long time and am very familiar with its formations. I'll have to trouble Elder Xu to follow me closely..."

Without further explanation, he hurried forward.

Elder Xu took a pill from his embrace and swallowed it. His complexion recovered slightly, and he stood up, following closely behind Zhang Xuan.

Although he somewhat disbelieved the other party's claim of being a poison master, he had no better choice at the moment.

He followed closely, weaving through the courtyards of the City Lord's manor.

The person not far ahead not only had an excellent grasp of the terrain but also a terrifying mastery of formations. Many unactivated formations would instantly spring to life with a mere touch, blocking the closely pursuing Purple Leaf King.

Before long, they left the City Lord's manor, flying forward while clinging close to the surface of the buildings.

Flying like this made it harder to be detected and was much safer.

After flying for roughly twenty breaths, they stopped at a spacious building.

"This is... Moyun Pavilion?"

Elder Xu was taken aback.

He knew about the renowned Moyun Pavilion in Jingyuan City and had even visited it a few times. Why would they come here instead of seizing the chance to escape while being pursued?

Seeing his confusion, Zhang Xuan explained, "The opponent controls the City Lord's manor. If we escape now, no matter which direction we fly, we'll be discovered before long. Once we're surrounded, we won't be able to escape at all. Rather than that, it's better to find a place to hide first and recover from our injuries!"

"You're right!"

Hearing the explanation, Elder Xu couldn't help but nod.

What the other party said was true. If they escaped now, they would surely leave traces and be easily discovered upon investigation. At that point, being in the air without the cover of buildings, it would be much harder to escape.

It seemed this fellow not only had extensive knowledge of terrain and formations but also possessed a meticulous mind.

Pondering, he followed closely behind the other, took a few turns, and arrived at a quiet room.

This room had a formation that could isolate all auras.

"This should allow us to hide for a while!" Zhang Xuan said as he entered the room.

It was the very quiet room where he had previously taught Hu Yunsheng a lesson, perfectly suited for their current situation.

"Alright!" Elder Xu nodded, but instead of immediately beginning to heal, he looked at Zhang Xuan, his eyes gleaming. "You said you are a poison master. Do you have a rank emblem to prove your identity?"

The opponent was a Saint 4-dan expert, and this Saint 1-dan person had easily rescued him. To say he wasn't suspicious would be a lie.

It was highly probable that this was a deliberate trap set by the other party, with the aim of having him lead them into the Poison Hall.

"No!"

Zhang Xuan shook his head. "I'm merely self-taught. I haven't been assessed yet..."

"Haven't been assessed?"

His eyes flashed, and Elder Xu's expression turned grim. "A poison master can be self-taught? You can tell that to someone who knows nothing, and it might pass, but do you honestly expect me to believe it?"

Becoming a poison master required meticulous research into various poisons. The slightest mistake could lead to immediate death by poisoning. Even with a benevolent teacher imparting knowledge, fatalities were common, let alone being self-taught? What a joke!

"I know you don't believe me..."

Seeing the other's expression, Zhang Xuan understood his thoughts and shook his head with a bitter smile. "If you don't believe I'm a poison master, there's nothing I can do. How about this... do you dare to compete with me in the use of poison? If you win, there's no doubt I'll die by your hand... But if I win, I hope you'll take me to the Poison Hall to assess my true poison master rank!"

"Compete with me?"

Elder Xu's eyes narrowed as he looked at the young man before him.

A rank emblem didn't necessarily prove identity. After all, he didn't even know who this person was. If someone had killed a poison master and snatched their emblem, he wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

There was only one way to truly confirm his identity: poison!

If the other party truly knew how to use poison... then he was a real poison master. That couldn't be faked.

"Alright!"

Elder Xu nodded.