Chapter 1181: Loyal Prince Qing Poisoned

This Chen Zhe leaked information from Zhang Yinqiu to the Foreign Spirit Race, causing them to almost not return from Qiuwu Palace. He has already violated the principles of a Master Teacher, so why does he still need to be rewarded?

This goes against all logic!

Seeing his confusion, Zhang Xuan shook his head and explained, "After Chen Zhe was captured, no one knows what was interrogated from him or what he confessed! If we convict him like this... where is the evidence? Where is the evidence? To convict him without evidence, especially since he died in the Master Teacher Hall... What do you think others will think?"

Wu Shi was speechless.

Everyone has sympathy for the weak, but whether someone is truly weak isn't always what it seems on the surface.

If Chen Zhe is genuinely convicted, and he coincidentally dies in the Master Teacher Hall's prison... as long as someone stirs up trouble, news of various "dark conspiracies" will inevitably follow, and no one will be able to distinguish right from wrong.

At that point, a situation that was initially favorable to them would suddenly turn unfavorable, and there would be nothing they could do.

"We should declare that he died for humanity, crediting him with meritorious service, rather than convicting him of a crime. This way, the person who killed him will surely feel that the information has been leaked and will become flustered, at which point... they will naturally reveal their true colors. Once the culprit makes a move, the rest will be easy, and it won't be a big deal to re-convict him later!" Zhang Xuan said.

"So that's how it is..." Wu Shi finally understood, realizing the truth.

This was indeed the best method.

It could both mitigate the impact of Chen Zhe's death by the culprit and lure them into a trap... killing two birds with one stone.

"Alright, I'll take care of it right away!"

Understanding, Wu Shi nodded, turned around, and gave an order.

"What should we do next?"

With everything arranged, Wu Shi asked again.

He admired the person before him immensely and didn't bother to think about the subsequent matters.

"Don't worry about what comes next. Tonight, we'll still attend the appraisal event you mentioned... The bait has been cast, and if there are any fish, they'll eventually bite," Zhang Xuan chuckled.

Wu Shi nodded, asking no more questions.

Leaving the room where Chen Zhe was confined, Zhang Xuan didn't linger and went directly to the Master Teacher Hall's library.

With Wu Shi's identity token, he was authorized to view cultivation techniques for Saint 3-dan and 4-dan. In less than an hour, all of them were collected into his Library of Heaven's Path.

After collecting them, he also took out the books given by Emperor Chu Tianxing and imprinted them into his mind.

"Correct!"

The Library of Heaven's Path trembled, and two books appeared.

They were precisely the Heaven's Path cultivation techniques for Saint 3-dan and 4-dan.

Flipping through them, Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up.

"They have all reached the Heaven's Path level, so I can cultivate them directly..."

This was his first time collecting cultivation techniques two levels higher than his current one in advance. With these two books, he could break through in one go and directly assault the Saint 4-dan Primordial Spirit realm!

"It's already dark. I'll go with Wu Shi to that appraisal event first, and then I'll cultivate..."

He glanced outside and saw that it was completely dark. The appraisal event Wu Shi mentioned was about to begin, so there was no time to cultivate. Zhang Xuan stretched and walked out of the library.

With the cultivation techniques, cultivation would be simple. It could be done in an hour; if not, then two hours... there wasn't much difference.

Anyway, for him, as long as he cultivated, it would lead to mastery... there were no cultivation bottlenecks.

He still needed to figure out how to pass all his supporting occupations to the Seven-star level and become a Seven-star Master Teacher first.

"Master Zhang, shall we depart?"

Seeing him arrive, Wu Shi smiled, and the two walked out together.

While Zhang Xuan went to attend the so-called appraisal event, in a spacious hall within the imperial palace...

"Damn it, damn it..."

King Zhongqing stood up, his teeth gritting, his eyes filled with hatred that flowed like a river, as if it could burn people.

"Enough. You dared to make a move against a Master Teacher without any preparation. You truly have a lot of guts!" Emperor Chu Tianxing snorted and said.

"Your Majesty, I..." King Zhongqing clasped his fist.

"Forget it, no need to explain. Just learn your lesson. I paid a huge price to get you out this time!" Emperor Chu Tianxing waved his hand.

"Your humble subject knows his mistake..." King Zhongqing nodded hurriedly.

"Good that you know... For the next few days, don't rush back to your manor. Stay here with me, cultivate well, and recall if you made any mistakes, so no one can catch you. Otherwise, no one can save you!" Emperor Chu Tianxing said.

"Yes!" King Zhongqing nodded. "Don't worry, there shouldn't be any problems. It's mainly that Zhang Xuan doesn't play by the rules, and his strength seems to be far greater than we knew..."

His face was full of hatred. Speaking of Zhang Xuan, King Zhongqing gritted his teeth in anger. However, before he finished speaking, his face suddenly turned pale, and his body involuntarily swayed.

"This is bad..."

His pupils constricted, and King Zhongqing's scalp tingled.

"What's wrong?"

Emperor Chu Tianxing frowned.

"I... I've been poisoned!" King Zhongqing exclaimed, spitting out blood.

King Zhongqing convulsed on the ground, spitting up large mouthfuls of blood, feeling as if all his internal organs were about to shatter.

"Poisoned? How could he be poisoned?"

Emperor Chu Tianxing's pupils constricted.

King Zhongqing had been right beside him, and there had been no prior warning. How could he suddenly be poisoned?

"I don't know either..."

Writhing on the ground in intense pain, King Zhongqing's forehead was covered in sweat, yet he couldn't recall when he had been poisoned.

"Did you eat anything unusual today?" Emperor Chu Tianxing quickly asked.

King Zhongqing was a peak Saint 4-dan expert. For someone of such strength to be unable to withstand it, this poison was truly terrifying.

To administer such a poison without him realizing it, the poison master must be at least a peak Seven-star.

If such a person had appeared, how could he have no recollection whatsoever?

"Today..." King Zhongqing paused. "That Zhang Xuan fed me several gourds of fine wine, and that Sun Qiang sprinkled some chili and salt on me..."

His own food was certainly not the issue. He hadn't eaten anything at the Master Teacher Hall either. The only unclear instances were Zhang Xuan feeding him fine wine and Sun Qiang sprinkling seasonings on him.

"Sprinkled chili and salt?" Emperor Chu Tianxing was stunned.

Why would he sprinkle that?

However, knowing it wasn't the time for questions, he frowned. "It seems this Zhang Xuan must have poisoned him... But what kind of poison is it? Guards, go fetch Physician Sun!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

A guard rushed out.

Not long after, an old man followed him in.

"Your Majesty!"

"Physician Sun, King Zhongqing has been poisoned. Please examine him and see what kind of poison it is and if you can cure him..." Emperor Chu Tianxing ordered.

Physician Sun was the imperial physician of the Qingyuan Imperial Palace, having long reached the peak Seven-star level. His understanding of medicine was superb; if anyone could cure him, it would undoubtedly be him.

"Your Majesty, rest assured, as long as the poison is not above Seven-star, I can easily neutralize it!"

With a grin, Physician Sun revealed a mouth full of yellow teeth. With a flick of his finger, his zhenqi condensed into threads, immediately enveloping King Zhongqing as if in a sphere.

This was his unique diagnostic method... Silkworm Sound Pulse-Taking!

He used zhenqi to envelop the patient's acupoints, observing carefully to ascertain the specific symptoms before prescribing the appropriate medicine.

"Hmm? This poison is a bit strange..."

After enveloping him for a moment, Physician Sun frowned.

"Strange?" Emperor Chu Tianxing looked over. "Can you cure it?"

"Your Majesty, rest assured. Although this poison is strange and difficult to detect, as long as my zhenqi enters King Zhongqing's body using the Filamentary Probe Method, I will surely discover what's wrong and successfully eliminate the hidden danger!" Physician Sun's face was full of confidence.

"Good, then do it quickly!"

Seeing King Zhongqing's pale face, as if he might succumb to death at any moment, Emperor Chu Tianxing said urgently.

"Alright!" Physician Sun nodded, took a deep breath, and made a grabbing motion in the air with his palm.

Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle!

A stream of zhenqi shot from his fingertip, landed on King Zhongqing's glabella, and drilled into his meridians.

The Filamentary Probe Method involves condensing zhenqi into fine threads, sending them into the patient's body to investigate the root cause of the illness, and then prescribing the appropriate treatment.

Having just used the Silkworm Sound Pulse-Taking method without being able to identify the virulent poison in the other party, he could only resort to this method.

After quickly probing him once, still finding no trace of poison, Physician Sun retracted his zhenqi, his brows furrowed in a knot.

There was no trace of toxicity within the patient's body, yet his internal organs appeared as if corroded by a virulent poison, leaving Physician Sun utterly perplexed.

"How is it?"

Emperor Chu Tianxing looked over again.

"This poison is somewhat peculiar. I'm trying to figure it out..."

Just as he was about to continue, Physician Sun's face suddenly turned pale. He immediately collapsed to the ground, convulsing uncontrollably and spitting out large mouthfuls of blood. "Oh no, I've been poisoned too..."

After speaking, he lay on the ground, convulsed a few more times, and then fainted.

"This..."

Emperor Chu Tianxing was startled.

He had just confidently declared that he could cure the poison, yet he fainted without even identifying what kind of poison it was...

This was already the most powerful physician in the imperial palace, and now he too was poisoned. What could be done?

What kind of virulent poison was this, that even a physician didn't notice it before falling victim?

"Your Majesty... my manor has many poison masters imprisoned... bring one over..." King Zhongqing weakly lifted his head.

"Hold on, I'll send someone over right away!"

Emperor Chu Tianxing turned his head and gave another order.

Following the emperor's command, the guards quickly rushed out. Before long, they returned with a black-clad young man.

It was none other than Steward Qin from before!

"Your Highness, all the poison masters in the manor were released by that Zhang Xuan..."

"Released? Splutter!"

King Zhongqing looked listless, completely enervated and on the verge of collapse at any moment.

"No poison master, and the physician can't cure it... I'll go find Master Zhang. A dignified Master Teacher actually resorted to poison..." Emperor Chu Tianxing's face turned ashen.

After paying such a huge price to bail out this prince, only for him to be directly poisoned to death like this... the Qingyuan Imperial Family would become a laughingstock.

"Master Zhang? Using poison?"

Steward Qin, who was standing nearby, couldn't help but look over upon hearing the words. "Your Majesty, was our King poisoned by that Zhang Xuan?"

"It must be him. Besides him, no one else had the opportunity!" Emperor Chu Tianxing snorted.

"If he was the one who administered the poison..."

Steward Qin hesitated for a moment, then, with a look of certainty and confidence, declared, "I know how to cure it!"