Chapter 1185: Full Head Durian Zhang Jiuxiao

"You?"

His eyes lit up, and the bronze-masked man clenched his fists.

Everyone around them was also completely astonished.

"Exactly!" Zhang Jiuxiao huffed, lifting his head. For a moment, he felt like he had truly soared to the heavens.

As the top genius of the Qingyuan Empire, he had felt suppressed by being relegated to merely standing there. Now, finally, he had a chance to prove himself, and his excitement was palpable.

"Please, Master Zhang, help me resolve the seal!"

The bronze-masked man cupped his fists.

Since his arrival, he had been arrogant, not even putting Master Wu and the others in his eyes. But now, hearing Zhang Jiuxiao name the seal and claim he could resolve it, he could no longer hold back.

"Simple!"

Taking two steps towards the painting, Zhang Jiuxiao took out a brush, then turned to glance at Zhang Xuan. "Master Zhang Xuan, I might need you to grind some ink for me!"

"Me?"

Zhang Xuan was taken aback.

"Yes, I'm going to resolve the seal, and I'm sure everyone here wants to see... Such an important matter, you shouldn't refuse, right?" Zhang Jiuxiao lifted an eyebrow.

This person had embarrassed him on the Mind Tempering Bridge, making him lose face, and just now even made him call him "uncle." Now that he had the chance, he naturally wanted to humiliate Zhang Xuan and show him that a genius was a genius, not someone just any tom, dick, or harry could compare to.

"Alright!"

With a wry smile, Zhang Xuan shook his head.

If the other party could genuinely undo the seal, grinding ink was no big deal to him. Besides, it was a good opportunity to witness the marvel of an eighth-realm painting.

He walked over, took out the inkstone, and began grinding ink.

"Good!"

Seeing Zhang Xuan quietly comply under the awe of his superior aura, not daring to utter another word, Zhang Jiuxiao felt an indescribable satisfaction. He dipped his brush and lightly tapped the scroll.

The ink did not drip onto the painting; instead, it paused in the void, hovering in mid-air, enveloping the white clouds.

Calligraphy in the void!

In the blink of an eye, a cloud identical to the one below appeared in the air, quietly suspended. After this, Zhang Jiuxiao pondered for a moment, seemingly confirming the spiritual essence's location beneath the cloud. Then, with a wave of his hand, he sent the ink back to the inkstone. Raising an eyebrow, he concentrated, and his soul power immediately extended towards the painting.

"Hmm? His soul power is indeed pure; it must be from a special cultivation technique..."

Zhang Xuan nodded inwardly.

Although the other party's soul power was negligible compared to his own, being able to achieve this at his current strength indicated that he must have cultivated a powerful secret art.

It was likely closely related to the Sage Clan Zhang.

As expected of someone from a major clan; even a collateral descendant possessed knowledge and cultivation methods far superior to cultivators from smaller regions.

Feeling a surge of emotion, Zhang Xuan quietly extended his hand and lightly touched the painting.

A book immediately appeared in his mind.

Just as he was about to examine it, he saw Zhang Jiuxiao's face suddenly turn deathly pale, cold sweat beading on his forehead.

"What's wrong?"

Without time to check the content, Zhang Xuan frowned.

Not just him, everyone else also noticed something was amiss.

If it were truly as simple as the other person claimed, he wouldn't look like this.

Before anyone could ask, Zhang Jiuxiao's pale face suddenly flushed, and he stumbled backward, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

President Mu rushed to his side.

"It's nothing, just my soul being attacked by the painting's spiritual essence..." Zhang Jiuxiao shook his head, about to continue speaking, when he saw President Mu looking at him with a horrified expression.

"Teacher, what's wrong?"

Zhang Jiuxiao frowned.

Even if he was excellent and knew how to resolve the seal, and his knowledge surpassed the other person's, it still wouldn't warrant such an expression.

"No, you, you... you have durians growing on your head!"

President Mu couldn't help but exclaim.

"Durians?" Zhang Jiuxiao was stunned.

"And a tail has grown on your backside..."

An elder added.

"Huh?"

Zhang Jiuxiao turned his head to look, his pupils contracted, and he nearly vomited blood.

He saw a scarlet, fluffy tail growing from his backside, resembling a foxtail. The horns on his head, which he perceived through his spiritual sense, were like durians, one after another, covering his entire head, covered in thorns, and even showing signs of blooming...

"What's going on?"

His face turned even paler, and he stumbled back several steps. Zhang Jiuxiao was on the verge of losing his mind.

He only wanted to break the seal on the painting... How did he end up not only injured but also growing these things on his body?

"This is a plant spirit being planted inside your body... This kind of spirit takes root and sprouts, which is why it grew like this. Fortunately, it's just an ordinary plant spirit; if it were something else, it would grow even faster..."

President Ruan, discerning the problem, explained.

As a peak seven-star Spirit Awakener, she had heard of such a condition before, but seeing it firsthand was still quite shocking.

"Plant spirit? What in the world happened?"

Hearing that a plant spirit had actually grown inside him and was even blooming and bearing fruit... Zhang Jiuxiao's mouth twitched; he was almost insane.

He had only wanted to resolve the seal, make a grand display, and incidentally strike a blow against Zhang Xuan. He never dreamed that he would accomplish nothing, but instead end up with a head full of durians, with four already formed in the blink of an eye...

"It seems you tried to remove the spiritual essence from the painting, and as a result... you suffered a backlash!"

Zhang Xuan's face was full of sympathy.

He had seen this situation before on Hall Master Xing, where he had ignited spiritual essence within his nascent spirit, and the result... was horns growing on his head and a tail on his backside...

Now, this fellow was experiencing the same thing. Clearly, while dealing with the painting's spiritual essence, he had suffered a backlash. Not only did he fail to handle it, but he was corroded by it, turning into this appearance.

"What should I do then?"

His face turned pale, and Zhang Jiuxiao's body swayed.

He was the top genius of the Qingyuan Empire, the idol worshipped by countless maidens. If he went out looking like this, wouldn't he be laughed to death?

"It's very simple: just eliminate the spiritual essence planted in your body!"

Zhang Xuan said.

He had dealt with this once before; he was surprised at first, but now it was nothing special, quite unremarkable.

"Eliminate? How do I eliminate it..." Zhang Jiuxiao quickly looked at him.

Back then, even Hall Master Xing, with his powerful nascent spirit, couldn't eliminate the spiritual essence himself. In the end, Zhang Xuan had to personally intervene.

"Open your soul and allow me to probe it. I'll help you find the spiritual essence, and killing it will resolve the issue!" Zhang Xuan said.

"Open my soul? That's impossible..."

Zhang Jiuxiao quickly shook his head.

As a descendant of the Zhang clan, his soul contained many secrets. How could he casually expose it to an outsider?

What was the difference between opening his soul and standing naked before the other party?

He definitely wouldn't do that!

"You won't? Alright, how about this: I'll first examine what kind of spiritual essence is in this painting, and then I'll figure out a way to prescribe the right remedy. Perhaps I can formulate a medicine that can eliminate the spiritual essence..."

Zhang Xuan paused before speaking.

Not opening his soul was also fine. As long as he knew what kind of spiritual essence had entered the other party's body, he could concoct a corresponding poison to kill it.

Back then, he had also suggested this method to Hall Master Xing, but unfortunately, the other party didn't agree.

"Good, hurry and look..."

Hearing that he didn't need to open his soul, Zhang Jiuxiao said hurriedly.

"Understood!"

Zhang Xuan nodded, then ignored the other party. His eyes were on the scroll, but his mind quietly entered his Sea of Consciousness, focusing on the book that had just appeared in the library.

After reading for a while, he frowned.

"Have you seen anything?"

Seeing his expression, Master Wu spoke.

Instead of answering, Zhang Xuan turned to look at the bronze-masked man nearby. "Where did you get this painting?"

"I merely invited you to help me unlock the seal. There's no need to reveal where the painting came from, is there?" The bronze-masked man showed displeasure.

"Indeed, there's no need to say where the painting came from!"

With his hands clasped behind his back, Zhang Xuan raised an eyebrow. "The Jibei Swamp is extremely humid. Although this painting is merely a piece of art, having been submerged in such a place for over two millennia, it is still permeated with moisture. One can sense it simply by getting close; only fire would change its color..."

"You..."

The bronze-masked man froze, his face seemingly filled with astonishment.

Just by seeing moisture on the scroll, he could tell it came from the Jibei Swamp?

This person's eyesight was simply too keen.

"The Jibei Swamp is fraught with danger but also full of opportunities. Finding the work left behind by Elder Wubei is not surprising. However... Elder Wubei left this painting, but thirty years later, he deliberately hid the secret within the mountain range... This indicates he didn't want future generations to know. This secret likely involves something significant, doesn't it?"

Zhang Xuan continued.

The bronze-masked man's eye twitched, and he narrowed his eyes. "If you cannot undo the seal, I will simply take the painting with me. There's no need for all this suspicion here..."

"Who said I can't undo the seal?"

Zhang Xuan said, "Since you're unwilling to reveal the painting's origin, I won't bother analyzing it further. The material of this painting is made from green-horned fish skin fused with white-horned deer hide. The ink used sky-blue stone mixed with golden spring water. Because of this, despite enduring over two millennia, it hasn't decayed in the slightest; instead, it has become even more radiant, leaving a deeper impression!"

"Judging by the ink's color and changes, it seems you retrieved it from its burial place about three years ago. The painting was completed two thousand one hundred and forty-two years ago. According to my calculations, it was painted by Elder Wubei when he was two hundred and seventy years old! The cloud added last was left by him when he was three hundred, meaning... after adding that, he disappeared. Whether he was killed or abducted, no one knows!"

"This..."

Everyone was stunned.

President Mu, on the side, widened his eyes even further.

He had meticulously observed the painting for a long time just now, yet couldn't discern its exact age. This person, however, knew such intricate details after just one glance. His appraisal abilities were simply terrifying!

Zhang Jiuxiao, whose head was covered in durians, also swayed, his eyes feeling dizzy, and he was almost on the verge of tears.

Didn't this guy say he was a five-star appraiser?

He wouldn't even spare a glance for other so-called five-star appraisers... But this one, how did he feel even more formidable than him, a seven-star appraiser?

"Elder Wubei, at three hundred years old, had already reached the Spirit Severing realm. The cloud he left behind, combined with the painting's ethereal, dream-like state, makes it incredibly difficult to decipher and resolve..."