Chapter 1367: I Am a Doctor

At this point, mere shock couldn't describe how everyone felt. To be honest, they were a little numb.

Setting up formations, especially stacked formations, increases exponentially in difficulty. A typical formation master takes a month to set up a single eight-star formation. Two stacked would take about four months, three would require at least sixteen months, and four… it would be impossible to complete without ten or even twenty years of effort! Yet, the person before them, with a flick of his wrist, set up four in less than a breath. His understanding of formations wasn't just powerful; it was beyond imagination, truly terrifying!

“Teacher Zhang, are you really… an eight-star formation master who just passed the examination a few days ago?” Unable to hold back any longer, Bi Hongyin asked.

“Yes, I took the exam with Brother Luo. It was quite troublesome…” Recalling the assessment that day, Zhang Xuan couldn't help but shake his head.

“Troublesome…” Luo Xuanqing's mouth twitched. He didn't want to speak to this guy anymore. From studying the formation diagram to setting up the formation, it took less than five breaths in total… What kind of trouble was that? If anyone had trouble, it was me, alright? To this day, I haven't even applied for my eight-star formation master token…

“The killing formation has begun to operate…” As he spoke, the activated killing formation, having absorbed sufficient spiritual energy, flashed with light and began to function, releasing countless sword gleams in the blink of an eye. Everyone felt a surging, ceaseless power ahead, and then saw countless poisonous bees instantly cut into powder, falling from the sky one by one.

“So powerful…” Swallowing hard, everyone's scalp tingled. Although this was only an elementary eight-star formation, when combined with a maze formation, spirit-gathering formation, and others, its power was outrageously immense. Even if they were trapped within it, breaking free would require significant effort.

“Wait a minute…” After observing for a while, Luo Xuanqing reacted: “If the killing formation is so powerful, why aren’t these poisonous bees evading it? Instead, they're hovering in the air, waiting to be killed?”

“That’s right!”“What’s going on?” As soon as he mentioned it, everyone else noticed too. Under normal circumstances, while an eight-level killing formation is formidable, red-tailed poisonous bees are not easy targets to simply slaughter. However, in the current situation, the bees seemed unaware of the approaching killing formation, foolishly remaining in the air, waiting to be killed… It was truly strange.

“Oh, I also incidentally set up an illusion formation. These creatures aren’t highly cultivated nor very intelligent, so once they enter the illusion, it’s very difficult for them to escape!” Zhang Xuan chuckled.

“‘Incidentally’ again?” Luo Xuanqing’s face twitched violently, and he couldn’t help himself. He quickly looked over: “You… how many formations have you set up in there?” Initially, he thought there was just one formation, but then it was two, three, four… and now five had appeared! How many more… are there that we don't know about?

“Didn’t you say these creatures are poisonous? I also set up a ventilation formation inside to collect the toxins, and a harvesting formation… The venom that can kill Saint 6-dan and 7-dan experts… if purified, would definitely be a good item and sell for a lot of money!” Zhang Xuan counted on his fingers: “Oh, and there’s a formation to find the queen bee. Since it’s a queen, it must be even more powerful and have many treasures on it! However, I don’t know its exact strength, so to be safe, I also set up a trapping formation. In case it can’t be killed, it can still be confined so it doesn’t escape. There’s also a clairvoyance formation and one to keep the air fresh so everyone can watch without feeling stifled. Oh, and one to regulate the temperature, so people can watch comfortably without getting too hot… I guess that’s about it!” After speaking, he looked at the others, only to see Luo Xuanqing and the rest with their mouths agape, staring at him as if he were a monster, utterly speechless.

After a long moment, everyone slowly recovered, each feeling a tightness in their chest. Talking about formations with this guy was truly unbearable. Their current mood could only be described as utterly bewildered.

“Brother Luo, I heard the little princess is also very fast at setting up formations. Is she… this fast?” Finally closing her mouth, Bi Hongyin looked over.

“She, she… isn’t this fast!” Luo Xuanqing swallowed. “However, my sister doesn’t spend long learning each profession. Besides being slightly weaker in alchemy, she's proficient in over a dozen other professions!” His sister was not only a genius in cultivation, but also learned other professions very quickly. Professions that others would spend decades mastering, she could grasp and reach the peak in a few months. The only area where she might be slightly lacking was alchemy. Just like him… formation-setting was actually one of his weakest professions among many. He only barely passed after three assessments.

“Oh…” Bi Hongyin nodded, then couldn't help but look at the young man before her: “Teacher Zhang, I wonder… do you know alchemy?”

“No…” Zhang Xuan shook his head. He was very strong in theory, but in practice, he couldn't actually refine pills. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been looking for help everywhere back then.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. If he was so formidable in formations and powerful in other professions too, it would truly be terrifying. Not knowing alchemy meant he wasn't completely flawless, at least.

“Wait, don’t you have a seven-star alchemist badge?” Hearing him say he didn't, Luo Xuanqing was puzzled. This guy had shown it to him before.

“Oh, I genuinely don’t know how to refine pills. My identity as an alchemist was obtained through pill debate!” Zhang Xuan explained.

“Pill debate…” Luo Xuanqing's vision went dark; he didn't want to ask any more questions. Pill debate was even harder than pill refinement! Out of a thousand people, dozens might pass the alchemy assessment, but for pill debate… less than one in a hundred thousand could pass!

“Alright, all the poisonous bees are dead…” After a moment, sensing that the formation had stopped vibrating, Zhang Xuan smiled. Everyone looked and saw that all the red-tailed poisonous bees that had surrounded them were indeed lying dead on the ground.

“The queen bee has also been caught, let’s go take a look!” After sensing for a moment, Zhang Xuan’s eyes lit up, and he hurried forward. Fearing they might take a wrong step and be attacked by the formation, everyone followed closely behind. Before long, they indeed saw a red-tailed poisonous bee, listlessly hovering in the air, looking half-dead. This bee was indistinguishable from the others, similar in size, and impossible to identify by appearance alone. With his Eye of Insight shimmering, Zhang Xuan looked over. While the other poisonous bees were around Saint 3-dan, this one possessed the power of a Saint 6-dan Domain Realm pinnacle. No wonder it could be a queen.

“The queen bee’s venom is powerful. I think it’s better to kill it to avoid unnecessary trouble…” Seeing that the queen bee had indeed been captured, Luo Xuanqing said. Even ordinary poisonous bees, with enough venom, could kill Saint 7-dan experts. As a queen, this one must be even stronger. Such a highly venomous creature shouldn't be kept alive; it's better to kill it first. Otherwise, there would be endless trouble.

“Indeed, it’s very poisonous!” Nodding, Zhang Xuan extended two fingers, gently pinched, and grabbed it.

“Be careful…” Seeing him grab it with his bare hands, everyone’s hair stood on end. Just then, an unexpected change occurred. The listless poisonous bee, seemingly on the verge of death, suddenly struggled violently, its stinger shooting straight towards Zhang Xuan’s skin. Pffft! A small hole was punctured, and venom flowed in. This creature had actually been feigning death. The moment Zhang Xuan grabbed it, it immediately struck out to injure him!

“This is… its vital stinger… incredibly potent. Even Saint 8-dan experts can’t withstand it… It’s over, there’s no antidote!” Seeing Teacher Zhang so careless and stung by the queen bee, everyone’s faces turned pale. The red-tailed queen bee’s vital stinger was something even peak eight-star physicians couldn’t deal with. Saint 8-dan experts would be instantly poisoned to death if stung… Since it directly pierced him, there was no doubt: this formation genius was about to perish…

Plop! Just as they were filled with anxiety, they saw the queen bee drop directly, twitching twice on the ground, its eyes wide with unwillingness, before it stopped breathing.

“The queen bee… was poisoned to death…” Everyone was startled. Judging by its appearance, it was clear that not only had the queen bee failed to poison him, but it had been poisoned to death by him on the spot…

“Uh…” Zhang Xuan’s face was filled with awkwardness. That creature suddenly launched a sneak attack, so fast even he didn't react. The moment its venom entered his body, his Heaven's Path zhenqi also entered the creature's body, and so… it died.

“Are you a poison master?” Everyone instinctively looked at him.

“I…” Zhang Xuan scratched his head. The queen bee tried to poison him but was poisoned to death by him instead. This happened right before everyone's eyes, and he didn't know how to explain it. “If I told you… it died on its own, would you believe me?” After a moment of hesitation, Zhang Xuan said.

Everyone shook their heads.

“Alright, to tell you the truth, I’m actually a… physician! Before entering the canyon, I specifically took an antidote. The queen bee tried to poison me, but instead, it was affected by the medicinal properties of the antidote, which is why it died!” With his mind working quickly, Zhang Xuan explained. While a poison master can kill people with poison, a physician can also cause harm, though the latter's methods are considered more legitimate and not as widely feared.

“A physician?”“An antidote? What kind of antidote could kill the queen bee?” Everyone was stunned for a moment, frowning.

“It’s this…” With a flick of his wrist, Zhang Xuan took out a pill.

“This?” Everyone took it, examined it, and frowned. No matter how they looked at it, it was just an ordinary antidote pill. Could this thing really poison the queen bee to death?

“If you don’t believe me, you can try it. There are so many poisonous creatures here; even if you inhale a few breaths, this pill can resolve it!” Zhang Xuan chuckled.

“Forget it… we believe you’re a physician!” Everyone’s eyebrows jumped. These poisons were lethal; even with their many methods, they wouldn't dare to try it easily! Anyway, everyone had their secrets, so there was no need to pry.

“Alright then, let’s go!” Seeing that no one asked further, Zhang Xuan breathed a sigh of relief. With a sweep of his hand, he collected all the surrounding formation flags. After a moment of hesitation, he still put the red-tailed queen bee’s corpse into his ring. This item wasn’t very useful to him, but it would be very useful against others. Seeing him retrieve the formation flags, silence returned to the surroundings. The recent battle hadn't attracted the attention of other Saint Beasts, and everyone simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief. Luo Xuanqing held the antidote pill, hesitated for a moment, then carefully placed it into a jade bottle and sealed it. Only then did he step to the front of the group and stride further inside.