Chapter 289: Half-Step Grandmaster

"Physician Cheng Feng, what... what's happening?" Physician Bai Chan asked urgently, having finally come to his senses and spotted an old acquaintance.

"Physician Bai, please forgive me. I was completely mistaken just now. I had no idea your medical skills had advanced to this level after so many years. I'm very sorry for my offense!" Physician Cheng Feng, whose name was called, blushed and quickly bowed in apology.

Physician Bai Chan was completely bewildered. Had these people all taken the wrong medicine? He'd only been unconscious for a moment, so why had their attitudes changed so drastically?

After a moment of confusion, the bewildered Physician Bai finally realized that the person who had taken his badge seemed to have impersonated him and cured the Great Medicine King's illness!

Knocking him out, not stealing money or possessions, and even buying him tens of thousands of gold coins worth of medicinal herbs... all just to treat someone else's illness? This sounded completely unbelievable.

Could such a good thing really exist in the world? If so, perhaps he should consider waiting in an empty alley again. Or maybe he should beg the heavens for mercy and send him another one or two "robbers"...

Zhang Xuan was oblivious to Physician Bai Chan's earnest wishes outside. For the past three days, he had been staying at the Great Medicine King's residence, diligently studying the books in the library and instructing Mo Yu.

This was a promise he had made previously, and now that he had found the Great Medicine King, it was time to fulfill it.

After a few days of study, Mo Yu was utterly impressed by the young man, who was even younger than her.

Her own alchemy teacher, a renowned figure in the Tianwu Kingdom, was far less incisive and effective in teaching alchemy than this young man.

After just three days of learning and corrections, her alchemy skills had advanced by leaps and bounds; she could now independently refine Tier-2 pills.

Being able to refine a Tier-2 pill meant she could test for a Two-star Alchemist. To reach this level after only three days of study felt like a dream, even to her.

Under normal circumstances, advancing from a One-star to a Two-star Alchemist would typically take five or six years of rigorous training.

"Physician Bai, we've gathered all the books you requested!" On the morning of the fourth day, as Zhang Xuan continued to teach and Mo Yu to learn, the Great Medicine King entered the room.

"Let's go take a look!" Zhang Xuan stood up. This was what he had been waiting for these past three days, and he was not disappointed.

"This way, please!" The Great Medicine King led the way to a spacious room filled with various books. As Zhang Xuan looked, he saw that the outermost row indeed contained secret manuals for the Half-Grandmaster and Grandmaster realms.

"I'll be reading for a while; you two may leave now!" Knowing his method of reading was astonishing, Zhang Xuan waved them out.

"Yes, sir!" The Great Medicine King and Steward Lu exited. As soon as they stepped outside the door, they heard a series of hurried sounds, as if someone was running inside the room.

He had specifically requested these books to read them, hadn't he? Why was he running? They exchanged confused glances.

"Physician Bai is an exceptional individual; it's normal for his actions to be unconventional. Let's... not concern ourselves with it for now!" The Great Medicine King shook his head, suppressing the urge to go inside and investigate.

Other physicians needed to inquire and observe to diagnose illnesses... but this one had to knock people unconscious just to make a diagnosis!

When healing people, the usual rewards were medicinal herbs or gold coins, yet he astonishingly asked for cultivation techniques of any level...

Everyone knew that taking on too much would lead to indigestion. Cultivators typically only needed to master one cultivation technique. Why did he want so many?

For three days, this question had lingered in their minds. They had come up with dozens of possible reasons, but none seemed plausible.

They had assumed that once the books were found, they might learn something from his actions, but instead, they only heard running...

When someone requested secret manuals, they either read them, studied them, or at the very least, flipped through them! But instead, there was just running...

They knew that extraordinary individuals acted in unconventional ways, but this... this was simply too outrageous!

"Master, what do we do now?" After standing for a long time and hearing nothing but running, Steward Lu couldn't help but ask, "Should we... join him for a run?"

"No, let's just wait outside. He'll surely come out once he's finished running!" The Great Medicine King was about to continue speaking when he heard the study door creak open and Physician Bai walked out.

"This... Physician Bai, are these books not what you needed?" The Great Medicine King was startled to see him, feeling completely bewildered.

He had specifically asked for these secret manuals, expecting Zhang Xuan to spend a day or two inside. How could he just run for a bit... and then come out? In such a short time, he couldn't have even seen how many books there were, could he?

"I've already finished reading them!" Zhang Xuan nodded.

"If they're not suitable, I'll find another way... Huh? What did you say? You've... finished reading them?" Both the Great Medicine King and Steward Lu staggered, nearly spitting blood and fainting.

We went through so much trouble to find over a thousand books, and you were in there for only a few minutes... and you've finished them? We only heard running; when did you even read anything?

"Yes, your books were very helpful to me. Thank you!" Zhang Xuan nodded, ignoring their stunned reactions.

There were about a thousand books in total, and he had 'scanned' them all by merely running around. Frankly, it took him a few minutes to emerge only because he'd paused to cultivate and break through to the Half-Grandmaster realm. Otherwise, he probably would have 'finished' before they even left the main door.

The books the Great Medicine King had collected were quite comprehensive for the Half-Grandmaster realm, allowing Zhang Xuan to form a complete Heavenly Dao cultivation technique and immediately begin practicing it.

The Half-Grandmaster realm was merely a transitional stage before becoming a Grandmaster. With the correct cultivation technique, progress was incredibly swift, and he successfully broke through and consolidated his cultivation in mere minutes.

Regarding the Grandmaster realm cultivation techniques, only seven or eight hundred were collected. This wasn't enough to form a complete technique, so he didn't continue cultivating those.

Upon reaching the Half-Grandmaster realm, his power surged once more, now exceeding a thousand *ding* and reaching a formidable 1500 *ding*.

This level of strength could already rival that of an early-stage Grandmaster.

Early-stage Grandmasters typically possessed 1000 *ding* of strength, mid-stage 2000 *ding*, late-stage 3000 *ding*, and peak 4000 *ding*!

Achieving 1500 *ding* at the Half-Grandmaster stage meant he was considered mid-tier even among early-stage Grandmasters.

The most crucial thing was that while others took three, five, or even over a dozen years to break through to the Half-Grandmaster realm, he did it in mere minutes!

Fortunately, his Heavenly Dao True Qi was exceptionally pure, making his cultivation level imperceptible to others. Otherwise, if the Great Medicine King knew that Zhang Xuan's cultivation had advanced another level in such a short time, he would surely burst into tears on the spot.

It was worth noting that when the Great Medicine King himself broke through to the Half-Grandmaster realm, he had consumed countless medicinal herbs, an amount that could have purchased an entire city.

He had achieved his breakthrough with so many resources, yet "Physician Bai" merely walked in, ran for a while, and emerged successful...

Even the most prodigious geniuses in the world would be utterly devastated by such a comparison.

"It's nothing, merely what I should do!" Suppressing his urge to scream, the Great Medicine King couldn't help but ask, "Physician Bai, so... what's our next step? Are we still going to the Poison Hall?"

"Of course, we're going!" Zhang Xuan smiled. "Not only are we going, but we'll go openly and honorably!"

"Openly and honorably?"

"Precisely!" Zhang Xuan nodded. "Didn't you mention that the old hall master's death has already been reported to headquarters?"

"Yes! We just don't know if headquarters will dispatch a special envoy. If they do, they should be able to quell the rebellion quickly, and we can proceed safely," the Great Medicine King said. "If they don't... it might be troublesome."

"I've already figured out a solution!" Zhang Xuan said. "Instead of waiting here indefinitely for a special envoy who might never arrive, why don't we... create a special envoy ourselves!"

"Create a special envoy?" The Great Medicine King was puzzled.

"It's simple. You'll take me to the Poison Hall and announce that I am the special envoy! Since no one there has ever seen one, they surely won't find out."

Over the past three days, he had made up his mind: instead of waiting idly, it was better to take the initiative.

Given the internal strife in the Poison Hall, it wasn't safe to enter now. So, he would create an identity... one that even the warring factions wouldn't dare touch.

These people didn't know who the special envoy was, or even if one would arrive, right? So, he would simply impersonate the special envoy!

His main objective was to read the books, and once he finished, he could leave. Even if he were discovered later, he would have already escaped, so it wouldn't matter.

He had even impersonated a Master Teacher before; impersonating a mere special envoy of the Poison Hall shouldn't pose too many problems, as long as no unforeseen circumstances arose.

"Impersonate... a special envoy?" The Great Medicine King's face instantly went pale, and his body trembled uncontrollably.

"Brother, I'm old, and my heart isn't strong... Are you sure you're not joking? Impersonation is no laughing matter; if anything goes wrong, we could be beaten to death on the spot!"

He had initially thought that since Zhang Xuan had cured his illness and only requested some books, his demands were reasonable. He never dreamed that the most challenging part would be this...

If he had known this was Zhang Xuan's idea, he would rather have died than agreed! Was it too late to back out now?

The Great Medicine King's face twitched; this time, he was truly on the verge of tears.