Chapter 367: What Disease?

Mo Tianxue rubbed his eyes, almost fainting from shock. The indiscernible formation in the courtyard had indeed vanished.

A single kick stopped a Grade-3 formation? How... how could it be real? It felt like a dream. Formations, by their nature, create special magnetic fields based on topography, mountains, rivers, and even the stars, causing those who enter to become disoriented and lose their sense of direction. Without profound research into formations, it was absolutely impossible to find the core of a formation and deactivate it. Yet this guy, looking utterly bewildered and seemingly knowing nothing about formations, stopped a Grade-3 formation with just one kick... Could it be any more exaggerated? If it was just luck, then this stroke of luck was defying heaven itself!

Mo Yu was also stunned. Having witnessed Zhang Xuan's numerous mysterious and powerful abilities firsthand, she still nearly fainted from shock at this sight. The Lin Clan's dominance in the royal city, and their disregard for even the royal family's prestige, primarily stemmed from their reliance on Grade-3 formations. Even early-stage Grandmaster realm experts would struggle to escape such a powerful formation once it was deployed... Yet, this guy, who didn't even know what the Lin Clan was, effortlessly broke it with one kick! She knew he had many astonishing abilities, but this... this was almost too astonishing! Could it be that besides being a Master Teacher, Alchemist, Physician, Beast Tamer, and Poison Master... he was also a Formations Master? These were all top-tier professions (except for Poison Master)... Everyone said she was a genius who could master any profession quickly, but compared to him... damn, she felt like an utter fool... ignorant to the extreme! The thought alone was enough to make her frustrated to the point of madness.

"You, you..." While the two were merely shocked, Grandmaster Lin Tao, who had just been full of disdain, felt his jaw nearly drop to the floor. The reason he had repeatedly declined was not because he feared the Golden-tailed Lion escaping or because he thought it couldn't be cured. It was because... this formation had been personally set up by the Guild Leader, and he, a mere two-star peak, couldn't even locate the formation core or flags, let alone dismantle it! If he couldn't dismantle it, he certainly couldn't stop it from functioning. Yet, this guy not only stopped the formation but did it so simply... Others would spend countless efforts to stop a formation, requiring multiple attempts, compass readings, overall observation, consulting ancient texts, researching data... and might even get trapped and lose control of their own lives... This guy, however, didn't even look and just kicked it, as if kicking a wooden post... If anyone else did that, they would surely suffer a backlash from the formation and die on the spot. But he was fine, and the damn formation actually stopped... Are you kidding me?

"Let's go in!" As he stood there, too shocked to speak, he heard the young man nearby call out and step into the courtyard first. Following closely, Grandmaster Lin Tao looked around and reluctantly confirmed that the formation had indeed not restarted... it had truly been stopped by that one kick.

"I thought this guy was just an undeserving celebrity, weak and insignificant, but I never expected him to be so powerful... Perhaps only that rising star, Master Teacher Zhang Xuan, could compare to him!" After observing for a while, confirming that the formation had only stopped and suffered no damage, Grandmaster Lin Tao's scornful expression turned solemn. When he first heard that Teacher Liu had solved the problems on the Wall of Difficulties and become the Guild Leader, he had scoffed. After all, in any profession, strength was paramount; without it, everything was an illusion. An initial-stage Transcendent Mortal realm cultivator was inconspicuous, and he hadn't paid him any mind before... but now, stopping a Grade-3 formation with one kick, a feat even the Guild Leader couldn't accomplish, meant that Teacher Liu was far from as simple as he had imagined.

"I must inform the clan leader about this as soon as possible..." He made a silent decision. Formations have life gates and death gates, and naturally, they also have strengths and weaknesses. Finding such a weakness would render even the most powerful formation as fragile as straw. Of course, these weaknesses, in essence, are points where the formation's magnetic fields intersect. Some are in the center, some on the side. Zhang Xuan was lucky; this one happened to be on the side, and the library had indicated its precise location. To outsiders, it seemed incredibly simple that he stopped the formation with a single kick. In reality, the Heaven's Path True Qi entered it, merged with the spiritual energy within, disrupting the formation's normal magnetic field, causing the forces to clash and the formation to lose its effect. Heaven's Path True Qi, being the purest fusion of spiritual energy, can easily disrupt a formation's structure, much like a magnet. That's why a simple kick produced such an unexpected result. For anyone else, even knowing this weakness, it would likely have required considerable effort.

They proceeded along the winding pebble path. The courtyard was clean and tidy, not messy as imagined. Not long after, a huge palace appeared before them. Then, a deafening snore echoed, shaking dust from the ground and causing a wave of dizziness. "Excellent, the Golden-tailed Lion is asleep!" Mo Tianxue's eyes lit up. He had feared that once the formation stopped, the Golden-tailed Lion would charge out. He hadn't expected it to be asleep, which saved a lot of trouble. Following the sound, they immediately saw a massive beast lying on the floor inside the great hall, its eyes tightly shut. It resembled a lion, but was larger, with a golden-yellow tail that was only slightly whitish at its very tip. The Iron-toothed Roaring Beast, also a Half-Grandmaster realm spirit beast, clearly had smoother fur and tighter muscles. This one, however, had flabby muscles and disheveled fur, like an old person; its appearance alone indicated it was in its twilight years.

"Guild Leader Liu, this is our nation-guarding spirit beast, the Golden-tailed Lion. Its condition has worsened..." Mo Tianxue shook his head as he looked at the sleeping Golden-tailed Lion on the ground. A Half-Grandmaster realm spirit beast was extremely vigilant. The fact that it hadn't woken up even with their arrival showed how severely ill it was.

"What symptoms did it have before?" Zhang Xuan asked.

"Originally, it was always very quiet. About half a month ago, it suddenly went mad, its eyes turning crimson, biting anyone it saw. It bit seven or eight eunuchs and palace maids in a row. There was nothing I could do, so I asked Guild Leader Lin to intervene and trap it with a formation!" Mo Tianxue still shuddered at the memory of that day. This was a Half-Grandmaster realm spirit beast; if it truly went wild, even he couldn't stop it. Fortunately, it could still be restrained, otherwise, a large number of Shadow Guards would probably have died.

"Suddenly went mad?" Zhang Xuan looked over. Such a powerful spirit beast, even if old and physically deteriorating, shouldn't suddenly fall gravely ill and become mentally deranged.

"Yes, the Golden-tailed Lion appears fierce, but it's actually very docile. It was tamed by our ancestor and has guarded the palace steadily for two hundred years, never harming anyone. I don't know what strange illness it has contracted!" Mo Tianxue continued, "At the time, Physician Mu Hong examined it and said it was anxiety caused by its approaching lifespan's end, and that we had to find a way to soothe it. After that, we invited many physicians for a consultation, and their conclusions were largely similar to his. They said this illness had no cure and it could only recover slowly on its own! If it could endure, it might live a bit longer, but if not, its time was nearly up... Furthermore, regardless of whether it could endure, three months was the limit. In other words... no matter how much treatment or cost, it would inevitably die within three months; there was no hope of full recovery..."

"Will die in three months? And eats people?" Hearing these conclusions, Zhang Xuan's mind stirred. He quickly scanned all the medical books in the Master Teacher Pavilion, only to find, to his dismay... that, as expected, they were utterly useless. Although these books documented many strange illnesses, none matched the Golden-tailed Lion's condition, not even slightly. Of course, if it were so easily found in books, Physician Mu Hong and the others would have already solved it, and they wouldn't have had to ask him for help.

"It seems my collection of books is still incomplete..." He shook his head. If he had enough books and knew the symptoms, he would very likely find similar cases. Finding nothing meant his book collection was too small, and his knowledge base still insufficient.

"It seems I need to find some time to collect all the books from the Physician Guild as well..." Although he had passed the Physician examination and even become a Guild Leader, he hadn't actually read the books within that guild. The books stored in his library were all from the Master Teacher Pavilion's collection. While the latter covered many professions, its understanding of diseases and medicines would certainly not compare to that of a specialized guild.

"Guild Leader Liu, should I bring you Physician Mu Hong's and the others' diagnostic results? You could refer to them." Seeing him deep in thought, Mo Tianxue asked.

"No need..." He waved his hand. Since the others hadn't found the root cause, their results would be of no use to him.

"Then... the Golden-tailed Lion is asleep. Do you need me to wake it up so you can observe it?" For a physician to diagnose, the patient needs to be awake to allow for inspection, listening, and questioning to ascertain the full details. With the nation-guarding spirit beast asleep, no symptoms could be seen, and thus no treatment could be given.

Zhang Xuan quickly shook his head. If it were awake, he would need it to make an attacking move for the books to appear in his mind. It would be troublesome if it didn't attack, or if its attack was too fast.

"I'll go take a look..." he said, then walked towards the large spirit beast before him.

"His cultivation realm is low, but he could solve so many problems on the Wall of Difficulties; his medical skills are indeed beyond doubt. I need to watch carefully how he diagnoses this spirit beast..." Grandmaster Lin Tao, standing to the side, quickly focused his gaze as he saw him advance. As the Vice Guild Leader of the Formations Master Guild, he had good relationships with many physicians and knew various diagnostic methods. Some meticulously questioned, observed fur and body color; some observed breathing and listened to heartbeats; and some examined diet and excrement to find problems... Which method would this person, who had broken the Physician Guild's record, use? Curiosity filled him, and he dared not blink, afraid of missing a single detail!

However, he then saw... the young man approach the spirit beast, touch it, and then... walk back with a strange expression.

"This... is that it?" Grandmaster Lin Tao looked utterly bewildered.