Chapter 369: Healed

Activating the formation in an instant could only mean one thing: this guy had found its core!

From their previous conversation, it was clear he didn't know what the core of the formation was. Yet, right after speaking about it, he immediately located it and put it to use.

Was this real?

Master Lin Tao felt his body trembling uncontrollably, on the verge of fainting.

The core of a formation shifts based on its environment. Even a rudimentary three-star formation master, like the patriarch, would struggle to find it without a compass or meticulous observation. Yet, this guy used nothing; he just casually jumped, then stomped his foot, and the formation sprang to life!

Even witnessing it firsthand, it felt like a dream.

Just moments ago, he had considered himself a grandmaster of formations, holding a significant advantage over a mere Tongxuan Realm kid. Now, witnessing this, he was on the verge of tears.

President Liu, are you the grandmaster of formations, or am I?

Why is it that in front of you, my understanding of formations feels utterly idiotic, as if I know nothing at all?

Roar! Roar! Roar!

As the formation activated, Mo Tianxue and the others could no longer discern what was happening ahead. However, they immediately heard the Golden-tailed Lion's furious, almost desperate roars, as if something were driving it utterly mad.

After several dozen breaths, the sounds ceased.

“Let’s go see!”

Anxious, Mo Tianxue and the others rushed forward.

They hadn’t ventured far, and with Lin Tao leading them, they hadn’t triggered the formation. They quickly emerged from the mist and, upon seeing the scene before them, all their eyebrows twitched; they felt as though they were losing their minds.

They saw the Golden-tailed Lion, which the young man was supposed to be treating, covered in spears: in its nose, in its ears, in its posterior...

All thirty-six spears were embedded in its body, and blood flowed everywhere. The majestic, roaring lion from moments ago was now so weak it couldn’t even open its eyes, its breath barely a whisper.

“President Liu…”

Mo Tianxue felt the veins on his scalp throbbing violently, almost spitting out a mouthful of blood.

We invited you here to treat the Guardian Beast, not to kill it!

With so many spears piercing its body, making it look like a feather duster, and the most critical part being that the spear tips contained potent poison – it was as if he wouldn't be satisfied until it was dead!

Wasn't this their first meeting?

What animosity or grudge could there be? Was it necessary to be so ruthless?

A surge of rage burned in his chest, and Mo Tianxue clenched his fists. Had he not forcefully restrained himself, he would likely have rushed over and beaten the man to a pulp.

Although the Guardian Beast's life was drawing to an end and it had become somewhat frenzied and dangerous, it had, after all, protected the Tianwu Kingdom for centuries, fostering deep affection for it.

Treating it this way was nothing short of a direct insult!

With a livid face, he glanced at the young man nearby, whose complexion was pale, seemingly from excessive exertion.

Upon seeing the three, the young man seemed to sigh with relief, his body slumping to the ground. “This illness is truly difficult to treat,” he said, “but fortunately, I have not failed in my mission…”

“Not failed in your mission?”

Seeing the other man’s confident smile, Mo Tianxue was taken aback.

Had he misunderstood him?

Was he truly treating the Golden-tailed Lion?

As this thought arose, he couldn’t help but look at the beast nearby once more. Upon seeing it, he felt his scalp prickle again, nearly going mad on the spot.

He saw that the lion, which had just moments ago been able to open its eyes and roar, was now lying prone on the ground, its eyes tightly closed, and completely without breath.

“The Golden-tailed Lion… it’s dead…”

Mo Yu and the other person also realized something was wrong, their eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.

We asked you to come and heal it, not to kill it!

‘Not failed in my mission’… what a load of nonsense!

You mean killing it counts as not failing your mission?

“President Liu, what exactly happened here?”

Forcibly suppressing his rapidly escalating rage, Mo Tianxue glared intently at the man before him.

He had earnestly invited him over, truly believing he could bring the Guardian Beast back to life and extend its lifespan. He never dreamed that not only would it not be cured, but it would be treated to death…

Were it not for his deference to the other man’s status, he would have long since ordered him chopped into mincemeat.

“What do you mean, ‘what happened’?” Zhang Xuan replied, oblivious to their anger. “I’m finished with the treatment. It went quite smoothly, actually!”

“Smoothly?”

Mo Tianxue’s eyebrows twitched.

Killing the patient is considered smooth?

You’re not a physician, you’re a… butcher!

“Cough, cough, President Liu,” Mo Yu interjected, “how is it that the Golden-tailed Lion… has no breath? It’s not dead, is it?”

Realizing his father could no longer contain his anger and was about to explode, Mo Yu quickly stepped forward and asked.

“Dead?” Only then did Zhang Xuan understand why everyone wore such expressions. He shook his head. “With me present, dying isn’t that easy…”

With that, he took a few steps towards the lion and delivered a kick.

“Stop playing dead here; get up now…”

His foot landed on the lion’s face, and in the next moment, the Golden-tailed Lion, which had appeared to have ceased breathing, sprang up as if jolted by electricity.

With a frantic roar, its fur bristled across its entire body.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

All the spears embedded in its body shot out, scattering across the ground.

“Drink that blood…”

Zhang Xuan gestured with his hand.

He had prepared a significant amount of fresh blood earlier, placing it all in wooden barrels nearby. The lion rushed over and began to gulp it down.

Soon, the blood in several wooden barrels was entirely consumed. The Golden-tailed Lion seemed to recover considerably, no longer appearing weak but instead full of vigor.

“This…”

Witnessing this scene, Mo Tianxue and the others were all dumbfounded, as if caught in a dream.

Thirty-six highly poisonous spears had been thrust into its body, yet the Golden-tailed Lion was not only alive but full of vibrant energy…

What on earth had happened?

And hadn't they distinctly felt it stop breathing just moments ago?

How did a single kick bring it back to life?

President Liu had kicked a total of three times since his arrival: the first kick stopped the formation, the second activated it, and the third… woke the lion.

It felt as though his foot possessed magic, astonishing them repeatedly.

“President Liu…”

Seeing the lion nearby, its vitality seemingly much restored, Mo Tianxue could no longer contain his curiosity and looked over.

“Are you perhaps wondering what happened?”

Zhang Xuan smiled. “Actually,” he said, “your Golden-tailed Lion isn’t sick; it was… poisoned!”

“Poisoned by someone?”

Mo Tianxue was startled, while Master Lin Tao’s expression changed drastically.

Poisoning a beast of the Tianwu Kingdom’s ancestral lineage? Who could have done such a thing?

And how did they manage it?

“A healthy Golden-tailed Lion’s tail is entirely golden,” Zhang Xuan explained. “However, there was a slightly white spot on it earlier, which indicated it wasn’t merely a common illness!”

Zhang Xuan began to explain.

Upon hearing this, Mo Tianxue and the others also recalled that there had indeed been some discolored areas at the tip of the lion’s tail.

“You mentioned it was agitated and going mad,” Zhang Xuan continued. “But if it were truly mad, why didn’t it eat everyone? It only attacked a few eunuchs and palace maids. This clearly indicates it wasn’t completely insane but retained some degree of rationality!”

Zhang Xuan continued, “Combining these two points, I surmise it was likely afflicted by a potent toxin, which it forced into its tail, causing the discoloration!”

“This…”

Everyone was momentarily stunned.

Indeed.

If it had truly gone completely mad, it would undoubtedly have attacked everyone it encountered, not just a few insignificant eunuchs and palace maids.

“Could it be that these eunuchs and palace maids were precisely the ones who poisoned it, and in its rage, it killed them…?” Suddenly, Mo Yu had a realization.

To poison this half-step Supreme beast, brute force would certainly not suffice. The only method would be to tamper with its food.

And the most likely culprits would be the eunuchs and palace maids who attended to it.

“Exactly!”

Zhang Xuan nodded. “Since no one was contracted with it, its thoughts couldn’t be expressed. Killing those eunuchs and palace maids was, firstly, an act of revenge, and secondly, a way to signal to you that those individuals were suspects… yet, you simply assumed it was mad and sealed it off with a formation.”

Mo Tianxue’s face flushed.

Back then, when the Guardian Beast consumed the eunuchs and palace maids, Mo Tianxue had been terrified, believing it had truly gone mad. Coincidentally, President Lin was with him, so he had requested the latter to set up the formation.

He never imagined… the beast was trying to convey that very message.

“The poison it ingested was formidable,” Zhang Xuan explained. “However, being a beast that has lived for centuries and possesses a half-step Supreme Realm cultivation, it wouldn’t die immediately. But, as Physician Muhong and others had predicted, it wouldn't survive beyond three months!”

“This type of poison would have been considerably simpler to treat if caught early. But now that it has dispersed throughout its entire meridian system, treatment becomes very difficult!”

“After much deliberation, I decided to employ a 'fight fire with fire' approach.”

“That’s why I asked you to prepare potent toxins and use spears to inject these poisonous liquids into the areas where the venom had converged within the lion’s body.”

“Fortunately, I did not fail in my mission, and I managed to revive it…”

Zhang Xuan offered a slight smile.

With a mere touch of his palm on the beast’s body, he had discerned the exact potent poison it had been afflicted with.

He had encountered this type of poison in the Poison Hall’s library and knew its treatment method: fighting poison with poison.

Knowing this, the rest was straightforward: the goal was simply to introduce these toxins to the poison already dispersed within the lion’s body, allowing them to neutralize each other completely.

Of course, for anyone else, it would still have been an impossible feat.

Because the poison had circulated throughout its entire body, dissipating into numerous meridians, it would be impossible to locate, let alone easily neutralize.

It was crucial to know that if the wrong location were targeted, not only would the problem remain unsolved, but the introduced toxin would also prove fatal.

However, Zhang Xuan possessed the knowledge; the book clearly documented the thirty-six precise locations of the poison, making it simple to find.

As for the beef and lamb blood, that was to help it recover from the significant blood loss caused by being pierced with so many spears.

After hearing the explanation, Mo Tianxue and the others widened their eyes once more, gazing at the young man with profound admiration.

No wonder he was able to solve all the challenging problems on the 'Difficult Wall' and become the guild president; his medical skill was simply too profound!

Even witnessing it firsthand, it was difficult to believe.

“Although I have eliminated the potent poison from its body, its lifespan is genuinely drawing to a close,” Zhang Xuan continued. “Even if it’s fine for now, it absolutely won’t live for more than a year, unless…”

Zhang Xuan hesitated for a moment, then added, “Unless we find a way for it to break through to the Supreme Realm!”

“Break through to the Supreme Realm?”

Mo Tianxue’s breathing instantly quickened, and he clenched his fists. “President Liu, do you have a way?”