Chapter 445: Sun Qiang Uncle Is Here (Part 1)

"We are the Beast Hall, not a spirit stone mine. How much could we possibly have? Talk about one cart or two carts; it would be good if we could even produce a few dozen... As for pills and herbs, even if the Beast Hall has them, they are for savage beasts. Where would we get so much for you?"

I had thought this fellow was selfless and incredibly generous, but to my surprise, his true nature was revealed after just two sentences.

"Beast Master Zhang, you're joking. It's not that we don't want to give, but we genuinely don't have that much," Hall Master Xie Jiuchen said, his face flushing.

"It doesn't matter if you don't have them. Then I need something else, and you mustn't refuse this time!" Zhang Xuan looked over.

"Please tell us!"

"I need over a thousand cultivation techniques at the Half-Grandmaster and Grandmaster levels. The level doesn't matter; the more, the better!" Zhang Xuan stated.

He was asking for the moon to get the stars. His main goal wasn't spirit stones or medicinal herbs; it was this. With enough cultivation techniques, he could generate the Heaven's Path Grandmaster Art and then find a way to make a breakthrough in one go. No matter what, if he wanted to avenge Lu Chong, strength was still paramount.

"Over a thousand Half-Grandmaster and Grandmaster-level cultivation techniques?" Xie Jiuchen blinked. What did he want these for? You couldn't boil and eat more cultivation techniques... and he wasn't even picky about the level.

"That's simple," Xie Jiuchen said after a moment of thought. "I can prepare them, but it might take three days!" Grandmaster-level cultivation techniques were rare and hard to find in Tianwu Kingdom, but here, many families kept a few in reserve. A thousand might sound troublesome, but with the Beast Hall's connections and influence, finding them wouldn't be too difficult.

"Good!" Zhang Xuan breathed a sigh of relief, hearing that the other party could gather everything. The two things he came to the Beast Hall for – spirit beast blood and cultivation techniques – were now secured. The other items no longer mattered.

"I'll help you with your injuries now!" He turned to look at the Azure Nightmare Beast not far away. The beast had failed its breakthrough to Transcendent Mortal and had an internal ailment. Having agreed to heal it and with the terms settled, it was time to fulfill his promise.

"Roar!" Understanding its master's intention that once its injuries were resolved, it might not be able to follow him anymore, the Azure Nightmare Beast let out a roar, its face filled with reluctance. The person before it was a powerful expert who could utter the True Dragon's Roar; following him meant a certain path to a great future, like a carp leaping over the dragon's gate. Staying at the Beast Hall would mean losing such an opportunity. However, with its master's command, as a contracted beast pet, it dared not defy.

"To solve your problem, I first need to know what's wrong with your body!" Ignoring its mournful gaze, Zhang Xuan looked over: "Like this... just knock yourself out first!"

"Roar???" Its eyes wide, the Azure Nightmare Beast froze. Xie Jiuchen and Wei Yuqing were also completely speechless. It seemed this guy still hadn't given up the idea of knocking out the Azure Nightmare Beast.

"Why are you roaring? Hurry up!" Frowning, Zhang Xuan reprimanded it. He needed to seize the time to cultivate and didn't have leisure to waste it dawdling with this beast.

"Roar..." It cast another mournful look, hesitated, then gritted its teeth and slammed its massive hooves against its own head. *Thud!* Its vision went black, and it fainted on the spot. For Xie Jiuchen and the others to knock it out, it would likely require significant effort, but it was much simpler when the beast did it itself.

"What is it doing?" "What's going on?" When the Azure Nightmare Beast had charged out earlier, the other beast tamers had already retreated far away and hadn't heard the conversation. Now seeing the massive creature knock itself out, they all looked bewildered.

"Beast Master Zhang is going to treat this big fellow!" Hall Master Feng and Elder Zhu nodded with smiles.

"Treat it?" Luo Tang and Fang Jin were utterly confused. Did treating an animal require knocking it out beforehand?

"This is Beast Master Zhang's unique treatment method: the Knock-Out Treatment!" Hall Master Feng summarized.

"Knock-Out Treatment? Beat-Down Taming Method... What even are these?" Both of them felt a bit overwhelmed. They had seen eccentric people, but never anyone this eccentric. Ever since becoming beast tamer apprentices, they had learned an iron rule: to tame a savage beast, it was best to build a good relationship with it and absolutely avoid conflict... But this guy? The Beat-Down Taming Method, the Knock-Out Treatment... He had to give the savage beasts a thorough beating first. If anyone else did this, they would have certainly been clawed to death by the beasts long ago. Yet, this guy not only lived perfectly fine but even made the beasts willingly submit... Just thinking about it was depressing.

Under the perplexed and frustrated gazes of the crowd, Zhang Xuan had already touched the Azure Nightmare Beast, forming a book, and knew the root cause of its problems.

"Indeed, these are injuries from a failed forced breakthrough to a spirit beast. Not only are its meridians damaged, but its internal organs are also affected. It requires various medicinal adjustments... I'll write these down now, and you can prepare them. Having your Beast Hall treat it will also foster goodwill!" Zhang Xuan stated.

The beast's injuries were not light; otherwise, it wouldn't have been captured by the Beast Hall and brought here. Furthermore, with its old injuries still unhealed, forcefully using its power just now had created even greater hidden dangers. While he could prescribe medicine without the Book of Heaven's Path, it would only treat the symptoms, not the root cause. Now that he knew the fundamental cause of the injuries, it was much simpler. However, to completely cure it, restore it to its original state, and even allow it to attempt a breakthrough to Transcendent Mortal, it would be difficult to achieve in less than half a year. Of course, if he used his Heaven's Path zhenqi, the healing speed would be very fast. However, his current cultivation was too far below the beast's. Not only would the Heaven's Path zhenqi not be very effective, but using it would inevitably arouse suspicion, leading to a lot of trouble. It was better to leave it to the Beast Hall to resolve. This way, they could also spend more time with the beast and build a good relationship.

"Yes!" Hall Master Xie Jiuchen nodded.

Without further ado, Zhang Xuan took out paper and a pen and casually wrote down a prescription. The most important medicinal ingredient in it was precisely Wei Youdao's bottle of Rainbow Honey. He only provided the formula; how the other party negotiated or used it was not his concern.

"Find me a quiet room!" After dealing with matters here, Zhang Xuan instructed.

Hall Master Xie dared not delay. In a short time, he had a spacious and quiet villa prepared. This Beast Master Zhang had successfully challenged the Ten Beast Cage. Let alone requesting a villa, even if he were given an entire mansion, no one would dare say anything. What's more, he had directly gifted the tamed Azure Nightmare Beast to the Beast Hall; his generosity was ineffable.

"Oh, right, Hall Master Xie, may I trouble you with one more thing!" After arranging for Zhao Ya and the others to settle in, Zhang Xuan looked over again.

"Please speak, Beast Master Zhang!" Hall Master Xie smiled. Although the person before him was not old, in his mind, he was already an equal, perhaps even superior. Aside from other things, just the ability to easily tame the Azure Nightmare Beast and utter the True Dragon's Roar was something he couldn't compare to.

"Hall Master, could you perhaps send someone to protect my friend on a trip to Gazing Wind Valley in the Sunset Cloud Mountain Range?" He called Sun Qiang over and pointed at him.

"Sunset Cloud Mountain Range... Gazing Wind Valley? Is this going to... the Poison Hall?" Xie Jiuchen's pupils contracted. Although the Xuanyuan Kingdom Poison Hall branch was mysteriously hidden and many people didn't know its exact location, as the Hall Master of the Beast Hall, he had certainly heard of it. It was located precisely within Gazing Wind Valley! Normally, this place was forbidden to cultivators. How could Beast Master Zhang send his subordinate there?

"So you know about the Poison Hall? Yes, I want him to go there!" Zhang Xuan smiled.

"But... the Poison Hall is extremely dangerous..." Xie Jiuchen couldn't help but say. The Poison Hall was notorious, and many of its members were murderers. Rushing there rashly would be extremely dangerous. Moreover, this subordinate was merely at the Tongxuan realm; his strength was very weak.

"Oh, I have a friend in the Poison Hall. There won't be any danger if he goes to find him! Asking you to send someone to protect him is just to avoid unnecessary trouble," Zhang Xuan explained. When Gu Mu left previously, he had given Zhang Xuan a token, instructing him to use it if he needed help. Now that he was hostile with the Xuanyuan royal family and intended to kill their Crown Prince, he naturally had to utilize this connection if he could. However, he needed to cultivate now and seize the time to improve his strength, so he had no time to go himself. After thinking it over, Sun Qiang seemed the most suitable. This fellow was shrewd; sending him to find someone would definitely be much better than sending Zhao Ya and the others.

"Alright! I'll go prepare right away!" Hearing that he had a friend in the Poison Hall, Hall Master Xie Jiuchen hesitated for a moment before finally nodding.

He turned and left. Zhang Xuan then looked at Sun Qiang.

"Steward Sun, I know you are loyal to the teacher. Coincidentally, there's something I need to trouble you with."

"Just give the order, Young Master!" Sun Qiang clasped his fists hastily. He would naturally obey the words of the Old Master's only direct disciple.

"Take this token and go to the Poison Hall in Gazing Wind Valley to find a poison master named Gu Mu. Tell him to come to Xuanyuan Royal City to find me!" Zhang Xuan said, taking out the token.

"Alright!" Sun Qiang looked over, puzzled: "Is this Gu Mu a friend of the Young Master, or what? How should I address him?" Zhang Xuan hadn't told anyone about his experiences in the Poison Hall, so Sun Qiang naturally didn't know.

"Oh, this Gu Mu is my... is the teacher's grand-disciple, which means he's my martial nephew!" Zhang Xuan said. He had originally intended to say Gu Mu was his own grand-disciple, but if the man arrived and found that this 'martial grand-uncle' wasn't even twenty years old, he would definitely become suspicious. It was better to attribute this senior status to his non-existent teacher instead. In any case, this "teacher" was accustomed to being mysterious, so one more mystery wouldn't hurt.

"The Old Master's grand-disciple?" Sun Qiang's eyes lit up. He hadn't expected the Old Master to have a grand-disciple in the Poison Hall. This was significant!

"I serve the Old Master, so even if I can't be on the same generation as him, I'm at least on the same generation as the Young Master, right? Since this person is the Old Master's grand-disciple and the Young Master's martial nephew, that makes him my junior..." Sun Qiang mused to himself: "As his senior, isn't it simple and pleasant to call him over for help? Moreover, since I'm a senior, when I go there, I should surely be given good hospitality, with fine wine and delicious food!" The more he thought about it, the happier he became, feeling that the Young Master had given him a delightful assignment.

"Hmm, the Poison Hall is not a safe place. You must be careful!" Seeing his joyful expression, Zhang Xuan reminded him.

"Don't worry, Young Master!" Sun Qiang nodded.

"Alright, I'll give you a strand of zhenqi. If anyone tries to poison you, you'll be able to handle it and won't get hurt!" After a moment of hesitation, Zhang Xuan flicked his finger, and a strand of Heaven's Path zhenqi entered Sun Qiang's dantian along his meridians, secretly hiding itself.