Chapter 471: Low-Price Medicine Purchase (Part 2)

"Playing tricks? You're mistaken!" Seeing the others' expressions, Zhang Xuan remained unperturbed. He merely smiled faintly and clarified, "What I just said was, 'Since you're going to refine the Jade Exquisite Pill, then I'm telling you that what you've bought is a fake.' I didn't say that this isn't Jade Bamboo itself!"

Hearing his seemingly convoluted words, the elder and Liu Chang exchanged glances. Liu Chang couldn't help but ask, "What do you mean?" The attendant, Zhao Feiwu, and the others also looked bewildered, completely unable to figure out Zhang Xuan's true intentions.

"It's simple," Zhang Xuan explained. "This is indeed Jade Bamboo, but if you truly use its leaves to refine the Jade Exquisite Pill, I can guarantee that not only will it have no effect, but consuming it will lead to death!"

"Death? What kind of joke is that?" Liu Chang waved his hand dismissively, his face filled with disbelief. "In the Transcendent Mortal realm, when one connects with heaven and earth and comprehends nature, inner demons are most prone to arise. The Jade Exquisite Pill helps one achieve a pristine heart, and even if inner demons are present, it significantly reduces their influence. It only offers benefits; how could it possibly cause death?"

Even the elder couldn't help but shake his head. He knew that in the Transcendent Mortal realm, as one communicated with nature, merged with heaven and earth, and their mental state expanded infinitely, inner demons were indeed very prone to arise. The Jade Exquisite Pill was precisely the best medicine to eliminate inner demons; he had even taken one himself, and its effects were beyond words. How could it possibly cause death? What else could this be but utter nonsense?

Furthermore, as a highly skilled appraiser, he had not only consumed the Jade Exquisite Pill himself but had also helped others appraise it and witnessed them taking it, all without any issues. Causing death upon consumption… that was simply unheard of.

"Can you prove it?" the elder scoffed, turning his gaze to Zhang Xuan. Without proof, it was just baseless talk.

"For anyone else," Zhang Xuan began, "aside from refining the pill and having someone consume it, there would indeed be no other way. However... I do have a method!" As if he had anticipated the question, Zhang Xuan's lips curled into a smile. He looked at Liu Chang and added, "I'll need to trouble you to pluck a leaf!"

Liu Chang glanced at the elder, and seeing him nod, he walked over and plucked a tender leaf. "Try burning it with fire!" Zhang Xuan instructed, not interfering.

"Teacher..." Liu Chang began, but the elder waved his hand, "Do as he says!"

Although he didn't quite believe Zhang Xuan's words, the young man was far too composed. If it were truly nonsense, facing his own strength and prestige, the young man would surely have panicked long ago. Yet, not only was Zhang Xuan unfazed, he carried himself with an air of confidence that even the elder found perplexing. Could it be… this Jade Bamboo was really a fake? Impossible!

He had specifically examined it multiple times. From its branches and leaves to the aura it emitted and its hardness… there wasn't the slightest problem.

"Yes, Teacher!" Hearing the elder's reply, Liu Chang nodded and took out a tinderbox. He glanced at the young man nearby and scoffed, "This single bamboo leaf is worth at least dozens of spirit stones. If you're talking nonsense, you'll have to compensate for the loss..."

This Jade Bamboo only had about a dozen leaves in total, valued at three hundred spirit stones. Divided per leaf, each one was incredibly valuable. A single leaf would easily be enough to buy a city in Tianwu Kingdom. To say it was priceless wouldn't be an exaggeration.

Now, simply because this fellow claimed it was fake, one leaf was to be burned. The loss was so immense that even as a two-star appraiser, Liu Chang couldn't help but feel a pang of regret.

"Don't worry," Zhang Xuan said. "If there's an issue, compensating you is no big deal. However... I'm afraid in a moment, you won't be able to say that anymore..."

"I'd like to see what trick you're playing!" Liu Chang scoffed, seeing Zhang Xuan's confidence. He held the tinderbox underneath the leaf, continuously burning it. After about two minutes, just as he was about to say nothing had happened, he felt a shock in his palm. The originally vibrant green leaf suddenly turned black, and its jade-like veins became incredibly foul-smelling. It looked like a sinister demon, emanating an ominous aura.

"Ah..." Startled, Liu Chang lost his grip, and both the tinderbox and the bamboo leaf fell to the ground. "This..."

On the side, Jin Conghai and Gu Mu exchanged wide-eyed glances, filled with shock. "Hmm?" The elder, who had been expressionless and watching Zhang Xuan, now also changed his complexion. His body moved swiftly, grabbing the falling bamboo leaf in his palm, his eyes flickering with uncertainty, as if he could hardly believe it. "What potent poison!" he muttered. "If this thing were refined into the Jade Exquisite Pill, it wouldn't just fail to dispel inner demons; it would merge with true qi, invade the heart and lungs, causing instant death..."

As he spoke, cold sweat broke out on his forehead. If Zhang Xuan hadn't spoken up and he had simply taken the item back, once refined into a pill, it would inevitably kill many people, and his reputation would be utterly ruined! Especially since he himself had intended to refine it and consume a pill to break through to a new realm... If he had actually taken it... one could imagine, let alone his reputation and status, his very life might have been lost.

"What exactly is going on?" His face grim, the elder lost his previous composure and turned to look at the attendant who had been selling the item.

Clang! Liu Chang's face also darkened. With a flick of his wrist, he drew his sword and pointed it at the attendant, as if he would strike him down immediately if he dared to speak nonsense.

If it were merely a fake, that would be one thing—it would indicate their poor discernment, and they couldn't blame others. But it was clearly a potent poison placed on the leaf by someone. The young man before them had only spoken, never touching it, and only the attendant had handled it from start to finish. If it wasn't him, who could it be?

"Ah... Master Sai, please spare my life! I'm just a receptionist, I don't know what happened," the attendant cried, his knees buckling as he knelt and repeatedly kowtowed. "Besides, this kind of poison, even you, venerable elder, couldn't detect; I certainly don't have that ability..."

Others might not know the elder's identity and power, but the attendant knew them very well! If the elder truly got angry and killed him, it would be a meaningless death. In such a situation, he wouldn't dare hesitate, immediately kneeling to plead for forgiveness.

"Enough, he genuinely doesn't know!" The elder recovered from his shock, realizing he had wrongly accused the attendant. He immediately waved his hand, telling Liu Chang to sheath his weapon.

This potent poison was hidden within the Jade Bamboo leaf, completely undetectable to the eye. Its grade was extremely high, likely at least Rank 4. In other words, whoever administered the poison must be at least a Four-Star Poison Master. How could such a figure be content to work as a mere attendant in the First-Grade Pavilion? Furthermore, if such a person truly intended to harm him, they wouldn't make it so complicated when he had no defenses. After all, he wasn't guaranteed to buy this Jade Bamboo; poisoning it beforehand to harm him simply didn't make sense.

"Hmph!" Sheathing his weapon, Liu Chang remained furious. The fact that the medicinal herb his teacher purchased contained such potent poison... If this news got out, the trouble it would cause was unimaginable. Who would dare to have such a thing exist in the prestigious First-Grade Pavilion? And what were they trying to achieve?

"Young man, thank you for your help!" The elder recovered his composure and looked at Zhang Xuan again. His gaze was no longer one of disdain or scrutiny, but of praise and admiration. He himself hadn't detected any issue with this Jade Bamboo, yet the young man had determined it with just a glance, without even approaching it. Such keen insight was simply terrifying! His appraisal skill was probably a few levels higher than his own. Truly terrifying!

"So, are you certain it's a fake now?" Zhang Xuan asked, raising an eyebrow. "Yes... it's a fake!" The elder hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

Jade Bamboo could be refined into pills that calm the mind, stabilize one's cultivation, and greatly enhance it. But this particular specimen could kill someone. Calling it a fake was entirely justifiable.

"Actually," Zhang Xuan said calmly, with his hands clasped behind his back and his head slightly raised, "you don't need to blame him, nor do you need to blame the First-Grade Pavilion. This Jade Bamboo wasn't poisoned by them. In fact, no one poisoned it!"

"No one poisoned it?" The elder was puzzled, and even Jin Conghai and Gu Mu couldn't help but look over. Others might not know much about poison, but these two were true Poison Masters; having dealt with it since childhood, they knew it inside and out.

The poison just now was incredibly insidious; it would be difficult to detect once it entered the meridians. Its toxicity was so potent, its effects so strong, that it could easily kill a cultivator at Transcendent Mortal 3-dan. Unless a Four-Star Poison Master had specifically concocted it, it simply didn't make sense. If no one poisoned it, then... where did this poison come from?

"Go and get the information on the Jade Bamboo's origin and acquisition!" Zhang Xuan instructed, without answering their questions, looking at the attendant from earlier.

"Yes, sir..." Hearing the young man speak up for him and the First-Grade Pavilion, the attendant gave a grateful glance. He hastily withdrew and, before long, returned with a ledger.

Large trading houses typically recorded the acquisition history and origins of valuable items in detail, compiling them into ledgers to answer potential buyer inquiries. Firstly, this highlighted the item's value; secondly, it facilitated easy investigation if any issues arose.

"Read it aloud!" Zhang Xuan commanded. "Mmm!" The attendant nodded, opening the ledger. "'Jade Bamboo, origin: Hongxu Marsh. Discovered by a merchant caravan four months ago, harvested using a special method, and delivered here...'"

The First-Grade Pavilion's records about the Jade Bamboo were extremely detailed, including who excavated it, who delivered it, where the transaction took place, and what methods were used to keep it fresh. The description alone ran to several hundred words. However, after hearing this detailed description, everyone felt even more confused rather than clearer.

These records, as the young man suggested, showed that the item had passed through many hands, with no opportunity for a Poison Master to intervene, and thus, no one could have poisoned it. But if no one had poisoned it, then what was that just now?

"The potent poison just now had seeped into the branches and leaves without harming the plant itself, and it was completely undetectable from the outside," Jin Conghai stated, his expression solemn and puzzled. "Even a Four-Star Poison Master would likely need considerable time to achieve that!"

If these records were true, there was indeed no opportunity for anyone to administer the poison. After all, even a Four-Star Poison Master would find it extremely difficult to administer poison so discreetly. Poison doesn't just kill people; potent poisons can easily kill plants as well.

"What on earth is going on?" The more they heard, the more confused they became, completely unable to understand. Appraiser Liu Chang couldn't help but look at Zhang Xuan.

"Don't understand?" Zhang Xuan smiled faintly. "Very well, I'll explain it to you! I presume you're all very clear about what Hongxu Marsh is known for, aren't you?"

"Known for?" The elder couldn't help but look over. "That place is known for producing Withered Leaf Tea... Could it be related to that?"