Chapter 999: Earth Store Flower

While drinking just now, he had been observing. The other party had only held the wine cup and flask, not even touching the wine. Yet, under such circumstances, I could still be poisoned, and it left a mid-Saint 1-dan expert like me completely defenseless. If that's not a poison master, what is?

Most importantly, to be able to poison me so silently and with such potent venom, the poison must be at least six-star level!

A poison master of this caliber, yet doesn't even know the location of the Poison Hall... Are you deliberately trying to mess with me?

It's laughable that I even planned to use poison to kill him... Now look what happened; I'm the one who's half-paralyzed by poison.

"Heh, if I'm not a poison master, why would I be asking about the Poison Hall's location?"

With a faint smile, Zhang Xuan snapped his fingers. "Come on, throw up another mouthful for fun!"

He had easily detected the poison the other party put in the wine. His Heaven's Path zhenqi circulated, immediately neutralizing it completely. Then, he conveniently infused two streams of zhenqi into the other party's wine, and with a thought, it transformed into a potent poison.

Heaven's Path zhenqi was incredibly pure and could enter any acupoint or channel in the body. Even a mid-Saint 1-dan expert like the opponent couldn't resist it.

"Ah..."

As he spoke, the zhenqi coursed through the other party's body. With a miserable cry, Hu Yunsheng vomited blood again.

"You... I'll kill you!"

His face paled, and he let out a roar. Struggling to circulate his zhenqi, Hu Yunsheng suddenly leaped up and lunged at Zhang Xuan.

Hu Yunsheng, the dignified master of the Mo Cloud Chamber, a figure even the City Lord of Jingyuan City showed deference to, was poisoned by someone who was merely a Half-Saint, and was so enraged he felt he might explode. His body soared into the air, and his palm pressed down fiercely.

"Not obedient at all. Get down!"

Remaining seated without moving, Zhang Xuan lifted an eyelid and snapped his fingers again.

Before his palm strike could land, Hu Yunsheng convulsed again and fell from the air, sprawling on the ground like a toad.

"This... this poison has sentience?"

His body trembling, Hu Yunsheng looked as if he had seen a ghost.

Poisons are divided into two types: those without sentience and those with sentience.

The former can certainly be resolved by finding a method or an antidote. The latter, like living beings, can seek out good fortune and avoid disaster, and even obey commands. Even if an antidote is found, it may not necessarily cure the poisoning.

However, sentient poisons are intricate and complex. Like Gu worms, they need to be nurtured. Only an eight-star poison master can concoct them at minimum. Could it be that the person before him was a poison master of that caliber?

However, an eight-star poison master must at least reach Transcendent Mortal 6-dan in cultivation. Every one of such individuals is a renowned expert on the continent. Why would such a person come to this remote small city to search for the Poison Hall?

His heart was filled with trepidation and uncertainty, overwhelmed with dread.

"Heh!"

With a faint smile, Zhang Xuan offered no explanation.

Even after Heaven's Path zhenqi left his body, it could still operate freely according to his will. Although it lacked sentience, it was not much different from a sentient poison.

Of course, at close range, he could control it at will. However, if the distance was too great for his mental energy to reach, he wouldn't be able to control it.

This was unlike the innate toxin within his body, which couldn't be shaken off no matter where he went and had already developed its own consciousness. Even he had no solution for it.

"I... I concede!" Hearing that it was a sentient poison, his face alternated between red and pale. After a long moment, Hu Yunsheng gritted his teeth and said.

He had no choice but to concede. He couldn't win a fight against this person, and moreover, he was poisoned. His life was in the other party's hands; his life and death were entirely at the other party's command.

He had wanted to play the bandit, extorting some money, but he ended up gaining nothing. Instead, he was almost toyed to death himself. The thought filled him with frustration.

"That's more like it..." Hearing the concession, Zhang Xuan smiled. "I want to know everything about the Poison Hall!"

Hu Yunsheng gritted his teeth. "To be honest, while our Mo Cloud Chamber is very good at gathering information, we don't know much about the Poison Hall. They are extremely cautious..."

"Just tell me, is the Poison Hall located near Jingyuan City?" Zhang Xuan asked.

"Yes!" Hu Yunsheng nodded. "Over the years, many people have inquired about the Poison Hall, and I've gathered some information. It's confirmed to be in the nearby Cloudsea, but the exact location is truly unknown. Furthermore, I've heard that even if you find the actual location, you can't enter without a special token!"

"The Cloudsea?" Zhang Xuan frowned.

The Cloudsea was the largest inland sea in Hongyuan Empire. Its vast expanse covered hundreds of thousands of kilometers. Most importantly, it harbored countless ferocious spiritual beasts and Saint beasts. Even Saint 3-dan, 4-dan, or 5-dan experts wouldn't dare to enter lightly.

If the Poison Hall was truly hidden within it and made invisible by a formation, it would be impossible to find without knowing its exact location.

No wonder even the old principal only confirmed the general area. Hidden here, it was indeed secretive enough.

"Yes, this information was inadvertently revealed by a Poison Hall elder who came here to buy something last time... I genuinely don't know anything else..." Hu Yunsheng's face flushed.

Now that he was poisoned by the other party, if an antidote wasn't given, he would very likely die.

However, he truly did not possess the information the other party desired.

The Poison Hall being in the Cloudsea... Saying that was as good as saying nothing. The sea was so vast and filled with countless Saint beasts. Without a clear direction, who would dare to explore rashly?

"Buy something?" Ignoring Hu Yunsheng's worries, Zhang Xuan frowned and looked at him. "A Poison Hall elder came here to buy something from you? What did he buy?"

"At the last auction, a century-old Earth-Treasuring Flower was sold. It's the best ingredient for concocting poisons and is extremely rare. That's why an elder from the Poison Hall came to purchase it... In the end, he bought it for an extremely low price..."

Hu Yunsheng's face was ashen.

This Earth-Treasuring Flower was obtained by their Mo Cloud Chamber at a great cost. Its total value was close to a hundred high-grade spirit stones. Yet, when the other party came to buy it, they poisoned over a dozen of their people instantly, and he himself was nearly poisoned as well. It was only then that they had no choice but to sell it at a low price.

It could be said that this business deal resulted in a huge loss for them. It took him an entire year to recover from it.

Because of this, their auction house now rarely dealt in medicinal ingredients. They were simply afraid of others openly snatching goods or even resorting to similar extortion tactics.

"Do you still have any medicinal ingredients here that the Poison Hall absolutely needs, especially those of high age? Could we use them to attract them here?" After a moment of thought, Zhang Xuan said.

His goal was merely to attract them, not that he truly needed the herb. As long as he could lure them here and capture them, the rest would be simple.

Although his current understanding of poison was only around two-star level, possessing Heaven's Path zhenqi, he would not fear even a peak six-star poison master, or even a seven-star one.

Of course, if their strength was even greater, it would be a different story. Just like the innate fetal poison, which could seek good fortune and avoid disaster, even Heaven's Path zhenqi couldn't do anything about it.

Poison masters could indeed strike fear into countless hearts, possessing their own unique abilities and strength.

If not for the Master Teacher Pavilion's deterrent, and the fact that poison cultivation was extremely difficult to learn with a high risk of self-harm, it would likely hold a prominent position among the nine major professions.

"Medicinal ingredients they absolutely need?"

Immediately understanding the other party's intention, Hu Yunsheng immediately looked embarrassed. "Our Mo Cloud Chamber hasn't acquired any medicinal ingredients in recent years. Even if we have some, their value isn't high... It would probably be difficult to impress them!”

After suffering a loss once, they also learned how terrifying poison masters could be. Naturally, they were no longer willing to acquire medicinal ingredients.

Otherwise, if a few more came to seize their goods, wouldn't they suffer an even greater loss?

"Then do you know what kind of medicinal ingredients would entice them?"

Knowing that his Heaven's Path zhenqi lingered within the other party's body, who definitely wouldn't dare to lie, Zhang Xuan frowned.

"To my knowledge, a six-star poison master wanting to break through to seven-star needs to concoct a potent poison capable of killing a Saint 2-dan expert. And the most important ingredient for such a poison is the Earth-Treasuring Flower... If there are high-aged medicinal ingredients, they will surely attract poison masters to purchase them. However... this herb is extremely rare. Our ability to obtain it last time also involved a lot of luck...”

"Earth-Treasuring Flower?"

Zhang Xuan shook his head.

Last time, the many Saint beasts of Cloud Mist Ridge sent him many medicinal ingredients. However, there was no Earth-Treasuring Flower among them, nor was this herb among the many items he had collected.

It seemed as the other party said, it was indeed extremely rare.

"How about this: you announce that you possess a two-hundred-year-old Earth-Treasuring Flower and intend to auction it. All we need to do is attract them!” Zhang Xuan said.

His goal was merely to attract them, not that he truly needed the herb. As long as he could lure them here and capture them, the rest would be simple.

"This... I'm afraid it's not that simple! When poison masters aren't using poison, they are no different from ordinary cultivators. If they discover that the news of the so-called Earth-Treasuring Flower is false... once they don't make a move, we'll have no way to confirm; how would we know?”

Hu Yunsheng gave a bitter smile.

Poison masters, like soul oracles, were like rats scurrying across the street on the continent, hated by everyone. As long as they didn't use poison, even he couldn't recognize them.

He could only observe cultivators who used combat techniques. If the other party didn't use them, and there were so many people coming to buy, where would he even begin to look?

"The most crucial thing is, if they abide by the rules and purchase with money... we also can't refuse...” Hu Yunsheng continued.

Last time he was forced to sell was a special circumstance. Not all poison masters could be that bad, right? What if the other party paid for it, but he couldn't produce the medicinal ingredient... The Mo Cloud Chamber would probably be out of business after that; they would certainly all be poisoned to death.

"That's true..." Zhang Xuan rubbed his forehead.

It seemed his method wasn't feasible.

"Actually... we don't need to pretend. Although Earth-Treasuring Flowers are rare, I know someone who definitely has one. And its age absolutely exceeds a century!”

Gritting his teeth, Hu Yunsheng remembered something and said.

"Oh? Who?"

Hearing that someone possessed an Earth-Treasuring Flower, Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up.

"I'm not sure what his name is. I only know he's a very eccentric person. Everyone calls him Old Oddball. Not only does he cultivate medicinal herbs, but he also collects many treasures. The Earth-Treasuring Flower I had last time was obtained from him... If you go look for it there, you'll definitely find it!”