Chapter 1166: Zhang Jiuxiao with a Head Full of Durians

"You?"

His eyes lit up, and the bronze-masked man clenched his fists.

The surrounding crowd was also filled with shock.

"That's right!" Zhang Jiuxiao snorted, lifting his head, feeling as if he had truly soared to the nine heavens in that instant.

As the top genius of the Qingyuan Empire, coming here only to stand idly by had filled him with frustration. Now, finally having the chance to hold his head high, his excitement was palpable.

"Please, Master Zhang, resolve the seal for me!"

The bronze-masked man clasped his hands.

Ever since he arrived, he had been arrogant and unruly, not even taking Master Wu and the others seriously. But now, hearing Zhang Jiuxiao name the seal and claim he could resolve it, he could no longer contain himself.

"Simple!"

Stepping up to the painting, he took out a brush. Zhang Jiuxiao glanced back and said, "Master Zhang Xuan, I might trouble you to grind some ink for me."

"Me?"

Zhang Xuan was taken aback.

"That's right. I'm about to resolve the seal, and everyone here surely wants to see it... Such an important task should be your unshirkable duty!" Zhang Jiuxiao raised an eyebrow.

This man had slapped his face since the Heart-Tempering Bridge, making him lose face. Earlier, he had even made him call him 'uncle.' Now that he had the chance, he naturally wanted to humiliate him, to make him understand that a genius was a genius, not something any random cat or dog could compare to.

"Alright,"

Zhang Xuan gave a wry smile and shook his head.

If the other could indeed break the seal, grinding ink was no big deal to him. Besides, it would give him a chance to witness the marvel of an eighth-level painting.

He stepped forward, took out an inkstone, and began to grind the ink.

"Hmm."

Seeing the man obediently working under the intimidation of his superior aura, not daring to say a word, Zhang Jiuxiao felt immensely satisfied. He dipped his brush and lightly touched the scroll.

Hum!

The ink did not fall onto the painting but instead halted in the air, suspended midair, enveloping the white clouds.

Writing in the void!

In the blink of an eye, a cloud identical to the one below appeared in the air, hovering quietly. After finishing this, Zhang Jiuxiao pondered for a moment, presumably confirming the position of the spirit beneath the cloud. Then he waved his hand, sending the ink back to the inkstone. Raising his brows, he focused his mind, and his soul force began to spread toward the painting.

"Hmm? His soul force is indeed pure; he must have a special cultivation technique..."

Zhang Xuan nodded inwardly.

Although his soul force was insignificant compared to Zhang Xuan's, the fact that he could achieve this at his level indicated he had cultivated some formidable secret technique.

It must have a lot to do with the Sage Zhang family.

As expected of someone from a great clan, even a mere collateral branch—both in knowledge and in the cultivation techniques they practice, they are far beyond what a cultivator from a small place can compare to.

Sighing inwardly, Zhang Xuan quietly reached out and gently touched the painting.

Hum!

A book immediately appeared in his mind.

Just as he was about to look at it, he saw Zhang Jiuxiao beside him suddenly turn pale, cold sweat pouring from his forehead.

"What's wrong?"

Having no time to examine the content, Zhang Xuan furrowed his brows.

Not only him, but everyone else also noticed something was off.

If it were as simple as the other had said, he definitely wouldn't look like this.

Bang!

Before everyone could ask, they saw a flush appear on Zhang Jiuxiao's pale face, then he staggered back seven or eight steps and spat out a mouthful of blood.

President Mu hurried over.

"It's nothing, just my soul being attacked by the painting's spirituality..." Shaking his head, Zhang Jiuxiao was about to continue when he saw President Mu looking at him in horror.

"Teacher, what's wrong?"

Zhang Jiuxiao frowned.

Even if he was outstanding and knew how to break the seal, with knowledge surpassing the other, it shouldn't warrant such an expression.

"No, you, you... have a durian on your head!"

President Mu couldn't help saying.

"Durian?" Zhang Jiuxiao was stunned.

"And a tail on your butt..."

An old man said.

"Huh?"

Zhang Jiuxiao turned to look, his pupils constricting, and he nearly spat blood again.

He saw a bright red tail growing from his butt, furry, like a foxtail grass; the horns on his head also came into view through his divine sense, like durians, one after another, covering his entire head, full of spikes, and even showing signs of blooming...

"What's going on?"

His face turning even paler, he stepped back several times, Zhang Jiuxiao was about to go mad.

He only wanted to break the seal on the painting... how did he not only get injured but also grow these things on his body?

"You've been implanted with plant spirituality... This spirituality took root and sprouted, which is why it's grown like this. But fortunately, it's just ordinary plant spirituality; if it were something else, it would have grown even faster..."

Having identified the problem, President Ruan explained.

As a Seven-Star peak spirit awakener, she had heard of such cases, but seeing it with her own eyes was still shocking.

"Plant spirituality? What's going on?"

Hearing that plant spirituality had grown inside him and would even bloom and bear fruit... Zhang Jiuxiao's mouth twitched; he was about to go mad.

He had only wanted to solve the seal, steal the spotlight, and take a jab at that Zhang Xuan. Never in his dreams had he imagined that, without accomplishing anything, his head would be covered in durians, and in the blink of an eye, four had already formed...

"It should be that you tried to remove the spirituality from the scroll, but... suffered a backlash!"

Zhang Xuan said sympathetically.

He had seen this happen to Hall Master Xing before. He had ignited spirituality in the other's primordial spirit, and the result... was just like this—horns growing on the head, a tail sprouting behind...

Now this guy was in the same situation. Clearly, while dealing with the scroll's spirituality, he had suffered a backlash. Not only had he failed, but he had been corroded by it, ending up like this.

"Then what should I do?"

His face turning pale, Zhang Jiuxiao swayed.

He was the number one genius of Qingyuan Empire, the idol of countless maidens. If he went out with this thing on his head, wouldn't he be laughed to death?

"Simple: just eradicate the spirituality planted inside you!"

Zhang Xuan said.

He had dealt with this kind of thing once before. Initially shocked, now it was nothing special, very ordinary.

"Eradicate? How do I eradicate..." Zhang Jiuxiao quickly looked over.

Back then, even Hall Master Xing, with such a powerful primordial spirit, couldn't eradicate the spirituality himself; in the end, Zhang Xuan had to do it personally.

"Open your soul to me, let me probe, find the spirituality, and kill it—then it's solved!" Zhang Xuan said.

"Open my soul? That's impossible..."

Zhang Jiuxiao quickly shook his head.

As a member of the Zhang family, his soul contained many secrets; how could he casually open it to an outsider?

Opening one's soul—what difference was there from standing naked before someone?

He definitely wouldn't do it!

"No? Then how about this: I'll first look at the spirituality in this painting, then find a way to prescribe the right remedy. Maybe I can concoct a medicine that can kill the spirituality..."

Pausing for a moment, Zhang Xuan said.

If he wouldn't open his soul, that was fine. As long as he knew what spirituality had entered his body, he could concoct a corresponding poison to kill it.

He had also suggested this method to Hall Master Xing back then, but the other hadn't agreed.

"Alright, hurry and look..."

Hearing that he didn't need to open his soul, Zhang Jiuxiao quickly said.

"Mm."

Nodding, Zhang Xuan stopped paying attention to the other, his eyes falling on the scroll, while his spirit quietly entered his sea of consciousness, landing on the book that had just appeared in the library.

After looking for a while, he frowned.

"Have you seen something?"

Seeing his expression, Master Wu spoke.

Instead of answering him, Zhang Xuan turned to look at the bronze mask not far away: "Where did you get this painting?"

"I only invited you to help me break the seal; there's no need to reveal where the painting came from, is there?" The bronze mask looked displeased.

"Indeed, there's no need to reveal where the painting came from!"

Hands behind his back, Zhang Xuan raised an eyebrow: "The Jibei Marshlands are extremely humid. Although this painting is just a work of art, it has been steeped in that place for over two thousand years, still saturated with moisture. Anyone close can detect it; only burning with fire would change its color..."

"You..."

The bronze mask was startled, seeming to show shock on its face.

Just by seeing the moisture on the scroll, he could tell it came from the Jibei Marshlands?

This man's eyesight was truly remarkable.

"The Jibei Marshlands are full of dangers, but also many opportunities. Finding a work left by the old man Wubei isn't surprising... However, Wubei left behind this painting, but thirty years later deliberately hid the secrets in the mountains... That means he didn't want later generations to know. This secret probably involves something significant, doesn't it?"

Zhang Xuan continued.

His eyes twitching, the bronze mask narrowed his eyes: "If you can't break the seal, I'll take the painting and leave. No need to be suspicious here..."

"Who said we can't break the seal?"

Zhang Xuan said: "Since you're unwilling to say more about the painting's origin, I won't bother analyzing it. The material of this painting is made from the skin of a green-horned fish blended with the hide of a white-horned deer. The ink uses lapis lazuli mixed with golden source water. Thus, even after over two thousand years, it hasn't decayed at all; instead, it has become more dazzling, giving a deeper impression!"

"Judging by the color and changes of the ink, you probably unearthed it from its burial site about three years ago. The painting was completed two thousand one hundred and forty-two years ago. According to the timeline, it should have been painted by Wubei when he was two hundred and seventy years old! The cloud added at the end was left when he was three hundred. That is... after finishing this, he disappeared. Whether he was killed or taken away, no one knows!"

"This..."

Everyone was shocked.

President Mu on the side widened his eyes.

He had carefully observed for a long time and couldn't even determine the exact age of this painting. This man, with just one glance, knew it in such detail. His appraisal ability was too terrifying!

Zhang Jiuxiao, whose head was full of durians, also swayed, his vision blurring, and he nearly cried.

Wasn't this guy supposed to be a Five-Star appraiser?

Other people's Five-Stars, he wouldn't even glance at... But this one felt even more formidable than him, a Seven-Star appraiser?

"At three hundred years old, Wubei had already reached the Out-of-Body realm. The cloud he left, combined with the painting's dreamlike and real realm, leaves people confused and hard to decipher..."