Chapter 194 Shocked Three Masters (Part 1)

In other words, this black gas did not belong to any kind of deadly poison he knew.

Then what exactly was it?

"Try to force it out of the body!"

With a solemn look, Zhang Xuan mobilized the true energy within him.

Although he did not know the harm of the poisonous gas, letting it remain in his body forever would eventually become a disaster. If he hadn't discovered it before, that was one thing, but now that he knew, he had to find a way to deal with it as soon as possible.

Otherwise, having a knife placed over one's heart would make anyone uncomfortable.

Using true energy to expel poison was recorded in a book; learning it was not complicated. With a thought, he had already mastered it.

Gurgle, gurgle!

Seeing the true energy surge over, the black gas seemed to have encountered its nemesis. It flickered lightly and burrowed into the meridians, hiding itself.

"It's no use..."

His face darkened.

This poisonous gas was too formidable; it could even evade the encirclement of true energy. For now, it had only burrowed into the meridians, which was not critical, but if it went mad and entered vital parts of the body, he would probably be poisoned to death before he could resist.

Able to evade true energy, as if it had intelligence—what kind of poison was this?

And when had he been poisoned?

Searching through all the books on poison in the library, there was no record of this substance, indicating that its level was higher than that of the Tianxuan Kingdom!

A poison of this level... was found in his own body.

Zhang Xuan grew more and more confused.

He tried various detoxification methods but found them all useless, so he had to give up for the time being.

It seemed that this black gas was very afraid of his true energy and dared not cause trouble for now; otherwise, he wouldn't have lived this long without noticing it.

However, although there was no immediate danger to his life, how he had been poisoned was a major issue. If it was accidental, that was one thing, but being poisoned by someone without knowing it was terrifying.

If the enemy failed once, they would surely try again.

It's not the thief stealing that you fear, but the thief's constant scheming!

"First, determine whether I was poisoned before or after rebirth, and whether it was intentional or accidental, so I can be prepared in advance!"

On alert, Zhang Xuan looked at the black gas again and studied it for a long time... In the end, he found out nothing at all.

It wasn't that he was too stupid, but that this poison was too advanced, beyond the comprehension of the Tianxuan Kingdom. He couldn't see any clues, let alone figure out when he had been poisoned or what it was.

"Try the Library of Heaven's Path!"

After struggling for a long time without understanding, he was about to give up when a thought struck him.

Just because he couldn't figure it out didn't mean the library couldn't!

The library required touching with a finger or the opponent performing a technique to form a book and reveal flaws. This poisonous gas was hidden in the meridians; touching it with a finger was impossible, and making it perform a technique... well, that was a dream.

However, confirming some simple questions was not difficult for Zhang Xuan.

He casually took out a blank book, picked up a brush, and wrote: "The poison in the body was inflicted after rebirth, someone framed me!"

His finger traced over the words, and an identical book appeared in his mind.

He casually opened it and saw the flaws of that statement.

After reading the content, his face turned grim.

According to the feedback from the Library of Heaven's Path, this poison had been inflicted before his rebirth, not accidentally, but by someone's dirty hand!

In other words... someone wanted to kill him.

"Could it be... that the previous body's death was not from drinking and depression, but from... this poison?"

He had wondered before why the previous body was so weak—a peak True Energy realm expert dying from drinking. Now it seemed that wasn't the case at all.

As soon as he thought of it, he wrote down various guesses in the book.

After an unknown amount of time, Zhang Xuan stopped.

Through this half-day of speculation, he had roughly understood the outline.

The previous body had indeed been poisoned to death, which was why he had transmigrated.

The reason he was fine after rebirth was that the Heaven's Path true energy he cultivated was too pure, and this poisonous gas was inherently afraid of it, suppressed and unable to move. Otherwise, he wouldn't have survived until now.

In other words, he owed his survival to his diligence in cultivation. If his true energy had been insufficient, the black gas would have immediately rebounded and poisoned him to death.

"Another mess left by the previous body..."

He had thought that after resolving the teacher qualification assessment, he could live for himself, soaring high with the sky as his limit. But it turned out he had been overthinking.

Unless this black gas was completely eliminated, he would always be in danger.

"I must find a way to identify the person who wants to kill me."

The one who wanted to kill him was hidden and impossible to find, but if they dared to act again, with the Library of Heaven's Path, he would surely be able to trace them back to their ancestors eight generations.

Thus, it was not something to fear, only a matter of doubt.

In his previous life, he was just an orphan, without even a single relative, and he himself was a waste, having offended no one. Who could it be that used a poison not even found in the Tianxuan Kingdom to kill him?

To be able to procure such poison, their strength must be considerable. With all this trouble, why not just slap him to death?

Isn't that like taking off pants to fart—asking for trouble?

After thinking for a while and coming up with nothing, Zhang Xuan stopped pondering. The poisoner hadn't appeared yet, and thinking more was useless. He could only first find a way to resolve the problem inside his body.

"To detoxify, I must first know what this poison is. The books on poison in the Tianxuan Kingdom are too scarce. It seems I need to go to a place with more books..."

With the Library of Heaven's Path, as long as there were enough books on poison, he could solve it himself.

However, such books were not easy to find. He had already read through the royal library's collection without any gain. As for books elsewhere, he knew without looking that there would be none.

After all, this poison was too advanced, so advanced that even the Tianxuan Kingdom couldn't find it.

If even the poison couldn't be found, how could there be a solution?

To truly eliminate the隐患, he would probably have to go to a higher-level kingdom, seeking places with many such books.

"I'll go back and ask the three master teachers..."

He didn't know of such a place; perhaps the three master teachers might know something.

They came from a higher-level kingdom and had traveled widely, so they surely knew more than he did.

"No rush. Let's settle things here first."

Anyway, with the Heaven's Path true qi suppressing it, the black gas wouldn't dare act up for a while. Zhang Xuan shook his head, stopped thinking, stretched, and continued resolving the problems left by the scam.

...

"Teacher Liu, why are we changing clothes?"

The three master teachers walked on the streets of Hongtian Academy. Zheng Fei looked at his plain clothes and couldn't help asking.

Usually, they wore the distinctive attire of master teachers, respected and exalted wherever they went. Suddenly changing into ordinary clothes felt a bit uncomfortable.

"Master teacher attire is too conspicuous. If we wore it, Teacher Zhang Xuan would surely come running, obedient and extremely respectful. If that happened, how could we see his true character?"

Liu Ling said.

"Yes, plain clothes are better. No one will recognize us, and we can test his character!" Zhuang Xian nodded in agreement.

Zheng Fei understood.

Wearing ordinary clothes and deliberately suppressing their cultivation, no one would guess they were three master teachers; they would be taken for ordinary old men.

Only in such a situation could they see the truth closest to reality.

After asking around, it didn't take long to find Zhang Xuan's classroom.

"This classroom is too small!"

Seeing the appearance of the classroom before them, Liu Ling and the others frowned.

They had seen the scale of Hongtian Academy along the way. Even the classrooms used by the most ordinary teachers were several hundred square meters, but this one wasn't even a hundred. Both the building and the decorations were exceptionally crude.

One look and it was clear it was the worst kind.

"It seems this Teacher Zhang's treatment at the academy is indeed poor."

With such a poor teaching environment, they wondered how this Teacher Zhang could endure it. If it were them, they would have long made a scene and left in a huff.

"To remain calm teaching in such an environment, not elated by success nor discouraged by failure—it seems he has transcended the feelings of favor and disgrace. Admirable."

Liu Ling sighed.

Receiving unfair treatment yet harboring no resentment, not slacking off on students because of it—this quality of being unperturbed by favor or disgrace was admirable.

"Cousin Wang Tao, I still can't understand what Teacher Zhang said about 'condensing qi into a confluence.' Can you explain it to me again?"

Taking a few steps forward, before they even entered the classroom, they heard a questioning voice from the lawn in front of the room.

The three stopped.

"Alright, but regarding this part, what Teacher Zhang said is very profound. Even I have only grasped less than a tenth. How about this: when Teacher Zhang explained, I took notes. Let's study together!" The senior student named Wang Tao hesitated, then said.

"Great!" The first voice was full of excitement.

"You see, Teacher Zhang said this: in the Qi Condensation realm, condensing qi into a confluence means treating the world's spiritual energy as part of your body, not forcing absorption. This way, the qi will take the person as a vessel, thus increasing the speed of gathering spiritual energy. At that time, Teacher Zhang mentioned ten methods, but I only recorded three. We can study them together. Look at this first one..."

Wang Tao's voice followed.

"Treating the world's spiritual energy as part of your body?"

Hearing the conversation between the two, the three master teachers were simultaneously shaken, each showing expressions of shock.

"I've heard this theory from my teacher... This Teacher Zhang Xuan actually explains it so profoundly?"

Liu Ling's mouth fell open.

An expert knows at a glance. They were master teachers, standing at the pinnacle of the teaching profession, naturally well-versed in the art of teaching and knowing which explanations were correct and which were wrong.

Even without hearing the lecture, just from the conversation between the two students, they could tell that this Teacher Zhang's theory was not only novel but also very correct, pointing directly to the core of cultivation.

Such a level of teaching content was difficult even for them to deliver.

The two ahead discussed more and more. The theories they spoke of were not overly abstruse, yet they were incisive and profound, like a vast ocean—boundless and deep. The more they heard, the more helpful it was for cultivation, and they benefited greatly.

The three master teachers grew more and more astonished, trembling with excitement, rooted to the spot, unable to move.