Chapter 276: The Poison Heart Golden Token

“Tell your deputy殿 master and elders to come out and see me!”

Surrounded by numerous poison masters, Zhang Xuan’s face showed no change, as if he hadn’t seen them at all. His chin slightly raised, hands behind his back, his expression was cold and indifferent.

“You want to see our deputy殿 master? Elders? Who do you think you are!”

Unexpectedly, this fellow showed no fear after attacking their companion and even wanted to see the deputy殿 master and elders. Poison Master Zhou’s face twisted: “Daring to injure someone in the Poison Hall, today you’re dead for sure…”

With a cold snort, he was about to teach this arrogant fool a lesson when he felt a blur before his eyes.

Whoosh!

A figure flashed, and a hand had already seized his neck, lifting him up.

“You, you…” Poison Master Zhou trembled, realizing that the middle-aged man who had been standing ten meters away was now right in front of him.

His face turned pale, teeth clenched: “Let me go, or you won’t leave alive today…”

“This is the Poison Hall, not a place for you to run wild!”

Poison Master Liu and the others hadn’t expected this fellow who came with the Great Medicine King to be so arrogant, attacking at the slightest disagreement. They all shouted loudly.

The Poison Hall, though secluded and hard to find, was a place that made many forces tremble with fear. An outsider barging in to kill… who gave him the nerve?

Ignoring their roars, Zhang Xuan’s face remained expressionless. Holding Poison Master Zhou’s neck with one hand, he slapped him with the other!

Slap! Slap! Slap! Slap!

Four consecutive sounds, clear to the ear. Poison Master Zhou’s face instantly swelled, blood trickling from the corners of his mouth, teeth scattered on the ground.

“This is to teach you a lesson for your disrespect earlier!”

After slapping, he casually threw the fellow to the ground, put his hands behind his back again, and stood proudly, exuding an air of dominance: “Moreover, my patience is limited. Don’t provoke my anger, or I won’t hesitate to destroy this useless branch of yours with a wave of my hand!”

“Destroy with a wave of his hand…”

The Great Medicine King felt darkness before his eyes.

Destroy the branch…

Physician Bai, do you know how many grandmaster experts the Poison Hall has?

With just the two of us… if we really fought, we might not even see the elders before being beaten to death, and they wouldn’t even need to use poison…

Though frustrated, he understood his intention.

Since he was pretending to be an envoy, he naturally had to act like one.

An expert from headquarters, if bullied by a few poison masters without fighting back, no matter how well he spoke later, no one would believe him.

So… the most important thing was to establish authority!

Let everyone in the Poison Hall know… the envoy has arrived!

This would quickly make people recognize his identity, but… if he slipped up, he would die even more miserably.

The Great Medicine King felt his legs trembling, barely able to stand.

Having become a regional overlord, he had seen the world, but thinking of the Poison Hall’s methods of dealing with people, he couldn’t help but break out in a cold sweat, unable to stay calm.

“You…”

Sure enough, hearing this, Poison Master Liu and the others, no matter how foolish, realized this man might not be simple, otherwise he wouldn’t dare be so arrogant. Hesitating, he couldn’t help asking: “May I ask… how should I address you?”

Zhang Xuan stood quietly in place, not speaking, as if saying these underlings weren’t worth his words.

Seeing this, the Great Medicine King had to step forward, steadying his breath as best he could: “This is… this is the special envoy sent from headquarters!”

“Special envoy?”

Poison Master Liu and the others’ faces changed.

They knew headquarters might send someone due to the internal strife, but they hadn’t expected it to actually happen!

No wonder he was so arrogant, attacking without a second thought.

If he really was the special envoy, he absolutely had the right.

“Since you are the special envoy… do you have the headquarters’ Poison Heart Golden Token?”

Steadying his breath, Poison Master Liu stepped forward.

The Poison Heart Golden Token was the unique identity token of a special envoy sent by headquarters. Only with this would he be recognized, like the imperial envoy’s sword of authority, representing headquarters and supreme power.

Hearing this question, the Great Medicine King couldn’t help clenching his fists.

This Physician Bai was an impostor—how could he have a Poison Heart Golden Token!

But if he couldn’t produce it, the other party wouldn’t believe him…

He thought of several excuses, like losing it on the road or not bringing it out… but after careful consideration, none seemed appropriate.

A Poison Hall special envoy losing the Poison Heart Golden Token was like an imperial envoy losing the sword of authority—wasn’t that asking for death?

Even the dumbest person would find it impossible!

He couldn’t help looking over, wondering how Physician Bai would handle this. Just as he worried about how to answer, he saw Zhang Xuan squint his eyes, releasing a terrifying aura that oppressed everyone, making it hard to breathe.

“Who do you think you are?”

Zhang Xuan snorted coldly, his face darkening: “Tell your deputy殿 master and elders to come here!”

“I…”

Poison Master Liu’s face flushed red.

As a formal poison master, he was respected wherever he went. This was the first time someone had called him ‘what thing’!

But he knew that if the other party was truly a special envoy, he was probably at least a four-star poison master, and before such a person, he indeed counted for nothing.

“What’s going on?”

Just as the atmosphere was tense and Poison Master Liu was torn about whether to inform the deputy殿 master, a cold snort sounded, and an old man strode over.

“Elder Black Pupil…”

Seeing him, Poison Master Liu quickly cupped his fists.

This newcomer was the Poison Hall’s Fourth Elder, Black Pupil.

This Fourth Elder’s eyes had no whites, entirely black, giving a terrifying feeling from afar. It was said that when he was concocting poison, his eyes were poisoned like this, and he later took the name Black Pupil, his original name forgotten.

Though forgotten, everyone in the Poison Hall knew that Elder Black Pupil was in charge of punishments, the most ruthless and merciless.

Normally, everyone would be afraid to see this elder, wishing they had more legs to flee, but now they felt a relief, as if finding a pillar of support.

“Reporting to Elder Black Pupil, this… senior was brought by the Great Medicine King, claiming to be a special envoy from headquarters…”

Stepping forward, Poison Master Liu quickly explained.

“Special envoy?”

Elder Black Pupil frowned, looking at the middle-aged man before him.

Knowing the other party was looking at him, Zhang Xuan still ignored him, his expression calm.

“Headquarters dispatches four types: Red, White, Gold, and Cyan. May I ask… which one are you?”

After a moment’s hesitation, Black Pupil cupped his fists.

As an elder, he knew the special envoy’s authority and wasn’t as rash as Poison Master Zhou and the others.

First, he would be polite.

“Red, White, Gold, Cyan? The special envoys are graded?”

The Great Medicine King’s heart skipped a beat.

He only knew the Poison Hall had special envoys, not that they were graded. Physician Bai naturally knew even less.

But this might also be a trap set by the Sixth Elder. If it was just a test and he casually named a grade, he would fall into the pit and die without knowing how.

Nervous, he looked over again.

He knew pretending to be a special envoy would be tense, but he never dreamed it would be this tense!

If his heart wasn’t strong, he might be scared to death.

“Are you the殿 master of this branch?”

Ignoring the Great Medicine King’s tension and the other’s question, Zhang Xuan raised his eyelids.

“I… no!” Elder Black Pupil was startled: “I’m just the Fourth Elder…”

“No? Then who gave you the right to blabber here?” Zhang Xuan’s face darkened.

“I…”

Elder Black Pupil was speechless.

“Have previous special envoys been too good-tempered, spoiling you? Headquarters sent me here, and you need to interrogate me?”

Flicking his sleeves, Zhang Xuan’s face was icy: “A poison master from a small branch, asking this and that, what audacity!”

“I…”

Elder Black Pupil breathed heavily, his pitch-black eyes seeming to brew a storm. After a moment, he forced himself to calm down: “I dare not. I will go and call the deputy殿 master and the Grand Elder to welcome the special envoy!”

With that, he turned and walked away.

“Elder Black Pupil…”

Seeing the impartial, always stern Fourth Elder publicly scolded without a word, turning to leave, Poison Master Zhou, Poison Master Liu, and the others all trembled.

They looked at Zhang Xuan with deep awe.

“Hmm!”

Seeing the change in their expressions, Zhang Xuan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Having experience impersonating a master teacher, he knew that to succeed without suspicion, he first needed momentum!

Otherwise, if the other party pressed in, he would be very passive.

Standing in place, after a while, just as Poison Master Liu and the others were nearly suffocated by the oppressive silence, several people strode over.

They were the three deputy殿 masters and the Grand Elder.

The old殿 master had taken three disciples, these three deputy殿 masters.

They all had peak grandmaster strength and two-star poison master level.

The three had operated in the Poison Hall for years, each with supporters and methods, basically evenly matched.

Because of this, they fought fiercely, and the殿 master position remained undecided.

“We didn’t know the special envoy was coming; we failed to welcome you, our apologies!”

A middle-aged man in blue strode forward.

With a glance, Zhang Xuan knew this was the First Deputy殿 Master, Liao Xun!

Though he knew little about the headquarters special envoy, the Great Medicine King knew these deputy殿 masters well. On the way, he had detailed each one’s characteristics.

Liao Xun, a two-star peak poison master, most likely to advance to three-star, was ruthless and cunning, with a hidden knife behind his smile.

Don’t be fooled by his cheerful smile; he might stab you in the back.

A typical smiling tiger.

As he approached, two other middle-aged men also stepped forward, bowing simultaneously: “Red Lotus Branch Deputy殿 Masters Yao Qing (Ge Xiao) greet the special envoy!”

Zhang Xuan nodded slightly in acknowledgment.

“May I ask how to address the special envoy? Would it be convenient to show me the [Poison Heart Golden Token]? I’m not questioning your identity, but headquarters has a rule that the special envoy must have a token of identity for us to liaise!”

With the three deputy殿 masters and several powerful elders present, First Deputy殿 Master Liao Xun smiled lightly and looked over.

“You want to see the Poison Heart Golden Token? That’s not impossible!”

Zhang Xuan looked over calmly, his voice unruffled: “But…”

“Are you qualified?”