Chapter 350: What Illness?

A moment of silence.

Mo Tianxue rubbed his eyes, nearly fainting.

The previously obscured formation in the courtyard had indeed vanished.

A single kick had stopped a tier-three formation?

How... was this not a dream?

Any formation could create a special magnetic field based on terrain, mountains, rivers, or even the stars, causing those who entered to become disoriented and lose their sense of direction.

Without deep research into formations, finding the core of the formation base to stop it was utterly impossible.

This guy before them, looking utterly clueless and completely ignorant of formations, had stopped a tier-three formation with a single kick...

Could it be any more exaggerated?

If it was just luck, that was some incredible dumb luck!

Mo Yu was also stunned.

Having witnessed Zhang Xuan's many abilities and knowing his mystery and power, she still nearly fainted on the spot at this sight.

The reason the Lin family was so formidable, running rampant in the royal city without even caring about the royal family's face, was primarily due to their tier-three formation.

Once such a grand formation was set up, even a peak至尊初期的 expert would find it hard to escape...

Yet this guy, who didn't even know what the Lin family was, had easily broken it with a kick!

I knew you had many tricks up your sleeve, but this... this was too shocking!

Could it be that besides being a master teacher, alchemist, physician, beast tamer, and poison master... you were also a formation master?

These were all among the top professions in the upper nine ranks (except poison master)...

Everyone said she was a genius, learning any profession instantly, but compared to this guy... damn, she felt like a complete fool... utterly ignorant!

The thought alone was maddeningly frustrating.

"You, you..."

While the two were merely shocked, Lin Tao, the master who had been sneering earlier, nearly dropped his jaw.

The reason he had repeatedly declined was not because he feared the Golden-tailed Lion would escape, nor because he thought it couldn't be cured, but because this formation was personally set by the guild leader. He, a mere two-star peak, couldn't even find the formation base or flags, let alone dismantle it!

If he couldn't dismantle it, he naturally couldn't stop the formation from running.

Yet this guy not only stopped the formation but did it so simply...

Others, when stopping a formation, expended immense effort, making multiple attempts, using compasses for positioning, observing the whole, consulting ancient texts, researching data... and might even get trapped by the formation, their life and death no longer in their own hands...

But this guy, without even looking, kicked it like a wooden stake... no different from kicking a log...

If anyone else did that, they would surely suffer formation backlash and die on the spot.

Not only was he fine, but the formation actually stopped...

Was this for real?

"Let's go in!"

Just as he was too shocked to speak, he heard the young man call out and walk into the courtyard first.

Following closely, looking around, Master Lin Tao helplessly found that the formation had indeed not reactivated... it had indeed been stopped by his kick.

"I thought this guy was all show, weak and insignificant, but he's actually this impressive... Only that rising star, Master Zhang Xuan, could match him!"

After observing for a while and confirming that the formation had only stopped without any damage, Master Lin Tao's contemptuous expression turned serious.

When he first heard that this Teacher Liu had solved the Wall of Difficult Questions and become the guild leader, he had dismissed it.

After all, in any profession, strength was paramount; without it, everything was a mirage.

At the initial stage of Tongxuan, he was unremarkable and had never been taken seriously... But now, with a single kick stopping a tier-three formation—a feat even the guild leader couldn't achieve—it seemed this Teacher Liu was not as simple as imagined.

"I must inform the clan leader of this as soon as possible..."

He made a decision in his heart.

...

Formations have life gates and death gates, and naturally also have strengths and weaknesses.

If one finds such a weakness, even the most powerful formation becomes as fragile as straw.

Of course, this weakness is essentially the intersection of the formation's magnetic fields.

Some are in the center, some on one side. Zhang Xuan was lucky; this one happened to be on one side, pointed out by the library.

To outsiders, it looked like he simply kicked and stopped the formation, but in reality, his Heavenly Dao true qi entered and merged with the spiritual energy, disrupting the formation's normal magnetic field, causing a force collision that rendered it ineffective.

Heavenly Dao true qi, formed from the purest spiritual energy, could easily disrupt a formation's structure, like a magnet.

Thus, a simple kick produced an unexpected effect. For anyone else, even knowing this weakness, it would take considerable effort.

He walked along the winding cobblestone path.

The courtyard was clean and tidy, not as messy as imagined. After a short walk, a huge palace appeared before them.

Then a thunderous snore sounded, shaking dust from the ground and making them dizzy.

"Great, the Golden-tailed Lion is asleep!" Mo Tianxue's eyes lit up.

He had feared that once the formation stopped, the Golden-tailed Lion would charge out, but fortunately it was asleep, saving them much trouble.

Following the sound, they saw a massive beast lying on the ground in the hall, eyes closed.

It resembled a lion but was larger, with a golden tail that was slightly white only at the very tip.

Compared to the Iron-tooth Sky-roaring Beast, also a half-step至尊 beast, the former had smoother fur and tighter muscles.

This one had loose muscles and messy fur, like an old man; from its appearance alone, one could tell it was in its twilight years.

"President Liu, this is our national guardian beast, the Golden-tailed Lion. Its illness has worsened..."

Looking at the sleeping Golden-tailed Lion, Mo Tianxue shook his head.

A half-step至尊 beast was extremely alert, yet it hadn't woken up even as they approached, showing how severe its illness was.

"What symptoms did it have before?" Zhang Xuan asked.

"It was usually very quiet, but about half a month ago, it suddenly went mad, eyes bloodshot, biting anyone it saw. It bit seven or eight eunuchs and palace maids in a row. Helpless, I asked President Lin to trap it with a formation!"

Recalling that day, Mo Tianxue still shuddered.

This was a half-step至尊 beast; if it truly went berserk, even he couldn't withstand it.

Fortunately, it could still restrain itself, or else a large number of Shadow Guards would have died.

"Suddenly went mad?"

Zhang Xuan looked over.

Such a powerful beast, even if old and declining, shouldn't suddenly fall so ill as to have mental confusion.

"Yes, the Golden-tailed Lion looks fierce but is usually very docile. It was tamed by our ancestors and has guarded the palace for two hundred years, always calm, never harming anyone. I don't know what strange illness it has contracted!"

Mo Tianxue continued: "At the time, Physician Mu Hong examined it and said it was agitation due to nearing the end of its life, needing to be soothed. Then many other physicians were called for consultation, and their conclusions were similar. They said this illness had no cure and could only be recovered from slowly on its own. If it could survive, it might live a bit longer; if not, its end was near..."

"And regardless of whether it survives, three months is the limit. That is, no matter how much treatment or cost, it will die within three months. There is no hope of recovery..."

"Certain death in three months? Cannibalism?"

Hearing these conclusions, Zhang Xuan's mind stirred, and he flipped through all the medical books in the Master Teacher Hall, only to find helplessly... as expected, they were useless.

Although these books recorded many strange illnesses, none matched the Golden-tailed Lion's condition, not even remotely.

True, if it were so easy to find in books, Physician Mu Hong and others would have solved it long ago, and they wouldn't have come to him.

"It seems the collection of books is still incomplete..."

He shook his head.

If there were enough books, knowing the illness, he might find similar cases.

Finding nothing meant the book collection was too small, his knowledge insufficient.

"I'll have to find time to collect all the books from the Physician Guild too..."

Although he had taken the physician exam and even become guild leader, he hadn't looked at the guild's books; the books stored in the library were all from the Master Teacher Hall.

While the latter covered many professions, it surely couldn't match the specialized guild's understanding of illnesses and medicines.

"President Liu, should I bring you the diagnostic results from Physician Mu Hong and others for reference?" Mo Tianxue offered.

Seeing him deep in thought, Mo Tianxue spoke.

"No need..."

He waved his hand.

Since they hadn't found the cause, that result was useless to him.

"Then... the Golden-tailed Lion is asleep. Should we wake it so you can observe?"

When physicians treat patients, they need the patient awake to observe, listen, ask, and know the details. Now that the national guardian beast was asleep, no symptoms could be seen, making treatment impossible.

Zhang Xuan quickly shook his head.

If it were awake, it would need to attack for a book to appear in his mind. If it didn't attack, or attacked too fast, it would be troublesome.

"Let me take a look..." With that, he walked toward the massive beast.

"His cultivation is low, but he solved many problems on the Wall of Difficult Questions, so his medical skill is undeniable. I need to watch carefully how he diagnoses this beast..."

Master Lin Tao, watching from the side, also focused his gaze as he stepped forward.

As the vice president of the Formation Master Guild, he had good relations with many physicians and knew various diagnostic methods.

Some carefully questioned and observed fur and body color;

Some observed breathing and listened to heartbeats;

Some examined diet and feces to find problems...

Which method would this record-breaker of the Physician Guild use?

Curious, he didn't dare blink, afraid of missing a single detail.

But then he saw... the young man walked up to the beast, touched it, and then... walked back with a strange expression.

"That's... it?"

Master Lin Tao was utterly bewildered.