Chapter 810: Zhang Xuan's Poison

"Drank it straight?"

"I downed it, you do as you please? As if this were fine wine!"

"Drinking deadly poison so casually... incredible!"

"Indeed, whether he's a freshman or arrogant, just for this attitude, I respect him!"

...

Seeing Zhang Xuan on stage pour the poison into his mouth without a second word, the audience below erupted in uproar.

When he had pulled out the cork earlier, everyone had sensed the potent, river-like aura of deadly poison within the jade bottle.

Picking up such poison, let alone a physician, even a poison master would find it hard to swallow.

Yet this man before them drank it like wine, savoring it, even smacking his lips, earning the admiration of all. Even many old students who had held prejudices against him were now utterly impressed.

Drinking poison with such panache... no one else in the Master Teacher Academy could match this!

"You..."

Not expecting this fellow to drink it just like that, without giving him a chance to react, You Xu's lips twitched uncontrollably.

What do you mean, 'I downed it, you do as you please'?

Damn it, this big gourd holds at least four or five jin, and the smell is so pungent... how am I supposed to drink it?

"I've finished your deadly poison, and you still don't want to drink mine? Fine, don't drink. The rules are set by you. If you don't comply, I'll report it to the guild immediately and revoke your physician qualification!"

Zhang Xuan waved his hand.

"You..."

His face iron, You Xu felt like he might explode at any moment.

He had heard before that this fellow was wicked, but never took it seriously. Now he realized it was true!

He had wrecked the Physician Tower, forcing him to accept the challenge, and now... he had brought out sacred beast urine and forced him to drink it...

If he didn't drink, he would lose and be under his control.

If he drank, his lifelong reputation would be washed away.

A dilemma.

Drinking was wrong, not drinking was also wrong.

He had thought that competing in detoxification was a clever move, but now it seemed far from clever—it was utterly foul, no, utterly stinky!

"Forget it, though Qinggan Lingye is urine, it is indeed a medicinal ingredient..."

Compared to reputation, life was more important.

"I'll drink!"

Gritting his teeth, a ferocious look in his eyes, You Xu pinched his nose with one hand, picked up the gourd with the other, tilted his head back, and drank it down.

The ancestors who founded the physician profession had also drunk various sacred beast urines and left behind healing formulas. If he thought about it that way, it wasn't so bad.

Gulp, gulp!

The stench of the Qinggan Lingye made his lips twitch and tears stream down.

Elder Mi's gourd was large, holding at least four or five jin of urine. You Xu drank until his face turned red, taking over three minutes to finish it all.

Sacred beast urine was more pungent and foul than human urine. Regardless of whether it contained poison, the smell alone made him nauseous, on the verge of vomiting.

"Done!"

Exhaling a breath with a foul odor, You Xu glared fiercely over.

Just as he was about to see if the fellow opposite him had been poisoned, he saw him raise a finger and look over with admiration: "Finished it all? Impressive! I said 'do as you please,' meaning you didn't need to drink it all. One sip of this poison is enough. I didn't expect Vice Dean You to have such a unique taste, drinking non-stop... I admire you!"

The purpose of the Qinggan Lingye was merely to conceal the special nature of the Heaven's Path zhenqi. As long as he took one sip, the zhenqi could burrow into his body. Drinking the rest was irrelevant.

He hadn't expected this guy to be so ruthless, finishing the entire gourd. Quite impressive.

"You..."

His body swayed, and You Xu spat out a mouthful of orange-yellow liquid, his mouth full of odor.

One sip was enough? Damn it!

"Fine, you're ruthless! But I hope you can laugh till the end. If you don't neutralize the poison within half an hour, you lose..."

Knowing he couldn't win a war of words with the other party, You Xu couldn't be bothered to waste time and snorted through gritted teeth.

"Half an hour? No need, I've already neutralized the poison..."

Zhang Xuan looked over, utterly speechless.

The other party's poison was formidable. In the past, even with Heaven's Path zhenqi, it would have taken considerable effort to completely neutralize it. Now, after his soul had mingled with Wei Ruyan's Innate Poison Soul Body,

his physique, even if not an Innate Poison Body, was not far off.

Though the other party's deadly poison was potent, to him, it was like a beverage, having no effect at all.

On the contrary, the spiritual nature of the medicine entered his body, stabilizing his cultivation. Especially his Wu soul, which had absorbed almost all the poison, increasing from a height of ten meters. How much it had increased, he couldn't tell without leaving his body, but his power had grown considerably.

In other words, not only did this poison not harm him, it actually aided his cultivation.

"Neutralized?"

You Xu staggered, nearly falling off the stage.

Really?

This poison was his greatest asset. Even those with higher cultivation than him could be easily poisoned to death... Yet this fellow drank it right in front of him, took no antidote, did nothing—how could it be neutralized?

"Yes, if I'm not mistaken, your poison is primarily made from [Qingye Lianxin Grass] and [Wushen Flower], with forty-nine other ingredients added. A single drop would normally erode the heart and spirit of a Saint realm expert, killing them on the spot."

"Not only that, this stuff also has the effect of numbing the mind. Taken in small doses, it can make people obey orders, and even Saint Realm experts find it hard to resist—extremely overbearing!"

Zhang Xuan smiled faintly: "The poison is indeed formidable, but to me, it's nothing. I happen to be able to neutralize it! As for the antidote, it's simple: three qian of green bamboo, two qian of clothing silver grass, four qian of white angelica wood... Combine these twenty-three herbs into a powder, and without even refining, it can detoxify."

"You... you..."

With every word Zhang Xuan spoke, You Xu's pupils contracted. By the time he finished, it was as if he had seen a ghost.

He had the poison in his hand, and naturally the antidote as well. Just as the other had said, both the poison and the antidote were exactly the same, without the slightest error!

In other words, the other had swallowed the poison in one gulp, not only unharmed but instantly detoxified...

Was he even human?

How did he manage that?

How did it feel like he wasn't taking poison, but eating a meal?

"Am I correct?" Zhang Xuan looked over.

The moment he took the jade bottle, he had used the Library to investigate, knowing its composition and the solution.

What Saint Realm poison? Child's play!

"You... everything you said is right! But even if you neutralize it, it doesn't count as a win... I can neutralize your poison too—break for me!"

Gritting his teeth, You Xu's true energy surged within.

Boom!

Many acupoints opened directly, countless streams of qi burst outward, making him resemble a giant steaming furnace.

"This is... the [Heavenly Furnace Cauldron Detoxification Art]?" Zhong Dingchun's pupils shrank.

Hearing such a mouthful of a name, Zhao Bingxu, Dean Mi, and the others looked over, full of confusion.

"This was created two thousand years ago by the six-star pinnacle physician Bu Jiyou. It's a method that can detoxify without needing an antidote."

"Poisoning, though mysterious, is essentially foreign substances invading the meridians and acupoints. This Heavenly Furnace Cauldron Detoxification Art uses that principle, taking the body as a furnace and true energy as the worker, expelling toxic substances in the form of steam!"

"Although activating it once damages the foundation and is hard to repair, it is invincible for detoxification. As long as it's not a lethal poison that kills on contact, it can be resolved. However, this technique was lost thousands of years ago... When did You Xu learn it?"

After explaining, Zhong Dingchun frowned.

The Heavenly Furnace Cauldron Detoxification Art, though profound in detoxification, was also complicated and difficult to cultivate, and it was said the technique had been lost.

You Xu, as his vice dean, when had he learned it, and he himself knew nothing?

Moreover, the most crucial point was that the poison the other had just produced was something even he had never heard of.

Especially after Zhang Xuan listed the ingredients, this doubt grew stronger.

The main ingredients, [Green Leaf Heart Lotus] and [Soulless Flower], had gone extinct hundreds of years ago, impossible to find... Where on earth did this guy get the poison?

A poison capable of killing Saint Realm experts was very difficult for a physician alone to concoct, unless a poison master cooperated!

But... poison masters and physicians were hostile, always at odds. Could this guy have connections?

"When this is over, I must ask him personally..."

His face dark, Zhong Dingchun made a silent decision.

"So that's his trump card. No wonder he dared to compete with Master Zhang in detoxification!"

As he pondered, Dean Mi, Zhao Bingxu, Wei Ranxue, and the others suddenly understood.

A dignified physician, instead of competing in healing, chose to compete in detoxification. They had wondered what his reliance was—turns out he had such a method.

Bringing a deadly poison others couldn't neutralize, while having his own antidote... With no other winning strategy, they would have made the same choice.

Boom!

As they conversed below, Vice Dean You on the stage intensified the steam, making him look like a moving steam furnace.

"What a stench!"

"It's so rank..."

"Yeah, quickly shut off the six senses, or we'll be suffocated..."

"Shutting off the six senses is useless; this stench seeps in through the acupoints..."

...

As the steam grew denser, everyone below wrinkled their noses.

Sacred beast urine already had a strong odor, and now with the Heavenly Furnace Cauldron Detoxification Art refining and neutralizing it, the smell was nauseating.

Even Saint Realm experts like Zhao Bingxu had to stir their true energy to block the stench.

Otherwise, they probably couldn't bear it and would faint.

Whoosh!

After who knows how long, the steam on You Xu's body vanished. His face was pale, as if he too had been heavily fumigated.

Yet his eyes showed excitement. He couldn't help but let out a long roar and flicked his sleeve: "Your poison—I've neutralized it too!"

Though he had taken longer to neutralize the poison, he had also consumed the 'poison' later and in a larger amount. At worst, it was a draw—not a loss!

"Neutralized mine?"

Seeing him steaming, roaring, and confidently declaring he had detoxified, Zhang Xuan shook his head and looked at him with sympathy: "Do you even know what poison I used, and you claim to have neutralized it?"

"No matter what poison you used, my Heavenly Furnace Cauldron Detoxification Art can easily neutralize it..."

With a snort, You Xu didn't finish his sentence before feeling a sharp pain in his chest. "Wa!" He spat out a mouthful of blood, his body trembling uncontrollably, and his face instantly turned black.

"Your poison..."

His pupils shrank, and his body went rigid.

"...not neutralized?"