Chapter 980: The Earth-Tibetan Flower

He had been watching the whole time during the drinking earlier; the other party had only grabbed the wine cup and gourd without even touching the wine. Under such circumstances, he could still be poisoned, and even a Saint Domain First Layer Mid Stage expert like him was rendered powerless. If that wasn't a poison master, what was?

Most crucially, being able to poison him silently with such potent venom meant the poison master's level had to be at least six-star!

A poison master of that level, yet he didn't even know the location of the Poison Hall... You came here deliberately to deal with me, didn't you?

How ridiculous—he had planned to use poison to kill the other man... Now look, he himself was first poisoned half-paralyzed...

"Heh, if I weren't a poison master, why would I be asking about the Poison Hall's location?"

With a faint smile, Zhang Xuan snapped his fingers: "Come on, spit another mouthful for fun!"

The other had put poison in the wine, but he easily detected it. His Heavenly Dao true energy circulated and instantly neutralized it. Then he casually infused two streams of true energy into the other's wine, and with a thought, turned them into deadly poison.

Heavenly Dao true energy was extremely pure and could enter any acupoint or meridian in the body. Even a Saint Domain First Layer Mid Stage expert couldn't resist it.

"Ah..."

At his words, the true energy coursed through the other's body. With a cry of pain, Hu Yunsheng spat blood again.

"You... I'll kill you!"

Pale-faced, he roared, struggled to circulate his true energy, and leaped up, charging at Zhang Xuan.

The dignified master of Moyun Pavilion, someone even the city lord of Jingyuan City treated with courtesy, was poisoned by a Zongsheng. Furious to the point of exploding, he lunged through the air, his palm pressing down fiercely.

"Not obedient at all. Get down!"

Sitting still without moving, Zhang Xuan raised his eyelids and snapped his fingers again.

Snap!

Before the palm strike could land, Hu Yunsheng convulsed again, fell from the air, and landed on the ground like a toad.

"This... poison has intelligence?"

Trembling, Hu Yunsheng looked as if he had seen a ghost.

Poison is divided into two types: one without intelligence, and one with intelligence.

The former can be resolved by finding the method and antidote; the latter, like a living thing, can avoid danger and even obey commands, making it impossible to detoxify even with an antidote.

But intelligent poison is complex and requires nurturing, like Gu insects. Only an eight-star poison master can concoct it. Could it be that the person before him was a poison master of that level?

But an eight-star poison master's cultivation must be at least Saint Domain Sixth Layer. Such people are all famous experts on the continent. How could they come to this remote small city to seek the Poison Hall?

His heart was filled with doubt and fear.

"Heh!"

With a faint smile, Zhang Xuan didn't explain.

Even after leaving his body, Heavenly Dao true energy could still move according to his will. Although it lacked intelligence, it was not much different from intelligent poison.

Of course, it could only be controlled at close range; if too far away, his spiritual power couldn't reach it, and he would lose control.

Unlike the congenital fetal poison inside him, which could not be shaken off no matter where he went and had developed its own consciousness—even he couldn't do anything about it.

"I... admit defeat!" Hearing that it was intelligent poison, his face alternated between red and white. After a long while, he gritted his teeth and said.

He had no choice but to admit defeat. He couldn't win in a fight, and on top of that, he was poisoned, his life in the other's hands. Whether he lived or died was just a word from the other.

He had wanted to play a game of black-eating-black to make some money, but ended up with nothing and nearly got himself killed. Just thinking about it was frustrating.

"That's more like it..." Hearing the admission, Zhang Xuan smiled. "I want to know everything about the Poison Hall!"

Hu Yunsheng gritted his teeth: "To be honest, although our Moyun Pavilion is good at gathering information, we don't know much about the Poison Hall. They are very cautious..."

"Just tell me, is the Poison Hall near Jingyuan City?" Zhang Xuan asked.

"Yes!" Hu Yunsheng nodded. "Over the years, many people have inquired about the Poison Hall. I've gathered some information and confirmed it's in the nearby Yun Canghai, but I don't know the exact location. Moreover, I've heard that even if you find the exact spot, without a special token, you can't enter."

"Yun Canghai?" Zhang Xuan frowned.

Yun Canghai was the largest inland sea in the Hongyuan Empire, spanning hundreds of thousands of kilometers, vast and boundless. Most importantly, it was filled with ferocious spirit beasts and sacred beasts, so even Saint Domain Third or Fourth Layer, even Fifth Layer experts dared not enter easily.

If the Poison Hall was really inside there, with an invisibility formation, and without knowing the exact location, it would be impossible to find.

No wonder even the old dean could only confirm the range. Hiding there was indeed secretive enough.

"Yes. This information came from a Poison Hall elder who came here to buy something and inadvertently let it slip... I really don't know anything else..." Hu Yunsheng's face reddened.

Now that he was poisoned by the other, if he didn't get the antidote, he would likely die.

But he truly didn't have the information the other wanted.

The Poison Hall is in Yun Canghai... That was as good as saying nothing. The sea was so vast, with countless sacred beasts, and without direction, who would dare to investigate recklessly?

"Buy something?" Ignoring his worries, Zhang Xuan frowned and looked over. "A Poison Hall elder came to your place to buy something? What did he buy?"

"At the last auction, we sold a century-old Earth-Tibetan Flower, the best ingredient for making poison. It was very rare, so it attracted a Poison Hall elder to buy it... In the end, he bought it at a very low price..."

Hu Yunsheng's face darkened.

That Earth-Tibetan Flower had cost their Moyun Pavilion a great deal, nearly a hundred high-grade spirit stones. But when the buyer came, he poisoned over a dozen of their people, and Hu Yunsheng himself nearly got poisoned, so they had no choice but to sell it cheap.

That business deal had been a huge loss, and it took him a whole year to recover.

Because of that, their auction house now rarely dealt in medicinal herbs, afraid of being robbed again in a black-eating-black scheme.

After thinking for a moment, Zhang Xuan said: "Do you have any herbs that the Poison Hall must use, and with high age? Can you lure them here?"

This Moyun Pavilion didn't know the Poison Hall's exact location, but the Poison Hall elder surely did. He could use a decoy to draw the snake out of its hole.

That is, use a herb they needed to attract them. As long as a poison master appeared, he could subdue him and find the Poison Hall's location easily.

Although his understanding of poison was only around two-star, with Heavenly Dao true energy, even a six-star peak poison master, or even a seven-star one, was nothing to fear.

Of course, if the opponent was too strong, it wouldn't work. For example, the congenital fetal poison could avoid danger, and even Heavenly Dao true energy couldn't handle it.

Poison masters made countless people tremble in fear; they indeed had their own unique abilities and strengths.

If not for the fear of the Master Teacher Hall and the fact that poison was extremely difficult to learn and could easily harm oneself, it would surely have a place among the upper nine professions.

"Herbs they must use?"

Understanding the other's intention immediately, Hu Yunsheng looked embarrassed: "Our Moyun Pavilion hasn't collected any herbs in recent years. Even if we have some, they are of low value... It would be hard to tempt them."

Having suffered once, they knew the terror of poison masters and were naturally unwilling to collect herbs anymore.

Otherwise, if a few more came to rob them, wouldn't they suffer a huge loss?

"Then do you know what kind of herb would tempt them?"

Knowing that his Heavenly Dao true energy was circulating inside the other, he surely wouldn't dare lie, Zhang Xuan frowned.

"As far as I know, a six-star poison master trying to advance to seven-star needs to concoct a poison that can kill a Saint Domain Second Layer expert. The main ingredient for that is the Earth-Tibetan Flower... If there's a high-age herb, it would surely attract poison masters to buy. But... this herb is very rare. Our acquisition last time was largely due to luck..."

Hu Yunsheng said.

"Earth-Tibetan Flower?"

Zhang Xuan shook his head.

Last time, the many sacred beasts of Cloud Mist Ridge had given him many herbs, but there was no Earth-Tibetan Flower. Among the items he had collected, there was also none.

It seemed, as the other said, it was indeed very rare.

"How about this: you announce that you have a two-hundred-year-old Earth-Tibetan Flower for auction, just to lure them here!" Zhang Xuan said.

His goal was only to attract them, not to actually need the herb. As long as he could get them here and capture them, the rest would be easy.

"This... it's probably not that easy! When poison masters don't use poison, they are no different from ordinary cultivators. If they find out the news about the Earth-Tibetan Flower is fake... and they don't make a move, we can't confirm who they are. How would we know?"

Hu Yunsheng smiled bitterly.

"This..." Zhang Xuan was speechless.

Poison masters, like soul shamans, were like rats crossing the street on the continent—everyone wanted to beat them. As long as they didn't use poison, even he couldn't recognize them.

The Heavenly Dao Library could only observe cultivators using martial techniques. If the other didn't use them, and there were so many buyers, how could he find them?

"Most importantly, if they follow the rules and buy with money... we can't refuse..." Hu Yunsheng continued.

Last time, he was forced to sell, but that was a special case. Not all poison masters were that bad. If the other paid money, but he couldn't produce the herb... Moyun Pavilion would probably be done for, and they would all be poisoned to death.

"That's true..." Zhang Xuan rubbed his forehead.

It seemed his plan wasn't feasible.

"Actually... we don't need to fake it. Although the Earth-Tibetan Flower is rare, I know someone who definitely has it, and the age is definitely over a hundred years!"

Gritting his teeth, Hu Yunsheng recalled something and said.

"Oh? Who?"

Hearing that someone had an Earth-Tibetan Flower, Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up.

"I don't know his name either. I only know he's a very eccentric person, everyone calls him 'Strange Old Man.' He not only grows herbs but also collects many treasures. Last time, my Earth-Tibetan Flower came from him... If you go to him, you'll definitely find one!"

Hu Yunsheng said.