Chapter 1113: The Color Is So Deep

The higher the level of a poison master, the more they are feared. For this reason, some of the lowest-level poison master apprentices, when revealing their identity, would not cause much of an impact.

And a poison master capable of concocting medicine effective on a Half-Step Out-of-Body expert was absolutely terrifying in terms of level!

At the very least, they had to be at the Seven-Star peak level.

“I am a physician, deeply versed in pharmacology, and can deduce the prescription based on the medicinal properties!” Zhang Xuan said without changing his expression.

He would never admit to being a poison master, especially in front of this person, the hall master of the War Masters Hall, who hated evil like an enemy.

“Then forget it…” Hall Master Xing shook his head.

Although physicians knew a lot about pharmacology, they differed from poison masters by an entire profession. Poison—every combination of herbs, even the slightest mistake in controlling the heat—could cause a drastic change in properties. It was not something that could be deduced and concocted simply by mastering pharmacology.

Otherwise, every physician could become a poison master, and the poison master profession would lose its meaning.

He did not want to use his own life as an experiment for the other party.

And crucially, it only treated the symptoms, not the root cause.

“Apart from these two, is there no other way?” Hall Master Liao couldn’t help asking.

One was impossible to achieve, the other could kill at any moment… He had thought that the hall master finding a brilliant spirit awakener would greatly increase his strength, but instead, his strength hadn’t grown and he was nearly ruined…

Could it be any more troublesome?

“Actually… there is another method, but… you might not agree to it!”

After a pause, Zhang Xuan said.

“Let’s hear it!”

“It’s simple: open your primordial spirit and let me enter to investigate, find the fused plant spirit, and then obliterate it!” Zhang Xuan said.

The three war masters exchanged glances and fell silent.

Opening the primordial spirit meant completely losing defense. If the other party had any other intentions, they could obliterate it with a single thought.

“This… cannot be done!” Hall Master Xing shook his head.

Even Hall Master Liao could not completely open his primordial spirit, let alone an unreliable stranger!

“Then there’s no other way, unless…” His mind stirred again, and Zhang Xuan thought of another possibility, but before he could speak, he shook his head.

“What?”

“Unless I concoct some poison that can kill the plant spirit, and you find a way to inhale it into your primordial spirit. Of course… whether it succeeds or not will require multiple experiments!”

Zhang Xuan continued.

With his understanding of poison, he could also achieve this, but… the other party had a cactus growing on his head, bearing fruit, and flowers blooming from his butt… It was hard to confirm which type of plant spirit this was, requiring careful experimentation with many drugs.

“Even less acceptable…”

His mouth twitching, Hall Master Xing staggered.

A poison that could kill a plant spirit might also kill his primordial spirit, and you want to experiment… Are you afraid of not killing me?

“These are the only methods; there are no others…”

Zhang Xuan shook his head.

Honestly, it wasn’t his fault. If Hall Master Wei hadn’t burst in and interrupted his obliteration of the intent within the spirit, this situation would not have occurred.

It was just a coincidence.

Hall Master Xing fell silent.

He also knew that the other party was trying his best to help him, and the various mishaps were certainly not what anyone wanted to see, but… these solutions were truly impossible to implement.

“Master Sun, let me think it over. By the way, didn’t you want to try the Heart Demon Passage and temper your mind? Why not go over now…”

After a moment of hesitation, Hall Master Xing suddenly spoke.

“Huh?” Zhang Xuan blinked.

This person’s train of thought was too jumpy.

They were discussing how to save him, and he directly suggested trying the Heart Demon Passage…

“Don’t worry, the heart demons in the Heart Hall are mainly for assessment and tempering. If you feel you can’t bear it, you can admit defeat and escape; it won’t kill you!”

Thinking he was afraid, Hall Master Xing smiled.

With that smile, the cactus on his head shook violently, and the fruit seemed ready to fall at any moment, showing no sincerity but instead making one’s hair stand on end.

“I’ll give it a try!” Zhang Xuan nodded.

Given the other party’s current situation, he needed to calm down and think about how to decide. It was not something Zhang Xuan could help with. Since he said so, it might be better to try the Heart Demon Passage to temper his mind; perhaps he would gain inspiration and find a better solution.

“Good! Hall Master Liao, please open the Heart Demon Passage!” Hall Master Xing nodded.

“This…” Hall Master Liao frowned, then after a moment, nodded: “Alright!”

With that, he walked to the nearby passage, pressed his palm against it, and the passage appeared again.

Zhang Xuan nodded to the others and walked in, disappearing from their sight in a moment.

“Hall Master, this Master Sun is not a member of our War Masters Hall. Why let him enter the Heart Demon Passage? Most importantly… this involves the highest inheritance of the Heart Hall…”

As soon as Zhang Xuan disappeared, Hall Master Liao couldn’t help saying.

This Heart Demon Passage was not for ordinary war masters to temper their minds; it was only accessible to hall masters and above, containing the highest inheritance of the Heart Hall. The hall master directly let an outsider in… what was he trying to do?

“Don’t worry, the highest inheritance of the Heart Demon Hall can only be obtained by passing all the heart demon trials. With my strength, I haven’t been able to complete it. How could he, a Saint Realm First Layer, succeed?”

Hall Master Xing shook his head.

“This… is true!”

Hall Master Liao scratched his head.

Care leads to confusion; he had forgotten about this.

The highest inheritance of the Heart Hall—among the successive hall masters of the War Masters Hall, fewer than five in a hundred had obtained it. A mere spirit awakener wanting to pass was naturally even more impossible.

“Don’t worry about the highest inheritance. The situation now is clear: I must resolve the隐患 on my body as soon as possible to deal with that so-called Xuanxuan Society and meet the challenges from other War Masters Halls! So… I plan to let his consciousness enter my primordial spirit.”

No longer dwelling on that issue, Hall Master Xing said solemnly.

“Enter the primordial spirit? Hall Master, you must think twice…” Both Hall Masters Liao and Wei were startled and quickly tried to dissuade him.

Opening the primordial spirit and letting an outsider’s consciousness enter was no joke. A slight mistake could lead to the soul scattering. This kind of thing must not be risked.

“No need to dissuade me. I know it’s dangerous, so I allowed him to enter the passage! If he harbors ill intentions, heart demons will breed, grow stronger, and put him in danger. At that point, without me lifting a finger, he will be punished, even… die. If he is open and honest, heart demons cannot harm him, and letting his consciousness enter my primordial spirit will naturally be safe. Why not take the risk?”

Hall Master Xing said.

“This…”

The two stopped.

Heart demons are the ugly illusions of a person’s inner self. If this guy truly had ulterior motives and wanted to harm others, the Heart Demon Passage would act like a mirror, easily revealing them and making him suffer.

If he was kind-hearted, letting him peer into one’s primordial spirit would not be a big deal.

“To achieve great things, one must make choices! Actually, I don’t blame Chen Zhuqing, Yan Qinghai, and Lu Wangqiu for joining the Xuanxuan Society; instead, I admire them a bit.”

Seeing the two hesitate, Hall Master Xing clasped his hands behind his back, standing like a cactus that tenaciously survived even in the desert.

“Admire?”

The two hall masters were puzzled.

If they were the hall master, and these hall masters disregarded the dignity of the War Masters Hall to join some organization from a remote place, they would have been furious long ago.

“Yes, war masters are a branch of the Master Teacher Hall, equivalent to the empire’s army! What does the army need? Naturally, combat power! As long as it enhances combat power and plays a better role in battles against the alien spirit race, everything else is just auxiliary means, harmless… This is what the founding patriarch said, and it is the iron law that we war masters follow!”

Hall Master Xing said.

Hall Master Liao and Hall Master Wei nodded.

The meaning of war masters on the continent… is to fight.

As long as one has sufficient combat power and does not violate the master teacher guidelines, other things are just auxiliary and not a big deal.

Although those people from the Xuanxuan Society came from a small place, their understanding of combat had indeed surpassed theirs, reaching a level of simplifying complexity. Learning from them could greatly increase combat power—why not?

Even Master Kong was not ashamed to ask his subordinates, and his name has been passed down through the ages!

Learning from those with lower cultivation and younger age is not shameful; instead, it earns a reputation for being eager to learn. Anyone would make that choice.

“They disregarded the dignity of Primordial Spirit realm experts and directly sought advice, showing their desire for strength. That is actually a good thing! The reason I dissuaded them was to prevent the War Masters Hall from becoming the Xuanxuan Society and becoming an object of ridicule.”

Hall Master Xing continued.

“Hmm!” The two understood.

“Alright, let’s see if this Sun Qiang harbors ill intentions! If he truly has murderous intent, it should show soon…”

After explaining, Hall Master Xing looked at the passage not far away.

“The Heart Demon Passage can better probe the inner self. If this guy really has murderous intent or ulterior motives, it can indeed be seen here…”

Nodding, Hall Master Liao gently stroked the wall.

Whoosh!

The wall immediately turned transparent, like jade.

“This jade wall can detect the number of heart demons inside. The more thoughts, the worse the nature; the more heart demons that spawn upon entering the passage. We war masters are born for battle, with pure minds. Generally, only a single-digit number of heart demons appear. For example, when the hall master entered just now, with a rounded mind, only three appeared, and the wall was light-colored…”

Looking at the wall, Hall Master Liao explained with a smile.

“For ordinary master teachers, there are about a dozen, and the wall remains light-colored. Only those evil and wicked people, with dozens of heart demons, cause the color to deepen!”

“Such people have countless lives on their hands and deserve to die!”

“Now that this Sun Qiang has entered the passage, if the wall remains light-colored, it means he is upright and there is no need to worry. The hall master can completely open his primordial spirit to him… If it turns dark, he surely has ill intentions and can be killed as soon as he comes out!”

Hall Master Liao’s eyes flashed.

“Hmm…”

Hall Master Xing and Hall Master Wei also knew this and nodded simultaneously. Just as they were about to speak, their expressions suddenly changed.

The wall before them flashed with light, and in the blink of an eye turned pitch black like ink.

“The color is so deep… This is over a hundred heart demons?”

Hall Master Liao’s gaze turned cold.