Chapter 1162: Prince Zhongqing Poisoned

This Chen Zhe leaked the information from Zhang Yinqiu to the alien tribes, nearly preventing them from returning from the Qiuwu Palace. He had long violated the principles of a master teacher. Why would he still need a reward?

It was too contrary to common sense!

Seeing his confusion, Zhang Xuan shook his head and explained, "After Chen Zhe was captured, no one knows what was extracted from his interrogation or what he confessed. If we convict him like this... where is the evidence? Without evidence, if we convict him and he dies in the Master Teacher Hall... what do you think others will think?"

"This..." Master Wu was speechless.

Everyone has sympathy for the weak, but whether someone is truly weak is not determined by appearances.

If Chen Zhe were convicted and happened to die in the prison of the Master Teacher Hall... as long as someone fanned the flames, all kinds of 'inside story' news would inevitably follow, and no one could distinguish truth from falsehood.

At that time, the situation that was originally favorable to us would suddenly become unfavorable, and there would be no way to remedy it.

"Proclaim that he died for humanity, grant him merits rather than crimes... In doing so, the one who killed him will inevitably feel uneasy about the leak of information, and will naturally reveal their flaws. Once the other party makes a move, the rest becomes easy, and we can convict him anew without any issue."

Zhang Xuan said.

"So that's how it is..." Only then did Master Wu understand, suddenly enlightened.

This was indeed the best approach.

It could both neutralize the impact of the other party killing Chen Zhe and lure them into the trap... killing two birds with one stone.

"Alright, I'll do it now!"

Understanding this, Master Wu nodded and turned to give an order.

"What should we do next?"

After everything was arranged, Master Wu spoke again.

He was utterly convinced by the person before him and no longer wanted to think about what came next.

"Next, we don't need to do anything. Tonight, we'll still attend the appreciation gathering you mentioned... The bait has been cast; if it's a fish, it will eventually take the hook." Zhang Xuan laughed.

Master Wu nodded and asked no further questions.

Leaving the room where Chen Zhe was imprisoned, Zhang Xuan did not linger and went directly to the library of the Master Teacher Hall.

With Master Wu's identity token, he was qualified to view cultivation techniques of the third and fourth levels of the Saint Domain. In less than an hour, he had collected them all into the Library of Heaven's Path.

After gathering them, he also took out the books given by Emperor Chu Tianxing and imprinted them into his sea of consciousness.

"Correct!"

The Library of Heaven's Path shook, and two books appeared.

They were the Heavenly Path techniques for the third and fourth levels of the Saint Domain.

Opening them and reading through, Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up.

"Both have reached the Heavenly Path level and can be cultivated directly..."

This was the first time he had collected techniques two levels ahead of his own... With these two books, he could make a breakthrough in one go, directly charging into the fourth level of the Saint Domain, the Primordial Spirit realm!

"It's already dark. Let's go to that appreciation gathering with Master Wu first, then cultivate..."

He glanced outside and saw that the sky was completely dark. The tasting event that Teacher Wu had mentioned was about to begin; there was no time to cultivate. Zhang Xuan stretched and walked out of the library.

With a cultivation technique, training was simple—an hour would suffice, and if not, then two hours... there wasn't much difference.

Anyway, for him, as long as he trained, he would achieve mastery... there was no such thing as a cultivation bottleneck.

He still needed to think of a way to pass all the auxiliary subjects with seven stars and become a Seven-Star Master Teacher first.

"Teacher Zhang, let's set off!"

Seeing him arrive, Teacher Wu smiled, and the two of them walked out together.

...

While Zhang Xuan was attending the so-called tasting event, in a spacious hall within the imperial palace:

"Damn it, damn it..."

Loyal Youth King stood up, his teeth grinding audibly, hatred flowing from his eyes like water, as if it would burn someone.

"Alright, to attack a master teacher without any preparation—you've got some nerve!"

Chu Tianxing snorted and said.

"Your Majesty, I..." Loyal Youth King clasped his fists.

"Forget it, no need to explain. You'd better learn your lesson. This time, to get you out, I paid a huge price!"

Chu Tianxing waved his hand.

"Your subject knows his mistake..." Loyal Youth King quickly nodded.

"Good that you know... Don't rush back to your residence these days. Stay here with me, cultivate well, and recall if there are any mistakes. Don't let anyone catch you! Otherwise, no one can save you!"

Chu Tianxing said.

"Yes!" Loyal Youth King nodded: "Rest assured, there shouldn't be any problems. It's mainly that Zhang Xuan doesn't play by the rules, and his strength seems far higher than we knew..."

His face full of hatred, whenever he mentioned that Zhang Xuan, Loyal Youth King gritted his teeth in anger. But before he could finish, his face suddenly turned pale, and his body involuntarily swayed.

"Damn..."

His pupils constricted, and Loyal Youth King's scalp tingled.

"What's wrong?"

Chu Tianxing frowned.

"I... I've been poisoned, pfft!"

Loyal Youth King began convulsing on the ground, vomiting large mouthfuls of blood, feeling as if all his internal organs were about to shatter.

"Poisoned? How could you be poisoned?"

Chu Tianxing's pupils constricted.

This Loyal Youth King had been right by his side, with no prior warning—how could he suddenly be poisoned?

"I don't know either..."

Writhing on the ground in excruciating pain, Prince Zhongqing's forehead was drenched in sweat, but he still couldn't remember when he had been poisoned.

"Did you eat anything wrong today?"

Chu Tianxing asked urgently.

Prince Zhongqing was a peak Saint Domain quadruple powerhouse, yet even he couldn't withstand it—the poison was truly terrifying.

To administer poison without him being on guard required at least a peak七星 poison master.

If such a person had appeared, how could there be no memory of it at all?

"Today..." Prince Zhongqing paused. "That Zhang Xuan fed me several gourds of fine wine, and that Sun Qiang sprinkled some chili powder and salt on me..."

His own meals were certainly fine, and he hadn't eaten anything at the Master Teacher Hall. The only unclear things were Zhang Xuan's wine and Sun Qiang's seasoning.

"Sprinkled chili powder and salt?" Chu Tianxing was stunned.

What was the point of that?

But knowing this wasn't the time to ask, he frowned. "It seems Zhang Xuan must have poisoned him... But what kind of poison is this? Someone, summon Physician Sun!"

"Yes!"

A guard hurried out.

Before long, an old man followed him in.

"Your Majesty!"

"Mm, Physician Sun, Prince Zhongqing has been poisoned. Take a look and see what poison it is, and whether you can cure it..." Chu Tianxing instructed.

Physician Sun was the imperial physician of Qingyuan Palace, already at the peak七星 level, with a profound understanding of medicine. If anyone could treat this, it would be him.

"Rest assured, Your Majesty. As long as the poison doesn't exceed七星, I can easily neutralize it!"

Grinning, Physician Sun revealed a mouthful of yellow teeth. With a flick of his finger, he condensed his inner qi into threads, enveloping Prince Zhongqing like a sphere.

His unique diagnostic method... Silkworm Sound Pulse-Taking!

By enveloping the patient's acupoints with qi, he could carefully observe and detect specific symptoms, then prescribe the right medicine.

"Hmm? This poison is rather strange..."

After a moment of enveloping, Physician Sun frowned.

"Strange?" Chu Tianxing looked over. "Can it be cured?"

"Rest assured, Your Majesty. Although this poison is strange and hard to detect, once my qi enters Prince Zhongqing's body and I use the Wandering Thread Detection Method, I will surely understand what's happening and resolve the problem smoothly!"

Physician Sun said with confidence.

"Mm, then hurry up!"

Seeing Prince Zhongqing's pale face, as if he might collapse and die at any moment, Chu Tianxing urged.

"Alright!" Physician Sun nodded, took a deep breath, and grabbed at the air with his palm.

Zizi zi!

A stream of qi shot from his fingertip, landed on Prince Zhongqing's brow, and drilled along his meridians.

The Wandering Thread Detection Method involved condensing qi into threads that entered the patient's body to trace the root of the illness, then prescribing medicine accordingly.

Since the Silkworm Sound Pulse-Taking had failed to detect the poison, he had to use this method.

Whoosh!

After a quick scan, still finding no poison, Physician Sun withdrew his qi, his brow deeply furrowed.

There was no trace of poison in the other's body, yet his internal organs seemed corroded by a potent toxin—it baffled him.

"What's the matter?"

Chu Tianxing looked over again.

"This poison is somewhat peculiar. I'm working on it..."

Just as he was about to continue, Physician Sun suddenly turned pale, collapsed to the ground, convulsing violently, and spat out mouthfuls of blood. "Damn it, I've been poisoned too..."

With that, he lay on the ground, twitched a few times, and passed out.

"This..."

Chu Tianxing was startled.

He had just sworn he could cure the poison, and now, without even identifying it, he had fainted...

This man was the most skilled physician in the palace, and now he too was poisoned. What could be done?

What kind of poison was this, that even a physician could be infected without noticing?

"Your Majesty... my mansion holds several poison masters under lock and key... bring one here..." Prince Zhongqing lifted his head weakly.

"Hold on, I'll send someone right away!"

Chu Tianxing turned and gave orders again.

At the emperor's command, a guard rushed out and soon returned with a young man in black.

It was the former Steward Qin!

"Your Highness, the poison masters in the mansion were all released by that Zhang Xuan..."

"Released? Pfft!"

Prince Zhongqing was listless, barely holding on.

"No poison masters, and the physician can't cure it... I'll go find Zhang Shi. A renowned master teacher, using poison..." Chu Tianxing's face darkened.

After spending so much effort to bail out this prince, if he were poisoned to death like this, the Qingyuan royal family would become a laughingstock.

"Zhang Shi? Using poison?"

Steward Qin, overhearing, couldn't help but look over. "Your Majesty, was our prince poisoned by that Zhang Xuan?"

"It must be him. No one else had the chance!" Chu Tianxing snorted.

"If it was him who poisoned..."

Steward Qin hesitated, then said with certainty and confidence: "I know how to cure it!"