The residence wasn't too big, but an astounding amount of spiritual energy had gathered in the area. With just a glance, Zhang Xuan could tell that there was a Spirit Gathering Formation set up in the area. It was of a fairly high grade, grade-6 pinnacle at the minimum.
Due to the presence of the Spirit Gathering Formation, the spiritual energy in the residence was several times more concentrated than that outside. The entire courtyard was densely filled with rare medicinal herbs, those which one would hardly see on the market.
"Not bad!" Sweeping a glance at the surroundings, Zhang Xuan saw at least ten stalks of Saint herbs, and his eyes lit up in amazement.
Even You Xu didn't have that many saint herbs in his garden back then.
Jiya!
While Zhang Xuan was still looking around, the doors to one of the rooms opened, and a haggard-looking old man appeared. Looking at Zhang Xuan and the others, he bellowed, "Who let you all in? How brazen!"
He was fuming mad.
After all, there wasn't a person in the world who wouldn't be furious when someone knocked down his door and barged into his residence...
Could there be an even more arrogant act than that?
"Senior, he was the one who forcefully charged in here. I didn't think that he…" Seeing that the Eccentric Old Man was shaking with rage, Zhou Xuan hurriedly explained with quivering lips.
He mustn't lose the good impression he had accrued with great difficulty due to this!
"Bluetigris Beast, send our guests out!" Paying no heed to what Zhou Xuan was saying, the Eccentric Old Man commanded forcefully.
Hula!
Right after those words were spoken, a five-meters long saint beast emerged from the room by the side, and every step taken caused the ground to tremor violently.
Blue Tigris Beast, a Saint 2-dan primary stage saint beast! Its fighting prowess was, at the very least, on par with the Byzantium Helios Beast.
The incredible presence it commanded was pressurizing, leaving the faces of those standing before it paling and their bodies trembling.
This was especially so for Hu Yunsheng. In his previous visits to this residence, he had been viciously pummeled by that huge fellow. Meeting the other party once more, he couldn't help but feel an innate fear towards it.
On the other hand, Zhou Xuan subconsciously took several steps back. He knew that there was no way he could match a saint beast of such strength with his current cultivation realm.
"Do you want to leave by yourself, or do you want me to reduce you to a lifeless corpse and toss you out?" The Bluetigris Beast glared at Zhang Xuan with its large, menacing eyes.
In face of the threat, Zhang Xuan chuckled softly and replied, "What if I choose neither of the options?"
"Why are you wasting your breath? Toss him out!" Waving his hands impatiently, the Eccentric Old Man turned around and started walking back into his room.
He had absolute trust in his tamed beast's capability, so he didn't think that there was a need for him to remain on the scene.
Right after he turned his back around, he heard the furious roaring of the Bluetigris Beast. Following which, a powerful shockwave burst into the surroundings, leaving the ground shaking violently.
An instant later, the sound of something being struck up into the sky echoed in the air.
Boom!
That something landed heavily on the ground, raising a cloud of dust in the courtyard.
"Hmph, know your place!" The Eccentric Old Man nodded in satisfaction as he continued walking away.
The Bluetigris Beast had always been known for its ferocity. Just by hearing the sounds, he could tell that that arrogant fellow had been floored.
"Forget it, there is no need to go too far. It'll suffice to teach him a lesson, don't kill him by acci-... Ah?" Shaking his hands, the Eccentric Old Man turned around.
Even though he didn't really care for the other party, a person who dared to barge into his residence couldn't possibly be of low standing. As a person who valued his peace, he didn't cause more trouble out of this matter than it was worth.
However, before he could finish his words, the sight he saw left him body frozen in shock.
It took a long time before he was able to utter any words at all, "W-what is going?"
The scene before him was completely different from the one he had imagined. The Bluetigris Beast should have been teaching the other party a lesson, but at this moment, it was lying right in front of the middle-aged man, licking the other party's palm fawningly, reminiscent of a loyal dog.
What in the world is with this ridiculous sight before me?
I told you to toss him out, not to please him!
Are you my tamed beast or his?
Uncomprehending of the situation before him, he turned his gaze to Zhou Xuan and the others, only to see the three of them completely dumbfounded as well.
Unable to take it any longer, the Eccentric Old Man roared, "Bluetigris Beast, what are you doing?"
This was truly unacceptable. For his own tamed beast to defy his orders and please another man instead, he would become a huge laughingstock should this matter be known to the public!
This was too humiliating!
"Master, I…" The Bluetigris Beast turned around to face his master, but not knowing how it should explain the situation, it scratched its head with its massive paws in frustration.
"Don't worry, allow me!" Smiling, Zhang Xuan walked up to the Eccentric Old Man.
His cultivation was only at Nascent Saint pinnacle, but his true strength was even beyond that of the Saint 2-dan Combat Master Zhuo Qingfeng. As powerful as the Bluetigris Beast was, there was no way it could be a match for him.
After subduing it with a single strike, he was able to force it to obey his orders. He didn't tame the Bluetigris Beast as the latter already had a master, but it no longer posed a threat to him.
"You are Senior Eccentric Old Man, right?" Zhang Xuan asked. "I have a request to ask of you here. I wish to buy a Sepulture Flower from you. The higher the maturity it has, the better it will be."
"You have a request to ask of me?" Glancing at the shattered fragments of his doors and his fawning tamed beast, the Eccentric Old Man's lips twitched uncontrollably.
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Is this how you make a request with others?
To destroy my doors as soon as you arrive and even leave my tamed beast... in such a weird state... You are clearly not making a request with me but coercing me to submit!
"You want to buy a Sepulture Flower from me? Sure, over my dead body!" With clenched jaws, the Eccentric Old Man roared with a face reddened in anger.
"Over your dead body?" Zhang Xuan sighed deeply before shaking his head helplessly. "Since you said so, I guess I have no choice then!"
After saying those words, his eyebrows shot up and a powerful aura burst forth from him. In the next moment, he charged forward and thrust his fist with incredible might.
Boom!
In that moment, the Eccentric Old Man couldn't help but feel as if a hurricane was headed in his way. He could tell that the other party's cultivation was clearly beneath his, but for some reason, the other party's strength and zhenqi purity was way out of his league.
If that palm were to strike, he could very well be reduced to a slab of meat.
"Damn it!" The Eccentric Old Man's face turned livid.
Exerting the full might of his body into his legs, he hurriedly leaped backward, and his silhouette flashed across space as if a streak of lightning.
He was only at Saint 1-dan, but his movement technique was particularly profound. In the blink of an eye, he had already made a clean escape from Zhang Xuan's palm strike.
Fearing that the other party would continue his attack, he took this opportunity to leap backwards two more times to create a safe distance between them. It was only when he was nearly back-to-back with his residence did he finally come to a halt.
"Ah?"
Heaving a sigh of relief, he looked to his front and saw that the other party was still standing on the spot, seemingly not intending to continue his attack. The other party's hands were behind his back, and his head was tilted slightly upward, seemingly gazing deeply into the heaven. A light breeze blew, and the other party's robe fluttered slightly.
In that instant, the Eccentric Old Man couldn't help but have the impression that the middle-aged man before him was an unparalleled expert, and his face twitched slightly.
Wasn't this change a little too fast? It was just a moment ago that the other party had charged at him ferociously, intending to send him into death's embrace. Yet, in the blink of an eye, he had already transformed into a transcendental expert who had seen through the vicissitudes of life... Even a professional actor couldn't possibly leap from role to role that quickly!
He wasn't the only one who felt crazed by the sight before him. Even Zhou Xuan and Hu Yunsheng were dumbstruck as well.
It seemed like the greatest strength of the fellow before them wasn't his strength but his ability to switch faces. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking or what he was going to do.
"If you wish to kill me, so be it! Making fun of me? Don't even think about it!" The Eccentric Old Man roared furiously.
He felt that the other party was intentionally toying with him. The other party clearly had the strength to kill him and take the Sepulture Flower easily, but he wasn't making a move at all.
"Making fun of you? You are misunderstanding me!" Zhang Xuan shook his head before continuing, "I would just like to say that it has indeed been hard on you to persevere for so many years under the agony of the [Green Spittle Poison]
"Ah? Y-you…" Those words were like a bucket of cold water, extinguishing the flames of anger burning within the Eccentric Old Man. He weakly staggered two steps behind, only to find that he was already pressed against the wall of his residence. He opened his mouth to speak, but not a word would come out from his throat. Disbelief could be seen in his eyes.
Just like what the other party had said, he was indeed afflicted with the deadly Green Spittle Poison. It was only due to his extraordinary mastery in the Way of Medicine that he was able to survive for so long, but even so, he was swiftly approaching his limit... He had never told anyone about this matter before, and he was certain he had never met the middle-aged man before his eyes. So how could the other party tell with a single glance?
He couldn't help but be dumbfounded.
"Green Spittle Poison, a lethal poison contained within the saliva of the Saint 4-dan Green Spittle Snake. Even a Saint 4-dan cultivator could die in moments after being afflicted by it. If I am not mistaken, the reason why you are able to survive for so long is because you have consumed a Sevenflower Grass when you were younger, right?" Before he could ask about it, the middle-aged man had continued nonchalantly.
"I…" A shudder ran through the Eccentric Old Man's body.
The other party was right. He had indeed consumed a Sevenflower Grass by accident when he was seven.
The Sevenflower Grass was a kind of slow-acting poison which gradually wore down one's body. But while it wasn't lethal in the short run, it could cause immense pain to the afflicted. It was for this reason that drove him to work frenziedly on the Way of Medicine, in hopes that he could cure himself one day.
It had been many years since then, and very few of his peers knew of it. For the middle-aged man before him to know about it as well... could the other party be his old friend?
Taking a closer look at the middle-aged man, he shook his head.
Be it the other party's appearance or disposition, neither of them sparked anything in his mind.
He was certain that he had never met the other party before.
"Actually, it is not too difficult for me to deduce all of this. Those who have consumed the Green Spittle Poison will have a slight grayish hue over his body, and their iris will also turn grayish with a thin crimson line at the center, deeply resembling the eyes of a snake from afar.
"But of course, those evidences are only sufficient for me to deduce that you are afflicted with the Green Spittle Poison. What that made me certain that you have consumed a Sevenstar Flower when you were younger is the slightly white hue at your fingertips instead of a grayish one. If I am not mistaken, you must have accidentally pricked yourself with the thorns of the Sevenstar Flower while picking it!" Zhang Xuan said.
"This…"
The Eccentric Old Man's body shuddered once more.
He was still too young back then, so there were several matters that he could hardly remember. However, under the other party's reminder, he did vaguely recall that his finger had been pricked by a Sevenstar Flower in the past.
"The thorns of the Sevenstar Flower contains poison, but it happens to have the effect of neutralizing the venom of the Green Spittle Snake as well. Due to the both poisons clashing in your body, you were able to avoid immediate fatality. However, it had also become the cause of your immense suffering as well... If I am not mistaken, every night, at the Zi hour, your body will suddenly swell up, and you will feel an unbearable itch in your bones, right?" Zhang Xuan continued.
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The Eccentric Old Man's body stiffened.
Seeing the other party's expression, Zhang Xuan knew that he had already achieved his goal. With a bright smile, he said, "Alright. Shall we head to your room to discuss the sales of your Sepulture Flower now?"
The Eccentric Old Man hurriedly lowered his posture and invited Zhang Xuan in with a gesture, "Yes, of course! This way please!"
"Senior…" Hearing the conversation between the both of them, Zhou Xuan was completely bewildered. Subconsciously, he took a step forward, wanting to ask what was happening.
"What are you waiting for? Hurry up and prepare some tea for this venerable gentleman here!"
The Eccentric Old Man berated.