"Write it down now?"
The crown prince nodded.
It was indeed best for it to be written on paper. This way, there would be concrete evidence regardless of the outcome.
Through this, he would be able to confirm whether the three 5-star master teachers really did steal Hong shi's item or not.
"Alright, I'd like to see what you'll write. Once it's proven that you're nothing more than a liar, not only will I have a Life-and-Death Duel with Hong Qian, I'll also kill you afterward…" Luo Zhao bellowed furiously.
At this point, there was no longer any aspect of him that resembled a master teacher.
Luo Xuan and Bi Jianghai glanced at one another with twitching lips.
Honestly speaking, if they were in Luo Zhao's shoes, their string of rationality would have long snapped. To be toyed by another like this, they would already be impressed with themselves if they could curb their urge to murder the other party.
"Kill me?"
Ignoring the other party's bellows, Zhang Xuan continued writing on the paper. A moment later, he kept his writing tools and passed the paper over to the crown prince and Wu shi.
The duo took a look at it and froze for a moment. After which, the crown prince put away the paper before turning to Luo Zhao. "Luo shi, can we take a look at your storage ring?"
"Of course, I've nothing to hide!"
Luo Zhao had no idea what was written on the paper, but since he didn't take anything, he had absolute confidence in this matter. Thus, he didn't fear others checking his storage ring.
He took off his storage ring, dispelled the ownership status on the ring, and passed it over.
Grabbing the ring, the crown prince scanned the contents, and not too long later, he flicked his wrist and took out a gourd.
"Luo shi, what is this?"
Looking at the item the other party took out, Luo Zhao clasped his fist and said, "Your Highness, I'm very fond of wine, and this is a bottle of top-notch wine that I've collected!"
"Wine?"
The crown prince looked at him questioningly. "Are you certain?"
"Reporting to Your Highness, it's indeed wine! I'm certain." Luo Zhao nodded.
"Alright!" The crown prince pried open the lid, and a dense aroma of wine immediately wafted in the room.
"What a strong wine aroma!"
"It's indeed wine… Could it be that Luo shi took a bottle of wine?"
"But is there any point to it? Even if the wine possesses exceptional taste, it's still just a mere beverage. How much could it possibly cost?"
"You're right. Let's just watch on for now!"
Smelling the deep wine aroma in the air, everyone was perplexed.
It couldn't be that they had gone through so much trouble tonight just because Luo shi took a bottle of wine from Hong shi?
What a cultivator valued primarily were naturally their cultivation, and to that end, pills, mystical artifacts, spirit stones, and the sort… On the contrary, their appetite for fine food gradually dampened over time. A refined wine it may be, but it wouldn't be worthy of a 5-star master teacher going so far for it.
"Is this it?"
The crown prince turned to the young man standing not too far away.
"Yes!"
Zhang Xuan nodded.
Hearing the latter confirm the matter, both the crown prince and Wu shi glanced at one another in confusion.
"But this is merely wine, right?"
When they opened the bottle, they took a look and confirmed that it was wine. This was something very much different from what the young man wrote.
"There's no need to panic. It'll be easy to confirm whether it's what I've written or not!"
Standing up, Zhang Xuan scanned the surroundings and eventually, his gaze fell on Feng Yu. "Feng shi, may I trouble you for something?"
"No…"
Alarmed, Feng Yu quickly shook his head and cowered backward.
Trouble me? You must be kidding!
You still aren't content with causing me such grievous injury?
The first time I met you, I fell from the skies. Afterward, I was beaten up by Hong shi…
Even if I were to put all that aside, just a moment ago Hong shi approached Luo shi for help and slapped him…
If I were to fall for your ploy after all of these, I must really be dumb!
"Don't worry, this will be something beneficial to you…"
Seeing how Feng shi was on the verge of fainting after hearing that he needed his help, Zhang Xuan was speechless.
I am really doing this out of goodwill, is there a need for you to be so scared…
I'm a master teacher, not a demon!
Why do you make my request seem as though making a contract with the devil?
"It matters not whether it is beneficial or not!" Feng shi shook his head profusely.
"Alright, fine then…" Seeing how the other party refused to accept his goodwill out of suspicion, Zhang Xuan scanned the surroundings once more and eventually, his gaze fell on Bi Jianghai. "Bi shi, come over…"
"I…" Bi Jianghai's mouth twitched, and he nearly burst into tears.
How in the world have I offended you?
All I did was boast a little before you during the finals, right? Surely you need not hold a grudge for so long!
Seeing the other party's expression, Zhang Xuan shook his head and sighed.
"Don't worry, I just want you to prove that this isn't just wine!"
"Fine!" Clenching his jaws, Bi Jianghai stepped forward.
Seeing that the other party was in position, Zhang Xuan nodded in satisfaction. Following which, he flicked his wrist and whipped out a dagger. "Come, stretch out your arm!"
Bi Jianghai swallowed a mouthful of saliva before slowly raising his arm up.
"Good!"
With a slight smile, Zhang Xuan flicked his wrist, and the dagger stabbed right into Bi Jianghai's arm.
"AHHH!"
A scream of agony echoed through the hall, and Bi Jianghai's body began to tremble. He nearly went insane on the spot.
He knew that it couldn't be anything good, but he never expected to have a dagger stabbed into him…
Watching as crimson blood flowed freely out of his arm, tears streamed down his face. He was already regretting dearly for listening to the words of the God of Destruction.
If he had known earlier, he would have surely played dead.
"I knew that it would be something bad…"
Seeing this sight, Feng Yu heaved a sigh of relief.
His history with this young man had deeply ingrained in him the idea that nothing good would come out from the association with the latter. Watching as blood flowed profusely out of the stabbed arm, he suddenly felt this was the wisest decision he had made in his life.
"Don't panic!"
Seeing Bi Jianghai twitching uncontrollably due to anxiety, Zhang Xuan quickly calmed him down before turning to the crown prince. "I'll be troubling Your Highness and Wu shi!"
"Un!"
The crown prince nodded his head and passed the wine gourd over.
Grabbing the gourd, Zhang Xuan swirled it slightly as he turned to Luo Zhao and asked, "Luo shi, I'll ask you one last time. Are you certain that what is inside here is wine?"
"Yes, it's definitely wine!" Luo Zhao nodded confidently.
"Alright then!"
Not bothering to explain, with his left hand holding the wine gourd and right hand on the dagger stabbed into Bi Jianghai's arm, Zhang Xuan slowly pulled the dagger out.
Tzzzzzz!
As the dagger was drawn out, blood immediately spurted wildly from the wound, reminiscent of a fountain.
Bi Jianghai's face immediately paled, and he could feel the sight before him blurring.
Even though he was only stabbed in the arm, the intense pain was still difficult for him to bear.
"Hold on!"
Seeing the other party's pained expression, Zhang Xuan quickly poured the content of the gourd onto the wound.
Tzzzzzzz!
As soon as the wine came into contact with the wound, an intense reaction immediately occurred. The muscle that was torn by the dagger healed at a pace visible to the eye, and in just a short moment, the wound had disappeared altogether, as though the injury had never happened.
"This…"
"Could this not be wine but a Saint recovery medicine?"
"Indeed! Only a Saint medicine could possibly heal a wound so quickly…"
Everyone widened their eyes in astonishment, but soon, it was replaced with envy.
There was no cultivator who would never be injured, and thus, recovery medicine was an essential that everyone had to carry along with them.
However, despite how expensive the typical recovery medicine was, it would still require days for a wound to heal back to its original condition. Otherwise, Feng shi wouldn't have come to the banquet with a swollen face.
On the other hand, this recovery medicine actually immediately healed such a glaring wound upon contact. Furthermore, not even the slightest scar was left behind… This was way too fearsome!
Probably only the legendary 'Saint medicine' could harness such effectiveness!
"My wound…"
Bi Jianghai thought that the gaping injury would take at least half a month of recuperation to recover from. He had never thought that just a few drops of the wine would bring his arm back to its original condition. Thus, the scene before him had left his eyes widened in disbelief.
Wasn't this a little bit too formidable?
While Bi Jianghai was stunned in shock, the previously gleeful Feng shi clutched his chest as he found himself unable to catch his breath. He felt so regretful that even his intestines were turning green.
It turned out that the fellow was inviting him up to test this Saint medicine. If only he had known, he would have surely rushed up in an instant, and the injuries he had sustained would have disappeared in an instant…
"Alright, I'm done proving my point. I'll leave it to Your Highness and Wu shi to judge the matter!"
Ignoring everyone's shock, Zhang Xuan placed the gourd back on the table and clasped his fists toward the crown prince and Wu shi before walking back to the Hongfeng Empire party.
"Luo shi, the wine that you spoke of turned out to be a Saint recovery medicine instead… Why don't you explain yourself?"
The crown prince turned to look at Luo Zhao impassively.
"I…"
Luo Zhao staggered, and his mouth twitched uncontrollably. "If I say that… that gourd is really filled with wine, will you believe me?"
He was really on the verge of going insane already.
He loved wine nearly as much as his own life, many people knew of this. As such, he filled this wine gourd with the wine he loved the most and carried it around with him… When in the world did it become a Saint recovery medicine?
"You still want to deny it at this point?"
The crown prince smacked the table in rage.
Everyone had seen the effects of the wine for themselves, and you still wish to deny the matter?
Do you take me for a fool?
"Chen shi, I'll trouble you to read what is on this paper!"
Turning his gaze away from Luo shi, he threw the paper that Zhang Xuan had just written on to Chen Yue.
"Yes!"
Taking the paper, Chen Yue unfolded it and began reading aloud. "Luo shi took the recovery medicinal wine that Hong shi went to great lengths to obtain. This medicinal wine is particularly effective on physical wounds. With just a few drops, ordinary wounds are healed instantly…"
The further Chen Yue read, the paler his face became.
The crown prince turned his gaze back to Luo Zhao and questioned, "What words do you have to say?"
"I…"
Luo Zhao vision turned dark.
It was already a checkmate, what else could he say?
"If you didn't steal it, how could Zhang shi know that it's a medicinal wine and even know of its properties?" The crown prince pushed on.
Luo Zhao felt frenzied.
He had no idea what was going on anymore.
A thought suddenly flashed across Luo Zhao's mind, and he glared at Zhang Xuan in savagery.
"It's all your doing!"
It must be this fellow's doing that his wine turned into a Saint recovery medicine… There was no one else but him!
Toward the other party's furious howl, Zhang Xuan replied with composure, "This gourd of medicinal wine is the gift that Hong shi prepared for Wu shi and the others, but you ended up stealing it instead… It's fortunate that Hong shi left a portion of it with me in case of emergency. That was why he was able to recover so quickly and arrive at the banquet hall unscathed…"
"I see!"
Only then did everyone come to a realization.
They had been wondering how Hong shi could be completely fine after the Master Teacher Confrontation when Feng shi was so heavily injured.
It turned out that the other party had prepared a spare portion in case of emergency.
With this, all of the puzzle's pieces fitted snugly together.
"Luo Zhao, what else do you have to say?"
The crown prince looked at Luo Zhao with deep disappointment reflected in his eyes.