Chapter 270 - Altercation at Elder Ximo’s Residence

"He is Tianzi, and she is Qianxue," Beiwei Jinguo introduced enthusiastically. "Guys, please meet Elder Ximo. He is an esteemed elder of the Healer Circle and a good friend of my teacher. Apparently, I have even met him before when I was much younger!"

To Beiwei Jinguo, being able to draw an association with an elder of the Healer Circle was already a matter worth being proud of. After the embarrassment from before, he was more than eager to flaunt this matter to his newfound companions.

"Greetings, Elder Ximo," Lu Tianzi and Nanlan Qianxue clasped their fists towards the elderly man.

"Please dispense with the pleasantries," Elder Ximo clasped his fists in response. "We are all here for the same purpose, and that is to create a friendly community for poison masters. There is no need to be too formal."

"You might not know this, Elder Ximo, but Qianxue's combat capabilities are truly off the charts!" Beiwei Jinguo remarked. "On the journey here, it was all thanks to her that we have been able to arrive completely unscathed!"

Even though Elder Ximo was a friend of his teacher, he was still an esteemed elder of the Healer Circle after all. Due to the difference in status between them, Beiwei Jinguo was slightly worried that the other party might subconsciously look down on them a little, and was thus trying his best to impress the elder.

"Hmm…?" Elder Ximo was caught by surprise there.

The one with the combat capabilities is actually not the guy who is at the Origin Core realm, but the girl with them?

How does that make any sense?

Since he could not detect the girl's cultivation level, he had originally thought that she was just a servant brought along to handle their chores.

But if her combat prowess was extraordinary, then that completely changed things around.

There could only be two possible reasons for that.

The first reason was that this girl possessed a special method to hide her cultivation level, and the second was that she actually possessed a cultivation level even higher than his current realm.

Since he was already at the Origin Core realm, the second reason being true would also mean that this girl was actually at the Overlord realm!

But Elder Ximo immediately shook those thoughts out of his head.

No way, that was simply too far fetched.

The guy was only at the First Cycle of the Origin Core realm, so what were the chances of the girl being already at the Overlord realm?

With that thought, Elder Ximo calmed down a little.

As long as the other party was only at the Origin Core realm, Elder Ximo would not feel too pressured. After all, he himself was also an Origin Core realm martial artist!

"It is true!" Beiwei Jinguo insisted after seeing the doubt in Elder Ximo's eyes. "She really is an extraordinary martial artist!"

"She does indeed possess the aura of a seasoned warrior," Elder Ximo humoured him before turning towards Lu Tianzi. "I have just invited Young Brother Jinguo back to my residence for a chat. Would our two young friends be willing to accompany us as well?"

"We came here with Brother Jinguo. If he is willing to, we will naturally oblige as well," Lu Tianzi answered for the both of them.

Lu Tianzi was more than happy to follow along. After all, this was a good chance to learn more about the Healer Meet and the Healers' Circle as a whole.

In any case, this Elder Ximo was only at the Third Cycle Origin Core realm. Thus, Lu Tianzi was not too worried even if Elder Ximo had some ulterior motive for inviting them back.

Just like that, the group of three followed Elder Ximo out of the open market area and back to the permanent area.

They walked past the iconic Fireaxe Inn, proceeding further into the permanent area while making some idle chat.

According to Elder Ximo, the third storey of Fireaxe Inn was indeed reserved for elders of the Healer Circle, but only for those who were not usually based here on Wondertrap Mountain.

The Healer Circle comprised a group of established poison masters and their associates, with the main members being known as the elders of the Healer Circle.

These people all had their own matters to attend to, and were usually spread all over the world. Only a core group would remain on Wondertrap Mountain, looking after the headquarters of the Healer Circle.

While those who were usually based elsewhere would need to stay in Fireaxe Inn when attending the Healers' Meet. However, Elder Ximo, just like any other elder who was usually based on Wondertrap Mountain, had his own private residence in the depths of the permanent area.

The residences for the elders of the Healer Circle were in a district of their own, hidden away from the bustling streets that enjoyed far greater foot traffic. There were even guards patrolling the district, looking out for any unfamiliar person who wandered too close.

When they saw Elder Ximo coming over, the guards immediately stepped to the side and bowed out of respect.

Elder Ximo did not even spare them a glance, just casually walking through the space that the guards had cleared for him. Behind him, the group of three naturally followed.

When they finally arrived at Elder Ximo's residence, Lu Tianzi could not help but feel impressed.

While Elder Ximo's residence was not comparable to something like the Nine Suns Sect of Bluenight City, it could still be considered quite a magnificent mansion, especially for one that was located at the top of a mountain.

Elder Ximo pushed open the door to the front hall, and the three young men sitting within immediately sprang to their feet in alert. All three of them looked to be in their late twenties, and wore white robes similar to that of Elder Ximo.

"Greetings, Teacher!"

"Greetings, Elder Ximo!"

Two of the three referred to Elder Ximo as their teacher, while the remaining one addressed Elder Ximo differently. But regardless of how they addressed Elder Ximo, all of their tones were polite and respectful.

"Mm," Elder Ximo nodded in acknowledgement. "You are here too, Zirui?"

"Yes, Elder Ximo. I am here to discuss some matters with Brother Qingshan and Brother Boren," the one who addressed Elder Ximo differently answered. After that, Zirui's gaze could not help but start drifting, landing on Beiwei Jinguo and the rest behind Elder Ximo.

Elder Ximo naturally noticed Zirui's gaze, and introduced them with a smile. "This is Young Brother Jinguo. He is the student of Elder Beichang, a good friend of mine who used to be an elder of the Healer Circle as well. I met Young Brother Jinguo on the streets and therefore invited him and his companions back for a chat."

"Nice to meet you," Beiwei Jinguo clasped his fist towards the three young men.

The three shot hesitant glances at one other, as though unsure of how to react.

"He is greeting you, so what are you waiting for?" Elder Ximo frowned. "Qingshan?"

"My apologies, Teacher," the one named Qingshan quickly stepped forward before clasping his fist back towards Beiwei Jinguo. "It is nice to meet you as well."

Finally satisfied, Elder Ximo turned back to Beiwei Jinguo. "Take a rest here for now, I will go bring over another person who is acquainted with Elder Beichang. I'm sure he would love to talk to you as well."

After getting Lu Tianzi's group to be seated and specifically instructing his students to take care of their needs, Elder Ximo hurriedly left the front hall.

In the front hall, only the six youngsters were left.

"Would you like to drink some tea?" Boren, the last of the three students, offered.

"What are you talking about, Brother Boren?" Zirui hurriedly interjected. "How can you offer ordinary tea to your teacher's honoured guests? I have some Everspring Tea with me right now, why don't you serve this to them instead?"

Zirui pulled out a bag of tea leaves from his spatial ring, passing it over to Boren.

"Everspring Tea?" Boren's eyes widened in surprise as he received the bag of tea leaves from Zirui. "Brother Zirui is as generous as always!"

In fact, it was not just Boren who reacted this way. Even Beiwei Jinguo and Lu Tianzi were surprised when they heard that it was a bag of Everspring Tea.

"Brother Boren is praising me too much," Zirui laughed. "I am just giving Elder Ximo's guests the treatment they needed."

"Brother Zirui is being too humble," Qingshan chimed in. He was the same person who responded to Beiwei Jinguo's greeting earlier. "Disregarding the fact that the Everspring Tea plant only grows on Wondertrap Mountain, it is also one of the rarest plants on Wondertrap Mountain. Till date, there is still no known method to cultivate them, making it such that Everspring Tea can only be harvested from the wilds. Coupled with its refreshing taste and beneficial medicinal properties, it deserves its price as one of the most expensive beverages available! To bring out such a precious item without hesitation, Brother Zirui is truly admirable!"

"Brother Qingshan is exaggerating matters," Zirui disagreed. "Elder Ximo's reputation is not one to be taken lightly. Since others have already gone to such an extent, even borrowing their teacher's name in a bid to form a connection to Elder Ximo, how can we waste their efforts? We have to at least bring out this much to make it worth their trip, don't we?"

"Brother Zirui is absolutely right," Qingshan laughed. "What are you waiting for, Boren? Hurry up and make some Everspring Tea for Teacher's guests."

"Understood," Boren answered with a meaningful smile.

"What do you mean by that?" Beiwei Jinguo tried his best to suppress the rage in his heart as he spoke.

Even so, he was unable to hide the dark expression on his face.

By speaking loudly instead of through voice conveyance, the three young men obviously wanted him to hear their conversation.

They were insinuating that he was here just for the sake of obtaining benefits from Elder Ximo, even using his teacher's name to do so.

When faced with such unwarranted condescendence by these complete strangers, how could he not be angered?

Lu Tianzi, on the other hand, watched on with interest. He was not the one being put down, so he had absolutely no intention to get involved for no reason. Instead, he was rather interested in seeing how Beiwei Jinguo would react.

Nanlan Qianxue simply closed her eyes.

"Why do you look so angry?" Zirui shrugged innocently. "Are we wrong?"

Beside him, both Qingshang and Boren had smirks on their faces.

"What made you think that I am here to get any benefits from Elder Ximo? Or is that what you think of any guest whom Elder Ximo brings back?" Beiwei Jinguo scoffed. "If so, then you really think too lowly of Elder Ximo! Do you really think that you would be able to see through others better than he can?"

"Hahaha! Look at you still trying to deny it!" Qingshan burst into laughter.

Zirui let out a helpless sigh as he shook his head, "You should just save your effort. All of us here saw you wasting Lady Qingxi's time at the entrance earlier this morning. What? You only have five low ranked beast cores? Is that what a student of a Healer Circle elder would have? How pathetic! I shall have you know that just that one bag of Everspring Tea in Boren's hands costs two low ranked beast cores, which is already almost half of your entire wealth!"

"You…!" Beiwei Jinguo was stumped for a moment. The embarrassing memory of being snubbed by the young lady at the entrance surfaced in his mind once again.

"Me? What about me?" Zirui scoffed. "Are you enraged now that I am exposing how useless you really are? Looking at you, how great can your teacher even be? Then again, perhaps that's why he left the Healer Circle, because he knew that he would only be an embarrassment if he stayed!"

"Don't you dare insult my teacher!" Beiwei Jinguo slammed the table counter and stood up.

"So what if I do?" Zirui challenged. "What can you do to me with that Intermediate Essence Building realm cultivation of yours? Or are you going to ask your servants to help you out? Oh wait, I forgot that you are too poor to even hire martial artists as your servants!"

"They are not my servants, and I don't need their help to beat you anyway!" Beiwei Jinguo pointed straight towards Zirui. "Since you insulted my teacher, let me show you just how great his heritage is. Face me in a Poison Showdown, and let's just see whose poison arts are superior!"