"Oh? There's such a peculiar poisonous herb? One that specifically corrodes the tongue?"
As he spoke, Chu Tian looked at Elder City Lord Qian, his expression peculiar.
"I say, Old Qian, were you very foul-mouthed in the past? Otherwise, why would someone poison you this way, preventing you from speaking? Haha..."
Chu Tian laughed, not very considerately.
Elder City Lord Qian's face also turned grim upon hearing this, appearing ashamed.
The other city lords also wore strange expressions, as if trying not to laugh but feeling it inappropriate.
"Did I guess right?" Chu Tian asked with a smile.
"Haha..." Finally, City Lord Guan couldn't hold back and burst into laughter.
This immediately drew a glare from Elder City Lord Qian.
"Old Qian, why are you glaring at me!" City Lord Guan, the object of the glare, defiantly straightened his neck.
He continued, "Divine Venerable, you wouldn't know, but I heard that Old Qian used to love singing opera, and he was particularly fond of playing female roles... However... it's said he sang extremely badly, and his wife simply couldn't stand it. So, she colluded with... uh... a scoundrel and poisoned him, hahaha..."
As City Lord Guan reached this point, he couldn't help himself again, tears almost streaming from his eyes from laughter.
Chu Tian also felt amused internally, but his self-control was still quite good, only his lips twitched.
This old fellow truly... invited disaster with his words.
"Ahem... Hmm... Elder City Lord Qian, open your mouth!"
While speaking, Chu Tian had already scanned his tongue with his divine sense.
The entire tongue was rotted to the root, and the wound had not healed.
He imagined that even if he hadn't used his cultivation to regrow his tongue, he must have been in constant pain.
On the wound, Chu Tian discovered a mass of blue-purple substance, which was likely the poison of the Yin Yang Corrosive Tongue Orchid.
This flower poison did not appear very active, possibly due to the absence of his tongue.
Upon hearing Chu Tian's words, City Lord Guan also stopped laughing.
They all knew that Chu Tian intended to try and help Elder City Lord Qian detoxify.
City Lord Qian's eyes suddenly lit up, and hope rekindled in his heart.
Perhaps... the Divine Venerable truly had a solution.
Indeed, he quickly opened his mouth, revealing the oral cavity without his tongue.
"Ancient Tree Form!"
"Detoxification Art!"
Behind Chu Tian, the form of the Tree of Life appeared, which surprised Chu Tian.
Because when he had assumed the Ancient Tree Form before, it had always resembled a ginseng doll-like tree.
However, he didn't dwell on it too much. With the Detoxification Art unleashed, a green light shot into City Lord Qian's mouth.
Chu Tian's spell was directly infused into the blue-purple base of his tongue.
City Lord Qian paused for a moment, then his expression changed drastically.
The next second, mouthful after mouthful of blue-purple blood was spat out by him.
He vomited seven or eight mouthfuls, and Chu Tian even worried that the old fellow's own vitality was somewhat depleted, and he might actually vomit himself to death if he continued.
The others also showed expressions of concern.
Suddenly, City Lord Qian stopped spitting blood. He wiped his mouth with his sleeve and then directly sat down cross-legged.
A yellowish-brown light radiated from his body.
Everyone's hearts filled with joy, and they watched intently.
After a while, City Lord Qian slowly opened his eyes, which were full of joy.
"How is it, how is it?" City Lord Guan asked.
"Does that even need asking? Look at him, you can tell he's definitely recovered!" City Lord Zhao directly discerned the situation.
"Uh... uh..." Elder City Lord Qian finally spoke under everyone's gaze.
Unfortunately, as soon as he opened his mouth, he only made these sounds.
City Lord Guan and the others were stunned, lamenting in their hearts that even though his tongue had recovered, he still couldn't speak.
"City Lord Qian has been unable to speak for over a hundred years, right? This situation is quite normal. Just like a child who hasn't learned to speak yet, he'll recover gradually!"
Chu Tian, however, comforted him with a smile.
City Lord Qian also felt dejected upon discovering he still couldn't speak.
However, after hearing Chu Tian's words, he rekindled his hope. What Chu Tian said was not unreasonable.
He hadn't just been without a tongue for a hundred years; it had been nearly three hundred.
For such a long period of inability to speak, he found that his control over his tongue was extremely sluggish.
Chu Tian also turned around at this moment, picked up the paper written by Elder City Lord Qian from the table, and handed it to Kou Zisong.
"My family was poor when I was young, and I couldn't afford to go to school. City Lord Kou, please read it for me."
Kou Zisong was taken aback, surprised that this Divine Venerable was so unpretentious, openly admitting such a shameful matter.
However, Guan Hai, standing beside him, curled his lips. You, a Divine-level expert, claiming you can't read? Who would believe that?
If you can't read, how did you cultivate your techniques?
Did you rely on others to teach you verbally?
"Elder Qian said he once saw something about events from two thousand years ago in a secret record..."
As Kou Zisong translated, Chu Tian learned that the paper contained some information.
It turned out that Elder Qian had seen something in a historical anecdote.
Legend had it that two thousand years ago, one day, a hole suddenly appeared in the sky.
The moment the hole appeared, it vanished.
However, some people had witnessed this scene.
They had also seen a person emerge from the hole.
An elder dressed in strange attire.
After the elder appeared, he walked on air.
As if walking on the ground.
The person who saw this elder at the time was just an ordinary woodcutter.
Instantly, he felt as though he had seen an immortal.
Upon returning, he carved a statue and worshipped it day and night.
However, no one else knew about this matter.
It wasn't until much later, when countless Emperor Lords vanished simultaneously.
And some people wanted to understand the truth.
Then, there was a person who, with all his might,
inquiring about various secret records.
After compiling them.
He discovered the elder's statue in the home of that woodcutter's descendant.
And in the main cities of the East, South, West, North, and Central regions,
there were rumors of such an elder in strange attire appearing.
Two events that were originally unrelated.
It was the consistent appearance of this elder that made that person suspicious.
And he began to investigate the matter.
In the end, this person discovered that
this elder had come into contact with all the Emperor Lords.
Although there was no concrete evidence,
it was merely his speculation.
However, he felt that the disappearance of all the Emperor Lords and this elder from beyond the heavens must be related to something extraordinary.
Perhaps, this elder was the one who caused all these Emperor Lords to disappear.
Or perhaps he had taken all the Emperor Lords to a higher realm.
Upon hearing this, Chu Tian frowned.
Elder.
Strange attire.
"Could it be my grandfather?" Chu Tian thought to himself.
He then asked Elder Qian, "That statue..."
He intended to ask if Elder Qian had the statue, as he had never met his grandfather.
But he had met his father.
Logically, father and son should have some resemblance.
He just didn't know how similar the statue carved by the woodcutter was to the elder himself.
Elder City Lord Qian picked up his brush.
City Lord Kou translated.
"There is no statue, but he does have ancient texts in his collection. However, it has been so long that he has forgotten where he put them. He can go back and look for you; the ancient texts have a painting of the statue!"
After Kou Zisong finished translating, Chu Tian nodded and thanked Elder City Lord Qian.
However, he didn't dwell on it.
A statue carved by a woodcutter was unlikely to fully capture the divine essence.
And then a painting drawn by someone else.
How much resemblance could it have to the original person?
It wasn't photography...