After Chen Xiao finished speaking, the first reaction of the two was not shock, but doubt.
"Tch, stop bluffing. Manzhushahua doesn't grow like this, and flowers blooming on the Yellow Springs Road are all nonsense. I advise you to read fewer novels!"
Rosie said with a curl of her lips. Although she admired Chen Xiao, she was not to be outdone in her area of expertise.
Chen Xiao smiled slightly, "Of course, I'm not talking about the Manzhushahua you know, a plant of the Amaryllidaceae family native to India. But that's not the real Manzhushahua. You can think of those as pirated versions, having the form but not the essence!"
"Is it really as strange as you say? Chen Xiao, you're not fooling us, are you?"
Rosie still didn't quite believe Chen Xiao, but her mind was starting to waver.
"Just the fact that it can grow without sunlight, the Manzhushahua in your understanding cannot do that."
As Chen Xiao spoke, he slowly paced to the sea of flowers and casually picked one Manzhushahua.
"Be careful, Chen Xiao, aren't you afraid it's poisonous?"
Song Zijian shouted a reminder.
Chen Xiao smiled, "You're right, Manzhushahua is extremely poisonous, but that's only if it undergoes special refinement. When it's in its flower state, its toxicity cannot spread to humans at all, because when it touches human skin, it becomes like this..."
As Chen Xiao's voice faded, the Manzhushahua in his hand rapidly withered.
Chen Xiao crushed it casually, and the flower turned into ashes, like burnt paper flowers.
Song Zijian and Rosie were dumbfounded, unable to believe their eyes.
Chen Xiao then asked softly, "Is the Manzhushahua you know like this?"
Rosie opened her mouth and shook her head, asking, "Chen Xiao, how do you know all this?"
"I read it in a book."
Chen Xiao casually told a lie.
Because in his dream world of cultivation, this Manzhushahua was just the most common and low-level plant, seen everywhere by the roadside.
But he didn't expect that this plant could also grow on Earth.
Because, as far as he knew, the growing conditions for this plant were extremely harsh, requiring soil with extremely abundant fire attribute.
On Earth, unless it was specially cultivated soil, the five elements were generally very harmonious and balanced, with no single attribute being particularly prominent.
Therefore, this underground land was likely specially cultivated, but how it was cultivated, Chen Xiao still couldn't figure out.
Just as Chen Xiao was thinking, Song Zijian suddenly asked, "Chen Xiao, since you've seen introductions to this plant in books, do the books also mention what they can be used for?"
Song Zijian's question was very pertinent. After all, someone was willing to pay a lot of money to acquire this Manzhushahua, which meant it must have a special use.
Chen Xiao pondered for a moment, wondering whether to tell these two what he knew.
A moment later, he decided to speak, "This Manzhushahua has many uses. The refined toxin is actually a kind of flame poison."
Upon hearing Chen Xiao's words, Song Zijian couldn't help but ask, "Flame poison? You mean the thirteen people from the Chen family were killed by these flowers?"
Chen Xiao shook his head and widened his eyes, "Can you let me finish? With the abilities of those thirteen people from the Chen family, they wouldn't be able to refine the poison from Manzhushahua at all. To put it bluntly, they wouldn't even have the qualifications to be poisoned by these flowers."
"The reason they were poisoned is likely related to the monster the old man Chen mentioned, and the flame poison refined from Manzhushahua is generally used for alchemy and then for cultivation!"
"Alchemy? Cultivation?"
Rosie was slightly stunned and asked with a face full of surprise, "Are you talking about cultivating magical powers?"
Chen Xiao frowned slightly, "Since your Exorcism Division is dedicated to the field of supernatural powers, you shouldn't be so surprised to hear this, should you?"
Rosie gave an embarrassed smile and said with shame, "Chen Xiao, I just joined not long ago and haven't seen much of the world. Don't laugh at me."
Song Zijian chuckled sheepishly and said, "Chen Xiao, don't think of Qianqian as naive. Let alone her, even I haven't dealt with true cultivators. Our level is too low, and any cultivator in the cultivation world requires an officer two ranks higher than me to make contact..."
Chen Xiao was speechless. It turned out these two were not as knowledgeable as he had imagined.
He almost regretted revealing so much in front of them.
At this moment, Rosie pressed on, "Chen Xiao, how do you know so much? Are you a cultivator too?"
Chen Xiao touched his nose, unsure how to answer.
Song Zijian, sensing Chen Xiao's hesitation, thought he was unwilling to say and glared fiercely at Rosie.
"Qianqian, have you forgotten the organization's regulations? Don't ask what you shouldn't ask! Brother Chen, let's continue talking about the previous topic."
Rosie pouted aggrievedly. When they first met, she had looked down on Chen Xiao as just a young doctor. Who would have thought that a few hours later, he would become someone she couldn't possibly reach?
Chen Xiao continued the previous topic, "Actually, there's nothing much to say. The true owner of this land must be a cultivator, and with such a large quantity, it can't be just one or two cultivators. It's very likely a super-large sect!"
"As for the monster that old man Chen mentioned, it's just guarding the land for them, and might even be their pet!"
Hearing this, Rosie mumbled, "Didn't they say good and evil are irreconcilable? Why would a cultivation sect keep a monster as a pet?"
Chen Xiao sneered, "Who told you sects are always good, and who told you monsters are always evil? One thing I can tell you clearly is that any sect that uses Manzhushahua to extract toxins for cultivation is definitely not a good thing! At least, what they cultivate are evil techniques!"
Chen Xiao's words completely overturned the worldview of Rosie and Song Zijian.
In their eyes, cultivation sects were definitely righteous sects that eliminated demons and defended the way. But according to Chen Xiao, it seemed not to be the case.
In fact, how could they know that there were no truly righteous sects in this world?
There wasn't even pure good and evil. So-called cultivation was merely contending for power with heaven, seizing creation from ghosts and gods, all for profit!
As the three of them were talking animatedly, a black shadow was rapidly moving through the sea of flowers.
A cold smile appeared on Chen Xiao's lips. Humph, finally couldn't help but come out, right!