Chrysanthemum Douluo's cherished flowers and plants were placed in a hotel.
He had instructed the hotel staff to take care of them and told them someone would come to tend them.
Although Chrysanthemum Douluo was an elder of the Spirit Hall, he did not have the Spirit Hall take care of them and instead entrusted this task to Dan Heng. Dan Heng himself did not understand why. However, as a "friend," he saw it as a simple favor and did not refuse.
Upon arriving at the hotel and explaining his purpose, he was led to a room.
As soon as he entered, he was met with a strong floral fragrance. Inside, numerous potted plants filled the space.
None of them were ordinary. Even in the ancient books Chrysanthemum Douluo had given him, these plants were ranked at least in the middle to lower tiers.
But in the entire Douluo world, they were all considered treasures.
"Saint Violet, Spring Immortal Chrysanthemum, Gentleman Bamboo... There's even a toxic plant like the Shy Trumpet Flower."
Dan Heng recognized all the exotic flora—twenty-four pots in total.
He couldn't carry them all by himself, so he needed to hire a cart.
Just as he turned to find the hotel staff, a towering figure appeared at the doorway.
It was Tai Nuo.
Tai Nuo wore a dark expression as he stared at Dan Heng. "I kept feeling that the figure ahead of me looked familiar, so I followed along the way. Turns out it's you! What exactly are you trying to do to harm my son?"
Tai Nuo stepped into the room, saw the flowers and plants, sneered, and showed an expression of disdain.
Dan Heng frowned slightly and asked, "What happened to Tai Long?"
Upon hearing this, Tai Nuo became even angrier. He took a deep breath and gritted his teeth. "You still dare to ask me what happened to Tai Long?"
"If it weren't for you, why would he start reading books?! A Soul Master, a practitioner of strength, reading some useless books?!"
"If you hadn't deceived him, how could he have gone down this wrong path?!"
Tai Nuo was seething with rage, completely resenting Dan Heng.
For a Soul Master, the most important aspects of cultivation were meditation and combat practice. Books and knowledge were deemed of little use to them.
Would any proper Soul Master waste time reading or writing books?
Dan Heng's lips twitched. For a moment, he didn't know what to say.
In this world, was reading books actually considered a waste of time?
Judging by Tai Nuo's attitude, it was as if Dan Heng had committed some great and unforgivable crime.
Dan Heng sighed, shook his head, and said, "If you don't want to see this happening, you can stop him. I don't mind."
"Are you mocking me?" Tai Nuo's face darkened further with rage. "You tricked my brat into being so stubborn, and now you're ridiculing my incompetence for failing to convince him?"
Tai Nuo stepped closer and glanced at the flowers by the window. His anger surged.
"A real man wouldn't be playing with flowers and plants, let alone reading books!"
"You led Tai Long down the wrong path! You must bring him back!"
Tai Nuo's voice was cold and firm.
Dan Heng shook his head helplessly. No doubt, this was the same stubborn nature running through the Li Clan.
If Chrysanthemum Douluo were here to hear this, Tai Nuo might suffer the same fate as Tai Long.
Seeing that Tai Nuo was about to grab and destroy the exotic plants, Dan Heng quickly stopped him, raising his hand.
"Wait! You can't touch those plants. They belong to my friend, and I'm just here to take care of them."
Tai Nuo sneered, grabbing one of the trumpet-shaped flowers, and said coldly, "I don't care. Unless you promise to fix Tai Long, I'll start making trouble!"
He pinched the trumpet flower lightly between his fingers, his sneer growing wider.
This was his way of forcing Dan Heng into submission.
From his perspective, everything was Dan Heng's fault.
Otherwise, how could his perfectly fine son be foolish enough to start reading books?
It was no different from falling into demonic obsession!
Dan Heng sighed helplessly and said, "I encouraged him to read simply to distract him and make him leave me alone. I didn't want unnecessary trouble. But Tai Long is too stubborn—if I had refused, he would have clung to me even more. So I had no choice but to take this approach. But reading books is absolutely beneficial."
"Books contain wisdom and allow people to acquire knowledge distilled from an entire lifetime of experience."
Dan Heng explained while observing the yellow trumpet flower in Tai Nuo's grip gradually turning purple.
"People who write books are just a bunch of useless nobodies! What knowledge could they possibly have? Books are worthless for cultivation! I don't care—"
Tai Nuo snorted dismissively, his face full of arrogance.
Dan Heng remained calm. "That flower belongs to Chrysanthemum Douluo from the Spirit Hall. And the one you're holding… is called the Shy Trumpet Flower. It's highly toxic. When threatened, it turns purple and releases poisonous spores. Even a 10,000-year-old soul beast would be paralyzed if it wasn't fully resistant."
"You should let go of it now… Oh, by the way, this is called the power of knowledge."
Dan Heng's tone was light but meaningful.
Tai Nuo's eyes widened upon hearing Chrysanthemum Douluo's name, and he almost let go immediately.
But then, when he heard Dan Heng's words about "the power of knowledge," his stubbornness flared again.
Scoffing, he sneered, "What power of knowledge? You're saying this puny thing can paralyze a 10,000-year-old soul beast? What nonsense—watch me squeeze it! It can't possibly—Ugh?!"
As Tai Nuo tightened his grip, the Shy Trumpet Flower turned completely purple, and its petals sprouted tiny thorns.
The thorns pierced his fingers, and in an instant, his entire hand turned purple-red.
He released the flower in shock, staring at his swollen hand in confusion.
Not just his hand—purple veins were spreading up his arm.
His lips started turning deep purple, swelling like sausages.
"Wh-what… hiss…"
Tai Nuo's vision blurred, his balance faltering. The world around him spun.
Then—thud!
He collapsed onto the floor.
Dan Heng sighed and chuckled.
Didn't I just say that even a 10,000-year soul beast could be paralyzed?
Tai Nuo just had to test it himself.
At least the poison wasn't fatal—otherwise, Tai Nuo would be dead by now.
Dan Heng stepped forward and opened the window to let the room ventilate.
"The Shy Trumpet Flower's poison isn't lethal. Its main effect is paralysis. You'll recover in about one to two hours."
"If you had known this information beforehand, wouldn't you have been able to avoid this?"
Tai Nuo's eyes bulged, his face full of disbelief.
Even though he was completely paralyzed, his consciousness remained clear. He still refused to accept it.
Knowledge was important?
Maybe for poison and traps, but for real strength?
But at this moment, he couldn't argue—because he was completely helpless.
Dan Heng continued, "The antidote is actually very simple—you just need to drink a large amount of water to flush the toxins out."
He turned to a nearby waiter and said, "Please bring me three buckets of water."
The waiter quickly complied.
Dan Heng said, "I can't stay here to wait for you to recover. I'll just help you neutralize the poison so you can move again. After that, it's up to you whether you want to fully detox."
Then he signaled the waiter to pry open Tai Nuo's mouth.
And started pouring water in.
"Gulp gulp gulp…"
(End of Chapter)