Volume 1 Chapter 29: Master in Critical Condition
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In the blink of an eye, more than twenty days passed unnoticed.
At first light, Ye Tian once again began his daily cultivation in front of the thatched cottage atop Dragonhead Mountain.
At that moment, he was practicing an unnamed ancient boxing technique from the Divine Emperor’s Canon.
The technique was fierce and powerful yet fluid and ever-changing. Every punch seemed to carry the force of ten thousand jun, capable of shaking mountains and filling seas.
If one listened closely, each blow was accompanied by bursts of air being torn apart, like the roar of a dragon or the bellow of an elephant.
Taking these characteristics into account, Ye Tian named it the Dragon-Elephant Fist.
“Crack, crack, crack!”
At dusk, as a series of crisp pops rang out from his joints, the final obstacle in Ye Tian’s body tempering was broken through.
This meant that Ye Tian had achieved consummation in body tempering and entered the ultimate goal of countless martial artists—the Qi Refining Stage!
At that moment, Ye Tian felt as though he had been reborn. Not only had his body become several times lighter and more agile, but even his senses had grown considerably sharper.
It was no exaggeration to say that with this single breakthrough, combined with his perfected Dragon-Elephant Fist, dealing with a dozen martial artists in the middle or late stages of body tempering would be no more difficult for Ye Tian than beating up a group of kindergartners.
Boom, boom, boom—
Just as he was celebrating, a helicopter suddenly flew in from the distance and hovered over the open ground before the thatched cottage on Dragonhead Mountain.
Immediately afterward, a figure rappelled rapidly from the cabin.
It was Li Cheng.
He looked extremely anxious.
Li Cheng hurried over and handed Ye Tian a mobile phone.
It was the phone Ye Tian had left with Li Qingcheng.
Without time for further explanation, Li Cheng said urgently, “Brother Tian, a text message came in saying that one of your prison friends, a man surnamed Zheng, is critically ill and wants you to hurry to the hospital to see him one last time…”
Before Li Cheng could finish, Ye Tian’s expression changed dramatically.
He hurriedly opened the message and glanced at it. His heart sank at once.
Ye Tian had spent four years in prison and had gotten along well with the people there. He had quite a few friends.
But the only person who would have the right to summon him for one last meeting before death was his master, Zheng Qiankun.
Zheng Qiankun and Ye Tian presented themselves to the outside world as old friends from different generations, so no one knew they were master and disciple.
Even Li Cheng only knew that Ye Tian had an exceptionally close relationship with a prison mate surnamed Zheng…
At that moment, Ye Tian was both shocked and bewildered.
His master was a Qi Refining Stage martial artist and had long been immune to ordinary illnesses.
Even though he was advanced in age, according to his own estimation, he should still have more than a decade of life left. How could he suddenly become critically ill?
There had to be something suspicious about this!
Ye Tian had no time to think further. He and Li Cheng quickly boarded the helicopter and hurried toward the hospital.
…
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Municipal Hospital, intensive care unit.
The corridor was packed with people.
Among the crowd were even several armed police officers.
One of them was the prison warden, Xia Liyan, who had sent Ye Tian the text message.
At that moment, Xia Liyan was arguing with a middle-aged doctor, his emotions running high.
“Doctor Liu, I’m begging you! You have to save this patient. No matter what it costs, no matter how much money it takes…”
“Old Xia, to be honest, we’ve already done everything we can. The old gentleman’s condition is truly unusual. Based on our assessment, he appears to have contracted an extremely rare virus, which has rapidly caused organ failure throughout his body. We’ve tried every available treatment, yet there hasn’t been the slightest improvement. In my opinion, you should notify the patient’s family as soon as possible and have them prepare for the funeral…”
The middle-aged doctor wore an expression of helplessness.
Hearing him say that his master was about to die, Ye Tian was instantly furious.
He strode forward and retorted, “What nonsense are you talking about! The old man has long been immune to all ordinary illnesses. How could he possibly be brought down by a virus? Have you so-called quack doctors even properly examined him? You’ve actually jumped to a conclusion so hastily!”
“I’m a quack doctor?”
The middle-aged physician was stunned by the insult.
“Outrageous!”
When he recovered, his face turned ugly, and he immediately berated Ye Tian.
“I’ve practiced medicine for decades and am one of the most renowned internal medicine specialists in the entire Southern River City. No one has ever called me a quack doctor!”
“Young man, you didn’t even see how I diagnosed and examined him. What gives you the right to say I drew a careless conclusion? If you can’t produce evidence right now, you must apologize to me immediately!”
“Apologize? In your dreams!”
Ye Tian had no interest in arguing medical theory with him. He shoved the doctor aside and hurried toward the ICU.
Unexpectedly, the middle-aged doctor had an unstable stance. He lost his balance and fell flat on his back, provoking a chorus of gasps from the crowd.
Seeing Ye Tian attempt to barge into the ICU without permission, the doctor immediately panicked and shouted at the top of his voice, “You are not allowed in without my permission! Security! Where is security? Stop him at once! Throw him out of the hospital!”
“Hey, hey, there’s no need for this…”
Xia Liyan and the other police officers were also dumbfounded.
He hurried forward to help the middle-aged doctor up. As he brushed the dust from the man’s clothes, he held him firmly and said, “Doctor Liu, don’t be angry. He and the patient are old friends from different generations, and their relationship is extraordinary. With the patient in this condition, he’s bound to be anxious. Please be magnanimous and don’t hold it against him. Just let him see the patient one last time…”
“Fine, fine, I’m done with all of you! If anything happens, you’ll bear the responsibility yourselves!”
The middle-aged doctor was held back by several policemen and could not get free. He also could not vent his anger on Xia Liyan, so he merely flung back his sleeve and returned to his office.
He was no longer going to take responsibility for this patient!
…
In Ye Tian’s memory, Zheng Qiankun had always been in excellent health. He had never fallen ill in all these years. In daily life, he had looked vigorous and energetic, with a constitution far stronger than that of ordinary young men.
Yet when Ye Tian saw Zheng Qiankun again, he discovered that in the short time since they had last met, the man’s hair had turned completely white. His face was gaunt, and his eyes had sunk deep into their sockets.
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Even the muscles in his limbs had withered considerably!
“Master…”
Ye Tian called softly, but Zheng Qiankun showed no reaction.
Ye Tian could not believe that his master, who had lived for who knew how many years, could actually be defeated by a mere virus.
What kind of illness could reduce a Qi Refining Stage martial artist to this state in little more than a month?
Ye Tian pushed aside the nurse standing beside the bed and immediately began examining Zheng Qiankun.
Zheng Qiankun’s pulse was faint, and his breathing was exceedingly weak. He was no different from an ordinary old man whose life was nearing its end.
This state of exhausted vitality was clearly not what he should have been in.
Filled with doubt, Ye Tian continued, extending his consciousness into Zheng Qiankun’s body.
His expression changed at once.
Zheng Qiankun’s body should originally have contained a vast reserve of vital energy—the true qi spoken of by martial artists.
But now, less than one-tenth of his true qi remained!
Frowning, Ye Tian placed his palm against Zheng Qiankun’s dantian. He then circulated his true qi and slowly infused it into Zheng Qiankun’s dantian.
Immediately afterward, something strange happened.
The thread of true qi that entered Zheng Qiankun’s body was drawn into his dantian by some bizarre force, then vanished without a trace in the blink of an eye.
What was going on?
Could it have been an illusion?
Ye Tian tried several more times.
The result was the same every time.
There seemed to be some kind of parasite within Zheng Qiankun’s dantian, one capable of absorbing a martial artist’s true qi.
Such a condition was exceedingly rare.
Ye Tian carefully recalled the records in the Divine Emperor’s Medical Canon.
Suddenly, he remembered a rare plant described in the section on exotic flowers and herbs. This plant could parasitize a person’s dantian and, coincidentally, absorb a martial artist’s true qi.
He hurriedly gripped Zheng Qiankun’s chin and examined his tongue.
Sure enough!
Beneath the root of Zheng Qiankun’s tongue was a vivid red, leaf-shaped mark.
It was exactly as described in the Divine Emperor’s Medical Canon!
The Decaying Firefly Grass!
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