Crippling Huo Ze Qiang’s cultivation had been surprisingly simple. Figuring out the connection between the dantian and the spirit during my breakthrough to Qi Gathering was the foundation.

  Once I knew where to cut, the actual application of the technique was as easy as turning my hand. A few strands of my qi and decades of painstaking cultivation were gone.

  At the moment I’d crippled him I’d heard an unfamiliar voice crying out from above. Throwing my gaze to the skies as a shadow fell over me, I saw a man in white and gold robes standing in the air. The next moment I staggered as a presence like a dozen mountains slammed into me.

  I righted myself, clenching my teeth as the elder continued to hammer down on me with the full weight of his cultivation. It seems my timing was rather unfortunate…

  The earth rumbled as the elder slammed into the rocky ground, his robes billowing as the nearby disciples seemed either relieved or terrified. I immediately thanked the heavens that it was not Huo Ze Qiang’s master who had arrived or I might already be dead.

  Nonetheless, crippling the cultivation of a Cloudy Falls Sect disciple in front of one of their elders was not a wise move. I didn’t regret my actions though, defiantly staring down the elder as his furious gaze fell on me like a meteor.

  “Hmph! Junior, you dare?” he flicked his sleeve and a scroll appeared in his hands, the inscriptions glowing with mystical golden light.

  I reached into my dantian, knowing I would need every drop of qi I possessed if I wanted to survive the elder’s strike. My chances were slim, but even a deer can escape a tiger in the right circumstances.

  The pressure of the elder’s aura reached a peak as the golden inscriptions began to peel from his scroll. “Let’s see if you can remain so audacious in the face of my Seven Edicts Judgement Scripture!” he cried, flicking his other sleeve.

  I imagined he could have utilised his magic treasure with a lot less fanfare and yelling, but I had to admit he made a fearsome figure as he prepared to end my life. Suddenly Sun Deng threw himself between me and the elder, hands raised.

  “Elder Shen, wait!” he exclaimed.

  The elder harrumphed and shot Sun Deng a look of disdain, all but one of the glowing characters falling back onto his scroll. The final glowing character continued to vibrate and suddenly it shot into the sky, where it exploded into countless golden chains as thunder rumbled in the background.

  “Junior Sun, I expect a plausible excuse for this ridiculous behaviour. Forcing me to waste the first edict of my Seven Edicts Judgement Scripture is no small cost,” he snarled, rolling the scroll and keeping it with a wave of his sleeve.

  “Elder Shen, this man is no enemy of our sect! He fought with us against the treachery of the Soaring Sword Sect and the fury of the local beasts, even claiming the Ten Ascensions Lily. Furthermore, he is an ex-disciple of our sect, not some random vagrant. I owe him a life debt and I ask that you honour this and spare him,” Sun Deng proclaimed, waving his hands dramatically and bowing to his waist.

  Honestly I’d half expected him to leave me to my fate, taking two of his enemies off the table in a single swoop. However, I had to respect his honour and the face he was giving me.

  I sighed. I truly was becoming part of this world. The elder’s gaze flicked back to me. He looked me up and down like a merchant appraising a fresh shipment of fruit, then his heavy eyes returned to Sun Deng.

  The crushing weight of his cultivation lessened and he rubbed a palm against his temple, sighing. “Rise, Junior Sun. It seems this situation is complicated. Explain this business with the Soaring Sword Sect. I may need to report this to the Sect Leader,” he ordered.

  Before allowing the disciples to approach, the elder rushed to Huo Ze Qiang’s side and placed a hand against his stomach, frowning as he realised what I’d done was incurable. The boy would never cultivate again.

  Sun Deng was joined by others as they began babbling to the elder, who had a look of severe annoyance on his face. No doubt he would have preferred to remain at the sect cultivating rather than deal with a bunch of junior disciples.

  I turned my attention to the countless wounded across the rocky basin. Any of the beasts still able to had fled when the battle turned, but there were endless beasts and cultivators lying in their own blood, painting a gory scene.

  It was as though a dozen asuras had carved their way through the mountain summit, leaving nothing but death and destruction in their wake. I would do my utmost to heal those who still lived, but lamented that I could only focus on a single patient at a time.

  Identifying those closest to entering the six paths, a step away from death, would be crucial. Triage was as effective here in this new world as it had been on Earth.

  Actually, why did I have to limit myself to a single patient? The qi healing technique had those limitations and my own version which I had derived from Wang Ren’s display shared those limits, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t improve it.

  After all, my goal was to advance the healing arts of the Celestial Jade Empire. In order to do that I would need to build on the meagre foundations that already existed.

  The only issue was that I still had a limited understanding of qi. My Fivefold Medicine Forge Physique had proved to have myriad functions and incredible utility for healing, but I wasn’t sure it could help here.

  I’d seen the potent healing effect of the mysterious orange qi when I used it on Sun Deng, but it had taken two full strands to heal him. Whether I could glean enough to create a working technique from the three remaining strands was uncertain, but I would give it my all.

  A plethora of techniques existed at the Qi Gathering Realm which could disperse one’s qi over a wide area, though most of them were combat techniques. Then again, most techniques were combat techniques in every realm…

  Nonetheless, I could learn a lot from the methods used to direct the flow and dispersal of qi and apply those lessons to my own techniques. Unfortunately I wouldn’t have the time to do so in the immediate future, meaning I instead needed to tend to every patient individually.

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  I began my task after spotting a beast with the faintest hint of qi emanating from its core. The strange awakened beast resembled no creature from Earth, with slimy scales covering its body, a curved beak filled with a dozen rows of razor-sharp fangs, and two sets of wings.

  Despite my apprehension at approaching such a hideous creature, I swallowed my fear and kneeled beside it. Every living being was deserving of healing and I was simply the guiding hand.

  It had dozens of sword and spear wounds across its body along with light burns from Huo Ze Qiang’s firestorm technique. I separated a single droplet of the mysterious qi from one of the strands. It seemed successful at first but as soon as the drop was pulled from the strand the entire construct collapsed and dissipated.

  Crap.

  Those were extremely valuable resources, which I assumed I could create more of using my refined stomach, but only if I had the prerequisite ingredients. Namely, a foreign source of qi alongside my own.

  Restoring the beast was relatively simple despite the severity of its wounds. I opted not to use the mysterious qi until I knew more about how to manipulate it, only infusing my own qi with the technique.

  The beast’s wounds rapidly healed and I soon felt a surge of qi returning to my dantian. The increase was not double as it had been when I healed Sun Deng with the mysterious new qi. However, I was not disappointed.

  In this case I would be able to use quantity over quality, with dozens of patients awaiting treatment the gains would surely stack up. I felt as though I was not close to reaching the bottleneck for six-star Qi Gathering and hoped to draw nearer by the time I returned to Three River City.

  After healing the beast I wandered through the corpse-strewn battlefield, healing cultivators and beasts one after another. At first I was uninterrupted, but I soon had a growing crowd following my work.

  When one of the disciples grabbed my arm and tried to stop me in the middle of healing a wounded disciple, I was faced with a difficult trial. Cancelling the technique midway would put the patient at risk, but I couldn’t ignore the man’s actions.

  Thankfully, Wang Ren had noticed the commotion and stepped in to assist, removing the disciple’s grip and scolding him severely. After that, the number of disciples watching my actions only increased with even the elder gaining an interest.

  “Junior, what are you doing? This lot can simply take some healing pills and sleep it off back at the sect. Don’t waste your qi,” he scoffed.

  I threw him a look of disdain. “Is that truly how the Cloudy Falls Sect treats its disciples? I am glad I was expelled in that case. Healing others is my path, Elder. Do not attempt to stop me.”

  “You dare!?” he exclaimed, but Sun Deng once again threw himself between us.

  “Elder, forgive him. Zhao Dan is a fervent follower of the healing arts. To stop his work is tantamount to blaspheming against the heavens in his eyes. He means no disrespect,” he hurriedly explained.

  That was an over exaggeration, but it seemed to placate the elder. Me nodding and bowing my head with a brief, “Indeed,” was enough to quell his rage.

  My qi was growing with every patient I healed and I felt myself approaching the limits of five-star Qi Gathering. Every new meridian I opened increased the rate I could cycle my qi and the amount I could infuse into a single technique, which meant every small realm in the Qi Gathering Realm represented a qualitative increase in the potency of my healing techniques.

  When I moved onto the disciples of the Soaring Sword Sect, I felt countless gazes piercing my back. The disciples of the Cloudy Falls Sect clearly didn’t like the fact I was healing their enemies, but I didn’t care.

  The lion does not listen to the opinions of sheep. There were very few of them left alive, so they would not be able to escape the clutches of the Cloudy Falls Sect regardless. Especially with the presence of a Foundation Building Elder.

  After healing everyone I took a short rest on the least bloodstained boulder, with Wang Ren joining me. We reminisced on our days in the sect and promised to meet again in the future—under less violent circumstances.

  As I prepared to return to Three River City, Elder Shen appeared in front of me, barring my path.

  “Junior, I would ask that you return with us to the sect. The other elders may have questions and your techniques would be of great interest to the council and perhaps even the sect leader,” he declared, his gaze no longer holding so much contempt towards me.

  “I must decline your offer, Elder Shen. I have business in Three River City and I have been gone for too long already,” I replied, realising as I spoke it had been almost a week since I left.

  His mouth twitched. “Are you sure, Junior Zhao? Refusing will not look favourable for you when I recount the events of today.”

  “I am sure, Elder. I appreciate your perspective but I am no longer a disciple of the sect. You may tell the sect leader or the other elders they may seek me out in Three River City if they have further questions.”

  That was a risky move, inviting further scrutiny from cultivators who could squash me like a bug, but I needed a way to politely decline, giving the elder face while not bending to his will.

  Additionally, I had a throbbing headache. About halfway through the healing the wound in my temple had spiked with pain and my dantian pulsed weakly, the flow of my qi a trickling stream compared to the raging river it had been.

  I suspected that even though my healing technique increased my total qi, constant use still exerted me in some unseen ways and I would need rest in order to be at my full potential once again.

  The clamouring of the disciples who were barely injured to heal their minor cuts and bruises hadn’t helped the headache, but Wang Ren and Sun Deng had put a stop to that. Sun Deng had even gone as far as saying I could call on him whenever I needed as he now owed me a life debt.

  A little extreme in my opinion, but I would not complain about having another ally. Especially one as talented as Sun Deng. He was sure to rise through the ranks of the Cloudy Falls Sect to a position of power one day, so having him owe me such a debt was no small affair.

  I knew cultivators took these sorts of things seriously and to renege on his word would bring great dishonour, stripping him of face. Once expertly slipping away from Elder Shen I began the long walk back to the city.

  A long walk which would be far quicker than it had been on the way there thanks to my improved cultivation. I wondered how little Cui was getting on alone. I hoped she hadn’t caused any trouble…

  ****

  The sun was approaching its zenith as I reached the city walls, the roads filled with caravans of merchants and citizens alike. The guards inspected each and every one, but upon sensing me one of them immediately rushed out to greet me.

  I didn’t recognise him as he wasn’t on duty the first time I’d entered the city or been present in the palace during my brief incarceration. He bowed once he appeared in front of me in the queue.

  “Honoured cultivator, you need not wait with the rest of the rabble. Please, follow me,” he said, a little out of breath.

  I wasn’t usually the kind of guy who skipped queues, but looking out along the winding line of caravans that still needed inspection I decided that for once I would allow myself the luxury.

  “Lead the way,” I replied with a flick of my sleeve. One had to play the part, after all.

  The city was buzzing with action, the restaurants full of patrons and endless mortals going about their daily business in the streets. I made a beeline for my building, avoiding the crowds.

  When I was a street away I saw a line of young women that snaked around the corner. Turning onto the street I saw it went all the way down. Following the line I ended up in front of my own building, where the queue of women went inside.

  I raised an eyebrow as I read the sign above the door. At least Xiao Cui hadn’t been slacking off in my absence…