After thinking this over for a while, Xu Ziqing looked up to find Yun Tianheng shifting restlessly in his seat. The boy’s eyes brimmed with longing, but he did not dare speak.
Xu Ziqing smiled. “Give me your hand and let me take a look.”
Previously, he had only examined Yun Tianheng’s spiritual roots and confirmed that the boy had an aptitude for immortal cultivation. He still did not know exactly what was preventing him from practicing martial arts.
That was why a more thorough examination was needed.
Hearing this, Yun Tianheng immediately held out his hand. “Thank you, Senior!”
Xu Ziqing saw how excited he was and did not mind it. He placed three fingers against the boy’s pulse.
The next instant, he sent a strand of his own qi into the boy to investigate.
Yun Tianheng felt the young man’s fingers were warm and soft. A very pleasant current seemed to emerge from them, quickly entering his body and circulating through his meridians.
The energy was extraordinarily gentle. It caused not the slightest pain and felt wonderfully comfortable. About half a quarter of an hour later, however, the warm current suddenly withdrew.
Only then did he come back to his senses, and for a moment he was reluctant to lose the feeling.
Yun Tianheng looked at Xu Ziqing. “Senior, how is it?”
Xu Ziqing considered briefly before answering, “Your meridians are too narrow to allow internal force to circulate. To protect your health, your body cannot condense it.”
Hearing this, Yun Tianheng felt despair rising in his heart.
For a martial artist, nothing was more important than the meridians. There were medicines that could expand or strengthen them, but if the meridians were so weak that force could not travel through them, that was all but an incurable condition. As a member of the direct line, he was practically useless. How could he accept such a fate?
But Xu Ziqing had not finished. He continued, “In addition, because your meridians are so weak, your three yang meridians of the hands and three yin meridians of the hands are blocked where they join the other meridians.”
Yun Tianheng had thought that weak meridians were the worst possible outcome. He had not imagined that he also suffered from blockages. Had they been his only problem, he could have asked one of the manor’s ancestors to clear them with Xiantian qi. It might have been difficult, but not impossible. With meridians unable even to contain internal force, however, forcing those blockages open might only make matters worse.
By now Yun Tianheng’s eyes had dimmed.
He truly could not see any path ahead.
After telling him this, Xu Ziqing watched the boy’s reaction closely. Seeing him so dejected, he could not help feeling pity.
After some thought, he said, “The art you practice is far too domineering. Since you cannot produce internal force, you had better stop tempering yourself with it. Otherwise, you will only injure your body further.”
Yun Tianheng clenched his fists, then nodded. “Yes, Senior.”
Xu Ziqing sighed. “I already promised to help you. Why are you so disheartened?”
Yun Tianheng’s head shot up. “Senior, you can help me?”
Xu Ziqing smiled. “Don’t celebrate too soon. I have a cultivation method that should be considerably gentler than your family’s ancestral art. First, I can use medicines to nourish and unblock your meridians, then have you practice this method. However, it demands exceptional comprehension and produces results very slowly. If you lack the understanding or the patience, you would be better off giving up early.”
Now that he knew there was hope, Yun Tianheng scarcely cared about such conditions. He declared at once, “I certainly have patience, and comprehension… I have comprehension too!”
Xu Ziqing chuckled softly. He was a child after all, quick to forget what had upset him.
Xu Ziqing then added, “If you want to study under me, I will charge no tuition. But the medicines required will be costly. I have none in reserve, and I cannot gather them all by myself. Yun Family Manor must prepare them. Otherwise, this cannot be done.”
After his first rush of excitement, Yun Tianheng immediately nodded. “I’ll go straight back and tell my father.” Then he asked quickly, “When Father comes, Senior, will you meet him?”
Xu Ziqing nodded. “He need not come here. I will visit Yun Family Manor in three days. If he is willing to see me, we shall meet. If not, I will have to leave.”
Yun Tianheng grew alarmed. “I’ll definitely convince Father!”
Their conversation having reached this point, Xu Ziqing did not keep Yun Tianheng any longer. He had the vines in the valley carry the boy outside.
Once the boy had vanished, Xu Ziqing sighed lightly and swept his sleeve. The bamboo cottage transformed into a mountain cave.
Xu Ziqing sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion. Behind him stood a stone bed.
A formation covered the stone bed. Within it sat a stern, white-robed man, faint killing intent lingering around him along with a sharpness that seemed to have gathered upon his very body.
This was Yun Lie’s physical body.
Xu Ziqing rose, crossed the formation, and approached the bed.
He extended a hand as though to touch the man lightly, but soon drew it back.
A body without its primordial spirit was not truly his senior brother.
After pausing a moment, Xu Ziqing took the wrist of Yun Lie’s body and sent true essence inside.
It was strange. When they had been ambushed ten years earlier, he had clearly seen Yun Lie’s dantian destroyed and his Golden Core shattered. Yet during one of his occasional examinations in the intervening years, he had discovered that the severe injury to the dantian was slowly healing.
Ordinary cultivators invariably needed medicinal pills when injured.
But his senior brother had not taken any medicine at all. His primordial spirit had even departed to be reborn. How, then, was he recovering?
After pondering the matter at length, Xu Ziqing could think of only one explanation: the immortal-demonic body.
Since this physique was reputed to be so extraordinary, its ability to heal itself must be one of its special properties.
Indeed, throughout these ten years, Xu Ziqing had examined it repeatedly and seen the dantian steadily repair itself.
It was now eighty percent healed. After some more time, it should recover completely.
A shattered Golden Core, however, was shattered and could not simply reassemble on its own.
Yet if the primordial spirit remained intact, the cultivation realm would remain unchanged. Later, one needed only restore the missing cultivation, and forming the Core again would present no difficulty.
After completing his customary examination, Xu Ziqing gathered a few belongings and rearranged the many items in his storage ring and storage bracelet.
If his expectations were correct, he would be moving into Yun Family Manor in three days.
Meanwhile, after bidding Xu Ziqing farewell, Yun Tianheng had immediately run off. On the road he encountered Yun Tianyu, who had come looking for him.
Yun Tianyu gave him a thorough scolding before handing him his meal.
Only then did Yun Tianheng realize how hungry he was. After eating in haste, he asked, “Where is Father now?”
Seeing her brother so anxious, Yun Tianyu’s heart softened at last. “Father is discussing business with Eldest Uncle, the clan head. If you need him for something, you might as well wait at home.”
At that, Yun Tianheng hurried home without stopping for an instant.
Yun Tianyu was left alone, puzzled and unable to understand what had gotten into her brother.
That evening, Yun Zhenshan returned to find his only son pacing around the courtyard, glancing toward the gate every so often, plainly restless.
His heart gave a thump, and he called, “Tianheng.”
Yun Tianheng abruptly raised his head. Seeing Yun Zhenshan, he ran over. “Father!”
Yun Zhenshan grew even more perplexed, though his expression remained stern. “What’s the meaning of rushing about so recklessly?”
Yun Tianheng finally took a deep breath. “Father, I have something important to tell you.”
The father and son closed themselves inside a room and had a long conversation.
Yun Zhenshan was deeply shocked. He had long known his only son had encountered some obstacle in martial cultivation, but he had assumed the boy was merely a late bloomer. Once Tianheng grew older and steadier, he might well advance. Now, however, he was being told that something was wrong with his meridians.
Yun Tianheng had been placed under a restriction that prevented him from speaking about Xu Ziqing’s questions concerning Yun Tiangang. He concealed nothing else.
Thus Yun Zhenshan learned that an extraordinary person lived in the forbidden valley behind the mountain. For some unknown reason, this person had taken a liking to his son when the boy wandered in, examined his body, and discovered why he had been unable to advance.
Yun Zhenshan did not accept the tale without doubts. Yun Tianheng’s few words alone were far from enough to convince him.
After hesitating for a while, Yun Zhenshan decided to see the clan head, who was also his elder brother by blood, Yun Zhenhai.
Perhaps because he had practiced martial arts too strenuously in his youth and injured his body, Yun Zhenhai had married early but remained childless for many years.
Then, ten years ago, his wife became pregnant. Their firstborn son was so frail that he could not practice martial arts; his very life was constantly in danger.
Yun Zhenhai loved his son dearly. He had invited a famous physician to reside at Yun Family Manor, and over the years had spent a fortune on precious medicines and rare remedies simply to raise his eldest son to his present age.
Even after his wife gave birth to a healthy younger son, he continued to care for his eldest with the same devotion, never neglecting him in the slightest.
Yun Zhenshan had come to Yun Zhenhai to ask that physician to examine his own son and confirm whether the boy’s meridians were truly impaired.
Yun Tianheng had always been robust and healthy, no different from other children. His father desperately hoped the diagnosis was wrong.
Yun Zhenhai and Yun Zhenshan were brothers born of the same mother and were naturally very close. After hearing his younger brother’s request, Yun Zhenhai immediately summoned the physician and asked him to accompany Yun Zhenshan.
The physician had received generous payment for many years and readily went along.
After a careful examination, he found that Yun Tianheng’s meridians did indeed suffer from an apparently incurable disorder!
Yun Zhenshan exhaled a long breath, profoundly unsettled.
When Yun Zhenhai learned about the extraordinary person Tianheng had described, the brothers decided together to prepare a proper welcome three days later.
At the very least they must meet him. If there was truly hope of a cure, it would be worthwhile.
Three days later.
Outside Yun Family Manor, several people stood motionless beneath the blazing sun. Their clothes were neat and proper, and their expressions solemn.
They were the brothers Yun Zhenhai and Yun Zhenshan, accompanied by several manor guards and servants.
Yun Tianheng stirred his fingers and rose onto his toes to look into the distance.
He was even more nervous than the others.
After the chen hour had passed, a patch of green suddenly appeared several dozen zhang beyond the manor.
It approached with effortless lightness. Before long, a figure came clearly into view.
Yun Tianheng cried out in delight, “Senior is here!”
Only now did he finally feel relieved.
Yun Zhenhai and the others straightened at once and looked toward the newcomer.
He was a handsome, refined man dressed in green. Judging by his face alone, he appeared to be only in his twenties.
Yet if Tianheng’s account was true, this person had already been in the forbidden valley ten years ago, so he could scarcely be as young as he looked.
The young man had a gentle bearing. As he walked, even the oppressive heat seemed to withdraw before him, leaving a sense of coolness.
The moment they saw him clearly, the others also seemed to feel less hot.
He soon stood before them, smiled slightly, and said, “I am Xu Ziqing, an itinerant pharmacist.”