Chapter 529: Why Aren't You Pouring Water Yet!

Master Ling's treatment required eight steps, Master Su's seven, and even the hall master needed five to complete it. This guy in front of them actually wanted to solve it in one step?

“Nonsense, wishful thinking!”

Just as they were puzzled, they heard Hall Master Kang's cold snort. Looking up, they saw his face dark with displeasure: “Every cultivation technique was created by predecessors and tested by countless people before being passed down. How can you just change it as you please? This person is severely injured. Using an untested technique won't just fail to break through to Mortal Transformation; it might even cause a Qi deviation, leading to death from severe injuries. If that happens, where will the dignity of a master teacher be?”

Having heard the two elders' words, they had high hopes for this guy, but they didn't expect him to be so perfunctory.

If cultivation techniques were so easy to modify, wouldn't secret manuals be everywhere?

Moreover, with foreign true qi in his body, without resolving it, healing the injury, adjusting his state, or focusing his spirit... how could he possibly break through to a higher realm?

They thought he was a genius, but he turned out to be a fool!

If he really did that, not only would he fail to heal the injury, but he might even kill the patient, and the prestige of the Master Teacher Hall would be completely ruined.

“Qi deviation? You're overthinking it!”

Waving his hand to cut off his reprimand, Zhang Xuan looked over calmly: “Let me describe the route for true qi circulation, and you'll see if it works. The true qi moves, starting from the dantian, passing through Taiyi, Guanmen, Liangmen... finally converging at Qishe. After three cycles, it can impact Mortal Transformation, with about a ninety percent success rate.”

With the Heaven's Path technique, he grasped the essence of cultivation. The situation described was difficult for others, but for him, it was very simple.

He only needed to slightly alter the cultivation route, bypass the injured area, neutralize the foreign true qi in the body, and breaking through to Mortal Transformation would not be hard.

“Pass through Taiyi, Guanmen, Liangmen...”

The three frowned.

This route sounded very strange, completely different from normal cultivation techniques. Even as four-star master teachers, they couldn't immediately judge whether it was right or wrong.

Every technique had to be practiced to be tested. Even a master teacher couldn't determine its usefulness or effect just by hearing it once.

“You're saying that following this technique, he can directly break through?” Hall Master Kang's face grew even darker.

For a normal cultivator, breaking through was already difficult. To have a severely injured person break through after three cycles of the technique—what a joke!

“Correct!”

Zhang Xuan's expression was calm: “I just observed that this person was injured by scorching sword qi. This kind of sword qi carries extreme sharpness. After injuring the left chest, it flows along the meridians toward the dantian. The injured person cultivates the [Great Linghua Art], which emphasizes sharpness—‘the first burst, then decline, then exhaustion.’ This matches the fierceness of the scorching sword qi; both are violent, unyielding forces.”

“When two types of true qi meet, it becomes a situation where the brave wins on a narrow path. Originally, with a clash of fierceness, the cultivator's own true qi is continuous, while the opponent's sword qi is rootless and not to be feared. Unfortunately... this cultivator's meridians are too narrow, and the clash is too intense, easily tearing them apart and crippling his cultivation. Thus, a situation arises where one man can hold off ten thousand. Not only can the sword qi not be expelled, but the injury... grows worse!”

At this point, Zhang Xuan paused, his eyes sharp as lightning: “If I'm not mistaken, when these symptoms were recorded, it was the seventh day after the injury, right?”

“This...” Hall Master Kang was startled: “Correct!”

He had personally handled that person's problem, a case he was proud of. He remembered every detail clearly; it was indeed the seventh day after the injury.

But the records only mentioned the injured area and the technique that caused the injury... they didn't describe how many days had passed. Could he have deduced the time just from that?

“On the seventh day after the injury, the collision of true qi becomes uncontrollable. The puncture wound on the left chest won't heal and even begins to fester. In the current situation, with two violent true qi clashing, forcibly using the original cultivation technique will only intensify the collision and worsen the injury.”

Zhang Xuan smiled lightly: “According to the normal solution, one should first let the true qi dissipate... This is like removing the soldiers guarding the pass, allowing the sword qi to flow out from the narrow meridians... Then, find a way to eliminate it.”

“Right...” Su Fan and Ling Hengyu nodded simultaneously.

Their eight-step and seven-step methods were exactly like this.

To break through, one must first resolve the injury, and to heal the injury, one must eliminate the root cause... This sword qi was the root cause.

Dissipating one's own true qi was a retreat. Only then could the fierce sword qi let down its guard. Once it came out of the narrow meridians, it would be much easier to deal with, with at least several methods available.

Hall Master Kang also nodded.

He had done the same back then. Any master teacher would basically choose this approach. Could it be... that this was wrong?

“Right? Not only is it wrong, it's a huge mistake!”

Zhang Xuan shook his head: “Dissipating one's own true qi is like moving away a rock blocking a stream. It does allow the sword qi to flow out, but unfortunately... that is sharp, scorching sword qi, and the blocked area is at the left lung... This place is close to the heart. Once the sword qi rushes out, it might pierce the heart... causing instant death!”

“Death?” Su Fan couldn't help but speak: “The sword qi has been trapped for seven days; it should have lost its sharpness...”

“It has lost some sharpness, and the chance of piercing the heart is less than one percent. But what if it doesn't go through the left lung meridian, but instead passes through Huichi acupoint into the True Acupoint Heart Meridian?” Zhang Xuan looked over.

“This...” Master Su and Master Ling both trembled.

Huichi acupoint is the junction of the left lung meridian and the True Acupoint Heart Meridian. The former leads to the lung, the latter to the heart.

Although the sword qi, when suddenly released, would flow downward toward the dantian, there was no guarantee that the cultivator, out of caution, wouldn't retain a strand of true qi in his body.

If so, this sword qi could very well flow upstream into the True Acupoint Heart Meridian and pierce the heart.

If that happened, not even a master teacher, let alone a god, could save him.

Hall Master Kang's face turned pale, and his whole body tensed.

When he first encountered this case, he was focused on curing it and didn't consider much. Later, he also discovered this problem. Although the probability was low, it was still possible!

He could only say he was very lucky at the time; otherwise, not only would he have failed to cure him, but the patient might have died.

If that had happened, forget about being assessed as a four-star master teacher; he would have been lucky to keep his current position without being infamous for eternity.

But... he only realized this after reaching the peak of four-star master teacher and carefully reviewing the situation... This young man saw it at a glance. Could it be that the technique he spoke of was really useful?

Earlier, he thought the other was talking nonsense. Now that he could even see this... the technique was probably not that simple.

“My method doesn't require dissipating the true qi in advance or drawing out this sword qi!”

Ignoring the three's shock, Zhang Xuan continued: “Taiyi acupoint is the first branching point of the left and right meridians. I have the true qi pass through here, easily causing a resonance of power, making the sword qi follow the flow and surge to this point. Once it arrives, it's simple. Taiyi acupoint is close to the dantian. The cultivator has enough true qi to maintain it and can easily force the sword qi out of the body!”

“If you view the human body as a formation, Taiyi is the 'life' gate. When the two collide, the sword qi will naturally spurt out from this acupoint...”

Master Su's eyes widened as he muttered to himself.

According to formation master theory, the human body can also be seen as a formation, with eight gates: Rest, Life, Injury, Block, Scene, Death, Surprise, and Open.

Taiyi acupoint is the junction of the left and right meridians and also the life gate of the human body formation. Drawing the sword qi here would cause it to escape from this point. Thus, with minimal cost, it would be destroyed without losing a single soldier...

This was at least dozens of times more effective than the previous method of dissipating true qi and forcibly expelling it!

“But... if the sword qi doesn't come?” Hall Master Kang frowned.

The sword qi had been opposing the true qi for seven days. If the true qi wasn't withdrawn, how could it be forced to Taiyi acupoint?

It was like a battle: the enemy held the pass to ensure survival. If your army didn't withdraw, why would they charge over, walking into a trap to be expelled?

“Sigh!”

Hearing his question, Zhang Xuan sighed and shook his head helplessly: “It seems you don't know much about the [Great Linghua Art] that the injured person cultivates!”

“I...” Hall Master Kang's face reddened.

The [Great Linghua Art] was an obscure technique. He had heard of it but never practiced it, so he knew little about it.

To say he didn't know much was true.

“The [Great Linghua Art] emphasizes sharpness—‘the first burst, then decline, then exhaustion.’ I said earlier, let the true qi circulate through the new route three times... This way, the sharpness dissipates. Seeing this opportunity, the sword qi will naturally rush out, trying to destroy the dantian... It's inevitable that it reaches Taiyi acupoint! You couldn't have missed this, could you?”

Zhang Xuan looked over calmly.

“This...” Hall Master Kang trembled all over.

Blocked by sharp true qi for seven days, even if the sword qi had no intelligence, it would be like a compressed spring, waiting for a chance to strike back... After the [Great Linghua Art] declined three times, its power weakened, making it the perfect time to attack. It would never let it go!

Any cultivator who thought carefully would understand this.

“Still not right! You said three cycles would allow a breakthrough to Mortal Transformation, but now you're only expelling the sword qi...” After his shock, Hall Master Kang was still skeptical.

“Only expelling the sword qi? Think again about the direction of true qi circulation I mentioned...” Zhang Xuan smiled.

“True qi moves, starting from the dantian, passing through Taiyi, Guanmen, Liangmen... finally converging at Qishe...”

Hall Master Kang couldn't help recalling the young man's earlier words. His face changed, and his eyes widened: “True qi weakens, sword qi pursues, they meet at Taiyi. After collision... the sword qi spurts out from the acupoint, while the cultivator's true qi, using the force of the collision, impacts Guanmen, Liangmen... and breaks through to Mortal Transformation?”

“This effectively borrows the violent power of the sword qi to break through the barrier. The chance of success... is indeed no less than ninety percent!” Master Su's throat went dry.

As four-star master teachers, they had a thorough understanding of true qi circulation in the body, down to the marrow.

When the sword qi and true qi collide at Taiyi acupoint, although it disperses through the life gate, the violent power contained within merges into the true qi.

The fact that this sword qi could injure the cultivator meant its owner was stronger. Since the cultivator was about to break through to Mortal Transformation, he was already at the peak of Half-Step Mortal Transformation, ready to break through at any moment... If the opponent was stronger, wasn't he a Mortal Transformation expert?

The violent true qi of a Mortal Transformation expert, combined with his own true qi, would be infinitely powerful... Breaking through the barrier would naturally be much simpler and effortless!

Not just ninety percent; if done this way, the success rate would be... one hundred percent!

“You, you...”

Everyone realized this, their eyes wide.

When they heard the symptoms, they thought most about how to resolve the sword qi, heal the injury, adjust the state, and then find a way to break through to Mortal Transformation... But this young man actually used the sword qi within the body, took a different path, and created a cultivation technique that allowed a direct breakthrough...

Most crucially, from reading the case to proposing the solution, it only took a few dozen breaths...

How... did he do it?

Was he even human?

“Will this technique cure him and allow him to break through?” Knowing they understood his method, Zhang Xuan looked over calmly.

“Yes... it will cure him!” Hall Master Kang's face paled. He steadied his breath and nodded.

He had taken a full five steps to complete it, thinking it was impressive and unmatched. This young man succeeded in just one step...

It seemed Master Su and Master Ling were right. Although this young man lacked strength, his understanding of master teachers was beyond ordinary.

“So, have I answered your question?” Zhang Xuan continued.

“Yes...” Hall Master Kang nodded.

“Since I'm right, what are you waiting for?”

Before he finished, the young man's slightly displeased voice rang out: “After all that talking, can't you see I'm thirsty? Why aren't you pouring me a glass of water!”