Chapter 1322: Number Five on the Golden Core Ranking: Xiao Tianzhen!

Wuxin stared at him, then suddenly gave a smile that was not quite a smile. "Then can Junior Brother's condition be treated?"

The Ghost Doctor immediately became somewhat irritated from embarrassment. "His case is different. How could a scrap of rotten cloth possibly wrap up a raging flame? It's not that there's no way to treat him. If his entire cultivation were dispersed, I could restore his body. But he refuses. I've made preparations for that possibility too. If things truly reach the point where there's no other choice, I'll disperse his cultivation myself."

Wuxin fell silent. He understood what a lifetime's cultivation meant to a cultivator. For someone who had never been suited to cultivation in the first place to suddenly obtain such enormous power, giving it up would hardly be easy.

The Ghost Doctor said, "What? You think I was just bluffing you about the two treasures?"

Wuxin naturally did not believe him. "Master, where in the world would there be a medical canon as miraculous as the one you described?"

The Ghost Doctor had known he would not believe him and spoke candidly. "You've heard of Li Ge, Empress of the Wu Dynasty, haven't you? Both of these things belonged to Li Ge. Before Li Ge disappeared, she entrusted them to her closest personal maid. That maid later became the first Saintess and founded the Demonic Sect. By a twist of fate, I later became acquainted with one of the Saintesses who followed. We got along well, and when she saw I was skilled at studying medicine, she passed these two things on to me. Understand now?"

Wuxin stared in uncertainty. "A Demonic Sect Saintess passed them to you? Master, are you a member of the Demonic Sect?"

The Ghost Doctor smacked his lips and suddenly looked somewhat wistful. "How should I put it? In a sense, yes; in another, no. I never joined the Demonic Sect, and the Saintess never asked me to. If the Demonic Sect Saintess's succession were still intact, then if they gave me an instruction, it would be difficult for me not to comply. But the later Saintesses met disaster one after another, and the Demonic Sect turned into a foul mess because of Wu Chang. There was no reason for me to keep attaching myself to it. I hear some Demonic Sect Holy Son has appeared now. It's all a muddle. I don't know what any of it is about."

Wuxin remained astonished. This was the first time he had ever heard his master speak about such matters. Now that he understood where the two objects came from, he asked again, "Is that medical canon truly so extraordinary?"

The Ghost Doctor glared at him. "Does your master look like someone who babbles nonsense? It's simply that the medical canon is vast and profound. Even I have yet to comprehend it fully."

Wuxin was puzzled. "Even with all your experience in medicine, you still can't comprehend it? Is it really that difficult?" Anything related to medical skill naturally fascinated him.

The Ghost Doctor sighed. "It isn't that it's difficult. Some of the conditions recorded in it simply never appear in this world. There are also medicines, and things used to refine medicines, that no one in this world has ever even heard of. They probably don't exist here at all. That Li Ge... I suspect she wasn't originally from this world. She may very well have shattered the void and come from another world. Shang Song and his wife already possessed the ability to shatter the void."

"Another world..." Wuxin looked both astonished and lost, as though suddenly faced with the vastness of the starry heavens, something impossibly distant.

To the Ghost Doctor, however, this was merely something mentioned in passing. His real concern lay elsewhere. Once again, he asked temptingly, "Want to see that medical canon? Want your master's two treasures?"

Wuxin smiled bitterly and nodded. "Of course I do."

The Ghost Doctor immediately said, "Then come back with me. So long as you're willing to return, the moment we reach Medicine Valley I'll pass both treasures on to you. How about it?"

Wuxin fell silent again.

Silence was an answer of its own.

The Ghost Doctor grew anxious. "I'm putting my words here plainly. If you refuse to come back with me this time and something happens to you again, I will not concern myself with you anymore."

Wuxin suddenly smiled. "When I left before, Master also said you wouldn't concern yourself with me anymore. Yet this time, you still came. This disciple means nothing else. It's simply that Master's affection is so deep that I truly have no way to repay it."

The Ghost Doctor shook his head. "Foolish disciple. This time isn't like before, when I was merely talking. This time I've offended Xiaoyue Pavilion and Yucang far too severely. Xiaoyue Pavilion's power is enormous. We simply can't afford to provoke it. By involving yourself in struggles between the great powers, you're seeking death. You made far too large a splash this time, and every side is watching you now. If you remain here, you'll be a living target. Those people devour men without even spitting out the bones. If they see something they can use, what wouldn't they do?"

"I came this time regardless of cost to fulfill the bond between master and disciple. Your master values you and wanted to save you once with everything I had. If something happens again, I truly will be powerless. If you refuse to leave with me this time, I genuinely will not involve myself again. Do you understand?"

He knew his own limitations. He understood that the enormous display he had put on this time had created serious trouble.

But he had had no choice unless he was willing to abandon his own disciple.

Did people really imagine that after someone dared seize your disciple, you could go to their door, plead or kneel, and they would simply release him? What kind of people were they? The lower you bowed, the more humiliating their response would become. Not only might you fail to save your disciple, you could end up sacrificing your own side as well.

Merely possessing the possible ability to neutralize the Spirit-Torment Pill had already violated one of Xiaoyue Pavilion's taboos. He suspected the Spirit-Torment Pill had been one of the important hidden reasons Yucang seized Wuxin this time. Others might not make the connection, but as a physician who had personally encountered the pill, it was the sort of thing that occurred to him immediately.

And if he had failed to take a hard line this time, the very reputation he relied upon to travel beneath Heaven would have collapsed. Endless trouble would have followed.

Everyone said the Ghost Doctor repaid every grievance. If a man could live freely, who would willingly invite trouble? Many things were simply forced upon him.

He had also hoped the incident would make Wuxin understand the stakes and give up the idea of continuing to remain here.

It did not appear to have produced the result he wanted.

Wuxin nodded. "This disciple understands."

"You..." The Ghost Doctor was speechless. He knew there was nothing more he could say. He had already said everything there was to say. He rose, flung his sleeve, and left.

That evening, someone came from the imperial palace with an invitation. The Emperor of Qi and the Sect Leaders of the three great sects had arranged a banquet in the palace and invited the Ghost Doctor to attend.

The Ghost Doctor had no desire to become entangled in their ulterior schemes. Using the excuse that he was at a critical stage in treating his disciple and neutralizing the poison, he declined.

...

Two days later, Guo Man came running in from outside. She reached the group and was about to speak, but when she saw Wuxiang present, she suddenly hesitated.

Wuxin could tell something had happened. "What is it?"

Guo Man hesitated before saying, "Misty Pavilion has revised the Golden Core Ranking."

The moment she said it, everyone seemed to guess something and looked toward Wuxiang.

Wuxin ventured, "Did my junior brother make the ranking?"

Guo Man said, "The name now ranked fifth on the Golden Core Ranking is Xiao Tianzhen! Yucang has fallen to sixth, and everyone below him has been pushed back one place."

"Xiao Tianzhen?" Zhu Jian murmured from the side, clearly trying to remember something.

He was not the only one. Yan Baoru and You Peipei also found the name vaguely familiar, as though they had heard it somewhere before. But Wuxiang had kept his conical hat and veil on the entire time, hiding his face, so there was no way to recognize whether they had ever seen him.

Then their gazes shifted toward the Ghost Doctor.

They remembered what had happened the last time the Ghost Doctor publicly appeared and its connection to a certain affair. One by one, realization gradually dawned.

They understood who this Xiao Tianzhen was.

And precisely because they understood, all of them were shocked.

How long had it been? How could he already possess strength like this? Just what had the Ghost Doctor done?

The Ghost Doctor and Wuxin, on the other hand, remained calm, as though neither found the development surprising.

Both knew there were already people belonging to the Nine Saints inside Medicine Valley. There was nothing strange about Misty Pavilion knowing Wuxiang's true identity.

And precisely because of that, after creating such trouble, the Ghost Doctor wanted Wuxin to return to Medicine Valley with him.

Only there would he be safe.

The Ghost Doctor rose and returned inside. Once Wuxin followed him in, he said calmly, "We've stayed two days. For now, it seems Xiaoyue Pavilion doesn't dare make any rash move against you, so I can relax somewhat. It may also be because the war at the front is still unresolved. Before they understand my depth and have absolute confidence, they're unwilling to act recklessly."

Wuxin heard the implication and asked tentatively, "Master is preparing to return?"

"Why wouldn't I? Stay here waiting for every open spear and hidden arrow to kill me?" The Ghost Doctor's attitude seemed to change in an instant, his tone turning colder. "I'll ask you one final time. Are you coming back with me?"

Wuxin cupped his hands. "Once this disciple has laid down the matters weighing on my heart and can study in peace, I will return and serve Master."

The Ghost Doctor said, "This affair became too large. I don't even know whether I helped you or harmed you. But at least I saved you for the moment. I wasn't wrong about that, was I?"

Wuxin hurriedly said, "Master did nothing wrong. Every fault lies with this disciple."

"Good. Then this time I have fulfilled the bond between master and disciple. I owe you nothing, and I cannot stake the lives of everyone else in Medicine Valley on you either."

"Disciple, I said I wouldn't force you, so I won't. I said I never accept threats, so I won't accept them. I don't have the energy to play all those twists and schemes. If something happens again, I will not concern myself with you. I only hope the commotion this time has created enough deterrence that people won't dare move against you lightly. I hope Yucang fears the poison in his own body enough not to act rashly against you. I hope you live long enough to return to Medicine Valley. If you die, and if I get the opportunity, I'll avenge you."

"Thank you, Master. This disciple could die ten thousand deaths and still never repay your kindness!" Wuxin cupped his hands and bowed deeply.

"That one word, 'love,' ruins people. There's another one lying in that room, ruined by love as well. I'm an old man and somehow all I meet are devoted fools! From now on, Medicine Valley will have one more rule for taking disciples: we don't accept lovesick fools who can't cut the threads of affection. From now on, look after yourself and pray for good fortune!"

The Ghost Doctor flung down those words, swept his sleeve, and left.

Once he walked out that door, he truly departed. The Ghost Doctor quietly left the Qi capital. Despite repeated invitations from the Emperor of Qi and the Sect Leaders of the three great sects, he never accepted a meeting before he left.

...

At the Inspector's Residence in Jinzhou, it was a day of celebration: the birthday of Shang Youlan, former Empress Dowager of Zhao.

In the main hall of the inner residence, Hai Ruyue clutched the front of her robe with both hands. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, bewilderment filling her eyes as she asked in a trembling voice, "Zhen'er? Old Li, are you certain it's Zhen'er? Could it be someone with the same name?"

Li Wuhua sighed. "Someone at the Ghost Doctor's side, also named Xiao Tianzhen. Other than your son, there shouldn't be anyone else."

Torment filled Hai Ruyue's face. "How... how is that possible? It's only been a few years. How could Zhen'er possibly defeat Yucang, Pavilion Master of Xiaoyue Pavilion? How could he become the number-five expert on the Golden Core Ranking? Zhen'er was born weak. He couldn't even cultivate!"

Li Wuhua said, "Don't forget who his master is now: the Ghost Doctor, the foremost physician in the cultivation world. It isn't strange that the Ghost Doctor might have used some extraordinary method to change his body."

"Zhen'er became the Ghost Doctor's disciple? Became the Ghost Doctor's disciple..." Hai Ruyue murmured as she backed away weakly. At last she bumped into a chair and collapsed into it, tears spilling from her eyes.

She had believed the son taken away by the Ghost Doctor would die at his hands. Who could have imagined he was not only alive, but had become the Ghost Doctor's disciple and then shocked all beneath Heaven in a single stroke by becoming the fifth-ranked expert on the Golden Core Ranking?

All these years, she had carried that torment in her heart, always believing she had wronged her son.

Now, learning that her son was safe, her tears held relief, pride, and no small amount of heartache.

Li Wuhua, however, wore a dark expression.

He was worried Xiao Tianzhen would seek revenge...

Deeper within the inner residence, Shang Youlan had shut herself alone inside a room.

From among the congratulatory gifts, she pulled out a scroll of calligraphy and painting. Opening it, she spotted a hidden mark in the image and immediately walked toward a washbasin filled with water.

She did not know that inside a cabinet in the corner, a pair of eyes was watching her every movement through a narrow crack.

[End of Chapter 1322]