A young man of merely sixteen or seventeen had described the complications caused by White Blood Poison, a toxin from beyond the Profound Realm, with astonishing accuracy. This fellow was nothing less than a genius in the world of alchemy.
It would have been strange if they did not admire him.
“Senior, you are actually rather fortunate. The White Blood Poison has been suppressed by your powerful inner energy and has not yet invaded your spirit sea or heart vessels, so it has not caused more serious harm.”
Ling Xiao announced after finishing his examination.
“Then there is still hope?”
Elder Ancestor Chang Le asked hurriedly.
“Of course.”
Ling Xiao nodded. “White Blood Poison is formidable, but that very medical text from beyond the Profound Realm also records a special treatment method that can expel the toxin.”
“Little sir, whatever the method is, just say it. Whatever you need, this old man will definitely obtain it for you!”
Elder Ancestor Chang Le was growing anxious.
These past days, the poison had tormented him terribly. It would not be an exaggeration to say he had been living a life worse than death. He could clearly feel his condition worsening step by step. If this continued, he would sooner or later become a cripple.
He had cultivated so painstakingly for years to reach the Yin-Yang Realm. How could he willingly accept death like this?
“That depends on your family.”
Ling Xiao glanced at Feng Ming Piaoxue and smiled.
“Ling Xiao, you need not look at me. If there is anything I must do for my grandfather, I will do it.”
Feng Ming Piaoxue declared firmly.
“Oh? Even if it means exchanging your life for your grandfather’s?”
Ling Xiao asked with a half-smile.
What!
As soon as those words left his mouth, everyone froze.
The expressions on their faces varied, some might even say colourful.
“I have indeed read of such a treatment in a medical text. It is exchanging one life for another.”
A yellow-grade alchemist stroked his beard and muttered.
“I have heard of it too, but the method is somewhat cruel, so I never studied it.”
Another alchemist nodded.
Hearing the two of them, Feng Ming Piaoxue clearly believed what Ling Xiao had said. Her body suddenly began to tremble.
Death had always felt very distant from her, yet now it was close enough to touch.
“Little sir, if a life must be sacrificed, let it be mine. Miss Piaoxue is still far too young.”
Tong Gang was the first to step forward.
“Are you a direct blood relative of Elder Ancestor Chang Le?”
Ling Xiao asked.
“No.”
“Then keep quiet. It would be meaningless. It must be a direct blood relative.”
Ling Xiao shook his head.
“What about me? I am the ancestor’s daughter. That should qualify, right?”
The man thought for a moment and finally spoke.
“Whether it qualifies, I need to check first.”
As he spoke, Ling Xiao suddenly raised a finger. A flash of cold light shot past. The man felt as though his body had been pricked by a needle, then the sensation vanished.
“No good. Although you are his biological daughter, you are not compatible.”
Ling Xiao shook his head again and turned back to Feng Ming Piaoxue. “Did you not say you would do anything for your grandfather? Why have you suddenly gone mute?”
“I am willing!”
Feng Ming Piaoxue suddenly raised her head. Though tears streamed down her face, her eyes were utterly resolute.
“Oh?”
Her reaction actually surprised Ling Xiao. It seemed this girl, despite being spoilt and wilful, possessed genuine loyalty and affection.
“Little sir, must it truly be a life for a life? Is there really no other way?”
At this moment, Elder Ancestor Chang Le himself began to hesitate. Taking his granddaughter’s life to save his own was something he found hard to bear and even somewhat shameful.
“There is none.”
Ling Xiao answered very seriously.
Elder Ancestor Chang Le closed his eyes and pondered for a long while. On his aged face, a clear look of helplessness and emotion appeared.
“Very well. Perhaps this is a tribulation decreed by fate. Still, many thanks to the little sir for diagnosing the cause. Tong Gang, prepare the reward. Three Chang Le Flowers.”
Hearing this, the corners of Ling Xiao’s mouth lifted into a faint smile.
He could perfectly well have turned and left at that moment. He already had the three Chang Le Flowers. Though it was only three, it should be enough to craft a rather effective sachet.
Yet he did not leave.
It must be said, the behaviour of this family had moved him.
“Senior, your choice has saved your own life!”
With those words, Ling Xiao suddenly pointed a finger at Feng Ming Piaoxue.
At first she wanted to resist, but in the end she calmly accepted.
“No!”
Both Elder Ancestor Chang Le and the man tried to intervene, but Ling Xiao had acted too quickly. The ancestor was gravely poisoned, and the man’s strength was not great, so neither could stop him.
As for Tong Gang, he had no intention of interfering. In his heart, Elder Ancestor Chang Le was far more important than Feng Ming Piaoxue.
“Why is everyone so nervous? I was only joking earlier. There is no need to exchange a life for a life. I merely require a small amount of Feng Ming Piaoxue’s bone marrow.”
Ling Xiao smiled. “That is why I said your choice saved you, Elder Ancestor Chang Le. If you had chosen to disregard her life and insisted on saving your own, I truly would have stood by and let you die.”
“Is this true?”
Elder Ancestor Chang Le and the others were overjoyed.
“Of course it is true. When I, Ling Xiao, save someone, I do not do it for money. I follow my heart. People I dislike, I will never save. Fortunately, I do not dislike your character, Senior. Though you were indeed somewhat overbearing and arrogant earlier, reaching such a cultivation level and being an elder of Chang Le Immortal Island, that is only natural. I can understand.”
Ling Xiao said with a smile.
“You, little sir… this old man truly does not know what to say.”
Elder Ancestor Chang Le was deeply shocked and moved. The young man before him might be young in years, but he was extraordinarily shrewd. Many of his actions left even an old fox like him struggling to keep up.
Yet he genuinely liked this lad.
He acted according to his own heart, no matter what others might say.
“Enough talking. Feng Ming Piaoxue, lie down beside him. It will hurt intensely in a moment, but it will not harm your body. You must endure it. The process will take about half an hour.”
Ling Xiao instructed.
“Alright!”
Feng Ming Piaoxue had already wiped away her tears. Suddenly she felt that Ling Xiao was not as detestable as before. For some reason, she even felt a trace of gratitude towards this man.
If not for him, she would never have known how deeply her grandfather cared for her.
None of the alchemists watching had ever witnessed the treatment process that followed.
Even Yuan Zun inside Ling Xiao’s body had never seen it.
Everything was a healing method that Ling Xiao had personally devised and refined based on the fresh memories in his mind.
Using the martial principles of the Profound Realm, achieving this was extremely easy, a hundred times easier than in the world of those memories.
With a towel clenched between her teeth, Feng Ming Piaoxue clearly suffered agony that felt like death, yet this girl truly endured until the very end.
