Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 948 – Marrow Nibbling Golden Silkworm, Cure

“Oh, no wonder you look so familiar. The Marionette Sect is just asking to be destroyed. Qing Shui, if you plan on attacking them, let us know. We’ll help,” the man said earnestly.

“Brother Tianheng, thank you. I can deal with them myself, they aren’t a threat.” Qing Shui chuckled.

When Tianheng heard Qing Shui say that, he was quite shocked. There were not many people who would blatantly disregard the Marionette Sect’s power. Even their eldest brother, Zongheng, might not have full confidence to do so. Assuming that Qing Shui was just being polite, he did not say much after being a little taken back.

Everyone sat down and continued eating and drinking. Even though they were all young people, the atmosphere was still a little tense. Thankfully, Qin Zongheng and Qin Tianzong knew how to handle such situations.

As the atmosphere got friendlier, Qing Shui spoke more. Afterall, it would be impolite of him to stay silent when the others were asking him questions. Luckily, they didn’t ask him anything sensitive. They also talked about some of the aristocratic clans in the Central Continent and Qing Shui listened with interest.

“Do you know that there is a new expert in the Central Continent’s Buddha Sect?” Qin Tianzong laughed as he looked at the others.

“Second brother, don’t joke around. The Buddha Sect has the title of the strongest sect. It is rumored that the experts there are all very powerful. So how powerful can this new expert from the young generation be?” one of them immediately asked, it was a man who had a rather anxious appearance.

“Seventh brother, don’t get too excited. Listen to me. The expert doesn’t have a name. He is tall and fat, so everyone calls him Master Fattie. His master is Buddha Sect’s Diamond Reverend,” Qin Tianzong guffawed.

Everyone laughed and some of them even sighed in awe. After all, it did not impact them much, as those people were so far away. However, Qing Shui was astounded when he heard this because he thought of one person.

Fattie!

Fattie was brought away by a fat monk. Later on, he heard that he went with the monk and learned some fantastic abilities. Now that Qin Tianzong mentioned this Master Fattie, his intuition strongly suggested that it was the Fattie that he knew.

Qing Shui wanted to find out more about ‘Fattie’ but decided against it after a few moments of thought. If they were fated to meet again, they will. All that was important was that the other party was well.

Most of the people left after an hour or so. There were only three people remaining at the dining table. The two children had run away much earlier.

“Elder Sis, I’m leaving now.” Qing Shui stood up.

“No, you just came. How could you leave so early?” Weng Xue tried to persuade him, standing up quickly when she saw that Qing Shui was about to leave.

Qin Zongheng also stood up hurriedly but then he suddenly sat down again. His face turned a ghastly white as he tried his best to stand up again. He was expressionless but a thin layer of sweat appeared on his forehead.

Qing Shui and Weng Xue both heard his soft groan. When she saw her husband’s condition, Weng Xue anxiously went over to support him. She asked worried, “Did it flare up again?”

Qing Shui looked at Qin Zongheng, puzzled. He saw that Qin Zongheng’s body was now slightly bent and that the area about his chest dented inward slightly. Qing Shui couldn’t resist using his Heavenly Vision Technique. He was surprised to discover that there was a golden worm in the man’s body.

Marrow Nibbling Golden Silkworm!

Qing Shui looked at Qin Zongheng, flabbergasted. He wondered who did this to Qin Zongheng. When he looked again, he noticed that the worm was only ten centimeters away from Qin Zongheng’s heart. The vessels within the vicinity of his heart and the path to his brain were sealed with silver needles. The Marrow Nibbling Golden Silkworm wasn’t large and Qing Shui could tell that it had stopped after it nibbled slightly at Qin Zongheng’s organs.

Qin Zongheng gritted his teeth and his body grew limp. The color drained from his face as blood streamed down the side of his mouth. They could even hear his teeth clattering because he had grit them so tightly.

Qing Shui was impressed that he did not make a sound after that groan. Qing Shui could understand that pain and he immediately understood why Qin Zongheng could take the title of Vice Castellan.

Weng Xue gave Qing Shui an apologetic look and quickly took out a white jade bottle. She poured out two white medicinal pills the size of soybeans and fed them to her husband.

“After some time, that Marrow Nibbling Golden Silkworm will grow larger and those silver needles will be unable to block it,” Qing Shui suddenly said.

Weng Xue looked at Qing Shui, stunned. Qin Zongheng reacted in the same way. No one else but the pair knew about the situation.

“Snow-hearted Echeveria Pill is a good medicine.” Qing Shui walked over to them slowly.

He went over and quickly hit a few pressure points on Qin Zongheng’s body. Hitting a few pressure point to relieve the man’s pain was nothing to Qing Shui. He couldn’t believe that a person could actually survive with such a poisonous worm inside them. However, it seemed that if nothing else was done, Qin Zongheng would definitely die.

No matter what, Qing Shui was really impressed by both of their ability to converse, appearance and mood. They seemed to have decided that it should not affect their daily lives. Qing Shui was sure he could not be as unaffected as them if the same thing were to happen to him.

“What can I do? I will leave my life to fate. I am happy just to live a few more months.” Qin Zongheng sighed and smiled.

“Oh, younger brother, how did you come to know about this poisonous creature? How did you know my husband’s condition?” Weng Xue was still stunned.

“That’s because someone planted the same type of worm inside me in the past.”

Qin Zongheng and Weng Xue were astonished by Qing Shui. Weng Xue looked to Qing Shui and asked, “You were cured?”

“Yes, I am fine now!” Qing Shui replied happily.

“Young brother, can you let us know how you did it. I will definitely reward you.” Weng Xue urged Qing Shui.

“Do you treat me as your brother?”

“I may be a woman and I don’t play politics. But I definitely take you as my true brother.” Weng Xue replied with full honesty.

“Elder Sis, are you saying that I am a person that plays politics?” Qing Shui laughed out.

“No, no. I was just too eager to know.” Weng Xue explained.

“It’s alright. It’s alright. Just remember that you’re my sister.” Qing Shui took out a large case.

“Qing Shui, what is that?” Qin Zongheng asked.

“I consider myself a physician. Afterall, I got rid of the worm myself. Brother Qin, will you let me help you get rid of that poisonous worm?” Qing Shui smiled to Qin Zongheng.

“I still have three months to live. I have already survived for two months. I have nothing to lose. Just do what you have to do to take it out.” Qin Zongheng chuckled ecstatically.

Qing Shui knew that the worm was life-threatening, so he could empathize with Qin Zongheng. Qing Shui calmed him down and made him relax, while he thought about how he would cure the man.

He could not use the previous method he used on himself. The main problem was that this worm could move very fast and through its victims’ meridian. In the World of the Nine Continent, once an ailment involved a person’s dantian and meridians, it would basically be very difficult for any physician.

Another factor was that medicines had no effect on the worm. It could not be damaged by an external force either. Even people highly proficient in acupuncture would be unable to do anything. The worm exists in its host like fish in water. Another method was to obtain the unique ‘antidote’ from the poisoner, which acts as a bait to attract and extract the poison silkworm. But even in a powerful place like Sky City, no one could use that method. Either the poisoner did not have the antidote or did not plan to reveal it.

When Qin Zongheng saw Qing Shui taking out his gold needles, he was a little disappointed. They had already sought the help from some of the experienced physicians in Weng Xue’s clan, but they had no success using gold needles. It was impossible to kill that parasite with gold needles. Even Physician Yong in Sky City could only use silver needles to seal up Qin Zongheng’s heart and important organs and help preserve his life for another six months, unable to extract it.

But that disappointment only flashed over his face for a second. He really did not know what to expect from Qing Shui who was so much younger than those old physicians who had spent over 100 to 300 years researching but were still unable to deal with his condition.

Although one’s skills were not determined by their age, medical skills and knowledge definitely correlated to a person’s age. One had to accumulate experience, especially when using acupuncture. Cultivators in this world would all find it mysterious that needles as thin as a bull’s hair could actually pierce through meridians without any issue.

“Did you try acupuncture and failed? Don’t worry, just trust me.” Qing Shui assured Qin Zongheng without even lifting his head. Weng Xue and Qin Zongheng instantly felt a sense of awkwardness.

Qing Shui got Qin Zongheng to lie down. Qing Shui’s hands suddenly gained a translucent glow. Now that he was more powerful, his hands glowed like clear, high-class jade.

Saintly Hands!

Qing Shui clenched his fists and hammered down on Qin Zongheng’s chest rapidly.

Bang!

Qin Zongheng did not even blink when he saw the flurry of punches raining down on his chest, it was so fast they could not really hear the distinction between the sound of each hit.

After he had almost hammered Qin Zongheng entire chest, he stopped abruptly. Now Qin Zongheng understood how incredible Qing Shui was because he could feel a comfortable warmth flowing through his body.

Qing Shui gestured and a hundred shining gold needles floated above Qin Zongheng’s body.

Spirit energy!

There are some cultivators who could manipulate matter telepathically in mid-air. This required a very large amount of spirit energy and was also a secret skill.

“Elder Sis, don’t let anyone bother us right now!” Qing Shui said to Weng Xue who was standing beside him.

“Don’t worry, no one will disturb us.” Weng Xue walked over to the entrance and commanded the guards not to let anyone in.

Chi!

Qing Shui slowly inserted a gold needle into Qin Zongheng’s chest. A hissing sound suddenly sounded, as almost half of that nine inch gold needle disappeared beneath his skin.

After that, Qing Shui did not hurry. After a few seconds, he inserted another three needles simultaneously. After he had inserted a total of nine needles, he flicked the gold needles and they started spinning with a buzzing sound.

As the number of gold needles in his hand gradually reduced, the number on Qin Zongheng’s chest increased, until it was almost completely covered.

Qing Shui slowly reduced the area the gold needles covered. He reduced the numbers till the needles showed a circular Yin Yang Image in the middle of Qin Zongheng’s chest. An image which resembled a Big Dipper Sword could also be seen.

A thin layer of sweat had already started appearing on Qing Shui’s face. Weng Xue looked beside him with a nervous face but she did not dare to move or even make a sound. Meanwhile, Qin Zongheng had already lost consciousness.

Needle Removal!

Qing Shui continuously removed the other surrounding needles and aimed them towards the center. If Mu Qing was around, she would be able to see that Qing Shui had created a formation with his gold needles, it was part of a Nine Palace Eight Trigrams Formation…

Trap!

Qing Shui had managed to trap the poisonous worm!