Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

“You are a healer?” the man asked. “If you can help us, we would appreciate it, but I don’t know what you can do to people suffering from heat stroke. They just need to stay in the shade and drink a lot of water, shouldn’t they?”

“Is it working?” Alex asked. “Are the people back to their regular selves after doing only that?”

“I think so?” the man said. “Actually, now that you say it, it might be taking a lot longer than normal. But that’s just because they keep working in the sun.”

“Let me just look at them,” Alex said. “If it’s just heat stroke, what you said will do. But if it’s not, you might need me to act up on it.”

The man’s face fell in worry. “If it’s not a heat stroke, what could it be?” he asked.

Alex thought on how to explain the situation. “Do you guys have female warriors?” he asked.

“A few, of course,” the man explained.

“But not many, are there?” he asked. “Why is that?”

“Women, they can’t handle working outside of the village. Everyone knows that.”

“Yeah, the thing that happens to them might be what is happening to the warriors too. At least, that’s my thought. I will need to check them thoroughly.”

“But… how could it…”

“We can’t waste our time here. Let me go check on them.”

The man nodded. “Come with me.”

Alex learned of the man’s name on the way to where the sick were kept. He was Nangjin, third son of the chief of the Bluesalt tribe. The tribe had around 600 people, and was on the smaller side of the villages Alex had been to in his search of Death.

Alex noticed all the sand in the village. There was a layer of sand under every step of his, hiding the rocky ground underneath. The sand from the inner regions though had been cleared away.

The man arrived outside of a stone hut and knocked on a wooden door that opened with a creak. Inside, the young man from earlier had just begun lying on the bed.

“Gaixun,” Nangjin called as he entered. “This friend here is a healer. He wants to check whether you have a heat stroke or not.”

“What?” the young man seemed confused. “If I don’t have a heat stroke, can I go back to work?”

“No, if you don’t have a heat stroke, you have something worse that is likely to kill you,” Nangjin explained.

The man sucked in a deep breath.

Alex stepped forward and grabbed the young man’s wrist, checking his body. As he expected, the man had more Yang in his body than should be acceptable. He was in a similar situation to what Mili from the Baylords had been in.

Except, he had a much better chance of surviving since he was both a man, and lived near enough to a well of Sunheart.

“Staying here won’t do you any good. Go near where you guys keep your Sunhearts. You need the coolness there. If possible, keep a few Sunhearts on your person. If you do, you will heal a lot faster.”

“Really?” Nangjin asked. “He needs Sunhearts to heal?”

Alex nodded. “I don’t know how many people there are in the village still suffering from what you thought was heat stroke, but have them all either stay around the Sunheart well for the time being, or carry around a few Sunhearts each. Also, you people working out at the edge of the village need to carry around some Sunhearts too.”

Nangjin frowned. “I’m afraid we can’t do that,” he said. “If we start doing that, it will attract beasts from the desert. We cannot afford to do that.”

“Then you will keep getting sick, and maybe even die,” Alex told the man.

“Then, we might have to stop working for a day or two,” the man said.

“Stopping your work won’t solve the problem,” Alex explained. “The sand that is brought here by the sandstorm is causing all these issues for you.”

“Oh, no, that’s not what I meant,” the man quickly explained. “We will soon be hidden from the beasts, so we just have to wait until then.”

Alex narrowed his eyes. “Hidden from the beasts?” he asked.

The man nodded. “We’re putting up a new formation. Anyway, if what you say is all that needs to be done, then we will do it. Thank you.”

Alex nodded. “Take me to the sick still. I need to make sure they are all suffering from the same issue. Even if they are not, I can heal others too. Even people who have lost their limbs can grow their limbs back.”

The man thought for a bit and nodded. “Let me find a place for you to stay. I will ask the sick to come visit you.”

Alex was soon taken to a house close to where the chief was and placed there. The chief’s son left for a while to both explain the situation to his father and try to gather the rest of the sick people.

After an hour or two of waiting, people began to slowly filter in. Alex checked through a few and quickly diagnosed them with the same thing as Gaixun. They were all suffering from Yang imbalance.

The solution was the same. Either they stay close to where the Sunhearts were stored, or keep some Sunhearts on their person. After the first hour or so, Alex began receiving other patients as well, who he healed.

A bit after that, he received the first person with an injured limb that had never healed properly. Alex easily healed the person. After that, news of what he could do spread throughout the village like wildfire.

Very soon, people filled the space outside of his hut, waiting in line to come in. Alex welcomed them one after another.

Alex was in the middle of helping a wounded man when an old man with white hair walked in. Alex suggested the man stay outside, but the old man ignored his words and walked to the corner where he sat and watched.

“Please,” the old man spoke. “Continue.”