Dao of Healing - Chapter 137

I let out a satisfied sigh as I finished the treatment of

<< Chapter 136 | Index | Chapter 138 >>

I let out a satisfied sigh as I finished the treatment of a teenage girl who’d cut her face while weaving silk. It was a superficial wound, but it had cut her pride deeper. Coming to the sect to have it healed was necessary to avoid a lifelong scar that a village healer would have left behind.

She thanked me, before pulling a hand mirror from her robe. I left her to her private admiration, standing to leave the pavilion. I had treated over a hundred people with various minor afflictions today. In turn, I had finally understood the basic process of my healing technique; the workings of my medicinal qi.

It was more obvious when treating viral or bacterial infections than cuts and bruises. The reason for that was an obvious difference—an infection was caused by a foreign pathogen, while a cut or bruise was a remnant of an injury.

To my medicinal qi, healing one or the other wasn’t much different. However, for my patients, the process and their experience couldn’t be less similar.

I had first sensed it when treating the boy with the cold. The reason for his discomfort during the healing was that every time my medicinal qi destroyed a viral cell, it also damaged the surrounding tissue.

Of course, it healed that tissue before the technique ran its course, but that didn’t change the fact that my technique was harming my patients. Poison could be medicine with the right dosage, but when even the heavens’ weren’t the limit, why should I accept such weakness?

On Earth, some treatments had to damage the patient’s body in order to heal it. Here, in a world where I had magical power at my fingertips, waiting to be unleashed? I refused to be so mediocre.

My Dao, my path to the pinnacle, required me to become the greatest healer this world had ever seen. If I couldn’t cure a child of a cold without harming him in the process, then I didn’t deserve to reach the zenith.

I suspected the culprit of this damage was a combination of my intent and the medicinal qi itself. There was more I needed to understand to truly ‘solve’ my technique, but I had learned enough to make a decent start.

My goal was simple: prevent my healing technique from causing harm during its course. Putting that into effect would be far more difficult, but I had faith in myself. As Wang Ren told me, hard work always pays off.

****

The reason I wanted to observe Teng Sheng dissipating his cultivation was also simple. The Body Tempering Realm involved refining one’s physical body to make it a suitable conduit for spiritual energy and qi.

In essence, healing was simply refining a negative state of the body into a positive one, so there was much to be gleaned from the process of cultivation itself. In a way, the endless improvement that each successive cultivation realm brought to the cultivator was a form of healing.

Purging of impurities extended one’s lifespan and made their physical body tougher and more durable. The cycling of qi and the opening of meridians did the same on a far deeper and somewhat more spiritual level.

The Foundation Building Realm then built on the Qi Gathering Realm in preparation for a true metamorphosis: the forging of a spiritual core to connect the spiritual with the physical and bind a cultivator with their dao.

Each successive step was, to cut a long explanation short, healing a corrupted mortal soul to an immortal state. To that end, was my final goal to gain the ability to turn mortals immortal with a wave of my hand?

No.

That was likely impossible. However, it did give me an idea of what I had to aim for. Medicinal qi was very different to the ordinary qi most cultivators refined from spiritual energy. Understanding all of its properties and uses would allow me to progress. Thus, I had two real goals in mind.

The first was a long term goal that I might not accomplish for a dozen lifetimes. To enable any cultivator to turn their ‘ordinary’ qi into medicinal qi.

In this way, I could turn what had been a unique advantage granted to me by my Fivefold Medicine Forge Physique into a tool of healing that anyone with enough talent and dedication could wield. A lofty goal, perhaps impossible, but one I was determined to accomplish.

The second goal was much more short term. I planned to achieve it in the next week, in preparation for a sect-wide announcement. I would set the foundations of the Grasping Life Sect and advance my own understanding of healing in one fell swoop, by creating techniques that would allow my disciples to heal regardless of their qi’s affinity.

****

As is often the case, I had to go all the way back to the beginning in order to understand my current problem. Wang Ren had displayed the qi healing technique in front of me on my very first day in this world.

Yet, the Spring and Autumn Sage had claimed it was not ‘true’ healing. Despite that, he had sutured a severed limb and allowed it to function once more. This was a glaring contradiction; an annoyance that had nipped at my feet in dreams for many months.

I had never truly been able to understand why until I comprehended the process of my own healing technique. My discovery was quite sinister, leading me to wonder who created the qi healing technique in the first place. Actually those cultivators who’d called me a demon felt more reasonable now.

Why? Because the qi healing technique didn’t just heal the patient, it drained their innate vital qi to promote the body’s natural healing. This could even go as far as reattaching severed limbs, which wasn’t possible if the body was left to its own devices. This was as true for a Core Forging master as it was for a mortal.

My healing technique, fueled by the medicinal qi of my Fivefold Medicine Forge Physique, instead directly treated the cause of the patient’s woes. If it was a cut, bruise, or severed limb, it regenerated the damaged tissue through its potent energy. In the case of diseases, there was some collateral damage, but it didn’t drain their innate vital qi to cleanse the pathogen causing the disease.

So, what did all this mean for me and my disciples?

It meant everything. With this final piece of the puzzle, obtained thanks to my repetitive treatment of the endless stream of patients that was now drawn to the sect, I could create my first healing techniques that anyone would be able to use, regardless of their qi affinity.

I took a sip of tea, allowing the cultivation mat to replenish my energy before I began. The goal was simple. Two techniques: one for disease and one for physical wounds.

Of course, more complex cases would require individually tailored or more specialised techniques, but that could come later. These two techniques would be the foundation of my healing arts and the beginning of the Grasping Life Sect’s true rise to prominence.

Which to develop first?

I took out a coin from my spatial ring. It was copper, embossed with the Celestial Jade Emperor’s face on one side, and a farmer’s plough on the other. I balanced it on my thumbnail, then flicked it into the air.

It quickly reached the zenith of its flight, where I decided that heads was disease and tails was wounds—the emperor deserved such a title if he truly worked for another realm to enslave this one. The copper coin tumbled head over tails towards my lap. I held out the back of my left hand, allowing the coin to fall onto the pale skin. I barely felt the impact.

Tails.

Well, it would be the easier of the two techniques to develop, so I didn’t mind starting there. Returning the coin to my spatial ring, I took out a smooth slip of jade.

These small, geometrically carved objects were used to store information, by encoding it into one’s qi and then transferring it to the jade. It could then be read an endless number of times, provided the slip was maintained properly, by someone injecting their own qi.

Unfortunately I wasn’t yet ready to create techniques which would work with blood essence, as the vast majority of Body Tempering practitioners could barely sense or manipulate their own. For now, these techniques would be limited to those who could wield qi or rare geniuses—such as Feng Mei.

Essentially these two techniques would use regular qi to mimic my medicinal qi. Rather than draining the patient’s innate vital qi, thus reducing their lifespan, the technique would require a fine manipulation of qi to restore the body to health.

Frankly, I wasn’t sure how many of my disciples would manage, but there were ways to remedy a lack of qi control. Incorporating that into their regular training would suffice.

It was fortunate that my refined heart could produce pure energy, which I could use to replicate ‘ordinary’ qi. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to test the technique I was creating, given that most of my qi was medicinal in nature.

I experimented with this pure qi, forming it into various shapes such as a scalpel, spoon, needle and thread, and more. All were common tools used during medical procedures. For a cultivator with exceptional control over their qi, such crutches weren’t necessary, but it would help the disciples master these techniques.

After around an hour of experimentation as well as disassembling my own healing technique, I had the first version completed. All it needed now was a suitable name. I immediately remembered the ridiculous names many Elders had given their techniques and how much I had grumbled reading their manuals.

I could have taken the petty route, forcing my disciples to suffer as I had, but I was a magnanimous sect leader. Hence, I opted for a simpler name.

Body Restoration Technique.

Clear cut, concise, and to the point. Anyone would know what the technique did at a glance and no confusion would arise. I mentally patted myself on the back.

Before transferring the information about the technique into the jade slip, I closed my eyes and entered my spiritual sea. As I’d progressed into the Foundation Building Realm, this miraculous space had evolved, now allowing me to meditate with greater efficiency under the fragment of my dao.

I reviewed the steps of the technique. First, diagnose the patient—were they bruised, cut, or suffering from blunt force trauma? Was it internal or external? This was the most crucial step, one that required some teaching as well as understanding the technique.

Once you knew what was ailing your patient, it was time to use the technique. External and internal lacerations were easiest: stem the bleeding with a film of qi, then suture the wound with a thread of qi. Regardless of one’s qi affinity, this was achievable with practice. What came next was the tricky part.

The third step required drawing on the patient’s qi or blood essence and blending it with the qi thread. What this did was prevent the technique from dissipating once the person using it retracted their intent.

I knew how to solve that problem thanks to my time in Dancing Lights City. A shiver ran down my spine at the memory of that accursed place, but treating all those curses had advanced my qi control in leaps and bounds.

As for bruises or damage from blunt force, the technique was similar but the application differed. I kept it under the same umbrella of the Body Restoration Technique for beginners, because differentiating them would overcomplicate the learning process.

Anyway, to treat them, one had to use their qi to fix any dislocations or breaks by manually shifting the bones, muscles, or flesh back into place. Once that was done, applying small bursts of qi to the correct nerves and organs would stimulate the body and accelerate the natural healing process ten to twenty times faster.

Of course, no technique was perfect. The patient would need to be provided with a nutrient pill beforehand, to ensure their body didn’t begin to devour itself to provide sufficient energy for the healing. This was not a problem—such pills were cheap and simple to manufacture in large quantities.

It became even less of an issue for cultivators. Their bodies could use blood essence or qi instead of nutrients, meaning all that was required was some extra stimulation on the user of the technique’s part.

Satisfied that my methods were correct and would be usable by any cultivator with a bit of practice, I imprinted the jade slip with the name of the technique and the method to use it. Once that was done, I kept the slip in my spatial ring and took out another.

It was time to move onto the more difficult half of the healing arts—treating diseases and other maladies such as poisoning or necrosis.

For me, the step up in difficulty was barely worth mentioning. However, I knew that for my disciples who had never experienced true healing techniques before, it would be more complex.

The main reason for that was the slight differences between pathogens and the diseases they caused. While a cut was always a cut, no matter the shape, size, or location, and thus could be treated in the same manner, no two diseases were alike.

There were general groupings which could be made—all manner of influenza caused similar symptoms, with minor variations, for example. My internal deliberation on this matter lasted for the time it took to eat a meal, but I had reached a satisfying conclusion that might equal a bite of delicious grilled meat.

I split the second technique into two categories. Viral infections were the first. Bacterial infections, fungal infections, and poisons were grouped together as the second. On Earth this would make any sane doctor cry, but with the power of qi things became simpler.

My reasoning was that viral infections and necrosis either hijacked or directly damaged the body, thus the method to treat them with qi was remarkably similar. The same went for the second category, with the difference being that those maladies all involved foreign organisms causing damage by multiplying or ‘invading’ the patient’s body.

This was a sweeping generalisation. For a man who’d been through almost a decade of training to become a doctor, having to learn thousands of treatments for various infections, it almost felt like a slap in the face. Yet, the power of qi was undisputable. This simplification was not just possible, but necessary.

In any case, the steps for each category were almost the same with some minor variations. For category one—viruses—the healer must use their qi as a blade, destroying any viral cells and ensuring none remained. Once that was done, they would stimulate the body’s natural healing to replace the lost cells. It was concise and straightforward.

The second category involved a similar process, but was more precarious. Directly destroying the pathogens risked causing severe harm to the patient, so caution was essential. Rather than a direct assault, finesse was needed.

To treat the second category of infections, the healer would need to use their qi to separate the bacteria, fungi, or poison into smaller portions. Once accomplished, they would then stimulate the pathogens to drain their energy faster until they turned on one another and were drained. Only then could they be removed and the body restored.

Once I was sure my technique was sufficient, I imprinted the steps into the jade slip. As for the name, it was equally concise as the Body Restoration Technique.

I called it the Disease Purging Technique.

The second technique would likely need many modifications or notes regarding specific infections as time went on and it was used more, but that was to be expected. No treatment was perfect and methods of healing were constantly advancing. That was true on Earth and it would remain true here.

With these two techniques prepared, I was ready to begin the true education of my disciples. I would forge the first generation of healers and establish a legend of my own in this world.

I realised I had spent almost an entire day and night devising the techniques. The sun was creeping over the horizon, golden rays piercing the heavens. I decided to go for a walk around the sect, taking in the early morning atmosphere to rejuvenate myself.

As I prepared to leave, a pale-faced and teary-eyed Feng Mei appeared at my door. She fell to her knees when she saw me, which was when I noticed the blood on her trembling hands.

“Sect Leader, it’s a disaster! You have to come quickly, I–I couldn’t save her.”

<< Chapter 136 | Index | Chapter 138 >>