Chapter 12: Having a Path to Follow Is a Good Thing

"That's not just a drop in the bucket… wait!" Feng Xue's mind snapped into motion instantly; his eyes glowed sharply as he said:

"You mean, after breaking the curse, my lifespan can increase—like through cultivation?"

"Clever!" The "Doctor Lan" smiled, clapping her hands.

"It won't be easy, but if you become a Wudao Sect Grandmaster within nine years, living another sixty or seventy years won't be a problem—how you cultivate is entirely up to you! That's all I'll say; whether you want the curse broken is your choice. I'm leaving!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than, from Feng Xue's over-the-shoulder view, the light radiating from Doctor Lan vanished in an instant, and her previously ethereal eyes instantly turned ordinary.

"Cough, cough!" She cleared her throat twice, then fell silent; those now dull eyes, in Feng Xue's gaze, suddenly wore the clear, naive expression of a college student.

After a brief awkward pause, as if finally finding the right words, Doctor Lan spoke at last:

"The situation is simply this: I called Yuefang Taigu to help you because you were genuinely cursed—I normally treat patients and prescribe medicine using modern medical science!"

"I understand, I understand." Feng Xue offered a polite but awkward smile, then asked:

"How much is the fee?"

"Two rootless curses—two thousand wen. Not because I'm charging you twice, but because if you break them together and the longer one breaks first, you'll lose even more lifespan." Doctor Lan named the price casually; Feng Xue's brow twitched.

After all, wasn't this price… a bit too cheap?

Even though the wen here had two or three times the purchasing power of the yuan in his homeland…

When did curse-breaking become something you could get for a few thousand yuan?

But then Feng Xue realized he'd been thinking wrong: unlike his homeland or the lifespan-depleting world he'd crossed into, here the supernatural was mainstream—in this small county alone, there were three or four openly operating shops; under such conditions, ordinary problems likely wouldn't cost much.

It was like the price difference between a pistol in Huahua and a pistol in Meili.

Without further thought, Feng Xue pulled out two strings of cash and placed them on the table.

"Do I need to fast or bathe or anything?"

"No such formalities. Most of those shamanistic rituals are meaningless gestures—just performed to make people feel we're earning our money the hard way. After all, if you just wave your hand and say 'done,' the payer won't feel reassured, right? Hmm, the money's fine, wait a moment!"

Doctor Lan verified the bills, casually placed a cup over the two notes on the table, then turned to rummage through the herbal medicine cabinets. Despite her delicate appearance, her movements climbing and climbing were astonishingly agile; within seconds, she retrieved a handful of herbs, weighed them precisely on a small scale, clapped her hands together—and the herbs instantly ground into fine powder as if passed through a mill.

"I'll break the shorter curse first—it might be a bit irritating, then just drink plenty of water. Don't hold your breath! And don't inhale deeply—it's not some miraculous elixir!"

As Doctor Lan spoke, she lit a stick of incense to ignite the powder; the smoky herbal scent spread beside the consultation table, and Feng Xue's over-the-shoulder view once again caught the faint, gauze-like glow rising from Doctor Lan.

As she murmured incantations, the glow subtly merged with the smoke, like a gauze robe settling over Feng Xue.

Whether due to psychological effect or not, Feng Xue suddenly felt something quietly vanish—he felt refreshed and invigorated.

"There. Hmph. What kind of cruel, self-damaging curse is this? Who in their right mind would cast something so vile?" Doctor Lan muttered casually, but Feng Xue suspected this was just another part of the trade—after all, it effectively convinced the "patient" she truly understood curses, not just some random shaman performing empty rites.

Just as Doctor Lan tossed the burned herbal ash into a basin to fully extinguish it, Feng Xue, after a moment's thought, suddenly spoke:

"Doctor Lan, if I want to learn to become a Chuma Xian, where should I go?"

"This…" Doctor Lan paused mid-grinding new herbs, then quickly resumed, sweeping the powder into a small mound as she said:

"If you're hoping to cultivate and extend your lifespan this way, I strongly advise you to give it up. Chuma Xian belongs to the shamanic tradition—the focus isn't on the person, but on the ancestral spirits. Without years of devoted worship, even if you master the Cursing Method, it's useless."

"And there's another unspoken issue: Yuefang Taigu has been worshipped by my family for nearly three hundred years—I've grown up with her. A newly summoned ancestral spirit? Forget extending your lifespan—you might even shorten it due to spiritual-physical conflict!"

"I'm not exaggerating. Of all the people I know who first welcomed an ancestral spirit, few lived past forty. Your lifespan is already so short—I'm afraid you won't even make it through training!" Oh, done!"

Doctor Lan's tone had been serious earlier, but the moment she said "Payment due," her hard-won authority vanished again.

But Feng Xue's attention wasn't on that—he wasn't afraid of lifespan loss. With 【Ding Tian Ming】, his lifespan couldn't be reduced by unnatural means. As for ancestral spirits—he held Bai She, who could become one with a single word. Perfectly equipped!

As for the martial cultivation Yuefang Taigu mentioned…

Please. Even this body was already over twenty. With no Cultivation Technique, no master, no connections—become a Wudao Sect Grandmaster in nine years? Even a low-tier novel wouldn't dare write such a plot!

He didn't even know how martial cultivation worked in this world!

Unwilling to give up, Feng Xue took a breath. Though this doctor girl didn't seem to care much for money, he still pulled a gold bar from the inner pocket of his coat and placed it on the table.

Seeing the gold bar, Doctor Lan—who had just been putting the money into the drawer—shook her head immediately:

"I already told you—it's not about money, it's your lifespan! Xuan cultivation relies on nourishing the soul with vital energy. In your condition, you'd die before your soul could ever return the favor! As Yuefang Taigu said: train in martial arts—even if you don't become a Grandmaster, you'll live two more years. Don't take this dead-end path!"

Seeing Doctor Lan's firm stance, Feng Xue could only sigh—but he felt no despair. In fact, he felt full of hope.

After all, this world wasn't the only place with a "divine" practitioner.

He tucked the gold bar back against his skin, stood, and bowed slightly:

"Then I'll take my leave. Thank you, Doctor Lan, for saving me. We'll meet again."

"No need, no need—it's just normal doctor-patient relations."

Here, Doctor Lan suddenly grew serious:

"By the way—if anyone asks, remember to say you came for medical treatment! Understood?!"

(End of Chapter)