Chapter 434

Zhang Zhongyi dispersed the miscellaneous people.

Soon, only he, Zhang Zhongyi, Ning Zhuo, and Sun Lingtong remained in this tent.

Zhang Zhongyi began to select herbs.

Surrounding the circular tent were medicine cabinets covering more than half the circle.

The grade of these medicine cabinets had reached the level of magic treasures, possessing the powerful ability to store specific herbs.

Zhang Zhongyi was extremely familiar with these medicine cabinets and quickly selected the herbs he wanted to seek from hundreds or thousands of drawers.

They were Raw Earth Vine, Rock-Breaking Grass, Fire Spirit Flower, Thousand-Year Bitter Wood Root, and Dragon Scale Vine.

Raw Earth Vine was yellowish-brown throughout, buried deep in the earth, warm in nature, and could soften stone layers, turning them into soil.

Rock-Breaking Grass often grew alongside Raw Earth Vine; as the name suggests, its grass leaves were as sharp as swords, and when they grew, they could break through rocks.

Fire Spirit Flower absorbed fire-element spiritual energy; after blooming, it would self-immolate, and the ashes would fall to the ground, turning into nutrients for the next year's growth and blooming.

Thousand-Year Bitter Wood Root was extremely cold in nature, but deep inside it contained a trace of tenacious vitality, making it a classic medicine for countering petrification.

The surface of the Dragon Scale Vine looked as if it had layers of dragon scales; the dragon scales were very dense, covering the entire vine. It possessed a strong breathing ability and was relatively common in ancient stone mines, capable of purifying the air.

The processing method for each herb was different.

Zhang Zhongyi soaked the Raw Earth Vine, Rock-Breaking Grass, and Fire Spirit Flower in water, chopped the Thousand-Year Bitter Wood Root, and ground it into fragments with a mortar and pestle.

As for the Dragon Scale Vine, he pinched finger seals and used fire refining to burn away the vine core, burning off the dragon scales one by one and collecting them all.

Finally, Zhang Zhongyi accurately weighed these herbs and performed alternating soaking and mixing.

He stopped from time to time to use spells to check, and if he found that some amounts were insufficient, he would add some corresponding herbs.

Finally, he activated the Hundred Herbs Harmonization Technique, used specific magic power to mix them in, and eventually produced a basin of medicinal juice.

The medicinal juice was thick, yellowish-brown in color, with dots of green light floating on the surface.

Although it looked bad, the medicinal juice was very hot, emitting heat and a strong, strange earthy fragrance.

Zhang Zhongyi succeeded in making it and immediately called Sun Lingtong to come forward.

Sun Lingtong walked in front of Zhang Zhongyi, who immediately mobilized his spiritual sense to take the medicine and evenly applied the juice to Sun Lingtong's petrified arm.

The medicinal power was strong, rapidly spreading and penetrating, softening the petrified outer layer, causing the stone skin to wrinkle and crack.

Zhang Zhongyi took out a bag of silver needles.

He took out a thin, long silver needle from it, held it in his hand, but remained motionless for a long time.

It was not until he observed that the stone skin had softened to a certain degree that he inserted the silver needle into Sun Lingtong's arm.

His hand speed was seemingly slow but actually fast, very steady.

After a dozen breaths, he had inserted hundreds of silver needles into Sun Lingtong's petrified arm.

Zhang Zhongyi pinched finger seals and channeled his magic power.

The tails of the silver needles all trembled slightly, condensing a faint silver light.

These silver lights pulled out threads, continuously rising and floating into the air, drifting toward Ning Zhuo.

Zhang Zhongyi instructed: "Little friend Ning Zhuo, just expose your wrists."

Ning Zhuo did as instructed.

These silver light threads were as light as nothing, wrapping around Ning Zhuo's wrists.

Zhang Zhongyi continued: "Little friend Ning Zhuo, in a moment I will withdraw my magic power, and you must immediately take over for me, infusing magic power along the silver threads to reach the silver needles, and then use the silver needles to continuously sense the Dao and principles within the petrified arm."

"I am not an Earth-element master; this step can only rely on yourself."

"Whether you can comprehend the principles within is the most critical part."

Ning Zhuo's face was full of seriousness. After taking a deep breath, he slowly infused his magic power.

Once the magic power reached the silver needles, it immediately gave him a vague sense.

He closed his eyes, and at this moment, his consciousness seemed to sink deep into the earth.

"I felt it!"

Almost instantly, he comprehended the Earth-element principles within.

Those were principles related to condensation and imprisonment, and also some aspects of nourishment and storage mixed in.

Zhang Zhongyi silently calculated the time, unable to help but show worry in his eyes.

He saw that on Sun Lingtong's petrified arm, the medicinal juice had gradually hardened, and even the roots of the silver needles had a layer of gray stone skin.

Zhang Zhongyi's heart sank slightly: "Where exactly did this little doll suffer the Dao injury? The injury is deep inside, much more serious than it looks on the surface."

"Must be fast!" Zhang Zhongyi could not help but become anxious.

He looked at Ning Zhuo.

"The injury is more serious than imagined; you only have half a stick of incense's time."

Zhang Zhongyi dared not disturb Ning Zhuo and could only shout in his heart.

But the next moment, Ning Zhuo suddenly opened his eyes: "Lord Zhang, I have comprehended the principles within; what is the next step?"

Zhang Zhongyi:?!

No, isn't this a bit too fast?

Zhang Zhongyi was incredulous: "Little friend Ning Zhuo, this cannot be taken lightly. You must know that such an opportunity, if missed this time, the next time we want to reach the same level, we would have to change the herb formula, pay a greater price, and the time for comprehension would be further shortened."

Ning Zhuo nodded, smiling: "Senior Zhang, how could I joke with my friend's life? It is indeed the case that I have comprehended all the principles."

Zhang Zhongyi was skeptical.

Sun Lingtong laughed: "I trust Ning Zhuo, Senior Zhang, let's proceed to the next step."

He knew many inside stories and understood that Ning Zhuo's Five Elements realm was not just as simple as a master level.

Therefore, it was reasonable for Ning Zhuo to be able to penetrate the principles within in a very short time.

"Alright." Seeing that both were full of confidence, Zhang Zhongyi chose to believe for the time being.

Zhang Zhongyi began to pack up the silver needles, herbs, and so on.

Sun Lingtong sat to the side, calming his mind and actively adjusting his state.

Ning Zhuo closed his eyes, brewing in his heart, continuously conceiving the targeted technique.

His realm was profound, and conceiving these spells was very easy, as simple as moving his hands and feet.

Soon, he opened his eyes and said to Zhang Zhongyi: "I have thought of it."

Zhang Zhongyi had not finished packing the herbs yet. He smiled: "Little friend Ning Zhuo has remarkable talent, conceiving one so quickly."

"But this old man is not an Earth-element master; next, we need to use spells to conceive auxiliary treatment methods."

"Therefore, naturally, the more spells conceived, the better I can understand the situation, and the auxiliary methods conceived will be more reasonable."

Ning Zhuo was stunned for a moment. He initially wanted to hide his talent a bit, but after glancing at Sun Lingtong, he decided to tell the truth: "Lord Zhang, are three spells enough?"

Zhang Zhongyi smiled: "Three spells are enough. Actually, two are barely enough."

Ning Zhuo laughed: "That's fine, I have already thought of three."

Zhang Zhongyi: "Hmm?"

Ning Zhuo then took out a blank jade slip and recorded these three spells in it.

After Zhang Zhongyi looked at the jade slip, he couldn't help but look up at Ning Zhuo again, feeling suspicious in his heart: "These three techniques are really quite something. But what's going on with this kid Ning Zhuo? If these spells can all work, then his Earth-element realm seems very unusual!"

He studied them carefully and found that these three spells solved petrification from three angles, with clever conception that made people want to applaud.

The first technique used heart blood as the source, repairing from bones, meridians, and flesh in sequence.

The second technique used petrification against petrification, making the petrification even more severe, and after exceeding the limit, it would collapse on its own, turning from stone to sand.

The third technique used magic power to penetrate Sun Lingtong's petrified arm, using magic power to influence and dredge, always maintaining balance, continuously removing stone skin, and continuously treating itself. It was as if continuously pouring clear water into a basin of muddy water, and continuously leaking, eventually reaching the degree of healing.

Zhang Zhongyi pondered for a long time, conceived three auxiliary methods, and also recorded them in a jade slip with his spiritual sense, handing it to Ning Zhuo for inspection.

Ning Zhuo read the jade slip and immediately became immersed in it.

The first auxiliary therapy used Rotten Astragalus, Silver Gentian Grass, Mountain Chuanxiong, and Golden Ginseng as the main formula. Rotten Astragalus could strengthen the body, Silver Gentian Grass cleared heat and detoxified, Mountain Chuanxiong activated blood and removed stasis, and Golden Ginseng greatly supplemented vitality, which could be called a combination of treatment and nourishment.

The second auxiliary therapy used Gold-Silver Starlight Flower, Divine Eagle Goji, Fire Citrus Peel, and Night Angelica to create pills, which had to be taken internally and used externally at the same time.

The third therapy used acupuncture, mainly pricking the Elbow Liao acupoint to relieve petrification pressure and increase blood flow. Secondarily pricking the Shoulder Well acupoint and Hundred Meetings acupoint to relax flesh and regulate the body's qi and blood.

These three auxiliary therapies made Ning Zhuo very satisfied, and he praised them: "As expected of a Royal Physician. They complement my three spells, and the coordination is perfect."

Zhang Zhongyi shook his head and stated the drawbacks of the three therapies respectively.

The first required long-term medication, which would lead to the accumulation of medicinal properties, requiring more time to resolve the residual medicinal power in the future.

Although the second had the fastest effect, the effect of the pills varied from person to person, which could likely lead to muscle atrophy.

The third used acupuncture combined with qi meridians; although it was moderate and steady, frequent needling put a lot of pressure on the body, and if there was any mistake, it could lead to poor meridian flow in the future.

Hearing this, Ning Zhuo fell into silence.

He was worried about Sun Lingtong and naturally wanted to do his best to treat his own boss's injury.

All three therapies had drawbacks and risks. If it were Ning Zhuo himself, he wouldn't care. But for Sun Lingtong, he wanted to do his best to minimize the risks and drawbacks.

Sun Lingtong understood Ning Zhuo quite well: "Little Zhuo, it's not a big deal. Even if there are some residual illnesses, it's still better than my current awkward state."

"Hurry up and treat it; I've been feeling very uncomfortable lately."

Zhang Zhongyi also said: "I have also treated Dao injuries three times. The spells designed by little friend Ning Zhuo are already excellent enough to be surprising."

"According to my experience, it is almost impossible to improve to another level in a short time."

"Realm is not something that can be achieved overnight."

Ning Zhuo sighed and thought: "Isn't my Five Elements realm shaped in an instant?"

"Forget it."

He was sure that he had indeed tried his best and racked his brains when designing the spells just now, and he couldn't design better ones in a short time.

Next, Ning Zhuo and Zhang Zhongyi discussed which treatment plan to adopt.

According to Sun Lingtong's impatient personality, he naturally chose the second one.

Ning Zhuo rejected him directly.

Although the second one was fast, the sequelae were huge.

Zhang Zhongyi admitted: He had a unique advantage in herb preparation because his cultivation technique was the Hundred Herbs Harmonization Technique. He could not guarantee the level of the entire treatment in acupuncture, and being older, he was likely to make mistakes.

Finally, Ning Zhuo and Zhang Zhongyi settled on the first therapy.

Next, they encountered difficulties.

Ning Zhuo practiced the first spell continuously but could not reach Zhang Zhongyi's standard for a long time.

Sun Lingtong laughed: "Little Zhuo, although your realm is profound, you spend too little time practicing spells every day. Even if you can conceive exquisite spells, if you really want to perform them yourself, you are high-minded but low-skilled, unable to reach the level of subtle control."

Zhang Zhongyi sighed: "Little friend Ning Zhuo, a genius like you should be heavily protected and practice skills hard in the family. Your Ning family let you out to travel everywhere; their hearts are too big."

Ning Zhuo humbled himself a few words and suddenly had an inspiration.

"I can't control it myself, but I can rely on the Five Elements Qi Law to precisely control the amount of magic power. I will design two more spells, one fire-element and one wood-element, to constrain the effect of the Earth-element spell."

"Fire generates Earth, Wood overcomes Earth."

"Through the relationship of generation and overcoming, I will finally plan the Earth-element spell in detail."

Thinking of this, Ning Zhuo waved his hand: "Wait, I have a good idea."

How to put it?

A profound Five Elements realm is just that willful!

The two spells designed, although neither could be precisely controlled, were like a ruler, limiting the performance of the Earth-element spell.

Zhang Zhongyi witnessed Ning Zhuo conceiving two brand-new spells and was shocked, blurting out: "You are also a master of Fire and Wood elements?"

"Could it be that you possess the talent of Scorched Earth Transformation or the three-element destiny of Wood, Fire, and Earth?"

Ning Zhuo chose to hide a part of the truth: "I do have talent, it's just that it hasn't been calculated."

Zhang Zhongyi took a deep breath, looked Ning Zhuo up and down, and clicked his tongue for a while.

Ning Zhuo used three spells, and Zhang Zhongyi prepared herbs, working both ways to quickly restore Sun Lingtong's left arm.

Sensation returned, and Sun Lingtong gripped his left hand, full of joy.

Suddenly, his heart shook, and he noticed something.

Seeing that Ning Zhuo was about to cast a spell on his right arm, Sun Lingtong hurriedly jumped back a step to avoid it.

"Wait, wait," he shouted.

"Boss, is there any discomfort?" Ning Zhuo's heart tightened immediately.

Sun Lingtong laughed, raised his left hand, and showed off: "Look, look, did you notice any difference?"

Ning Zhuo's spiritual sense covered it, and his expression changed slightly: "Boss, the technique you practice mainly focuses on the Divine Sea, only taking care of the other two dantians."

"But now, the strength of the flesh and bones of your left hand far exceeds before, and there is a significant difference from other parts of your body. Why is this?"

Sun Lingtong winked at Ning Zhuo: "Little Zhuo, do you still remember the technique you accidentally obtained recently?"

Ning Zhuo was slightly stunned, and a book title immediately appeared in his mind—"Heaven-Born Earth-Nurtured Fetal Breathing Great Technique"!

He became more and more curious.

Sun Lingtong changed to voice transmission this time, telling Ning Zhuo the details: "I had nothing to do in the Mechanism Wandering Dragon, so I have been comprehending the 'Heaven-Born Earth-Nurtured Fetal Breathing Great Technique' and gradually gained a lot of insights."

"Suddenly one day I thought that maybe I could rely on this method to alleviate my injury. After all, increasing the flesh can also provide more defensive ability."

"So, I lay into the Fetal Breathing Spirit Boat and let my whole person enter the state of fetal breathing."

"Unexpectedly, after the stone skin was destroyed, the flesh attainment of my left hand far exceeded other parts of my body. You say, can I use this illness to practice my flesh?"

"Boss, you..." Ning Zhuo was speechless.

However, Ning Zhuo was used to it.

Sun Lingtong was like this, always having many strange ideas.

Ning Zhuo carefully checked Sun Lingtong's left arm and briefly explained the cultivation conception to Zhang Zhongyi.

Zhang Zhongyi stroked his beard and smiled: "There are actually many examples of using one's own illness to practice."

"For example, the Blood Shadow Cave Master of the Six Caves Sect has suffered from blood poison since childhood. By practicing demonic techniques, his cultivation has instead climbed rapidly."

"Another example is Young Master Shengxu; he is physically weak and sick, with congenital weakness in his five internal organs, even incomplete, which instead formed a weak qi cave, attracting everything external."

"There are also some techniques, such as the Diamond Indestructible Technique, which requires constantly beating oneself to create damage, thereby allowing the flesh to continuously repair itself, making the flesh stronger and stronger."

"If the situation is really as little friend Sun said, then there is really no need to rush to cure it."

Sun Lingtong laughed: "Sure enough, I have gained from misfortune. Little Zhuo, you can also try it; the feeling of being petrified is very unique."

Ning Zhuo's heart was moved.