Chapter 165: Origin Trial: Tempering the Heart and Spirit

The ground was full of groaning patients, their bodies covered with all kinds of strange sores and malignant diseases that were merely a passing note in her inherited memories—a shocking sight.

Wails, coughs, and despairing sobs merged into a din, making people's hearts vexed and chaotic.

She instinctively tried to mobilize her Profound Yin Internal Force to examine and treat, but found the patients far too many and the maladies myriad; each diagnosis and rescue attempt felt like a tug-of-war with the Grim Reaper, draining her mental strength enormously.

Her strength seemed utterly insignificant here.

With great effort she focused her spirit, using exquisite technique combined with internal force, barely stabilizing the life of an old man whose breath was faint and who seemed about to expire.

Just as the old man steadied his breath, his cloudy eyes rolled, and taking advantage of the moment she turned to check the next patient, his withered hand shot out like lightning to grab the medicine pouch and needle case hanging at her waist.

That gaze, filled with greed and cunning, was like a cold venomous snake that fiercely stabbed her.

A chill mixed with an indescribable nausea surged into Lin Xue's heart, threatening to disrupt the Profound Yin Internal Force she had just barely steadied.

At that moment, the half of the jade pendant she held exuded a thread of extremely faint coolness, which quietly flowed along her meridians into her heart field, forcibly suppressing the surging emotions.

"Hold fast to your original heart……a healer's benevolent heart, not for reward……" a faint voice echoed deep in her consciousness, carrying ancient vicissitudes and weariness.

On Zhang Jun's side, forced by the dilemma, his eye sockets reddened, nearly driving him mad.

He wanted to roar, to smash, to tear this damned illusion to shreds.

The half of the jade pendant on his chest transmitted a steady warmth, like a calm, strong hand lightly pressing his agitated pulse, causing his wildly beating heart to slow just a bit.

"The meaning of power……lies in protection……not destruction……master it, ride it……" the voice returned, carrying a tone of patient guidance.

He gritted his teeth, shut his eyes tight, and forced himself not to look or listen to those horrors and pleas.

His inner Pure Yang Energy still surged like a volcano about to erupt, but he no longer let it rampage indiscriminately; instead he began, with great effort, to guide, condense, and compress it, seeking a subtle line where he could unleash its power to save people without igniting himself and his surroundings.

This process was more exhausting than fighting to the death with Zhou Qian, that old bastard!

The environment kept shifting.

One moment it threatened the life of someone he cared most about to force him to abandon a principle.

The next moment it presented a cruel choice: sacrifice few to save many, or, to save lives, resort to forbidden techniques that might harm himself.

Each choice felt like a heavy hammer ruthlessly striking his character.

Lin Xue's side was no better; the patients she encountered grew stranger and their conditions more complex, testing the limits of her medical skill and patience.

Human hearts also grew ever more treacherous.

Some feigned illness to cheat medicine, some acted out of jealousy behind the scenes, and even some she had saved turned around to slander her.

Each response deepened her understanding of the word "medicine" by another layer, and made it feel heavier.

When both felt they could barely hold on, their spirits about to be worn down, the Yin Yang Jade Pendant in their hands would timely transmit a hint of the other's aura.

Sometimes a fleeting warmth, sometimes a wisp of cool chill.

It was faint, yet seemed to say silently, "Hold on, you are not alone."

In this repeated torment and trial, Zhang Jun's rash, reckless vigor unknowingly retracted considerably.

He began to learn finer control of his power, no longer blindly pursuing brute force, but seeking the most effort-effective points of force and rescue methods.

The ferocity in his eyes lessened, replaced by a weighty sense of responsibility.

Lin Xue remained cool, but when facing those ugly hearts and endless suffering, the deep-seated dislike and detachment in her eyes gradually gave way to a more complex, compassionate feeling.

Whether to save, how to save, now seemed to involve considerations beyond mere medical technique.

The Profound Yin Energy flowing from her fingertips also seemed to gain a measure of ineffable resilience and vitality.

When their spirits were nearly at the breaking point, feeling they could barely hold on, a gender‑indistinct, sticky voice with strange allure quietly sounded in their minds.

"Look at what you've saved——" the voice sneered at Lin Xue, "Human hearts are utterly corrupt, not worth saving! What use is superb medical skill? Better join us, control their cycle of life and death, let them crawl like dogs at your feet—wouldn't that be delightful?"

"Kid, tired?" the voice then turned to Zhang Jun, temptingly, "What's the point of guarding these fleeting ants? Your strength should be used to shatter all rules and bonds! Come to my side, I'll give you tenfold, a hundredfold power—under the vast heavens, you may gratify grudges as you wish; whoever dares block you, I'll have you kill them."

"Medicine Demon……" the warning of Guardian One True Person on his deathbed exploded like a bell in their hearts.

"Go fuck your mother's egg!" Zhang Jun cursed in his heart, his will firm, without the slightest waver.

"Different paths, no plot together." Lin Xue's reply was icy as ever, decisive and unyielding.

That voice seemed utterly unprepared for such a blunt refusal, obviously choked for a moment, then let out a sharp, offended‑sounding hiss.

"Foolish……short‑sighted……you will regret……"

Before the words faded, that sinister, evil aura vanished like an ebbing tide.

With their firm refusal, the surrounding hyper‑realistic illusions, like snowflakes in sunlight, rapidly melted and peeled away.

The nearby clamor, wails, and stench vanished instantly without a trace.

Still the same bluish‑black round stone chamber, three futons on the floor, the ashes left by Guardian One True Person's sitting transformation not yet fully settled.

The only difference was a fist‑sized "Medical Heart Origin" light sphere hovering in mid‑air.

Its light now was no longer mysterious, but radiated a hard‑to‑describe warmth and intimacy, like watching one's own promising junior, filled with gratification.

The light sphere swayed gently, and a clear thought of approval and complete acceptance streamed directly into their consciousness.

The trial, passed!

Immediately, the light sphere condensing the source of the medical way and endless mysteries of life, no longer suspended high, but actively and gently, as if drawn by an invisible hand, drifted slowly toward Zhang Jun and Lin Xue.

True fortune, is coming!

At the instant the thought descended, Zhang Jun's mind exploded with a boom, the stone‑room scene before his eyes shattered and was instantly overturned.

The feeling underfoot changed—no longer hard, cold bluish‑black jade stone, but sticky, warm mud with a strong smell of iron rust.

Around them was no longer an empty stone chamber; corpses piled like mountains, severed limbs scattered everywhere, covering every inch of ground within sight.