Chapter 6: Creating Air from Nothing, the Oxygen Machine Shocks the Ancients

The little girl held a large white goose, her gaze fixed on the tablet computer.

In less than five minutes, a sudden change erupted.

"Cough... hiss—"

Her small mouth opened slightly, and a sound of extremely strained gasping was pulled from deep in her throat.

The little girl released the white goose, and her hands instinctively clawed at her collar, tearing at it with force.

Her pale face turned red at a speed visible to the naked eye, then took on a cyanotic, oxygen-deprived purple hue.

Lin Xuan threw down the water cup and strode one step to the bedside.

He gripped the little girl's wrist, stopping her from scratching her own neck.

His left hand reached for her carotid artery while his right ear pressed close to her chest.

Her heart rate skyrocketed, and obvious wheezing sounds came from her lungs.

Respiratory spasm; airflow was blocked.

A record of the medical history of the Tang Taizong family flashed through Lin Xuan's mind.

Li Shimin's Zhangsun Huanghou died of qi disease, Changle Gongzhu died of qi disease, and Jinyang Princess Xiao Sizi also died of qi disease.

The so-called qi disease was severe asthma with a strong tendency for family inheritance.

The recent high fever, fright, and violent emotional ups and downs had completely triggered the illness.

She could not lie flat.

Lin Xuan exerted force with his arm, scooped up the little girl's back, and placed her in a sitting position.

He pulled two pillows to prop behind her, making her lean forward, supporting herself with her hands on the bed to keep her airway open to the maximum extent.

"Open your mouth, breathe in through your mouth." Lin Xuan pressed both hands on her shoulders, steadying her swaying body, "Don't be afraid, I am here."

The little girl opened her mouth wide, like a dehydrated fish, desperately swallowing air.

But the trachea had constricted; the air simply could not enter the alveoli.

There was no Salbutamol Aerosol kept at home, nor was there an oxygen tank.

Lin Xuan pulled out his Mobile Phone with one hand and tapped open the same-city express delivery channel on the food delivery software.

Search, place order.

A three-liter capacity portable medical oxygen concentrator, and a standing air purifier.

He added two hundred yuan and selected the highest-tier dedicated delivery service.

Putting down the Mobile Phone, he grabbed a towel, wet it with warm water, and continuously wiped the cold sweat that had formed on the little girl's forehead.

Great Tang, Taiji Palace.

Li Shimin had just sat back on the dragon throne when his gaze touched the Sky Screen, and his whole body shuddered violently.

"Sizi!"

Zhangsun Huanghou pushed aside the palace maids and stumbled forward to the white jade railing.

She was too familiar with that sound.

Every time autumn and winter alternated, or when emotions ran high, that wheezing sound, like a broken bellows, would echo in her chest.

This was an incurable disease that slowly suffocated the living to death.

The Imperial Physicians were helpless; they could only use potent medicinal herbs to forcibly sustain life.

"Imperial Physician!" Li Shimin's eyes were bloodshot as he turned and roared, "Did you not say that man in strange clothes understood medicine? Why does he not administer aid!"

Sun Simiao knelt on the ground, looking up at the Sky Screen with his hands tightly clenched.

"Your Majesty, that man just used a glowing Magic Artifact; it seems he was seeking help from the outside world."

Sun Simiao understood Lin Xuan's action of pressing the Mobile Phone. "When qi disease strikes, it cannot be instantly suppressed by needles, stones, or herbs."

"This old subject... this old subject is also powerless to turn back the heavens!"

Great Han, Weiyang Palace.

Liu Che frowned, watching the little girl struggling in pain within the image.

"This girl has asthma." Liu Che waved his hand to summon the Imperial Physician. "Look, that person from the later generations can cure fevers; does he have a method for this asthma?"

The Imperial Physician prostrated himself on the ground and kowtowed: "Your Majesty, from ancient times to the present, asthma is always an incurable disease; there is no medicine to cure it."

Just as the emperors and healers of past generations held their breath in suspense.

Inside the modern apartment.

Ding-dong—!

The piercing doorbell sound penetrated the security door.

Only fifteen minutes had passed since the order was placed.

Outside the door stood a man wearing a bright yellow windbreaker.

On his head was a yellow safety helmet, with a black square dashcam flashing red light fixed to the top.

"Last four digits 0852? Your medical equipment, express delivery." The delivery driver pushed the box into the entryway.

"Thanks, brother." Lin Xuan lifted the box.

The delivery driver turned and went downstairs.

In the night outside the corridor, a yellow-and-white two-wheeled electric scooter was parked.

The man mounted the vehicle and twisted the handlebar grip.

The electric scooter made no roaring sound; it shot into the street traffic like an arrow leaving the string.

Outside the Sky Screen, the ministers erupted in uproar.

"Who is this holy figure in yellow?" The Great Tang Minister of War widened his eyes, pointing at the departing electric scooter. "Without horse or ox, relying only on two iron wheels, it can be as fast as a galloping steed!"

"The iron helmet on his head, those flickering red eyes—could they be the Third Eye of the Heavenly Palace?"

"Could it be the legendary Erlang Shen Jun?!"

The ancients felt an extremely primitive awe toward the terrifying modern urban logistics system.

Inside the master bedroom.

Lin Xuan used a utility knife to slice open the cardboard box tape.

He tore off the shock-absorbing foam, pulling out a pure white square machine and a cylindrical air purifier.

He plugged them into the power source.

He pressed the switch on the purifier; the indicator light lit up, the fan began to run at full speed, filtering dust and mites from the room.

Next, he tore open the accessory pack for the oxygen concentrator.

"The air quality is terrible today," Lin Xuan muttered habitually while operating the device, "PM2.5 exceeds the limit; nitrogen makes up seventy-eight percent of the air, oxygen only twenty-one percent."

"Your airways are narrowed now, your alveolar exchange function is declining; breathing this mixed gas is completely useless."

He unscrewed the transparent humidification bottle on the side of the machine, poured in more than half a bottle of purified water, and screwed it back on tightly.

"I need to separate the oxygen and increase its concentration."

He pressed the start button on the oxygen concentrator.

Vroom—!

The compressor inside the machine began to work.

The molecular sieve operated, forcibly filtering out the nitrogen from the air.

The purified water in the humidification bottle instantly began to boil, sending up strings of dense bubbles.

Great Tang, Bureau of Astronomy.

Director Li Chunfeng stood stunned.

Behind him, dozens of astrologers and Daoist adepts all had their mouths agape, staring like wooden chickens.

"He... what did he just say?" Li Chunfeng trembled all over, grabbing the sleeve of a nearby official, "Nitrogen? Oxygen? The 'Qi' that the world provides for breathing—isn't it the undifferentiated Taiji Hunyuan Qi?"

"Director, he said Qi is a mixture of different things!" the official stammered in reply.

"It can be separated... he can actually disassemble and purify 'Qi'!"

Li Chunfeng suddenly looked up, staring dead at the bubbling transparent bottle in the Sky Screen.

For thousands of years, ancient philosophy was built upon the "Theory of Qi Monism."

Qi gathers to form shapes; Qi disperses to become wind.

But the few chemical data points Lin Xuan casually recited, combined with the machine operating right before their eyes, directly smashed the ancient philosophical edifice to pieces.

Li Chunfeng laughed like a madman, "Qi is actually a physical object! It is a physical object that can be refined by vessels!"

"The Dao follows nature... this is the Great Dao!"

In the image.

Lin Xuan unpacked a transparent silicone oxygen tube.

He connected one end to the outlet of the humidification bottle.

At the other end, two tiny split probes were gently inserted into the little girl's two nostrils.

He looped the tube around her ear and tightened it to secure it under her chin.

Lin Xuan turned the knob on the machine's panel.

"Adjust the flow to two liters, concentration ninety-three percent."

The purified, humidified high-concentration medical oxygen flowed steadily through the silicone tube, rushing into the little girl's nasal cavity and straight to her lungs.

Lin Xuan held the little girl's hand while gesturing with his other hand in the air.

"Watch my hand, inhale... slowly..."

The little girl's chest expanded in rhythm with his.

"Exhale..." Lin Xuan pressed his palm downward.

The rich, mellow oxygen filled the oxygen deficiency in her blood.

In just two minutes, the wheezing sound in the little girl's throat began to weaken.

Her cyanotic lips regained a hint of ruddiness.

Her tense shoulders slumped, and she leaned against the pillow as if completely drained of strength.

"Lin... Lin Xuan." The little girl no longer called him a barbarian; her voice was weak, carrying a trace of relief after surviving disaster, "This Qi... is sweet."

Lin Xuan twitched the corner of his mouth and reached out to smooth her sweat-dampened hair.

"Inhaling high-purity oxygen does indeed feel a bit sweet and clear."

Outside the Sky Screen.

On the white jade steps of Taiji Palace in Great Tang.

Li Shimin remained silent for a long time.

In the early summer of Chang'an, the night wind swept up dust between the wards and markets.

In the distance, the wood and coal smoke used by countless households for heating and cooking condensed into a layer of gray mist above the city.

"Poor air quality..." Li Shimin repeated Lin Xuan's words, his expression turning cold and hard.

He turned around and looked at the Minister of Works.

Li Shimin pointed at the gloom in the sky, "This is Chang'an under your governance."

"Even people from future generations say this turbid Qi harms the lungs!"

"Sizi's asthma attacks so frequently within Taiji Palace is precisely because of this smoke and dust filling the entire city!"

The Minister of Works fell to his knees in terror: "Your Majesty, calm your rage!"

Li Shimin, radiating killing intent, declared, "Tomorrow at the morning court, present me with a plan."

"All one hundred and eight wards of Chang'an—smoke emissions, sewage discharge, and construction dust—investigate and rectify them thoroughly for me!"

"If I see this murky air again, I will first cut off your head!"

"Your subject obeys the decree!" The Minister of Works was drenched in sweat.

The Han Dynasty timeline.

Liu Che, his eyes burning with fervor, drew his long sword and pointed it at the Head of the Imperial Household.

"Strip away the filth from heaven and earth, taking only the purest Immortal Qi for people to inhale."

"Do you see that square box? Do you see that transparent water bottle and those tubes?"

The Head of the Imperial Household prostrated himself on the ground, nodding frantically: "Your subject sees it! Your subject has already ordered the painters to sketch every detail of its appearance!"

"Not only sketch it!" Liu Che slashed his sword, severing a nearby bronze lamp stand. "Commit all the skilled craftsmen of the Imperial Household to dissect its principle for me!"

"Even if it must be cast in bronze or forged from Glazed Ware, you must replicate this 'Qi-Generating Divine Machine' for me!"