The Healer Demands Payment!

“If Senior Lin Yan could really capture all the cultivators outside the forest, there would be no need for you to go to such great lengths by using Sister Xue and the others as bait to lure us here.” Meng Qi said calmly.

“Hmph.” Lin Yan tilted her head slightly, “You still call me senior?”

Meng Qi cupped her hands together and gave a deep bow, “Senior is a legendary medical cultivator of the Profound Realm. In the past, you even sacrificed your cultivation to save others, resulting in a fall from the Void Comprehending stage and a stagnated cultivation afterward. You have always been someone I admire.”

“What’s more…” She paused, “In the Grand Tournament barrier in the Apricot forest, I obtained the Five Spirit Cauldron and the medical notes from Senior. No matter what, Senior Lin Yan will always be a predecessor I revered.”

“Meng Qiqi,” Lin Yan stared at Meng Qi for a moment, “You’ve guessed it right. The main array here is the Heavenly Purgatory Array.”

Meng Qi’s heart stirred, “The medical notes recorded that there is a legendary array that combines many rare spiritual treasures and medicinal materials to revive a fallen cultivator. However, no one has ever really achieved it.”

“Meng Qi, you are also a medical cultivator,” Lin Yan didn’t dwell on that topic and continued, “Have you ever thought about the Dao of medical cultivation?”

Meng Qi was stunned.

Without waiting for her response, Lin Yan continued, “A healer should possess compassion and benevolence. In the eyes of medical cultivators, the lives of all beings are equal, without considering their status or worthiness. When I first became my master’s disciple, this is his first teaching to me.”

Meng Qi remained silent.

“However, is there truly a person in this world completely devoid of self-interest? Cultivators strive to cultivate their hearts, but achieving absolute selflessness is impossible,” Lin Yan glanced at her, “After demon cultivators reach the Spirit Severing stage, they rely on their primordial spirit for assistance. Sword cultivators and spell cultivators, upon reaching the same level, also separate a strand of their spiritual sense, merging it into their natal weapon to achieve a true connection, enabling their combat prowess to advance by leaps and bounds. As for medical cultivators…”

Lin Yan smirked, “Only after we reach the Spirit Severing stage do we truly embark on the path of medical cultivation. The path of medical cultivation demands honesty, compassion, and benevolence. The dark side within our hearts is forcibly separated but not eradicated. It lies dormant within our spiritual sea. As we progress, they progress alongside us. That is the transformation medical cultivators must undergo. From the Spirit Severing stage onward, every time we undergo tribulation, we also must also resist the inner demons within ourselves. Are you aware of this?”

Meng Qi nodded slowly. “I’ve heard of it.”

“That’s why the tribulations faced by medical cultivators in ancient times were often more dangerous than those of sword cultivators and spell cultivators. I’ve heard that later medical cultivators no longer experienced such tribulations?”

“Yes,” Meng Qi nodded, “Over thousands of years, the legacy of medical cultivation nearly perished multiple times, and the method of dividing one’s spiritual consciousness was also lost.”

“Heh…” Lin Yan chuckled lightly, “No wonder there is no longer a Profound-grade medical cultivator in this world.”

Meng Qi remained silent. She understood what Lin Yan implied. Tens of thousands of years ago, medical cultivators were not inferior to sword cultivators and spell cultivators, and one reason was precisely what Lin Yan had just mentioned — the ability of ancient medical cultivators to divide their spiritual consciousness. They would separate all the dark thoughts and ideas that contradicted the path of medical cultivation from their hearts and seal them in their spiritual seas. This purified their dao heart and allowed for faster progress. However, as a consequence, they often faced more terrifying and dangerous tribulations during their cultivation journey. Thus, many ancient medical cultivators perished during tribulations.

Later, this legacy was severed, combined with the loss of numerous ancient scriptures and techniques, causing the decline of medical cultivators. Their cultivation speed fell behind sword cultivators and spell cultivators. Their techniques were inferior, let alone their combat power. When Meng Qi heard about the Apricot Forest and the competition within the Grand Tournament barrier, she vaguely guessed that the Feng Alliance’s true intention was perhaps to restore this method of dividing spiritual consciousness.

“Meng Qi, since you can pass the Grand Tournament barrier and get the legacy, it means you have gotten her recognition.”

“Her?” Meng Qi was taken aback.

“Surely you’ve figured it out, haven’t you?” Lin Yan curled her lips, looking at Meng Qi with a half-smile, as if amused. “I am the manifestation of the negative thoughts that Lin Yan divided and contained within her spiritual sea. Although we are one entity, there are still some differences between us.” She continued, “You know what Lin Yan has done, don’t you?”

“Yes.” Meng Qi took a deep breath and said slowly: “Senior Lin Yan, in order to save the common people in six cities and eight towns, exhausted her cultivation, resulting in her cultivation base to fell from the Void Comprehending stage…”

“Yes.” Lin Yan interrupted. Her lips curled, preventing Meng Qi from continuing. She stood with her hands behind her back and let out a cold smile. “And thus, she left behind a renowned name that lasted for millions of years, achieving the title of the last great medical cultivator who ever reached the legendary Profound Realm. However…”

“Back then, there was someone by her side. He accompanied her to fight against those devil cultivators and the venomous creatures they brought. To protect her, he was seriously injured. His muscles and tendons cut, his bones broken, and his body was riddled with venoms and poisons, yet not a single enemy managed to even reach her.”

Meng Qi was slightly taken aback; this was something she had never heard before. Lin Yan as recorded in the books was a powerhouse of the ancient era. She was the last, and also the youngest, medical cultivator who ever stepped into the Profound Realm. Renowned for her compassion and medical skills, she was highly respected throughout the era. History depicted Lin Yan as a deity-like figure, flawless and perfect. There was never any mention of her partner.

“That person was gravely injured for her sake. He was on the verge of death. If only she had been at her peak, she could have saved him. However, at that time, she was the only Profound-realm medical cultivator in the Three Thousand Worlds. She had just exhausted her cultivation for the sake of those strangers, for people unrelated to her…” Without waiting for Meng Qi to speak, she continued, “She possessed great benevolence and righteousness, compassion and selflessness… She survived and was revered by the world as a deity. But her Dao companion perished!”

Lin Yan’s smile turned sinister again. “All I want is for my beloved to live well, to be with him forever. Do you think I am wrong, Meng Qi?”

“You aren’t wrong…” Meng Qi murmured. She looked at the smile on Lin Yan’s face and had a momentary sense of confusion. For a split second, she faintly felt that she had glimpsed something terrifying. However, the thought was too vague, flashing through her mind so quickly that she couldn’t grasp it at all.

“So, Meng Qi…” Lin Yan reached out and gently caressed Meng Qi’s cheek. “Let me ask you again, if you had the means to bring such a person back to life, what would you do?”

…

Right at that moment, a man dressed in white descended slowly from above the forest, silently standing atop a tree branch. His posture was tall and straight, giving the impression of considerable height. However, as he landed, not a single leaf stirred, and there was not even the slightest sound emitted.