The Healer Demands Payment!

THDP Ch 125 Part 1 – The Voice in the Forest (I)

Meng Qi turned her eyes between Lu Qingran and the man on the ground, then reached out to take the brocade bag.

Six thousand profound-grade spirit stones???

She was slightly taken aback and looked at the man with some surprise. A Void Comprehending demon cultivator was so wealthy? He had just thrown six thousand profound-grade spirit stones like it was nothing!

“Ugh…” The man suddenly let out another muffled groan. He quickly clenched his teeth to stifle his voice, but his face was now visibly paler. Large beads of sweat rolled down his forehead, and he seemed in severe pain. He lifted his hand to press on his chest, and upon catching sight of Meng Qi, a strange glint flashed through his eyes.

That person… seemed to have figured out how he would use those spirit stones.

Was it because of her?

“How are you? Are you okay?” Lu Qingran knelt beside the man and quickly took out a handkerchief, carefully wiping away the sweat on his forehead. She then looked up at Meng Qi and said anxiously, “He seems to be in severe pain.”

“I know.” Meng Qi half-knelt down on the man’s other side and glanced at Lu Qingran with surprise. This former senior sister of hers was one of the top talents in Qingfeng Valley, both in terms of cultivation and medical ability. Just half a year ago, she was far behind Lu Qingran. But now, the same Lu Qingran, who was supposed to have reached the level of Golden Core, seemed to be at a loss and had no idea what to do when facing a patient.

Shaking her head, Meng Qi returned her attention to the man and took out the medical knife with her right hand. She then reached out and opened the man’s shirt, exposing the wound on his chest. On his bronze-colored skin was a large area of dark red color. As Meng Qi pressed her hand on the wound, the man groaned once more, sweating even more profusely, and his lips turned paler.

It was actually not so easy to harm a cultivator. Unless their spiritual sea was completely shattered and their cultivation base was destroyed — causing them to fall back to the Qi Condensation stage or even totally abolished — external injuries didn’t have much impact on them.

“He seems to be in a lot of pain, Ju-Fellow Daoist Meng…” Lu Qingran grew even more worried. She looked up at Meng Qi with a face full of concern, “Why is he in so much pain?” She spoke quickly, wiping the sweat off the man’s forehead as she went.

Meng Qi lifted her eyes to glance at the man and then at Lu Qingran. She was genuinely surprised. In her memory, this senior sister had indeed been entangled with different male cultivators later on, but it hadn’t affected her progress in cultivation. Lu Qingran had a natural talent for medicine and had many people helping her, and her luck was also so good that she encountered many fortuitous opportunities. In the previous life, before Meng Qi died, Lu Qingran had already risen to become a young medical cultivator on par with Xue Zichen, the famous genius heir of the Xue clan.

“His spiritual sea is damaged, and his meridians are broken. His remaining aura cannot protect his five aggregates. On top of that, he is also severely injured. Of course, he is in pain,” said Meng Qi calmly. As she spoke, she took out a Jiuhuiyang Pill and stuffed it into the man’s mouth.

As soon as the pill entered his mouth, a warm sensation flowed and rushed along his broken meridians. The man groaned again and clenched his left hand, driving it forcefully into the ground beside him.

Xue Jinwen went to Meng Qi’s side: “This is… the Jiuhuiyang Pill?”

Meng Qi nodded: “Two extra ingredients are used to concoct this pill, making its effect much better than ordinary Huiyang Pill.”

“I know.” Xue Jinwen smiled slightly, “This is my elder brother’s improved formula.” She ran her hand through her hair and added, “Precisely because of this formula that our elders hold my brother in high regard and designate him as the heir to the clan.”

Meng Qi responded with a simple nod, “This pill was also concocted by your older brother,” she added.

Xue Jinwen cast a look toward Lu Qingran, who knelt beside the man with a worried look, unable to do anything beyond wiping his sweat. She had some idea of the relationship between Meng Qi and Lu Qingran. The truth was, cultivating was always the same – like sailing against the tide. If you didn’t advance, you’d regress. One misstep could result in being left behind on this road, never to catch up again.

“He was injured heavily from outside in. But obviously, the person who did it showed mercy,” Xue Jinwen said. “Otherwise, this man would have died on the spot.”

“Yes.” Meng Qi nodded. But her words were cut short when the man suddenly jolted up and coughed out a copious amount of putrid, dark blood.

“Eh? Be careful!” Lu Qingran quickly reached out to support the man and gently patted his back with one hand, “Are you okay?”

He nodded slowly, wiping the blood from the corner of his lips.

Meng Qi took out a silver needle from her storage space and dipped it into the dark blood the man had vomited. The tip of the needle immediately turned black and dull.

“No wonder…” Meng Qi nodded thoughtfully. She had found it strange before. This person is supposed to be a Void Comprehending demon cultivator. In Three Thousand World, cultivation began with Qi Condensation, but one could only be considered to have barely stepped into the path of cultivation after reaching the Foundation Establishment stage. At the Foundation Establishment stage, a cultivator could begin to refine their natal magic weapon, but it was only at the Spirit Severing stage they would finally achieve some real progress. Demon cultivators did not refine a natal weapon, but their primordial spirit formed upon reaching the rank equivalent to the Spirit Severing stage. Just like natal weapons, a demon cultivator’s primordial spirit was able to communicate via its master’s mind and would significantly boost their combat power. Therefore, regardless of race, a cultivator who stepped into the Spirit Severing stage would have their power greatly improved.

Beyond the Spirit Severing stage is the Void Comprehending stage, followed by the Comprehending Perfection stage, and then the Great Ascension stage. At the pinnacle of the Great Ascension stage, one would finally face the ultimate tribulation, and successfully crossing it was the key to breaking free through the void and ascending.

A cultivator at the Void Comprehending stage could be said to have already touched the edge of the Heavenly Dao. In comparison to Spirit Severing cultivators, their strength represented a qualitative leap. A cultivator at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage, even with the aid of powerful artifacts and weapons, would struggle to defeat a newly advanced Spirit Severing cultivator. However, a Spirit Severing cultivator at the peak of their level would find it almost impossible to defeat someone at the Void Comprehending stage.

This was where the true dividing line of a cultivator’s strength lay.

The man in front of her was a Void Comprehending cultivator, yet he had been injured to such an extent that even external wounds caused him excruciating pain. Meng Qi couldn’t help but feel that something was amiss. A Void Comprehending cultivator, even with damage on their spiritual sea, shouldn’t be in such a state.

Now she knew the reason.

The congealed blood he vomited carried a bitter smell of medicine. Although the smell was faint, it couldn’t escape Meng Qi’s nose. She extended her hand and pressed her palm against the man’s chest, sending aura into his body. The spiritual sea of demon cultivators was different from that of the cultivators in the Three Thousand Worlds; it had no distinct boundaries and resembled a vast expanse of starry sky.

The man’s inner core was floating above that starry sky as the stars reflected back on the sea below. A small, red fluffy ball was also floating in the air, covered in an air bubble, looking especially cute. This should be the man’s primordial spirit. Just like the white foxes, the red foxes’ tails represented their cultivation level. Meng Qi focused her gaze — one, two…five tails!

Sure enough, only five!