Wu Tong and the others finally retreated, and Hua Mei let out a breath of relief, a trace of admiration appearing in her bright eyes. A smile bloomed across her face as she said, "Uncle, you are truly remarkable.

You saw their hidden ailment with just one glance." "I lied to them." Nie Kong chuckled. Among the ancestral medical techniques he had learned, besides the hundreds of well-known acupoints, there were also nine hidden points.

The "Nine Revolutions Golden Needle Technique" was built upon these nine hidden points. The one he used to frighten Wu Tong and the others was one of these hidden points—the "Black Court Point." If this were his previous life, Nie Kong's trick would have been hard to pull off, but this world was different.

The spiritual energy in this world was abnormally abundant. Affected by this, even those who couldn't cultivate possessed trace amounts of subtle spiritual power within their bodies.

The "Black Court Point" was one of the intersections where several streams of spiritual energy converged. Pressing down hard would cause a momentary disruption in the spiritual flow, inducing symptoms like dizziness and numbness.

This was something Nie Kong figured out by combining the memories of his two lives. It was fine for momentarily scaring people, but if the deception went on too long, his lies would be exposed.

Moreover, this method only worked on ordinary people and low-level Spirit Masters. Spirit Masters at the Soul Fusion level or above wouldn't react to a mere poke.

"Ah!" Hua Mei covered her small mouth with a delicate gasp. "Uncle, you mean telling them their Spirit Art cultivation method has flaws was also a lie?

Oh no, oh no! If this gets out and the Clan Leader and Elders find out you spread rumors, that will be trouble." Her jet-black eyes showed anxiety, making her look even more lovely and pitiable.

Nie Kong chuckled lightly. "Sister-in-law, don't worry.

Even if the Clan Leader and Elders find out, at most they'll just give me a reprimand. Besides, I've already figured out a way to cure my own illness.

By the time Wu Tong and the others discover the truth, perhaps my sickness will already be gone." "Really?" Hua Mei's beautiful eyes snapped wide open as she looked at Nie Kong in disbelief. Seeing the seriousness on his face, she finally began to believe him, exclaiming happily, "If there truly is a way, that would be wonderful.

Father and Mother are gone, and your older brother is gone too. You are the only man left in our family, you must not have anything happen to you." As she spoke, two misty veils of water gathered in the corners of her eyes, threatening tears.

Seeing she was about to cry again, Nie Kong quickly said, "I know. I will definitely live on well.

Sister-in-law, I'm terribly hungry now." "Look at me, I forgot you haven't eaten anything in almost two days." Hua Mei quickly stood up. Seeing Nie Kong's distressed expression, she couldn't help but let out a soft laugh, a little bubble of snot forming at her nose.

Blushing deeply with embarrassment, she let out an "Aiya," covered her straight nose, and whispered, "Uncle, you lie down and rest well first. I'll go make you some porridge." She hurried out of the room, her figure a little flustered.

Nie Kong couldn't help but smile. On Earth, nineteen-year-old girls were mostly still in high school or university, enjoying wonderful campus life.

Here, however, they were already married, some even mothers of one or two children. Thinking of this young woman who became a widow at sixteen, Nie Kong felt a twinge of pity in his heart.

In his memory, Hua Mei was extremely shy, but the courage and steadfastness she displayed while being threatened by Wu Tong and the others made Nie Kong admire her alongside his pity. After a long while, Nie Kong finally composed himself, resting his eyes while quietly organizing the memories flooding his mind.

This was a vast continent named "Tian Ling," teeming with nations. The Great Success Empire was situated in the southeastern region of the Tian Ling Continent.

In this place with nearly ten thousand years of history, Spirit Masters had always been the dominant force; even the name of the continent originated from the ninth realm of Spirit Masters. Among the aristocratic Spirit Master families of the Great Success Empire, the Nie family of Jiyang definitely ranked among the top five in strength.

For venerable clans like the Nie family to maintain their lineage, cultivating the younger generation was paramount. During this cultivation, the direct line and collateral lines were treated almost equally; as long as their aptitude was outstanding, members from collateral branches would receive the family's attention and regard.

Unfortunately, Nie Kong was not among them. For some unknown reason, he and his brother, Nie Qiong, had been plagued by illness since childhood.

No matter how Nie Qingyang used spiritual power to regulate their bodies, there was no improvement, and large doses of spiritual elixirs offered no relief. Especially since Nie Kong was detected to possess the Wood attribute constitution when he was young.

The Water, Fire, Wind, Thunder, and Earth attributes were the most common for Spirit Masters, while the Wood attribute was exceedingly rare. However, it wasn't precious because it was rare; rather, it was a garbage attribute rarely seen in a century.

This was mainly because, since ancient times, too few Spirit Masters possessed the Wood attribute constitution, and the entire continent could hardly produce a handful of cultivation arts suitable for it. Take the Nie family's "Ink Tower," which housed their collection of Spirit Arts and Spiritual Techniques; there wasn't a single one categorized as Wood-aligned.

Thus, Nie Kong, being a rare specimen, was utterly incapable of cultivating. Even Nie Qingyang had given up on training Nie Kong into a Spirit Master.

However, Nie Kong refused to accept this. Ever since he was old enough to understand things, he dragged his sickly body and persisted in cultivating the most fundamental universal Spirit Art, the "Five Stars Movement Art." This Spirit Art could be practiced by any body attribute.

All Nie family children began their spiritual power cultivation with the "Five Stars Movement Art." Unfortunately, the wishes were beautiful, but reality was cruel. After ten years of arduous practice, Nie Kong's cultivation only reached the first stage of Spirit Gathering, lagging behind even small children.

Three years ago, Nie Qingyang, who was at the ninth stage of Soul Fusion, died in action during a spiritual beast capture mission, leaving Nie Kong and Hua Mei to rely on each other. Fortunately, the Nie family treated clansmen who died in battle well; the compensation was fifty thousand gold coins, and Nie Kong also received a monthly allowance of fifty gold coins at the beginning of each month.

Here, the purchasing power of one gold coin was roughly equivalent to one hundred yuan on his previous life's Earth. It was precisely because of that generous compensation and allowance that Nie Kong, unable to earn money, managed to survive until today.

It had to be said, such a family was truly commendable. If a father died in battle and his children were simply cast aside because they held no cultivation value, which clansman would be willing to die for the Nie family?

"The fifty thousand gold coins are long spent. According to the Nie family regulations, the support allowance is only provided until the age of eighteen.

Perhaps the family might extend it for a few more years given that I am a sickly fellow, but this can't last forever. The immediate priority is to diagnose the ailment of this body." Although Nie Kong told Hua Mei earlier that he had a way to cure his illness, partially to comfort her, the larger part was his confidence in his family's ancestral acupuncture techniques.

With this thought, Nie Kong brought the index and middle fingers of his right hand together and lightly placed them on the pulse points of his left wrist, concentrating on observing the pulse. "...It is indeed blocked meridians, obstructing the flow of Qi and blood, leading to a multitude of ailments...

Hmm, that's not right?" Nie Kong frowned in confusion. There was something strange hidden within this pulse that made it difficult for him to ascertain immediately.

After pondering for a moment and recalling the warm current that suddenly erupted when he was previously immobilized, Nie Kong had an inspiration. He quickly sat cross-legged and activated the "Five Stars Movement Art." The so-called Five Stars referred to the five hearts: the centers of both palms, the centers of both soles, and the center of the crown of the head.

Although Nie Kong was only at the first stage of Spirit Gathering, he still barely qualified as a Spirit Master. Possessing the residual ten years of cultivation experience from his memory, Nie Kong instantly calmed his mind.

Strands of faint, thread-like spiritual power drilled into his body from the Five Hearts, converging towards the "Three Spiritual Apertures" in his lower abdomen. The Three Spiritual Apertures were essentially what Nie Kong recognized as the Dantian.

After cultivating a Spirit Art, three vortex-shaped apertures, arranged in a tri-point pattern, would form within the Dantian. These apertures were the foundation for all Spirit Master cultivation.

After a moment, Nie Kong was pleasantly surprised to discover that as the spiritual power flowed and gathered, the situation inside his Dantian became clearly displayed in his mind. Furthermore, with the slight tremor of the Three Spiritual Apertures, the scene Nie Kong could "see" was continuously extending to other parts of his body.

This sensation was truly wondrous. If he had possessed such a method in his previous life, his title of "Famous Chinese Medicine Physician" would have probably been upgraded to "Divine Healer." "Hmm?" Before he could rejoice for a few seconds, Nie Kong suddenly gasped in surprise.

In the empty space at the center of the Three Spiritual Apertures, there was actually a purplish, elliptical granule. The granule was about the size of a soybean, smooth and round, and the surface seemed to be etched with exquisite patterns.

Nie Kong subconsciously focused his spirit on the purple granule, and immediately, the patterns on its surface rapidly unfolded and magnified in his mind. "This...

this is the Purple Luo Phantom Spirit Incense?!" Even with Nie Kong's composure, he couldn't help but be greatly shocked. The pattern was clearly the ultimate Boss from the "Demon and Fiend" game, albeit immensely shrunk in size.

Looking at the purple granule again, Nie Kong also felt a sense of familiarity. He had once seen the data released by the Demon and Fiend official website regarding the Purple Luo Phantom Spirit Incense.

After defeating this Boss, a large amount of precious loot would drop, with the number one item being a round, purple seed. The seed's function, however, was not explicitly detailed, remaining very mysterious.

And now, the mysterious Boss seed from the game was actually inside his own body? Nie Kong felt lost, wondering if this world was the game or reality?