After pondering for quite some time, Nie Kong still couldn't make sense of the situation. Perhaps when he died in the lightning strike, the Yao Mo game suffered a glitch, causing the seed of the Ziluohuan Lingxiang to follow his soul consciousness to the Tianling Continent and attach itself to this body.

Since the seed was now lodged in his Dantian and he couldn't extract it under the current conditions, worrying about it was pointless. What is fated will happen; what is to be avoided cannot be evaded.

With this thought, Nie Kong calmed his mind and continued to concentrate on observing his internal condition.

Just as his pulse examination had suggested, all the meridians in this body were blocked by something emerald green, which turned out to be spiritual energy that had already condensed into substance. Clinging densely to the surface of this spiritual energy were countless whitish entities. Nie Kong could sense that these were the accumulated medicinal power from the elixirs he had consumed over the past decade. They hadn't dissipated or been absorbed by the body, but had instead gathered within the meridians.

The spiritual energy cultivation system on the Tianling Continent was highly developed, but it lacked the concept of the Twelve Main Meridians, the Eight Extraordinary Vessels, or the theories regarding acupoints. With Nie Qingyang's cultivation at the peak of the ninth rank of Spirit Fusion, he should have long ago discovered the presence of this spiritual energy within Nie Kong.

Not only had he attempted to treat it himself, but he had also invited an elder of the Spirit Commander rank from the family to help dredge Nie Kong's meridians. Unfortunately, none of them understood the root cause. Frequently, when they managed to shatter a portion of the spiritual energy, the surrounding energy would immediately reconvene, rendering their efforts fruitless.

Due to the abundance of spiritual energy in the world, illness was rare, and even when afflicted, people could easily cure themselves using spiritual power. A condition like Nie Kong’s, which even a Spirit Commander couldn't remedy, was considered an incurable disease, essentially a death sentence. Therefore, nearly everyone predicted that Nie Kong, like his elder brother Nie Qiong, would not live past eighteen.

"If accumulating blockage in the meridians and suffering from chronic illness was a consequence of cultivating the 'Five Star Translocation,' that would be understandable. But I was sickly even before starting cultivation. Why? And what exactly caused the spiritual energy to clog my meridians?" Nie Kong muttered, deeply perplexed.

Nie Qiong suffered the same fate, lasting only eighteen years. Since the symptoms were identical between the two brothers, could it be hereditary? Nie Qingyang was perfectly healthy, so the trait must have come from the mother’s side.

Nie Kong didn't know much about her. He only knew that his father, Nie Qingyang, had traveled in his youth and returned years later with a three-year-old Nie Qiong and an infant Nie Kong. As for the mother, Nie Qingyang claimed she died during a difficult childbirth with Nie Kong. Consequently, Nie Kong was even frailer than Nie Qiong; surviving to the same age as his brother was nothing short of a miracle.

"It seems the blocked meridians are not the primary cause of the sickness; the root lies in what causes the blockage," Nie Kong mused inwardly. After a moment, he stopped deliberately searching for the cause and began quietly cultivating the 'Five Star Translocation.'

The spiritual technique flowed continuously from his heart, the three spiritual apertures in his Dantian vibrated rhythmically, and strands of worldly spiritual energy poured into his body.

Nie Kong was only at the first stage of Spirit Gathering, practicing the most fundamental universal spiritual technique. After the worldly spiritual energy entered, only a minuscule amount of wood-elemental spiritual energy would remain within the three apertures.

Furthermore, Nie Kong’s absorption rate was agonizingly slow. Most of the absorbed wood-elemental energy would dissipate, leaving less than twenty percent that could actually be refined for his own use. At this pace, anyone else would have given up cultivation long ago. Nie Kong’s perseverance, having persisted for ten years, spoke volumes about his willpower and patience.

Time slipped by slowly. Nie Kong felt no impatience; his consciousness was entirely immersed in the practice, meticulously tasting the entry and dissipation of the spiritual energy...

—————————————————————————————————————————————— In a daze, he sensed footsteps entering the room—it must have been Hua Mei bringing in the porridge. Nie Kong did not cease his cultivation. The footsteps then gradually retreated, light as a cat's tread. Subsequently, there were several more faint movements near the doorway; perhaps Hua Mei was checking to see if he had woken up.

Finally, a faint trace of spiritual energy appeared within the empty space of the three spiritual apertures. Just then, a peculiar, wave-like force radiated from his entire vascular system. Immediately, the spiritual energy painstakingly refined within the apertures began to slowly dissipate, merging into the meridians. That force was extraordinarily weak; had Nie Kong not been a Traditional Chinese Medicine physician with an intimate understanding of human structure, he would never have detected its source.

"Haha, I finally found it!"

Nie Kong snapped his eyes open, exclaiming in delight, "The blood! The root is actually in the blood!"

"Oh!"

Hua Mei, who had been tiptoeing into the room, shrieked as if her tail had been stepped on. After regaining her composure, seeing Nie Kong staring at her, Hua Mei’s fair cheeks flushed crimson, and she seemed utterly lost. "Uncle, are you done cultivating? The porridge is cold; I'll fetch a fresh bowl."

Nie Kong chuckled, "Sister-in-law, no need." The bowl of porridge on the bedside table was still slightly warm. Nie Kong was truly starving and immediately transformed into a famished ghost.

Hua Mei stole a glance and, seeing Nie Kong devour the food with the eagerness of a starving man, a faint smile touched the corners of her lips. Yet, she couldn't help but say, "Uncle, drink slowly; there's more in the kitchen."

After finishing the bowl, Nie Kong felt somewhat reinvigorated. Setting the bowl down, he suddenly recalled the most pressing matter: "Right, Sister-in-law, how much money do we have left in the household?"

"Only forty-three gold coins, Uncle. Is that enough?" Hua Mei worried, scratching her sleeve with her fingers, her small face pinched with concern.

"That’s plenty. I estimate twenty gold coins should suffice. I’ll acquire some materials for healing tomorrow." Nie Kong calculated that gold here was far less precious than in his previous life; forging nine golden needles wouldn't cost much.

"Twenty gold coins? That cheap?"

Hua Mei’s mouth gaped in disbelief. She knew the elixirs refined by Spirit Masters were exceedingly expensive. In the past, they spent hundreds, thousands, even tens of thousands of gold coins at once; otherwise, the fifty thousand in pension funds after Father Nie Qingyang died in battle wouldn't have vanished so quickly.

Seeing Hua Mei’s stunned expression, Nie Kong laughed heartily, "Sister-in-law, you’ll see tomorrow."

"Oh, okay."

Hua Mei nodded dazedly, but the moment she saw Nie Kong's radiant smile, her face felt a little warm, and she quickly picked up the bowl. "Uncle, I'll go ladle another bowl of porridge."

"Thank you, Sister-in-law."

Hua Mei hurried out of the room, her heart beating a little frantically. For some reason, she felt that Nie Kong was somehow different since waking from his coma this time. While the former Nie Kong respected her, his words were always stiff and formal; he never spoke with such warmth and geniality. Moreover, the old Nie Kong was perpetually cold and never smiled, yet today, he had smiled more times than he had in the last three years combined.

Although the current Uncle felt a bit strange, she preferred him this way... Thinking this, Hua Mei’s steps grew lighter...

...

Inside the room, Nie Kong’s expression turned solemn.

Now that he had quieted his mind, he realized that the instant before he sensed the force in his bloodline, the Ziluohuan Lingxiang seed between the three spiritual apertures had trembled slightly. Following that, his senses had abruptly doubled in acuity, allowing him to detect that strange force.

Could that force have some sort of connection to the Ziluohuan Lingxiang seed?

...