After coming up with a rough idea as to how he could treat Zhao Ya, Zhang Xuan felt the burden in his heart alleviating slightly. He continued his acupuncture treatment, infusing tens of thousands of zhenqi surges into Zhao Ya’s body before her condition finally stabilized.
It had been said time and time again, but Zhao Ya was truly in a horrible condition. Had it been any other physician in Zhang Xuan’s place, even if the person was a 9-star pinnacle physician, they would still have found themself utterly lost as to how to help Zhao Ya. Pills would not work as there were no meridians to diffuse the medicinal energy, and the usual zhenqi circulation methods would not work for the same reason.
Even with the miraculous Heaven’s Path zhenqi, Zhang Xuan could only infuse it bit by bit through the silver needles into the injured parts of her body to slowly induce her recovery.
By the time he was done, a day had already passed.
Other than occasionally going around to find some wild fruits, mashing them up, and feeding them to Zhao Ya to alleviate her hunger, he spent most of his time treating Zhao Ya and himself and recovering his cultivation.
Fortunately, his hard work paid off. He finally managed to expel the ravaging might from Elder Qu’s attack that had seeped into his body and successfully healed his injuries. At the same time, he also managed to accustom himself to his Saint 8-dan Dimension Sundering realm primary stage cultivation as well.
“The last round of acupuncture! As long as I succeed, Zhao Ya should be able to regain consciousness!”
Seeing that the sun was rising once more, Zhang Xuan quickly conditioned his own state before taking his silver needles out. Gazing down on the peaceful face of the young lady lying not too far away, he flicked his wrist.
Huala!
Several hundred silver needles immediately floated before him, and he stroked each of them lightly as if playing the zither.
As Zhao Ya’s meridians had been completely destroyed, making it impossible for her body to transport zhenqi around, Zhang Xuan had no choice but to infuse his Heaven’s Path zhenqi directly into the wounded areas of her body. After a day of hard work, she had mostly recovered from her injuries. As long as nothing went wrong, he would be able to stimulate her nerves after this final round of acupuncture and rouse her from her deep slumber.
“Go!”
The silver needles infused with unique energy surged forth and pierced into Zhao Ya’s body. Not daring to loosen up in the slightest, Zhang Xuan raised his hands and clapped them together.
Pah pah pah!
A series of resounding claps timed impeccably to produce a certain beat sounded in the air. It was a simple but strangely intoxicating melody, reminiscent of demonic tunes. As it echoed in the forest, the fingers of the unconscious young lady twitched a little. Following which, her curled eyelashes fluttered a little before her eyes gradually opened.
“Teacher…” Struggling to sit up, Zhao Ya looked at the young man before her with a hint of wonder in her eyes. “I’m… alive?”
With her meridians completely destroyed, she had thought that she would die without fail. However, it seemed like the merciful heavens had given her another chance to meet with her teacher.
“Don’t worry. I’m around—I won’t let death claim you so easily!” Zhang Xuan replied with a gentle smile.
Wei Ruyan’s condition had been much worse than this back then, but he had still successfully treated her.
With the Library of Heaven’s Path to uncover all flaws and the Heaven’s Path zhenqi to heal all wounds, given sufficient time, Zhang Xuan would surely be able to bring anyone back from death’s embrace!
“Un!”
Heaving a sigh of relief, Zhao Ya managed to wobble up to her feet, but due to the feeble state she was in, she was still unable to maintain her balance too well.
Zhang Xuan quickly stretched his hand out to support her before sighing deeply. “I have managed to stabilize your condition for the time being, but due to the collapse of your meridians, the zhenqi you have cultivated so far has ended up dissipating. However, you don’t have to worry. I’ll find a way for you to recover your strength as soon as possible!”
“Thank you, Teacher,” Zhao Ya replied with a faint smile.
She was already very thankful to the world for allowing her to remain in this world and see her teacher once more.
Whether she could recover her cultivation or not was no longer important to her; she was already satisfied with what she had received. Whatever else fate had in store for her, she would accept it graciously.
Zhang Xuan quickly took out the spring water and wild fruits that he had harvested and passed them over for Zhao Ya to consume, and only then did the young lady regain some strength. She scanned her surroundings doubtfully and asked, “Teacher, where are we? Aren’t we in the Glacier Plain Court? How did we get here?”
She remembered seeing the First Elder and Elder Qu closing in on her teacher menacingly… Given how disadvantageous the situation had been for her teacher back then, how did he manage to get away?
“I’m not too sure where we are at the moment, but as for how we managed to get here, I’ll fill you in on the details later. For the time being, we have to move.”
After saying those words, Zhang Xuan lifted the young lady up and wrapped her amid a layer of zhenqi before flying into the distance.
Not too long later, they arrived in a small city.
While Zhao Ya was unable to tap into her cultivation anymore, after mostly recovering from her injuries, she was still able to move around without much trouble, just like an ordinary human.
“We are in Longyuan City…”
After asking some passers-by, they managed to figure out their current location.
“I have seen Longyuan City on the map before,” Zhao Ya said. “It’s roughly thirty thousand li away from the Glacier Plain Court and several thousand li away from the Empire Alliance.”
“Oh? So, this city is in close proximity to the Empire Alliance.” Zhang Xuan was taken aback.
That night, he had fled in a fluster, and he had even changed directions eight times midway in order to ensure that any trackers sent after him would not be able to find him easily. As a result of that, even he had no idea which direction he had headed in.
Perhaps it was due to the breakthrough in his cultivation to the Dimension Sundering realm that resulted in a significant boost in his speed, but despite the detours that he had taken, he had still managed to fly thirty thousand li away in a single night.
“That’s right.” Zhao Ya nodded.
Zhang Xuan pondered for a brief moment before saying, “Since the Empire Alliance is in the vicinity, let’s head over there!”
The problem regarding Zhao Ya’s collapsed meridians had to be treated as soon as possible, and a city as small as Longyuan City was unlikely to have the necessary resources required for her treatment. On the other hand, the Empire Alliance was the very center of the Conferred Empires, and in terms of its overall development, be it in terms of military might or economic prowess, it could be said to almost be on par with the current Sanctum of Sages.
Perhaps, he might just be able to find the materials and books necessary to reconstruct Zhao Ya’s meridians there.
Zhao Ya nodded in agreement.
She would follow wherever her teacher went. After all that she had been through, she no longer wanted to be apart from her teacher anymore.
Knowing that he had gotten into a fair bit of trouble recently, and it would simply be asking for trouble to appear before others in their original appearance, Zhang Xuan proposed, “But before we make our way over, we’ll have to alter our appearances a bit…”
Zhao Ya gave a nod of agreement.
Zhang Xuan’s disguise was relatively easy. Having cultivated the Heaven’s Path Golden Body, he was able to move his muscles freely to alter his appearance. On the other hand, due to Zhao Ya’s lack of cultivation, it was slightly more troublesome for her. Nevertheless, by using a couple of unique artifacts, they still managed to conceal her ravishing looks.
…
While the duo was heading toward the Empire Alliance, the Teleportation Formation in the Sanctum of Sages suddenly shook, and several figures materialized on the spot.
They were the group that had taken to detour from the Zhang Clan to the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters before teleporting over—Yang Xuan, Sword Saint Xing, Sword Saint Meng, and First Elder Zhang Wuheng.
“What happened? Why is it so messy around here?” Walking out from the portal, Yang shi assessed his surroundings with a deep furrow on his forehead.
The Sanctum of Sages was the number one academy on the Master Teacher Continent, and it was one of the two major subsidiaries of the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters, placed on equal footing with the Combat Master Hall. But at that moment, its buildings had been torn down, and pillars of smoke could be seen here and there. It was almost as if the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe had just been there!
“Zhan Tiancheng pays respect to Yang shi!” Zhan shi quickly rushed forward and lowered his head in embarrassment. He had no idea how he should explain this matter to the other party. “Regarding this…”
He had already mostly recovered from his injuries, but the very thought of a mere Phantasmal Space realm student being able to corner him so far was enough to leave him so stifled that he could have spurted several liters of blood out.
More importantly, that fellow was actually Yang shi’s direct disciple!
How was he supposed to explain this matter to Yang shi?
“Zhan shi, I requested you to hold Zhang Xuan here by hook or by crook. May I know where he is at the moment?” Zhang Wuheng asked anxiously.
“Zhang Xuan…” Upon hearing that name, Zhan shi’s face twitched, and unquenchable fury surfaced in the depths of his eyes. “He slipped past our defenses and fled!”
“He fled?” Zhang Wuheng was taken aback. “This is the Sanctum of Sages! How did he manage to get away right beneath your nose?”
“He constructed a Teleportation Formation and teleported right through our defenses, how was I supposed to stop him? The current state of the Sanctum of Sages is also all his doing!” Zhan Shi spat through gritted teeth.
“You said that Zhang Xuan constructed a Teleportation Formation? Tell me more,” Yang shi requested with a deep frown.
“Yang shi, I know that Zhang Xuan is your direct disciple, but that man really has no regard for the rules of the Master Teacher Pavilion at all. I wouldn’t have wanted it to come to this if I had a choice, but this is already far beyond what I can tolerate. I have already reported this matter to the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters, and I seek your understanding for this matter!” Zhan shi clasped his fist and bowed slightly.
Yang shi shook his head and clarified, “You have misunderstood. Zhang Xuan isn’t my student!”
