Chapter 14 Medical Orders:

Inside the bedroom.

Incense burned in the incense burner to calm the mind, and the bamboo curtains in front of the window were all drawn, making the room dark and gloomy. The dark-colored bed was hidden in the shadows, and the atmosphere was very heavy.

The bed curtains were mostly lowered, obscuring the view inside the bed. Only the curtains near the headboard, tied with red thread, were hanging up, leaving a small gap.

A slender arm stretched out from the opening and lay flat on the edge of the bed. The dark wood grain made the skin of the wrist appear as white as snow, and the blue veins were clearly visible like a path in the snow.

The person lying in the bed was Rong Xie, who had fainted in the armory.

Cui Xingmiao sat upright by the bed, her eyes slightly lowered. Her fingers skillfully felt the pulse on Rong Xie's wrist, occasionally sliding them. Wisps of light green light flowed upward through the meridians on the inside of his wrist. These green lights entered the Qi Sea through the heart meridian, circulated a small cycle, and then returned to Cui Xingmiao's fingertips.

After the pulse diagnosis was finished, seven sticks of calming incense in the incense burner had burned out, and the stray hairs on Cui Xingmiao's forehead were soaked with sweat, sticking to her forehead in strands.

She closed her eyes, exhaled softly, and leaned back in the armchair.

A slight sound came from my ear, the sound of tea being poured into a teacup, and the fragrance of linglong grass and jasmine flowers spread out.

Cui Xingmiao opened her eyes and saw a great swordsman pouring tea for her. It was truly a case of the sun rising in the west.

Just now in the armory, Rong Xie suddenly fainted. Before Cui Xingmiao could react, Shen Bingsi had already thrown away the light-emitting white orchid in his hand and rushed over to catch Rong Xie. His face was very scary, and Cui Xingmiao thought he was going to kill someone.

Cui Xingmiao took the teacup, took a sip, and found the temperature just right and very refreshing.

"As expected of a Nascent Soul cultivator with water and fire spiritual roots, you're quite skilled at brewing tea," Cui Xingmiao chuckled.

Shen Bingsi calmly accepted Cui Xingmiao's yin and yang imbalance. He even kindly helped her adjust the seat cushion and took away the burnt-out calming incense. He had replenished the six calming incense sticks in time when they were almost burned out.

"Wake him up." Cui Xingmiao looked at the person still sleeping on the pillow in the bed.

Rong Xie's breathing was steady, and his complexion was much better than when he had just fainted.

Shen Bingsi made a "please go ahead" gesture.

Cui Xingmiao thought to herself, "You're being too cautious." She placed her hand on Rong Xie's wrist again, but this time she didn't take his pulse; instead, she gently shook his hand.

"Thank you, thank you?" Cui Xingmiao called softly.

"Hmm..." Rong Xie frowned, slowly waking up from his sleep. His long eyelashes trembled slightly as he lifted them, his glassy eyes vacant as he stared blankly at the ceiling.

For a while, Rong Xie had no idea where he was.

The headboard looked familiar, but it wasn't his bed. He racked his brains for a while before he remembered that it was Shen Bingsi's bed.

How did he end up in Shen Bingsi's bed?

Fragments of memories flooded his mind, and the unbearable scenes replayed in Rong Xie's mind. He couldn't help but cover his forehead: "Ugh...it hurts so much..."

Thump!

Something slammed into the edge of the bed like a cannonball, making the whole bed shake.

Rong Xie felt a shadow fall over his face, blocking out the already limited light. He looked up and saw a large face.

Things get blurry when they're too close. Rong Xie was startled and reached out to push away the big face, but his arm was grabbed by a hand like an iron clamp.

"You're awake. Don't move around." The large face spoke; it was Shen Bingsi's voice. So it was Shen Bingsi.

Rong Xie saw Shen Bingsi's eyes constantly moving, scrutinizing his face as if there were some secret writing on it that could only be discerned by getting very close.

"How are you feeling? Where does it hurt?" Shen Bingsi asked softly. "Don't worry, Cui Xingmiao is a medical cultivator who has received the true teachings of the Yunshan Sect Master. She will heal you even if it costs her ancestors' legacy."

"Pah!" Cui Xingmiao patted Shen Bingsi on the back. "Can you move aside? Are you a medical cultivator or am I?"

Shen Bingsi, that mountain, was finally removed from Rong Xie's body.

Rong Xie breathed a sigh of relief. When Shen Bingsi spoke just now, although she spoke very softly, her warm breath touched his skin directly, causing him to subconsciously hold his breath.

“Brother Rong, I just used our Yunshan Sect’s unique ‘spirit probing’ technique to diagnose you,” Cui Xingmiao said solemnly. “Let me get straight to the point: the root of the problem lies in your spiritual root.”

"Spiritual root?" Rong Xie was taken aback. "Is there something wrong with my spiritual root?"

Shen Bingsi took out a recording stone that recorded sound and images, infused it with spiritual power, and recorded Cui Xingmiao's diagnosis.

"The three spiritual roots, water, wood, and lightning, are all consumable. The longer they are used, the weaker their ability to absorb external spiritual energy and store it in the dantian will become."

"In this situation, the best solution is to use less spiritual power. Each time you use spiritual power, you should not exceed your body's capacity. In other words, do not continue to use spiritual power when you feel tired."

After Cui Xingmiao finished speaking, there was a moment of silence in the room.

"That's it?" Shen Bingsi couldn't help but ask.

“That’s it,” Cui Xingmiao replied.

"How should it be treated? If I rest normally and try not to use my spiritual power as much as possible, will my spiritual power be able to return to its previous state?" Shen Bingsi asked in rapid succession.

"No way! Didn't I say that Brother Rong has a consumable spiritual root? If he uses spiritual power beyond his capacity, it will deplete his spiritual root... He must have been overexerting himself for a while, and his spiritual root is severely depleted. He definitely can't return to his previous state."

"You mean, he couldn't establish his foundation before, and he won't be able to in the future? In fact, the harder he cultivates, the faster his spiritual energy will deplete?" Shen Bingsi frowned deeply.

“That’s what I mean. Even spirit-gathering stones can’t repair spiritual roots…” Cui Xingmiao noticed Shen Bingsi’s obviously dissatisfied expression and sighed, “Not everyone is as talented as you, Great Sword Saint Shen. Brother Rong is the case for most people. If you don’t believe me, you can go to your inner sect and ask how many people who failed the Foundation Establishment stage are expelled every year. Are there more Foundation Establishment stage people or more failures?”

"Can……"

Shen Bingsi wanted to say something, but when he saw Rong Xie prop himself up and get up, he stopped talking, took a cushion from a distance, placed it on the headboard, and helped Rong Xie lean against the cushion.

Rong Xie sat up straight, calmed his breathing, and looked up at Cui Xingmiao, saying, "Miss Cui, you truly are a divine physician; everything you said is accurate."

Cui Xingmiao glanced at Shen Bingsi, her expression saying, "See, I told you so!"

Shen Bingsi had no intention of responding to her; her gaze was fixed on Rong Xie's face.

Rong Xie smiled, showing no sign of worry or frustration, as if he had already accepted the outcome.

“I know I’m just an ordinary person. Ordinary people experience birth, aging, sickness, and death. I was fortunate enough to have my spiritual root detected when I was young, and to be able to enter the inner sect of the Spirit Mirror Sect with Bing Si. I’m already very lucky,” he said. “I don’t ask to reach the Foundation Establishment stage. I only ask that my current state can be maintained for a while. Miss Cui, can you tell me how to do that?”

"Of course!" Cui Xingmiao liked patients who could quickly accept reality the most. Of course, Rong Xie was not a patient, just an ordinary person.

"I came here beforehand to make a three-point agreement with Shen Bingsi, telling him not to tell you that I'm here to examine you, and not to say anything while I'm talking to you. Now I can tell you, I did this so that I could see your true condition with my own eyes."

Cui Xingmiao said frankly.

Rong Xie raised his eyebrows slightly. So that's how it is. No wonder Shen Bingsi acted so strangely... He couldn't help but turn to look at Shen Bingsi, who nodded emphatically.

"Of course, I also had some other selfish motives... which led me to go a little too far and cause you to faint in the armory, Brother Rong. I'm sorry." Cui Xingmiao lowered her head and apologized to Rong Xie.

“No, Miss Cui, it’s not because of you…” Rong Xie shook his head repeatedly, trying to explain, but found that this matter could not be explained. “In short, it’s not because of you.”

“It’s me, Brother Rong. I know you’re exhausted. You’ve made so many preparations to welcome me, and you’ve used up most of your spiritual energy. But I’m still arguing with Shen Bingsi in the armory over something so trivial…” Cui Xingmiao admitted her mistake halfway through, then suddenly added indignantly, “But you can’t blame me entirely. Shen Bingsi lied to me first, so he should at least bear half the responsibility!”

Shen Bingsi, who is usually quick to speak, did not refute this time. She quietly tucked the blanket around Rong Xie with a contemptuous expression that said, "I won't argue with you."

"Hmph." After venting, Cui Xingmiao continued, "Brother Rong, from what I've observed, although you seem to be doing nothing in the manor, there are actually many potential dangers of excessively consuming spiritual energy, such as sorting out rare and precious materials. You shouldn't do such dangerous things yourself in the future. Let Shen Bingsi do it herself, or find someone else to do it. In short, you can't do it."

"This..." Rong Xie actually really enjoys doing this. Although he gets very tired every time he finishes, he feels a great sense of accomplishment and can learn a lot. He even wants to take some time to create a comprehensive catalog of all the rare and precious materials, magical artifacts, and weapons in the manor.

"I'm not doing it anymore," Shen Bingsi said decisively. "I'll find someone from the inner sect to do it."

"Ah." Rong Xie couldn't help but show a look of disappointment.

“You just need to supervise from the side,” Shen Bingsi added.

“My advice is, don’t supervise at all, especially your armory. Brother Rong shouldn’t go near it. In a place where treasures are gathered and spiritual pressure is strong, just standing there will consume spiritual energy, which will not do Brother Rong any good.” Cui Xingmiao poured cold water on their hopes, extinguishing their wishful thinking.

“…Understood,” Shen Bingsi replied.

"Also, the daily maintenance of the manor requires a lot of magical power. My suggestion is that Brother Rong can do some of it, but not all of it. Moreover, it is best to rely on the power of talismans and magical artifacts, and not to use your own spiritual power directly. Reduce the amount of spiritual power used to one-third of what it used to be."

“That’s no problem. I can use my spiritual power to write talismans, and I can write more at once.” Shen Bingsi nodded.

“Very good. Remember these two things you shouldn’t do or should do less of. I’ll also prescribe some nourishing and meridian-clearing formulas. Take them on time and in the correct amounts. Keep a cheerful mood, go to bed early and get up early. You should be able to maintain your current condition for more than ten years without any problem,” Cui Xingmiao said.

"What about ten years from now?" Shen Bingsi asked hastily.

“My spiritual power will naturally run out, and I'll become just like an ordinary person,” Cui Xingmiao said matter-of-factly.

"..." Shen Bingsi's eyelids twitched. "Isn't that the same as saying nothing at all? Have you even properly learned medical skills from your sect leader?"

"If you don't believe me, go find other medical cultivators! See if they say the same thing as me!" Cui Xingmiao couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Medical cultivators aren't gods; they can't reverse the laws of nature. If you don't believe in superstitions, then let him continue using his spiritual power to process rare and precious materials for you. You can continue taking him to the armory to show off your spoils of war. Let's see if he'll run out of spiritual power within three years and suffer a backlash from the Heavenly Dao! The result then won't be as simple as aging naturally like an ordinary person!"

"..."

Shen Bingsi was speechless, but it was clear that he was not convinced.

"Alright, you can go now. I have something to say to Brother Rong alone." Cui Xingmiao waved her hand, signaling Shen Bingsi to leave quickly and not get in the way.

"What can't you say to my face?" Shen Bingsi immediately became alert.

“There are some special medical instructions that I can’t let you know,” Cui Xingmiao tapped her chin lightly. “Oh, right, I remember you have a pair of super hearing. Remember to close your ears. If you eavesdrop, my prescription won’t work.”

"..." Such a light threat hit Shen Bingsi's weak spot. Although he was annoyed, he still got up and left, closing the door behind him.

Only Cui Xingmiao and Rong Xie remained in the room.

Rong Xie was actually in a state of turmoil, not as calm as he appeared on the surface. After all, he had just decided to work hard to cultivate, and Cui Xingmiao had told him that he would never be able to establish his foundation in this lifetime and that he would have to use his spiritual power less in the future... Even so, he would only have ten years. After ten years, he would lose all his magical power and become a superfluous person in Huanxue Manor, Shen Bingsi's "friend despite the age gap".

This is terrifying. I can't say whether this or knowing the ending of a dream is more terrifying.

Previously, Rong Xie thought precognitive dreams were more terrifying. Now, another possible ending has become clearer and more concrete, and is even closer. Rong Xie began to feel lost and helpless. He even thought that at least cultivating with Shen Bing Si could delay the passage of three thousand chapters. It was just that the ending would be tragic, but the process would still be quite good.

"Brother Rong?" Cui Xingmiao's voice woke Rong Xie from his frantic inner turmoil.

“Miss Cui, I’m sorry, please speak.” Rong Xie looked at Cui Xingmiao.

Cui Xingmiao lowered her head slightly, seemingly a little embarrassed. After hesitating for a moment, she said, "Brother Rong, please promise me that you will not tell anyone about what I told you, okay?"

“…Huh?” Rong Xie was surprised. Did he not want the secret recipe to be leaked? “Okay, I promise you.”

"Shen Bingsi can't tell either."

"Shen Bingsi didn't tell either."

"Hmm..." Cui Xingmiao clasped her hands together on her knees, twisting her fingers together a couple of times, as if she had made up her mind. She looked up at Rong Xie with bright eyes, "Actually, I like Shen Bingsi!"

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