The woman knew her actions were annoying, but she had no other choice. Her illness had cost her a fortune over the past few months. She couldn't go to work, and until her husband got his paycheck, her pockets were emptier than her face. She simply couldn't afford the hospital fees, registration fees, and examinations.
"Tell me! What's going on that's got you so anxious that you have to come see me so late at night? You can't even wait until tomorrow morning?" Zhao Qingshan sat across from the woman, his face slightly grim. He was a doctor, but he didn't like being coerced into treating someone. Zhao Qingshan decided that after getting to the bottom of the matter, he'd use the excuse of not being able to treat her and kick her out.
"Doctor Zhao, my name is Wang Xiaona. I started to age inexplicably more than two months ago. More than a month ago, my bones began to show abnormalities. I either fell or sprained my ankle when I walked. Today, I feel like I'm about to die. I'm only 25 years old!" Wang Xiaona said, and she burst into tears.
Although Wang Xiaona had long been mentally prepared that her strange disease was incurable, at this moment of death, Wang Xiaona regretted it again. She did not want to die and did not want to leave her husband who loved her deeply.
After learning that the best doctor at Renhe Hospital was Zhao Qingshan, Wang Xiaona didn't waste a minute and went to Zhao Qingshan's clinic. Unexpectedly, Zhao Qingshan was not there, so Wang Xiaona had to find Zhao Qingshan's residence.
Twenty-five? Zhao Qingshan was shocked. If Wang Xiaona hadn't said it, Zhao Qingshan would have thought she was at least sixty. A twenty-five-year-old looking like a sixty-year-old woman was indeed a bit alarming.
"Doctor Zhao, this is the X-ray I took at your Renhe Hospital more than a month ago. Could you please take a look at it for me?" Wang Xiaona took out an X-ray film from Renhe Hospital from her bag and handed it to Zhao Qingshan.
Zhao Qingshan took the film from Wang Xiaona and examined it under the light. Sure enough, there was something odd about the woman's skeleton. While normal bones are very dense and appear smooth white on X-rays, Wang Xiaona's bones were peculiar, dotted with tiny black spots that resembled tiny holes the size of sesame seeds.
Zhao Qingshan raised his hand high, and even though Zhou Yuanyuan was sitting at the kitchen door, she could see the X-ray film in Zhao Qingshan's hand clearly.
Looking at the film in Zhao Qingshan's hand, Zhou Yuanyuan's expression changed.
Zhou Yuanyuan remembered a book about strange stories about cultivation that she had read a few days ago. Xiaoyu had found it specifically for her to read. There was an example in the book that seemed to describe Wang Xiaona's situation.
"Grandpa, please ask about this woman's birth date," Zhou Yuanyuan said to Zhao Qingshan, using her telepathic sense. She didn't want Wang Xiaona to notice her abnormality. If Wang Xiaona's essence had truly been drained, then there must be an evil cultivator nearby. Zhou Yuanyuan wasn't sure what her chances were of defeating an evil cultivator with her current strength.
Telepathic communication is a new skill Zhou Yuanyuan has learned in the past two months. It involves using her spiritual consciousness to form something like brain waves to display what she wants to say in the mind of a specific person without having to say it out loud.
Zhao Qingshan glanced at Zhou Yuanyuan calmly. From her slightly panicked tone, Zhao Qingshan sensed that her emotions were a little unstable. Zhao Qingshan frowned, then saw the determination in Zhou Yuanyuan's eyes and nodded imperceptibly.
Zhao Qingshan had originally intended to kick Wang Xiaona out after watching the film, but since Zhou Yuanyuan had something to ask, Zhao Qingshan had no choice but to patiently listen to Wang Xiaona.
"Doctor Zhao, I want to live. My husband and I have a good relationship. Even though I have become like this, Mingliang has never despised me." Wang Xiaona stared at Zhao Qingshan's face eagerly, as if she wanted to see the words "can be saved" from Zhao Qingshan's face.
"What's your date of birth?" Zhao Qingshan asked abruptly according to Zhou Yuanyuan's instructions.
"Ah? Ah~ I was born on X month X day of XX year." Although Wang Xiaona didn't understand why Zhao Qingshan, a doctor, didn't treat the patient properly but asked about the birthday? However, Wang Xiaona still answered patiently. There was no other way. When asking for help, she had to tolerate Doctor Zhao's occasional off-the-cuff behavior.
Zhao Qingshan mused in silence. At least in Wang Xiaona's eyes, Zhao Qingshan was lost in thought.
Zhou Yuanyuan, standing by, quickly calculated with the fingers of her left hand after hearing Wang Xiaona's answer. As she'd expected, this woman was born on a yin year, yin month, and yin day—a natural cauldron! It seemed the woman's essence had indeed been sucked away by the evil cultivator. But there was something strange about this evil cultivator; how could he have allowed this woman to live for so many months?
Cultivators have varying degrees of aptitude, and their cultivation methods vary in quality, all of which affect their progress. Normally, not even one out of a hundred thousand cultivators would achieve immortality.
Cultivators also have a lifespan. The higher the level of cultivation, the longer the lifespan. With each level of cultivation, the lifespan increases exponentially. For example, a cultivator in the Qi Refining Stage has a lifespan of only 200 years. When they reach the Foundation Establishment Stage, they have a lifespan of 400 years. When they reach the Core Formation Stage, the lifespan of a cultivator increases to 800 years...
It can be said that the monks are racing against time, each striving to reach a new level before the end of their lifespan. Otherwise, they will just die like ordinary people, and eventually return to dust.
Having embarked on the path to immortality, some cultivators were unwilling to die in the same miserable state as ordinary people. Those with less talent sought a good cultivation method to improve themselves, while those unable to find a good one resorted to devious methods. Some cultivators sought to employ external means to accelerate their cultivation, and the furnace and cauldron were one such method.
A cultivator's cauldron, in simple terms, serves as a medium for filtering spiritual energy. Female cultivators with Yin attributes are the best candidates for this role. However, female cultivators are rare, and even those with Yin attributes may not appear for hundreds of years. This has led some male cultivators to target ordinary women, born on Yin days, months, and years, to serve as cauldrons to aid male cultivators in their cultivation. However, ordinary women lack the aptitude for cultivation and cannot absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to restore their bodies. Once used as a cauldron, their vital energy will be drained by the evil cultivators, ultimately reducing them to ash.
However, righteous cultivators would not use these methods. The spiritual energy obtained by using a furnace to cultivate is definitely not as pure as the spiritual energy cultivated by oneself. The cultivation of cultivators focuses on the harmony with the way of heaven and earth. Using a furnace to cultivate is equivalent to stealing the essence of others to achieve self-improvement, which violates this principle.
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