At ten o’clock that evening, there was another knock on the door outside the hospital room.
Qin Yufei entered with an assistant from Baicao Hall. Several staff members followed behind, pushing the medicinal liquid that had already been prepared.
“Chen Xuan, the medicine is ready.”
Qin Yufei came to the bedside.
“Everything was prepared according to your instructions. Take a look and see if there’s anything wrong.”
The concentrated medicinal liquid had been divided into two portions.
One portion was placed in an insulated medicine jar for oral consumption, while the rest was stored in several sealed medicine barrels.
Chen Xuan inspected everything carefully.
“There’s no problem.”
“Then send it straight to the hydrotherapy room.”
Qin Yufei turned and called for the staff.
The rehabilitation department had already made the necessary arrangements. Several staff members immediately transported the medicinal liquid to the hydrotherapy room. Chen Jianguo carried his son into a wheelchair, while Zhou Lan stayed by his side as they followed.
Once they arrived, the remaining medicinal liquid was poured into the bath, followed by an appropriate amount of hot water.
The entire hydrotherapy room was soon filled with the rich fragrance of medicine.
After the two staff members finished tidying up and left, Qin Yufei and her assistant waited outside with Zhou Lan, careful not to disturb them.
Chen Jianguo lifted his son from the wheelchair and carried him into the medicinal bath.
“Little Xuan, is the water too hot?”
“It’s just right.”
“Dad, you should go out too. Wait for me outside with Mom.”
Chen Jianguo wanted to stay, but Chen Xuan insisted that he leave.
The cultivation that followed would create quite a disturbance. For the time being, he did not want his parents to know about cultivation.
Once he became powerful enough, he would bring them onto the path of cultivation as well. But at present, his strength was still too weak, making it difficult to prove anything to them.
If they mistook him for a mental patient and became even more worried, things would only become troublesome.
Chen Jianguo could only leave the hydrotherapy room.
Before closing the door, Zhou Lan still warned him anxiously, “Little Xuan, call us if you feel uncomfortable.”
“I know, Mom.”
The door to the hydrotherapy room closed.
Chen Xuan leaned against the edge of the medicinal bath, picked up the prepared medicinal broth, and drank it in several gulps.
The powerful medicinal energy entered his stomach.
The medicinal power accumulated in a fifty-year-old wild ginseng was far stronger than that of ordinary rice porridge. Almost the instant it entered his body, it transformed into a scorching stream of heat.
If an ordinary person in Chen Xuan’s current physical condition had taken so many potent supplements at once, their weak body would have been unable to absorb them. Their qi and blood would have surged through their meridians, causing their meridians to rupture and killing them.
But Chen Xuan had inherited the cultivation memories of an Immortal King. He had countless ways to deal with the situation.
This small amount of medicinal power was nowhere near enough to leave him helpless.
Chen Xuan closed his eyes and first circulated the Nourishing Origin Scripture, rapidly dispersing the medicinal power and evenly distributing it throughout his limbs and organs. This allowed every cell to absorb the medicine fully without being overwhelmed by it.
Only after his weakened body gradually regained its vitality did he begin circulating the true transcendent cultivation technique contained within the Immortal King’s memories—the Primordial Creation Art!
This cultivation technique had been personally created by that Immortal King. It could not only absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, but also refine the essence of plants, the energy of the sun and moon, and all kinds of energy-containing substances for cultivation.
Compared to the Nourishing Origin Scripture, which could only nourish the body by drawing in the energy of heaven and earth and absorbing nourishment from food, the Primordial Creation Art was practically the ultimate perfected form of the Nourishing Origin Scripture.
The spiritual energy on Earth was thin. With ordinary cultivation techniques, one might cultivate for several years and still be unable to reach the first level of Qi Refining.
The Primordial Creation Art, however, could refine both the spiritual energy and medicinal power contained in herbs, making up for the deficiencies of the environment to the greatest extent possible.
As the technique circulated, the medicinal liquid in the bath began to flow slowly.
Threads of medicinal power passed through his skin and entered Chen Xuan’s body, interacting with and amplifying the medicinal power of the wild ginseng already within him.
His meridians had lain dormant for ten years, like the dry bed of a river. Nourished by the two streams of medicinal power, they gradually began to recover. His withered muscles also regained their strength as qi and blood coursed through them.
But rapidly restoring a weakened body to normal naturally brought pain with it.
Every inch of muscle felt as though it were being torn apart and reassembled. His blocked meridians throbbed with a pain like countless needles stabbing into them.
Chen Xuan’s body trembled faintly, but his breathing maintained a steady rhythm from beginning to end.
His starting point in the cultivation world had been even worse than this.
Back then, as a mine slave, he had spent sixteen hours every day laboring in mines where sunlight never reached. He ate moldy coarse grain and drank muddy water mixed with sand. If he slowed down even slightly, he would be whipped.
Yet even under those conditions, he had managed to sense his first wisp of spiritual energy.
Now, with the support of a fifty-year-old wild ginseng and several other aged medicinal herbs, along with the Immortal King’s inheritance, returning to the path of cultivation was as easy as turning over his hand—even in this Age of Declining Dharma.
The trace of spiritual energy within the wild ginseng was extracted by the Primordial Creation Art and slowly circulated along Chen Xuan’s meridians.
Every place the spiritual energy passed through had its meridians reopened.
The temperature inside the hydrotherapy room gradually rose.
A layer of color returned to Chen Xuan’s pale skin, and his thin, withered arms no longer looked as lifeless as before.
Time passed bit by bit.
The medicinal liquid in the bath, originally a deep brown, gradually grew lighter.
All the essence contained in the fifty-year-old wild ginseng and the other herbs was absorbed into Chen Xuan’s body.
The trace of spiritual energy completed several cycles through his meridians before finally sinking into his dantian, where it formed a slowly rotating vortex of qi.
The instant the vortex took shape, Chen Xuan opened his eyes.
A faint, almost imperceptible light flashed through them.
The first level of Qi Refining.
In the cultivation world, this level of cultivation still placed him at the very bottom. Even an ordinary mine supervisor could easily beat him to death.
But this was Earth.
The vast majority of people lived their entire lives without ever coming into contact with cultivation. Though the magical power of the first level of Qi Refining was meager, it was enough to make Chen Xuan’s strength, speed, and reflexes far surpass those of ordinary people.
The bodyguards and enforcers at Imperial Court who relied on physical brawling could no longer pose any threat to him.
Even if they carried knives, it would be difficult for them to injure him.
What was more, he possessed numerous combat techniques for body cultivators!
His skills were far beyond anything an ordinary martial artist could match.
Still, Chen Xuan did not become careless because of this.
At his current level, he still could not withstand firearms. Taking one or two bullets would not necessarily kill him, but if he were hit by an entire burst from a machine gun, he would certainly die!
If he had a magical artifact to protect him, he would not have to worry about ordinary firearms.
Unfortunately, he had none.
Fortunately, according to the information Qin Zhenghai had provided, the enforcers at Imperial Court carried knives at most. They would not dare use guns in an urban entertainment venue.
That was the only reason Chen Xuan had the confidence to deal with the matter by himself.
After finishing his cultivation, Chen Xuan, who had previously needed others to help him move, was now able to stand up from the medicinal bath on his own.
At first, his legs were still unaccustomed to supporting his body weight. He held on to the edge of the bath and stood there for a while before slowly releasing his grip.
It was normal for him to feel somewhat unaccustomed after his atrophied muscles had recovered completely.
But with Chen Xuan’s strength, he quickly adapted.
As he took a step forward and planted his foot steadily on the hydrotherapy room floor, Chen Xuan finally restored this once-weakened body to normal.
He did not stop. He slowly walked one full circle around the bath. His steps were stiff at first, but by the end, they were barely any different from those of an ordinary person.
The medicinal power remaining in his body continued to nourish him.
As long as he continued circulating the cultivation technique, his muscles and qi and blood would soon recover completely.
Chen Xuan walked over to the wall and picked up the stainless-steel rack used to hold towels.
He channeled spiritual power into his palm and slowly applied force.
The sturdy stainless-steel pipe began to bend little by little in his grip.
Chen Xuan released it and restored the support to its original position.
With nothing more than the strength of the first level of Qi Refinement, an ordinary person would already struggle to withstand a single punch from him.
Combined with his combat experience from the cultivation world, even if several dozen enforcers from Huangting attacked him together, they still would not be able to stand against him.
He changed into the clothes his father had prepared and opened the door to the hydrotherapy room.
Chen Jianguo, Zhou Lan, Qin Yufei, and her assistant had been waiting outside the entire time.
As the door opened, all four instinctively stood up.
When they saw Chen Xuan standing alone in the doorway, they froze simultaneously.