Jade Wave Hot Spring

Hearing Lin Xiao's words, Liu Chun looked up at him, choking with gratitude:

"Thank you, Sect Master!"

For some reason, upon hearing Lin Xiao speak this way, he felt that his sister's chances of survival had greatly increased, and the heaviness that had been pressing on his chest eased considerably.

Jiang Youfu noticed his haggard and weary expression, so he pulled out many spirit-food snacks he had made himself from his storage pouch and piled them in front of Liu Chun:

"Elder Liu, have something to eat, cheer up. Sister will surely be saved."

Liu Chun gave him a gentle smile:

"Alright, thank you, Elder Jiang."

At that moment, Liao Pantu emerged from the Soul-Nurturing Jade. He sat down across from Liu Chun and said to him:

"Your sister's condition—thank goodness you've been keeping her alive with your talismans..."

After a moment of thought, he pulled a small medicine bottle from his robes and handed it to Liu Chun:

"I don't have much good stuff on me right now, but this is a Nourishing Origin Pill. Take it for now, and feed it to your sister once she's able to open her mouth."

At this point, Liu Chun wouldn't politely refuse their kindness. He accepted it with deep gratitude:

"Thank you, Senior Liao."

They chatted for a while longer, and before Liu Qin's medicinal bath session had even finished, Lin Xiao, who had only just returned not long ago, stood up again and said to everyone:

"Alright, no more wasting time. I'll go pay the Yuan family a visit."

With that, he left the inn.

In the time they had been coming and going, the conversation between Yuan Bi and Yuan Ruogu had not yet concluded.

Moreover, after they had left, the Yuan family's guards had resumed their usual order.

Lin Xiao arrived at the Yuan family's gate. After some thought, he decided not to pay a direct visit. Instead, he sent a message to Yuan Qing, saying that he had urgent matters that required a face-to-face meeting with the Clan Head.

Although it felt somewhat inappropriate to have just helped someone, claimed no reward was needed, and then immediately show up at their door again, thinking of Liu Chun, Lin Xiao couldn't afford to worry about such formalities.

Might as well be thick-skinned.

Before long, Yuan Bi, having received word from Yuan Qing, made arrangements and quietly ushered Lin Xiao into the Yuan residence.

The two entered Yuan Bi's study, and Yuan Bi spoke directly:

"Fellow Daoist Lin, whatever matter you have, feel free to speak plainly. Our Yuan family owes you a great debt of gratitude. There's no need for you to feel embarrassed."

Lin Xiao couldn't help but admire inwardly—this Clan Head Yuan truly knew how to handle people. He had even anticipated this concern and brought it up himself to spare Lin Xiao any awkwardness.

So Lin Xiao didn't beat around the bush. He immediately explained the general condition of Liu Chun's sister, then asked:

"The reason I've come today is to ask—Clan Head Yuan, do you have any good methods to save my friend's sister?"

Upon hearing this, Yuan Bi was somewhat surprised that Lin Xiao had come for the sake of saving someone.

After all, he had only just saved their family's Old Ancestor.

But then again, thinking it over, the Old Ancestor's condition was completely different from that of his friend's sister.

Yuan Bi pondered for a moment, then suddenly had a thought. He spoke up:

"Our Yuan family's back mountain has a Emerald Wave Hot Spring that can nourish the body and meridians. However, from what you've described, Fellow Daoist, that young lady's injuries are extremely severe. Even our Emerald Wave Hot Spring would struggle to produce miraculous results in a short time. If it were to be used, she would need to soak for a very long time before any real effect would show."

Lin Xiao had originally only come to ask the Yuan family on a whim, never expecting that they actually had a solution. He was overjoyed and quickly asked:

"Might I borrow the Emerald Wave Hot Spring from your family? Is there any rental fee required?"

Yuan Bi chuckled:

"Fellow Daoist Lin, what are you saying? It's just a pool of water. If she soaks, she soaks. There's no need for any conditions from you. It's only that the time I mentioned earlier isn't a year or two—it may require five to ten years or even longer. Do you think your friend can accept that?"

He said this because their Emerald Wave Hot Spring was quite large and divided into sections.

The larger area in the lower part of the hot spring was open to the Yuan clan members.

The upper part, however, was allocated to the Clan Head and the heads of each branch, each having their own share.

At the very top sat the most exquisite small pool, reserved exclusively for the Yuan Family Ancestor.

Whether to lend the Ancestor's share or not didn't matter much—Yuan Bi figured that his own portion was currently unused by anyone in his branch, so lending it to Fellow Daoist Lin was completely fine.

When Lin Xiao heard the length of time required, he was taken aback, seemingly not having expected it to take so long. But he still responded first:

"No matter how long it takes, my friend's sister can't afford to wait right now. We will definitely borrow the Emerald Wave Hot Spring from your family. We will also continue seeking other methods, hoping to restore her to normal as soon as possible."

He paused, and recalling that Yuan Bi had said there was no fee, he didn't push the matter further.

After all, he had just saved their Old Ancestor and had spoken about forming a friendship. There was no need to be overly stubborn about such things.

Besides, there would be plenty of interactions in the future. He would just keep the proper balance and reciprocate as appropriate.

So he agreed readily.

"Then thank you for your generosity, Clan Head Yuan. I'll head back now to share this good news with my friend."

Yuan Bi nodded:

"Very well. Given the urgency, why don't you bring the person directly to our back mountain in a little while? I'll come out to meet you and bring you in from that side. That way, it won't be easily noticed, and it'll be more convenient."

With such considerate arrangements, Lin Xiao naturally agreed. The two set a meeting point at the back mountain an hour later.

Watching Lin Xiao's departing figure, Yuan Bi thought about the friend he had mentioned, a man named Liu Chun. The name sounded somewhat familiar.

But he truly didn't know anyone by that name.

Shaking his head, he dismissed the thought and went to make the arrangements.

Back at the inn, once the medicinal bath session had ended, Liu Chun took his sister out and placed her back on the bed.

Liao Pantu then gave her another thorough examination, checking the specific condition inside her body.

Afterward, he let out a long sigh.

Liu Chun's sister, Liu Qin, in her current state—even if her body were largely repaired—would only be able to live like an ordinary person. Cultivation would be utterly impossible.

Because her dantian was already in shambles.

A damaged dantian was an especially dire matter for a cultivator.

It meant they could no longer continue cultivating, and all their previous cultivation was completely lost.

Even living as a mortal wouldn't be better than a normal person; in fact, she would be far weaker than an ordinary person, because a normal person at least had an intact dantian.

In the world of cultivation, the two most difficult problems to resolve for a cultivator were:

One: demonic heart invasion.

Two: dantian damage.

And both of these had happened to befall her at once.

If it were merely damaged spiritual roots, that would be one thing—after all, their sect's cultivation method didn't rely on spiritual roots.

But a broken dantian was not so easily repaired.

When Lin Xiao returned, he told them about the Yuan family's Emerald Wave Hot Spring.

As for that hot spring, Liao Pantu had actually heard of it before.