Chapter 26

"WHAT? Old Lin, you mustn't mislead the young, hahaha!"

Li Desheng laughed heartily, not believing a word of what Old Lin said, because he knew the old man had extremely strict conditions for taking on disciples and hadn't taken anyone in decades.

"Hehe, that's great, Old Man."

Zhao Zhiqiang replied politely.

While answering, he moved to stand behind Li Desheng, skillfully found the Yuzhen acupoint, and began to massage it with both hands.

Zhao Zhiqiang took a deep breath, focused his mind, and slowly used the qi-guiding technique imparted by the copper shell to guide the spiritual energy circulating in his body through his two fingers, gradually directing it into the acupoints of the elderly Li Desheng.

"Really, it works!" He was delighted.

"Huh?"

Lin Shoushan, watching from the side, noticed something odd. The boy's technique wasn't anything special, but—

Could it be?

Lin Shoushan moved closer to observe more carefully.

"Ah!"

"Damn, that's comfortable—" Li Desheng, despite trying to hold back, couldn't help but exclaim after Zhao Zhiqiang changed to a third acupoint!

"How is it comfortable?" Lin Shoushan moved in front of Li Desheng and asked seriously.

Li Desheng, thinking the old man was teasing him, replied, "What, you want to know too? Hehe, I won't tell you—only experience can convey it! It's so comfortable, I really feel good..."

He was so comfortable that he even started singing!

Zhao Zhiqiang found it bizarre and surreal.

How could these two old men, who together were almost two hundred years old, act like children?

He wanted to laugh but didn't dare.

However, he noticed that his spiritual energy couldn't penetrate the acupoints and connect them in the old man's body, unlike how it circulated in his own.

Fortunately, the method of combining finger techniques with spiritual energy was effective. The old man's headache improved significantly, and the results were much better and faster than just using his fingers!

The information given by the copper shell didn't elaborate much on the use of spiritual energy.

Refining the body and purifying the marrow—apparently, it was useful for others too.

Then, could his mother's kidney disease also be treated by him?

A moment's distraction, and the spiritual energy dissipated and broke off.

"Huh? Brat, why isn't it as comfortable as before? Did you change your technique?"

Without the spiritual energy, Li Desheng felt as if he had suddenly lost some kind of stimulating substance, and he was quite reluctant, thinking the boy had changed his technique.

Lin Shoushan had been watching the whole time.

Despite Li Desheng's deliberate teasing, he didn't get angry.

Instead, he was curious about the boy's technique. In just two minutes, Li Desheng's headache had improved significantly. The frown on his forehead had relaxed, and his eyes and expression had returned to normal, better than what he had achieved in three days of treatment!

Looking at the boy, he noticed steam rising from his head, and he was sweating.

Could it be?

Was this the legendary qi-guiding technique his master had mentioned?

He remembered a saying his teacher had mentioned long ago:

"Studying thousands of medical texts is not as good as cultivating the one qi of the universe."

At the time, his teacher didn't explain much.

Later, while collecting herbs on Wudang Mountain, Lin Shoushan met a hermit, an elderly Taoist, who he saw leap like a swallow, not even panting or changing his expression as he rushed up to the mountain temple, faster than the young Lin Shoushan by over an hour, and walking up the stairs as easily as walking on flat ground.

After much pleading, he learned that the old Taoist practiced qi.

Only then did he understand what "internal cultivation of qi, external cultivation of muscles and bones" meant.

Unfortunately, the young Lin Shoushan didn't impress the hermit and couldn't become his disciple, but he learned that there were indeed people who cultivated this "one qi."

Zhao Zhiqiang became mysterious in Lin Shoushan's eyes.

This young man... had many secrets.

"Old Commander, please relax. I'll give you a good massage; it might really help with your headache."

Zhao Zhiqiang was actually using the old man's head as a test field.

He had just learned the qi-control technique, and it was intermittently leaving his body, touching the acupoints, and trying to move within another person's body. Although most attempts failed, after an hour, even though he hadn't fully opened the meridians, he had massaged the old man to sleep.

Zhao Zhiqiang's spiritual energy reached its limit, and he was drenched in sweat, exhausted.

During this hour, he was so focused that he didn't even notice anyone entering the room!

Lin Shoushan didn't dare to let anyone disturb him.

Even Li Desheng's younger son, the Party Secretary of Linzhou City, Li Yuan, and his grandson, Li Shangbo, were carefully arranged to stay at a distance, watching quietly.

At first, they were puzzled about what Lin Shoushan was doing. The stranger didn't look like a doctor, and they wondered what he was doing to the old man's head. Later, they heard the old man's deep snoring!

Li Yuan took a long, slow breath and smiled, looking at his father, who was already asleep on the sofa, "Uncle Lin, you're truly a master. My father hasn't slept so soundly in years..."

Lin Shoushan's white eyebrows raised!

"Li Yuan, why are you still speaking in official terms behind closed doors? You know it's not my doing. Look at what the young master did for your father. If my acupuncture had such an effect, your father's headache would have been cured long ago!"

"Ah?" Li Shangbo was surprised. The young man seemed to be about his age, so why did Old Lin call him a young master?

Li Yuan smiled, "Didn't you bring him here? It's the same, same, hehe."

He thought the young man was Lin Shoushan's disciple.

Lin Shoushan shook his head, "I invited him, I didn't bring him! Don't say that. Perhaps this young master can really cure your father's condition. I've been a mediocre doctor for seventy years, just prescribing medicine and giving acupuncture, treating minor illnesses. Sigh, for a condition like your father's, which Western medicine calls functional neurological disorder, perhaps only this young master can treat it." His words were filled with respect.

For him, meeting a master who could guide qi was as miraculous as hearing his master's teachings or seeing the old Taoist leap up the cliff.

"Studying thousands of medical texts is not as good as cultivating the one qi of the universe."

This saying was deeply ingrained in his mind because his master had said that to truly achieve the efficacy described in the "Imperial Canon," many herbs required species that were hundreds or thousands of years old. Similarly, acupuncture required the use of qi-guiding techniques to be truly effective, far surpassing the results of manual skill and experience!

However, his master had also said that once a master cultivated that qi, their thoughts would be as vast as the sky and as broad as the earth. Worldly formalities, fame, and fortune, as well as life, aging, illness, and death, would no longer matter to them.

Treating others? That would depend on their mood...

Thinking of this, Lin Shoushan suddenly remembered that the young master had refused to let him take his pulse a few days ago. He recalled that the pulse of the Taoist he had met years ago was also incredibly slow...

"Whoa!" Lin Shoushan took a deep breath, realizing how presumptuous and rash he had been.

Zhao Zhiqiang's spiritual energy was depleted, and he was so exhausted that he could barely stand, lying down on the sofa beside him. However, he had gained a lot.

Qi-guiding technique.

This was the first time he had used it on someone else, and it really could open and activate their meridians and acupoints.

Moreover, Zhao Zhiqiang felt that the old man's headache could be cured by opening the meridians. This meant that his mother's kidney disease might also be treatable?

Thinking of this, his heart felt a great weight lifted.

His mood suddenly became much better!

Perhaps for conditions without a specific location, the revival of organ spiritual energy might be easier?

Although Lin Shoushan was chatting with Li Yuan and his son, he kept his eyes on the two men in the living room. When he saw Zhao Zhiqiang move away from Li Desheng's head and collapse onto the sofa, he immediately stood up!

"Li Yuan! The young master has finished his technique, quickly attend to him!"

He said this and, despite his eighty years, quickly and quietly walked over, standing respectfully in front of Zhao Zhiqiang.

"Disciple Lin Shoushan, I greet the master. I was rash before, please forgive me." He bowed deeply.