Chapter 7

Chen Fan still had a calm expression as he said, "It's just a small cultivation technique, not worth mentioning."

To Chen Fan, this was indeed not something to boast about.

In fact, the old man in the Tang costume had a cultivation level higher than his. In theory, he could also do it. However, as previously mentioned, the inner strength of martial artists and the true essence of cultivators are two completely different levels of power, like tofu and a steel knife. A steel knife can easily cut a branch with a light force, while tofu, no matter how much force is used, can only shatter against the tree trunk.

Therefore, even though Chen Fan was only at the initial stage of Foundation Establishment, he could infuse his true essence into the soft willow leaf, making it as hard as steel, like a bullet, to graze Ziqing's cheek and pierce into the tree trunk. The old man in the Tang costume's inner strength might dissipate after just a few inches, which was the difference in quality.

"For someone like you, it's a trivial skill, but to us, it's a miraculous technique of a grandmaster," the old man in the Tang costume sighed. He no longer called Chen Fan "little brother" but addressed him as "sir" to show respect.

He had spent half his life in military service and held a high position, but he had always aspired to the path of martial arts, despite his mediocre talent.

Although China is vast, grandmasters of martial arts are as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns. With his status, it was also difficult to seek guidance from a grandmaster. Now, seeing such a young grandmaster, he felt that he had wasted most of his life.

Chen Fan's heart stirred, and he asked, "You say a grandmaster can do what I did?"

"Of course, a grandmaster at the peak of martial arts has completely transcended the ordinary. Releasing inner strength to kill from a dozen steps away is not difficult," the old man in the Tang costume nodded.

He suddenly realized and asked strangely, "Sir, as a grandmaster, you don't know these? These are common knowledge in the martial arts world."

Chen Fan thought to himself, so it's not inner strength, but inner force?

To condense this loose inner force to the point of killing from a distance, one must at least break through to the Profound Passage stage.

So, the so-called grandmaster at the peak is a Profound Passage martial artist? And according to the old man in the Tang costume, there are very few of them.

That makes sense! In a place like Earth, where spiritual energy is depleted, and the cultivation methods are so rudimentary, breaking through to the Profound Passage stage must be a world-class genius. It's impossible to have them in abundance like cabbages.

Although he knew grandmasters existed, Chen Fan was not the least bit afraid.

Not to mention his cultivation was advancing rapidly, and he could reach the Profound Passage stage in less than half a year. Moreover, besides directly using true essence, he could also cast spells, which grandmasters of martial arts couldn't compare to.

Thinking of this, he shook his head and said, "I am truly just a cultivator, and what I did earlier was just a cultivation technique. I'm hearing about inner force and grandmasters for the first time. I think you might have misunderstood."

"Are you a cultivator?" Hearing Chen Fan mention this again, the old man in the Tang costume was really puzzled. At his status, he had heard of some extraordinary people with incredible abilities. But the skill of using a leaf to cut like a blade was a hallmark of a grandmaster, and it couldn't be faked.

Could he really not be a grandmaster?

The old man in the Tang costume decided not to think about it and decided to win over this young sir. Regardless of whether he was a grandmaster, his skills alone were enough to match a grandmaster.

Moreover, he was so young, with a bright future ahead. He also had a beautiful granddaughter, so the old man couldn't help but have some common old man's habits.

He suddenly changed his expression and said with a smile, "Whether you are a grandmaster or not doesn't matter. Let's not talk about that for now. From your accent, you are also from Chuzhou?"

"Yes, I am from Sishui County. I lived there for seventeen years and came to Chuzhou to study for my senior year in high school," Chen Fan nodded, then suddenly remembered something and added, "My name is Chen Fan, and you can also call me Chen Beixuan. 'Beixuan' is the Daoist name given to me by my teacher."

Although the old man was not a cultivator, he was still somewhat connected to the world of cultivation. He preferred to use the name Chen Beixuan when interacting with them.

"Sishui County, Chen Fan, Chen Beixuan?" The old man in the Tang costume and his granddaughter exchanged glances, and neither had heard of this person. He turned his head and asked curiously, "We'll call you Mr. Chen. Where is your teacher? Didn't he come to Chuzhou with you?"

"My teacher is no longer on this planet," Chen Fan shook his head silently.

His teacher, the Immortal Cangqing, was now traveling through some distant galaxies. It would be decades before he returned to Earth. Moreover, the world is ever-changing, and the Immortal Cangqing might not even pass by Earth again.

The old man in the Tang costume misunderstood and said with a touch of emotion, "Life, aging, illness, and death are the natural course of human life. Your teacher could teach a disciple like you, which is enough for him to be proud. I am nearly ninety years old, and many of my old comrades have already passed away. Although I practice inner force and have extended my life by a few years, I haven't reached the grandmaster level, and I probably won't last much longer."

After saying this, he let out a violent cough.

"Grandpa," the cold-tempered woman with a ponytail said with concern.

Her cold, beautiful face was slightly red, and she supported the old man, gently patting his back.

"It's fine, it's fine, just an old ailment," the old man in the Tang costume waved his hand, comforting his granddaughter.

Chen Fan watched from the side and suddenly interjected, "You are using inner force forcefully, which has damaged your lungs."

"Oh, Mr. Chen also knows medicine, and you can even see this?" The old man in the Tang costume was genuinely surprised.

The woman with the ponytail's eyes suddenly lit up, and she quickly explained:

"My grandfather joined the army when he was young and fought before liberation. Once, when the enemy surrounded us, he used his not fully mastered inner force to protect his comrades during their retreat, which led to lung damage. At the time, there was no time to treat it, and later, it became a chronic condition. It's an internal injury, and it hasn't been cured for decades, and can only be suppressed with medication."

"Since Mr. Chen is a cultivator and has seen my grandfather's condition, is there any way to cure him?"

Her beautiful eyes looked at Chen Fan with a hint of hope.

As the granddaughter of the old man in the Tang costume, the woman naturally knew how much pain her grandfather suffered each time his coughing fit occurred.

Moreover, this injury caused by inner force was almost untreatable by modern medicine. Even many famous traditional Chinese medicine practitioners said that it could have been treated when it first happened, but after decades, it was beyond the reach of medicine.

But seeing Chen Fan's miraculous skills and his ability to see through the old man's condition, the woman with the ponytail couldn't help but feel a glimmer of hope.

"Mr. Chen, our Wei family has some influence in Jiangbei. If you can cure my grandfather's illness, we can fulfill any request you have," the woman with the ponytail looked straight at Chen Fan and said firmly.

Chen Fan listened and remained silent for a moment before slowly saying:

"Curing this is not difficult for me. Since we have met, it's a matter of fate."

He paused, seeing the excitement on the faces of the three opposite him, and continued, "Let me go back and prepare. In a couple of days, I'll come to treat you. Is that okay?"

"Of course," the burly man beside him was so excited he almost jumped up, and even Ziqing's cold face softened with a smile.

Chen Fan couldn't help but look at her a few more times; indeed, the ice queen was most beautiful when she smiled.

"Thank you, Mr. Chen," the old man in the Tang costume, having weathered many storms, remained calm despite his inner joy. He first instructed the burly man:

"Xiao Qi, take down Mr. Chen's phone number and send him home later."

Then he turned to Chen Fan and said, "When you're ready, just call Xiao Qi, and he'll come to pick you up. If you have any trouble in Chuzhou, just tell Xiao Qi. I still have some influence here."

"Alright," Chen Fan nodded silently.

...

Chen Fan returned to the lakeside community in the SUV driven by Xiao Qi.

With his discerning eye, he naturally recognized it as a high-end Land Rover, which would cost no less than two to three million. In 2007, being able to drive such a car in Chuzhou indicated considerable power.

But this was not the real reason he agreed.

"The old man Wei Fu, though polite, cannot hide the aura of a seasoned soldier. He must have been a soldier in his youth, and his rank was not low," he shook his head and thought to himself.

Chen Fan, who admired soldiers who protected the country when he was young, and who, though not a cultivator, had entered the realm of inner force, decided to help him out of a sense of duty.

Upon arriving at the lakeside community and exchanging numbers with Xiao Qi, Chen Fan entered the community with Xiao Qi's respectful gaze.

He naturally knew no medical techniques, but as a cultivator, treating illness didn't require acupuncture or massage.

A single spirit pill would naturally cure all diseases.

He didn't agree on the spot because he needed to return and refine some pills.

Moreover, there was a problem with Wei Fu's inner force cultivation method, which could damage the lungs. He planned to spend time optimizing it.

Though he didn't ask Wei Fu about the inner force cultivation method, who was he? A great cultivator at the Tribulation Transcending stage! The so-called inner force of martial artists was just a highly simplified version of cultivation techniques, and a few glances were enough to see through its secrets.

It was like a Nobel laureate looking at a primary school student solving an Olympiad math problem. The first glance might find the approach somewhat novel, but the second glance would reveal it to be nothing special.

"What a headache, it seems my pocket money will shrink again," he sighed at the thought of spending money.

The medicine to treat Wei Fu's illness didn't require expensive herbs, so Chen Fan went to the Chinese medicine store to order a batch.

Refining pills was simple. What Chen Fan wanted to refine was the most basic pill in the cultivation world:

"The Small Yuan Cultivation Pill."

The Yuan Cultivation Pill is a spirit pill that enhances life's vital energy, known as a universal remedy. Whether for illness, injury, or physical weakness, it can be taken. For those without cultivation, it can even extend life by a few years.

The "small" prefix indicates that the pill Chen Fan refined had only a fraction of the true Yuan Cultivation Pill's effectiveness.

He had no choice; the herbs needed to refine the true Yuan Cultivation Pill might not even be available on the entire Earth. Even if he used substitutes, they would have to be of the level of a hundred-year-old ginseng, which he couldn't afford even if he sold himself.

"The Small Yuan Cultivation Pill should be enough to cure him, right? No matter, I'm broke anyway. If it doesn't work, I'll have him pay for the good herbs and help him refine them."

Chen Fan shook his head. In the following days, he didn't even go to his cultivation site but stayed at home to refine the Small Yuan Cultivation Pill for Wei Fu and optimize the inner force cultivation method.

During this time, Aunt Tang called several times to invite him to dinner, but he found excuses to avoid it.

After several days of dodging, Aunt Tang thought he was upset.

That afternoon, after he had almost finished refining the pills and optimizing the cultivation method, and had already notified Wei Fu that he could come to treat him that evening, Aunt Tang called again. Chen Fan finally couldn't refuse.

---

Chen Fan returned to the lakeside community in the SUV driven by Xiao Qi.

With his discerning eye, he naturally recognized it as a high-end Land Rover, which would cost no less than two to three million. In 2007, being able to drive such a car in Chuzhou indicated considerable power.

But this was not the real reason he agreed.

"The old man Wei Fu, though polite, cannot hide the aura of a seasoned soldier. He must have been a soldier in his youth, and his rank was not low," he shook his head and thought to himself.

Chen Fan, who admired soldiers who protected the country when he was young, and who, though not a cultivator, had entered the realm of inner force, decided to help him out of a sense of duty.

Upon arriving at the lakeside community and exchanging numbers with Xiao Qi, Chen Fan entered the community with Xiao Qi's respectful gaze.

He naturally knew no medical techniques, but as a cultivator, treating illness didn't require acupuncture or massage.

A single spirit pill would naturally cure all diseases.

He didn't agree on the spot because he needed to return and refine some pills.

Moreover, there was a problem with Wei Fu's inner force cultivation method, which could damage the lungs. He planned to spend time optimizing it.

Though he didn't ask Wei Fu about the inner force cultivation method, who was he? A great cultivator at the Tribulation Transcending stage! The so-called inner force of martial artists was just a highly simplified version of cultivation techniques, and a few glances were enough to see through its secrets.

It was like a Nobel laureate looking at a primary school student solving an Olympiad math problem. The first glance might find the approach somewhat novel, but the second glance would reveal it to be nothing special.

"What a headache, it seems my pocket money will shrink again," he sighed at the thought of spending money.

The medicine to treat Wei Fu's illness didn't require expensive herbs, so Chen Fan went to the Chinese medicine store to order a batch.

Refining pills was simple. What Chen Fan wanted to refine was the most basic pill in the cultivation world:

"The Small Yuan Cultivation Pill."

The Yuan Cultivation Pill is a spirit pill that enhances life's vital energy, known as a universal remedy. Whether for illness, injury, or physical weakness, it can