"No feeling? That's impossible. Your vital energy and blood are already flowing smoothly, and your nerves should have recovered as well."
Sun Cheng was starting to panic a little now. After all, he had sworn with absolute confidence that he could save Shen Youning.
A tear slipped from the corner of Shen Youning's eye. "Doctor... am I never going to walk again for the rest of my life?"
Shen Sanwan grew anxious as well. He had pinned all his hopes of his daughter walking again entirely on Sun Cheng. If she couldn't stand up this time, there would be even less of a chance in the future.
Sun Cheng wiped the sweat from his brow with his sleeve. "Wait a moment, let me try again to see where the problem might be."
Sun Cheng removed all the silver needles, then repeated the exact same procedure and pierced her again.
"How is it? Do you have any feeling this time?" Sun Cheng asked.
To his surprise, Shen Youning still shook her head. "No feeling."
Sun Cheng muttered under his breath, "That shouldn't be. I did everything I was supposed to do, how could this happen? Could it be that my internal energy wasn't enough to drive the circulation of blood?"
Having endured all this, Shen Sanwan finally reached the end of his tether. "Sun Cheng! When I invited you back, you promised me with absolute certainty that you would cure my daughter! Now you must give me an explanation, or I'll make sure you can't even carry your own tail out of here!"
As the head of Qingcheng, Shen Sanwan had a heavy say in everything that happened in the city. Wanting to make sure Sun Cheng couldn't walk out of Qingcheng was just a matter of a single word for him.
Lying on the bed, Shen Youning looked ashen, her heart set on death. Taking advantage of the moment when no one was paying attention, she grabbed a silver needle and aimed it straight at her own carotid artery.
However, the very next second, the silver needle in her hand was suddenly and effortlessly deflected by a taut, straight strand of hair.
Klein winced in pain and bared his teeth. "Mr. Chen, could you please not pluck my hair next time?"
Chen Nuo walked up to the side of Shen Youning's bed and said, "You're still so young with infinite possibilities ahead of you. If you want to seek death now, who are you doing justice to?"
Tears welled in the corners of Shen Youning's eyes. "I don't want to be a burden! I've been lying in this bed for five years, and I don't want to trouble anyone anymore!"
Without wasting words, Chen Nuo said, "As you wish."
Seeing that his daughter was trying to commit suicide, Shen Sanwan was consumed by a fury of rage and grabbed Sun Cheng by the collar. "You figure something out! If you can't come up with a solution today, I won't let you off easy..."
Yet at this moment, Sun Cheng was not the least bit afraid. The look in his eyes as he gazed at Chen Nuo was filled only with reverence.
At the very beginning, he had believed that his master was the one and only peak of the peaks in medical skill—until four years ago at a medical symposium, where his master was defeated by Pluto.
He hadn't met Pluto back then; he only knew that during that conference, Pluto had brought the dead back to life, put flesh on bones, and turned the tide with a miraculous touch—truly a divine feat!
While others still needed to touch silver needles with their hands, Pluto could already manipulate needles using qi, pinpointing acupuncture points with absolute precision!
If even he couldn't cure Shen Youning's legs, then only Pluto himself could step in!
Sun Cheng broke free from Shen Sanwan's grip, dropped to one knee, and placed his right hand over his chest. "Controlling needles with qi... could you possibly be the legendary master of both medicine and martial arts, Pluto?!"
Chen Nuo said softly, "Sun Cheng, is it? I remember your master coming to Yunkong Mountain to beg me some time ago, and I threw him down. Hasn't he recovered from his injuries yet?"
Sun Cheng kept his head lowered, not daring to look up at all. "Reporting to Pluto, after your previous guidance, my master has gained enlightenment. He is now in seclusion and beginning to delve into higher-level medical arts. My master also told me that if I ever met you, I must offer three bows and nine kowtows to express my gratitude."
With that, Sun Cheng started to kowtow, but with a gentle tap of Chen Nuo's foot, a wave of qi lifted Sun Cheng right back up.
"Spare me the flattery. A doctor should have a benevolent heart. Your attitude downstairs was so arrogant just now—do you know your mistake?"
Sun Cheng pulled out a silver needle and stabbed it rapidly into three acupuncture points on his chest. "Pluto, I have already sealed three of my own vital points. For a hundred days, I will endure the pain of bone-gnawing and heart-burning. What do you think of this?"
Bone-gnawing and heart-burning: once initiated, every single day for a hundred days would feel like ants crawling through one's bones and flames scorching one's chest. The agony was worse than death, even harder to bear than dying. That Sun Cheng could make such a resolute decision truly inherited the serious and unyielding streak of his master, Zhang Chu.
"Acceptable. But if you make a mistake next time, I will clean up the sect for your master."
Chen Nuo turned to leave, but to his surprise, Shen Sanwan blocked his path.Wang Shengli and Shen Sanwan, as if they had discussed it beforehand, collapsed together in front of Chen Nuo.
"Please save my daughter, Pluto! I am willing to trade all my worldly possessions if you can make my daughter walk again!"
Money was important, of course, but in Shen Sanwan's heart, money could never compare to his daughter. If he could make his daughter walk again, he was willing to give up all his wealth and power, and even his own life.
"Chief Shen, your daughter's illness does not need to be cured," Chen Nuo said softly.
Hearing this, Shen Sanwan slumped heavily to the ground, completely dazed and numb, because Chen Nuo's words were effectively a death sentence for his daughter.
He drew a short blade from his back, held it against his neck, and said in despair, "Lord Pluto, I know I offended you earlier, and it was my fault—I was rash and presumptuous. I am willing to use my death to atone for my sins, I only beg you to save my daughter."
Chen Nuo sighed. "Your daughter's inability to stand due to muscle atrophy is not actually an illness; rather, it is a stroke of fortune. Therefore, it doesn't need to be cured—she only needs to step onto the path of cultivation, and she will heal herself."
In truth, the moment he stepped into the room, Chen Nuo had sensed a faint trace of biting cold. Normally, a house might feel chilly in the dead of summer, but it would never carry a genuine glacial frost. When he finally laid eyes on Shen Youning, he understood where the problem lay.
"Pluto... forgive this old man for his dullness, I do not understand what Your Excellency means."
Chen Nuo explained, "Your daughter's constitution is unique—she possesses the Extreme Cold Ice Body, one in a million. She can be considered a once-in-a-century cultivation genius. Once she embarks on the path of cultivation, not only will her muscle atrophy be completely healed, but her lifespan will also be prolonged. It holds a hundred benefits for her without a single harm!"
Wang Shengli said excitedly, "Brother, you heard that, right? Youning's condition can be saved, it really can be saved!!!"
Shen Sanwan wiped away his hot tears. "I beg Pluto to save my daughter!"
The Extreme Cold Ice Body was an exceptionally fine cultivation supplement for Chen Nuo, and could even suppress his impending death limit, but it was deeply unfair to Shen Youning.
"You all go outside first. I will cure her."
As if grasping at a straw, the few of them quickly cleared out of the room. At that moment, only Shen Youning and Chen Nuo remained inside.
Chen Nuo swept his gaze over her up and down, then praised, "Your figure..."
Shen Youning's face flushed crimson, a delicate blush spreading across her cheeks. She clutched the blanket tightly to herself, biting her lower lip. "You... don't you dare mess around."
Chen Nuo flicked her lightly on the nose. "Tsk tsk, what can you do even if I do mess around? You can't fight back anyway."
At this point, Shen Youning's thoughts were in utter chaos.
"Hold onto me tightly. I'm going to cure you."