Guidance Technique

"I'm going to continue cultivating!" Xiao Ninger said to Nie Li, her clear eyes looking at him with a cool expression.

Xiao Ninger didn't want to be disturbed by anyone else and had an air of keeping people at a distance. She rarely interacted with her classmates, especially the boys. With no friends, she seemed a bit reclusive.

"I'll leave right away!" Nie Li said with a faint smile. He scrutinized Xiao Ninger from head to toe.

Xiao Ninger frowned slightly. Nie Li's gaze was too impolite, making her a little angry. Many people at Sacred Lan Academy pursued Xiao Ninger, but she always disdained them, focusing only on her cultivation. Nie Li's actions were no different from those other boys, and they were annoying!

"Aren't you leaving yet?" Xiao Ninger said, displeased. Nie Li had been bothering her for a long time.

Nie Li's gaze fell on Xiao Ninger's feet. She wasn't wearing shoes. Her delicate feet, like smooth jade, were small and exquisite, crystal clear. Under the moonlight, they were faintly flushed. He asked, "When night falls, do your feet burn like fire?"

Hearing Nie Li's words, Xiao Ninger was slightly stunned. "How did you know?" Because her feet were burning hot, Xiao Ninger usually didn't wear shoes when cultivating at night.

"Of course, I know!" Nie Li smiled. "Not only do I know this, but I know more. Your feet burn like fire, but your constitution is extremely cold. Every night at the third watch, you feel like you're falling into an ice cave, which is very painful! You also find it difficult to cultivate Soul Power, don't you?"

Xiao Ninger's heart trembled. She had been silently enduring these things alone, never even telling her family. How did Nie Li know?

Seeing Xiao Ninger's expression, Nie Li knew his guess was mostly correct. In his previous life, Xiao Ninger's problem stemmed from this, a condition called Extreme Cold Syndrome. Cultivating Soul Power at night often led to Yin cold energy entering the body and blocking the meridians. In mild cases, Extreme Cold Syndrome would cause a serious illness, and in severe cases, it could lead to death. In his previous life, Xiao Ninger was fortunate to only be bedridden for two years.

"Besides these symptoms, there must be some bruises on your body that are unbearably painful, lingering, and spreading," Nie Li said with certainty. "You haven't cultivated to the Bronze 1-star Realm yet. Once you reach the Bronze 1-star Realm, at best, you'll fall seriously ill with a significant decrease in cultivation, and at worst, you'll die."

Listening to Nie Li's words, Xiao Ninger was stunned for a moment. She clenched her fists, her eyes reddening. How could this be? Despite her strength, Xiao Ninger couldn't bear such a blow upon hearing this news.

Nie Li could see the source of her illness at a glance, so what he said was likely accurate.

From a young age, she knew her family wanted to marry her into the Sacred Family, to Shen Fei. As she grew older, Xiao Ninger gradually understood what kind of person Shen Fei was. She didn't want to marry that womanizing prodigal son, so she cultivated desperately, hoping to escape this cruel fate. However, fate seemed to thwart her. Just as she was about to reach the Bronze 1-star Realm, she suddenly heard this devastating news.

Seeing the usually strong Xiao Ninger on the verge of tears, Nie Li couldn't help but feel a touch of pity.

"Nie Li, you know what illness I have, and you must have a way to cure it, right?" Xiao Ninger asked, flustered and at a loss. Her strong defenses finally broke, and she pleaded, "Can you help me?" After all, Xiao Ninger was just a thirteen-year-old girl.

Xiao Ninger had a strong personality and rarely asked for help. Hearing her words, Nie Li's heart softened. After a moment of silence, he said, "This illness isn't untreatable. You can go to the Sacred Lan Academy library and look it up. This condition is called Extreme Cold Syndrome."

"Really?" Xiao Ninger suddenly felt a glimmer of hope. "How do I treat it?"

"You need to use a special Guidance Technique to massage and dissolve the bruises, and take a potion made from Golden Thread Grass and Tianluan Grass daily. With your current condition, you should recover in about a month, or even ten days if it's fast," Nie Li said. This was the method to treat Extreme Cold Syndrome.

"Guidance Technique?" Xiao Ninger frowned slightly. Living in a Magnate Family, she had never heard of anyone who knew the Guidance Technique.

"Besides these treatments, you must also promise not to cultivate Soul Power late at night in the future!" Nie Li extended his hand. "Take out your Soul Power cultivation technique and let me see it."

Xiao Ninger looked up at Nie Li. If a stranger had asked her to hand over her Soul Power cultivation technique, she would have thought they were trying to trick her. But when she saw Nie Li's serious expression, she felt an inexplicable sense of trust. Nie Li had said so much that she completely trusted him now. She took out the Soul Power cultivation method from her Spatial Ring.

It was a small, somewhat old piece of sheepskin, covered with dense text.

Nie Li took the sheepskin from Xiao Ninger's hand. His fingers accidentally brushed against the skin of her hand, which felt as smooth as smooth white jade. However, Nie Li didn't dwell on it and began to read carefully.

After Nie Li's hand touched hers, Xiao Ninger quickly retracted her hand, her heart pounding wildly. Her mind was in a mess. What if Nie Li used this to threaten her or had ulterior motives? But when she looked up, she saw that Nie Li hadn't noticed her abnormality at all. She felt a slight sense of relief. Nie Li was looking at the sheepskin with an exceptionally serious expression, which made Xiao Ninger momentarily lose herself. It took her a moment to react and lower her head, lost in thought.

"In such a large Magnate Family, even the direct disciples cultivate such a low-grade Soul Power technique. No wonder the City of Brilliance was destroyed in the end..." Nie Li muttered.

"What did you say?" Xiao Ninger's eyes widened. She had heard a few fragmented words but hadn't heard Nie Li clearly.

"Nothing!" Nie Li smiled faintly. "This Soul Power cultivation technique is too poor. Cultivating it will inevitably damage the meridians. The reason you have Extreme Cold Syndrome is also closely related to this technique. Change 'Heart-Mind Connection' to 'Soul-Mind Connection,' and change this sentence to 'Soul merges with Spirit, Heart connects with Mind'..." Nie Li spoke incessantly, completely altering the Soul Power cultivation technique.

When Xiao Ninger heard Nie Li modifying her Soul Power cultivation technique, she was initially somewhat unconvinced. This technique had been passed down by her ancestors and ranked sixth among all the Soul Power cultivation techniques treasured by her family. How could Nie Li change such a technique just like that? However, Xiao Ninger still listened to everything Nie Li said. After all, she was the cultivator of this technique and had a deep understanding of some of its aspects. Gradually, Xiao Ninger realized that the few places Nie Li had modified seemed very reasonable and were indeed much more profound and esoteric than the original sentences.

Xiao Ninger's eyes widened as she looked at Nie Li in disbelief.

"Nie Li, can you say it again? I'll write down everything you say!" Xiao Ninger said quickly.

"Okay!" Nie Li slowed down his speech and repeated all the parts of the Soul Power cultivation technique that needed modification. After cultivating Soul Power, Xiao Ninger already had the ability to memorize anything at a glance. Although she only half-understood what Nie Li was saying, she still remembered it all. The more she savored it, the more she realized that the modified technique Nie Li described was far more profound and esoteric than she had imagined.

Xiao Ninger's gaze towards Nie Li shifted from initial confusion to increasing admiration.

How vast must Nie Li's knowledge of Soul Power be to modify such a high-level Soul Power technique? Perhaps even a Black Gold Demon Spirit Master couldn't do it? Had Nie Li's understanding of cultivation already surpassed that of a Black Gold Demon Spirit Master, perhaps even reaching the realm of a Legendary Demon Spirit Master?

Xiao Ninger treasured every word Nie Li spoke, engraving it firmly in her heart. She could no longer articulate what kind of emotions she felt towards Nie Li now – reverence? Adoration?

Nie Li was only the same age as her, yet Xiao Ninger realized how vast the gap between them was. It was laughable that she had always thought Nie Li was the worst in class. She now realized how ignorant the mockery from Instructor Shen Xiu and her classmates was. She almost firmly believed that Nie Li would become a Legendary Demon Spirit Master, just as he had said before.

What Nie Li said in class was all true!

From childhood, Xiao Ninger's talent and intelligence had far surpassed those of her peers. This was the first time she began to look up to someone her own age.

Nie Li had said he would marry the most beautiful woman in the City of Brilliance. Thinking of this, Xiao Ninger's thoughts became very chaotic. She lowered her head in silence, and suddenly, a figure flashed in her mind – Ye Ziyun. Although Xiao Ninger was very confident in her own appearance, she had to admit that in terms of beauty, she might not be able to compare to Ye Ziyun.

"What are you thinking about?" Nie Li looked at Xiao Ninger and asked curiously. Her expression was a bit strange.

"N-nothing..." Xiao Ninger quickly shook her head, driving the thoughts from her mind. She asked, "Nie Li, do you know the Guidance Technique?"

"Of course," Nie Li nodded. "But the Guidance Technique requires massaging the bruised areas of the patient. It might be inappropriate for me to do it."

Xiao Ninger looked up at Nie Li's face. His facial features were well-defined, his eyebrows sharp, and his dark eyes sparkled with a deep light, possessing an indescribable handsomeness that slowly overlapped with the image in her mind. Xiao Ninger lowered her head and said, "I don't mind. You're just helping me heal, aren't you? I don't want to become a cripple." The latter part of her sentence sounded like she was reassuring herself.

In front of Nie Li, Xiao Ninger finally let down her cold defenses.

"Uh..." Nie Li was silent for a moment. If the girl didn't mind, then he was being too petty. He already had Ye Ziyun in his heart and only had a slight fondness for Xiao Ninger, without many other thoughts. "Alright then. I'll use the Guidance Technique to treat you every three days from now on. Go back and follow my instructions, take some herbs, and I believe you'll recover soon."

"Mhm," Xiao Ninger nodded, remaining silent.

"Where are your bruises located?" Nie Li asked.

A hint of shy blush flickered across Xiao Ninger's slightly cool cheeks. She pointed to the top of her foot and said, "There's one here!"

Nie Li looked down and saw a deep bruise on Xiao Ninger's fair instep. It was already very serious.

"So serious," Nie Li frowned. "Fortunately, it's on your instep. If it were elsewhere, it would be troublesome. The instep is also more convenient; it'll be done soon!" Nie Li squatted down and sat on the ground.

"Mhm," Xiao Ninger nodded. She didn't mention that this was only one of the bruises and slowly sat down, placing her foot on Nie Li's leg, her eyes flickering, lost in thought.