Before long, Shen Han pulled out the silver needles.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, a faint ring of color appeared on the badly injured leg of the escort.
"It's so itchy..."
The escort blurted out.
A smile appeared at the corner of Shen Han's mouth. "That means the flesh and bone are healing. Luckily, we got here in time. If we'd come two hours later, the treatment wouldn't have worked this well."
As he spoke, he continued resetting and massaging the leg without the slightest hurry.
As he worked, the escort's expression shifted from pain to relief, and his complexion grew noticeably rosier.
"Old Liu, how do you feel?"
The escort agency's steward hurriedly asked.
"Mm, much better. I can feel it again, too..."
The escort replied.
Shen Han smiled. "Everything went smoothly. I've already set the broken bone in your leg."
In an instant, everyone found it unbelievable.
Silver needles could set bones?
What kind of miraculous technique was this?
Shen Han treated the other escort in the same way. With the first escort as a model, he worked even faster this time. Before half an incense stick had burned, the treatment was finished.
Lin Tanzhi was completely won over. "Physician Shen, your medical skills are beyond anything I've ever heard of."
Shen Han smiled. "It's all thanks to Elder Huang's excellent guidance."
"Then, can they really still practice martial arts?" Lin Tanzhi's question was the one everyone cared about most.
The two escorts in particular raised their heads at once, gazing at Shen Han with desperate hope.
"Don't worry. I examined them carefully while I was using the needles."
Shen Han's expression turned serious. "The tendons in both your legs are still intact, so once you've recovered, you'll be no different from before!
"I'll write you both a prescription, with medicine to take and medicine to apply.
"From now on, take your medicine on schedule every day and make sure you get proper nourishment. In less than a month, you'll be jumping around as lively as ever."
The inner hall erupted in cheers.
The two escorts' families clung tightly to them, weeping with excitement.
"Physician Shen, I can't thank you enough. Here's your consultation fee."
Lin Tanzhi immediately took out a forty-tael banknote.
Shen Han handed it straight to Feng Hao.
Feng Hao was overjoyed. By the rules, the clinic would take twenty taels, and he could claim half of what remained—that is, ten taels. That was a full five months' wages!
Senior Brother Shen, you're my god!
"Here's the prescription."
Shen Han soon finished writing it and handed it to Lin Tanzhi.
Without the slightest delay, Lin Tanzhi ordered the escort agency's steward to fill the prescription. He also insisted on buying the best medicine and promised to compensate the escorts.
"Physician Shen, I'll see you back to the clinic."
"That won't be necessary, Young Escort Chief Lin. There's something small I'd like to ask you about."
Shen Han drew Lin Tanzhi to one side.
Lin Tanzhi paused, then said, "All right. Come with me to the study, Physician Shen."
A moment later, the two of them sat down in Lin Tanzhi's study.
"What can I help you with, Physician Shen?"
"Well, I have a friend..."
Shen Han used the same old trick. "He's interested in martial arts, but he hasn't been able to find a suitable cultivation manual. Do you know of anywhere he could look, Young Escort Chief Lin?"
Lin Tanzhi studied Shen Han's eyes. "A friend?"
After a long pause, he said, "If he wants to learn martial arts, I suggest he try the Breathing Technique. It's easy to obtain, and it can support cultivation up to the Skin Refining Realm. That's enough for an ordinary person."
I've already mastered it completely... Shen Han asked, "Are there any more advanced manuals?"
"More advanced ones..."
Lin Tanzhi spoke each word carefully. "They're almost all in the hands of sects or powerful organizations, and they aren't passed on lightly.
"Come to think of it, your friend could try a martial arts school.
"The cultivation method I practice was taught to me by a master at a martial arts school.
"The most famous one in Three Rivers County is the Iron Fist Martial Hall. If your friend can become an inner disciple, he'll have a chance to learn a cultivation method."
Going to a martial arts school was out of the question... Shen Han asked again, "Is there no other way?"
For a while, silence fell over the study.
At last, Lin Tanzhi thought of something. "Physician Shen, does your friend have money?"
"A little..."
Shen Han did a quick calculation. Including the ten taels he'd earned in commission today, he had about a hundred and seventy taels of silver in total. He couldn't call himself rich, but saying he had a little money wasn't exactly wrong.
Lin Tanzhi said, "In four days, there'll be an auction in Stone Snake Town."
"An auction?"
"Yes. As far as I know, this auction is being organized by the Stone Snake Chamber of Commerce. By tradition, there's a good chance cultivation manuals will be up for sale. Physician Shen, you can tell your friend to try his luck."
"Thank you for the news, Young Escort Chief Lin."
After chatting for a little longer, Shen Han didn't linger. He left the Fukang Escort Agency with Feng Hao.
Four days later.
It was Clinic No. 13's scheduled day off.
Shen Han slept in.
After getting up at noon, he went to Hua'an Hall and bought twenty sets of ingredients for Qi Condensing Powder in one go. With a hundred and fifty taels of silver left, he strode off to Stone Snake Town to attend the auction.
Stone Snake Town was one of the eleven towns under Three Rivers County. It lay north of the county seat, about forty li away.
At Shen Han's current level of cultivation, the walk would take him less than an hour each way.
Halfway there,
good news came from his duplicate in the Bronze Mirror.
He hurriedly opened the panel.
Mirror Master: Shen Han Cultivation: Skin Refining Cultivation Method: Breathing Technique (Perfected) Martial Arts: Angry Dragon Divine Fist (Perfected) Skill: Medicine (Perfected)
Unbelievable—the Angry Dragon Divine Fist had actually reached perfection!
In an instant, every move of the perfected fist technique was shared with his body, without the slightest reservation.
Every move and stance—including how to gather his strength and how to deal with an enemy—had reached the pinnacle of mastery.
"Let's give it a try..."
Shen Han was thrilled. He immediately charged into the woods, took his stance, and ran through the twelve forms of the Angry Dragon Divine Fist.
Scooping the Moon from Water, Flying Immortal from Beyond, Thousand-Hand Guanyin, Violent Gale, Boundless Eternal Night...
As Shen Han tested his fists in the woods, he seemed like a veteran boxer who had practiced for decades. He transformed into a true dragon, his movements fluid and expansive.
Compared with this mighty Angry Dragon Divine Fist, the Basic Fist Technique was child's play.
Boom!
At last, he took a deep breath, gathered his inner force, and punched the trunk of a camphor tree.
The strength enhanced by the Qi Condensing Powder, paired with the perfected Angry Dragon Divine Fist, gave his attack tremendous power.
The trunk shook violently.
Leaves rained down from the sky.
At the same time, that single heavy punch went straight through the trunk, blasting a huge hole in it!
"I'm much stronger than I was before!"
Shen Han drew back his fist and stared at the hole in the tree, murmuring to himself, "If I fought Kang Zhiwen again now, I'm confident I could kill him without taking a scratch!"
Now that the fist technique had reached perfection, his duplicate had nothing else to do.
Shen Han glanced at the Bronze Mirror.
He thought, I hope I have good luck at the auction tonight and can buy a cultivation manual.
With a cultivation method and Qi Condensing Powder, my cultivation will advance even faster. Breaking through to the Flesh Refining Realm will be just around the corner!
"Better keep going..."
In high spirits, Shen Han quickened his pace and continued down the road.
Before long, he arrived in Stone Snake Town.
Before you continue