The Courtesan Guan Shu, Breaking Through to Skin Refining

Her voice was exceptionally gentle, remarkably alluring.

"Miss, are you here to see Doctor Lu?"

Huang Tie set down his rice bowl and asked.

The veil over the woman's face stirred slightly. "The three of you, this humble one is named Guan Shu. Doctor Lu is an old acquaintance of mine. I have been in low spirits today and wished to speak with Doctor Lu to ease my heart."

Guan Shu!

Huang Tie and Feng Hao immediately exchanged glances.

Shen Han had never heard the name before. Sitting to one side, he continued wolfing down his meal.

"To be honest, Doctor Lu is not at the clinic."

"Then... where did he go?"

"This old man does not know the details either. Miss Guan Shu, I fear you have made this trip for nothing."

Huang Tie did not reveal much to her.

Upon hearing this, Guan Shu's body trembled faintly.

Only after a moment did she speak again. "Since Doctor Lu is not here, could you three allow this humble one to sit in Clinic Hall No. 10 for a while, to soothe my troubled heart?"

"Xiao Feng, take Miss Guan Shu to Clinic Hall No. 10."

"Yes, Elder Huang."

Feng Hao rose and led Guan Shu away.

Only Shen Han and Huang Tie remained in Clinic No. 8. Shen Han voiced his doubts. "Elder Huang, is this Guan Shu very famous?"

Huang Tie said, "Xiao Shen, you actually do not know?"

Shen Han smiled and picked up a chicken leg for him. "I ask Elder Huang to dispel my confusion."

"Guan Shu is the courtesan queen of Miaoyu Pavilion!"

"Ah?"

"Miaoyu Pavilion is the largest brothel in Three Rivers County, and its courtesan queen, Guan Shu, is refined and untainted by the vulgar world."

Huang Tie gnawed on a chicken leg. "And I heard that she sells her talents, not herself. Many people spend fortunes merely to see her once.

I never expected this old man to see Guan Shu herself at the clinic."

Shen Han was greatly surprised.

No wonder the two of you had looked so strange earlier. So she was the courtesan queen of a brothel.

"Elder Huang, I have a question. Since she is so high above the masses, how does she know Doctor Lu?"

"This old man does not know either."

Huang Tie shook his head. "In the years this old man has known Doctor Lu, I have never heard him mention Guan Shu."

As they spoke, Feng Hao returned.

"Xiao Feng, how was it?"

"Reporting to Elder Huang, the moment Miss Guan Shu stepped into Clinic Hall No. 10, she began weeping in sorrow."

Feng Hao sat beside Shen Han and placed the chicken leg from his own bowl into Shen Han's. "Forget about her. Senior Brother Shen, quickly tell me, when did you learn to treat illnesses with silver needles?"

Huang Tie added, "Yes. Healing Chi Qingshan with silver needles was simply miraculous. Even this old man cannot help but admire you."

"Uh..."

"I knew it! You were born to practice medicine. I did not misjudge you!"

"Elder Huang, please stop praising me."

"Quickly, tell us! Where did you learn your needle technique?"

Shen Han could only make up an excuse. "Every night after returning home, I compare the medical texts and practice applying needles. That is why I know a little. As for curing Chi Qingshan's illness, luck played a large part as well."

Huang Tie's face darkened. "Xiao Shen, skill is skill. It is wrong to always be so modest."

Feng Hao said, "That is right, Senior Brother Shen. Do not keep your knowledge to yourself. I still want to learn more by your side."

"I have never seen a medical genius like you, Xiao Shen." Huang Tie continued, "Given time, you will surely become a divine physician renowned throughout the land!"

The genius is not me, but my clone. I relied on my clone to master medicine to perfection... Shen Han ate silently.

"Xiao Feng, make sure to ask Xiao Shen for guidance more often, understand?"

"Mhm, definitely!"

Feng Hao's eyes brimmed with fervor.

After lunch, the afternoon consultations began.

Patients streamed in and out of the clinic. The three worked together in perfect harmony, making their treatment remarkably efficient. During that time, Feng Hao went to check Clinic Hall No. 10, only to find that Guan Shu had already left.

By evening, Shen Han first spent one hundred copper coins on enough meat, then returned to his room in the small courtyard.

He had originally wanted to share some with Yun Yi.

But she was not home, so Shen Han had no choice but to give up on the idea.

"Time to urge my clone to train..."

Shen Han painstakingly brewed a bowl of Blood-Qi Soup and had his clone drink it, then directed the clone to cultivate.

He had long since become thoroughly familiar with these motions.

Hm?

Suddenly, just as the clone drank the Blood-Qi Soup and assumed a stance to begin training, an unprecedentedly wondrous sensation descended from the crown of his head.

"What is going on? Could it be... I'm about to break through?"

He watched the clone circulating its energy through the heavenly cycle.

In the blink of an eye, that sensation grew increasingly intense.

Whoosh!

He hurriedly took several deep breaths. At the same time, the muscles and bones throughout his body tightened like forged steel, a warm current rising of its own accord. The skin of his body also began undergoing enormous visible changes.

He immediately sat cross-legged on the bed and tightly shut his eyes.

The next instant, that warm current flooded his entire body.

The inner force surging through his body like rivers and seas gathered along his meridians, all of it pouring into the sea of qi within his dantian.

Hiss!

His dantian suddenly shook.

His inner force transformed into wisps of pure qi, wildly scouring through the blood vessels of his limbs.

The sluggish obstruction that had once accompanied the condensation of true qi vanished completely. The Ren and Du meridians widened by several degrees beneath an invisible force, while his once taut and aching bones gave off faint crackling sounds.

In an instant, a full and abundant power erupted from the depths of his marrow.

He could clearly sense that both the purity and reserves of his true qi had increased severalfold. His five senses had also become exceptionally sharp. If he were in a forest in the wilderness, every rustle of wind and grass within five zhang would enter his awareness.

Half an hour later, the heat current dissipated.

Shen Han slowly opened his eyes and opened the panel.

Mirror Master: Shen Han

Cultivation: Skin Refining

Cultivation Method: Breathing Technique (Perfection)

Martial Art: Basic Fist Technique (Perfection)

Skill: Medicine (Perfection)

His cultivation had truly broken through into the Skin Refining Realm!

The hard work of these past days—my... my clone's hard work—had finally paid off! The Breathing Technique had also risen to perfection. That meant his cultivation efficiency could remain at its peak from now on!

"Awesome!"

Shen Han shouted, savoring the extraordinary thrill.

His meridians were unblocked, his sea of qi stable. His fleshly body, inner force, and divine soul had all undergone a rebirth-like transformation.

This was the Skin Refining Realm.

"My strength has exceeded five hundred jin.

My body's defensive power has also improved considerably. When ordinary people hit me, it would be no different from a child scratching an itch.

If I went to kill Hu Jiao now, I would not even need a fist. One finger would be enough."

After muttering to himself, Shen Han used his thoughts to command his clone to continue cultivating the Breathing Technique, gathering inner force to consolidate his cultivation. Then he stepped out of the room.

Boom!

He joyfully practiced a full set of fist techniques in the small courtyard.

Qi condensed into threads, power coursing through his entire body.

The Basic Fist Technique at the perfection realm possessed tremendous destructive force. It was no longer what it had once been.

"Strange, why has Sister Yun Yi not returned yet?"

He glanced at the neighboring room. It was still completely dark, and Shen Han felt puzzled. "Perhaps she has something to take care of."

A pile of broken stones lay scattered in the courtyard.

They had been shattered by Ding San the previous night.

Shen Han found a red burlap sack, filled it with the stones, then left the small courtyard, intending to throw them away.

At that moment, a woman hurried past, dragging a child along with her.

"Mother, Sister Yun Yi was—"

"Stop talking! Go home!"

"But those two men in black are not good people. They cornered Sister Yun Yi in a dead-end alley—"

"Are you still talking?!"

The woman was horrified. She immediately covered the child's mouth and gave the child a fierce scolding.