The Saint Venerable's Methods, Infinite Storage Space

At the Prefectural Governor's Mansion in Green Province.

Three rounds of wine had gone by, and five courses of food had been served.

Lin Changqing set down his chopsticks, picked up his teacup, and took a sip.

The meal really had been excellent.

It was leagues beyond the Michelin restaurants of his previous life. The ingredients themselves were on an entirely different level.

As he savored his satisfaction, he caught sight of Ma Yuanzhong standing nearby.

The Prefect of Green Province was rubbing the hem of his robe between both hands, his face full of words he wanted to say but could not.

His lips parted, then closed. They parted again, then closed again, as though he had something to ask but did not dare speak.

Lin Changqing smiled to himself.

He had noticed Ma Yuanzhong acting like this for a while now.

He knew that look well.

In his previous life, his coworkers had worn the same expression before going into the boss's office to report on their work.

It looked like Ma Yuanzhong needed a favor.

So be it.

After eating someone's food, it was hard to say no. He could count this meal as payment in advance.

Lin Changqing set down his teacup and spoke first. "Prefect Ma, is there something you want to say?"

Ma Yuanzhong jolted as though his thoughts had been laid bare.

He hesitated, then dropped to his knees with a thud.

"Saint Venerable, your eyes are as keen as torches. This humble official does... does have a favor to ask!"

His voice trembled with unease, and he pressed his forehead firmly to the floor.

"This humble official has a young son who just turned seven. His meridians have been blocked since birth, leaving him unable to absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth."

"This humble official has sought out every renowned physician in Green Province and even had an imperial physician brought from Capital City. We've used more Heavenly Treasures than I can count, but he's still an ordinary child. He can't even become a First-Rank Martial Artist."

Ma Yuanzhong raised his head.

His eyes, weathered by years in officialdom, were red and wet.

"This humble official is sixty-seven, and he's my only young son. I don't ask for him to achieve great things. I only want him to cultivate like a normal child, even if he reaches no higher than the first or second rank."

"Saint Venerable, your powers are boundless. This humble official dares to ask you to examine him. If you can save my child, I will give everything I have to repay your kindness!"

He moved to kowtow again, but Lin Changqing raised a hand to stop him.

Truthfully, Lin Changqing was in a bind.

He genuinely knew nothing about healing people. Ask him to cleave a demon in two with one sword strike, and that would be easy.

But examine a patient?

He was no doctor, and he knew nothing of medicine. How was he supposed to do that?

It seemed he could only wish he were able to help.

Lin Changqing was about to decline politely when the system's voice suddenly sounded in his mind.

[Ding! Random task triggered: Heal the young son of the Prefect of Green Province and restore his meridians to normal (0/1). Reward: Infinite Storage Space.]

[Infinite Storage Space: A storage space exclusive to the system. Can hold any nonliving item, with no limit on quantity or weight. Time is stopped inside; stored items never spoil, spiritual energy never dissipates, and medicinal potency never diminishes.]

Lin Changqing's eyes lit up.

Another task had appeared!

And the reward—Infinite Storage Space!

Though he was a Ninth-Rank Martial Saint who could tear open a Spatial Rift with a casual gesture, he could also create a small space for storage.

But compared with the system's space, that crude storage space fell short by far more than a single tier.

Time still passed inside a storage space opened by a martial artist. It only passed more slowly than it did outside!

Pills stored there would lose their potency, Spirit Herbs would wither, and the spiritual energy in spirit stones would gradually leak away.

The longer something sat inside, the less it was worth.

Even a space created by a Ninth-Rank Martial Saint could keep time slowed for a century at most.

Any longer was impossible.

But time stood still inside the system's Infinite Storage Space!

That meant anything placed inside would come out exactly as it had gone in!

It was the ultimate treasure for travel, daily life, murder, and plunder!

Lin Changqing pulled his thoughts back and looked at Ma Yuanzhong, who was still kneeling on the floor.

He had originally intended to decline.

But now... the system had issued a task, and the reward was too tempting. One way or another, he had to cure the child.

If he could not do it himself, he would summon several of the world's finest physicians. If the Great Yu Dynasty had none who could help, he would search the surrounding powers.

Either way, he was going to complete this task!

Lin Changqing set down his teacup and said evenly, "I am no physician. I know nothing of medical theory or prescriptions. If you expect me to prescribe medicine, you're asking too much of me."

Ma Yuanzhong's heart sank.

Even the Saint Venerable could do nothing?

But Lin Changqing continued, "Still, bring the child here and let me take a look. I won't know whether he can be cured until I've examined him."

Ma Yuanzhong froze, then burst with joy.

The Saint Venerable had not refused outright! He was willing to look! There was still hope!

"Yes! Yes! This humble official will fetch him at once!"

Ma Yuanzhong scrambled to his feet and shouted to a servant by the door, "Quick! Bring the young master from the rear courtyard! Tell him the Saint Venerable wishes to see him!"

The servant raced off.

Before long, an old servant led a child by the hand into the banquet hall.

The boy looked about six or seven, half a head shorter than other children his age.

His little face and lips were pale, and he stood timidly by the door.

But his manners were impeccable.

First, he bowed to Ma Yuanzhong. "Greetings, Father."

Then he turned and bowed properly to Lin Changqing in the seat of honor.

"Greetings, Saint Venerable."

His voice was soft and childish, but his tone was earnest.

Ma Yuanzhong hurriedly drew the boy forward and said to Lin Changqing, "Saint Venerable, this is my son, Ma Chengye."

Lin Changqing's gaze settled on the boy.

He released his divine sense and swept it through the child's body.

The divine sense of someone at the Ninth-Rank Martial Saint Peak was immensely powerful. Every meridian, every acupoint, every drop of the child's blood appeared clearly in his mind.

A few breaths later, Lin Changqing withdrew his divine sense.

A faint smile touched his lips.

No wonder the system had given him this task.

This illness... he really could cure it.

The boy's meridians were indeed blocked from birth, and it was the most troublesome kind of blockage: a complete one.

Every major meridian in his body was sealed shut.

The spiritual energy of heaven and earth could not enter at all. No matter how many Heavenly Treasures he consumed, he could not absorb their Spiritual Power. It could only accumulate inside him.

Worse still...

Lin Changqing looked at Ma Yuanzhong and said calmly, "Prefect Ma, your son was born with blocked meridians. They should have been opened gradually with gentle medicine."

"Instead, you gave him large quantities of nourishing Heavenly Treasures. He couldn't absorb their medicinal power, so it all accumulated in his meridians."

"If this continues, barring a miracle, your son won't live past ten."

Ma Yuanzhong's face went white.

He would not live past ten? His Chengye had only three years left?

"S-Saint Venerable..." Ma Yuanzhong's legs gave way, and he dropped to his knees again.

This time, even his voice shook.

"Please save Chengye, Saint Venerable! He is this humble official's only son! I was a fool. I harmed my own child! Please show mercy, Saint Venerable!"

With that,

he slammed his forehead against the floor.

In this world, the higher a cultivator's cultivation and the deeper their mastery of the martial path, the harder it was for them to have children.

Most top experts at the Great Grandmaster or Martial Saint level had no children throughout their lives and no heirs to follow them.

Unless they had children while their cultivation was still weak.

Ma Yuanzhong had spent half his life cultivating to reach the seventh rank of Grandmaster. He had been past sixty before he finally had this one son.

That was why he would give everything to save the boy.

Beside him, Ma Chengye watched his father, bit his lip, and felt tears well up in his eyes.

But he did not cry.

He walked over to Ma Yuanzhong and whispered, "Father, please don't. Get up."

Ma Yuanzhong pulled his son into his arms, tears streaming down his aged face.

Lin Changqing watched them.

Ma Yuanzhong might have been a seasoned official with endless ways to flatter people, but his love for his son was genuine.

Lin Changqing set down his teacup and rose.

"Stop crying. I never said I wouldn't save him."

His tone was still calm, but to Ma Yuanzhong, those words sounded sweeter than heavenly music.

"There's no need for this, Prefect Ma."

Ma Yuanzhong jerked his head up, disbelief all over his face.

The Saint Venerable was saying he could save him?

Lin Changqing walked up to Ma Chengye and looked down at the boy.

"Little one, this might hurt. Can you bear it?"

Ma Chengye looked up at Lin Changqing and nodded hard.

"Chengye can bear it."

"Good."

Lin Changqing extended his right hand and touched his index finger to Ma Chengye's brow.

A thread of exquisitely pure Spiritual Power flowed from his fingertip into the boy's meridians.

This Spiritual Power was utterly unlike the ordinary spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

It was purer and more immense, and it carried the sacred might unique to a Ninth-Rank Martial Saint.

Lin Changqing guided it slowly forward.

Under its impact, the meridians that had been sealed shut inside Ma Chengye opened inch by inch.

He was not forcing them wider.

He was shattering the blockages completely, then rebuilding the meridians!

Ma Chengye's little face flushed crimson. Veins bulged on his forehead, and his body felt as though it were roasting over a fire.

Every inch of his meridians was tearing apart!

But he gritted his teeth and did not make a sound.

His fists clenched so tightly that his nails dug into his palms.

Approval flashed through Lin Changqing's eyes.

The boy had grit.

He kept driving his Spiritual Power through Ma Chengye's body, opening every blocked meridian along the way.

The medicinal power that had accumulated in those meridians over the years was swept into his blood by the Spiritual Power.

Lin Changqing then refined it slowly, weaving it thread by thread into Ma Chengye's muscles, bones, blood, and flesh.

Ma Chengye's body began to change.

His pale skin grew rosy, and his small frame filled out at a visible pace.

His muscles grew, and his bones strengthened.

His aura began to rise.

Before everyone's eyes, Ma Chengye's cultivation surged straight to First-Rank Peak!

He was only one step away from breaking through to the second rank!

Lin Changqing withdrew his finger.

Ma Chengye opened his eyes and looked down at his hands.

He tried clenching his fists and felt a strength he had never known flowing through him.

He tried circulating his Cultivation Technique, and for the first time, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth answered his call.

"I... I can cultivate!"

The boy's voice shook, but this time it was with excitement.

Ma Yuanzhong stared at his son's visibly broader frame and felt the aura of First-Rank Peak emanating from him.

His lips quivered violently. Then he dropped heavily to his knees.

Thud!

He struck his forehead against the floor harder than ever before, leaving a red mark.

"Thank you, Saint Venerable! Thank you!"

"On behalf of Chengye and the entire Ma Clan, this humble official kowtows in gratitude for your kindness, Saint Venerable!"

His voice was hoarse, and tears streamed down his face.

Ma Chengye knelt too and solemnly kowtowed three times.

"Chengye thanks the Saint Venerable for giving me a new life."

Lin Changqing waved a hand.

"Get up."

Just then, the system's voice sounded in his mind.

[Ding! Random quest complete: Treat the young son of Green Province's Inspector and help him return to normal (1/1). Reward: Infinite Storage Space.]

[Does the host wish to claim it now?]

"Claim it."

At Lin Changqing's thought, a strange ripple merged into his body.

With a shift of his mind, his consciousness sank into the system space, and a boundless void appeared in his perception.

The void had neither borders nor direction, only chaos.

But Lin Changqing knew this was his Infinite Storage Space!

If he put a cup of hot water inside and took it out a hundred years later, the water would still be hot.