The Curse of the Nine Heart Begonia

Ye Renxin was quite interested in the so-called Acupoints and acupuncture. He had not believed in such things before, but Cheng Xiao had discerned his physical condition merely by feeling his pulse, which made him inclined to give it a try.

As it happened, the test subject was right in front of him. And with him, a Nine Heart Begonia, present, Cheng Xiao could experiment however he pleased—it would be hard to die even if he tried.

"Your Excellency, pardon the offense," Cheng Xiao said with a smile, the corners of his lips curving with faintly ill intent.

"Old man, are you sure nothing will go wrong? Why do I feel like this brat is full of tricks?" Dugu Bo had a bad feeling and leaned back slightly.

"What are you afraid of? You're a dignified Titled Douluo. Are you afraid a child will kill you?" Ye Renxin snorted. "Besides, with me here, what could possibly go wrong?"

"It's only letting him try. I have a feeling that if this can work with the Nine Heart Begonia, it may produce remarkable results."

Ye Renxin was already a hundred years old and immensely experienced. After realizing that Cheng Xiao's theory of meridians did not seem to be nonsense, the first thing he thought of was whether it could work together with the Nine Heart Begonia.

The Nine Heart Begonia's abilities were exceedingly simple: all of them were large-scale healing for everyone within range. It could treat poisons, external injuries, internal injuries, mental damage, and more. Its healing ability was also exceptionally powerful, making it the undisputed number-one support martial soul of the healing type.

But Ye Renxin was not satisfied.

At any given time, only two inheritors of the Nine Heart Begonia could exist in the world.

If the older generation lived too long, then when newly born children turned six, they would be unable to awaken the Nine Heart Begonia and would instead inherit another martial soul.

This made it extremely easy for the Nine Heart Begonia's lineage to be cut off!

Back then, Ye Renxin had married too early and fathered Ye Lingling's father at a young age. At the time, Ye Renxin's own father had not yet passed away, so Ye Lingling's father had failed to inherit the Nine Heart Begonia.

The entire family had worried themselves sick over it, terrified that Ye Lingling would also fail to awaken the Nine Heart Begonia. If that happened, the Nine Heart Begonia's inheritance would be completely severed!

Fortunately, the Nine Heart Begonia's inheritance was unusual. Ye Lingling was born only after Ye Renxin's father passed away, and during her awakening ceremony, she inherited the Nine Heart Begonia across a generation. Only then did everyone breathe a sigh of relief.

Otherwise, even though Ye Renxin was already in his nineties, he would have had to take a young concubine to pass on the Nine Heart Begonia. If word got out, people would probably call him a shameless old lecher.

If two Titled Douluo emerged from the Nine Heart Begonia lineage, that would be disastrous. Several generations of descendants would be unable to inherit the Nine Heart Begonia.

After more than a dozen generations, their blood ties would grow thin. Once the Titled Douluo died, whether the Nine Heart Begonia could still be inherited across more than a dozen generations would be an unknown.

This could be considered the Nine Heart Begonia's curse. Living a long life had become an immensely troubling matter.

Every inheritor of the Nine Heart Begonia would spend their entire life agonizing over this "curse," fearing that they would live too long while also wanting to live longer, struggling within that contradiction day and night.

Fortunately, like the Seven Treasure Glazed Pagoda, the Nine Heart Begonia had a major flaw: it could not break through to the Titled Douluo rank. Its Soul Power could only ever reach rank eighty-nine Soul Douluo, and its lifespan was limited to less than one hundred and twenty years.

That was a blessing amid misfortune. Otherwise, the Nine Heart Begonia's inheritance would likely have died out centuries ago. How could there still be a "Sacred Hand Benevolent Heart" today?

Without the obsession of breaking through to Titled Douluo, Ye Renxin naturally turned his attention to other matters. Exploring more possibilities for the Nine Heart Begonia was what he cared about most.

He did not want to stop at "healing"!

He also wanted "amplification"!

He could forgo breaking through to Titled Douluo. He could forgo establishing a family. But he wanted to truly surpass the Seven Treasure Glazed Pagoda!

Yet how could the barriers of a martial soul be so easily broken?

Ye Renxin had spent his entire life without finding such a possibility.

But things were different now. After coming into contact with the theory of meridians, Ye Renxin saw a glimmer of dawn!

Whether he could surpass the Seven Treasure Glazed Pagoda depended entirely on this brat!

An inscrutable glint appeared in Ye Renxin's eyes as his gaze fell upon Cheng Xiao.

"Your Excellency, please extend your hand," Cheng Xiao said with cupped fists.

Seeing his old friend persist, Dugu Bo could only helplessly stretch out his hand. In any case, a little brat could not do anything to him. He wanted to see just what this brat was capable of!

Cheng Xiao placed his hand on Dugu Bo's wrist and took his pulse. Shortly afterward, he had him switch to the other hand.

In less than the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Cheng Xiao withdrew his hand and asked about Dugu Bo's symptoms. "Senior Dugu, do you feel any discomfort?"

Dugu Bo shot him a sidelong glance. "If you don't even have that much ability, I advise you to give up early."

Cheng Xiao immediately felt helpless. Looking, listening, asking, and pulse-taking were all standard procedures. He had developed the habit in his previous life. It was not that he could not determine Dugu Bo's symptoms from his pulse; he merely wanted to ask a few more questions to verify his diagnosis and avoid a misdiagnosis.

Yet Dugu Bo was being so uncooperative.

"Your Baihui acupoint... hmm, that is, the top of your head and the soles of your feet, suffer unbearable pain deep into the night..." Cheng Xiao spoke as he observed Dugu Bo's reaction, verifying the two against each other.

After hearing Cheng Xiao's description, Dugu Bo's expression finally changed. He had not expected this brat to describe most of his symptoms simply by feeling his wrist!

Ye Renxin's gaze also shifted slightly, and he trusted Cheng Xiao's theory of meridians a little more.

Seeing Dugu Bo's expression change, Cheng Xiao understood. There was no doubt that Dugu Bo had been poisoned; it could be detected from his pulse. His pulse was chaotic, and excessive heart fire had made his temperament irritable, extreme, and eccentric. His qi and blood were both deficient, like a pot suspended over a fire with nothing inside, making it difficult to expel the toxins from his body.

"Old sir, it's your turn," Cheng Xiao said as he rose and bowed to Ye Renxin.

"Mm, go on." Ye Renxin nodded and released his martial soul. A begonia flower appeared before him, while eight soul rings pulsed in unison—two yellow, two purple, and four black, the optimal configuration.

"Following your idea, use Soul Power as needles and perform acupuncture." Cheng Xiao pointed to several Acupoints on Dugu Bo's body. "The pain in these areas of Your Excellency Dugu's body should be caused by toxins accumulating in the meridians. Needles must be inserted one li and three hao at these points to repair the Acupoints damaged by the toxins, allowing the entire body to be cleared."

"Then insert the needles two li at these two points to protect the heart meridians. After that, Your Excellency Dugu must circulate your poison technique yourself and guide the toxins back into your martial soul. Old sir will also need to insert needles into these Acupoints to nourish the meridians..."

Under Cheng Xiao's direction, Ye Renxin condensed his Soul Power into extremely fine needle-like strands. This was a form of minute control that consumed considerable mental effort. Without a high level of control over one's Soul Power, it was simply impossible to achieve.

But Ye Renxin was already a Soul Douluo and had lived for a hundred years. Though it was somewhat difficult, he still managed it.

Fine beads of sweat appeared on Ye Renxin's forehead as he controlled the Soul Needles and inserted them into Dugu Bo's various Acupoints.

"Hiss! This thing hurts that much?!" The instant the Soul Needles entered his Acupoints, Dugu Bo shuddered.

At the sight, Cheng Xiao's grin nearly reached his ears, his eyes curving into crescents. Serves you right for pressuring me earlier, old man. Feeling the pain now, aren't you?

Thanks to: Dieying, Lin Zi, Book Friend 20230415144841056, Book Friend 20230622121824003, Book Friend 20221107183437678, Book Friend 20230701205758995, Book Friend 20230417225350304, Book Friend 20230211234631763, Zhuang Chenxing

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