The First Surgery! Rich Merchant Connor!

Lan Tian took a deep breath, turned, and took a scalpel, tweezers, scissors, and a fine needle from the wooden case, then fetched the dried Drunken Dream Grass powder and Numb-Bone Vine sap from the backyard.

Connor was half-conscious by now, but because of the pain, his body still twitched from time to time.

Lan Tian first mixed the Drunken Dream Grass powder with water and fed it into Connor's mouth with a small spoon, then smeared the Numb-Bone Vine sap over the skin around the wound.

With the two medicines working together, in less than the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Connor's breathing steadied. He fell completely into a deep sleep, and his muscles relaxed as well.

"All right. Let's begin."

Lan Tian summoned his Blue Silver Grass martial soul. Vines spread from his palm and firmly secured Connor's body, preventing any accidental shifting during the operation.

With his other hand, he picked up the scalpel and heated it over the candle flame to disinfect it.

This world had no alcohol, and there were no conditions for anything like a sterile environment, but the experience Lan Tian had brought from his previous life told him that he could not skip a single step he was at least capable of doing.

The blade fell on the wound and cut it open in one clean, decisive stroke.

Blood welled out, but not excessively, because Lan Tian's Blue Silver Grass vines had already wrapped around the area surrounding the wound. Through his first soul skill, Endless Life, he suppressed the amount of bleeding.

His technique was very steady.

Although he had not been a doctor in his previous life, he had watched countless surgery videos. On top of that, in the nineteen years since crossing over, he had often practiced on small animals, dissecting wild rabbits, pheasants, and even the occasional low-level soul beast he hunted.

His skill with his hands had long since reached a masterful level.

The blade slowly cut inward along the path of the puncture, avoiding the major blood vessels and precisely reaching the place where the broken thorn was lodged.

He set down the scalpel, switched to the tweezers, and exerted steady force through his fingertips, clamping onto the end of the broken thorn.

"It's coming out."

The tweezers slowly withdrew, and a dark-brown sharp thorn two inches long was removed intact, its tip still carrying a trace of blood.

Lan Tian tossed it onto the tray beside him, where it let out a clear "ding."

Next came clearing the blood clots and bone fragments inside the wound, then using the fine needle and catgut to suture the internal wound surface, reset the ribs, and finally stitch up the skin.

The entire process took nearly two hours.

When the final stitch was tied off, Lan Tian let out a long breath. His forehead was already covered in fine beads of sweat.

He did not pause, immediately releasing his first soul skill.

The instant the yellow soul ring rose, dense Blue Silver Grass vines wrapped Connor's entire body into a bundle, and gentle life radiance flowed inside.

Endless Life activated.

The broken ribs began to heal. The damaged internal organs slowly repaired under the nourishment of life energy, and the cut flesh and skin also regrew and reconnected at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Another half hour or so passed before the vines dispersed.

Some color had already returned to Connor's face. His breathing was steady and long, and the wound on his chest had been reduced to a pale pink new scar.

Lan Tian wiped away his sweat, withdrew his martial soul, then went to the backyard to fetch a basin of water and washed his hands.

Then he pushed open the door.

Louise immediately came up to meet him. "How is he?"

"It's done." Lan Tian showed a tired but satisfied smile. "Once he sleeps it off, he'll wake up fine tomorrow. Go back and tell your father he can rest easy."

Louise relaxed completely, her eyes even turning a little red. "That's wonderful... Thank you, Physician Lan. Thank you so much!"

"No need for polite words." Lan Tian waved a hand. "As for the consultation fee, just pay what you think is fair. Given Mr. Connor's wealth, I imagine he won't shortchange me."

Louise was amused into laughter. "Don't worry. You won't be underpaid."

She craned her neck to glance at Connor sleeping inside, and after confirming that he was fine, she hurried home to report the news.

Lan Tian closed the clinic door, returned to the backyard, carefully washed and dried that set of surgical instruments, wrapped them in oiled cloth, and put them away.

Then he sat in the courtyard, raised his head to look at the sky full of stars, and felt the soul power inside him that had nearly bottomed out. The corners of his mouth unconsciously lifted.

Today's operation had gone much more smoothly than he had imagined.

But he was also very clear that what he knew was still far from enough.

This world was far bigger than it looked on the surface, and its dangers were far more numerous than he could imagine.

"One step at a time," he muttered to himself. "First build a solid foundation, expand the clinic, raise my strength. As for the rest, let nature take its course."

The night wind blew through the Blue Silver Grass in the courtyard, making a soft rustling sound, as if in response.

He closed his eyes and entered meditation.

Not a single second of the four hours of cultivation could be wasted.

When Connor woke, the sky was already bright.

From outside the window came the cries of street vendors and the clamor of pedestrians coming and going. He slowly opened his eyes, and the first things he saw were unfamiliar ceiling beams and pale-blue cloth curtains.

His consciousness was still a little hazy, but the sensations in his body were very clear. His chest no longer hurt, his breathing was smooth, and his whole body felt so light it was as if his bones had been replaced.

Instinctively, he raised his hand and touched the left side of his chest. Beneath his fingertips was only a thin layer of gauze, and under it the surface was smooth and whole. He could not feel the slightest protrusion from a wound.

"You're awake? How do you feel?"

Lan Tian's voice came from beside him.

Connor turned his head and saw a young man sitting at the table drinking tea. A book lay open halfway on the tabletop, and he looked relaxed and composed.

"Doctor Lan?"

"I... I'm not dead?"

Connor remembered that when that girl Louise had brought him here yesterday, his consciousness had already been blurred. He only vaguely recalled a young face and a room full of Blue Silver Grass vines.

"You're perfectly alive."

Lan Tian set down his teacup and walked over. A strand of Blue Silver Grass emerged from his palm, coiled around Connor's wrist, and checked his soul power.

"Your internal injuries have completely healed, your broken bones have knit back together, and your flesh wounds healed long ago."

"The only thing you need to watch out for is not doing any strenuous exercise, not moving heavy objects, not drinking alcohol, and keeping your mood steady over the next three days."

Connor froze for a long while, then suddenly sat up and lowered his head to pull open his clothes.

Beneath the bandages, there was only an extremely faint pink mark, as if lightly scratched by a fingernail. It was impossible to tell that there had been a bloody hole there just last night.

"This... this..."

His lips trembled, and his eyes reddened at once. "I've traveled north and south for so many years, seen plenty of doctors, and seen soul masters heal people too, but never... never this fast!"

He rolled off the bed, and the moment his feet touched the floor, his body was perfectly steady, without the slightest feeling of weakness.

Without another word, Connor bowed deeply to Lan Tian. "Doctor Lan, I, Connor, will never forget this life-saving grace! Name your fee as you please. As long as I can afford it, I won't haggle!"

Lan Tian waved a hand, his expression calm. "Louise said you were a friend of her father's, and she and I are old acquaintances as well. Since she brought you to me, I naturally did my best to treat you. As for the fee..."

He thought for a moment. "One hundred Gold Soul Coins."

He had weighed this number carefully.

Connor was a wealthy merchant with a sizable fortune, and that much had been clear from yesterday's outfit and the luggage he carried with him.

But after all, he was not a local magnate like Louise, who had grown up in Nuoding City. One hundred Gold Soul Coins was no small sum, but it would not make the other man feel like he was being fleeced.