Chapter 13

Xunjing was secretly impressed, and he made no attempt to hide it. "Dr. Kureha certainly lives up to her reputation. You saw through us at a glance. Impressive."

"Hahaha!"

Dr. Kureha laughed heartily and waved a hand. "Kid, don't think a little flattery will work on me. Neither of you needs treatment. The door's over there. Off you go."

Seeing that the old woman really was about to shut the door, Xunjing hurriedly stopped her. "Wait!"

He handed her half a medical book, his tone neither servile nor arrogant. "Take a look at this first."

To be honest, he and his mother could already keep their conditions stable with Sea King meat, health-preserving techniques, and the medical skills he had gradually worked out himself. Even the most troublesome problem-the damage to their soul origin-could slowly recover by drawing nourishment from their life origin. Once he made a breakthrough in the Uchiha Meditation Method, he would probably find another solution, too.

But with one of the world's finest doctors right in front of him, wouldn't he be a fool not to come learn a thing or two?

Who wouldn't want to recover a little faster?

If he could learn everything Dr. Kureha knew, that would be even better. The more he learned and saw, the further he could go.

Besides, he still had his eye on her Longevity Pill formula.

"Oh?"

Dr. Kureha glanced at the half-book, her lips curling into a knowing smile. "An interesting little brat. Fine, let's see what you have that could possibly impress me."

With that, she took the book from Xunjing and began leafing through it.

One look, and she was engrossed.

It took her a long while to finish those few thin pages. Then she raised her head and jerked her chin at Xunjing and his mother. "Come in."

With that, she turned and headed inside.

Xunjing and Uchiha Chisato exchanged a glance, then hurried after her, closing the door behind them.

The three soon reached the living room.

It also served as Dr. Kureha's workspace. Medical books, instruments, and hospital beds were scattered everywhere, an orderly chaos.

She invited them to sit and poured a cup of tea, but picked up a bottle of Plum Wine for herself and took a swig.

Watching Xunjing, she waved the half-book in her hand. "Kid, where did you get this? Its approach is completely different from every medical practice I've seen in this world. This isn't from this world, and it doesn't look like something this era could produce, either."

"Oh?"

Xunjing was quite surprised. With just half a medical book, Dr. Kureha had managed to figure out so much.

But he certainly wasn't going to admit it outright.

Only once this woman's affection for him reached a certain threshold and she signed a contract would he consider revealing anything about another world.

"How can you be so sure this book isn't from this era?" Xunjing countered. "Maybe it's a secret text passed down in our clan. Surely you haven't read every medical book under the sun?"

Dr. Kureha chuckled.

She could tell the boy was deliberately steering her toward the question of it "not belonging to this era." But she had no intention of digging deeper. It had only been an offhand question.

"Actually, kid, you'd be surprised." She waved a hand with a smile. "There are medical books in this world I haven't read, but certainly not many!"

"Especially books like this, which clearly have nothing to do with this world or this era!"

"Forget it. Let's drop that."

"You've certainly piqued my interest."

"I can treat you and your mother, but I have one condition: however many books like this you have, I want them all."

"Of course, I know that isn't quite a fair trade. So I'll also let you read every medical book in my collection."

"Well? Do we have a deal?"

She had collected over a thousand medical works, amounting to several thousand volumes at the very least. Still, she thought the deal was worth it.

Treating someone wouldn't cost her any of her medical expertise. Once the exchange was complete, both sides would have more knowledge at their disposal. It was a win-win.

Her medical skills had been stuck at a bottleneck for far too long. In the book Xunjing had given her, she saw the first hint of a breakthrough.

Perhaps mastering these new medical texts really would let her break the shackles of her lifespan and reach a higher level?

A fire burned in Dr. Kureha's heart.

She had lived for over a hundred years, but her passion for exploring life had never cooled. She truly wanted to see what lay at greater heights.

If negotiating a deal hadn't been an option, she would have taken action long ago.

After all, she hadn't earned the nickname "Witch" for nothing.

"A deal is fine."

Uchiha Xunjing nodded. "I have hundreds, if not a thousand, medical books from this system. And aside from me, you won't find another copy anywhere in the world."

"So your offer isn't enough."

He held up three fingers and added, "I have three more conditions."

"First, besides curing my mother and me, you have to help me improve or develop a Nutritional Potion formula that boosts the effects of body training, or a Body Tempering Potion formula."

"Second, I want to learn medicine from you and exchange medical knowledge with you. You can't turn me down."

"Third, I want your Longevity Pill formula. If you won't give it to me, I'll supply the ingredients, and you can make the pills for me."

With the potion in hand, he believed that once his medical skills improved, he would eventually be able to reverse-engineer its formula.

"All right, I know what to expect." Xunjing nodded and said no more. He had to keep something in reserve, since he wasn't sure just how much this old lady treasured her Life-Prolonging Pill.

"What? Hundreds, maybe a thousand? That's wonderful!"

Xunjing might as well have been talking to a brick wall. Dr. Kureha hadn't taken his words to heart at all; instead, she was far more excited about what he had said earlier. "I agree to all your conditions!"

"A nutritional formula is easy, and a Body Tempering formula is no problem either. Researching medicine together? I couldn't ask for more!"

"As for the Life-Prolonging Pill formula? That's no problem, either! I agree to everything!"

"But let me warn you: making this medicine requires bones from a Millennium Dragon!"

"You can't do without those. Keep that in mind."

"Mm!" Uchiha Xunjing answered confidently. "I already looked into that. It won't be a problem for me."

Millennium Dragon bones? Other people might not know where to find them, but he knew perfectly well.

The seabed near Warship Island was littered with them!

And there was still a living Millennium Dragon there, too.

"Haha! You really came prepared, kid!"

Though a little surprised, Dr. Kureha still asked cheerfully, "Any other requests besides those? Get them all out at once so we can get down to business."

"No!" Xunjing shook his head. "That's enough. A person should know when to be satisfied."

Dr. Kureha smiled in satisfaction. This boy was decisive. She liked that.

She immediately began a thorough examination of Xunjing and Uchiha Chisato.

She finished in just over ten minutes.

Looking at the two with a hint of surprise, she said, "You're in slightly better shape than I expected. Judging by your recovery, this has all happened over the past two weeks."

"Kid, what did you use to treat yourself?"

"Medical skills alone couldn't have done this. You two must be practicing some rather good secret health-preserving technique."

At that, Dr. Kureha stopped herself and waved a hand. "Never mind. I won't ask."

"In any case, you're doing better than I expected. I'll prescribe two restorative formulas to help you recover faster."

"With my prescriptions and your own abilities, Xunjing, I reckon you'll be completely recovered in a month."

"As for you," she said, turning to Uchiha Chisato, "the depletion of your origin can be replenished in ten days with my medicine and the boy's methods."

"But the damage to your soul won't be so easy."

Dr. Kureha's face darkened, a note of displeasure entering her voice. "Even if I prepare a special soul-restoring potion for you, a full recovery will still take over half a year, perhaps even a whole year."

"Mm, with some other treatments alongside it, your right eye should recover by then, too."