Jiang Lan looked Tang Chen over. "Uncle, come to think of it, your body doesn't look like it can hold on much longer, does it?"
Tang Chen nodded. "No. In my current condition, I won't last long. Even if nothing else goes wrong, I can't make it through the Ninth Trial."
Jiang Lan thought for a moment. "I can't help you with the Ninth Trial, but I can get your body more or less healed."
Jiang Lan rummaged a small porcelain bottle out of his Storage Soul Tool, took out several silver needles, and crouched before Tang Chen. He tipped his face up and studied him.
"Your body is like a house hollowed out by termites. It's still standing on the outside, but inside, it's full of holes." Jiang Lan twirled a silver needle between his fingers as he spoke. "Your foundations have been drained too badly. And after sinking into the Slaughter City for decades, soaking in Blood Mist day after day, your meridians are packed with impurities."
Tang Chen sat cross-legged on the ground, listening as attentively as a schoolboy.
"I'll clear your meridians first, then give you some restorative medicine to drive all that mess out of your body. But I can't help with the Ninth Trial. That's the Asura God's business. You'll have to face it yourself."
"I understand." Tang Chen nodded. "Getting out of the Slaughter City alive is already an unexpected blessing."
Jiang Lan said no more. Holding the silver needles in his little hand, he inserted them one by one into Tang Chen's acupoints.
His movements were steady. His fingers were chubby, but he found every acupoint with unerring precision. The instant the needles entered his body, Tang Chen shuddered. Something surged inside him, and the dark red impurities settled deep in his