Healing on the Spot

Immediately afterward, a gaunt middle-aged alchemist in a pill robe emerged from the rear hall and walked over.

"Li Jun?" Su Chen narrowed his eyes when he saw the middle-aged man. He remembered this man, whose name was Li Jun. In his previous life, Li Jun had been an apprentice alchemist at Five Treasures Hall.

In his previous life, Su Chen had happened to deal with Li Jun once. Even then, the man had held his head high above the clouds, sneering that Su Chen was trash.

He had not expected to run into Li Jun again so soon after being reborn.

"Alchemist Li is here!"

"Alchemist Li is an Intermediate Apprentice Alchemist at Five Treasures Hall. He rarely shows himself, yet he actually appeared today."

The crowd buzzed with discussion. Even the old man and the young girl could not help looking at Li Jun again upon hearing that he was an apprentice alchemist.

One had to know that in a small city like Clear River City, apprentice alchemists were an exceptionally rare sight.

"Was it you who said this old gentleman's injuries cannot be treated with a Century Sunlight Herb?" Li Jun walked straight up to Su Chen, sizing him up from head to toe as he asked.

"What does that have to do with you?" Su Chen shot back.

"You ignorant brat!"

Li Jun's brows shot up as he angrily rebuked him. "If one is injured by an Ice-Scale Python, then naturally one should use extreme-yang medicinal herbs such as the Extreme Yang Herb as the main ingredient for treatment. A Century Sunlight Herb would be even more effective. This is common knowledge to every alchemist. You are a layman who knows nothing, yet you spout such nonsense. As an Intermediate Apprentice Alchemist

how could I not stop you from doing so?"

As he spoke, Li Jun secretly glanced toward the old man and the girl. Of course, he had his own little scheme. Their attire and bearing marked them as anything but ordinary. If he could treat the old man's injuries, they would surely remember his kindness, and that would be immensely beneficial to his future.

While Li Jun was busy working his little scheme, Su Chen gave him no face at all and sneered, "You are the one talking utter nonsense."

Li Jun immediately flew into a rage and shouted, "What are you supposed to be? I am an Intermediate Apprentice Alchemist

and you dare question me?"

Su Chen ignored Li Jun. Turning to the girl, he said, "I can treat your grandfather's injuries. There is no need for a Century Sunlight Herb; an ordinary Yang-Origin Stone will suffice. I am willing to treat him on the condition that you give me the Century Sunlight Herb."

The moment Su Chen said this, a tremendous uproar erupted throughout Five Treasures Hall.

"Did I hear that right? This boy actually questioned an Intermediate Apprentice Alchemist?"

"He even claims he can treat an Ice-Scale Python bite? He does not even look like an alchemy apprentice. Isn't he boasting far too wildly?"

Even Li Jun could not help laughing in disbelief. He said disdainfully, "I wondered what you were going to say. A brat whose feathers have not even grown in, and you dare claim you can treat injuries from an Ice-Scale Python? Without a Century Sunlight Herb? Have you gone soft in the head, or taken the wrong medicine?"

Su Chen paid Li Jun no heed and looked at the girl calmly. "If you trust me today, I can heal the old gentleman's injuries. If you do not trust me, then once I walk out the doors of Five Treasures Hall, it will be too late for regret."

Li Jun said loudly, "Honored young lady, you need not listen to this brat's wild ravings. I guarantee on the honor of an Intermediate Apprentice Alchemist that everything he says is utter nonsense. An Ice-Scale Python bite is a complicated and difficult injury. It must be treated with a Century Sunlight Herb, and in all of Five Treasures Hall today, only I have the ability to treat it."

Each side clung to its own story. For a moment, every gaze in the hall gathered on the girl, waiting to see whom she would choose to trust.

The girl pondered for a moment, clearly finding the choice difficult.

After a while, she lightly bit her red lip and looked at Su Chen. "Sir, I know a little about alchemy as well. Why do you say my grandfather's injuries cannot be treated with a Century Sunlight Herb, and would instead become more severe?"

Su Chen glanced at the bandages wrapped around the old man's arm and said, "It is very simple. Your grandfather's wound was not caused by an Ice-Scale Python bite at all. It was caused by a Coldheart Python bite!"

"A Coldheart Python?"

The girl's expression changed drastically. The Coldheart Python was an extremely rare demonic beast, and its venom was ten times deadlier than that of the Ice-Scale Python!

"How is that possible?" the girl immediately said. "Sir, could you be mistaken? The demonic beast that attacked my grandfather should have been an Ice-Scale Python. I could not have seen it wrong!"

"An Ice-Scale Python and a Coldheart Python are inherently difficult to distinguish by appearance!"

Su Chen spoke calmly as he pointed to the bloodstained bandages on the old man's arm. "But from the bloodstains on these bandages, one can determine that it was a Coldheart Python bite."

"From the time you were attacked in the mountains until you entered Clear River City and came to Five Treasures Hall, at least three hours should have passed. Yet blood is still continuously seeping through these bandages, which means the wound has not closed."

"That is not normal. These bandages give off the scent of wound medicine. If it were an ordinary wound, it should have begun healing after the wound medicine was applied, no matter what."

"Only the Coldheart Python is different. Its venomous fangs contain a substance that destroys blood-clotting functions, so wounds from its bite take an extremely long time to heal."

Su Chen remained unhurried, his calm voice drifting through the great hall.

Li Jun's expression changed several times. Looking at the old man's bandages, he had to admit that he had indeed overlooked the blood that had been continuously seeping through them!

At once, Li Jun's face turned livid. Still unwilling to concede, he said, "Fine, even if it is as you say and this was a Coldheart Python bite, so what? Does that mean a Coldheart Python bite cannot be treated with a Century Sunlight Herb?"

Su Chen smiled. Looking at Li Jun as though he were an idiot, he said quietly, "Of course it cannot. The path of alchemy emphasizes prescribing the right medicine for the illness. The venom of a Coldheart Python is entirely different from that of an Ice-Scale Python,

so naturally they cannot be treated with the same medicine."

As he spoke, the corners of Su Chen's lips curled faintly upward. "Alchemist Li, the things coming out of your mouth are so unprofessional that I am beginning to wonder whether you swindled your way into the title of Intermediate Apprentice Alchemist."

Li Jun's face instantly became incomparably ugly. He wished he could slap himself twice. He had been so enraged that he had blurted out something so unprofessional.

He immediately turned to the girl. "Miss, I..."

But before Li Jun could finish, the girl interrupted him apologetically. "Alchemist Li, I would like to try this gentleman's treatment plan first."

The moment the girl spoke, extreme fury flashed through Li Jun's eyes. He had never expected that between himself, an Intermediate Apprentice Alchemist, and an unknown brat, she would choose to trust the latter.

Yet Li Jun could not fall out with the girl on the spot. Judging from the attire and bearing of the girl and old man, there was an eighty or ninety percent chance that they were distinguished visitors from elsewhere. He did not dare offend them, nor could he afford to take that risk.

"Fine, fine. Then treat him right here. Let me broaden my horizons as well!" Li Jun stood to one side with a dark face. He refused to believe that this unknown boy could truly treat a Coldheart Python bite.

The Coldheart Python was an extremely rare demonic beast. Even Li Jun had only heard of it and had never personally seen a wound caused by one of its bites.

Li Jun believed that Su Chen was putting on a bold front, one hundred percent. Faced with such a rare injury as a Coldheart Python bite, Su Chen would certainly fail to treat it; he might even worsen the condition.

When that time came, he, an Intermediate Apprentice Alchemist, would step in and turn the tide before everyone's eyes, working miraculous hands to bring spring back to withered wood. His reputation would surely rise another level.

With that in mind, Li Jun simply folded his arms and stood to the side with a cold smile, waiting to watch Su Chen make a fool of himself.

By then, more and more people had gathered in the main hall.