Qi Purification Technique

When they reached the side room, Sun Changfu had no intention of taking out the money just yet. He planned to stall for a while and wait until his mother-in-law had boiled the talisman ashes in water and given it to his wife to drink, so he could see what effect it had.

Then he saw his son follow him into the room.

"Dad, that spirit medium is obviously a swindler. Don't believe her."

Sun Changfu gave a bitter smile.

"I don't believe her, but seeing your mother like this is tearing me up inside. Even the old doctor in the county town couldn't tell what was wrong with her. I... I'm afraid that if we wait any longer, she'll be gone. Sigh..."

Though he and his wife sometimes quarreled, Sun Changfu had no desire to lose the woman who had been at his side for decades, his first wife.

Without hesitation, Sun Yigao told him everything about Lin Xiao's abilities.

"Is... is that true, Gao'er?" Sun Changfu was astonished to hear it.

Sun Yigao nodded and gestured for Sun Changfu to look at his clothes.

"Look, Dad, can you find a single stain on me? When I was fetching water, I lost my grip and poured it all over myself. The stream bank was damp, too, and I got my shoes wet, but can you see a single stain on me now?"

Sun Changfu looked at the long robe his son was wearing and was speechless for a moment.

Never mind the stains-even the ink marks that had always accumulated on his son's cuffs from years of writing were completely gone.

If an ordinary person had stripped the clothes off his son and washed them with the utmost care, they still couldn't have gotten them this clean, could they?

By then, Sun Changfu was seventy to eighty percent convinced.

Sun Yigao went on:

"Besides, Jiang Youfu and Lin Xiao both come from families in our village whose backgrounds we know well. Even if something happens, we can still find them. Grandma only heard about that spirit medium from someone else, and we don't know where she came from. I'm not afraid of anything else, but I'm afraid she'll delay Mother's treatment and harm her, and then we won't even be able to find her..."

Sun Changfu nodded repeatedly. "You're right, son. I was muddleheaded for a moment. In a little while, I'll find an excuse to get your grandma and that spirit medium away, and you take the Lin boy and the other one in to have a look. If they need anything we have at home, you can make the decision yourself. If we don't have it, take some silver and go buy it in town.

"We'll have to spend money on your mother's treatment one way or another. Rather than give it to that spirit medium, we might as well take a gamble on the Lin boy."

Sun Yigao had been told where the family kept its silver when he turned thirteen.

Sun Yigao said:

"Don't worry, Dad. I'll make sure Mother is safe."

Sun Changfu nodded with gratification.

"Good, my son has grown up..."

Once father and son had settled their plan, Sun Changfu left the side room and headed for the main house.

"Oh, Mother-in-law, we don't have that much silver at home. How about you go rest in the guest room for a while? Spirit medium, would you come with me to the money house in town?"

The spirit medium thought that this way, she could take the money and leave, sparing herself from having to stay while they watched for the talisman ashes to take effect.

So she nodded at once.

"That works for me."

Grandma Sun, however, waved a hand.

"You two go. I'll stay here and look after my daughter."

Sun Yigao hurried in from outside.

"Grandma, you've been working hard all morning. Please go and rest. Let your grandson fulfill his filial duty to Mother."

Sun Changfu chimed in:

"That's right, Mother-in-law. Gao'er isn't little anymore. Now that something's happened to his mother, he ought to show some filial devotion as her son."

Hearing how sensible and filial her eldest grandson was, Grandma Sun felt deeply comforted.

"All right, then. These old bones will go rest for a while, and give my good grandson a chance to show his mother some filial devotion."

After seeing Sun Changfu and the spirit medium out of the house, Grandma Sun went to rest in a guest room some distance from the main house, with Sun Yigao supporting her.

Before long, Sun Yigao returned to his room and brought Lin Xiao and Jiang Youfu into the main house.

Lin Xiao looked toward the kang and saw Auntie Sun lying there, her face pale and her lips faintly purple. Her eyes were hazy and half open, and her mouth opened and closed slightly, as though she were breathing, or perhaps muttering something soundlessly.

All around her, a presence unfamiliar to Lin Xiao was gradually eating away at Auntie Sun's human presence.

That was right, human presence.

Everyone was surrounded by a human presence unique to them.

After Lin Xiao had recently advanced to the Qi Refinement Second Layer, he had discovered that he could sense everyone's human presence.

Those with weak bodies had a thinner human presence, while those in good health had a vigorous one. But as long as they had no serious illness or injury, everyone's human presence generally remained within a certain range of concentration.

Auntie Sun's human presence was now far thinner than that of an ordinary person.

As for the unfamiliar presence, utterly unlike a human one, Lin Xiao guessed it must be Yao Qi.

If the Yao Qi continued to eat away at Auntie Sun's human presence like this, she would certainly die before the night was over.

Lin Xiao told Sun Yigao exactly what he had seen.

Upon hearing it, Sun Yigao bowed deeply to Lin Xiao.

"Please save my mother, young friend Lin! Yigao is willing to be your ox or horse, whatever the cost!"

Lin Xiao immediately helped him up and said gravely:

"Of course I want to save Auntie, but I've only just begun cultivating, and my cultivation is truly not high. A Law Technique I recently practiced might be able to purify the Yao Qi eating away at Auntie Sun's human presence, but because my cultivation is so low, I don't know whether I can use it successfully..."

The Law Technique Lin Xiao was referring to was the second-tier technique of the Purification Technique-the Qi Purification Technique.

Because the system had put him directly in a state of having learned the Purification Technique, he knew these Law Techniques like the back of his hand, even though his Spiritual Power cultivation was insufficient.

Sun Yigao was at a loss.

"This... what can we do? Is there no saving my mother...?"

Seeing Sun Yigao, whom he had known for more than ten years and who had always been calm and composed, so at a loss, Jiang Youfu could only hate how slowly he had cultivated. He still hadn't succeeded in Drawing Qi into the Body and had no way to help.

Lin Xiao reckoned that using the Qi Purification Technique with his current Spiritual Power would still be a stretch. If he failed and exhausted the Spiritual Power in his body, Auntie Sun really would be beyond saving.

But he could sense that if he advanced to the Third Layer of Qi Refining, his Spiritual Power might be enough to support one use of the Purification Technique.

However, the speed of idle cultivation was fixed. For now, the only thing he could do was...

Lin Xiao immediately said to Sun Yigao:

"Brother Sun, if you trust me, please wait a little while. I'll break through to the Third Layer of Qi Refining as quickly as I can. Then my cultivation might be enough to save Auntie Sun."

Sun Yigao readily agreed. He bowed deeply once more and said:

"Sorry for the trouble, Brother Lin!"

Lin Xiao then reached into Jiang Youfu's robes and took out the simplified version of the Peach Blossom Spring Myriad Void Instruction. Sitting down on the floor, he began to study the Cultivation Method.