Chapter 19: Silver Needle Relieves Cold

"Who told you that?" Xia Qingyue asked with knitted brows, her heart seizing up in shock. It was a cruel reality that people from the Frozen Cloud Asgard had significantly shorter lifespans than those from other sects with the same level of profound energy. This fact was a secret even within the Asgard itself, carefully suppressed by its high-ranking members. However, because the profound energy level in the Frozen Cloud Asgard was extremely high, the overall lifespan of its members was quite long. Consequently, this truth hadn't been overtly apparent.

Xia Qingyue knew this because her master, in a moment of distraction after one of Xia Qingyue's breakthroughs, revealed it to her, explaining that it was the greatest flaw of the Ice Cloud Art and strictly forbidding her from telling anyone, including her senior and junior disciples. Yet now, Xiao Che had just blurted it out.

"If I were the Asgard Mistress of the Frozen Cloud Asgard, I would use every method to suppress this 'flaw' and prevent outsiders from knowing about it. Who do you think I could have heard it from?" Xiao Che pouted, "I genuinely only deduced these conclusions from your pulse, nothing more. Judging by your reaction, it seems I got everything right."

"I don't believe it!" Xia Qingyue flatly shook her head. To infer a major secret the Frozen Cloud Asgard had always concealed just by reading a pulse? That was absurd! If it were truly that simple, with countless divine physicians in the Azure Wind Empire, this secret of the Frozen Cloud Asgard would have spread throughout the world ages ago. Yet everything Xiao Che had just said hit the mark precisely, without any deviation. This left Xia Qingyue deeply astonished and suspicious.

"I knew you wouldn't believe me." Xiao Che picked up the medicine pot and the bundle from the ground and headed towards the room. "Come with me."

Xia Qingyue's gaze lingered on the items he was carrying. After a slight hesitation, she followed him into the room and closed the door.

"Sit down." Placing the medicine pot and the bundle down, Xiao Che instructed Xia Qingyue in a commanding tone.

"What are you going to do?" Xia Qingyue looked at him with confusion in her eyes.

"To treat you, of course."

"No need." Xia Qingyue directly shook her head.

"Whether you need it or not, you'd best draw a conclusion after trying it... Hey! Don't tell me you're not even willing to try?"

Xiao Che had already opened the bundle and taken out a silver box. He sighed, a touch of loss and disappointment appearing on his face. "I know you mostly don't believe anything I say. But at least, I have no ability to harm you, nor any reason to. I went to the Medicinal Affairs Chamber early this morning to get these things simply because I wanted to treat you. If it works, that's great. If it has no effect, you won't lose anything... Since you don't believe me and don't want to try, then forget it. Just consider me meddling."

Xiao Che's words made Xia Qingyue pause, and then a hint of guilt arose in her heart. Indeed, what he had said previously and what he was about to do were all for her treatment, and he wasn't asking anything of her or making any demands. As he said himself, he had no reason or ability to harm her. Regardless of the outcome, her direct refusal was truly a bit excessive.

Xia Qingyue sighed softly in her heart and sat down beside Xiao Che. "How are you going to treat me?"

"...You're willing to be treated now?" Xiao Che glanced at her, then snorted lightly and turned his face away.

His childish, sulking demeanor left Xia Qingyue momentarily speechless. Her voice softened, "I want to see how you'll treat me."

"Good, that's more like it." When Xiao Che turned his face back, he was already wearing a smiling expression. This made Xia Qingyue slightly stunned... This guy's change of expression was truly too quick!

"Extend your hands."

Xiao Che sat in front of Xia Qingyue. Xia Qingyue also extended her arms as instructed, laying them flat on the table. Her loose red sleeves were pulled back to her elbows, revealing two sections of jade-like arms that rivaled snow and defied frost.

Xiao Che opened the silver box. Inside, dozens of slender, thread-like silver needles were neatly arranged.

"Silver needles... Are you going to use acupuncture?" Xia Qingyue's crescent eyebrows slightly arched.

"Oh? You actually know about acupuncture?" Xiao Che looked at her with a hint of surprise. Back on the Azure Cloud Continent, fewer than ten people in the entire continent knew how to perform acupuncture, including him and his master, the Medical Saint. However, on the Profound Sky Continent, it seemed to be a fairly widespread medical art. Even in the Xiao Sect's Medicinal Affairs Chamber, one could find a set of acupuncture instruments.

"Of course, I know. I also know that acupuncture requires extremely high proficiency; it takes over a decade to achieve minor success and several decades for major mastery. I've never heard of you studying medicine, let alone needle techniques. Furthermore, there's no scent or trace of traditional medicine in your room at all. What exactly are you doing?" Doubt and wariness lingered in Xia Qingyue's eyes.

Xiao Che took out a silver needle, his two fingers gently grasping its base. And as Xiao Che picked up the needle, Xia Qingyue's gaze briefly flickered, for in his hand, the needle possessed an indescribable sense of harmony, as if it were naturally an extension of his fingers. This feeling was very subtle and ineffable, yet it was undeniably and clearly present.

Xiao Che opened a small bottle, lightly dipped the silver needle into it, and said, "You'll know soon enough whether I can perform acupuncture. Of course, if you feel any discomfort or think I'm making fun of you, you can stop me at any time."

"What's in that bottle?" Xia Qingyue's gaze shifted to the small medicine bottle.

"Ordinary Scarlet Sun Flower nectar." Xiao Che replied casually, his gaze falling on Xia Qingyue's snowy hands. His left hand, holding the silver needle, flickered slightly.

Xiao Che's movement was incredibly fast, so fast that Xia Qingyue didn't even react. When Xiao Che's left hand retreated, the silver needle was already gone from between his fingers, and a silver needle had been vertically inserted into her right wrist... precisely on the Yangchi acupoint.

There was no pain, or rather, no sensation at all. If she hadn't seen the needle with her own eyes, she wouldn't even have known it had been inserted into her wrist. Xia Qingyue was deeply moved... Fast? No, this was absolutely not just fast! It was skillful! A level of skill that was astonishing, almost ultimate!

The second silver needle was already picked up by Xiao Che, dabbed with a bit of Scarlet Sun Flower nectar, and brought near Xia Qingyue's right hand. With a slight flick of his wrist, the second needle was precisely inserted into the Yanggu acupoint. This was followed by the third and fourth needles, inserted into the Zhongzhu and Hegu acupoints, respectively.

After the right hand, four more silver needles were successively inserted into the Yangchi, Yanggu, Zhongzhu, and Hegu acupoints of the left hand. Each insertion was so fast that Xia Qingyue could only see a fleeting blur. The surprise in her heart also layered upon itself with each insertion of a silver needle.

She didn't know if Xiao Che's "treatment" would have any effect, but his incredibly skillful technique made Xia Qingyue unable to believe that it was performed by a sixteen-year-old boy.

"Relax your hands, breathe steadily, and absolutely do not use profound energy."

Xiao Che's voice sounded in her ear. She cooperated with Xiao Che, relaxing her arms and calming her mind. Just then, she suddenly felt four chilling energies condense separately in her left and right hands. Then, as if finding an an outlet, they rapidly surged towards the Yangchi, Yanggu, Zhongzhu, and Hegu acupoints where the silver needles were inserted.

Instantly, wisps of slowly dissipating white mist rose from each of the eight silver needles. The coldness contained within them caused the surrounding temperature to drop rapidly. Feeling the cold energy coursing through her meridians and the quickly escaping white mist, Xia Qingyue's snowy complexion changed dramatically.

The white mist continued to rise for several minutes before completely stopping. Xiao Che suddenly reached out, both hands flickering like illusions. In an instant, all eight silver needles inserted into Xia Qingyue's hands returned to his grasp and were then placed into another box.

"This cold energy is heavier than I imagined. Good thing you met me," Xiao Che mumbled softly, then closed the needle box and casually asked, "Qingyue wife, how do your hands feel now?"

Xia Qingyue raised her hands, her eyes rippling with emotion. Light, comfortable, warm... that was how her hands felt right now. It was as if they had suddenly been freed from some heavy constraint. The warmth in her palms and arms was something she had never felt since cultivating the Ice Cloud Art. She looked up at Xiao Che, surprised, and asked, "What exactly is this?"

"It's actually very simple," Xiao Che said nonchalantly. "I merely guided and released the cold energy from your hands and their meridians, and incidentally cleared the congealed meridians. Your Frozen Cloud Asgard's profound art makes profound energy cold, greatly increasing its power. The reason cold profound energy is more powerful is that cold can injure people... The enemy is human, and you are also human. Before injuring others, you will inevitably injure yourself. This is a very simple principle."

"This morning, when I touched your palm, I found that its temperature was far below a normal person's body temperature. Perhaps people from your Frozen Cloud Asgard naturally consider this a normal phenomenon caused by cultivating the Ice Cloud Art, but from a medical perspective, it would be strange for such a body temperature to be normal! Normally, when profound energy is not activated, it resides in the profound meridians and doesn't affect the body. But once unleashed, Ice Cloud profound energy circulates throughout the body. While it harms enemies when released, it will inevitably harm oneself when it flows! You probably haven't been cultivating the Ice Cloud Art for many years, but a large amount of cold energy has already permeated your five zang organs, six fu organs, blood, bone marrow, and dantian, accumulating more and more. Over time, this will cause continuous, severe damage to all your internal organs. It would be strange if your lifespan weren't shortened! And those negative reactions are perfectly normal."

Xia Qingyue: "..."

"Furthermore, under the influence of cold energy, many meridians in the body will become blocked due to frequent spasms, significantly affecting the release of profound energy. You can try channeling profound energy into your hands now and see how it differs from before," Xiao Che said with a serious expression.

Xiao Che's eloquent explanation was well-reasoned, coherent from beginning to end, with clear causes and effects, and the principles were so simple that even a fool could understand. Coupled with Xia Qingyue's tangible reactions, there was no room for doubt or refutation.

However, while Xiao Che spoke with a serious expression, he was inwardly grimacing... because what he said was indeed true, but despite being true... it was also utter nonsense!

It was true that cold energy accumulating in the body caused harm and could block meridians... but if the Ice Cloud Art was truly as bad as he claimed, the Frozen Cloud Asgard wouldn't amount to anything! Forget standing at the peak of the Azure Wind Continent; they probably wouldn't have survived 800 years ago. Once one cultivated the Ice Cloud Art for a period and their body fully adapted to it, although the internal cold energy would still shorten their lifespan, it would no longer harm the body, instead becoming an aid, and blocked meridians would naturally clear.

However, Xia Qingyue had only cultivated the Ice Cloud Art for three or four years, so it was naturally impossible for her to have reached the stage of "complete adaptation." Combining his words with her own continuous personal sensations, and then adding the feeling after the "treatment," Xiao Che's explanation seemed flawless to her.

"Treatment" was just an excuse. The "flaw" of the Ice Cloud Art was also just an excuse. Only he knew what he truly intended to do.