The crystal table emitted a faint, tranquil blue glow. Han Yuan lay bare-chested on the table. The purple "spots" had spread to his heart, like a swarm of greedy gold-eating insects devouring his final traces of life.
Su Qing had changed into a dark, tight-sleeved robe, making her look like a cold-blooded butcher.
"If you can't bear it and make a sound, I will directly cut your pain nerves," Su Qing said calmly. "Choose one."
"The Divine Physician may proceed," Han Yuan squeezed out. "Han... seeks life, not comfort."
Su Qing didn't respond. She grasped at the air, and twelve pitch-black "Sinking Shadow Needles" hovered in her palm.
Buzz—
With every needle that landed, Han Yuan felt as if his soul was being torn apart. In Su Qing's vision, Han Yuan's body had disappeared. Before her lay a magnificent but scarred "Star Map." Those three whirlpools were emitting decaying black smoke, devouring the healthy Law fibers.
"Endure."
Su Qing whispered. She actually reached out and grabbed the core of that purple corruption—the remnants of the Laws left behind by Han Yuan's failed breakthrough.
"Argh!"
Han Yuan finally let out a low growl. In his haze, he seemed to see his young daughter standing in the snow. "Daddy... cannot die..."
Hearing this murmur, Su Qing's mechanical movements faltered for a fraction of a second. She remembered her own master, clutching her hand on his deathbed.
"If you want to live, don't let go of your breath."
Su Qing's gaze sharpened. A glow of soft white light condensed on her fingertip—the "Vitality Guide."
Rip!
A scorched purple substance was violently torn from Han Yuan's Spirit Root. Han Yuan's grey face miraculously regained a flush of red. The jammed gears began to turn once more.
"The surgery is complete. I took thirty percent of your sword intent as my fee. It was already rotten; keeping it would have killed you. Now, you must serve as the watchdog for this 'Half-Life Clinic' for three years as the other part of your fee."
"Watchdog...?" Han Yuan was stunned, then gave a bitter smile. "Han accepts. As long as I can live to see her grow up, I would even carry every brick and tile of this city for the Divine Physician."