Huai climbed up the mountain through the mountain road and reached the summit. A huge gate with a plaque written with the words "Thousand Sword Sect" stood there.
Huai looked at those words and announced his presence, "Eternal Sect master, Shen Huai, came to the Thousand Sword Sect to meet."
For a few seconds there was no reply or commotion that came from the Thousand Sword Sect, but after a few minutes,
an elder in white clothes came out of the sect, a single Xuan grade low-level sword hanging from his waist.
He looked at Huai and said gently, "I'm sorry, Eternal Sect leader, our sect is going through something terrible so we can't entertain you right now."
Huai looked at them and said gently, "I'm sorry, but I think you misunderstood; I didn't come here to entertain myself."
Then Huai took a token out of his system space. Seeing that token, the elder's whole body shuddered. It's the token of their grand elder, known as the Grand Token.
The meaning of this token is the same as seeing the grand elder. The elder bowed towards Huai and said, "I'm sorry, Your Highness, I never knew that you knew our grand elder..."
Huai waved his hand and said, "No, no, this token was given to the last sect master of the Eternal Sect. After inheriting the position myself, I knew about this token and came here to know the truth."
The elder said, "I'm sorry, young master, but our grand elder is injured and on the verge of death right now. You can't meet him to talk at all."
Huai: "I know. I just heard it in the city."
The elder: "Then Your Highness..."
Huai said to him, "Can I go inside with this token?"
The elder thought about it and said, "Um, Your Highness, let me ask our sect leader, then I can answer you."
Huai nodded and the elder disappeared into the sect again.
After a few minutes, the elder appeared again outside the main gate then deeply bowed towards Huai and said,
"I'm sorry for making you wait outside of the sect, Your Highness. Our sect leader said that token signifies that you're an important guest of our sect; we need to take care of you even if you came at a most dangerous time. "
"Sorry for my past mistakes; I didn't introduce myself until now. I'm the fourth elder, Guo Song."
Huai also gave him a salute as per formality, then followed Guo Song into the sect.
The sect's atmosphere is really bad at this time. An aura of depression and gloom overtakes the whole sect. Guo Song brought Huai to the best guest hall in their sect and arranged the best room for him.
Then he said, "Your Highness, today an important person should have come to the sect to check on ancestor Jian Canghai. So I also need to be present there... so..."
Before he continued, Huai said, "Can I see your grand elder too?"
Guo Song thought for a moment then nodded his head.
According to his sect master, this token even gave him the permission to go to the ancestral forbidden land of their sect, so why can't he go and see the ancestor?
At a huge courtyard, everyone was present here: Sect master Jian Nantian, first elder Li Changfeng, second elder Xing Wu,
third elder Yao Ling (he's the only master of the medicine hall of Thousand Sword Sect and an 8th-tier alchemist). And Ancestor Jian Canghai was laying unconscious on his bed.
Yao Ling said, "Thank God we had a token of appreciation from the Sage of Seven Crimson Needles. With his personal intervention, the ancestor will be completely okay in just a few moments after the treatment."
Jian Nantian said with a face as black as charcoal, "Ancestor's condition is getting worse and worse. If the Sage is not coming in a few hours, it'd be very, very dangerous for the ancestor's life."
Second elder Xing Wu said, "At this moment, why did you accept that person as a guest sect leader?"
First elder Li Changfeng said with a deep voice, "Don't ever ask that question. Always remember we're just an affiliated force of the Eternal Sect. The day they return, we'll have to submit to them. That's what our ancestors instructed us."
Before he continued, Jian Nantian said, "Yes! And that token is the proof of that. So never disrespect that person. Even if he can't reach the level, we need to show friendliness towards him."
At this moment Yao Ling said, "But where did that Guo Song go? It's time for the Sage's arrival..."
Just as he said this sentence, a disciple brought an old man in his 70s inside the room of the ancestor.
He is old, with long white hair on his head, his eyes black and deep as the ocean, as if containing vast knowledge of medicine and diseases.
His skin is wrinkly; he is Mu Feng, known as the Sage of Seven Needles.
Everyone, even sect master Nantian, bowed towards the old man and said, "Greetings, Your Highness, Sage of the Seven Needles."
Mu Feng looked at the people inside the room and said, "This time is the last I'll help you. I gave you that token to your ancestors because they helped me with something important."
Everyone nodded; they know how much the token of the Sage matters to the world. He's like a god in this dilapidated planet, Blue Star.
Even the Physicians Hall headquarters at the central region of Blue Star and the Pill Hall headquarters also respect him. He's a figure of utmost respect.
At this moment Guo Song also came with Huai and entered the room. Everyone looked at the new figure that entered the room with the fourth elder.
Jian Nantian looked at Huai and said, "Your Highness, don't take offense. Our sect is going through a huge turmoil at this moment, so we need to attend to this treatment right now. That's why we can't entertain you right now."
Huai nodded after hearing all this and said, "Don't worry, Sect Master Nantian, I just came here to check on your ancestor. I heard that a renowned physician came here to check on his injuries. Can I watch from here?"
Everyone thought that the reasoning was actually clear; anyone would be excited to see a renowned physician treat a patient.
They all nodded in unison towards Huai, and Huai stood with the other elders and sect master of the Thousand Sword Sect.
Mu Feng didn't even look at him. For him, it was just another idiot who wants to admire his acupuncture technique. He even smiled a smile of victory inside his long white beard.
Then he took out a box of golden needles from his own space pouch and went towards the unconscious ancestor Jian Canghai.
He took out seven needles from his box and put them in seven points of the ancestor's body.
Then he put a simple bit of his spiritual power through a single needle and passed it outside the body through the other needles.
He saw a huge amount of spirit ice crystals formed inside the meridians of the ancestor Jian Canghai. He saw the most dense ice crystals inside the heart veins of the ancestor.
The more he tried to see through those ice crystals, even his infused spirit senses started to freeze more and more.
A bead of sweat started appearing above his head; he was looking like a soaked resin.
He took out his spirit sense out of the meridians of Jian Canghai and looked at everyone, and said deeply,
"I can't treat him. His meridians are all full of ice crystals. Even his heart is already completely jammed by ice crystals. I don't know what these injuries are. No one on this planet knows how to treat a patient like him..."
These words made the whole hall silent. Even Yao Ling looked like his whole expectations towards the Sage shattered into pieces.
He never felt this embarrassed before; just a few moments ago he said that only the Sage would be able to help them, but now what is this...
Jian Nantian and the other elders' faces were also grave. At this moment, "Can I check him for a moment?"
Everyone looked at Huai, because he is the one who asked that question. Even Mu Feng looked at him mockingly.
Jian Nantian felt a headache; he was trying to refuse when Huai again said, "You already said that he can't be saved, so why not let me check a single time."
These words made Mu Feng's face darker. He looked at Huai and said angrily, "What do you want to say? That the disease I already said can't be treated, you can treat it?"
Huai looked into the eyes of the old man and said, "I never said that. I only said let me check a single time. If I really know the cure, I'll tell you."
Jian Nantian and others nodded, but Mu Feng, still not convinced, said, "Boy, you don't know just how much time you're wasting. Even if he dies, let him die in peace..."
Before he continued, Huai took out a green jade token out of his system space and threw it towards the old man.
The old man suddenly caught something in his hand then looked at it. It was a green jade token made out of pure jade.
On one side of the token were written the words "Human Federation 5th tier physician" and on the other side there is a title, "Divine Physician," written on it.
The Sage's hand started shaking crazily. He immediately kowtowed in the direction of Huai, and even said, shaking,
"Your Highness, Your Highness, I didn't know that you were present in this room. It's my audacity to ask you about your qualification and try to interrupt your work. Your Highness, I—I can't carry the weight of this token, please take it back."
Just saying this, he held the token above his head as if it was a divine object and gave it to Huai, still kowtowing.
Everyone looked at the scene in horror. The one kowtowing is the Sage of Seven Needles, the most prominent physician on planet Blue Star.
He is kowtowing towards Sect Master Huai after just seeing a token made out of jade. Yao Ling took the chance and saw a glimpse of the token;
the words he learned from it were on the side of "Divine Physician." He also immediately kowtowed; beads of sweat appeared on his head as he said hurriedly,
"Your Highness, my sect didn't know the weight you carry. We didn't know the might of your presence. Please forgive us."
Jian Nantian, Li Changfeng, Xing Wu, and Guo Song all looked at the scene in great confusion. Jian Nantian couldn't take it anymore and asked hurriedly, "Can someone tell me what is happening here?"
Mu Feng said immediately, still kowtowing, "Hurriedly kowtow towards His Highness! You don't know the might of him. He... he is the Divine Physician."
These words just left his mouth and a chill ran through the spines of everyone present. They know this name clearly.
Just two months ago, this name overturned the whole Human Federation just by curing the forbidden disease called
"Withered Heart Disease." Even Goddess Nexus personally blocked each and every detail of this person. Now that person is standing before them... everyone immediately kowtowed towards Huai.
Huai, mesmerized by the situation, sighed then waved his hand and helped everyone to stand up straight again. Then he looked at the group and said, "Can I check him now?"
Mu Feng felt extremely embarrassed and he scratched his hair and said with an awkward smile,
"Your Highness, don't make me feel more shamed." He gestured for him to go on and check the patient.
Huai came near ancestor Jian Canghai and frowned upon seeing the condition of him.
Then he put a small amount of his pure spirit sense directly into his meridians to see spiky ice crystals blocking the flow of the qi in the path.
Then, with his spirit sense, he reached the place of the Dantian to see a prison of ice spikes covering the whole Dantian.
He went to check the heart and brain too, but to his surprise, all of them were covered in many ice spikes.
Now he knows why ancestor Jian Canghai's condition is getting worse and worse, why he can't heal normally as cultivators do, and why he has fallen into a coma.
He can't even circulate his qi throughout his whole body, nor can his Dantian work at this moment;
even his heart meridians and brain meridians are blocked by ice spikes. There is no way to use qi at all.
He sighed a deep breath then looked at the people standing beside him and said deeply, "He is not injured at all, he is cursed. It's called the Nether Ice Curse."