Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 1058

The Ice Marrow Physique

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The Evil Flower Immortal felt a sudden unease. She couldn’t understand why this person was so focused on Bai Gua’er. However, thinking about it differently, there was no other option for Bai Gua’er, who was on the verge of death from the cold poison.

Moreover, the old woman kept signaling with her eyes, so the Evil Flower Immortal made a firm decision and spoke.

“Then, I will bring her right away.”

She led Han Li and the others to a detached house at the back of the east side. On a red wooden bed, a child lay unconscious.

Her slightly furrowed brow was tinged with a blue aura, and her lips were purple, indicating her poor condition. Han Li approached the bed, felt a surge of hot energy, and raised his eyebrows.

“Your efforts to use Flame Wood to dispel the cold are commendable, but the cold poison has already spread deep into her meridians, so it will be of no help to the child.”

“I am well aware of that. I just hoped it might ease Gua’er’s pain, so I obtained a bed made of Flame Wood.”

The Evil Flower Immortal looked at the child on the bed with a worried expression. Han Li grasped the girl’s wrist, and a navy blue light flickered in his eyes.

At his actions, the cultivators, including the old woman, all held their breath, and a moment passed.

*Whoosh.*

At the tip of Han Li’s fingers, a five-colored light flashed momentarily, and the blue aura on Bai Gua’er’s face flowed and gathered into an egg-sized lump. At this, Han Li’s eyes lit up, and with his other hand, he took out a silver needle and inserted it into the child’s wrist.

“Hah!”

The woman in white and the middle-aged man’s expressions changed instantly, but they clenched their fists and barely endured. After a while, guided by Han Li’s magic power, bright red blood slowly flowed from the spot where the silver needle had been removed.

Han Li withdrew the silver needle and took out a white jade box to receive the child’s blood.

*Clang!*

The drop of blood froze the moment it fell into the jade box, making a clear sound. At this sight, the old woman and others’ faces changed, but Han Li had an expression as if he had expected it. He retrieved the jade box and intensified the five-colored light in his hand holding the child’s wrist.

The lump of blue aura gradually faded and eventually disappeared. At that moment, the child regained consciousness and opened her eyes. At this, the woman in white and the middle-aged man were overjoyed and were about to express their gratitude.

However, instead of letting go of the child’s wrist, Han Li touched her forehead with his fingertips and infused white magic power. The child, who had just woken up, trembled and fell into a deep sleep again.

While everyone was startled, Han Li spoke first.

“There is no need to worry. I have removed the cold poison from her body, but she is weak, so I have put her to rest for a while. Let’s move to another place to discuss the details.”

He took the lead, and the cultivators followed him, full of curiosity.

After a while, Han Li returned to the main hall and sat down, taking a sip of tea. He seemed to be having difficulty making a decision.

“Cultivator Bai, how much do you understand about your daughter’s cold poison?”

“After consulting several elders, they said that the cold poison in Gua’er’s body is an unusually severe cold energy that cannot be cured by ordinary methods. They said that unless a Fusion stage cultivator removes it with immense magic power, or she takes some legendary elixirs with extreme Yang properties, there is no other way.”

Bai Huaji was a little surprised but spoke the truth.

“They would say that.”

“Does Senior mean that there is another problem with Gua’er’s cold poison?”

“When did you realize that the cold poison had taken root in the child’s body?”

The Evil Flower Immortal asked with a worried face, but Han Li did not answer the woman’s question and asked another question.

“When the child was nine years old, she suddenly lost consciousness and collapsed in a secret room while cultivating. That’s when we realized the existence of the cold poison. At that time, we dismissed it as nothing serious and tried to remove it in an ordinary way.

Because of that, it worsened, and it became like this in just a few years. When Gua’er was first born, my mother-in-law and I examined her ourselves, but there were no abnormalities. It is highly likely that someone with a grudge harmed Gua’er. Unfortunately, we have not yet found out who it was. If we find out…”

The middle-aged man gritted his teeth with a painful expression, and the Evil Flower Immortal also hated the unknown enemy with a dark face.

“You are completely mistaken! This cold poison is something the child was born with, and it is not some kind of severe cold energy, but a powerful energy with great inner strength.”

“If Senior says so, then it must be true. Could you please explain it in detail?”

The old woman, who had been listening silently, asked politely.

“I was going to explain it even if you didn’t ask. The child was actually born with the legendary spirit physique, the Ice Marrow Physique. When they are born, they show no symptoms, but around the age of nine, it manifests, and most of them die when the cold poison first erupts violently. This kind of spirit physique is hardly recorded in ancient scriptures, so not many people know about it. If I hadn’t accidentally seen a related record, I wouldn’t have been able to properly identify the child’s cold poison.”

“Ice Marrow Physique!”

The Evil Flower Immortal and Bai Huaji exchanged glances. They were surprised by the unfamiliar term, but their doubts had not disappeared. At his words, the old woman and the other cultivators only widened their eyes and observed the reactions of the others.

Han Li, with an expression that he didn’t care whether they believed him or not, picked up the teacup again and moistened his throat.

“Gua’er was the Ice Marrow Physique. I don’t know if it’s a blessing or a curse.”

At this time, the old woman unexpectedly said these words.

“Master, have you heard of this physique?”

The woman in white asked in surprise.

“I had completely forgotten, but I remember a friend I once knew also told me about this. It was exactly the same as what Senior Han said! I never thought that Gua’er would be born with such a physique…”

“Is it bad?”

“I heard that the Ice Marrow Physique starts to erupt at the age of nine, and the cold energy gradually intensifies, usually leading to death before the age of sixteen or seventeen. I know that there are only two ways to survive.”

“Master, what are they?”

“One is for a Fusion stage cultivator to use immense magic power to remove the cold poison every year, and then eventually use true essence [a cultivator’s life force] to open up the meridians [energy channels in the body]. If they endure like this for a hundred years, the owner of the spirit physique can adapt to the cold poison and be safe, and with a little cultivation, they can use a powerful divine ability called Ice Marrow Cold Soul with a strange cold energy.”

The old woman hesitated as she answered the woman in white, who was showing a delighted expression.

“Then, isn’t it a talent with exceptional aptitude!”

The middle-aged man also asked, welcoming the good news.

“Do you think it’s easy to suppress the extreme cold energy of the Ice Marrow Spirit Physique! For the first few decades, a Fusion stage cultivator can easily remove the cold energy. But after that, even a Fusion stage cultivator has to consume true essence to suppress the cold energy.

It’s not something that can be easily recovered by sitting in meditation and resting. To help the owner of the spirit physique by consuming immense magic power for a long time, the Fusion stage cultivator would be wasting almost hundreds of years of hard cultivation. Who would do such a thing?”

The old woman smiled bitterly.

Hearing the old woman’s words, the expressions of the Evil Flower Immortal and Bai Huaji darkened rapidly. Wasting hundreds of years of cultivation was something difficult to do even for one’s own flesh and blood. How could they expect it from someone else?

“Then, what is the second method?”

The middle-aged man asked urgently, holding onto a glimmer of hope.

“The second method is to find legendary elixirs and refine pills with extreme Yang energy to consume. It is to overcome the cold energy with opposing energy and improve the Ice Marrow Physique itself. However, this is also not easy, just like the first method.

Where would you find such elixirs, and even if you manage to refine and consume them, there are endless aftereffects. Instead of removing the Ice Marrow Physique, the spiritual root aptitude could be ruined.”

The old woman said with a troubled expression. At those words, the middle-aged man’s face turned pale, and he couldn’t say anything. But the woman in white pondered deeply and turned her head towards Han Li.

“I know that Senior Han has great abilities. If there is a way to save Gua’er, our family will repay your kindness no matter what it takes.”

At the woman’s words, the old woman also seemed to have an idea and looked at Han Li. Han Li had clearly said that he came here for Gua’er. That meant he had a way to help.

The middle-aged man also bowed his head and pleaded earnestly.

“You have a good head on your shoulders. The fact that I came all the way here means that I intend to save the child.”

“I am overwhelmed by Senior’s great virtue!”

The woman in white, overjoyed that her guess was correct, knelt down in front of Han Li and was about to bow. However, Han Li flicked his sleeve, using pressure to stop the Evil Flower Immortal and Bai Huaji.

“There is no need to be so hasty. Whether I will really help depends on whether you agree to my conditions.”

“Please tell us any conditions. If it is something we can do, we will never refuse.”

The Evil Flower Immortal answered without a moment’s hesitation, and the middle-aged man’s heart sank, but he did not object. Han Li was now their only hope to save their daughter.

“The condition is very simple. I intend to help the child master the Ice Marrow Cold Soul divine ability and even take her as a nominal disciple. However, once she masters the divine ability, she must find an item for me, which could be in the territory of the Human-Demon Clan or in some remote corner of the Savage Wilds World [a dangerous, untamed region].

Only someone who has mastered the Ice Marrow Cold Soul can sense and find it. Of course, it will be an extremely dangerous mission. Can you accept this condition on behalf of the child?”

“Huh, the Savage Wilds?”

Bai Huaji gasped in surprise and couldn’t answer, while the Evil Flower Immortal cautiously asked.

“Could you tell us what level of cultivation one must reach to master the divine ability you mentioned? If the cultivation is too low, they won’t be able to return alive from the Savage Wilds World.”

“Haha, that’s nothing for you to worry about! I won’t let my nominal disciple, whom I have put effort into raising, die. Anyway, to master the Ice Marrow Cold Soul and go on a mission, one must be at least a Spirit Transformation stage cultivator. Also, I will give them powerful treasures to protect their lives, and unless it is absolutely necessary, I will not let them go to the Savage Wilds World, but rather to the Human-Demon Clan territory.”

“Spirit Transformation stage is enough! It is a realm that I have longed for my whole life. Besides, if Senior does not help, she will die in a few years. Why worry about a path a thousand years from now?”

Although his cultivation was not very high, the Evil Flower Immortal was quick-witted and decisive. Bai Huaji was still worried, but since there was no other way, he did not say anything else.

“Well, then it’s settled. I will take Gua’er as my nominal disciple and keep her by my side for about a hundred years. After a hundred years, I will return the child to you, and except for providing help with cultivation, I will not interfere with her life at all.”

“I will trust only Senior!”

The middle-aged man finally relaxed and expressed his gratitude with a moved face. This time, Han Li accepted the greeting, and the Evil Flower Immortal also bowed with a bright face.

The old woman, who had been watching from the side, finally calmed her excited heart.

Even if the other party did not intend to fully impart the cultivation techniques to his nominal disciple Gua’er, it was still a connection with a Fusion stage senior. With this, the Golden Radiance Sect would have a tremendous backing, and it would be more than enough to take advantage of their power in the future.

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