Translation: Aerial Rain Translation (aerialrain.com) by koffeam [or you can just search "The Healer Demands a Payment Aerial Rain Translation"]
On the Qingfeng Mountain, cloud and mist never faded. There was a simple and spacious hall at the peak of the mountain. Around one hundred cultivators dressed in blue robes stood in the hall, adding a bit of divine atmosphere to this otherwise empty space.
Meng Qi stood quietly behind the other cultivators. She was wearing the same blue robe as the others, and a dark blue belt circled her slender waist. Her long, black hair was bundled behind her head, clumsily held up by an old-fashioned hairpin. Her fair face was plain and bare without any makeup. Except for a touch of medicinal scent, there was no other fragrance on her body.
"Junior Sister Meng, do you know why we got summoned?" This young girl standing on Meng Qi's left side was her senior sister who entered the sect six months earlier than her, named Lan Zhuxuan. With a small voice, Lan Zhuxuan asked again, "Why did they call all of us to this hall?"
"I don't know." Meng Qi answered softly. Her right hand clasped a small bamboo slip. After casually answering her senior sister's questions, Meng Qi closed her eyes again and completely immersed herself in the world recorded by the bamboo slip.
Lan Zhuxuan, who still wanted to talk, pouted. Among all the cultivational sects in this Three Thousand Worlds, Qingfeng Valley was just a small sect. Their sect's disciples were generally cultivators at the Qi Condensation stage, with a few reached the Foundation Establishment stage. Only the sect leader and two elders had successfully formed their golden core.
However, Qingfeng Valley was a medical sect and had never lacked disciples. It's just that most of the disciples who came here have mediocre qualifications, and some of them couldn't even breakthrough after cultivating for ten years. Basically, they all came here just to learn some medicinal skills to survive in this Three Thousand Worlds.
"Look ..." Meng Qi heard the senior sister quietly laughed at her with another person: "Junior Sister Meng Qi always works so hard."
Meng Qi's eyes still closed. The dark yellow bamboo slips in her palms softly shined, and even the hand holding the bamboo slips was coated with soft light. After a while, she slowly opened her eyes. A faint light flashed through her clear eyes before finally disappeared.
Although Lan Zhuxuan didn't try to speak with Meng Qi anymore, she still paid attention. Lan Zhuxuan watched the light on the bamboo slips dimmed with complex eyes: "Junior sister Meng, you already learned second-grade spell?"
-This was already the highest medical spell that ordinary disciples in Qingfeng Valley could learn.
This junior sister Meng entered the sect only half a year ago. Although she was also a weak Qi Condensation cultivator, her medical cultivation had progressed rapidly, leaving herself as her senior far behind.
Lan Zhuxuan looked at Meng Qi's delicate and pretty appearance with some envy: "You're really amazing! No wonder Elder Yan said that your talent in medical cultivation is second only to Junior Sister Lu Qingran." Elder Yan was one of the only two Golden Core elders in Qingfeng Valley.
Hearing the name 'Lu Qingran,' Meng Qi's eyes flashed slightly. Her cold and indifferent look finally rippled a bit. But her mind couldn't wander for long. There was a sudden noise from the hall entrance. Qingfeng Valley's disciples waiting in the temple all turned their heads at the door-a handsome young man in a black robe, holding an unconscious girl tightly in his arms, walking step by step into the hall.
"Ah-" Lan Zhuxuan's eyes widened, "He.... isn't he..."
A small clamor broke out around Meng Qi. Like Lan Zhuxuan, everyone's attention was on the black-robed young man. First, he looked very handsome. Although there were countless cultivators all around Three Thousand Worlds, there was never a shortage of good-looking faces. But the disciples of Qingfeng Valley seldom see a man with this kind of refined look, a young man that seemed to be favored by heaven.
Moreover, this person was also ...
"Look at the symbol on his robe ... He is from Fentian Palace!"
"Fentian Palace?! The sect that is on top ten in our eastern realm?"
"Is there any other Fentian Palace?! "
"Then he... "
"Chu Tianfeng, the Young Master of Fentian Palace! "
"The Young Palace Master from Fentian Palace who was said to achieved Qi Condensation stage at thirteen, Foundation Establishment stage at twenty, formed his core at twenty-two, and now already a Golden Core cultivator at a mere twenty-four?"
"I heard that even in the whole Three Thousand Worlds, he is a young genius with cultivation talent that only appears once in one hundred years."
"So he is Fentian Palace's Young Master! "
"He looks so handsome."
"But his face is so pale... Of course still very handsome. "
"Huh? The one he is holding...Junior Sister Lu Qingran?! "
For a moment, the whole hall fell into silence. All disciples' eyes fell eagerly on the black-robed young man.
The Three Thousand Worlds were divided into four major realms: eastern, western, southern, and northern. Inside those major realms, there were countless small realms and cultivation sects. Qingfeng Valley belonged to the Eastern Realm and was a tiny sect among the countless sects located in this realm. While the Fentian Palace was a great sect that ranked in the top ten.
The young master from Fentian Palace, for the disciples of small Qingfeng Valley who majority were a mere Qi Condensation cultivator, was no different from an immortal. Anyway, he was a person far above and had no intersection with themselves.
But now, this unreachable person was holding a Qingfeng Valley disciple while slowly walking into the hall. Countless complex gaze filled with envy and jealousy instantly fell into the face of the unconscious girl in the young man's arms.
Meng Qi retreated her gaze, still calm like unperturbed water.
Senior sister Lan Zhuxuan reached out and excitedly grabbed Meng Qi's arm: "Junior sister Meng! Did you see it? Junior sister Lu actually is brought back by Fentian Palace's young master!" With some incoherent speech due to excitement, she continued: "How romantic, ah!"
Meng Qi raised her gaze, the ripple in her eyes still didn't cease. Yet she calmly told Lan Zhuxuan: "Senior sister Lu Qingran seems to be unconscious."
Qingfeng Valley's sect leader already flew over to the hall. The personal disciple she valued the most was unconscious and was taken back into the sect by a stranger. Even if the said stranger has sent him a message in advance, the sect leader's expression still ugly. When she tried to take Lu Qingran over, her eyes swept the young man's face, and suddenly looked astonished.
Qingfeng Valley was a medicinal sect. As the sect leader, she also the person with the highest cultivation level and medical cultivation here. Fentian Palace's young master, the young man in the black robe named Chu Tianfeng who came back holding her disciple, has black lines in his eyes, which clearly meant that...
He was badly poisoned!
"You ..."
The sect leader's eyes flashed, and after a sigh, slowly took over her own disciple. Chu Tianfeng, who just now stood firmly with a straight back, suddenly staggered. He seemed to be trying his best to keep standing. But his handsome face became even paler.
Meng Qi's heart slightly jumped. Numerous familiar images instantly flashed in her mind-senior sister Lu Qingran, who was unconscious, was brought back in the arm of a black-clothed young man named Chu Tianfeng. But the young man's wound was contaminated with the breath of devil beast. Even as the young palace master from high above Fentian Palace, he could only accept his own powerlessness. Every hour, the poison would attack, and he had to endure the pain of a thousand needles piercing his bones.
Meng Qi slightly turned her head. Her eyes fell on Lu Qingran's pale face, who was still unconscious.
She understood entirely that she had been reborn. Senior sister Lu Qingran was really the darling of heaven, the harbinger of luck, the daughter of fate. No matter what happens, there will always be many kinds of powerful men who will appear just in time to save her.
For example, this time, Lu Qingran was protected by Chu Tianfeng all the time, and her injuries were not serious at all. Rather than being unconscious because of injuries, it was better to say that she fainted because of a huge shock.
On the contrary, Chu Tianfeng ... Meng Qi looked at the black-robed man whose face became paler and paler. He was a Golden Core cultivator, and ordinary poisons couldn't harm him. But the poison currently invading his body comes from a Devil Realm's fifth-rank devil beast.
The cultivation levels started from Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, and finally Spirit Severing. These cultivation levels corresponded to devil beasts' five ranks. A fifth-rank beast equivalent to a Spirit Severing cultivator, which was two realms higher than Chu Tianfeng and gave him a hard time.
Therefore, after he got poisoned, Chu Tianfeng must endure the pain of ten thousand needles day and night. It happened once every hour, a pain worse than death.
"This is ..." Qingfeng Valley sect leader handed Lu Qingran over to another female disciple.
She lightly tapped her fingers and quickly diagnosing Chu Tianfeng's poison. The sect leader's face turned ugly. She was just a Golden Core seventh realm cultivator, and her medical cultivation was in the third rank. This poison was out of her ability.
"Fellow Daoist Chu should return to Fentian Palace to seek for treatment." The sect leader sighed. If she could, she was willing to cure Chu Tianfeng. If a small sect like Qingfeng Valley could have a good relationship with Fentian Palace, in the future, they would definitely obtain great benefits.
Chu Tianfeng didn't respond. His thin lips tightened, and he was obviously trying his best to fight the poison in his body. Heavy drops of sweat slipped down his handsome figure. His black robe instantly soaked in sweat.
Meng Qi stood behind the crowd and looked at Chu Tianfeng from afar. A proud young man like him would never allow himself to show any weakness in front of others. But now, he couldn't even go back to ask for help from Fentian Palace.
The Three Thousand Worlds was mainly occupied by human cultivators and were very large. Qingfeng Valley and Fentian Palace were separated by many mountains and sea. Even when Chu Tianfeng in perfect health, and with the help of a teleportation array between each small realm, it would still take more than ten days to reach Fentian Palace.
Moreover, the road was not safe. The Three Thousand Worlds was too big, and there were many kinds of beasts in wild mountains. Chu Tianfeng was now heavily injured and even poisoned, unable to fly in the sky. His cultivation was also temporarily suppressed into the Qi Condensation stage.
And ...
Meng Qi carefully recalled her memory. She remembered that Chu Tianfeng, in order to take Lu Qingran escaped from the palm of the fifth-rank devil beast, used almost all of his live-saving magic tools. Finally, even his storage space item was destroyed by the beast. In his current situation, he has no way to contact Fentian Palace.
Meng Qi lowered her gaze and stood quietly among the crowd. The reason why she remembered so clearly was that she once experienced the same scene in her previous life. At that time, she had just entered Qingfeng Valley for half a year. As an ordinary disciple, she worked hard every day. Then Chu Tianfeng came back holding Lu Qingran but was injured and poisoned, unable to contact Fentian Palace, and no one in Qingfeng Valley could heal his poison.
At that time, Meng Qi was still naive. She decided to become a medical cultivator because she liked the art of healing. In addition to cultivating daily like other cultivators, she also studied various medical spells and techniques in the sect's library pavilion.
All cultivational spells and techniques in Three Thousand Worlds were divided from first to ninth grades. Above ninth grade, there were three realms of heaven, earth, and profound. And medical cultivation level was also graded accordingly.
Meng Qi was indeed very talented in medical cultivation. Although she had been cultivating for half a year and her cultivation progress was slow, but in regards to her medical cultivation, she already reached the peak of the second rank and only needed one opportunity to break through into third rank threshold--almost on the par with the sect leader and other elders.
Cultivating in the medical path was not easy and very different from normal cultivation. In addition to learning all kinds of medical skills, one also needed to improve their proficiency by refining medicine and treating patients. Only when they gained enough proficiency they could break through to the next level.
Meng Qi thoroughly loved learning medicine. That time, she saw how the entire sect was turned upside down and how the young man has to endure the pain of ten thousand needles day and night. So she came forward.
After ten days and ten nights without sleeping and resting, she finally found a way to cure Chu Tianfeng's poison.
It's a pity ...
A strange light flashed through Meng Qi's eyes. Her clear and cold eyes fell on Lu Qingran's beautiful face. Only after reborn did she understand that senior sister Lu Qingran was the darling of heaven. She was destined to be loved by thousands of people, making countless men crazy over her. Anyone who may threaten her was destined to be miserable.
Meng Qi slightly tilted her head. At that time, she spent ten days and ten nights, and finally relieved Chu Tianfeng's poison and cured his wounds. But before she had time to be happy for her medical skill's breakthrough, she fainted for overusing her strength.
When Meng Qi woke up, it was already the next day. She did not awaken in her small bedroom but was locked in the Qingfeng Valley's dungeon. The dungeon has a prohibition spell set up by the sect leader and the elders. As a weak cultivator in her Qi Condensation stage, Meng Qi has no way to free herself.
She later learned that Lu Qingran has also woken up. The first thing she did when she woke up was to tell the sect leader and Chu Tianfeng that she had seen a person wearing Qingfeng Valley disciple uniform being together with the devil beast who hurt Chu Tianfeng.
The sect leader discussed this matter with other elders. They thought that Meng Qi was just a weak cultivator in the Qi Condensation stage, and her medical cultivation was only in the second rank. Yet she could cure Chu Tianfeng, which was impossible. The only explanation was that she collaborated with the devil beast in advance. Pretending to detoxify, but just wanted to take the opportunity to climb up to Fentian Palace's young master. So, they confined her in the dungeon.
Even though she worked hard to save him...Well, although at that time she saved Chu Tianfeng was also to train her medical cultivation. But just because of Lu Qingran's simple words, they immediately threw Meng Qi into the dungeon for three months without even trying to find evidence.
Three months later, Meng Qi finally left the dungeon.
At that time, she was angry. The dungeon has nothing, and it was also a place with the thinnest aura in Qingfeng Valley. No herbs, she couldn't refine medicine. No new medical spells for her to learn. No people to train her medical cultivation. Both Meng Qi's cultivation base and her medical cultivation progress stagnated for three months. Moreover, she was indeed innocent.
But only after she left the dungeon Meng Qi knew. On the night she was locked in the dungeon, the demons broke through Three Thousand Worlds' barrier and attacked. Everywhere was in a miserable situation, and Qingfeng Valley was almost destroyed. Later, Chu Tianfeng, who had been rescued by her, came forward to turn the tide. He also brought powerful reinforcements from Fentian Palace to save the people in Qingfeng Valley. It wasn't that the sect never investigated, but they didn't have the time.
During that period, all Qingfeng Valley members practically received some damage. The only one left unscathed was Meng Qi, who stayed inside the dungeon on the valley's deepest part. After that, the entire Qingfeng Valley sect was merged into Fentian Palace, becoming one of the palace's subordinates sect. This merger was not a trivial matter. The sect leader and all elders had too many things to take care of.
After all the dust had settled, the sect leader immediately asked people to investigate Meng Qi's case. After knew that she was accused unjustly, she was immediately released. And the sect leader personally explained the reason to her. Although the sect leader trusted her own disciple. But Meng Qi, whose talent in medical skill was outstanding, was still very important for the sect.
Qingfeng Valley was located not far from the border that separated Three Thousand Worlds with Demon Realm and Devil Realm. Moreover, it was a small sect and always had to act cautiously. As a Qi Condensation cultivator, Meng Qi could detoxify the poison from a fifth-rank devil beast that plagued a Golden Core cultivator. This was indeed an unimaginable feat. So, it was not entirely groundless for the sect leader to doubt her.
Not to mention that she finally knew that her sect did not intentionally let her be imprisoned for three months. Meng Qi was open-minded, and she did indeed break through the third rank of medical cultivation by curing Chu Tianfeng. With this mindset, she smiled and decided to leave this matter behind.
At that time, Lu Qingran had become an honorable guest of Fentian Palace. Everyone knows that Fentian Palace's young master liked her. But it was no wonder, after all, a Foundation Establishment cultivator dared to stand bravely in front of Chu Tianfeng to face a fifth-rank devil beast...such a girl, everyone can't help but like her.
As for Meng Qi...probably even Chu Tianfeng had forgotten that the one who actually spend days and nights without any sleep to cure him, and even almost attacked by the devil beast poison from his body, was the young cultivator Meng Qi from Qingfeng Valley.
Meng Qi recovered her sense from her reminiscent and quietly observing Chu Tianfeng, who was still suffering from the poison attack.
What to do this time?
Save him?
Or not?