Chapter Seventeen: Gathering Spirit Six Ranks

  Nie Kong was slightly surprised that Xiang Xiang hadn't absorbed all the medicinal power within her body, and there was still half left, which could probably only last till tomorrow.

  The little guy ate and drank his fill, full of energy, the small leaves quivered with excitement, conveying a strong desire to continue practicing "Flower Explosion". Nie Kong ignored it, continuing to knead the Golden Needle, dissolving the blocked spiritual energy in the meridians.

  The Ren, Du and Chong channels in the Eight Extraordinary Meridians have been unblocked. This time, Nie Kong's target is the Yin Wei channel and the Yang Wei channel.

  Actually, with Nie Kong's Nine Revolutions Golden Needle, it is entirely possible to unblock all the meridians within a single day. However, his current body was remade using the "Muscle and Bone Strengthening Broth", and for now, it can't compare to one that has been naturally tempered through years of cultivation. If he were to rashly unblock all the meridians, the suddenly unleashed torrential spiritual power would probably burst the meridians, shatter the three spiritual orifices, and turn him into a complete cripple.

  Every day, advancing gradually and steadily, is much more stable. Nie Kong has enough time to digest the dissolved spiritual power, and his meridians and three spiritual orifices can also adapt to the rapid increase in spiritual power.

  ……

  Under the eaves, Huamei sat in front of a large wooden stump.

  On the wooden stump was a half-meter-long, roughly carved wooden sculpture. Her eyebrows twitched and her right wrist trembled as she worked. The small chisel seemed to come alive in her fingers, dancing rapidly across the surface of the wood. Shavings fell like fine raindrops, sprinkling down around her.

  Such a skilled movement would make even high-ranking spiritual masters praise him endlessly.

  Huāméi didn't have the talent to cultivate spiritual power, but her carving skills were extremely exquisite. However, she was worried about Nie Kong's illness every day and couldn't calm down to do this thing. Now that Nie Kong's condition has improved greatly, Huāméi no longer needs to worry, and since she lost the laundry job, it's just right for her to start carving again.

  "Hmm hmm hmm hmm……"

  The crisp sound of the knife hitting the wooden block, continuous and unending, like a wonderful melody, echoes in the small courtyard.

  Her eyebrows were slightly pursed, her red lips tightly closed, and her two beautiful eyes stared intently at the wooden block in front of her, her gaze filled with concentration and seriousness. Her delicate face, illuminated by the evening sun, radiated a soft luster, crystal clear and moist, tender and almost dripping with beauty that was impossible to look away from.

  In a daze, Huā Méi suddenly realized that it had been a long time since she last heard her uncle practicing his spiritual techniques. She couldn't help but lift her eyes to look forward.

  At this glance, Hua Mei's cheeks, which already had a hint of blush, became even rosier. How did Uncle end up taking off his clothes and getting stitched up in the courtyard?

  "Ouch."

  A cry of pain, Huamei came back to her senses, couldn't help but frown slightly, only to find that the index finger of her left hand had been cut by the engraving knife, with fresh blood gushing out.

  "Sister-in-law, what's wrong?"

  Nie Kong suddenly jumped up from a short distance away, his hands quickly sweeping across the front and back of his body, and nine golden needles had already fallen into his palm. Without waiting for Hua Mei to respond, Nie Kong took three or four steps forward, grasped her small hand, and gently said: "It turns out that your hand was injured, don't worry, I'll take care of it."

  "I, I..."

  Nie Kong's upper body was right in front of her, and she could faintly smell a strong masculine scent that seemed to pierce through her nostrils. Her face flushed red, her ears burning with excitement, she felt so tense that she couldn't speak, her left hand involuntarily twitching back and forth, but unable to escape Nie Kong's grasp, her heart racing wildly.

  It's a pity to see that although Hua Mei is married, in reality she's not much different from an unmarried girl, having hardly ever been touched by a man, let alone her uncle.

  Nie Kong smiled slightly and waved his right palm, putting the excess golden needles into his pet backpack, leaving only the slender human needle. A pleasant humming sound was heard as the emerald green spiritual power flashed over the golden needle, and in the next moment, the golden needle had already been stabbed into the root of Hua Mei's left hand index finger.

  Huāméi zhèng xiū dé yǒu diǎn wú dì zì róng, yī kàn zhè qíng jiàng, xiǎo zuǐ dùn shí wēi wēi zhāng kāi. Tā duō cì jiàn guò niè kòng gěi tā zì jǐ zhā zhēn, yě huàn xiàng guò nà jīn zhēn cì rù shēn tǐ de gǎn jué, xiàn zài qīn shēn gǎn shòu le yī fān, tā cái fā xiàn zhī qián suǒ xiǎng quán bù dōu shì cuò wù de.

  That spot just numbed a bit, and there was no pain at all. As Nie Kong continued to massage the golden needle, Hua Mei only felt that her left hand's index finger seemed to be soaking in warm water, with a warm and comfortable feeling. Not only did the wound stop bleeding, but the pain in her finger also gradually subsided, feeling extremely comfortable.

  "It's okay, it will heal in a few days."

  Two or three minutes later, Nie Kong took out the golden needle and smiled with satisfaction. After being able to use the wood-type spiritual power, Nie Kong felt that his acupuncture skills were even more refined, and Hua Mei's injury was only minor, but the wound was over an inch long. If it had been in his previous life, just one prick of the needle would have stopped the bleeding immediately, which was simply unimaginable.

  "Uh-huh."

  Huā Méi subconsciously responded, suddenly remembering that as soon as he made a sound, Niè Kōng would rush over, and asked with some concern, "Uncle, didn't I disturb your cultivation?"

  Nie Kong couldn't help but laugh: "No need, even if you didn't speak up, I would still have to pause my cultivation. Just now, I broke through to the sixth grade of Gathering Spirit."

  "So soon?"

  Hua Mei's face flushed with surprise and delight, she wanted to say something more, but her gaze fell on Nie Kong's exposed chest, the redness that had just faded from her cheeks rushed back, and with a swift movement, she pulled her left hand out of Nie Kong's grasp. "I... Uncle, it's getting late, I'll go cook dinner first."

  "Sister-in-law, don't get that finger wet."

  Still so shy. Nie Kong shook his head and smiled wryly, his eyes turning to the wooden carving. Squatting down to take a look, Nie Kong suddenly felt amazed - the carving depicted an old man, whose eyebrows and eyes seemed to be those of a powerful Tianling from hundreds of years ago in the Da Cheng Empire. Nie Kong's past life had seen his portrait before, leaving a deep impression. Although this wooden carving was not yet fully formed, Nie Kong could already sense a hint of pride that looked down on the world from it.

  Originally, I saw Huamei holding a carving knife and carving, and Nie Kong didn't pay much attention to it. Now he realizes that he really misjudged him. Carving and cultivation are the same, they both require talent, if you don't have that innate ability, even if you're a top-notch strongman of the ninth grade of Tianling, you can't carve out good things.

  Who would have thought that Huamei had such a trick up her sleeve!

  ……

  Time flew by, and the entire city of Jicheng was shrouded in darkness. In the bedroom, the candlelight flickered, occasionally bursting into small sparks with a "crackle".

  Nie Kong sat on the bed, unable to help but mutter: "Xiang Xiang, I think your medicine is potent and your spirit is flourishing. Using 'Medicine Cauldron Phantom Body' shouldn't be difficult at all, so why do you need to rest for a full twelve hours? You're definitely slacking off on purpose and don't want to work, aren't you?"

  "Oh no, oh no......"

  The little guy in Yaochi Cave "danced with joy", constantly distinguishing himself from being lazy.

  Nie Kong secretly smiled to himself. In fact, he had already known this a long time ago, but was just bored and wanted to tease it. If it didn't rest for twelve hours, it would hinder the development and growth of the Violet Jade Dewflower. As it continued to upgrade, the interval between casting "Medicine Cauldron Avatar" would gradually shorten. Perhaps after reaching the ninth grade, he could summon the Medicine Cauldron at any time.

  "Is it fragrant? Only a few minutes left?"

  "One minute."

  "Good!"

  Nie Kong took a deep breath and opened one by one the medicinal packets containing Xiang Si Luli Root...

  ……