Chapter 44

  Adam made his way toward the emergency ward, his footsteps steady but thoughtful.

  As he walked, he recalled the Sect Leader’s parting words from earlier:

  “While you’re at it, go heal the ‘hidden injured’ disciples.”

  [I was planning to go to the ward anyway.]

  Besides, Han Wuqing had imprinted a Qi signature onto the back of Adam’s hand—something he could show the ward workers for clearance.

  Inside the emergency ward, five injured survivors were receiving treatment. Some had lost limbs, others were severely wounded. Adam noted that the volunteer healers—Ren Mo and Ji Yue—were nowhere to be seen.

  Professional healers were working diligently, using water and light-based techniques to mend wounds. Still, they were clearly struggling, especially with patients who had lost limbs.

  As Adam stepped inside, a few of the injured gave him suspicious side-eyes. He could feel their doubt—probably wondering why someone with no visible injuries would show up on a rest day.

  Soon, one of the ward workers approached him—it was the same one from before.

  “Disciple Adam!” he said, slightly surprised. “You don’t need to be here. There aren’t too many injuries left, and we’ve got it under control. You should use this time to rest.”

  Adam ignored the dismissal and instead gestured toward the more severe cases.

  “Why aren’t you doing anything about their missing limbs?”

  The worker hesitated, then replied carefully, “Ah… Disciple Adam, we’re not at the Nascent Soul level. Our healing can only go so far. Restoring limbs is beyond our current ability.”

  Adam's voice was calm but firm. “Sect Leader told me to heal the injured. So I’m going to heal them now.”

  He raised his hand, showing the glowing Qi signature left by Han Wuqing.

  The worker’s eyes widened slightly as he examined it. His eyebrows lifted.

  “Oh… if you have that Qi signature, then this isn’t where you’re needed.”

  He gestured for Adam to follow.

  “Come with me. There’s another place you’re supposed to be.”

  “Why don’t the Nascent Soul elders heal them?” I asked.

  The worker shrugged. “Let’s just say... they don’t want to heal them right now. They’ll probably get treatment once they return to their respective sects.”

  “Then let me heal these guys first.”

  “That’s really not necessary—”

  “No, no. I insist.”

  I stepped forward and faced the injured disciples. Extending my palm, I took a deep breath.

  [Alright... first time trying area healing on people. Hope this works.]

  Drawing from the liquid Qi stored in my mid dantian, I forced out the warm energy. It surged forward like a wave, spreading in a wide cone that engulfed the injured in front of me.

  Their bodies glowed softly as the healing took hold.

  Mangled limbs reformed. Deep wounds sealed shut. Bruised flesh smoothed over.

  In mere moments, they looked whole again.

  Everyone in the ward stared in stunned silence.

  The worker blinked in disbelief. “Well, that’s... a fabulous healing ability. You must have a high-grade light element, right?”

  I shook my head. “Not really. I’m just a Grade 6. Most of my healing ability comes from a special soul bound artifact I used to have—it boosts healing output the more you use it. I guess after using it long enough, it started to rub off on me.”

  “...How much healing are we talking about?”

  I did a quick mental count. “Let’s see—25 patients a day, 365 days a year… for like 100 to 200 years. Yeah, I lost count somewhere along the way.”

  The worker’s jaw dropped. “Oh my, that’s a lot of healing. Were you running a hospital or something?”

  I laughed. “Nope. I was dirt broke, couldn’t even afford spirit stones. Took a job as the full-time healer at a small-town hospital. The artifact did most of the heavy lifting. The pay sucked for how much I worked, but... healing people just felt good.”

  The worker snorted. “Well, well, well. Aren’t you a virtuous little goody two-shoes?”

  He slapped me on the shoulder. “Alright, saint healer. Now that you’ve finished up here, let’s get you to the place you’re actually needed.”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  I followed him as he led me through a staff-only corridor, past a few empty rooms, and finally to a quiet, unmarked door.

  “This is the place,” he said.

  I opened the door—and stopped in my tracks.

  Inside were all the disciples who were supposed to be dead. Some along with their spirit beast.

  In the center of the room, I spotted Ji Yue and Ren Mo, both fully focused on healing a pale, barely-conscious figure.

  [Well… that’s one of mine.]

  As I stepped inside the room, most of the injured disciples gave me a quick glance before returning to their own thoughts.

  All except two.

  Jian Wuye—the sword cultivator—and the gauntlet user immediately snapped their heads toward me.

  “It’s you!” they shouted in unison.

  That, of course, pulled the attention of everyone else. With nothing better to do in their current state, the rest were already eager for any drama.

  Mu Qing Li and Li Fan both turned their gazes toward me, silent but alert.

  Ren Mo and Ji Yue, still focused on healing a barely-conscious disciple, shot me a quick glance before going back to their work. But I could tell—they were still listening.

  Both Wuye and the gauntlet cultivator glanced at each other with confused expressions before glaring back at me.

  “Are you here to mock us now?” they asked, once again in eerie unison.

  The two blinked at each other, clearly not expecting that. For a moment, it seemed like a strange camaraderie was forming between them—united by their mutual dislike of me.

  I raised a hand casually. “Nah, I’m just here to heal you guys.”

  The gauntlet user squinted. “Why the hell is a contestant—who’s still in the game—even allowed in here?”

  Wuye added, “Especially when we’re supposed to be dead.”

  I shrugged. “Figured it out when I tried to heal you all.” I pointed at the gauntlet cultivator along with the others.

  His eyes widened. “You tried to heal me after killing me?! After saying you weren’t going to kill me?! What kind of drugs are you on?!”

  I pointed a thumb toward Wuye. “Hey, don’t look at me. He’s the one who actually killed you.”

  Wuye blinked. “Oh... yeah. I did behead you, didn’t I?”

  So much for their budding brotherhood—it shattered instantly.

  Wuye scowled. “You say all that, and you still decided to kill us. Look around, Adam. Look at my team. Look at some of the others here. They look so malnourished it’s like their bodies started eating themselves. Just skin and bones now.”

  I sighed. “I had a theory. The talismans felt too intricate—too perfect. I figured they were doing more than just what they were implying they are used for. So, I took the risk. Looks like I was right.”

  I gave a slight pause, then shifted topics.

  “Anyway… how’s the healing going?”

  Ji Yue wiped sweat from her brow, her expression tense. “I’m having a hard time healing cases like these. The talisman substitutes the cultivator’s body the moment they’re close to death. Their original body is transferred here and stabilized just enough by the array to keep them from dying.”

  She glanced over at Adam. “Now that you’re here, mind absorbing your death Qi from them? It’s interfering with the healing.”

  Adam blinked. “Oh—yeah, sorry about that.”

  He stepped forward and extended his hand, absorbing the lingering traces of death Qi still clinging to the injured bodies. A faint black mist swirled back into his palm before vanishing.

  Those who had experience with the black mist gave a slight twitch

  Ji Yue let out a breath of relief. “Much better.”

  She shook her head. “If they weren’t going to make it an actual death match, why didn’t they just say so? Better yet, why not transfer a fragment of each contestant’s soul into a virtual battleground? That way, we wouldn’t have to deal with all this physical trauma.”

  Ren Mo, still focused on his patient, replied calmly, “Because the contestants would figure it out. If they realized they were in a virtual space, they’d probably try to tamper with it. Some of them might even succeed.”

  He paused. “Besides, building a virtual battleground on that scale would be absurdly expensive—more costly than all the prizes combined.”

  Ji Yue raised an eyebrow. “You say that like you’ve got virtual battleground tech at home.”

  Ren Mo didn’t flinch. “I do. Bought one with my allowance. So I know what I’m talking about.”

  Ji Yue blinked. “Why would you even need something like that?”

  Ren Mo’s expression remained flat. “For personal reasons you don’t want to know.”

  And with that, he said nothing more.

  Adam chimed in, arms folded. “And let's be honest—even if it wasn’t a death match, most of these guys wouldn’t think twice about self-destruction. Either to prevent giving their enemies the advantage and give their teammates an edge against them or just for mutual destruction.”

  He gestured toward the injured disciples. “I’d bet good spirit stones at least one of them tried that exact thing—regardless of whether they’d actually die or not.”

  There was a brief pause.

  A few in the crowd tilted their heads, considering the possibility.

  Some muttered under their breath, Huh… that might’ve happened to me.

  A smaller group thought, Damn… I should have done that.

  And a few simply nodded in quiet confirmation—they had done it.

  The reactions were mixed.

  Adam let out a breath. “And the organizers—and the spectators—definitely don’t want that kind of gameplay happening. Isn’t that right?”

  He turned to the nearby worker, whose eyes had widened slightly. All other gazes followed.

  The worker shifted awkwardly. “You’re... mostly right.”

  Adam waved it off. “Anyway, I’m not here to dive too deep into that rabbit hole.”

  He rolled his shoulders and exhaled. “Let me recover my Qi reserves first. Then I’ll help with treating the rest of the patients.”

  With that, Adam moved to a quiet spot in the room, sat down cross-legged, and began to meditate.

  Thirty minutes later

  The worker returned, carrying a small projection device.

  “This will stream the matches for the Qi Condensation realm,” he said. “They’ll be starting in about an hour.”

  Adam opened his eyes, rising smoothly from meditation. All three of his dantians were filled to the brim.

  “Well, ain’t that fantastic,” he said with a stretch. “Looks like you all have some entertainment to look forward to.”

  He dusted off his robes and turned toward the patients.

  “Alright then—let’s get back to the healing, shall we?”

  There were still around fifty disciples who hadn’t been treated yet. With so few volunteer healers and limited resources, it was clear they couldn’t keep up.

  Adam stepped forward, extended his hand, and released his warm Qi outward. A gentle wave of energy pulsed through the room, washing over the injured.

  He managed to fully heal seven of them.

  All their wounds vanished. Even missing limbs regenerated before their stunned eyes.

  A collective gasp echoed through the room.

  Ji Yue and Ren Mo looked especially stunned.

  Ren Mo spoke first. “Whoa… that’s an unprecedented level of healing. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  Ren Mo glanced over. “You must have a really high-grade light element.”

  Adam shook his head. “Nah, it’s thanks to a special artifact. It increases my healing output based on how much I use it. Still, even with that, I’m limited by my own Qi reserves. I only healed seven people before running dry.”

  Ji Yue narrowed her eyes. “Hmm… that might be because you’re brute-force healing.”

  Adam blinked. “Brute-force healing? What does that mean?”

  “It means you’re not actually focusing your healing,” Ji Yue explained. “You’re just pushing that warm energy out without directing it toward the specific injuries. That’s incredibly inefficient.”

  Ren Mo opened his mouth to say something but stopped himself.

  Ji Yue continued, “If you’ve healed as many people as you claim, you should’ve learned to control that energy by now.”

  Adam scratched his head. “Huh... I never really focused on it. I’ll give it a shot after I recover some Qi.”

  From across the room, Mu Qing Li called out from her bed.

  “Adam… weren’t you told to rest today?”

  Adam shrugged. “Yeah, but—”

  “No buts,” she cut him off. “Just take care of the dire cases and let the others handle the rest.”

  Li Fan chimed in, “She’s right. Didn’t you say you’ve got a prize you’re aiming for? You should be in top form for the final match.”

  Adam nodded. “Alright, alright.”

  The nearby worker stepped forward. “I figured you’d say something like that. That’s why I brought this.”

  He held up a focus talisman etched with the symbol of a Qi amplification array.

  “Stick this on and give it a try.”

  He slapped the talisman onto Adam’s chest.

  Immediately, Adam felt a surge of energy flow through him—like every sense had been turned up to eleven. His entire body buzzed with power.

  “Whoa… this feels…”

  Adam was momentarily speechless.

  Refocusing, he stepped forward again. Extending his hand, he took a breath and tried to control the healing energy this time.

  As the warm Qi flowed out, he focused deeply, and for the first time, he could sense how the energy instinctively reached out to nearby living beings—but diffused too broadly to be efficient.

  [So that’s what she meant.]

  Adam began manipulating the flow, guiding the energy to converge more precisely on each target. With the talisman amplifying his Qi reserves, he found he could sustain the control easily—and efficiently.

  Patient after patient, wound after wound—the healing went smoothly. He healed them all.

  Adam let out a breath. “It felt like I had an endless amount of Qi inside me…”

  Turning to Ji Yue , Ren Mo, and the other volunteer healers, he gave a sheepish grin. “Sorry for taking all your patients.”

  Ren Mo chuckled. “No complaints here. Much appreciated, honestly.”

  “Now that you're done,” the worker said, stepping up, “let me take this back.”

  He removed the talisman from Adam’s chest.

  Adam turned to the room full of freshly healed disciples. He raised his voice.

  “Everyone!”

  The crowd looked up, all eyes on him.

  “Cheer for me when I win.”

  The room fell quiet for a moment—then erupted in laughter and applause. Whether they wanted to admit it or not, many cheered genuinely. After all, this was the guy who had just healed them perfectly.

  Well… most of them cheered.

  From the back, Ji Wuye and the gauntlet cultivator shouted, “We hope you lose!”

  Adam smirked, but in his mind, another voice echoed.

  [After showing off this much, might as well end it dramatically.]

  He

  suddenly pointed to a shadowy corner at the back of the room.

  “WHAT’S THAT?!”

  Everyone turned.

  Silence.

  There was nothing there.

  And when they turned back…

  Adam was gone.

  Li Fan laughed, shaking his head. “What a guy.”

  Mu Qing Li let out a small sigh and smiled. “What a show-off.”