268: Difficult and complicated diseases

After Mu Chen finished offering the treat, he politely excused himself and personally went to the back kitchen to arrange the dishes.

As soon as the private room door closed, the relaxed smile on Jiang Donghua's face faded slightly. He frowned slightly, looked at Lei Lie beside him, and asked in a low voice, his tone carrying a hint of inquiry.

"Old Lei, this Senior Mu Chen, why do I feel like the aura around him seems a little off?"

Hearing this, the joking smile on Lei Lie's face also faded. He sighed, nodded, and lowered his rough voice.

"You noticed it too?"

He paused, seeming somewhat emotional, and lowered his voice further.

"That's normal. He's been looking like this sickly fellow for ages! Old Lei has known him for several years and has never seen his complexion look rosy."

Lei Lie's tone became somewhat regretful and resentful.

"If it weren't for his body holding him back, making it clear that his path of Dou Qi cultivation was coming to an end, he wouldn't be stuck here, working as a chef!"

At this point, Lei Lie cautiously glanced at the closed door, leaned forward slightly, and his voice became almost a whisper, carrying the carefulness of sharing a secret.

"He has hidden injuries in his body! The very troublesome kind!"

A flash of understanding crossed Jiang Donghua's eyes. As a Fourth-Grade Alchemist Master, his soul perception and sensitivity to life force far surpassed that of ordinary people.

From the moment he first saw Mu Chen's unusual pale complexion and faint greenish aura, along with the gentle yet deeply concealed weak aura fluctuations.

Jiang Donghua had already concluded that this person definitely suffered from a hidden illness, and it was certainly not an ordinary injury or sickness.

It was just that this hidden illness seemed to be temporarily suppressed and masked by some method or medicine, and its root cause was deep, and the situation complex.

With his current strength and level of alchemy, he temporarily couldn't fully see through it, only sensing that it was an extremely stubborn, chronic old injury entangled in the meridians and possibly even the soul's origin.

Lei Lie did not notice Jiang Donghua's profound gaze and continued talking about what he knew, his tone carrying a degree of helplessness.

"Sigh, I heard he went through a lot of trouble over the years because of this injury."

"He invited the elders of the Inner Academy, and he also secretly sought out several famous Fifth-Rank and Sixth-Rank Master Alchemists from the Black-Corner Region."

Lei Lie curled his lips, showing an 'you know what I mean' expression, his voice tinged with disdain for those so-called masters and a sense of injustice for his friend.

"The result? Absolutely useless!"

"He spent a lot of money and owed a lot of favors. Some guys even pretended to examine him for a long time but couldn't offer any real solution in the end!"

"Some did prescribe formulas, and he took many strange pills, but at most, they only allowed him to barely maintain his current state, neither dead nor fully alive; they couldn't cure the root cause at all!"

Saying this, Lei Lie heavily slammed the table, looking somewhat depressed.

"So later, he gave up hope and simply settled down in this Medicine Spirit Pavilion, researching medicinal cuisine and spirit wine to keep himself alive while also finding a livelihood."

"It's a shame about his originally good talent and mind."

Jiang Donghua listened quietly, his fingers unconsciously tapping the table, his eyes flickering as he fell into contemplation.

Hidden injuries that even Fifth-Rank and Sixth-Rank Alchemists are powerless against?

Mu Chen's problem was probably much trickier and more interesting than he had initially anticipated.

As a Fourth-Grade Alchemist, Jiang Donghua had an almost instinctive, strong interest and desire to investigate various difficult and complicated diseases, especially strange injuries that even high-level Alchemists were powerless against.

This was not just curiosity; it concerned his exploration of the path of medicine and the mysteries of the human body.

He immediately looked at Lei Lie and pressed for details.

"Old Lei, do you know any specific information about his hidden injury? For example, how did he get this injury?"

Hearing this, a look of recollection appeared on Lei Lie's rough face. He scratched his head and said somewhat uncertainly.

"Old Lei isn't too sure about the specifics either. This matter is considered a minor mystery in the Inner Academy."

"He arrived at the Inner Academy a few years before me. When Old Lei first came in, I had already heard of his name. He was very glorious back then!"

A trace of nostalgia for the past flashed in Lei Lie's eyes.

"I heard that Mu Chen back then had extraordinary talent and formidable strength, and was only half a step away from the Dou King realm!"

"He was a strong contender for the top five, or even the top three, on the strong ranking list at the time! His momentum was even greater than that kid Qin Xiao's is now!"

Speaking of this, his tone changed, filled with regret and confusion.

"But later, I don't know what happened. It seems like he came back from a mission, or encountered some unexpected event during external training, and suddenly, he became this listless, half-dead state he is in now!"

Lei Lie spread his hands.

"No one knows the specific details, and he never talks about it himself."

"In any case, from that time on, his cultivation regressed instead of advancing, and he became taciturn. Finally, he simply withdrew from the strong ranking list competition and settled here to research medicinal cuisine."

He pointed outside the door and lowered his voice.

"You should have been able to sense it just now; at most, his strength fluctuation is only around Six-Star Dou Ling!"

"This is already the result of him barely maintaining it by relying on various medicinal cuisines, spirit wines, and methods he figured out himself!"

Lei Lie extended his thick finger, gesturing a terrifying trend.

"Old Lei heard people say that at his worst, his cultivation dropped almost one star every six months! Watching his hard-earned Dou Qi dissipate little by little—that feeling, tch, it's painful just thinking about it."

"One star every six months?!"

Hearing this, Jiang Donghua's brows furrowed tightly, and a sharp light flashed in his eyes.

Continuous consumption of cultivation, and a gradual decline over the years... This symptom was indeed extremely rare and bizarre!

It was definitely not an ordinary internal injury or poisoning!

Jiang Donghua's mind immediately began running at high speed, falling into deep thought, his fingers unconsciously tapping the table.

"Is it some strange poison that continuously damages the foundation? Penetrating deep into the bone marrow and even the Dou Zhi Qi vortex, making it difficult for even Fifth-Rank and Sixth-Rank pills to eradicate?"

"Or did he cultivate some extremely sinister, highly backlashing forbidden technique, leading to damage to his origin?"

"Or did he consume something he shouldn't have?"

Several rare heavenly treasures or Demonic Cores that require special methods to refine—otherwise they continuously erode the origin—flashed through Jiang Donghua's mind.

"Has some energy entity with continuous devouring characteristics parasitized his body?"

Each possibility represented extremely high difficulty and risk in treatment.

This also explained why so many high-level Alchemists were powerless.

Either they couldn't find the root cause, or they found it but were powerless to expel it, or the cost of expulsion far exceeded what Mu Chen could bear.

"Interesting, truly interesting!"

Jiang Donghua muttered to himself. Far from retreating, his eyes ignited with an even stronger flame of inquiry.

For him, this kind of challenge was the best whetstone for improving his alchemy and verifying his knowledge!