55: The pandemic is over, and speculation about the disease is underway.

In the dim room, the candlelight flickered, and a figure suddenly appeared.

"Who...?"

Doctor Mo exclaimed.

Countless emerald-green vines pierced through his skin, wrapping around him layer by layer, transforming him into a grotesque treant.

However, before he could react, a Lung Gold Sword Qi swept over, growing larger and larger in his pupils.

Chii—

The Sword Qi passed through his glabella, penetrating the wall.

A blood-hole the size of a finger was left between his eyebrows.

Doctor Mo’s mouth was slightly agape, his terrified expression frozen on his face, and the emerald-green vines covering his body instantly turned gray and withered, drooping down as if lifeless.

His corpse fell stiffly to the ground.

Gu Changsheng walked closer.

He vaguely saw a hint of relief deep within Doctor Mo’s eyes.

The Cultivation methods in this world were bizarre and unpredictable.

It was difficult to get started, and even harder to Cultivate.

As one’s Cultivation deepened, the mind would gradually be infected by the visualized spirit.

At best, one’s personality would change drastically; at worst, one would mutate into a grotesque entity.

Just like Doctor Mo before him.

"Regardless of whether you had any regrets before your death... everything... is over."

Gu Changsheng reached out and touched Doctor Mo’s head, plucking a fist-sized gray fruit from among the withered branches.

"The Longevity Dao Fruit... taking it can extend one's lifespan by thirty years... For other Cultivators or Mortals, obtaining this would make them ecstatic, treating it as a treasure.

For me... it’s merely a trifle."

The next moment, Gu Changsheng’s eyes sharpened.

In the heart space, the newly born Spirit of the Hundred Maladies Tree shook wildly, and boundless black Qi surged out, merging into the Dao Fruit in his hand.

Visibly, a faint white light appeared in the center of the originally gray Dao Fruit, its inner spiritual essence dissipated, and the spores within were completely different from before.

Stepping out of the room.

Gu Changsheng rubbed his palms together, and the grayish-white Dao Fruit in his hand instantly turned to ash.

He opened his mouth and exhaled, and a strong wind arose.

Countless Dao Fruit spores drifted with the strong wind, scattering throughout Chenping County.

"Go..."

Gu Changsheng murmured.

Night.

Hual Deng Lane.

A dilapidated room.

On the dirty, foul-smelling communal bed lay a dozen hunched old men.

They were the most severely ill patients of the plague.

According to the experience of previous days, they would not last more than three days.

In the dim room, coughing sounds rose and fell.

Suddenly, a ragged old man sat up, clutching the corner of the wall with both hands, coughing violently as if to cough out his lungs.

The next moment.

Pfft—

A mouthful of foul-smelling black blood was spat out.

The sound of blood dripping down the wall was particularly clear in the dim, cramped room.

"Old Man Liu... are you also about to go?"

Old Man Li looked at the hunched old man spitting blood in the distance, his gaze mournful.

He and Old Man Liu were both old lantern makers.

Their craft had been passed down for over a hundred years.

There used to be seven or eight old fellows like them, but now only the two of them remained.

"Next... it should be me, right...?"

Old Man Li’s voice was desolate.

Suddenly, Old Man Li’s eyes widened, his face full of surprise.

By the corner of the wall, Old Man Liu, who had been hunched over, actually straightened his back.

Under the flickering dim candlelight, Old Man Liu’s complexion gradually turned rosy.

At the same time, for some unknown reason, Old Man Li felt strength in his arms, and his stomach rumbled, feeling hungry.

"Am I... experiencing a final burst of energy?

Or... am I cured...?"

Evidently, he was not the only one with such a realization.

Many old men got up, discussing the changes in their bodies in low voices.

Faintly, Old Man Li heard crackling sounds coming from outside the house.

It was the sound of firecrackers for the Lantern Festival!

He pushed open the door.

The street, which had been deserted during the day, was now filled with people.

Their white veils had long been removed, and each face was rosy, showing no sign of illness.

Suddenly, exquisite lanterns of various styles rose into the sky, accompanied by colorful fireworks, illuminating the entire Hual Deng Lane.

Old Man Li’s face flushed, extremely excited, and two lines of turbid tears streamed down his cheeks.

"The great plague... is over..."

... Jielu Medical Clinic.

Gu Changsheng looked at Mo Yun before him, his expression complex.

He saw a bone-white dagger plunged into his abdomen, and blood had pooled beneath him.

"This Mo Yun would rather commit suicide than continue to help Doctor Mo harm people... He is indeed a man of integrity."

He had clearly seen Mo Yun’s actions in the room earlier through his purple-striped spotted bees.

To some extent, it could be called turning over a new leaf.

Gu Changsheng recalled his past Karma with Mo Yun.

Years ago, at the beginning of his Transmigration, his original body had been drained of essence, and he, with a pale face, had forced himself to run to the medical clinic, where he was mocked by Mo Yun, who was then a child.

He laughed at him for seeking pleasure in Baihua Garden and getting into trouble.

Despite his words, Mo Yun’s chubby hand took out an emerald-green pill from his Pregnant and handed it to him.

He said mysteriously that it was a virility pill he had secretly concocted.

It had the effect of strengthening the foundation and nourishing the vital Qi.

It cost nothing, only a string of candied hawthorns.

"Now, it's time to repay the Karma of that virility pill..."

Gu Changsheng pulled out the dagger, his liver creeping, and emerald-green healing light emanated from his palm.

It was the half-baked Wood Qi Green Light.

In the Five Viscera Method, the Liver Chapter recorded the Cultivation method for this Divine Ability.

Although Gu Changsheng had not deliberately practiced it, when his Five Viscera reached Perfection, he still managed to Cultivate a rudimentary understanding of it.

It was more than enough to heal ordinary people.

In an instant, the bleeding stopped, and the flesh healed at a visible rate.

At this moment, although Mo Yun’s face was pale from excessive blood loss, his life was not in danger.

Having repaid this Karma, Gu Changsheng inexplicably felt his mind relax.

"Longevity, longevity... what I seek is only a relaxed state of mind and clear thoughts.

It's time to leave..."

Half a month later, Chenping County returned to normal, as if the plague had never happened.

Inside the courtyard.

Gu Changsheng was enveloped in black Qi.

A large amount of lifespan was extracted and poured into the panel.

In the blink of an eye, the Hundred Maladies Method on the panel was upgraded to the sixth stage.

Giving birth to two techniques: [Disease-Breaking Eye] and [Disease-Refining Seed].

The Disease-Breaking Eye, when activated, could see through the type, location, and quantity of diseases on a patient.

The Disease-Refining Seed, on the other hand, could extract diseases from living beings and Cultivate them into disease seeds.

"The Disease-Breaking Eye is fine.

My Body Refining strength is already there; ordinary diseases cannot enter my body.

However, this Disease-Refining Seed..."

Gu Changsheng rested his chin on his hand, his eyes shifting, and various ingenious ideas popped into his mind.

There are thousands of diseases in the world, and some diseases, for ordinary people, are suffering and calamity.

But when they fall upon a Cultivator, they might be a blessing.

For example, a disease like bone hyperplasia, for Cultivators who practice the visualization method of the White Bone lineage, can be considered a natural Dao Body.

"Body Refining, after all, involves training muscles, bones, skin, and marrow... If I can Cultivate specific disease seeds and apply them to these organs and body parts, maintaining a 'diseased' state at all times, it would be equivalent to constantly practicing Body Refining Cultivation..."

Gu Changsheng’s eyes lit up.

And the most inconspicuous way to collect diseases is to open a medical clinic.

"It seems that besides my main job of selling paintings, I’ll have to add a side job..."