9 Chapter 9: Menacingly.

"So, what is it?" I mumbled, getting up from my bed and getting into my slippers.

"You controlled the energy outside of your body, the natural energy; how did you do that?" She asked, now following me to the bathroom, where I was going to brush my teeth.

"What do you mean, how? Aren't you the master?" I asked back, putting the rudimentary toothpaste on the rudimentary toothbrush, both made by me.

The people of this world had abysmal dental hygiene; most people I visited barely bathed, not to mention brushing their teeth. If I had a coin for every time I had to explain why bathing regularly was important, then I would have enough money to retire.

Maybe that was an exaggeration, but the point remained.

"What you did is something this princess didn't even think was a possibility for someone in your realm; how much can you harness at the same time?" She asked with a pondering expression on her face as she considered the possible causes.

"No clue; not a lot, I believe; yesterday drained me completely." I replied, starting to brush my teeth while feeling the weird energy in my energy veins with the incredibly delusional name, Evil God Profound Veins." I shuddered at the thought.

The energy felt as if it were flowing a lot faster than it did before, and not by much, but that wasn't the only difference; it felt as if it were denser; there was a certain weight behind it that wasn't there before, but it might just be my impression.

I still had to figure out exactly where these veins were, but that would take some time and a willing subject.

"Are you listening to me?" She shouted, apparently realizing that I was ignoring her and was lost in my thoughts.

"No, would you mind giving me some privacy? I need to use the bathroom." I replied, closing the door to her face. I had more important things to do than explain something I didn't know how to explain; after all, the throne was waiting for me.

I washed my hands and left the bathroom; it was probably the room where I had put the greatest amount of effort into making it, after the laboratory and operation room, obviously. The people of this country sucked at hygiene; probably the higher classes lived in better conditions, but I, as a twenty-first-century man, refused to settle for anything less than comfort.

"Are you done?" She asked, irritation evident in her voice as she looked at me with narrowed eyes. I nodded back with a smile, which apparently pissed her off even more. I wasn't being the most mature person in the world, but it's always fun pissing people off, and someone who referred to themselves as "princess" was pretty high on my "must piss off" list.

"So, why didn't you use your own profound energy? Even if you can use wild profound energy somewhat effectively in precision work, it should still be immensely easier to use your own." She asked, her annoyance receding as she inquired about my thought process.

"Well, other than the fact that I didn't know whether I had enough power to sustain the whole operation, there is a most important reason," I replied, motioning her to follow her to the kitchen, where I started to make some breakfast for the both of us. "I don't know how my energy differs from the wild energy, nor do I know how my energy would react inside of his body; as far as I know, it could have caused his body to reject it and his condition to worsen, so I just played it safe."

She pondered on my answer while looking curiously at my cooking at the same time: "You did good. Our bodies always have some degree of innate resistance to other people's profound energies, but since the wild profound energy is already all around and inside of us, that resistance is almost nonexistent, as long as it's not used with attacking intent."

"Figures, it's like a blood transplant; if it's not compatible, it would be rejected. Good to know." I replied with a hum, adding one more piece to the puzzle that this profound energy was.

"Oh, by the way," I changed the subject, "what did they do after I left?"

"Nothing much; they waited until their friend woke up; they made him stay there and not move, as you said, but they did give him a blood-refilling pill."

"A pill? How does it work?" I asked back, curious about how this world's medicines worked.

"It uses profound energy to stimulate the body's natural blood production; it wasn't of the best quality, but it was enough to not worry about blood loss." She explained.

That was interesting. I wondered whether I could replicate the same effects with my own energy. I definitely had to study how these pills worked. Great, more work to do.

I sighed and passed the girl the simple breakfast that I made. She looked at me with sparks in her eyes after looking at the plate. It wasn't of the best qualities; I just made melted cheese on some salted bread; it was the best I could manage to find here.

We then had breakfast in silence, the girl stealing curious glances at me from time to time, but I wasn't in any mental state to ask what she wanted; I was too worried about reviewing every action from the operation, everything that I could have done more efficiently or in a different way, so that the next time I would be able to do it faster.

After breakfast was over, I went to take a look at my patient, who should have still been on the operation table; I didn't have any extra beds after all.

The man seemed tough, though, and I hoped that I didn't give him a backache.

But he seemed fine, already awake and probably waiting for me. His friends were nowhere to be seen; they had probably left.

"Esteemed Doctor!" He exclaimed as soon as I got to his room. He bowed his head and continued, "I owe you my life. My companions told me about your actions. I can't thank you enough for reattaching my arm."

This felt a bit uncomfortable: "Don't worry, helping people is my job; how does your hand feel?"

"It's incredible, doctor; I can feel my fingers. It's difficult to move them, but I can feel them. It must have cost an incredible amount of resources to do this. I'm in your eternal debt."

The man whose name I didn't know kept babbling nonsense: "It didn't cost me much, except a bit of time; don't worry, you should regain motion in your hand in a few days to a few weeks; avoid all physical exertion and relax; come back here once a week for a routine visit."

"Yes, Doctor, can I leave already? And could I ask you a question?" The man asked.

It felt good to be respected this much, but it felt equally awkward at the same time. I doubted I would ever get accustomed to this land's customs. "You can leave, but keep the cast on. I also have a few medications that you should take, but I'll give you everything later. What do you want to ask?"

"Thank you, Doctor. I wanted to ask, how much did this operation cost my friends? I can't bear the thought that they might have paid a heavy price to save me." He said it with a wry smile on his face.

This world's healthcare really stinks if that question is even needed. "They didn't pay anything, and honestly, I have no idea how much I should charge for that. I did lose a whole day of work, and some people might have suffered for it. Let's do it like this. What is your name?"

The man confusedly replied, "My name is Jing Yun, esteemed doctor."

"You can call me Paracelsus; if you can help me with a few odd jobs from time to time, I'll let you off with not paying anything; otherwise, I'll charge you with what I usually gain in a day so that I can regroup the losses." I explained that either decision would be okay for me; money wasn't really a necessity right now.

I had no shortage of patients, and most were affected by common ailments; suggesting good habits and basic antibiotics helped in most cases. Viruses and more complex illnesses were more complex to treat, but those were rarer, thankfully.

The man seemed to get tears in his eyes. "Thank you, doctor. I swear to the heavens that should you ever call, I will come to your aid. Don't worry, I will do my best to repay your graciousness."

I smirked in humor; this man had a funny way of speaking. I'll give him that: "No need to go that far; if you don't have a place where you can rest comfortably, you can stay here for a few more days, but I don't really have any good accommodations for you; I'm still trying to set things up with the clinic."

"That will not be a problem, Doctor Paracelsus; my brothers will come for me soon. If there is anything you need, the Jing family will always be at your call!" He said this, bowing once more.

I smiled at the man and nodded, leaving after a short checkup and making my way to open the shop.

The day was a little busier than usual as the people that should have come the day before had been left waiting, but it wasn't anything that I couldn't deal with.

My last patient was an old lady who had almost become a regular at the clinic. I had to teach her about dental hygiene since she was beginning to show signs of tooth decay.

There wasn't much that I could do for that; I wasn't a dentist, but I figured that I would have to figure it out too, among all other disciplines.

At this rate, I might even become a polymath, a man who knows everything. It wasn't possible on Earth anymore, but who knows what I might achieve here?

I closed shop and went back to my studies before Jasmine appeared from my green tattoo and said, "You really should cultivate now."

"Really?" I answered that I had no idea about it, but if she said so with such certainty, then I should listen to her. After all, never argue with an expert in their field.

"Yes, I don't understand why you keep wasting time helping those mortals, but if it is your way, then I can't stop you, but you will never fulfill your part of our agreement if you don't cultivate."

"Oh, is that so?" I replied, turning more serious, "I'll get to it then; do you have any tips?"

"Tips?" She replied, "There are no shortcuts in cultivation; if that is what you are asking, your cultivation speed will depend on how many profound entrances you have opened; beyond that, it will be a matter of perseverance."

"And how do I know how many entrances I have opened?" I replied, eager to understand more about my own body.

"Start breathing the energy in." She instructed, putting a hand on my back as I did as she instructed, and after a few seconds she continued, "You can stop now."

"So?" I asked, but the slightly disappointed look on her face made it obvious that the test didn't reveal good results.

"Eleven, what I obtained by losing my body and almost even dying ultimately only gave you a small advantage in the end. If you want to unlock the special abilities of the Evil God's Profound Veins, then you must have all the Profound Entrances open. If you had at least twenty apertures, then I would still be able to help you achieve it in thirty years, but it's impossible even for me with only eleven." She spoke with indifference on her face, but I could feel the pain deep down.

I had no idea what she was feeling; I didn't know what it meant to risk your life only for it to end up in vain, but it couldn't be a good feeling.

So I tried to find a way out: "What is it that blocks the openings?"

"It's impurities; the human body is filled with them; they block and impede the flow of profound energy, heavily impacting the body's ability to circulate it, but I have no means to take out so many impurities now; normally, it's an incredibly long and torturous process that takes many years." She explained, steeling her expression and taking on the persona of a master.

"Impurities, huh?" I muttered under my breath, looking at the green tatto on my hand, the so-called Heavenly Artifact that had been healing Jasmine's body from a God-killing poison. If it could do that, then why shouldn't it also clear impurities from my body?

There was no harm in trying; I had no idea how to do it on my own, so I started by prodding the green space with my energy, and apparently, it was the right choice.

The tatto emitted a deep green light that entered my body before I could react, going through my entire body, seemingly erratically, but following some precise canals, my profound veins.

In a few seconds, the process ended. I closed my eyes and breathed in even more energy, far more than ever before in a single breath, so much so that the change was obvious even when I wasn't used to the energy in the first place.

"Is this it?" I asked uncertainly.

But she didn't reply; she just stayed there, staring at me.

Menacingly.