7 Chapter 7 – Daoyin Technique

"I'm going to continue practicing!" Xiao Ning'er stated as she stared at Ji Ren with her bright, clear eyes. She didn't like being disrupted by others. She had an expression that 'pushed people thousands of miles away' on her face, and because she rarely associated herself with the students in class, especially the boys, the friendless her seemed somewhat eccentric.

"I will leave, immediately!" Ji Ren confirmed. Then something caught his eye and and he suddenly started to check her out from top to bottom. Xiao Ning'er's brows wrinkled.

Isn't the way Ji Ren is looking at me a bit too rude? she thought. She couldn't help feeling somewhat angry. There were lots of boys chasing after her in the Holy Orchid Institute, but Xiao Ning'er had always ignored them. She only wants to focus on her training. Therefore, Ji Ren's actions right now was no different from the other boys in the institute even if he was different from anyone she had met. It was simply hateful!

"Are you still not leaving?" Xiao Ning'er wasn't happy, by her tone. Ji Ren had been disrupting her for quite some time now.

Ji Ren's gaze landed on Xiao Ning'er's legs. She wasn't wearing any shoes, and he could see a pair of creamy slender legs illuminated by the moonlight, which were slightly red.

He said, "When night falls, don't both of your feet feel like they are on fire?" Due to the burning heat, when training at night, Xiao Ning'er usually wouldn't wear shoes.

"Of course I know," Ji Ren faintly smiled, "Not only this, I know even more. Not only do both of your legs feel as if they were being burned by fire, your body would be extremely cold. Every night at midnight it would feel as if it was hailing on your body. It would be terribly painful. Even training your soul force wouldn't be possible, would it?"

Xiao Ning'er was shocked by Ji Ren's words. She had been enduring the pain alone and did not tell anyone about this, not even her family members. How did Ji Ren know about it?

Seeing the expression on Xiao Ning'er's face, Ji Ren knew that he had guessed correctly. So Xiao Ning'er's previous life's illness was the Arctic Disease. By training at night, it would often lead to chilled air entering the body, blocking the veins. The Arctic Disease would, in light cases, cause the person to get seriously ill, and in serious cases, it would cause the body to explode. So Xiao Ning'er from his past life was already very lucky to be bedridden for only two years. Ji Ren was glad he took his time learning medical skills when he left Glory city, he had set out to not only become stronger but also to master the art of medicines, which at that time was to help Xiao Ning'er through her illness, but he was far too late to return.

"In addition to these symptoms, your body should be bruised in certain areas. Those bruises should be extremely painful and not only do they not dissipate, they should also be spreading around the body, " Ji Ren continued confidently, "You haven't stepped into 1-star Bronze rank yet, but once you do, in the best case scenario, you will get seriously ill and your cultivation will be greatly reduced. In the worst case scenario, you will die."

After hearing Ji Ren's words, Xiao Ning'er was momentarily dazed. Both of her fists were clenched tightly, and her eyes reddened. How could this be? Even though she's very strong, after hearing the news, she couldn't endure the blow. Ji Ren could tell what her illness was with one glance. What he said shouldn't be wrong.

Ever since she was young, her family had been wanting for her to marry into the Sacred Family, by marrying Shen Fei. As she grew up, Xiao Ning'er gradually learned what kind of person Shen Fei was. Because she didn't want to get married to that playboy, she started practicing very hard with hopes of getting rid of this cruel fate. Unfortunately, the heavens didn't seem to want to let her do so, since she who would soon reach 1-star Bronze rank, suddenly got to hear such news.

Seeing the always strong Xiao Ning'er in this state, Ji Ren felt his heart ache. "Ji Ren, since you know what kind of illness I have, you should know how to treat it, right?" asked Xiao Ning'er. Frightened by what Ji Ren said, she unknowingly dropped her guard that she had up against him and pleaded, "Can you help me?"

Xiao Ning'er had a strong personality and rarely asked others for help. Ji Ren was silent, only for a moment, before he said, "This illness can be treated. You can look it up in the Holy Orchid Institute's library. The illness is called: Arctic Disease."

"Really?" replied Xiao Ning'er. Her hopes were raised, "How can it be treated?"

"The Daoyin technique must be used to massage the affected areas, to dissipate the bruise. Medicine made from combining Golden Striped Grass with Imperial Sky Grass must be consumed daily, with your situation, for roughly a month or so. In the best case scenario, ten days could be enough for you to be fully recovered from the illness," Ji Ren said.

"Daoyin technique?" repeated Xiao Ning'er. She knitted her brows. She's a member of a Noble family, but she had never heard of any Daoyin technique before. "In addition to these treatment methods, you must also make sure to not train your soul force at night in the future," Ji Ren said as he stretched his hand out towards Xiao Ning'er. He followed up with, "Though I am not very good in inspecting cultivation techniques, I still must take a look at your cultivation technique to see where there are any errors, it might also be influencing your sickness".

Xiao Ning looked up at Ji Ren. If a stranger were to ask her to take out her cultivation technique, she'd feel that they're simply trying to swindle her. But she, after seeing Ji Ren's willingness to help, couldn't help feeling a sense of trust towards him in her heart. Ji Ren had told her so much already, so she had decided to place her complete trust in him. She retrieved her cultivation technique from her interspatial ring and handed it to him. It was a piece of slightly aged parchment paper, with a bunch of densely packed words written on it.

As Ji Ren received the parchment paper from Xiao Ning'er, he accidentally touched the back of her jade white, creamy hands, Ji Ren made sure his face stayed blank.

After her hands were touched by Ji Ren, Xiao Ning'er quickly withdrew her hands and she felt her heart flutter. Her mood was in a mess. She thought, what if Ji Ren was trying to blackmail her? And what if he had impure thoughts about her? When she raised her head, however, she saw that Ji Ren hadn't even noticed her reaction when their hands touched, and felt relieved. Ji Ren's expression, when he looked at the parchment paper, was especially serious. This caused Xiao Ning'er to be a little absent-minded.

"A huge and powerful noble family's direct bloodline actually practices this kind of low-grade cultivation technique. It's no wonder Glory City was destroyed…" Ji Ren quietly murmured. Even if Ji Ren was no expert in cultivation techniques, even he could see the number of mistakes in the technique. "What did you just say?" Xiao Ning'er widened her eyes and looked at Ji Ren. She only heard some of the words Ji Ren murmured, but she couldn't hear it clearly.

"Nothing," Ji Ren faintly chuckled, "This cultivation technique is too poor. it'll damage the meridian as one practices it. The reason behind your Arctic Disease can be largely attributed to this cultivation technique. Change this part from 'psychic mind' to 'heavenly psychic' and change this to 'soul and spirit merge'…" Ji Ren continued to talk, altering the soul force cultivation technique beyond recognition.

Though his knowledge in cultivation techniques was not on par with Nie Li , Ji Ren's knowledge was still better than most people. He made a mental note to show the cultivation technique to Nie Li so that he can properly correct it.

Xiao Ning'er, while listening to Ji Ren as he altered her soul force cultivation technique, felt somewhat unconvinced. This cultivation technique was passed down by her ancestors. It was ranked six in the family's collection of cultivation techniques. How could it be altered by Ji Ren, just like that? Regardless, Xiao Ning'er still listened to Ji Ren's words. She was, after all, a practitioner of this cultivation technique, so she had some experience on some matters regarding it. Gradually, Xiao Ning'er realised that the modifications Ji Ren did to it were reasonable. In fact, the modifications made it much better than the original.

Xiao Ning'er's eyes widened and an incredible look was in them as she stared at Ji Ren. "Ji Ren, can you repeat it again? I need to remember what you just said!" Xiao Ning'er said quickly.

"Okay," Ji Ren slowed his speech, repeating the modification for the cultivation technique. After training her soul force, Xiao Ning'er got the ability to memorize anything without forgetting it. Even though she could only comprehend some of the modifications, she still managed to memorize what Ji Ren said. The more she looked at it, the more she realised how much more powerful the cultivation technique that was modified by Ji Ren was.

Xiao Ning'er's gaze towards Ji Ren initially had a hint of confusion in it, but it was soon turned into one filled with admiration.

How much knowledge regarding soul force must one have in order to change this high-ranked soul force cultivation technique to such an extent? Even Black Gold rank Demon Spiritualists wouldn't necessarily be able to do such a thing. Could Ji Ren's understanding of cultivation have long surpassed a Black Gold rank Demon Spiritualist's, even reaching towards the Legend rank Demon Spiritualist's realm? Treating it as a treasure, Xiao Ning'er deeply memorized all the modifications that Ji Ren did to her cultivation technique in her heart. She couldn't tell what her feelings towards Ji Ren were: awe, worship?

Ji Ren's age was the same as hers, but Xiao Ning'er realised that there was a wide gap between them. It was ridiculous that she used to think that Ji Ren's group were the 'tail of the class'. She realised just how ignorant Teacher Shen Xiu and the other students were as they ridiculed the group. She was completely convinced that if Ji Ren was already this advanced, then it would mean that Nie Li had told the truth; She now had no doubt that, not only Nie Li, but the rest of his group would surely become Legend rank demon spiritualists!

Ever since she was young, no matter if it's talent or intelligence, Xiao Ning'er had far surpassed her peers. This was the first time she looked up to someone her own age.

Xiao Ning'er looked at Ji Ren again with a different kind of light, he seemed so mysterious and when she looked deep into his eyes she expected to see confidence and intelligence in them, but she was surprised to find a lot of sorrow and guilt in them. When she had first laid eyes on Ji Ren, she thought he looked calm and composed, he wasn't rash but thought carefully about his actions. Then she realized that Ji Ren was actually very similar to herself, with the same kind of sadness in his eyes. She had never met anyone so similar to her before.

"What are you thinking about?" Ji Ren asked, looking towards Xiao Ning'er. He was puzzled since her expression was a bit strange.

"Err…Nothing…." Xiao Ning'er quickly shook her head, expelling all the thoughts she had in her head and asked, "Ji Ren, do you know the Daoyin technique?"

"Of course I do," Ji Ren nodded his head and continued, "But the Daoyin technique requires direct contact with the bruised area. It wouldn't seem appropriate if I were to be the one doing it." Xiao Ning'er looked up at Ji Ren's chiseled cheeks. He had sharp eyebrows, and deep lights flashed in his dark brown pupils. He was handsome with a very gloomy aura around him, which was slowly merging with the image she had in her heart. He seemed to carry a heavy burden on his shoulders, she wanted to discover what was burden he seemed to carry.

She lowered her head and said, "I don't mind. Weren't you already diagnosing me? I don't want to turn into a useless person." That last sentence Xiao Ning'er said was to comfort herself. In front of Ji Ren, Xiao Ning'er dropped the cold guard she had up against him.

"Uhh..." Ji Ren went silent for a moment.

His heart was in pieces, she was falling in love with him again. He could not defy his oath, but at the same time he could not let her suffer the same pain she had felt in their previous life. Ji Ren's face was blank for a moment, then he said, "Okay then, I'll help you with the Daoyin technique to treat your illness once every three days. Do what I just told you when you go back. Eat those herbs and you will be fine. I will also have Nie Li make some potions that will help you heal faster".

"En," replied Xiao Ning'er, nodding in silence. "Where's your bruised area?" Ji Ren asked. Xiao Ning'er's cold cheeks slightly blushed and pointed to the back of her foot. "There's one here." Ji Ren lowered his head to look at it. He saw a patch of deep purple on the top of one of Xiao Ning'er's silky white feet. The bruise was already this bad.

"So serious," said Ji Ren. He frowned and continued. "Luckily it's only on the foot, otherwise it would be a little troublesome elsewhere. It's a lot more convenient, since it's at the top of the foot. I will be done soon." Ji Ren crouched down, and sat on the grass patch. "En," said Xiao Ning'er, nodding her head. She didn't say that that's the only bruised area. When she placed her foot on Ji Ren's legs, a light flashed across her eyes.

Having not moved an inch, Nie Li was observing the scene in front on him. There was a small mischievous smile on his face. 'So this was Ji Ren's plan all along, using the stealthy approach, huh, I knew you couldn't stay away from Ning'er too long'. Even though he was joking, he had never seen this side of Ji Ren, even with spending most of his past life by his side. Ji Ren was so serious and grim, they went to many places and they had met even more women during their travels, some were as beautiful as heaven, but Ji Ren never swayed.

It was now time for him to leave and let Ji Ren carry on, Nie Li was tired as well.