yin yang

to understand why the thousand yin poison is so deadly we must first understand the concept of yin and yang

yin and yang is often used as a perception of opposites, and how the world functions from the existence and collision of opposites

yin is the cold,feminine counterpart to the yangs warm, masculinity

of course both can contain traces of the other as seen in their symbol, but not too much

it is on this understanding that cultivation was also understood

now this idea also applies to qi

males normally have bodies that change qi into ambient yang qi while women produce ambient yin qi

this comes from the natural flow of qi through the bodies with their obvious biological differences

anyways back on track the thousand yin poison I harmless and sometimes even beneficial to women or those whose constitution benifits from yin qi

whereas the opposite is true for males or those who have constitution that benifits from yang qi

now that we have understood why the thousand yin poison is so harmful we now have to understand what it does

it essentially enters and festers in the body constantly producing yin qi in the body, to a male cultivator it will at first just be a minor hindrance to the speed of their cultivation however, slowly it shall make the cultivators cultivation a lot harder, but then, it would change, rather than hindering the cultivator it would seemingly benifit them increasing their cultivation rate, but it was all a ruse

what it was actually doing at this stage was flowing along the cultivators body spreading the yin qi all around it, where, due to it being qi it would seep into the cultivators body, fighting against the already accumulated yang qi

it would cause turmoil in the cultivators body, damaging them from the inside, this is a very slow process but also an irreversible one unless the proper medicine is given in time

there is also the fact that the medicine required to reverse it was quite expensive and rare, made only by the top alchemists in the mortal realm

thankfully doctor jie was one of those top alchemists

now all that was left was....

"it's not that I don't trust you, but I'll need som evidence to prove it little jie"

that

his doubt was reasonable, afterall if the poison was found in a person then it would be said with 100% certainty that it was an assasination attempt

and

'c'mon jie think, just remember how father acted at this time, what symptoms he was facing'

his thoughts were racing, trying to remember how his father acted at this time

"well if you have no proof then I shall-"

"his walk cycle"

"....what?"

"his walk cycle seems a bit hindered, it almost looks like he's limping but it's so minute that you wouldn't notice it at first glance"

doctor jie closed his eyes, now deep in thought

after a few minutes he spoke

"so what if he was limping a bit, that could be any number of things, a case of cultivation gone wrong, him stubbing his foot on something hard, etc.., tell me why his walk cycle proves he is afflicted with the thousand yin poison"

"because of how qi is distributed"

in the body qi is affected by gravity which forces it downwards, this is known as the qi cycle due to how it explains the movement of qi throughout the body, it is for this reason that movement techniques are one of the first techniques any cultivator will master

"true the first place he would be affected would be in the feet, but you have yet to prove the existence of yin qi"

"...I can't prove it" jie said in a downtrodden voice

jie was out of info he could work off of, afterall he spent most of his previous life cultivating, if the info he was being told was not something he could use for cultivation he would immideately vacate it out of his mind

"hmmmmmmmm..."

doctor jie was in deep thought

"you have failed to show me any real signs of your father being afflicted" came down doctor jie's harsh voice

Ding jie flinched slightly, lowering his head, his stern voice was frightening

"however...., you have sown in a seed of doubt within me"

Jie looked up sharply causing his neck some pain

doctor jie just smiled a bit

"little jie, I want you to remember this one fact, doubt can cause as much damage as a fact can if sown inside the mind properly, I shall check your father once he returns from his trip, for now though..., you should eat, afterall I don't need your body damaging itself from hunger"

Jie was suddenly aware of the dishes in front of him, as well as his now growling stomach

"anyways, I have an idea for a bath that would be better than the one you suggested, it only came to me due to our discussion of the qi cycle, so even if you were wrong about your father's affliction, this talk wasn't a complete waaaas OH DEAR GOD PLEASE CHEW LITTLE ONE"

jie was in a world of his own stuffing his face with food