Chapter 46: The Curse of Nine-Hearted Begonia

Ye Renxin was quite interested in the concept of acupoints and acupuncture, although he had initially been skeptical. However, upon Cheng Xiao's ability to discern his physical condition simply by pulse diagnosis, he began to entertain the idea of giving it a try.

Coincidentally, the subject for this experiment was right in front of him, and with his Nine-Hearted Begonia present, Cheng Xiao could experiment freely without fear of fatal consequences.

"Mister, pardon my offense," Cheng Xiao said with a mischievous smile, a slightly malicious curve appearing at the corner of his mouth.

"Old man, are you sure nothing will go wrong? I have a feeling this kid is a bit too clever," Dugu Bo said with a hint of unease, tilting his head back.

"What's there to fear? You're a Title Douluo, afraid of a kid killing you?" Ye Renxin chuckled. "Besides, with me here, what could possibly go wrong?"

"It's just an experiment. I have a feeling that if he can cooperate with the Nine-Hearted Begonia, there might be extraordinary results."

Ye Renxin, with over a hundred years of experience, was extremely knowledgeable. Upon realizing that Cheng Xiao's theory of meridians seemed plausible, his first thought was whether it could be combined with the Nine-Hearted Begonia.

The abilities of the Nine-Hearted Begonia were quite straightforward, focusing on comprehensive healing such as detoxification, treating external and internal injuries, and healing mental trauma. Its healing abilities were quite formidable, making it deservedly the number one auxiliary martial soul in the healing system.

However, Ye Renxin was not satisfied.

At any given time, only two successors of the Nine-Hearted Begonia could exist in the world. If the older generation lived too long, newborn children would be unable to awaken the Nine-Hearted Begonia at the age of six and would inherit another martial soul instead.

This led to the Nine-Hearted Begonia being prone to generational breaks!

In Ye Renxin's case, he married too early and had his father of Ye Lingling, but at that time, his own father had not passed away. As a result, Ye Lingling's father failed to inherit the Nine-Hearted Begonia.

At that time, the entire family was worried sick, fearing that Ye Lingling would be unable to awaken the Nine-Hearted Begonia. If that were the case, the lineage of the Nine-Hearted Begonia would be completely severed!

Fortunately, the inheritance of the Nine-Hearted Begonia was special. After Ye Renxin's father passed away, Ye Lingling was born, and she inherited the Nine-Hearted Begonia in the next generation's awakening ceremony. This relieved everyone's worries.

Otherwise, Ye Renxin, at over ninety years old, would have had to marry a young concubine to pass on the Nine-Hearted Begonia. If word got out, he'd probably be criticized for being old but still lustful.

If two Title Douluo emerged from the Nine-Hearted Begonia, it would be disastrous. Several generations of descendants wouldn't be able to inherit the Nine-Hearted Begonia.

After a dozen generations, with shallow bloodline connections, it would be uncertain whether descendants could inherit the Nine-Hearted Begonia after the death of a Title Douluo.

This could be considered the curse of the Nine-Hearted Begonia; living long became an extremely troublesome matter.

Every successor of the Nine-Hearted Begonia would struggle with this "curse" throughout their life, fearing living too long yet also desiring longevity, constantly struggling with this contradiction.

Fortunately, like the Seven-Treasure Glass Tower, the Nine-Hearted Begonia also had significant flaws: it couldn't break through to become a Title Douluo, and its soul power could only reach the level of a Soul Douluo, with a maximum lifespan of less than one hundred and twenty years.

This was also a blessing in disguise; otherwise, the lineage of the Nine-Hearted Begonia might have been completely severed hundreds or thousands of years ago, and there wouldn't be the "Holy Hand Renxin" we have today.

Without the obsession of breaking through to become a Title Douluo, Ye Renxin naturally shifted his focus to other aspects, and exploring the Nine-Hearted Begonia's greater potential was one of his main concerns.

He didn't want to stop at just "healing"! 

He also wanted to "amplify"! 

He could forgo breaking through to become a Title Douluo or establishing a family, but he wanted to truly surpass the Seven-Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda!

But breaking through the barrier of martial souls was no easy task.

Ye Renxin had spent his whole life without exploring this possibility.

But now was different. After coming into contact with the theory of meridians, Ye Renxin saw a glimmer of hope! Whether he could surpass the Seven-Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda now depended on this kid!

Ye Renxin's gaze, containing an inexplicable meaning, fell on Cheng Xiao.

"Mister, please extend your hand," Cheng Xiao said, cupping his hands.

Seeing his old friend persisting, Dugu Bo could only reluctantly extend his hand. One little brat couldn't do much to him anyway. He wanted to see what tricks this kid had up his sleeve!

Cheng Xiao placed his hand on Dugu Bo's wrist, checking his pulse, and after a short while, he asked Dugu Bo about his symptoms.

"Do you have any discomfort, Senior Dugu?" Cheng Xiao inquired.

Dugu Bo glanced at him sideways. "If you don't even know that, I advise you to give up early."

Cheng Xiao felt helpless at his response. Observing, listening, asking, and touching were all part of the process he needed to follow. It wasn't that he couldn't discern Dugu Bo's symptoms; he just wanted to confirm his diagnosis and avoid misdiagnosis.

But he hadn't expected Dugu Bo to be so uncooperative.

"Your Baihui acupoint... um, the one on the top of your head and the soles of your feet experience unbearable pain late at night..." Cheng Xiao said, observing Dugu Bo's reaction to confirm his diagnosis.

After hearing Cheng Xiao's description, Dugu Bo's expression finally changed. He hadn't expected this kid to simply check his pulse and accurately describe his symptoms!

Ye Renxin's gaze also changed slightly, trusting Cheng Xiao's theory of meridians even more.

Seeing Dugu Bo's reaction, Cheng Xiao understood. Dugu Bo's poisoning was beyond doubt; it could be sensed from his pulse. His pulse was chaotic, and his irritable, eccentric temperament and weakened Qi and blood made it difficult to expel the toxin from his body.

"Old man, it's your turn," Cheng Xiao stood up and bowed to Ye Renxin.

"Hmm, go on," Ye Renxin nodded and released his martial soul. A begonia flower appeared in front of him, its eight soul rings pulsating in perfect harmony, with two yellow, two purple, and four black rings—a perfect combination.

"According to your idea, using soul power as needles to perform acupuncture," Cheng Xiao pointed to several acupoints on Dugu Bo's body. "The pain Senior Dugu feels in these areas is likely due to toxins accumulating in the meridians. Needles should be inserted one millimeter and three hairs into these points to repair the damaged acupoints and restore the body's connection."

"Then, needles should be inserted two millimeters from here to protect the heart meridian. Senior Dugu will need to activate the poison art himself and guide the toxin back into his martial soul. Additionally,Senior you need to insert the needle and nourish the meridians in these areas..."

Under Cheng Xiao's guidance, Ye Renxin condensed his soul power into extremely fine needles. This was a somewhat exhausting micro-operation. Without high control over soul power, it couldn't be achieved.

But Ye Renxin was already a Soul Douluo, over a hundred years old. Although it was somewhat difficult, he still managed to do it.

Fine beads of sweat formed on Ye Renxin's forehead as he controlled the needle-like soul power to pierce Dugu Bo's various acupoints.

"Wow! Why does this thing hurt so much?!" Dugu Bo shuddered the moment the soul needle pierced his acupoint.

Seeing this, Cheng Xiao's mouth curved into a grin, his eyes turning into crescents. Now you're experiencing the bitterness after oppressing me earlier, aren't you, old man?