Plague Emergence
On the island, there is a spot facilitated by a training array. Several metal cylinder punching dummies are laid across the area, each has a gauge to tell you how strong your attack is by catties.
I take a deep breath and root my feet to the ground, positioning myself a distance away. With a powerful leap, I jab the dummy. My punch emitted a powerful burst of yellow light with some Qi dispersing.
"5500 catties..." I mumble.
This should be the strength of a low to middle core formation. What an impressive technique!
A week had passed and I can finally practise.
Li Ruo has started cultivation on her own and reached the third stage of Qi Condensation without any techniques. Indeed, her physique is a "cheat system" itself.
Li Shao usually isn't in his residence because of my virus, it has spread quite among Tiansu and people are thinking it will soon be very lethal.
Thus, the only people in Hanzhen are the servants, Li Ruo, and me.
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System-level up!
11->12
Unlocked properties:
-Qi Immunity 3
-Qi-Borne
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Nice.
Qi-Borne is similar to Airborne but instead, the virus sticks to Qi in the atmosphere and infects any cultivators absorbing it.
Qi Immunity 3 extends the immunity up to the Nascent Soul realm.
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Properties:
[Tier 3]
Qi Immunity 3(200,000 points)
Qi-Borne(350,000 points)
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E-Expensive!
...
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Successfully purchased
-Qi Immunity 3
-Qi-Borne
Remaining points: 164,758
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Applied Qi Immunity 3 to Slot one virus and slot 2 virus
Qi resistance: D->C
Applied Qi-Borne to Slot one virus.
Contagious: D->C
===============
Congratulations!
Slot One virus has reached Rank D! Each infection now yields 4 points and each kill yields 8.
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I hope this can make up for my points loss.
Huff...
Let's stop here, I'm hungry.
The return back to Li Shao's estate was a peaceful one. In NieLong, the condensed population made a noisy day and night but only nature exists here.
The peace ends when I reached my destination. A crowd is gathered at the gate.
?
A girl, slightly shorter than me with long black hair and eyes, is tending to a woman who collapsed on the floor.
"High fever..." The girl mumbles.
She is wearing a white robe with broad sleeves and a hat. That is Mei Han, the disciple of Li Shao.
A skull appears above the collapsed woman.
Oh?
The servants carry her indoors upon the command of Mei Han. They lay the patient on the bed and Mei Han examines her.
...
"Everyone leaves." She says.
All of us left and I stood outside the door, waiting.
After about half an hour, she opens the door and wipes her forehead.
"Hm? You are...the sword deity?" She says when she sees me leaning against the wall.
"Yes. May I talk to you for a moment?" I ask.
"I am very busy. Besides, I'm tired too."
"I can help you," I say.
...
"You want to become my assistant?" Mei Han says.
"In a way. I need to repay you for all that you've done."
Mei Han sighs. "Alright."
To counter the doctors in the Murim, I first need to know how they manage the virus or even make a vaccine.
I will start with observing Mei Han.
She gestures for me to follow her to the storage room. The storage room is located at the end of the residence, locked by a formation that only activates when the right people are there.
At first glance, the storage room seems to be an ordinary building with no windows and a wooden door. Outside the door are different elevated rocks and plants to enhance the scenery.
Mei Han steps onto the rock beside a rose and the door swings open.
From inside, ventilation of air seems to be coming from an array at the corner of the roof. There are drawers neatly lined up with headings like "herbs" or "pills".
Mei Han opens the drawers and takes out a herb that looks like a blue version of wheat and a small bottle giving off a cold aura.
We return to the patient. She is coughing and her complexion has turned red.
"Hold this." Mei Han says and passes me the wheat. "Pluck out the rice inside and place it on the small bowl over there."
She points at the table beside the bed. I comply with her instructions and begin plucking. It was cold, very cold. My fingertips are numb the moment I finish plucking it, how can rice be so cold?
Mei Han takes the bowl of rice and mixes it with lukewarm water. Bits of the water start to solidify into ice but Mei Han breaks it apart using a stick and feeds it to the patient.
"Help me circulate Qi inside her body. You need to circulate the entire body from her upper dantian to her lower dantian." Says Mei Han.
Mei Han grasp her left wrist while I grasp her right. I inject Qi into the patient and begin moving it.
...
Her body starts to emit cold Qi. At that moment, Mei Han pops the pills into the small bottle inside the patient's mouth and the Cold Qi subsided.
"Phew. This should do it for now."
"Is she safe?"
"For now." Says Mei Han. "She hid the disease and tried to suppress the symptoms for a long time for work, an example of a late case of the disease."
The skull is still above her.
Mei Han starts to pack up and I help her.
"So the disease is not eradicated?" I purposely ask.
"No, we only used cold Qi to slow the infection down. That gave the immune system an advantage in combating the illness... The disease is very stubborn. It consumes part of the immune system that attacks it and almost evades it firmly. Even if we slow the disease down, there will still bound to be a lot that lingers in the body. Only by injecting high profound Qi or surviving long enough for the disease to be gone."
Mei Han sighs. "That's all I know about it. My teacher won't tell me anything else and it seems like he as well as the other experts are working on something."
I see. They are attempting to slow down the virus and allow the immune system to have an advantage against it. The virus can consume a small number of white blood cells but will die when overwhelming white blood cells attack it.
...
I went and take a bath after we are done. Soaking into the hot water, I feel a sense of anxiety.
Back in my original world, to completely "eradicate" a virus is close to impossible, there will always be strands of viruses everywhere even if it is not in a human vessel.
But this is The Murim, where supernatural particles called 'Qi' exist.
I don't know what they can achieve with Qi so I need more information.
After the bath, Li Shao has returned and is tending to the patient from before. She is sitting up on the bed as Li Shao stands behind her.
?!
Li Shao pressed some acupuncture points and place his palm on her back. A small impact is heard as she spits out something black, the skull above her disappears.
!!!
...
"How are you feeling?" Li Shao asks.
"W-Wonderful! Thank you very much!" The woman replies.
"You do not need to hide it, ask me and I will help you."
"B-But... Thank you! really!"
Li Shao smiles and throws a glance at me. "Ah! Wang Ji! I've heard you helped Mei Han!"
"Yes," I reply.
Li Shao gestured for me to follow him.
On the mountain beside his residence lies a table under a tall tree. This is Li Shao's favourite relaxation spot.
He takes out a box with a stick protruding out of it and lights it. A flowery aroma is emitted with a hint of heat?
"This incense..."
"It is emitting fire qi, this can kill the virus in the environment." Says Li Shao.
It is similar to a sanitiser. While the fire Qi can kill viruses, when consumed, will endanger life.
The fire Qi is too profound to be consumed unless it is a cultivator who specialises in fire, the fire Qi will burn the virus but also other living cells in the body.
A fire affinity pill contains minimal fire qi and cannot be taken in a huge amount for safety.
Li Shao sighs. "The reason why I called you here is to warn you. You've heard and seen of the recent disease, it is not lethal and not too infectious. But what separates it different from the rest is its tenacity and strange ability to mutate very quickly."
!!
I made sure that the symptoms weren't mutating too fast.
"Although others might not notice it due to the symptoms. But I can sense the infection defence getting stronger and stronger. Recently, it required more Qi to expel the disease from a patient's body... It's as if the disease has a conscious. Mount Hua Xi is a hot spot for the infection, be careful." Says Li Shao. "I fear that the virus may not be as simple as it is."
...
Li Shao can't kill the virus with Qi and thus attempts to force it out of the infected.