"Nonsense! Utter nonsense!"
The middle-aged man, who claimed to be the Tiance Clan's most outstanding physician, trembled with anger. He glared fiercely at Ling Feng and spat out through clenched teeth, "Where did this wild brat come from? He dares to question me?"
"That's right! Lay Practitioner Qingling's medical skills are unmatched. This kid is too young and has a limited perspective. How can he compare to Lay Practitioner Qingling?"
"Exactly! We thought that the prophesied one would be someone great, but he turns out to be just a naive boy. And the moment he arrives, he starts pretending to understand things and making outrageous statements. It's utterly ridiculous."
"Could it be that Tuoba Cheng made a mistake? This kid doesn't seem special at all. And look at that weird black donkey he has with him... It reeks of fraud."
In an instant, many of the Tiance Clan members began to doubt Ling Feng.
A young brat, daring to criticize a fifth-grade alchemist like Lay Practitioner Qingling, was simply inviting humiliation.
"M-Master, could you have made a mistake?" Tuoba Cheng glanced back at Ling Feng, signaling him with his eyes, and then whispered, "Lay Practitioner Qingling has lived in our Wangduan Mountain for twenty years, and he's a senior highly respected by our clan."
Ling Feng smiled lightly and met Lay Practitioner Qingling's gaze with a cold smirk. "Lay Practitioner Qingling, you say I'm talking nonsense? As a physician, how could you not recognize the vitality diagram? The grand elder's vitality has already withered by nine-tenths. With the proper treatment, he could have lived for another two years, but you are forcefully depleting his life force with the Spirit Void Creation Pill. While it may appear to have some effect, it is actually accelerating the decline of his vitality diagram."
Staring directly at Lay Practitioner Qingling, Ling Feng said each of the following words slowly and clearly, "Tell me, Lay Practitioner Qingling, are you saving him or killing him?"
"Nonsense! How could I possibly want to harm the grand elder?"
Lay Practitioner Qingling's expression changed drastically as he looked at Ling Feng in shock. He gritted his teeth and said, "Since you can see that the grand elder's vitality diagram is withering, you must also be a Daoist physician. Given the grand elder's condition, aside from depleting his life force, what other options do we have?"
"Mr. Ling Feng." The grand elder weakly raised his hand and said slowly, "This is also my decision. Without this treatment, I'd likely be bedridden and awaiting death. Lay Practitioner Qingling has no ill intentions toward me."
"Hmph! I've been under the care of the Tiance Clan for many years. How could I possibly want to harm the grand elder? You brat, you're simply spewing baseless accusations!"
"I never said that you intended to harm the grand elder. But why are you so defensive, Lay Practitioner Qingling? Could it be that I've hit a nerve?"
Ling Feng smiled faintly, noting Lay Practitioner Qingling's guilty expression. As a Daoist physician, if he knew how to stimulate vitality by using the Spirit Void Creation Pill, then he should have also known that it needed to be paired with other ingredients to neutralize its effects and reduce side effects.
From the grand elder's appearance, his body had already suffered greatly from the pill's backlash. It was a miracle that he was still alive.
"Hmph! Utter nonsense!"
Lay Practitioner Qingling's eyes flickered as he gritted his teeth. "Kid, who exactly are you?"
"Me? I'm nobody. I just can't stand people using the title of physician to carry out the work of a butcher."
Ling Feng took a step forward and casually swept the container with Spirit Void Creation Pills off the table, smashing it to the ground. He said calmly, "Grand Elder, from today onward, you don't need to take this pill anymore. I will be treating your illness!"
"You... You brat! How dare you destroy the miraculous pills that I personally refined!" Lay Practitioner Qingling trembled with rage. He then pointed at Ling Feng's nose and cursed, "You've got some nerve!"
The surrounding members of the Tiance Clan were also stunned. Some even drew their swords and charged forward, shouting angrily, "How dare you destroy the grand elder's life-saving medicinal pills!"
Tuoba Cheng felt a chill run through his body as he swallowed hard and looked at Ling Feng's back, breaking out in a cold sweat.
What kind of joke is this? How is this situation going to end now?
Although he had known Ling Feng for some time, Tuoba Cheng never knew that Ling Feng held another identity—Divine Imperial Physician!
"Cheng..." Tuoba Longchuan glanced at Tuoba Cheng. "This Mr. Ling..."
"Just watch!" Despicable donkey, who hadn't had a chance to speak until now, finally found an opportunity and immediately chuckled. "That brat's medical skills aren't bad."
Tuoba Cheng took a deep breath as he clenched his fists. Is my master really skilled in medicine?
This is Heaven's Punishment for using Tiance power. Can it truly be cured?
Facing the angry glares from Lay Practitioner Qingling and the surrounding Tiance Clan members, Ling Feng sneered. "Only a trash alchemist would mistake this half-finished, defective pill for a miraculous spirit pill!"
"Who... Who are you calling trash?" Lay Practitioner Qingling's face instantly darkened, becoming as black as the bottom of a pot.
"Trash, don't speak!"
Ling Feng stood with his hands behind his back, his expression calm as he said, "I've already said it. I'll treat the grand elder's illness!"
"You?" Lay Practitioner Qingling was enraged. "What gives you the right?"
Ling Feng ignored him, instead turning his gaze toward the grand elder. He asked softly, "Senior, will you trust me just this once?"
"Since you are the prophesied one, what reason do I have not to trust you?" The grand elder smiled weakly. "With this broken body of mine, living even one more moment is a gain. Mr. Ling, Lay Practitioner Qingling, please stop arguing."
"Grand Elder, don't trust this brat! He's just a young boy; how capable could he be? If he makes a mistake, it could..."
"If I fail, I will end my life on the spot!"
Before Lay Practitioner Qingling could finish speaking, Ling Feng interrupted, leaving Lay Practitioner Qingling speechless and unable to refute.
Lay Practitioner Qingling stared at Ling Feng, unable to comprehend how such a young boy could have such confidence.
"Mr. Ling, there's no need for such heavy words," the grand elder said as he waved his hand weakly. "This old life of mine has long been beyond my control. Life and death hang in the balance. Even if I were to die, it would not be your fault."
"Grand Elder, please don't speak."
Ling Feng reached into his robe and retrieved a row of fine golden needles. The tips of the needles seemed to pulse with a faint life force that swirled around them.
"What are those?" Lay Practitioner Qingling's eyes twitched as he muttered to himself, "What kind of needles are these? They seem familiar."
Without hesitation, Ling Feng took out three Regenerative Golden Needles. With a flick of his fingers, the needles were already embedded in several key points on the grand elder's back.
The grand elder's condition was somewhat similar to that of Yue Zhonglian, the sect leader of the Cangqiong Sect, whom Ling Feng had treated before, but there was a fundamental difference.
Yue Zhonglian's vitality deficiency was caused by a mutation that could be replenished and repaired. However, the grand elder's vitality diagram was a result of heaven's will—a fate determined by the heavens, beyond the power of man to reverse.
Even if Ling Feng used the Regenerative Needle Array to infuse life force into grand elder, he could only increase his life essence by a bit.
The best he could achieve would be to prolong the grand elder's life by about two more years. Though two years might seem short, for the Tiance Clan, whose members barely lived forty years, it could be considered a blessing.