Volume 1, Chapter 20: A True Miracle

"If the silver needle near the heart is not removed, I would have an eighty or ninety percent chance of success."

"But now, even if I exhaust all my strength, I fear there is only a ten percent chance remaining."

Li Ya shook his head, speaking with a sense of helplessness.

Hearing these words, Xu Ruoyun, standing to the side, turned deathly pale.

Without another word, Li Ya turned and walked toward the bed, stepping past Ruan Mei without sparing her a single glance.

Ruan Mei’s delicate frame trembled. She looked at her father, then at Li Ya, and then, to everyone’s shock, she knelt and crawled toward Li Ya.

The people in the room were stunned. They knew how arrogant the young lady of the Ruan family was, and they never expected her to go to such lengths, remaining on her knees beside Li Ya.

A flicker of heartache crossed Ruan Yunlong’s eyes. He wanted to step forward and help her up, but he restrained himself. His granddaughter had always been willful and spoiled; this would serve as a good lesson for her. The world was not as simple as she imagined. Although the Ruan family was powerful, it was not invincible.

Looking at his son on the bed, Ruan Yunlong sighed heavily, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

Li Ya placed his hand on Ruan Shanhe’s pulse. After a brief examination, his brows furrowed. The situation inside Ruan Shanhe’s body was far worse than before; the parasitic worms had all awakened and were frantically devouring his meridians.

Li Ya reached out, took a silver needle from Xu Ruoyun, and plunged it directly into the heart.

This sight made everyone present gasp. Xu Ruoyun instinctively wanted to intervene, but he swallowed his words.

Li Ya channeled his limited spiritual energy, guiding it through the needle into Ruan Shanhe’s body to stabilize his heart meridians. Under the influence of Li Ya’s spiritual energy, the worms dissolved and perished like snow under the sun. Within a few breaths, Li Ya successfully protected Ruan Shanhe’s heart and saved his life.

The constant alarm of the monitoring equipment in the room finally fell silent.

Watching Ruan Shanhe’s breathing gradually steady, the crowd stared in wide-eyed astonishment.

"This—this is nothing short of a miracle!"

"This is a true divine doctor!"

Xu Ruoyun’s somewhat cloudy eyes were wide with disbelief and shock.

Li Ya inserted a few more silver needles into Ruan Shanhe’s body, using his spiritual energy to flush the meridians and wipe out the remaining worms.

If not for Xu Ruoyun’s blind needle placement earlier, Li Ya’s task would not have been this complex. The spiritual energy cultivated through the Nine Dragons Divine Art was formidable; ordinary parasitic worms were no match for him.

As time passed, cold sweat began to bead on Li Ya’s forehead. After all, he had only recently begun cultivating, and his cultivation base was still relatively low. Because all the dormant worms in Ruan Shanhe’s body had awakened, Li Ya had to use his spiritual energy to exterminate them all, which drained him significantly.

When only a quarter of his spiritual energy remained, the worms in Ruan Shanhe’s body were finally completely purged.

For all to see, Ruan Shanhe’s complexion returned to a healthy glow, and his body ceased its violent trembling. The fading spark of life slowly began to recover.

Li Ya grabbed a scalpel from the table and swiftly sliced open Ruan Shanhe’s palm. A large amount of black, foul-smelling toxic blood gushed out.

Seeing the puddle of malodorous blood on the floor, Xu Ruoyun felt a deep sense of shame. He had previously thought he had removed the bulk of the toxins, never realizing he had failed to remove even a fifth of them.

Once the blood from Ruan Shanhe’s palm turned red, Li Ya looked at Xu Ruoyun.

Xu Ruoyun was at a loss, and the two stared at each other.

"Why are you looking at me? Bandage him. You’re a divine doctor, aren't you? Do you need me to teach you that?" Li Ya said, speechless.

"Yes, Divine Doctor Li. I will dress the wound immediately." Xu Ruoyun bowed his head and spoke with utmost respect, then proceeded to bandage Ruan Shanhe’s palm with gauze.

The way he looked at Li Ya had completely changed, filled with profound reverence. He still did not understand how Li Ya had managed to save Ruan Shanhe’s life so effortlessly.

The people in the room breathed a collective sigh of relief as they watched Ruan Shanhe, who was breathing evenly and, though not yet awake, was no longer in danger of death. If the current head of the Ruan family were to pass away, it would surely cause shockwaves throughout the Dragon Kingdom.

Ruan Yunlong turned to the medical staff from Luocheng First Hospital, a cold glint in his eyes.

"Everyone, I will ensure you receive the compensation you deserve for today’s events. Naturally, I expect there to be no loose talk or rumors."

"Don't worry, sir. We were just here for a routine check-up. Nothing happened."

"That’s right, just a routine check-up. Nothing happened, and we saw nothing."

With that, the medical staff scrambled out of the Ruan residence, taking care to etch Li Ya’s face into their memories. They were stunned that a young man of only twenty could possess such miraculous skills.

After Xu Ruoyun finished bandaging the wound, he took Ruan Shanhe’s pulse again. To his surprise, the patient’s aura was extremely stable, and his constitution was even better than before!

Xu Ruoyun’s eyes widened; he could not fathom how Li Ya had achieved this.

"Divine Doctor Li! Please forgive my blindness earlier. I hope you will not take offense!" Xu Ruoyun bowed respectfully to Li Ya, his face full of shame.

Li Ya waved his hand quickly. "Senior Xu, please don’t call me a divine doctor. I am not worthy of the title."

Others might not know it, but Li Ya was well aware that this wasn't medicine at all; it was simply using his powerful spiritual energy to force a cure. In fact, Xu Ruoyun’s medical skills were truly profound—administering medicine through silver needles and stimulating acupoints with unique techniques. If these worms hadn't been so difficult to deal with, it wouldn't have required his intervention at all.

However, Xu Ruoyun and the others merely took these words as humble modesty.

"Mr. Li, thank you for today," Ruan Yunlong said solemnly.

"A gentleman’s word is his bond. The promise I made earlier remains entirely valid. From this day forward, as long as you have a need, the Ruan family and I will support you with all our might, regardless of the stakes!"

As he spoke, a powerful aura radiated from Ruan Yunlong—a promise made by a military leader, never to be broken.

Li Ya nodded with satisfaction.

Only then did he notice that Ruan Mei was still kneeling in his direction, her head bowed in deep remorse.

"Get up. I don’t have any pocket money to give you."

With that, Li Ya turned and left with Ruan Yunlong. Ruan Mei trembled at his words, staring blankly in the direction where Li Ya had departed.