Chapter 145: Treatment

All s-ranked gemstones were, by their nature, mysterious. Only those with a talent in understanding them were ever able to glimpse their true capabilities. Lan Jue lay upon the ground, and though able to move remained still and listened to the Doctor's explanation. 1

And his blood flowed from the open wound, he felt his body begin to relax. The Phylactery's stones pulsing energies were gentle and soothing, and in fact he felt no discomfort with the process.

Gradually, the internal light of the stone changed to a shimmering gold. It had begun with flecks of gold, and they melded together as the stone drank up Lan Jue's flooding energies.

"Alright, good. Now just focus your discipline in to the stone. Infuse as much as you possible can. Eventually it'll become as part of your body. When you've recovered, the energies inside will begin to be absorbed back in to you." The Doctor spoke over his patient as the process continued.

Lan Jue just nodded. He focused his efforts of moving the unstable energies of his discipline in to the phylactery.

In the beginning he was hesitant to release too much in to the stone too quickly for fear it couldn't support it. However soon he discovered he'd underestimated the power gem's capabilities. No matter how much of his excess powers he flooded in to it, it vanished like salt in the sea waves. The gem swallowed as much as he gave, insatiable. He likened it like the vast emptiness of space.

This caused Lan Jue to breathe a sigh of relief. He let his constraints slip, let his control relax, so that his power could flow at its own pace. His body shone with a fierce golden light that brightened as his power flared.

The Wine Master looked a little apprehensive as he spoke to the Doctor. "How will you know when his power is sufficiently drained in to the stone? How much experience do you have with this?"

The Doctor shook his head. "I only know how to keep him from dying. The effect all of this will have on his body, we'll only know when the process is done. We'll need to do another examination then to know the full extent of the damage. A ninth level Talent, the Genetica, a sudden catapult to Paragon, not to mention his previous injuries... it doesn't look good. Thunderbolt Disciplines are among the fiercest of abilities. It would be best to mentally prepare yourself for the worst.

The Cosmagus sighed. "Do what you can. The Jewelry Master suffered this while saving Taihua and its tourists. It was damn heroic, so we'll do whatever it takes."

The Doctor responded with a sigh of his own. "I must say he's earned my admiration. I can't say I'd have done the same if our roles were reversed. I guess my strengths lie in self-preservation instead of blind bravery. I certainly wouldn't have had the stupidity and courage to effectively commit suicide and take Genetica to do it."

Lan Jue's weak voice wafted up towards them. "Even your compliments sound like curses."

The Doctor smirked. "No one ever said anything about compliments. Tell me with a straight face you're not a total moron. Didn't you give any thought to the consequences?"

Lan Jue laughed quietly. "Actually if our roles were reversed I'm not sure you'd have run like you claim. If you'd have been here to see that monster shooting down airships, to see our compatriots slaughtered, used as food for the creatures, you'd see differently. Something like that really opens your eyes!"

The Doctor stuck a big thumbs-up under Lan Jue's nose. "You win. Now shut up and concentrate. Laughter you won't be laughing."

Lan Jue's expression changed as the Doctor's words were confirmed. His expanded body began to shrink back down as the power racing through him was drained away.

The Wine Master's body shook as he looked on. He knew this meant Lan Jue no longer had the necessary power to sustain Paragon status. But he couldn't stop now, he had to keep draining the explosive power of his discipline otherwise he would be destroyed by it.

"Draw back just a bit," the Doctor ordered. He knelt again at Lan Jue's side and held him down with both hands. Once more that gentle green light flowed through him to the Jewelry Master until he glowed as well.

With each passing moment that his powers were draining, Lan Jue felt that danger receding. He felt as though he were stepping back from a precipice. There wasn't any pain anymore, just... emptiness. Like he was just a shell, like he didn't exist.

Lan Jue's smile was forced, for the situation he faced was even worse than he'd anticipated. Sometimes, it wasn't pain that was to be feared. Sometimes the absence of pain was the most frightening thing.

The phylactery continued to flash, though now sparks of electricity danced on its faceted surface. As Lan Jue's powers waned, he felt his control slipping as well. He was finding it more difficult to direct the flow outward. But the process continued, and after half an hour his body returned to its normal size. The golden tint to his skin had vanished somewhat earlier.

Lan Jue's vitality was weakening. Lying on the ground, he felt it. His face was pale. Not like a man's, but like frost over a statue. His eyes rolled shut when he no longer possessed the strength to keep them open.

Yet the Phylactery Stone did not dim or weaken. On the contrary, it was growing brighter, more vibrant. The stone had buried itself in Lan Jue's palm almost entirely. Only a small part of it remained visible, twinkling furiously. With as much energy as it was drinking from Lan Jue, their connection was powerful.

The Doctor looked on, his face dark. The purgative and healing energies released by his hands had changed. It was no longer a simple green ray, and was instead now an exuberant jadeite. Steam arose from the top of his head, and he was covered in sweat. He didn't look too good, himself.

The Wine Master just stood at the Doctor's side. In this situation, he couldn't help. All he could do was watch and wait. Only Disciplines that lay in a similar vein could support another.

The Doctor's face was hard, a chiseled mask of concentration. "His condition is worse than I anticipated. The Genetica triggered the very core of his abilities, and it's more potent than I've ever encountered. It was evaporating his bold. Any later and I'm afraid he'd have been boiled from the inside. We're not out of the woods yet, either. His organs are still in danger of being burnt and torn apart. His meridians are bordering on total fracture. Only his bones are managing, leaving about a hundred and sixty-three unscathed. The damage he's endured from this is incredible!"

"Is there anything we can do," the Wine Master asked.

"All I can do now if employ my greatest healing abilities. Perhaps they will be enough to help keep his organs and meridians from being completely obliterated. At the same time, I can instigate hematopoietic functions and try to bring it back to homeostasis. Bone fractures will be the easiest to handle. But meridians... there are simply too many in the body 2 and as they break they're like a bowl of noodles in there. Trying to connect them all together again is too difficult. The best I can do is ensure the most important meridians remain intact. Even if he lives, I'm afraid he'll likely end up disabled..."

The Wine Master was well aware of the Doctor's healing capabilities. Hearing the prognosis, his face was bleak.

Ah Clairvoyant... surely it doesn't mean your Visions were wrong? Or maybe someone changed fate. This is already past the point of just appearing dire. If the Doctor really is unable to cure him, then he...

Two aquamarine gemstones had appeared in the Doctor's hands. He placed one in the center of Lan Jue's chest, and the other in his own mouth. Almost instantly the gems began to glow.

An hour passed. The Doctor sat beside his patient, legs crossed, recovering his own powers as he meditated. Lan Jue remained where he was, his skin still pale as snow. The gem on his chest pulsed slowly with his heartbeat.

After an hour of rest, the Doctor stirred and continued the treatment. To him, the man laid out on the floor looked like a human-shaped jigsaw puzzle. It was as though everything within him was fractured as shifted. He would have to be practically rebuilt. It was an enormously difficult process and, had he not immediately employed vast amounts of bioenergy to support the Jewelry Master, he'd likely already be dead.

As they toiled below, the skies over Taihua were gradually clearing. The grey fog that concealed them was dissipating before the sun.

ζ

With a moan, a massive ship broke through Taihua's atmosphere and barreled towards the ground. The East's first contingent of relief troops were inbound.

The ship descended until it was a thousand meters over land, then stopped to hover. The doors opened and several figures issued forth. They fell to earth like dark petals. Or perhaps more accurately, like a dredging net.

They were mechas, and they towered a frightening fifty meters. Each one pulsed with powerful energies. Mechas were separated into many sorts, with different systems. Ten mechas constituted one unit, and the way they fell to earth in perfect formation gave testament to their high battle prowess. The moment they made landfall, they spread out and got to work.

Shrill cries and plumes of purple smoke dotted Taihua. Once the sea creature had been dealt with, the monsters had stopped multiplying. They were being eradicated. Their fate was sealed once their nest was destroyed.

Mo Yu piloted his own mecha, a Mammoth 444 Suit, racing at the front of his unit. The Mammoth 444 was the Eastern Alliance's National Defense mecha system, and every unit had one as the heart of their team.

They were the core defensive unit, the best the East had to offer. They were the pinnacle of mecha research and possessed every weapon they could bolt on to it. Infantry dreadnaughts, and everything that stood in their way was annihilated.

1. Here I think the author made a typo, since he described this gem as a c-ranked gem in the previous chapter. In my estimation it's meant to be S-ranked.

2. Not really. There are twelve normal meridians, eight extra meridians, and some divergent meridians. Doctor needs to bone up on his Traditional Chinese Medicine!