Ascending to Immortality by Slaying Spirits

Chapter 203 - Dissatisfaction with Price Increase Treatment
"Doctor Yang, please save my elder brother!" Tang Zhihong turned around and knelt down before the doctor. "We'll use our magic artifacts as collateral for the remaining ten spirit stones!"

The seriously injured man standing to the side shouted, "Zhihong, without the magic weapon, how will you make a living? If you dare to do this, then you can pretend you don't have a big brother like me!"

Magical artifacts are the lifeblood of demon hunters; without matching artifacts, a demon hunter's combat power is greatly reduced.

After that, hunting demons became even more difficult.

The man's excessive excitement aggravated his injuries, and he couldn't help but spit out another mouthful of blood before fainting.

Doctor Yang glanced disdainfully at the bloodstains sprayed in front of him and said with slight displeasure, "Hurry up, are you going to treat me or not?"

"Heal, heal, heal!" Tang Zhihong pressed his magic weapon on the table, and the other two followed suit.

"Is this enough?" Tang Zhihong asked.

Doctor Yang glanced at it indifferently and said, "Not enough."

Tang Zhihong was taken aback: "How could it not be enough? The three of us brothers all possess second or third-level forbidden magic artifacts. Even if we were to use them as collateral, it would still be enough for ten spirit stones!"

Doctor Yang raised his chin at the seriously injured man and said, "Thirty spirit stones was the price just now. Now his blood and qi are attacking his heart, and his injuries are more serious, making treatment more complicated. So the consultation fee is now forty spirit stones."

Tang Zhihong was furious: "You're clearly taking advantage of my misfortune, Dr. Yang, where is your medical ethics!"

Doctor Yang scoffed: "What does this have to do with my medical ethics? You get what you pay for. Your brother's injuries are difficult to treat, so you should pay this many spirit stones."

"You're talking nonsense!" Tang Zhihong cursed. "You're just taking advantage of the situation, you quack doctor!"

"Keep cursing!" Doctor Yang frowned, a cold glint in his eyes.

"Swear..." Tang Zhihong was about to open his mouth when his companion covered it.

"Second Brother, calm down!" his companion whispered. "This is Huichuntang!"

"Woo-woo!" Tang Zhihong made a wooing sound, clearly still angry.

Doctor Yang stroked his beard and said with displeasure, "If you want to treat me, then treat me; if not, then get out!"

"Fine, get out!" Tang Zhihong yanked his companion's hand away and roared, "You surnamed Yang, don't think you're the only doctor in the alchemy workshop!"

"let's go!"

Watching the four people leave, Doctor Yang sneered.

"Go and inform the other branches to raise their prices," he said to the apprentice beside him.

"Yes," the apprentice nodded.

Soon after, Tang Zhihong's face turned ashen, because he had visited two different clinics, each with a higher price than the last.

"Second brother, what should we do? The price has risen to sixty spirit stones." his companion said.

Sixty spirit stones, though a lot for them in the past, were something they could still scrape together.

But the problem is that things are different now than before. Now, they have failed to hunt the demon, their resources are depleted, and they simply can't raise the money.

Tang Zhihong pondered with a cold face, then suddenly thought of something: "Let's go to the next one. This time won't work. Let's save Big Brother's life first."

“Okay.” The other two companions nodded.

Knowing that saving my brother's life is the best option right now.

Upon seeing the sign "Mu Kang Tang," Tang Zhihong's two companions were taken aback. How come they didn't know that Danfang had recently opened a medical clinic?

But with no other option but to try anything, they followed Tang Zhihong inside.

Inside the shop, Lin Le, who was lying in a rocking chair reading a book, glanced at the four people who came in and said, "Wife, prepare some needles and thread."

"Okay." Ling Muzhu stood up.

Lin Le also stood up and asked, "Treat the wounds?"

"Yes." Tang Zhihong nodded. "Doctor, how much do you want?"

"It's up to you." Lin Le glanced at the seriously injured man's injuries again. "The shortfall is fifty taels of silver, the medium is two spirit stones, and the best is twelve spirit stones."

"Twelve spirit stones!?" Tang Zhihong exclaimed in surprise, "So cheap?"

"Is it expensive elsewhere?" Lin Le asked in return.

"Hehe." Tang Zhihong chuckled awkwardly and quickly stuffed twelve spirit stones into Lin Le's hands. "Doctor, you treat him first, and we'll talk about it after he's healed."

Lin Le glanced at him: "Put him on the bed."

"Okay." Tang Zhihong and his companion placed his elder brother on the bed, then couldn't help but ask, "Doctor, can my elder brother's cultivation be preserved?"

“You’ve chosen the best option, so you’re sure to keep it.” Lin Le gave a slight tug and tore the man’s clothes apart.

This caused Tang Zhihong and the other two to shrink their pupils in surprise. They knew that although their eldest brother's clothes were tattered, they were damaged by beatings and were essentially magical artifacts.

Just how strong is this doctor, capable of tearing things apart with sheer physical strength?!

He gathered water in his hands and patted it down, instantly washing away the bloodstains on the man's body.

Looking at the deep, bone-revealing wounds on your bodies, Lin Le raised an eyebrow: "You encountered the demons of the Nine-Story Tower. It's a wonder you survived."

Tang Zhihong and his two companions were not very powerful, only at the fifth or sixth level, and their foundations were not deep. Encountering the demons of the Nine-Story Tower was no different from having takeout delivered to their door.

"Thanks to our elder brother for holding them off, otherwise we would definitely have been wiped out there." Tang Zhihong nodded in agreement.

"Then you're lucky." With a push and a pat, Lin Le's broken bones inside the man's body were all put back in place.

Ling Muzhu brought over a plate, and Lin Le picked up a long needle as thick as a mung bean and pricked the man's palm, sole, and navel with a needle. Dark red bruises flowed from the needle holes.

Holding a fine needle with threaded thread, Lin Le stitched up the larger wounds.

Lin Le took out a pill and put it into the man's mouth. Green light emanated from Lin Le's palm, dissolving the medicinal power, and the man's injuries visibly healed.

Lin Le took out silver needles and continued to insert them. Soon, the man's body was covered with dense silver needles.

Lin Le pinched the man's philtrum and said, "Hey, wake up." The man suddenly woke up and was about to get up when he was slapped back down.

"Circulate your true qi, or don't blame me if your meridians can't connect."

The man glanced at Tang Zhihong and the other two standing beside him, sighed, and began to circulate his true qi.

Lin Le guided from the side: "Turn around twice here, yes, go sideways here..."

After guiding him, Lin Le pressed down with his hand, and all the silver needles inserted into the man's body emerged, then gathered in his hand in a gentle breeze.

Lin Le put the silver needles back and clapped his hands, saying, "Alright, go back and recuperate for a month or two, and you'll be fine."

Tang Zhihong said gratefully, "Thank you, doctor."

"Thank you, doctor." The other two companions also expressed their gratitude.

"Yes." Lin Le readily accepted. "Do you still need treatment for your injuries?"

"No, these are minor injuries, we can recover with some rest," Tang Zhihong politely declined.

Their injuries were indeed not serious; given their physical condition as cultivators of the Spirit Platform realm, they were fully capable of surviving.

"Alright then." Lin Le nodded, not trying to dissuade him, since it was indeed just a minor injury. "Take your older brother back."

"Okay." Tang Zhihong and the other three left.

Back at his residence, the man said with shame, "I'm sorry, I've burdened my three younger brothers."

"Don't say that, brother." Tang Zhihong waved his hand. "If it weren't for you, the three of us would have become that demon's food by now."

“Yes,” his companion nodded in agreement.

The man's expression finally softened: "I'll pay you back for all the spirit stones you spent healing me."

"It's nothing, just twelve spirit stones." Tang Zhihong waved his hand again. "Compared to the life-saving grace of my elder brother, these twelve spirit stones are nothing."

"Twelve spirit stones?" the man exclaimed in surprise. "Didn't Doctor Yang say thirty spirit stones?"

"That was him taking advantage of the situation!" Tang Zhihong said angrily, and then recounted the subsequent price increase.

The man frowned after hearing this; he hadn't expected the clinic to be so unseemly.

"Perhaps we should leave here," the man said thoughtfully.

"Leave this place?" Tang Zhihong and the other two were taken aback.

"Why?" his companion asked, puzzled.

"Because the Nine Treasures Sect has become somewhat wicked," the man said. "I've heard from some people that the matter of the Nourishing Life Pill in the Nine Treasures Sect has almost become an open secret."

The three of them frowned.

There are many types of human pills, the most common being the medicinal human, which is nourished with medicine and harmonized with true qi or magical power. The blood of this medicinal human can be used to refine pills, which can slightly increase the success rate of pill refining.

However, this act is against natural law and is generally prohibited by law.

“That Doctor Yang today could also be considered a member of the Nine Treasures Sect. He saw the big picture from small details, which shows how corrupt the morals have become,” the man said. “Moreover, the prices at the Pill Workshop are getting higher and higher. They’re obviously treating us like easy prey.”

"To make a living in this sect's territory, we'd probably all end up as medicine people."

Tang Zhihong and the other two pondered, and the more they thought about it, the more they felt that their eldest brother was right. They had also seen the changes in the Pill Workshop over the years, which were becoming increasingly unfavorable for the survival of rogue cultivators.

It's good to move to a new place now.

Tang Zhihong nodded: "Listen to me, brother. Once you've recovered from your injuries, we'll leave here."

"But where are we going?" his companion asked.

"Let's go back to our hometown," the man laughed. "We're all over the place now, and we've pretty much seen the end of our lives. We should leave some descendants in the world."

Tang Zhihong nodded: "That's true, then I must marry three wives, each with big breasts and a big butt."

“I’d like to marry a young lady, like that doctor’s wife from earlier,” his companion said. “She looks really elegant.”

Another companion joked, "Then I think you're in trouble. Your face is as dark as a farmer's. Young ladies all like pretty boys."

"Screw you……"

The four chatted and laughed, discussing their future lives.

The next day, after finishing his consultations, Dr. Yang seemed to remember something and asked, "Where did those four people go for treatment yesterday?"

The apprentice whispered, "Mu Kangtang."

"Mu Kangtang?" Doctor Yang frowned, because he had never heard of this name before.

"Newly opened?" he asked.

The apprentice nodded: "Yes."

"Whose is it?" Doctor Yang asked.

"We haven't found out yet," the apprentice said.

"Didn't find anything?" Doctor Yang toyed with the two iron gallbladders. "Then he doesn't even know the rules?"

His voice carried a hint of dissatisfaction.

According to the rules, this fat sheep becomes one-tenth of the profit for him.

The apprentice remained silent, indicating his agreement.

"Judging from this, he doesn't seem like one of our own anymore." Doctor Yang squinted. "Send a message to the enforcement team and tell them to give him some trouble and check his background."

"Yes," the apprentice nodded.

(End of this chapter)