Yin Shiren had delivered Liu Zhu Yi and Ye Xiao Chai to Deer Garden·One Vehicle, and should have left by then.
Yet upon entering the Medicine Master's Platform, he had found two more injured lying on the ground—Po Xia Qiu Chan and Jiuzhou Yijian Zhi, both heavily wounded and unconscious after their battle with Tai Xue Zhu.
Now, with the addition of the unconscious Ye Xiao Chai and Liu Zhu Yi,
four gravely injured individuals lay in a row, awaiting treatment.
No—waiting for Medicine Tathāgata to heal them.
This was certainly enough to keep Medicine Tathāgata busy.
Thus, Yin Shiren, who had originally intended to leave, no longer felt any urgency to depart.
Medicine Tathāgata had first examined Ye Xiao Chai's injuries, then Liu Zhu Yi's.
"This…" Medicine Tathāgata said.
After assessing Liu Zhu Yi's condition, Medicine Tathāgata's expression had shifted drastically.
Truthfully, Ye Xiao Chai's injuries had not been severe—Liu Zhu Yi had shielded him well.
But the reason for Medicine Tathāgata's shock had been Liu Zhu Yi's dire state.
Liu Zhu Yi's life had not been in danger, but his cultivation had nearly depleted.
In essence, his martial foundation had been on the verge of complete collapse, his power all but gone.
Without delay, Medicine Tathāgata had fed each of them a medicinal pill.
"Esteemed benefactor, might I trouble you to transfer some of your internal energy to Liu Zhu Yi?
I must continue treating Po Xia Qiu Chan and Jiuzhou Yijian Zhi," Medicine Tathāgata said.
This had been a desperate request. Medicine Tathāgata would have preferred to treat Liu Zhu Yi immediately to preserve his cultivation, but the extraction of the Seven Divine Needles from the other two had reached a critical stage. Halting now would risk permanent damage to their martial foundations.
Thus, he had turned to Yin Shiren for aid.
After all, in Medicine Tathāgata's eyes, anyone capable of rescuing Liu Zhu Yi and Ye Xiao Chai from Tai Xue Zhu could not possibly be weak.
"Me?!" Yin Shiren exclaimed.
Yin Shiren had pointed at himself, startled by the sudden request from a stranger.
Yet he had also understood—Medicine Tathāgata truly had his hands full.
Just as Medicine Tathāgata had awaited his reply, Yin Shiren's answer had taken him completely by surprise:
"Wait, let me think… Do I even know how?" Yin Shiren said.
Medicine Tathāgata had considered the possibility of refusal—but never that he might not know.
To him, Yin Shiren had clearly been a formidable figure.
Transferring internal energy was a fundamental skill, something any martial artist should have mastered early on.
Had this been Yin Shiren, he certainly would have known.
Despite Yin Shiren's usual foolish demeanor, he had once been the Ancestor of the Hidden Corpses, the Martial Emperor.
Such a basic technique would have been second nature to him.
But this was Yin Shiren—though he had inherited Yin Shiren's memories, he still needed time to recall them properly.
Yet just as he had begun sifting through those memories—
Ding. Mission issued.
Host, please complete the task: Medicine Tathāgata's Request.
Task: Treat Liu Zhu Yi until Medicine Tathāgata takes over.
Reward: Medicine Tathāgata's medical expertise.
Aaaah—! Yin Shiren screamed internally.
He had never expected a simple request to trigger a mission—one with such an incredible reward.
Medicine Tathāgata's medical skills had been on par with Physician of Evil·Tian Bu Gu!
Had Tian Bu Gu not possessed the Left Eye of Death, it might have been uncertain who was superior.
Faced with such a simple task and such a grand reward, Yin Shiren had scoured his memories even faster for the method of energy transfer.
Soon, he found it.
"First like this… then like this… finally like this," Yin Shiren muttered.
After carefully reviewing the steps, he had declared:
"Leave it to me," Yin Shiren said.
Without waiting for Medicine Tathāgata's response, he had moved behind Liu Zhu Yi, lifting the unconscious man into a seated position.
Settling behind him, Yin Shiren had circulated his internal energy.
"Haah—!" Yin Shiren exclaimed.
As his power flowed, a radiant golden Buddhalight enveloped him.
"A follower of Buddhism?" Medicine Tathāgata said.
He had been stunned.
He had never imagined this youth to be a Buddhist practitioner—let alone a master.
"Such pure Buddha Power!" Medicine Tathāgata exclaimed.
The next moment, Medicine Tathāgata's face had twisted in shock.
The purity of Yin Shiren's energy had surpassed even that of Po Xia Qiu Chan, the foremost of Deer Garden's Five Vidyarājas—
second only to the Buddha Emperor of Nine Realms, Yu Zhixiang himself.
This revelation had only deepened Medicine Tathāgata's curiosity about Yin Shiren's identity.
Yet he had quickly suppressed his doubts, his expression shifting to delight.
With such pure Buddha Power, preserving Liu Zhu Yi's martial foundation had become far more feasible.
Once assured of Yin Shiren's technique, Medicine Tathāgata had resumed treating the other two.
(Yin Shiren's earlier hesitation had necessitated this confirmation.)
Meanwhile, as Yin Shiren's energy flowed into Liu Zhu Yi, the latter's depleted body had gradually stabilized.
The dissipation of his martial foundation had finally halted.
Medicine Tathāgata, as a senior monk, had not been mistaken.
Yin Shiren's energy had indeed been of Buddhist nature—inherited from Yin Shiren's Bodhisattva Seal, all ten forms of it.
As for its purity, even Yin Shiren himself had not fully understood it.
At that moment, his sole focus had been steadily transferring energy.
Fortunately, his innate Buddha Power had been potent enough to aid Liu Zhu Yi significantly.
Of course, Yin Shiren had remained oblivious to all this, his mind fixed only on sustaining the transfer and praying for Medicine Tathāgata to finish soon—
so he could claim his reward.
Three hours had passed.
By then, Yin Shiren had transferred half of his own energy into Liu Zhu Yi.
Then, a majestic Buddhist figure had appeared atop the Medicine Master's Platform.
The unconscious Su Huanzhen and the remains of Fenghuang Ming had floated out, landing gently on the ground.
This figure had been none other than the founder of Deer Garden·One Vehicle—
the Buddha Emperor of Nine Realms, Yu Zhixiang.
Upon arrival, the Buddha Emperor had immediately noticed Liu Zhu Yi—and Yin Shiren channeling energy into him.
"That is… Buddha Prime?!" Yu Zhixiang exclaimed.
His voice had carried unmistakable excitement.
If Medicine Tathāgata had been shocked earlier, he now trembled outright.
For he knew what Buddha Prime signified.
When a martial artist refined a particular attribute of their cultivation to its absolute peak, they attained a Prime Energy—
be it Buddhist, Daoist, Demonic, or otherwise.
If Yin Shiren truly possessed Buddha Prime, then he was a supreme Buddhist elder, one who had perfected Buddhist martial arts to their zenith.
Yet Medicine Tathāgata could scarcely believe it—this youthful, handsome man before him, a grandmaster of Buddhism?
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