Sui An was arranged by the villagers to rest at the Village Chief's house. He met Niu Xiaoxiao, a well-behaved little girl about his age. Unlike the other dirty children, Niu Xiaoxiao's clothes and hair were clean.
Perhaps because she hadn't encountered outsiders before, the little girl was very curious about Sui An, and also a bit timid.
While Sui An was eating breakfast, she kept asking him questions, showing great longing for the outside world, and she kept calling him An Gege.
Sui An merely gave perfunctory replies. It wasn't that he disliked Niu Xiaoxiao; he was just too sleepy, tired, and hungry to be interested in chatting with a little girl.
After eating, Niu Xiaoxiao led Sui An into the house to rest. Sui An instructed Niu Xiaoxiao to wake him up around noon, then he lay down and fell asleep. This time, Sui An slept soundly and deeply.
Around noon, Niu Xiaoxiao punctually came to wake him, and thoughtfully heated two flatbreads for him.
Sui An took the flatbreads and walked towards the mountain, leaving the little girl behind, calling out things like, "An Gege, come visit often!"
Sui An chuckled, his steps unwavering, merely waving his hand. He hummed a little tune, and his pace quickened slightly. He didn't know that this time, his fate would be completely changed.
Sui An didn't walk fast, but his steps were firm, as if he had made some kind of resolution. Now, he no longer considered the question of whether he had a Spiritual Root, nor did he ponder the dangers of making a deal with a Cultivator. He simply thought about the steps and key movements of the Seven Absolute Needle Technique over and over again.
This wasn't to say that Sui An had been blinded by greed, nor that he wasn't afraid of death. Rather, he understood that he needed to grasp what he could grasp, seize what he could seize. He had thought very clearly about the pros and cons and potential dangers.
Everyone has two lives. When one realizes that life is only once, the second life begins. This was a truth Sui An had understood long ago.
Those who forget their lives for small gains and are too cautious for great deeds will never achieve anything significant.
If you've thought it through, then do it! And if you do it, do it well!
By the time Sui An arrived at the tent, the villagers who were building the wooden house had already begun to pack up, preparing to go down the mountain for lunch. This was also what the Village Chief had instructed everyone before leaving, so as not to disturb the Immortal Master.
The wooden house was already built, with only a few finishing touches remaining. It looked like they would definitely be able to move in tonight.
Sui An walked into the tent and saw Huang Yuanya still meditating with his eyes closed, so he didn't disturb him. He took out the herbal collection and slowly read it.
When all the villagers had gone down the mountain, the small hillside became quiet again, with only the chirping of small birds in the distance.
"We can begin now."
Huang Yuanya's voice reached Sui An, who was reading. Sui An looked up and saw Huang Yuanya looking at him, his eyes showing no ripples, appearing very calm.
"Okay."
Sui An responded, then opened his medicine box and took out a small, green bamboo tube. Inside were silver needles he had commissioned an old craftsman to make in Qing Shi Town, which had cost him a lot of money and earned him many scoldings from his grandfather.
"Immortal Master, this set of needles is quite potent. Not only will applying the needles consume a lot of energy, but you will also experience intense pain, and at the final stage, a strong urge to sleep. You must remain clear-headed and not move, otherwise, the needle technique will not only fail to suppress the toxins but will also cause damage to your body."
Sui An said very solemnly.
Huang Yuanya smiled confidently, saying nothing, but merely raised a finger. A blue light flashed and entered Sui An's body.
The blue light was very fast, and the two were extremely close, so Sui An had no time to react.
Sui An suddenly stood up, his face extremely grim, and asked, "Immortal Master, what is the meaning of this? If this junior has offended you, please speak plainly."
"Haha, don't worry. I have no ill intentions, nor am I someone who kills innocent people indiscriminately. This is just an ordinary Spiritual Qi. It will naturally dissipate after one hour and will do no harm to your body. Of course, within one hour, I can also control it to some extent. You are so smart, you should know what to do."
Huang Yuanya chuckled, then continued, "If I wanted to harm you, I wouldn't need to resort to such tricks."
Sui An scratched the back of his head. Cultivators were truly too cautious, and their methods were beyond what Mortals could compare to. He had originally thought about trying some small tricks, but now it seemed he was too naive.
Huang Yuanya saw Sui An's unpleasant expression and could probably guess what he was thinking without asking. He didn't explain further, but simply pulled out a piece of paper from his Pregnant and said calmly, "Don't you want to Cultivate? This paper contains the introductory incantation for a Cultivation Technique. Perform well. If your needle technique truly helps me, this incantation will be yours."
Huang Yuanya knew well the principle of giving a stick and then a carrot. To be honest, he was also a bit worried that Sui An might play tricks when performing acupuncture on him; this boy was young but very clever.
Sui An stared intently at the paper in Huang Yuanya's hand. The thing he had longed for day and night was right before his eyes; how could his heart not be excited?
"Immortal Master, let us begin. This junior will do his utmost."
Huang Yuanya smiled slightly and removed his upper body clothing, revealing his somewhat strange body.
Sui An took a deep breath, took out a silver needle as long as a chopstick, aimed it at the Zhongji Acupoint on the lower abdomen, and skillfully inserted it, stopping only when most of the needle had entered. While the small exposed part of the silver needle was still trembling, he took out a second silver needle, this time inserting it into the Tianshu Acupoint.
Huang Yuanya watched Sui An's movements, his eyelids twitching. These two needles were extremely close to the Qi Sea. A slight mishap could very well mean the complete destruction of his cultivation.
Huang Yuanya even began to suspect that Sui An wanted to harm him, and he watched Sui An even more cautiously, ready to strike and eliminate him if anything seemed amiss.
Sui An didn't care what Huang Yuanya was thinking; once the Seven Absolute Needle Technique was initiated, it couldn't be easily stopped.
He took out the third silver needle. This time, he didn't continue to needle the lower abdomen, but instead inserted it into the more dangerous Baihui Acupoint.
The Baihui Acupoint is located at the top of a person's head and is where the Divine Soul resides. Even a slight carelessness could damage the Divine Soul, so Sui An inserted this needle extremely slowly.
As the silver needle was inserted, Sui An's forehead began to exude fine beads of sweat.
Huang Yuanya felt a tingling sensation originating from the Baihui Acupoint on his head and extending downwards. Immediately after, the silver needles at the Tianshu Acupoint and Zhongji Acupoint also began to tremble, and a stronger tingling sensation spread upwards from his lower abdomen.
Just as the two tingling sensations were about to converge, Sui An seized the opportunity and very quickly inserted the fourth silver needle into the Tanzhong Acupoint.
Sui An gently touched the tail of the needle with his finger, carefully sensing the rhythm of the vibration. After a while, he let out a soft breath. Thankfully, the timing of the insertion was perfect, right at the moment the two Qi converged.
Although every needle in the Seven Absolute Needle Technique is dangerous, this fourth needle is the most crucial.
Now, the heavy stone in Sui An's heart was finally half-lifted. The remaining three needles were not as dangerous, but they would consume even more energy and physical strength.
Sui An wiped the sweat from his forehead and took out the fifth silver needle.
The subsequent insertion into the Tiantu and Guanyuan Acupoints also proceeded smoothly, without any mishaps. However, Sui An appeared very listless, with sweat dripping down.
Huang Yuanya felt a wave of dizziness when the sixth needle was inserted.
In his daze, he recalled Sui An's earlier words and sharply bit his tongue to clear his head.
While secretly feeling fortunate, he also had some doubts. Hadn't Sui An mentioned intense pain? Why was there only tingling and drowsiness, but no pain at all? Had something gone wrong?
Just then, Sui An plunged a very thick silver needle into the most important Qi Sea Acupoint of a Cultivator!