Chapter 175: The Clinic

After reconfirming Wu Jia's whereabouts, I went back to Ye Zhiyun and Shi Meili, telling them in advance that I'll be stepping out for a bit. I didn't tell them the intricacies of my schedule since it would just be cumbersome if they knew the details. I can already foresee them following me to where Wu Jia was and I doubt I'd be able to stop them.

They'll just steal my concentration away from me if they tagged along. I'm running out of time as it is.

Once I was done with the formalities of excusing myself, I saw myself out and quickly headed to the southwestern edge of the Red Sea Shelter where the clinic was supposed to be located. Just as usual, the streets were filled with people visiting from different shelters. A dozen or so of them greeted me as I passed by, thinking that I must be visiting one of the shops. Ever since I bought bread with a single gold coin, a lot of the shops and other passers-by have become friendlier than usual. If I had known about the economic inflation before I bought those bread, I wouldn't have had brought unnecessary trouble to myself. Now everybody thinks I'm a rich guy when I'm just the person I am five years ago.

After a few seconds of sprinting from the Red Sea Auction House to the clinic, I finally arrived at the clinic's doorsteps. In retrospect, it would've been much easier to get here by using my cultivation but then again, I'll be needing every ounce of it if I'm going to attempt to save Wu Jia. Seriously, White should be more careful when unleashing his Qi Energy Pressure. He could kill someone if they had a low enough cultivation than him.

Shen Rong wasn't kidding when he said that the clinic was by the edge of the Red Sea Shelter. It was literally built beside the wall.

The clinic was a nice bungalow house, oldened with age. Its brick walls and roof greatly contrast the walls of the Red Sea Shelter, making it stick out like a sore thumb. From afar, one could immediately recognize the unique clinic. And though it resembled a house from twenty or so years ago, it had been well-maintained just like most of the clinics in the Red Sea Shelter.

I didn't hesitate to open the door. There, I found a stocky middle-aged man with blond hair, standing at the corner of what seemed like a reception hall. "Good morning, sir. Are you feeling sick?"

The blond man may seem like one of them mafiosos in gangster movies but he was extremely hospitable. Even his smile was not forced at all. As expected of a receptionist... or maybe he's a nurse? Well, whatever.

"No, I'm here to visit someone. Wu Jia from the Immovable Mountain Sect, is she here?" I asked the blond man. There was no need for me to ask him of his name since time is of the essence.

At the mention of her name, the blond man's face suddenly turned serious as if grief overcame him. His knees buckled as if he had just lost all his strength. "You mean, the lady who had his Qi Core broken? Then, right this way, sir."

Slowly, the man draggingly walked towards the far end of the room. Unlike all the other rooms that appear to be vacant, that room was well lit as if someone transported the sun from outer space and put it there. I had to cover my eyes as the two of us approached the room.

"Now that it came to mind, why is it that you're the only person here? Is everyone on leave?" I asked out of nowhere.

"You'll see soon enough." The blond man responded.

We finally reached the last room which was right on the edge of the bungalow house. A deep hollow sound resounded from the hallway, probably coming from the walls of Red Sea Shelter right behind it.

The man kept his pace as he pushed the door open, revealing a group of nurses who were encircling a girl who was about my age. I didn't recognize her at first but after a few seconds, I realized that it was Wu Jia... except she was way thinner than before. Her eyeballs seem to come out of their sockets; her skin, touching what little muscle she had on her face. Her whole body was ridded with scars and deep wounds that seemt to multiply. No matter what the nurses did, their Holy Element just didn't hold a candle to her condition. 

And let me say this... her condition is certainly worsening at a terrifying degree

"She was brought in by Shelter Leader this morning, telling us that they can't do anything to her." The blond man said with a troubled face. By the looks of it, he seems like he was on the verge of bawling his eyes out. "Shelter Leader and the Shelter Leader of the Meili Shelter said that they will look for help and they already sent out the best of the hunters in search of a cure." 

Shen Rong, he was probably keeping up appearances since this morning Curse it! Why didn't they tell me anything about it?! 

"We tried to do everything we can but she's dying. Our Healing Element can't keep up." The blond man muttered. "I only took a break when I sensed that there was someone standing by the doorway. I immediately thought that it was another emergency but fortunately, it was just you, sir." 

I more or less get what's happening. This is worse than I thought. 

If Wu Jia told me about it yesterday, we could've prevented it. But now, she's almost dead. Her Qi Cores were irreperably broken and her body had suffered in the process. The wounds were probably from the condensed energy that was suddenly released by the Qi Core in her body. And since she has one of the most powerful elements— which is the Time Element— it's no wonder why the wounds inflicted on her were serious. 

I could see the expression on the faces of the nurses and they weren't great, in the least. Three or four hours of constantly using the Holy Element would really strain the body to the point that they might even lose their cultivation. It's a miracle that they haven't lost consciousness yet. 

One of the nurses, who was nearest from the doorway, suddenly jolted upwards when I put a hand on her shoulder. She was slipping into unconsciousness and I just had to stop her. "I'll take it from here." I softly told her. 

"Everyone! I'm sure you're all exhausted. I'll take it from here." I repeated, this time, addressing everyone. 

As soon as they saw me, they were overcome with relief. I didn't even have to introduce myself. From the expressions on their faces, it was evident that they've previously seen me in action. They probably saw me during the Red Sea Tournament or something.

"Please gather on one side of the room.  And stay there." I instructed them. I then pointed at the blond man who was keen on helping me. "As for you, I want you to stand guard. Don't let anyone in this clinic. This is important since I might die with her if I lose my focus." 

The blond man didn't need telling twice. He immediately closed the door to the room and keenly stood guard, akin to a watchman in the night. 

Without further ado, I blanketed the whole room with my Qi just so I would have more control over it. There are a lot of complications when working intricately with Qi that one small disturbance could drastically changed the outcome you expect. After all, Qi Energy is all around us and if it suddenly appeared where you don't want it to appear, then your concentration might get disrupted, leaving you with nothing but negative results.

<Purification Activated> 

<Blood Transfer Activated> 

<Blood Control Activated> 

<Qi Energy Conversion Activated>

<Notice: The System wants to know if you want to improve your healing skills> 

<Yes/No> 

"Yes," I responded. 

A series of skills were shown in front of me and I immediately bought them from the shop. I need all the help I could get so it was the right call to depend on the System. Once that was over, I activated my Holy Qi Core so my healing element would be more effective. 

Since this was my first time using my Holy Qi Core, I felt like I was walking using my hands instead of legs by how uncomfortable it was. Sure I had a prior experience when it comes to healing but previously, I was using the Blood Element. It would've been a good idea to use the Blood Element but I know for a fact that the Holy Element is more effective than the Blood Element when it comes to healing... and at such a grave situation, I had to use everything in my arsenal if I'm determined to save Wu Jia. 

"Here goes nothing," I told myself while muttering a silent prayer at the back of my head.