Zither Emperor

Ye Yin Zhu took the cloth bag back from Xiang Luan’s grip and hung it around his left wrist. Gazing forward at the motionless Hai Yang, he seemed to be pondering something. He seemed to have completely entered a bizarre trance. Standing there silently, it was like he became the center of the entire villa’s hall.

Faint yellow rays of light discharged from his body, the gentle dou qi following the pattern of his breathing. The faint radiance flickered. Instantly, his right hand waved over the cloth bag and a cool, violet flame pulsed within the palm of his hand. Xiang Luan felt that this thing before her eyes was like a flower. To her surprise, the ball of cool, violet flame burst open like a firework, and the violet light quietly disappeared. Fifteen Violet Bamboo Needles pierced Hai Yang’s body.

Hai Yang suppressed a groan, as if bearing an intense pain as her body began to violently shake.

Ye Yin Zhu moved at a mysterious pace, taking a step across to reach Hai Yang’s side. His right hand continued moving, extracting three Violet Bamboo Needles. Faint yellow dou qi pulsed at the tails of the needles. In the blink of an eye, he once again pierced the three needles into three points on Hai Yang’s body. His movements hadn’t stopped at all. Once again, he took a step forward and extracted three needles, which then pierced another three points in a very natural, fluid manner. This resulted in his yellow dou qi beginning to circulate throughout Hai Yang’s body at a rapid pace. The brilliant rays of dou qi glittered, completely shrouding her body and making it difficult for Xiang Luan to clearly see Hai Yang’s silhouette.

A faint, sweet scent wafted throughout the villa’s hall. Hai Yang’s body no longer emitted a sweet fragrance. Instead, she gave off a touching, bamboo fragrance.

Xiang Luan opened her big eyes and carefully examined Hai Yang. She discovered that at this moment, the Violet Bamboo Needles stuck in Hai Yang’s body were no longer rising and falling. Ye Yin Zhu used an incomparably fast, lightning speed to continuously wield and pierce those Violet Bamboo Needles. Altogether, there were eighteen needles; six located in Hai Yang’s cheek while the additional twelve were stuck in the back of her head, shoulder, chest, and back. The ends of the eighteen Violet Bamboo Needles now emitted a faint violet smoke that carried the scent of bamboo.

Ye Yin Zhu’s phantom-like figure gradually slowed down. His every movement shifted from graceful to imposing as he expended a great deal of effort and skill to wield the violet needles.

The Divine Acupuncture Vein Treatment had extremely high requirements. Not only did it require an abundant dou qi, it also necessitated the patient’s situation to be examined to the most minute detail. Before the acupuncture began, Ye Yin Zhu had examined Hai Yang’s body and facial scarring. When he genuinely began the treatment, controlling the Bamboo Dou Qi became extremely important. There couldn’t be even the slightest deviation. This, in turn, required his spiritual force to be extremely high. With both dou qi and spiritual force being consumed, it already caused perspiration to appear heavily on his chest by this time. If he hadn’t cultivated his Pure Zither Heart constantly since childhood and built it up to the Empty Mind state, it would’ve been very difficult to sustain this kind of focus and rapt attention.

At this moment, Ye Yin Zhu discovered that his dou qi had indeed progressed. After completing the Equal Life Contract with Zi, his Bamboo Dou Qi had at last been promoted to Yellow Bamboo Level 2, thus becoming more deep and resounding than before. Earlier today, the guest that Anya called old horse had inserted a trace of dou qi into his body. It apparently caused his dou qi to undergo some slight changes, becoming increasingly more concentrated. As a result, he still hadn’t felt like he’d exhausted his power, even now.

Hai Yang naturally didn’t understand how great an effort Ye Yin Zhu had invested. When he’d just begun inserting the needles into her face, she felt a numb, itching sensation. But as the eighteen Violet Bamboo Needles were completely pierced into her body, Ye Yin Zhu’s Bamboo Dou Qi began pouring into her by means of those needles. A very different degree of pain began to spread through her entire upper body. A sudden stab of pain, then a scorching sensation, then an itch within her heart. She couldn’t help but release a faint groan because of this. Even though she wanted to lift her hand to scratch at herself, she discovered that she couldn’t raise either of her arms. Her entire upper body was unable to make any movements.

In order to be able to insert the needles in better, Ye Yin Zhu had already used the Violet Bamboo Needles to seal her meridians. Otherwise, as he inserted the needles, Hai Yang would have flailed about, creating deviations in the needle positions or dou qi circulation and immediately wasting all of his previous efforts.

The bamboo fragrance in the air gradually grew insipid. The tails of the Violet Bamboo Needles emitted a dense violet smoke that seemed to have completely entered Hai Yang’s body, causing the skin of her upper body to appear covered in a layer of violet mist. Her originally fair, sparkling and translucent skin took on an even more luxurious air.

In fact, Ye Yin Zhu actually utilized the Violet Bamboo Divine Needles to their fullest. The Divine Acupuncture Vein Treatment that Xiang Luan spoke of wasn’t simple at all. In the traditional uses of Divine Acupuncture Vein Treatment, multiple needles of varying thicknesses were used, and, for the most part, the needles were made of metal. Meanwhile, Ye Yin Zhu was currently using Violet Bamboo Needles. The effects of their use was more powerful than the metal needles.

Violet Bamboo; although they were not as precious a material as anything from the Bamboo of Life, the bamboo within were still of the absolute best quality. Having the title of Defender of the Bamboo, it only grew in the proximity of the Bamboo of Life. Not only was it extremely durable, but it actually contained a special life aura that could detoxify, and it matched the legendary magic potions of immortals, thus classifying it as a Heavenly Earth Treasure type.

After passing through the Bamboo Sect’s special extraction technique for over several hundred years, only two complete sets of Violet Bamboo Needles were extracted. To fully use the Divine Acupuncture Vein Treatment, the Violet Bamboo Needles itself were used to drive out the poison, detoxify the channels, regrow the flesh, and open up the arteries and veins as Ye Yin Zhu’s Bamboo Dou Qi further stimulated them, completely liberating the meridians. If not because of his possession of these Violet Bamboo Needles, how could he possibly possess such an assurance as to give treatment to Hai Yang?

Gradually, the bamboo fragrance faded away, replaced by a faintly fishy smell. Sweat droplets slid down Ye Yin Zhu’s temples and forehead as his eyes began to reveal a tired look. A scathing heat rose up, and his whole body resembled a steamer basket. The light yellow Bamboo Dou Qi began to weaken gradually, its color becoming increasingly lighter.

The pain on Hai Yang’s face, from beginning to end, hadn’t disappeared. Under the influence of various kind of unceasing pain, she began to imagine that it was all merely an illusion as she began to somewhat lose herself. Thus, the pain instead became miniscule.

The slow pace suddenly accelerated, and Ye Yin Zhu cried lowly, “Rise!” Eighteen violet tips were ejected at the same time, revolving around Ye Yin Zhu’s figure. The eighteen Violet Bamboo Needles returned to the cloth bag without leaving a single one behind.

Gasping large mouthfuls of air, Ye Yin Zhu’s feet staggered, nearly falling down. This treatment had unexpectedly taken two hours.

Xiang Luan advanced a few steps to support Ye Yin Zhu. “Are you okay?”

Ye Yin Zhu waved his hand from side to side as he tiredly said, “I’m alright. Luckily, it didn’t fail; Senior Hai Yang has a chance of recovering.”

“Eh?” Xiang Luan looked at Hai Yang in pleasant surprise, only to find that more than half of Hai Yang’s upper body was naked. Black fluid slowly flowed from the eighteen holes left over from the Violet Bamboo Needles that had been pierced earlier. The fishy smell gradually strengthened. Hai Yang’s complexion then became gentler, and the originally dark red scar on her face actually turned pink. Although the withered scar hadn’t changed, it didn’t appear as frightening as before.

“Are you alright, Hai Yang?”