(Book 1&2 Complete!) Dao of Healing [Transmigration Healer Xianxia]

"I apologise for the delay in coming here, Sect Leader Zhao. The consortium was dealing with some rather stressful internal business that needed my personal attention. It took a lot longer than I expected to sort everything out properly," Manager Zheng said, placing her cup of tea back onto the tray between us.

"Don't worry about it," I replied, sipping from my own cup of tea. "Actually, your timing is almost perfect. Why don't we take a walk around the sect while we discuss everything?"

She nodded, accepting my offer with grace. As we left my house to begin our tour, she procured a jade slip from a hidden spatial artifact. At my raised eyebrow, she smirked. "You didn't expect me to come to a business meeting with an important client without any preparation, did you?"

"I suppose not, though I have to say we don't have much in the way of pre-existing business. Is there really the need for a slip to store all your information?"

"A cultivator with a secret source of pure gold affinity spirit stones dangles the bait in front of me and didn't expect me to bite? I don't believe you're that naive," Manager Zheng retorted.

Her instincts were acute. That was good. I had been testing her, in a sense. I had many ideas for the procurement and distribution of resources, but doing so with a less than competent partner would only lead to disaster or financial ruin.

Just as suitably potent techniques and sufficient strength were one pillar of a sect, obtaining sufficient resources for its disciples and elders to continue advancing was another. While my disciples were working hard to live up to my expectations, I would not let them down on this front.

"You were a fan of the spirit stones, then? I suspected they would be a good way to get your attention. If you're interested in a long-term contract that is something I would be open to discussing. There are many things the sect will require in the coming years," I said.

Manager Zheng's smirk faded, replaced by a calculative expression. I mentally prepared myself for some haggling. "Of course, if you want the Golden Leaf Consortium to handle distribution for your spirit stones, we would require a sufficient fee for our time and effort," she started, taking another jade slip out to join the first.

Just how much information had she gathered before meeting me!? I reined in my errant thoughts. I would not lose this battle. "Of course, but with a rare product such as this, I am sure there aren't any other sources. I have no competition, but suppliers can be found everywhere."

"That is true, but not all merchants are equal. Some would attempt to swindle you or they might not have the infrastructure to handle the level of distribution and protection such valuable spirit stones require."

"That is a fair point. Then, how about this…"

****

I showed Manager Zheng the entirety of the sect in all its glory as we discussed our various business ideas. I didn't want to sell too many of the golden spirit stones, but I needed resources to fuel the continued expansion of the sect.

In the end we worked out a fair deal. The Golden Leaf Consortium would take a ten percent fee of all sales, but in exchange they would give me preferential deals on cultivation resources and also add in a free, regular information packet regarding the goings on in this area of the empire and beyond.

That information was exceptionally valuable to me. Right now the sect was still in its early stages of growth, but as we expanded and became more renowned, trouble was bound to come our way.

I also wanted to keep an eye out for future events leading up to the golden age of the era. The Blossoming Heavens had only been the beginning and with what I now knew, missing out on the rest was impossible.

I had to live up to the expectations of the Spring and Autumn Sage.

A third and final part of the deal was a little more personal. I had requested a plethora of tomes and scrolls regarding ancient languages of the empire and the world, hoping to use them to decipher the manual from the Spring and Autumn Sage.

Manager Zheng had thrown them in free of charge to sweeten the deal. I appreciate her way of handling things. It paved the way for successful future cooperation.

"Before you leave, Manger Zheng, there is someone I would like you to meet," I said as we ended our tour back at the mountain peak. I led her towards Yu Chun's house. The woman herself appeared at the door as if she had known we were coming.

I reined in my surprise and introduced her. "This is Yu Chun. She is in charge of the sect's administration of resources. Miss Yu, this is Manager Zheng of the Golden Leaf Consortium."

The two women smiled fiercely at one another while bowing politely. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Manager Zheng. I look forward to working closely in future," Yu Chun said.

"Likewise, Miss Yu. Sect Leader Zhao mentioned the contribution system you are setting up. I would be glad to offer some insights, if you are amenable?"

"Of course, I would be glad to learn from such an experienced woman."

I saw some mysterious, underlying tension in the two women's gazes. Despite that, the introduction had gone well. I left them to discuss things and made my way back home. I wanted to have a real night's rest for once.

Even though my body and mind didn't need to sleep often thanks to my heightened cultivation, there was something truly rejuvenating about a night of sleep that I desired right now. I would continue my cultivation and research in the morning.

****

Another three months went by in a blur. I had pushed the refinement of my brain to a point where I expected it to be finished. However, I had hit an unexpected wall in my progress.

Instead of the refinement finishing, it seemed to halt right before the last one percent was complete. Even when I tried using a fresh treasure to push it further it had no effect.

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This frustrated me, but I resolved myself to not waste time worrying about it. I took some time to focus on the ancient tome, believing that a break would do me better.

I had made great strides in deciphering the ancient book. Manager Zheng had delivered on her promise and a delivery of scrolls, slips, and random books written in various ancient languages of the empire and discovered in secret ruins. They allowed me to work towards decoding and understanding the language of the healing tome.

I figured out that it was split into five sections. Strangely, each successive section of the book seemed more difficult to comprehend, both in terms of the language used and the actual written characters.

That meant I had only managed to translate the title for the first two sections, and the content of the first. This was great progress nonetheless and I had begun to study the first section in earnest.

For a world where healing techniques were apparently limited by the very laws of the world itself, to discover an ancient manual on the subject was incredible. I hoped to learn about the ancient healing methods of this world and use them to improve my own.

My knowledge of medicine from my past life had helped me bridge many gaps, but there were some areas where it simply couldn't help me at all. Powerful techniques utilised by cultivators often had nothing in common with any form of malady or wound I recognised and the treatment required for them would need to be equally novel.

I had read through the first section in full. The ideas it discussed were completely foreign to me, but they opened my eyes to a world of healing I had never even considered.

The title of the first section was 'Exploration of the Spiritual Body'. As expected, it discussed the spiritual body of a cultivator. Apparently mortals did not possess one; that it was created at the awakening of the dantian from the spirit roots.

Supposedly the spiritual body contained the spirit veins, meridians, and was formed from the spirit roots. This was something I'd suspected, but never truly understood. It opened my eyes to the nature of the body in this world.

More than just flesh and blood, cultivators were beings of the spirit. By taking in the spiritual energy of the world and refining it into qi, we became more than human.

If I hoped to become the greatest healer in this world, then I couldn't limit myself to only treating the maladies of the flesh. My techniques already used my medicinal qi, which was a great start, but I would need to go further.

The first section of the book helped much with this. It was a mix of diagrams and words. They showed the pathways which spirit veins typically took and how they overlaid with the physical body. Though the author went to great pains to explain that it wasn't possible to truly 'map' the spiritual body onto the physical as they existed in different planes of reality. It was confusing at first, but I slowly began to grasp the ideas.

One diagram showed the optimal layout of spirit veins. This layout would provide the greatest flow of qi to the cultivator. Almost no one in this world possessed such a perfect set of spirit veins—most had some imperfections, be they major or minor.

In fact, a body which had a perfect set of spirit veins was known as the Heavenly Spirit Physique. I was not so blessed. Zhao Dan's body had many imperfections, which I was slowly able to understand by mapping my own spirit veins and comparing them with the diagrams.

Strangely, despite this being a tome of healing it was teaching me a lot about cultivation in general too. I suspected this first section was simply an attempt to make the reader understand the subject matter before teaching them how to treat the spiritual body.

My suspicions were confirmed by the title of the second section—Rejuvenation of the Spiritual Body.

Unfortunately no matter how hard I tried to read the content of the second section, the characters seemed to shift before my eyes. Their meaning eluded me. More than just an issue of translation, it seemed there was some puzzle I was missing.

I returned my efforts to the first section, planning to read it through many times in the run-up to the competition and develop my skills. I also needed to plan the details of the competition itself. I had a rough idea of what I planned to test the disciples on, but specific contests would be required.

****

Wang Ren stared out at the disciples engaging in spars. Leading them was Teng Sheng and the Yu twins, as well as a few older disciples who had been skilled in combat before they joined the Grasping Life Sect.

It had been nine months since Zhao Dan announced the sect's internal competition. Since then, all of the disciples had been in a fervor.

Those who had talent in the two healing techniques he had devised were working to perfect them, while those who were yet to reach the Qi Gathering Realm had devoted their time to cultivating and contributing to the sect's growth.

It was inspiring. He himself hadn't been slacking off. All of his free time had been devoted to perfecting his glaive arts. Taking what Master Bang had taught him and making it his own.

His cultivation was growing slowly, his Foundation Building Realm having stabilised as he gradually worked towards the next star realm. However, he felt his growth was agonisingly slow.

Even though he had reached the level of the weakest elders of the Cloudy Falls Sect, it was far from enough. Sun Jin… The day I claim your head is not far off, but it can't come soon enough, he thought with a clenched fist.

A yelp of pain snapped him from his reverie. A disciple was clutching his arm at Teng Sheng's feet. It was twisted at an unnatural angle, the bone poking out from his elbow.

Despite that, the initial cry was the only sound he made. Wang Ren nodded in approval. The warriors of the Grasping Life Sect were shaping into a fine force. However, they needed to taste blood.

Zhao Dan disapproved of the violent nature of cultivators, but not all battles were avoidable. It was important to have minor skirmishes between sects and forces in order to temper the cultivators for when true terror reared its ugly head.

However, he did agree with his Sect Leader on one thing. Most of the petty squabbles that started between cultivators and sects were foolish and led to dead prodigies in the hundreds. War and death could not be avoided, but it was madness to bring such things upon oneself.

"Take Yang Wei to the treatment pavilion. They will fix his arm," Wang Ren ordered Teng Sheng. It was important to take ownership of one's actions.

The boy nodded and lifted his sparring partner over his shoulder, before racing off towards the treatment pavilions. He was already a seven-star Body Tempering practitioner.

It was a highly accelerated speed of advancement. Zhao Dan had taken a personal interest in the boy's cultivation, but such progress was ridiculous. The Sect Leader was an enigma wrapped within a mystery.

He turned around to see that the rest of the disciples had stopped sparring. "What are you lazing around for!? When did I give the order to stop," he roared, startling them back into action.

They needed to be ready for when disaster inevitably struck. Things would not remain peaceful forever. Wang Ren would be ready to defend the ideals of his Junior Brother when the time came.

****

In this manner, all the disciples of the Grasping Life Sect passed the year until the intra-sect competition. All were eager to know what challenges they would face as they competed to become the first inner disciples of the sect.

It was a great honour that they all desired. Influence over their fellow disciples. To become one of the leaders of their sect was something they all wanted to claim with their own two hands.

That there was an opportunity even for those disciples who weren't talented in healing or medicine was incredibly appealing. Herbalists, alchemists, artifact refiners, and more had been hard at work.

Their professions were not the pillars of the Grasping Life Sect, but they were each important for contributing towards its growth. A week before the competition, a noticeboard appeared outside the Grasping Life Palace with a message from the Sect Leader. Everyone gathered, eager to know its contents.