Chapter 9: The Impossible Diagnosis
The Imperial Physician's compound was a study in controlled elegance: jade paving, meticulously trimmed spiritual cypress trees, and a pervasive scent of rare, calming herbs. But this tranquility was broken by the General's unexpected, thundering arrival.
Grandmaster Wei was considered the most prestigious man in the capital outside of the Imperial Family. He was old, sharp-tongued, and intensely proud of his Soul Transformation Stage medical cultivation. He emerged onto his veranda, a man of fifty with a thin, severe face and the long, flowing robes of a medical sage.
"General Lin," Grandmaster Wei said, his voice laced with annoyance. "My practice is not a barracks. I deal with affairs of state, not sudden ailments." He glanced at the General, then with a clear, patronizing condescension, dismissed Madam Lin and the quiet infant in her arms.
General Lin, driven by his wife's hysteria, stood firm. "My son, Lin Tian, has suffered from residual Soul-Poison after an assassination attempt. My wife fears for his life. We require your immediate attention, Grandmaster."
Wei scoffed. "Residual Soul-Poison? General, I treated you weeks ago. If your son were truly suffering from Soul-Poison, he would be dead. It sounds like a common fever, for which you may visit any street vendor."
Madam Lin stepped forward, her maternal fear overpowering protocol. "Please, Grandmaster. He is unusually quiet, and there is a tremor—tiny, but constant!"
Grandmaster Wei sighed, viewing the entire ordeal as a petty military imposition. "Very well. Bring him inside. But I will not waste my time on an infant who simply wishes to fuss."
As Madam Lin carried Lin Tian into the pristine examination room, the infant's eyes—the only part of him that truly reflected his reborn power—focused entirely on the Grandmaster.
[System Notification: Observer's Eye Activated. Scanning Target: Grandmaster Wei.]
A torrent of data flooded Lin Tian's mind. Grandmaster Wei's medical knowledge was encyclopedic, but his personal cultivation was stagnant at Soul Transformation Stage 4. Lin Tian scanned his internal meridians, looking for flaws.
The System highlighted a single, massive defect: A thick, coagulated Qi Stagnation in his Sea of Consciousness—the spiritual center that controlled his Soul Transformation realm.
[System Diagnosis: Chronic Shadow-Plumage Stagnation. Caused by excessive ingestion of Phoenix-Tail Grass during a misguided attempt to accelerate breakthrough 30 years ago. Current effect: Crippling headaches and absolute inability to progress past Soul Transformation Stage 4.]
The System then flashed a simple, three-herb solution: White Lotus Seed, Mountain Dew Sap, and a minimal dose of purified Heavenly Water. The diagnosis was instantaneous and complete.
Lin Tian knew his window was seconds long. He couldn't speak, so he needed a physical action that would shatter the Grandmaster's arrogance. As Grandmaster Wei reached out a hand, Lin Tian fixed his gaze on the healer's face, then slowly, deliberately, reached out his own tiny hand and tapped his forehead exactly between the eyebrows—the location of the Grandmaster's Sea of Consciousness.
Grandmaster Wei recoiled, insulted by the infant's random gesture. "What foolishness is this? Get him out of—"
Before he could finish, Lin Tian let out a soft, clear giggle. It wasn't the sound of an ordinary baby, but a tone imbued with the perfect, resonant purity of a Divine Golden Core.
Grandmaster Wei froze. That sound... it was so pure, so precisely tuned that it vibrated the Shadow-Plumage Stagnation in his forehead. A searing pain, the worst he'd felt in decades, shot through his skull, instantly followed by an almost miraculous reduction in pressure. It was a terrifying, fleeting moment of absolute clarity.
The arrogant look was wiped clean from the Grandmaster's face, replaced by naked terror and awe.
"That… that resonance…" Grandmaster Wei stammered, dropping his medical tools. He looked from the perfectly innocent infant to General Lin, then back to the child. "That stagnation… how could you possibly know its location? I haven't spoken of the Shadow-Plumage to a soul in thirty years!"
He sank to his knees, suddenly realizing this was not a simple child. "Divine Master… you know the cause. You know the treatment for the blockage that has crippled my path! I beg you, tell me your secrets! I will serve you, General, I will serve your son! What does the young master require?"
Madam Lin and General Lin were utterly confused, watching the kingdom's most arrogant sage groveling before their nine-month-old son.
Lin Tian gave a soft, pleased smile. He then used another subtle mental nudge, sending his mother a new, quiet thought: Heal him, but only if he grants access to the Royal Library.
"Grandmaster," Madam Lin said, suddenly finding a strong voice. "My son... he requires immediate access to the Imperial Herb Garden's oldest medicinal records, and the full collection of the Ancient Divine Records in the Imperial Library. For his treatment."
Grandmaster Wei didn't hesitate. "Consider it done! I will personally escort you and grant you carte blanche! Just tell me, Master, how do I cleanse the Shadow-Plumage?"
Lin Tian had successfully traded a perfect diagnosis for immediate, unrivaled access to the most precious intellectual resources of the kingdom. The door to Soul Transformation was now wide open.
[System Notification: New Function Unlocked: Medical/Alchemy Records Sub-System. Access to Imperial Library secured.]
The greatest wealth in the world is not gold or spirit stones, Lin Tian mused, waving his hand playfully at the humbled Grandmaster. It is leverage.