In a cold snow filled town, in a medical clinic that was on the border of the town that was bussy as injured men got carried in and out of the clinic. There inside of it lay a boy named Yun Ming. He was a current patient and worker for the medical clinic.
But now his face was covered in white puss and his body started to turn into this purply goo. No normal poison could do this, and even the nurses who were looking after Yun Ming shook their heads at him. There was no cure amongst the mortals for this problem, and only those who cultivate the path of immortality had a chance of saving the boy.
As for what caused this incident?
Yun Ming was a normal working boy. He didn't know anything about treating patients and was working on keeping the medical fields up and exploring the forest for any rare medical herbs.
Some special medical herbs might not have any use at all, but they could be traded at other clinics for some of their herbs and Yun Ming might get a pretty penny out of it.
Thus, during this early winter, Yun Ming went out on an adventure through the lightly coated snowy ground and stepped past the tall dark oak trees with a well made basket. It didn't take long for Yun Ming to find some herbs. In the world of cultivation, mortal herbs seem to grow endlessly no matter what the climate was like.
I've found seven herbs that could be sold for roughly fourteen copper. Yun Ming thought with satisfaction.
Fourteen copper is a decent bit of change for him, and could feed him for a couple of day's if he spent his money frugally.
Huh? What's this herb? Yun Ming's eyes scanned past the tall trees and landed on a herb that had a purple and pink mist to it.
Yun Ming's heart suddenly sped up, and his chest heaved slightly.
This… This must be a rare herb that only those Immortal's can see! But what is it doing here? Yun Ming's mind was full of doubts, but the thought of making a quick buck and being able to live the rest of his life without worries quickly took over.
His steps in the snow became harsh, creating visible yet distorted footprints in the snow as he made his way over to the purple pink herb. As he got closer, Yun Ming's hands were visibly shaking, and the basket full of herbs was trembling due to his shaking.
What a beautiful herb. No, this is clearly a flower, but it doesn't matter, after all an Immortal product couldn't be bad. Yun Ming thought, and his eyes scanned the flower.
He wasn't foolish enough to touch the herb with his bare hands, especially seeing the mist around it, and took out a knife and began cutting around the edges of the herb, trying to pick it up by the soil.
Yun Ming spent some time cutting around the Immortal flower, but he made one slip up and scraped his knuckle on one of the roots of the flower, causing his heart to leap out of his chest.
Shit shit shit! Please don't be poisonous! Please don't be poisonous! Yun Ming screamed in his heart, but seeing purple blood ose out of his wound, he knew he was out of luck.
Shit! I have to run back to the clinic as fast as possible!
Without much hesitation, Yun Ming took his basket of herbs and ran straight towards the clinic he works for. He could only hope that they had a way to save him, as he didn't want to die so soon.
Yun Ming sprinted for a good five minutes, pushing his body to the limit it could handle and finally reached the door of the clinic.
Yun Ming's eyes were fluttering as he tried to keep his consciousness and entered straight into the clinic and rushed straight towards one of the nurses he recognized.
"Lulu- There is a purple and pink misty flower in the forest- and I touched -" Yun Ming words slurred as he rushed up to the nurse named Lulu and told what he could.
"Yun Ming!" A woman's voice entered his ears, but his mind had already started to drift away.
Lulu's eyes were red and she hurried and pulled his body to the nearest private room and took a quick scan of his body while placing his herbs to the side.
His right arm was covered in purply pink puss, causing Lulu's mouth to open slightly.
"Dong Shui, you deal with Yun Ming while I call for the head doctor and the owner." Lulu said to a short nurse.
"Got it!" Dong Shui responded, noticing how dire the situation was.
No less than a minute later, Lulu returned with the head doctor and the owner named Shu Ling.
Shu Ling took one look at Yun Ming, and his depression was grave.
"Fang Lin, you try to keep the boy alive. If what the kid said was true, then I might be able to save his life."
Shu Ling, the owner of the clinic knew that the situation was dire, and ordered the head doctor to keep Yun Ming alive so he could report to the immortals about the situation.
Immortals are very picky about karma. If they knew that a boy found an immortal poisonous plant and is still alive and can be saved, they'd use all their power to rescue the boy to repay the karma, and might give out extra gifts to make sure it's completely cut off.
Fang Lin's eyes twitched at Shu Ling's words. What the hell is he supposed to do? Pray?
But he had no choice and tried using any herbs that could suppress poison and delay it from reaching his brain.
While Fang Lin's confidence reached an all time low, Shu Ling was already dashing out of the clinic and rushed to the centre of the Great Wood Town and appeared in front of an elegant and classical building that had soothing music coming out of it.
Taking in a deep breath, Shu Ling walked up to the building but was blocked by two guards.
"Sir, please state your entry or provide a token of proof." One of the guards said.
The guards wore ordinary yet refined clothing with a sword hanging by his hip.
"I'm sorry sirs, but I have very important information to give to lord Immortal Xu, and it's about a poisonous flower. This plant has only harmed one of my workers and his life now hangs on by a single thread." Shu Ling said respectfully, but one could hear the inner tension of his voice.
The two guards looked at each other and seemed to have made a decision based on eye contact.
"Sir, please wait here as my co-worker here reports this information to the Immortal. Though, we cannot guarantee anything." The guard responded.
Shu Ling breathed a sigh of relief, and only hopped in his heart that the immortal could track where the poisonous flower was.
He could tell Yun Ming truly met with misfortune and got hit by a poisonous immortal plant, but he didn't know where this flower was nor did he know what it was.
Shu Ling didn't have to wait that long before being able to enter the building, and when he entered, he smelt a whiff of fragrance that he couldn't pinpoint. You could say that this was strange considering that Shu Ling works in a clinic all day, so you'd expect him to at least identify a portion of it.
Shu Ling kept a reasonable amount of distance from the guard and kept his head down throughout the entire way. Eventually, Shu Ling was escorted into a private room where one man stayed with a cup of tea in his hand.
"Little one, you said that you ran into a poisonous flower?" The man spoke, his words were soothing to listen to.
"Yes my lord, and he's currently in my clinic getting treated by my best doctor, but there is only so much he can do against an Immortal flower." Shu Ling responded.
"Hmm." Immortal Xu took a sip of tea and suddenly appeared in front of Shu Ling.
"Then what are you waiting for? Take me to see this child with Immortal fate." Immortal Xu chuckled, and his appearance made Shu Ling jump back on instinct, but then immediately apologized and led him to his clinic.
***
"Lord Immortal, this is the child you wish to see." Shu Ling said, and respectfully cusped his fist at the purple-haired man wearing a pair of black and blue plant robes.
"Hmm, the child has indeed been infected by the Purple Spider Lily. It's been in his system for almost an half an hour, causing serious injuries to his body, but it shouldn't be a problem to recover." The Immortal said, and raised his right hand over the boy, causing purple mist to float out of Yun Ming and into the man's hand, creating a purple vortex.
Shu Ling was the only one here next to the man, giving him the maximum amount of privacy to help Yun Ming, and when saw the Immortal make his move, he couldn't help but sigh bitterly in his heart.
The difference between an Immortal and a mortal is way too big. If only I could use such a technique, I wouldn't be the weakest clinic in the Great Wood town.
As time went on, Yun Ming's face got visibly more clearer, and the puss and purple goo had completely vanished from his body.
"It's done." The Immortal man said, letting out a sigh.
"The boy has a tough will, which allowed his soul to stay in his body and not enter reincarnation. I've only met a few people with the will to live like this boy." He commented, and a spark flashed in his eyes.
He rustled around with his robes, and his lips kept moving.
Shu Ling kept his head down, understanding that the Immortal was thinking about the boy and planned on making good karma. Even though Shu Ling wasn't immortal, he was used to their customs. No, the entire world was used to customs. Perhaps only some isolated villages wouldn't understand.
"Since the boy has fate, I will pass down the beginning stages of our Nine Sky Sect cultivation down to the boy. If by chance he comprehends it and steps on the path of an immortal, he may be granted access to join the sect." Saying that, he took out a jade and carved out the word Xu on it, and a golden light bursted from his forehead and into the jade.
The jade trembled for a moment before calming down and falling gently on Yun Ming's chest.
"This jade can only be accessed by him, and I'd know if someone else tries to access it." The immortal said, his expression turning calm and his eyes fixated on Shu Ling.
"Don't worry Lord Immortal Xu. I know the basics of respect." Shu Ling said, and bowed.
Shu Ling knew the Immortal was warning him to not have any other thoughts about the jade slip that he passed down to Yun Ming. He was currently in his late forties and had tried comprehending basic wild techniques, but couldn't manage to do it, thus knew he wouldn't be able to cultivate a sect inheritance.
Seeing Shu Ling being so cooperative, Immortal Xu patted his shoulder and left. Since there was an Immortal flower around, he planned on taking it, especially since it wouldn't affect his karma.
Shu Ling sighed and looked at Yun Ming with some envy. Having a favour done by an Immortal would bring bragging rights to any mortals, even if it didn't help you at all.
But he only held envy, not jealousy.
Sigh, hopefully Yun Ming wakes up soon. It seems that I also need to give him a raise. Even if he couldn't comprehend those techniques, it's still good to invest in a what if. Shu Ling thought, and walked out of Yun Ming's room.
As he walked out, he noticed a bunch of workers looking at him with curiosity, and couldn't help but shake his head internally.
"Get back to work! Yun Ming is fine and the Immortal has cured his illness." Shu Ling said, satisfying their curiosity while also making sure everything is in order.