Chapter 78 : Chapter 78

Chapter 78. Su Zhan, You Were Given a Chance, but You Couldn’t Seize It

“Isn’t Dad surprised? Actually, Brother Yichen has always cared a lot about your condition, so he gave you this gift.”

Seeing the shock on her father’s face, Su Linyu smiled sweetly, with a hint of playful delight.

Su Zhan’s expression gradually calmed, but his gaze remained fixed on the glowing green jade bottle.

When he probed it with his senses, he found that the green liquid inside contained an incomparably dense aura of life.

After studying it for only a few moments, Su Zhan already felt warmth spreading through his body, and even the pain in his right leg had lessened somewhat.

He sucked in a sharp breath.

Could this really be a divine object capable of regenerating a severed limb?

A storm surged through Su Zhan’s heart. He simply could not believe that a divine object capable of regenerating a severed limb had been given to him by Jiang Yichen.

Back then, after losing his right leg in the Mount Tai Fengshan Ruins, his strength had dropped drastically, and as time passed, his cultivation had gradually declined as well.

If his realm ever fell below that of a Martial God, the other families would absolutely carve up the Su family until nothing was left, and it would decline step by step.

For five years, his wife and son had searched through ruins across the land in hopes of restoring his strength, yet they still had not found any divine object capable of regenerating a severed limb.

So when his daughter said that Jiang Yichen had given him such an object, he had not believed it at all.

How hard was it to obtain such a treasure? Back then, Jiang Zhentian had nearly lost half his life just to bring back a little bit of Jade Nectar from the Kunlun Ruins.

Su Zhan took a deep breath and asked, “Linyu, are you certain Jiang Yichen was telling the truth?”

Su Linyu nodded and defended him fiercely. “Brother Yichen would never lie. Even if he did, it would only be a kind-hearted lie. Dad, you’re not allowed to doubt Brother Yichen!”

“...” Su Zhan felt as though a fishbone were stuck in his throat. It was one thing that the daughter he had raised was no little padded jacket for her father, but she even sided with outsiders every single day.

He sighed. “Then I’ll give it a try.”

Jiang Yichen had been able to produce even a Divine-grade cultivation art earlier, so somehow, a divine object capable of regenerating a severed limb did not seem entirely impossible either.

“Mhm. I can feel the dense life force in the bottle too. Maybe it really can regenerate a severed limb, just like Brother Yichen said.” Su Linyu handed over the glowing green bottle, her eyes full of hope.

Just as Su Zhan was about to reach for it, a sudden knock sounded at the door.

His hand paused, and he looked up to see a doctor in a white coat and gold-rimmed glasses standing there with a medical case in hand.

“Patriarch Su, today is the day to change your prosthetic.”

Su Zhan nodded slightly and slowly lowered his hand. Smiling faintly, he said, “Very well, Doctor Li. Have a seat first.”

Doctor Li was one of the ten greatest physicians in the Huazhong Region, and he had awakened an S-rank martial talent called ‘Healer’s Benevolence.’

Over the past few years, it was thanks to him helping change Su Zhan’s prosthetic and providing steady treatment plans that the speed of his realm’s decline had slowed by quite a bit.

Doctor Li walked in, then suddenly seemed to sense something and looked toward the green bottle in Su Linyu’s hand. “Patriarch Su, what is that?”

“That’s a divine object Brother Yichen gave my father. It can regenerate a severed limb, so Doctor Li won’t have to keep running back and forth anymore.”

Su Linyu raised the jade bottle, glowing with emerald light, as if she wanted everyone to know that it had been given by her Brother Yichen.

Yet instead of joy, Doctor Li’s pupils contracted, and his brows drew together slightly.

It seemed that Su Zhan regaining his severed limb was not actually a result he wanted to see.

“Miss Su, may I take a look? Your father is my patient, and I am responsible for his health, so he absolutely must not use other medicines carelessly.”

Doctor Li’s reasoning was sound and well-argued.

After thinking for a moment, Su Zhan did not refuse.

After all, this was the doctor who had treated him for five years. He still had that much trust in him.

“Linyu, let Doctor Li examine it.”

Su Linyu looked at the refined and courteous Doctor Li, hesitated for quite a while, and only then handed it over.

Doctor Li rubbed the green jade bottle with both hands. Under the discernment of his S-rank ‘Healer’s Benevolence,’ information about the green liquid inside slowly surfaced.

【It contains incomparably powerful life force. It can revive a dying person and regenerate severed limbs for the disabled.】

This...

It really was a divine object capable of regenerating a severed limb. And it had been given by the young master of the Jiang family? How was that possible?

The Jiang family could not possibly possess something like this.

Then where exactly had it come from?

Doctor Li’s expression grew more and more severe, and his fingers tightened slightly around the bottle.

“Doctor Li, well? Can this regenerate my severed limb?” Su Zhan asked.

He himself could only sense the immensely dense life force within the bottle, but he could not tell whether it truly had that effect.

When it came to medicine, it was still best to leave things to a professional.

“Well...” Doctor Li revealed a troubled expression. His gaze shifted for quite some time before he finally shook his head. “Aside from the incomparably dense vitality within it, I can’t see any effect that would regenerate a severed limb.”

“Of course, I cannot completely rule out that possibility either. Patriarch Su, could you give me some time? Let me take it back for some research.”

“If it truly is a divine object capable of regenerating a severed limb, it will not be too late to use it afterward.”

At those words, Su Zhan frowned slightly, hesitation flickering across his face.

“No. This is a gift Brother Yichen gave my father. You are not allowed to take it away.” Su Linyu snatched the Fountain of Life back, her cheeks puffed up in anger.

“Dad, Brother Yichen would never lie to me. Try it now. It will definitely work.”

Seeing his daughter plead so insistently, Su Zhan’s heart softened a little.

But in the next second, Doctor Li suddenly spoke up. “Patriarch Su, I mean no offense. I am only thinking of your health.”

“The medicine I compounded for you is already the best possible means of slowing the decline of your realm. If, during this period, you use some other medicine of unknown origin, it may accelerate the speed of that decline.”

As soon as Su Zhan heard that, his expression changed sharply, and the hand he had raised lowered again.

Doctor Li had struck directly at Su Zhan’s greatest fear. If Su Zhan fell below the realm of Martial God, then the five top great families would no longer have any real voice.

The Su family’s business interests would also gradually be swallowed up by other families in secret.

In a world where martial strength reigned supreme, reality was this cruel.

“What nonsense are you talking about!” Su Linyu snapped back, gritting her teeth in indignation. “How is something Brother Yichen gave us of unknown origin?!”

“Miss Su, please do not be upset. I am only stating the facts. Whether to use it or not is entirely for Patriarch Su to decide.” Doctor Li replied with a smile.

Su Linyu shot him a furious glare, then turned to her father. “Dad, just trust Brother Yichen this once, all right? This is the first time he’s ever prepared a gift for you.”

“He must have paid a huge price to obtain a divine object like this that can regenerate a severed limb. Dad, please don’t let Brother Yichen’s sincere intentions go to waste, okay?”

But Doctor Li said, “Sincere intentions, or the fate of the Su family. Patriarch Su, I hope you will weigh it carefully.”

Su Zhan’s face filled with conflict. He held his cane and thought for a long time before sighing. “Linyu, give the Fountain of Life to Doctor Li for research first. Once the results are clear, I’ll use it then, all right?”

“Dad, you don’t trust Brother Yichen, do you?” Tears welled up in the corners of Su Linyu’s eyes.

Su Zhan immediately put on a stern face and ordered, “Behave yourself. Some things cannot simply be tested on a whim.”

If the Fountain of Life truly could regenerate a severed limb, then naturally nothing could be better.

But if it could not, and it also interfered with Doctor Li’s medicine and accelerated the decline of his realm, then it would be a devastating blow to the Su family.

The whole Su family rested on his shoulders. He could not afford to gamble.

Letting Doctor Li study it thoroughly before using it was the safest course.

But Su Linyu only stared blankly at her father, refusing to listen.

“Dad, you’re going to regret this.”

“Something Brother Yichen gave me—I would rather return it than give it to you.”

She glared at Doctor Li, then ran from the room in tears.

Su Zhan struck the floor with his cane, anger rising in his chest as well. “No matter what it is, all you ever think about is Jiang Yichen. You... ah! What misfortune for this family.”

Doctor Li watched the direction Su Linyu had run off in, and the corners of his lips slowly lifted.