Murim's Weakest Princess-Chapter 219: Timely Spiritual Surgery

The situation was more dire than Yan Ping thought. However, she kept that news to herself. After all, it was no use worrying Zhao Mingfeng, who had finally given his daughter consent to proceed with a spiritual surgery never performed before.

Anji was tough. All six elders who assisted with the seal restructuring agreed. The child never cried, yelled or complained. Elder Quan knew the pain Anji must be suffering from. She endured a similar agony when testing the new seals in her own severed meridian.

Today, they successfully completed the eighth surgery. They were two-thirds done with the entire procedure, but the toll on everyone’s health was higher than initially anticipated.

Anji entered a trance hours ago, falling into a pain-induced coma. It was probably better for her not to feel the soul-ripping pain in her coma. Anaesthesia herbs and potions could put the body to sleep, but not the mind or soul.

"Rest," Yan Ping shakily told the elders who helped with the surgery. Not even the Mystical Qilin Sect Master could escape unscathed. "Tell Gu Ying to set up the call with Zhao Mingfeng in two hours. I’m taking a nap."

None of the elders disagreed. Even though they knew how difficult this surgery would be in advance, experiencing the strain on their old bodies with a lowered cultivation base took a different toll. It had been years since they experienced chills in their bones, weakened muscles and even aching backs. Things were still manageable at the Radiant Core stage. However, as soon as some of them hit the Enlightened core, things changed. Recovery took more effort, even if cultivators of this stage were said not to require sustenance.

As soon as Yan Ping hobbled away, the six elders collapsed into their chairs. Gu Ying and Doctor Yun were the only people allowed to assist them after the secret operation.

"I can’t believe she’s still walking," Elder Meng groaned. "Sect Leader Yan was built differently. Isn’t she the first to hit the Enlightened core stage? I bet she’s already down to the Solid Core after today. She never sleeps unless she’s feeling it."

As the greatest astrologer the Mystical Sect had ever nurtured, Elder Meng had one of the easiest jobs in the spiritual operation. Unlike Yan Ping, who took on the bulk of channelling her energy into Anji, the other elders were there to help refine and guide that energy. Elder Meng’s job was to calculate the flow of energy and inform the others before a backlash happened. The eighth surgery went smoothly, and she barely had to do anything apart from supporting Elder Lu to stabilise the new purified artificial core.

Sobbing a little in her chair, Elder Lu smiled wryly. To think that the expensive crystals she brought with her for insurance were crushed under today’s pressure made her cry a little. Of all the elders present today, she was the poorest. Her jewellery business outside the sect might make a fortune on paper. However, her unique cultivation path involved extracting natural qi from living gems to purify in her golden core. While it produced exquisite jewels as a side effect, living gems were even harder to acquire than jewels. Yet, compared to the price their sect leader had to pay, crushing a few living gems was a small price to pay.

"If our successor is stabilised, I’ll take my leave now."

Respectfully, Doctor Yun bowed and bid the grumpiest elder farewell. Elder Zhu was the only elder who looked like an elder, even if his cultivation base was still within the Radiant Core stage.

Despite not reaching the qualifications of sagehood, Elder Zhu was named the Snow Sage of the Mystical Qilin Sect. If not for Yan Ping’s summon, the old man would still be shut away in his snowy peak, living in the past, grieving over his dead wife’s suicide after her miscarriage. Nobody commented on how creepy it was for him to preserve his wife’s corpse in the spiritual ice in his snowy abode for a hundred years. His obsession with necromancy and the creation of false limbs was the only reason why his expertise was required. If not for Elder Zhu, the surgery would not be possible. Nobody was more experienced in reconnecting and severing meridians than he.

"I bet he leaves early to check on his wife," Elder Lu grunted. "Does he seriously think anyone would steal her body away? That snowy peak is so cold that even an Enlightened Core cultivator would shiver without constantly regulating qi. No sane person would visit the thousand-year blizzard mountain without a good reason, much less live there."

Sighing, Elder Kun also excused himself. No matter how old these women become, they will still be women who love gossiping. Unlike them, he still had a library to maintain. After the demolition of the Academic Central, many of the useful books had been shifted to his forbidden library for safekeeping.

"Wait!" Elder Quan stopped him before he left to resume his administrative work. "Take these nourishment pills. You’re not going to last without resting. It’s not as good as meditating in an accelerated chamber, but it’s better than nothing."

Accepting the nourishment pills created by the greatest apothecary of their sect, Elder Kun thanked her and left swiftly.

Seeing no reason to remain here, the three ladies quickly agreed to shift their chti-chat elsewhere and invited Elder Shen, who had been silent the whole time, to join them. However, the broody elder declined.

"I’ll stay here to monitor Anji for any side effects," he informed. "Have a good rest."

Wordlessly, Doctor Yun took Anji’s pulse and gave the girl a thorough checkup under the hawk-like watch of Elder Shen, who had been the person most against this risky operation. As Yan Ping’s right-hand man, he was the person most well-versed in seals after the sect leader. Anji’s reworked seals were still fighting to adapt in her body. Although it was unlikely for the seals to undo themselves, they had no way of knowing. Yan Ping was usually the one keeping an eye on their successor for at least two days after the new surgery. However, with her weakened cultivation level, it was now up to him.

"She’s as healthy as she can be," Doctor Yun concluded after a while. "We should shift her to a more comfortable place."

Offering to carry Anji himself, Elder Shen studied the youngest successor ever to be recognised in their sect. The youngest daughter of the Celestial Dragon Sect was truly a tragic existence. Born to die with the strongest will to live, he had no idea if she would grow up well in the care of their eccentric sect. Perhaps, this was her fate. The fact that they made it through all eight spiritual surgeries without additional complications must be a sign that it was not her time to die yet. However, there was something different about Anji’s new energy signature that made him cautious. Doctor Yun could not sense it. However, Yan Ping must also already be aware of the change in her successor that the others had not picked up yet.

"I wonder how Anji will alter the seals this time," he mused silently.