Yun Sect, inside a small building.

An old woman with snow‑white hair was washing up in her room, attended by a little girl. The old woman looked over seventy, yet her legs were agile, her gaze sharp, and her spirit in no way inferior to a robust person in their thirties or forties. One look and you could tell she was no ordinary person.

Just then there was a knock at the door. The old woman said to the little girl, "Go quickly and see who it is, so early in the morning."

The girl gave an "mm," turned, and went to open the door. When she opened it, she saw Yun Qingyao and Yun Jian standing outside.

The girl froze for a moment, then was overjoyed. She turned her head and called to the old woman, "Grandma, Sister Qing Yao is back! Sister Qing Yao!"

The girl warmly grabbed Yun Qingyao’s hand. Clearly her relationship with Yun Qingyao was good. Hand in hand, Yun Qingyao walked into the room.

After the old woman finished dressing, she came out from the inner room. Lifting her eyes to Yun Qingyao and learning that Yun Qingyao had returned, the old woman was clearly quite happy as well.

"So Qing Yao is back, eh? This child’s been away for over half a year, she’s finally back. Come over and let Grandma have a look at you... Eh? My little darling, what’s wrong with you?"

Seeing Yun Qingyao’s bedraggled appearance, the old woman’s joy turned to surprise, and she hurriedly pressed her with questions.

Yun Qingyao rarely showed a little girl’s demeanor; now she looked pitiful and delicate as she said, "Grandma, my Dantian has been sealed."

At first the old woman hadn’t noticed Yun Qingyao’s Dantian was sealed. She had only seen that Yun Qingyao was filthy all over, with wounds on her hands and feet. On hearing that her Dantian had been sealed, the old woman’s expression changed—this was far more serious than those little injuries to her limbs.

The old woman stepped forward, grabbed Yun Qingyao, and pulled her in front of her. Her keen gaze fell on Yun Qingyao’s lower abdomen.

There was a Silver Needle stuck in Yun Qingyao’s lower abdomen.

The old woman narrowed her eyes, scrutinized it, then reached out and massaged Yun Qingyao’s lower abdomen for a while. Gradually, a look of shock appeared on her face, and she muttered over and over, "Impressive, impressive, unimaginably impressive..."

Everyone present was astonished. Just how terrifying was a technique that could shock Grandma like this?

You had to know, this Grandma was the Medical Skill inheritor of the clan, a bona fide divine doctor. In everyone’s impression, there had never been an illness she couldn’t cure. It seemed that all the world’s strange and difficult ailments were child’s play in her eyes; they had never seen her so much as frown.

Let alone ever seen her show such a shocked expression.

"Grandma, I..."

Yun Qingyao had just opened her mouth when Grandma cut her off.

"The one who sealed your Dantian—what sort of person is he? Let me guess, he’s some old monster from a Hidden Sect. Which Hidden Sect’s old bastard dares bully someone from my Yun Sect like this?" Grandma said angrily. Beneath the anger, though, her tone held a hint of dread.

After all, in Grandma’s eyes this opponent was extremely formidable, someone who instantly made even her feel pressured. She couldn’t help wanting to know who this person was. She had always been proud of her own Medical Skill—one could even say somewhat conceited. She found it hard to believe there was anyone in this world more formidable than her.

Yun Qingyao said, "He... Grandma, can you help me undo the seal?"

Yun Qingyao apparently did not want to immediately tell Grandma Lin Fan’s identity.

Seeing that she seemed to have something she couldn’t say, Grandma didn’t press her. "I’ll give it a try. Come with me to the cultivation room."

Grandma’s cultivation room was in the basement of this small building. This was where Grandma cultivated in seclusion. Usually, aside from Grandma herself, everyone else was forbidden to enter.

"Little Sword, go find the Sect Leader and ask him to come see me," Grandma said to Yun Jian before entering the cultivation room.

Yun Qingyao followed Grandma into the cultivation room. Yun Jian and the little girl both stayed outside, and Yun Jian soon left.

"Take off your top."

In the cultivation room, Yun Qingyao and Grandma sat cross‑legged facing each other. Grandma gave a gentle instruction.

In front of Grandma, Yun Qingyao had no scruples, so she obediently took off her top, moving very carefully, afraid of touching that Silver Needle.

Grandma’s sharp eyes were fixed on the Silver Needle. Several times she wanted to make a move to pull it out, but each time her hand stopped. After a long while, Grandma’s brows furrowed; she seemed to sink into deep thought...

Elsewhere, at the deepest part of the stockade, in a courtyard, a man in his sixties wearing an old‑style long robe was practicing sword in the yard. Beside him, a young boy with double topknots was attending him with a tray. The scene looked exactly like something out of an old wuxia film.

Yun Jian walked into the courtyard, bowed to the old man, and saluted, "Greetings, Sect Leader."

The elderly man stopped his sword, turned to glance at Yun Jian, and smiled. "It’s Little Sword. Coming to see me this early, what’s the matter?"

Speaking, the elderly man handed the longsword in his hand to the boy and picked up a towel from the tray to wipe his sweat.

Yun Jian said, "Reporting to Sect Leader, Senior Sister Qing Yao just came back. She’s at Grandma’s place. Grandma asked me to invite Sect Leader over."

The elderly man’s expression changed. There was a lot of information in that one sentence. He immediately sensed something was wrong and hurriedly asked, "What happened to Qing Yao?"

Yun Jian said, "Senior Sister Qing Yao is injured. Grandma is treating her."

The elderly man asked, "What’s going on? Is she badly hurt?"

Yun Jian said, "Senior Sister Qing Yao has injuries on her hands and feet. When she came back she was in a sorry state. She was carried back on someone’s back. I only learned at Grandma’s place that Senior Sister Qing Yao’s Dantian has been sealed."

The elderly man frowned. "Her Dantian was sealed? Was it done by someone from a Hidden Sect? What has Qing Yao experienced outside over these past six months or more? Wait—you said she was carried back. Who was that person?"

Yun Jian said, "A young man, around twenty. From the looks of it he’s quite close with Senior Sister Qing Yao. Little Qi took him to a guest room to rest."

The elderly man let out an "oh." After more than half a year apart, Yun Qingyao had actually brought a man back, and they seemed quite close? No way—could it be that Qing Yao had found someone she liked?

He grew even more curious about what Yun Qingyao had gone through.

Yun Jian asked, "Sect Leader, should we meet this person?"

The elderly man shook his head. "No hurry. I’ll see Qing Yao first and find out what happened."

The elderly man went back into the house, quickly changed his clothes, and rushed to Grandma’s place together with Yun Jian.

When they arrived at Grandma’s house, Grandma and Yun Qingyao were still in the cultivation room. If it had been an ordinary injury, it would never have stumped Grandma; she would have had it settled in no time.

But the elderly man waited a full hour before he saw Grandma and Yun Qingyao come out.

This greatly surprised the elderly man. What on earth had stumped Grandma? You had to know, Grandma was a divine doctor. In his whole life he had never seen her spend more than half an hour treating anyone. The most troublesome case was when a clansman had been bitten by a venomous snake and was at death’s door; even then, Grandma had spent only half an hour to pull him back. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

This time, Grandma had gone in for over an hour. This was simply unprecedented!

If Grandma had spent an hour to undo the seal on Yun Qingyao, that would still be acceptable. However, even after Grandma had spent so much time, the seal on Yun Qingyao still did not seem to have been lifted.

The elderly man was indescribably shocked.