It only took a few steps for Master Gou to retrieve the bone and re-enter the treatment room.
However, this time, he was accompanied by a burly assistant.
"Who is this?"
Yu Xiaogang asked in confusion, looking at the assistant behind him.
"I had no choice. Your situation is quite rare, and unfortunately, the soul master with the sleep-inducing soul skill just went home a few days ago to get married."
"Even at the earliest, he won't be back until next month, and your condition can't wait. We have to choose another method."
"This isn't my specialty, so I had to bring him in."
Grandmaster Gou stepped aside, allowing the assistant to move in front of Yu Xiaogang.
"Another method?"
Yu Xiaogang asked uneasily as the assistant blocked the light in front of him.
"Yes, another method."
Grandmaster Gou's voice echoed from behind, and then the assistant gave Yu Xiaogang a sinister grin. His right hand quickly turned into a knife hand and struck Yu Xiaogang in the neck.
Yu Xiaogang slumped into the chair. In the last moment before losing consciousness, he wanted to curse. If you're going to knock someone out, why smile like that?
...
When Yu Xiaogang regained consciousness, he felt a warm sensation all over his body, and the pain in his face and leg had completely disappeared.
He opened his eyes to find Grandmaster Gou leaning over, observing his condition.
"You're awake. The treatment was very successful," Grandmaster Gou said, clearly pleased with the results.
"Come on, get down and take a few steps. Let's see if your leg has any issues."
After using his diagnostic skill once more, Grandmaster Gou pointed to the side of the bed, motioning for Yu Xiaogang to get up.
"Oh, okay."
Yu Xiaogang propped himself up with his arms and quickly got off the bed. He walked around a bit and even stomped his foot hard to feel the feedback.
"Thank you, Grandmaster Gou, thank you. It feels no different from before the injury."
This time, Yu Xiaogang's gratitude was sincere. He had thought it would take some time to adjust, but the results were surprisingly good.
"As long as you're satisfied. Oh, by the way, although your daily movements are now unaffected, you should still use soul power to nourish your left calf for a while. Got it?"
Grandmaster Gou casually reminded him.
"Yes, I understand. Thank you."
Yu Xiaogang started speaking but then realized that he was lisping a bit. The rest of his words were fine, but he was clearly missing two front teeth. The teeth that had been knocked out hadn't regrown during the treatment.
Grandmaster Gou held back a laugh as he looked at him.
"Don't look at me like that. I honestly can't make them grow back quickly. If it's urgent, you could try finding a higher-level healing soul master."
This wasn't something Grandmaster Gou did on purpose. Even though he had been a Soul King for many years, this was the first time he had encountered such a situation. In all his previous treatments, he had never dealt with someone losing teeth from a beating.
This might even be an interesting discovery. He was thinking about publishing an academic paper on it—maybe he could even secure some research funding.
Yu Xiaogang's face turned green. Missing two front teeth—how was he supposed to face people?
"I suspect it's because the treatment volume wasn't enough. You might want to try the Ye family," Grandmaster Gou kindly suggested.
Yu Xiaogang mumbled a closed mouth "Hmm" and walked towards the door. The Ye family? And how am I supposed to pay them? He was penniless at the moment.
Fortunately, because of Luo San Pao, he had plenty of masks. Until his teeth grew back, he would just wear a mask for a while.
Just as Yu Xiaogang was about to step out of the treatment room, Grandmaster Gou's voice suddenly called out from behind.
"Oh, wait a minute. Since you've already paid, you might as well take the repair materials with you."
Seeing Yu Xiaogang's dejected back after he had given up his money, Grandmaster Gou felt a bit of pity and called out to him.
Beaten up, having to hide it from his student, and even paying for it himself? But asking him to hand over the gold soul coins that were already in his pocket? Not going to happen.
Since that specimen was damaged and had lost its value as a collectible—and since he had already used some of it to repair Yu Xiaogang's leg bones—it was practically worthless now. He might as well give it to him.
That way, Yu Xiaogang could sell it at a shop in Heaven Dou City. After all, it was still a soul beast's bone, and it was more intact than most. It should fetch some money, which would be a good deed on his part.
"Repair materials?"
Yu Xiaogang turned back to look at him, somewhat surprised.
"Yes, it's made of soul beast bones. It's yours now."
Grandmaster Gou walked closer and placed the dog-type soul beast bone specimen in front of Yu Xiaogang.
"What kind of soul beast is this?"
Yu Xiaogang asked with some curiosity.
If it were a real soul beast or even just a picture, he would be able to recognize it. Unfortunately, with only the bones laid out in front of him, he really couldn't tell.
"A 100-year-old Grass Dog, a relatively rare soul beast. However, we usually refer to it as a Vegetable Dog," Grandmaster Gou thoughtfully introduced. Seeing Yu Xiaogang's face turn red, he thought it was because Yu Xiaogang didn't recognize it, so he quickly explained:
"Don't underestimate the Vegetable Dog. It may be weak, but precisely because of its weakness, it's quite rare. Although this specimen is missing a few bones from the lower leg due to its use in repairs, it's still relatively complete. If you take it to Heaven Dou City, you can still exchange it for one or two gold soul coins."
While Grandmaster Gou was explaining, Yu Xiaogang's mind was already in turmoil as soon as he heard the term Vegetable Dog. His left leg had been repaired with dog bones—even if it was just for repairs.
But it was still a dog, and a Vegetable Dog at that.
He couldn't shake the feeling that Grandmaster Gou was deliberately insulting him. From the way he addressed him to everything that had happened so far, it all felt like a targeted attack.
Moreover, his bones had been replaced with those of a dog. Wasn't that akin to calling him a lackey?
Yu Xiaogang's face flushed with anger. He swore that if he hadn't known this person was a Soul King and that he had no combat abilities, he would have attacked him without hesitation.
Grandmaster Gou finally sensed that something was wrong. He had finished explaining, yet Yu Xiaogang was still glaring at him angrily, as if he wanted to hit him—perhaps even blaming him for his teeth not growing properly.
No wonder he had been beaten before—what an ungrateful person. They hadn't even left the treatment room, and he was already giving attitude.
In an instant, Grandmaster Gou even considered taking back the Vegetable Dog bone specimen.
One should be magnanimous, but Grandmaster Gou's expression also darkened. He pointed at the specimen on the ground and asked coldly, "Do you want it or not? If not, I'll take it back."
"I don't want it," Yu Xiaogang wanted to refuse loudly, but considering that he couldn't even come up with his last copper soul coin at the moment and that he had exchanged 38 gold soul coins for this, it was now his property.
Most importantly, it was evidence to remember today's events.
So he snorted coldly, stored it away in his soul guide, glared fiercely at Grandmaster Gou, and angrily pushed the door open, leaving without looking back.
"What kind of person is this, seriously," Grandmaster Gou shook his head and sighed. He hoped he wouldn't meet this person again in the future. Without fifty—no, a hundred gold soul coins, he wouldn't even consider helping him.
Thinking of this, he touched the 38 gold soul coins in his pocket and smiled. After handing over three gold soul coins to the academy for processing the specimen, he still made a net profit of 35 coins—not bad at all.
Meanwhile, Yu Xiaogang, who had already put on a mask and was heading back to his residence, grew angrier the more he thought about it. He lifted his right foot and kicked a small stone by the roadside.
"Ow!"
Yu Xiaogang gasped in pain and held his toe, which had struck the sharp edge of the stone. He could feel his toe swelling quickly.
"What a streak of bad luck. Forget it, it's getting late. I'll rest well tonight and won't go looking for Tianheng."
After a long time, Yu Xiaogang finally calmed down, but he no longer had the energy to curse anyone. Limping, he headed toward his room.
Exhausted, he pushed open the door, intending to go straight to bed, but as he passed the table, he noticed the dinner placed on it. Besides the dinner, there was also a note left on the table.
"Teacher, I didn't know when you'd be back, so I was worried you wouldn't have time to eat after your treatment, so I brought you a portion. Please eat and rest early. —Tang San"
In an instant, Yu Xiaogang's eyes reddened. After all, someone still cared about him.
He sat down and, without caring that the food had long gone cold, began stuffing it into his mouth in big bites.
Don't worry, Xiao San. Your teacher will help you succeed in joining the Emperor Team!
Only after finishing every last bite did Yu Xiaogang feel a bit bloated. He initially intended to get up and move around a bit, but the sharp pain from his toe made him abandon the idea.
Forget it, I'll just cultivate for a while tonight. I'll use soul power to nurture my left leg and the toes on my right foot. Otherwise, I might not recover by tomorrow.
He had already given up on cultivating years ago, but now, even though he was quite dissatisfied with Grandmaster Gou, he decided to follow his medical advice. He could still tell what was beneficial to him.
After quickly washing up, Yu Xiaogang sat cross-legged on the bed, and for the first time in a long while, entered a state of cultivation.
He carefully guided his soul power to flow through his left leg. He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he felt that the flow of soul power seemed a bit faster than before.
Let's try again. Yu Xiaogang paused for a moment, then began circulating his soul power once more, focusing entirely on his left leg.
This time, he was finally certain—the flow of soul power in his left leg was indeed faster than before.
Could it be? Yu Xiaogang's long-dead hopes began to beat wildly again. He thought of a possibility.
One cycle, two cycles, three cycles—the soul power circulated faster and faster. He could feel his left leg's bones becoming more refined, and his bottleneck loosening slightly.
Finally, after his soul power circulated through his left leg once more, it increased.
He, Yu Xiaogang, had broken through—he was now a level-30 quasi-Soul Elder.
His soul power, which hadn't moved in over a decade, had increased. Although it was only a small amount, it was already an unbelievable miracle for him.
"Hahahahaha, I broke through! I broke through!"
In the room, ignoring the pain in his toe, Yu Xiaogang jumped off the bed and laughed wildly, not caring that his speech was still a bit slurred.
No one could understand his excitement at this moment. After laughing for a long time, Yu Xiaogang's gaze fell on his left leg. He could confirm that the reason he had improved was entirely because of it.
And his left leg had just been replaced with the Vegetable Dog's bones a few hours ago. He couldn't help but tremble with excitement—this might be the direction of his future.
Meanwhile, Han Li, who had just finished his cultivation, also sensed a change in fortune.