```
"Is this some kind of illness?" Yuan Ming wondered to himself.
At this moment, blood flowed from the nostrils, ears, and eyes of Wu Lu, and his breathing suddenly became rapid while his breath rapidly weakened.
Yuan Ming hesitated briefly but then squatted down to check Wu Lu's condition and quickly discovered, "It seems there is a problem with the heart meridian."
Wu Lu's heart was beating violently, ten times faster than that of an ordinary person, and the meridians near his chest were in disarray, his muscles spasmed and the circulation of his Qi-Blood faced great obstruction.
Yuan Ming invoked his mana, pressed his fingers rapidly over a dozen times on Wu Lu's chest, and finally placed his palm on it, where his mana surged out, unblocking the meridians.
A quarter of an hour later, he withdrew his hand with a slight sweat on his forehead.
There were no medicinal herbs or tools in this place, and that was all he could do. Whether Wu Lu lived or died was entirely up to his own fate.
Perhaps it wasn't Wu Lu's time to die, as the circulation of his Qi-Blood slowly recovered, the blood color on his cheeks faded considerably, and he regained consciousness.
"Yuan Ming... is it you?" Wu Lu spoke with difficulty.
"Your condition is very serious. The Qi-Blood in your body is reversing flow toward your heart. How did this happen?" Yuan Ming asked.
Wu Lu opened his mouth, hesitating to speak.
"It doesn't matter if you don't want to talk. But your condition is very severe. I was only able to alleviate it a little, there is no permanent cure, and it will recur soon. Do you have any medicine that suits your condition?" Yuan Ming waved his hand and asked.
Wu Lu's face showed hesitation, but soon he became resolute and looked towards his waist.
"Do you have medicine there?" Yuan Ming asked.
"Yes... Can Brother Yuan Ming... get it for me..." Wu Lu struggled to speak.
Yuan Ming did not hesitate and took a cloth bag from there, which contained many items, including four sealed bamboo tubes, two dark red stones, one white jade pendant, and a black jade bottle.
"Is it this jade bottle?" He picked up the black jade bottle.
Wu Lu's face showed relief, and he immediately nodded.
Yuan Ming opened the jade bottle and poured out a dark red medicine pill, which had no particular medicinal scent, making it impossible to discern what kind of elixir it was.
He didn't bother to investigate further and placed the medicine pill into Wu Lu's mouth.
Wu Lu swallowed the elixir with difficulty, his complexion quickly turned even redder than before, the veins on his forehead bulged out as if they were alive, and a suppressed low growl emitted from his throat, suggesting he was enduring extreme pain.
Yuan Ming frowned as he watched Wu Lu, thinking that this didn't seem like an illness.
It took the time it would take to finish a meal before Wu Lu's condition began to improve, the blood color on his face gradually faded, and the bulging veins slowly returned to normal.
He looked extremely fatigued, forcibly adopting a meditative posture and cultivating to regulate his breathing.
Yuan Ming leaped onto a nearby large tree and sat down on a thick trunk several meters off the ground to recover the mana he had just expended.
After a good while, Wu Lu's complexion had completely recovered, a flash of red light passed over his body, and the tiger skin on his waist rolled up, clinging to his form. In the blink of an eye, he completed the Fur Cloak Skill transformation, turning into a spotted tiger over three meters tall.
Yuan Ming's pupils contracted slightly. Wu Lu's body had grown by almost half since the last time he saw him by the creek.
As Yuan Ming's cultivation improved, the size of his White Ape Transformation also grew, but it seemed that Wu Lu's growth rate was somewhat faster than his.
Wu Lu looked up at Yuan Ming in the tree, his eyes flashing coldly.
"I just saved your life. Why do you look at me that way, Brother Wu Lu? Is this how the Southern Border People treat their saviors?" Yuan Ming said with a smile.
"Why did you save me?" Wu Lu asked in a deep voice.
"We both entered Biluo Cave at the same time. Whether the relationship is good or bad, you can be considered a companion. Helping you was a trivial effort for me, so why not save you?" Yuan Ming spoke indifferently.
Upon hearing this, Wu Lu's expression eased a bit, although the cold light in his eyes did not fade.
"It seems I have been nosy. Rest assured, I will not tell anyone about this matter. We'll meet again." Yuan Ming stood up, patted his rear, and prepared to leave.
"Wait a moment." Wu Lu suddenly called out to Yuan Ming.
Yuan Ming stopped his steps and looked down.
"Anyhow, I'm indebted to you, Brother Yuan Ming, for saving me this time. A big favor can't be thanked enough. Take this piece of Fire Pattern Iron as my recompense," Wu Lu said as he took out a piece of dark red stone from the cloth bag and threw it up to Yuan Ming.
Yuan Ming raised his eyebrows. He had noticed when he opened Wu Lu's bag that these two stones were not ordinary items and emitted slight fluctuations of spiritual power, clearly items required by cultivators.
However, he did not catch the Fire Pattern Iron, but instead deflected it back down with his hand.
"I didn't save you out of greed for your belongings," Yuan Ming said calmly.
Wu Lu caught the Fire Pattern Iron, paused for a moment, and then said, "If Brother Yuan Ming refuses to accept this Fire Pattern Iron, then consider it a favor I owe you. If you need help in the future, as long as it is within my power, I will not shirk."
"You're too polite. We'll meet again." Yuan Ming smiled faintly, leaped away, and vanished into the forest within a few breaths.
Wu Lu stood silently on the spot, his expression indeterminate and rather desolate.
A short while later, he turned and descended from the valley, his figure quickly disappearing into the mist at the bottom of the valley.
Yuan Ming had not gone far, hiding in a large tree on the edge of a cliff ten-some meters away, keeping an eye on Wu Lu's departure.
He wasn't a pushover. The reason he had stepped in to save Wu Lu was partly because they were companions of sorts. Since it was a simple matter to save Wu Lu, he wouldn't be so heartless as to sit by and watch Wu Lu die.
On the other hand, Yuan Ming was also curious about the speed of Wu Lu's cultivation advancement and wanted to use this opportunity to close the gap between them and learn more about Wu Lu's circumstances.
```