Chapter Sixty-Three: The Secret Art

Soon, Lu Hao drove his Wuling Hongguang back into Peach Blossom Village. When he returned, dusk had just fallen, so instead of going home immediately and disturbing his family, he decided to head straight to his clinic.

At this moment, Azure Dragon Clinic had been completely transformed. The doors and windows, interior decorations, lighting, furniture, television—everything was new and complete. The storeroom was stacked high with all sorts of medicines and medical equipment.

There was no need to guess; it was clear that General Manager Zheng from the Shang Group had arranged all this for him.

“The Shang family has really thought of everything,” Lu Hao said with a smile, unlocking the bedroom door with his key. He went inside, rested for a few hours, and then, at the break of dawn, began his morning practice.

The method he practiced now was called the Azure Dragon Fuxi Sacred Art, an internal cultivation technique whose core principle was to harness the first rays of sunlight touching the earth each morning for training. By breathing in and absorbing this celestial energy, he could channel it through his body, strengthening the Azure Dragon energy within him.

Previously, when he worked with acupuncture needles, it was this Azure Dragon energy that he used to control them.

Lu Hao sat cross-legged, taking deep, steady breaths. Within him, a stream of azure energy coursed through his meridians in a grand circuit. As the first trace of purple qi from the morning entered his lungs, the Azure Dragon energy inside him gradually grew stronger.

Subtle changes began to take place in his body. First, his organs started to expel dust and toxins, carried away by the Azure Dragon energy. His blood became clearer, the levels of proteins and platelets gradually rising.

As the Azure Dragon energy swept through his bones and muscles, his bones grew denser, his muscles stronger and more resilient—much like a tiger in the wild, developing formidable strength and physique without deliberate training.

Along with the Azure Dragon Fuxi Sacred Art, a secret manual on physical cultivation also advanced in tandem. Particularly remarkable was a secret technique recorded in the Azure Dragon legacy, known as the Azure Dragon Sight.

This mysterious art aided in diagnosis, allowing him to see into a patient’s body as if by X-ray or MRI, perceiving blockages, abnormalities, or foreign objects from about a meter away.

Currently, Lu Hao had cultivated this ability to the point where he could clearly discern maladies within a patient’s body from about half a meter’s distance.

With a gentle exhale, a faint azure glow radiated from Lu Hao’s body. His morning practice concluded, and the Azure Dragon true energy within him, once as thin as a thread, now had the thickness of a fishing line.

Sweat poured from his body, mixed with black, viscous substances—coldness and impurities expelled from within.

Lu Hao headed into the bathhouse for a thorough wash, then prepared to open the doors and welcome patients to his clinic.

As the door creaked open, a middle-aged man barged in.

“Doctor Lu, good morning! I’ve come to see you,” the portly man announced, clutching a briefcase and glancing about with shifty eyes, as if he had something to hide.

Lu Hao had barely opened the gate before the man tried to squeeze his way inside.

But Lu Hao blocked him. “What are you doing?” he asked, frowning.

“I’m here for a consultation! Doctor Lu, please, let me in quickly,” the middle-aged man pleaded with urgency.

“Why so anxious? It’s only seven in the morning.” Lu Hao thought the man suspicious, but as a physician, he couldn’t turn away patients. Besides, the man looked well-fed and drove an SUV worth over two hundred thousand—clearly not short of money.

That meant he needn’t worry about the patient’s ability to pay for his prescriptions.

Soon, the man was seated in Lu Hao’s consultation room.

“So, tell me, what seems to be the problem?” Lu Hao asked.

At this, the man glanced around nervously, rose, and peered carefully out the door, as if terrified of being seen.

“What are you afraid of?” Lu Hao frowned, his suspicion deepening.

After making sure no one was watching, the man finally spoke in a furtive whisper. “Doctor Lu, if anyone asks, please don’t mention I came to see you.”

“And please don’t show my medical records to anyone,” he implored. “If you do, I’ll be in real trouble.”

Lu Hao nodded. “Don’t worry. That’s impossible. As a doctor, I’m bound by confidentiality. Your condition and records are safe with me.”

“Good, good. Well, Doctor Lu, I have a prostate problem, which has affected my marital life. Please help me,” the man said, extending his hand for Lu Hao to take his pulse.

But Lu Hao did not immediately reach out. Instead, he scrutinized the man’s face and said, “I see your complexion is pale and puffy, your eye sockets are sunken, and your body is swollen.”

“Just walking a few steps has left you drenched in sweat. I suspect your problem is not limited to the prostate.”

Startled, the man asked, “Doctor Lu, how did you know?”

Lu Hao continued, “Not only that, but you feel chilled and feverish by turns. At night you pile on four or five blankets, but by day you can’t wait to take off all your clothes. That’s why you’re wearing your shirt with only three buttons fastened.”

The man’s face changed in shock. “I can’t believe you could tell all that so easily.”

Suddenly, he grew excited and grabbed Lu Hao’s hand. “Doctor Lu, I’m counting on you. You’re my only hope. I’ve spent tens of thousands at other hospitals, had several surgeries, and nothing’s worked.”

“I beg you, please help me!”

As he spoke, the man took a thick wad of bills—about ten thousand yuan—from his briefcase and slapped it onto the table, the red notes bright and conspicuous.