“Howl…”
He released a long howl that echoed throughout heaven and earth.
At the same time, Fang Qiu opened his eyes to release a dazzling beam of light!
He did it. He managed to reopen his meridians!
He sensed his meridians that had expanded and basked in the unfamiliar sensation. Then, he could no longer hold back his excitement.
After he reopened his Lung Meridian of Hand-Taiyin, he clearly felt that his hand was much lighter and emptier than before. Yet at the same time, it had become stronger.
It was a very odd sensation.
All he needed to do was to release that thought and his internal force would immediately well into his empty hand to fill it with strength.
There was more space which was why his hand felt emptier. There were also fewer impurities which made his hand feel lighter. His internal force had strengthened and this made him feel stronger!
If his Lung Meridian of Hand-Taiyin had been like a small stream before he achieved a breakthrough, it was now as abundant as the Yellow River!
After he let out a long howl, he felt extremely refreshed.
He gently moved his hand and carefully basked in this sensation post-breakthrough. He felt very excited and contented.
He knew that he had chosen the right path!
If he were to reopen the rest of his meridians like how he reopened his Lung Meridian of Hand-Taiyin, then both his internal Qi and internal force would be extremely powerful. He would be many times stronger than before and he might even be dozens of times stronger than before!
He couldn’t help but feel extremely excited at that thought.
“If all my meridians were to be reopened, I’d definitely be able to bear three flowers in my Dantian. Then, not only will I be able to see the old master, I will be able to help him!” He thought.
He pulled himself out of his reverie and looked around.
He didn’t notice anything amiss around him. It seemed as though his loud howl earlier didn’t attract a lot of attention because there wasn’t anyone around.
He looked at the marsh.
He saw that the number of lotus flowers on the marsh had reduced significantly as though they were affected by something deep within the marsh. The mud was also slowly sinking.
He thought about it and guessed that the large toad was so terrified that it kept heading deeper and deeper into the marsh.
He shook his head and smiled.
Then, he stretched his arm and suddenly remembered Long Boan.
“Dragon’s claw!”
He remembered how strong Long Boan’s dragon’s claw had been and his move had been universally acknowledged as the most powerful attacking force among the grade-four Martial Superiors.
Long Boan had received such accolades because he had already opened six meridians that were all located along his arm.
Now that Fang Qiu had reopened his Lung Meridian of Hand-Taiyin, his meridian was much wider than before and his internal force increased significantly.
So did his internal Qi!
Although his internal Qi had only increased within his Lung Meridian of Hand-Taiyin, this was significant enough for him to sense the change.
Thus, how much more powerful had he become?
“Great Hand of Destruction!”
He let out a soft cry.
He waved his palm and the surrounding Qi of the sky and earth came swarming toward him to instantly gather in front of his palm. It formed a small palm print made entirely out of energy that was as big as a basketball.
He couldn’t see it but he could clearly sense the existence of this energy palm print.
“Amazing!”
The moment the energy palm print formed, Fang Qiu’s expression changed.
He remembered that the first time he used the Great Hand of Destruction, he had created a humongous palm print in the mountain cave without using his full force when he had just learned this move.
The volume of this energy palm print was many times larger than the palm print he had created in the past.
The energy palm print was much smaller than before but the energy it contained was many times more powerful than before.
666
Fang Qiu even guessed that if he sent out this palm print, the large toad hiding at the bottom of the marsh with its hardened skin would not be able to survive.
In addition, he even sensed that he could make this energy palm print grow bigger than the humongous palm print that he had originally created at the mountain cave but he would not be able to make it smaller than it already was.
It seemed as though the smaller the palm print was, the more power it contained.
As he became more powerful, he would be able to form smaller palm prints.
Unfortunately, this was the smallest palm print he could form at the moment and it was the size of a basketball. If he could shrink it to the size of a basketball, the power of this palm print would be many times more powerful than before, and could even be many dozen times more powerful than before!
“Let’s test it out!”
He released a mental command and waved his palm toward the marsh in front of him.
As expected, there was a loud croak the moment he smacked downward.
“Croak!”
There was a terrified croak.
The large toad jumped out from the edge of the marsh and dodged Fang Qiu’s palm by a whisker.
The next moment.
“Poof!”
There was a soft sound as the energy palm print left a hole through the center of the marsh.
Soon, there was a muffled rumble.
“Rumble…”
Then, the calm marsh waters suddenly exploded like a volcano and the mud from the marsh splattered all over like magma that erupted.
The large toad that was heading back down to the ground was sent flying back into the air.
Fang Qiu watched this scene with wide-eyed shock.
He hadn’t expected the energy from his palm print to be so powerful.
It had to be noted that he had only used the internal Qi stored within his Lung Meridian of Hand-Taiyin and had barely drawn from the surrounding Qi of the sky and earth.
If he had used all his strength and summoned all the Qi of the sky and earth toward him, this palm print would become even more powerful!
“Just as I thought!” Fang Qiu couldn’t hold back his excitement and happiness even though he was very surprised.
He had reopened his meridian and even added this extremely powerful Great Hand of Destruction to his arsenal of attacks. The future looked promising!
He watched as the large toad plummeted from the sky and crashed into the marsh.
Fang Qiu laughed heartily and left the area contentedly.
“Croak!”
The large toad croaked miserably.
Fang Qiu returned to campus in the afternoon.
He changed back into his regular attire and returned to his dormitory.
It was three days since the holidays, so there weren’t many people left in school. The entire campus was very empty and there were times when he would not run into a single person at all.
After he returned to his dorm, he packed his belongings and booked a high-speed train back to his hometown that would depart the next afternoon.
“It would be the Lunar New Year soon. I should deliver my new year greetings to Mr. Xu.”
After he finished packing, he walked around the campus, bought a bottle of good wine and a fruit basket before he headed to the school library.
While they were taking their examinations, Fang Qiu had learned that Xu Miaolin would not be taking a break.
There were many students who had left for the holidays but the university didn’t know how many students would continue staying on campus, so they requested for the library to remain open for a couple more days to cater for the students who chose to remain.
The library was extraordinarily quiet.
He walked up to the borrowing station and peered inside.
He saw that Xu Miaolin was fast asleep.
It was very cold and the sun was so warm today, so it wasn’t a surprise that he had drifted off to sleep.
“Knock knock…”
Fang Qiu knocked on the door out of courtesy even though the door was wide open.
“Come in,” Xu Miaolin said without even opening his eyes. “What book would you like to borrow?” He asked lazily.
“Mr. Xu, it’s me,” he said with a wry smile.
“Hmm?” Xu Miaolin opened his eyes and pursed his lips when he saw that it was Fang Qiu.
“Why haven’t you returned back to your hometown?”
“I had several matters to attend to over the past two days. I’ll be leaving tomorrow,” Fang Qiu said. “It will be Lunar New Year soon, so I’d like to deliver my greetings in advance. I bought these items from a nearby store and they weren’t cheap either, so please accept it.”
Xu Miaolin perked up at his words, looked at Fang Qiu’s gifts and nodded with satisfaction as he said, “Those are pretty good.” #
“Oh yes, how did you do at the craftsman doctor assessment?” Xu Miaolin asked.
“I’ve already obtained my license,” Fang Qiu said as he dug out the craftsman doctor badge.
“Oh,” Xu Miaolin didn’t sound surprised at all, as though he had expected this outcome. He nodded and said, “Your mission for the first half of next year is to become a wise doctor. Don’t forget to study even though you’re on your holidays. Time doesn’t wait for anyone.”
“Yes,” Fang Qiu nodded.
They exchanged a few more words before Fang Qiu returned to his dorm to study and train his mental power.
The next afternoon, Fang Qiu went to buy more Lunar New Year goods and headed to the affiliated hospital.
He had some time left because his tickets were booked for that afternoon.
Moreover, Fang Qiu felt that he should give something in return to express his gratitude for Shen Chun’s kindness toward him.
At the hospital.
In the orthopedics on the seventh floor.
Fang Qiu entered Shen Chun’s consultation room with his gifts.
“Yo, what are you doing here?” Shen Chun sounded very surprised to see Fang Qiu.
“I’m here to deliver my new year greetings,” Fang Qiu said with a smile.
# “I’d also like to thank you for all the support you’ve given me in the past.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Shen Chun didn’t stand on ceremony and accepted the gift.
“Alright, you should get going. I’ve got quite a few patients to see, so I can’t keep them waiting.”
“Very well,” Fang Qiu nodded and turned to leave.
The moment the patients outside noticed that Fang Qiu had entered the consultation bearing gifts and left empty-handed, they started to chatter among themselves.
“What’s going on? Do we have to bring gifts when we see a doctor these days?”
“How shameless can that young boy get? How dare he think of bribing the doctor at such a young age.”
“I don’t think this kid is in the wrong. After all, this is how the world works. The one who is at fault is the doctor. How could he accept a patient’s gift in front of so many other patients? I swear I’ll report him when I go home.”
…
As they were deep in discussions, a middle-aged man walked out from the lift supporting an elderly woman. He spotted Fang Qiu walking out from Shen Chun’s consultation room and his face brightened as he said, “Dr. Xiao Fang.”
Fang Qiu turned and saw that it was the taxi driver who had been his patient in the past.
He didn’t stop but merely greeted the man with a nod before he made a move to leave.
“Hey, Dr. Xiao Fang, you can’t leave,” the taxi driver stopped him and said, “it has been so long since I last saw you. You can’t leave before you take a look at my mother-in-law.”
“Uh…” Fang Qiu hesitated for a moment and said, “What kind of illness is it?”
“She has headaches,” the driver said. “She did a CT scan and the doctor said that it was due to a neck problem that resulted in a pinched nerve.”
Fang Qiu nodded and he was just about to try to treat her when he hesitated for remembering something.
