Grand Elder Wei challenged Melvin's legal standing before the tribunal. "He holds his standing solely through tokens granted by the Celestial Sword Sect, a direct party to this dispute, disqualifying his testimony entirely!"Grand Elder Wei named his supreme judicial remedy. "I formally invoke the Bloodline Verification Ordeal to test the authenticity of his cultivation lineage!"Murmurs of profound shock swept across the elder assembly, for the Bloodline Verification Ordeal had remained dormant for over four hundred years.Melvin stepped forward with majestic poise, looking directly into Wei's calculating eyes. "I accept your challenge immediately, so bring forth your testing stone, Wei, and prepare to witness genuine medical supremacy!"Grand Elder Wei widened his eyes in genuine surprise, his stoic facade cracking for the very first time. He had expected the secular physician to stall or refuse, assuming a mortal possessed zero ancestral pedigree to display.Two heavily armored gua

Sitting on the cracked edge of the stone plateau, Melvin stood up the moment his sixth meridian stabilized, choosing to work rather than rest.Melvin approached Kaelen with his silver needle case already open in his palm. "Lie flat on this stone bench, Kaelen, and keep your breathing shallow while I align these broken ribs."Kaelen winced as he eased his back onto the granite surface, holding his breath against the sharp pain in his chest. "My right lung feels compressed with every breath, Supreme Master, as if a jagged iron tooth is pressing against the pleura."Melvin placed his fingertips across the fourth, fifth, and sixth intercostal spaces, feeling the fragmented bone edges through the skin.Melvin inserted four long silver needles precisely along the intercostal nerve pathways. "These needles will freeze the surrounding muscular spasms and anchor the bone fragments, ensuring the ribs knit together without puncturing your pleural lining."A soothing wave of Celestial Yin-Ice Qi

Grand Elder Wei closed his eyes, recalling his ill-fated mission three decades prior. "Later generations forgot the true purpose of the seal and built modern cities over the site, and my survey thirty-one years ago was ordered because the energetic readings from the southern quadrant had begun to drift."Melvin stood perfectly still as the historical facts aligned within his diagnostic memory. "The pulsating crystal heart beneath the National Medical Council was never an artificial power reactor, but the ancient cap holding back the severed dragon vein."Melvin gripped the edge of the stone table, his voice cold as he recalled the subterranean confrontation. "I shattered that crystal from the inside to break the Council's monopoly, and I walked out of the ruined foundation with a crimson shard in my pocket."Grand Elder Wei turned his head toward Melvin, asking the critical question with sharp urgency. "What became of that crimson shard, Melvin, and where does its essence reside today

Exiting the collapsing spatial vortex, Melvin and Kaelen landed heavily upon the summit of Eternal Mist Mountain.Melvin stepped forward into ankle-deep mud where an ancient glacier once reigned supreme. The perpetual ice sheets that previously shielded this high-altitude peak had dissolved completely down to the foundational bedrock. Thick white steam hissed continuously from every fracture in the exposed dark granite.Melvin pressed his boots against the steaming rock, feeling the unnatural heat rising through his leather soles. "The thermal radiation pushes directly upward from deep subterranean strata, confirming that intense heat ascends from the earth below."Kaelen looked down at the bubbling mud in profound bewilderment. "This mountain peak remained frozen for five centuries, yet the glaciers have vanished in mere days!"Beginning the steep descent toward the foothills, the two men navigated the treacherous terrain for four continuous hours. The dense pine forest covering the

Kaelen scanned the inner circle of stone pedestals, his eyes locking onto a solitary young woman. "Look at the fourth pedestal within that inner circle!"Chloe Sterling stood trapped within the fourth inner node, her long dark hair cascading over her shoulders.Melvin observed the dense vortex of cold spiritual energy circulating around her physical frame.Melvin recognized the profound biological value of her constitution. "The pure Yin-natured qi I previously stabilized and reinforced within Chloe makes her spiritual vessel worth more to this formation than a hundred ordinary human bodies."Kaelen clenched his fists, feeling deep sorrow for the young heiress. "Her unique spiritual constitution was transformed into an energetic fuel cell, powering this monstrosity against her will!"Descending to the absolute lowest tier of the crater, Melvin and Kaelen approached a vast circular platform.A flat disc of polished black stone rested at the foundational base of the colossal crimson col