The Divine Physician System

Chapter 6

Adrian's hand remained suspended above Lily's chest.

The silver needle between his fingers reflected the light from the ceiling.

Behind him, Elias Harrison stood with one hand pressing against GV20, the acupoint at the crown of Lily's head, while his other hand maintained pressure on KI1, located at the sole of her foot.

Although Elias had agreed to help, his heart was filled with doubt.

He had spent more than forty years practicing medicine.

He had treated countless critically ill patients.

He had witnessed people survive injuries that should have killed them and had also watched patients die despite every possible medical intervention.

But never had he seen anyone attempt to revive a person whose heartbeat had completely stopped with nothing more than acupuncture needles.

"Young man," Elias finally said, "are you certain about this?"

Adrian didn't answer immediately.

His eyes were fixed on Lily.

Through his Diagnostic Vision, her body was no longer a mystery.

He could see the intricate network of meridians running through her body like streams of faint golden light.

Most of those streams were almost completely extinguished.

Only a tiny thread of golden energy remained around her heart.

It was fading rapidly.

[Vitality: 1.1%.]

[Warning: Life force approaching critical threshold.]

Adrian's heart tightened.

There was no more time to hesitate.

"I'm certain."

He slowly lowered the needle.

The moment the silver tip touched Lily's skin, countless memories that did not belong to him suddenly appeared in his mind.

An elderly man in white robes.

Ancient medical halls.

Rows of physicians kneeling before a physician who had been revered like a saint.

Then came the voice of Sage Physician Cassian Hale.

"Medicine is not merely the treatment of flesh."

"It is the restoration of balance."

"Where Yin and Yang are separated, life cannot continue."

"Where the meridians are blocked, the body's natural vitality cannot circulate."

Adrian's breathing steadied.

He finally understood.

The Divine Acupuncture wasn't ordinary acupuncture.

It didn't simply stimulate nerves or relieve pain.

It used the body's meridian network as a bridge.

By reconnecting the Yin and Yang pathways, it could force the remaining life force to circulate again.

But the technique demanded absolute precision.

One wrong needle...

And Lily would die.

Adrian's expression became solemn.

"Let's begin."

His fingers moved.

Three silver needles flashed through the air.

Whoosh!

Before Elias could even react, Adrian had already inserted all three.

One above Lily's brow.

One near her chest.

And another beside her shoulder.

Elias's eyes widened.

His mouth slowly fell open.

"What..."

He stared at the three needles.

They had been placed with terrifying precision.

Not a millimeter off.

Not even the slightest tremor.

Elias had practiced acupuncture for decades.

Even at his peak, he could never have placed three needles simultaneously with such accuracy.

Yet Adrian hadn't even needed to look twice.

His hands moved as naturally as breathing.

"How did you..."

Elias stopped himself.

Adrian had already reached for another needle.

Four.

Five.

Six.

The silver needles continued entering Lily's body.

Each one connected a different meridian.

Each one restored another broken pathway.

Adrian's forehead gradually became covered in sweat.

The technique was consuming his concentration.

Yet his hands remained steady.

The seventh needle.

The eighth.

The ninth.

Elias watched without blinking.

The arrangement was becoming increasingly complicated.

Some needles were positioned along Lily's limbs.

Others surrounded her chest.

Several were placed along her back.

Each appeared unrelated to the others.

But when Elias looked carefully...

His expression changed.

There was a pattern.

A very ancient pattern.

He had seen it once before.

Not in a modern medical textbook.

Not in any acupuncture manual.

But in an old manuscript belonging to his grandmaster.

The manuscript had contained only a faded illustration of twenty-three acupuncture points.

His grandmaster had once told him something that he had never forgotten.

"If you ever encounter this arrangement, you are looking at a medical art that has already disappeared from this world."

Elias's heart began pounding.

"No..."

He leaned closer.

The tenth needle.

Eleventh.

Twelfth.

Adrian continued.

Thirteen.

Fourteen.

Fifteen.

The more needles Adrian inserted, the more familiar the pattern became.

Elias's hands trembled.

"Impossible..."

He remembered his grandmaster sitting beside him decades ago, explaining ancient medical techniques that had been lost to history.

Among them was a legendary technique said to be capable of returning a dying person from the boundary between life and death.

The Divine Acupuncture.

But it had disappeared centuries ago.

Elias had always assumed it was nothing more than an exaggerated legend.

Now...

He was watching it happen before his eyes.

Sixteen.

Seventeen.

Eighteen.

Adrian's breathing became heavier.

The System continued guiding him.

[Meridian connection: 61%.]

[Vitality: 1.8%.]

The tiny golden thread around Lily's heart became slightly brighter.

Adrian's eyes lit up.

It was working.

He continued.

Nineteen.

Twenty.

Twenty-one.

Two final needles remained.

Elias could barely breathe.

He stared at the arrangement.

Every single needle was connected to another.

It was like a giant web surrounding Lily's body.

Yet somehow, all of them converged toward her heart.

Adrian picked up the twenty-second needle.

He inserted it.

The golden energy inside Lily's body suddenly surged.

Her fingers twitched.

Elias's heart jumped.

"Did she just..."

"Not yet."

Adrian reached for the final needle.

His hand paused.

This was the most important point.

The final connection would determine whether the remaining life force could circulate throughout Lily's body.

Adrian closed his eyes.

For a brief moment, he saw Cassian Hale standing before him.

"A physician must never allow fear to control his hands."

Adrian opened his eyes.

His gaze was calm.

He placed the twenty-third needle.

Silence.

Nothing happened.

The room became unbearably quiet.

Elias stared at Lily.

No movement.

No breathing.

No heartbeat.

His expression slowly darkened.

Had it failed?

After everything...

Had Adrian failed?

Several seconds passed.

Then ten.

Elias's fingers remained pressed against Lily's wrist.

Nothing.

He slowly lowered his head.

Perhaps the young man had simply been too desperate to accept reality.

Perhaps this miracle had been impossible from the beginning.

Then—

Twitch.

Lily's finger moved.

Elias's head snapped upward.

"What?"

He leaned closer.

Another twitch.

Then Lily's chest rose slightly.

A tiny breath escaped her lips.

"Haa..."

Elias froze.

His eyes widened.

He immediately checked her pulse.

Nothing.

Then—

Thump.

His fingers felt it.

A heartbeat.

Weak.

But unmistakable.

Thump.

Another.

Then another.

Elias's entire body trembled.

"She's..."

He couldn't finish the sentence.

Adrian looked at the System.

[Life force circulation restored.]

[Patient stabilization successful.]

[Vitality: 7.3%.]

A smile slowly appeared on Adrian's exhausted face.

"Lily..."

He reached for her hand.

It was still cold.

But it was no longer lifeless.

Elias continued checking her pulse as though he couldn't believe what his own fingers were telling him.

"She's alive."

He whispered.

"She's actually alive."

Adrian nodded.

"I told you."

Elias stared at him.

"Young man..."

His voice trembled.

"What technique did you just use?"

Adrian carefully removed the needles.

"The Divine Acupuncture."

Elias's pupils contracted.

His breathing stopped.

"Divine..."

He looked at the twenty-three needles scattered across Lily's body.

"Divine Acupuncture?"

Adrian nodded.

Elias took a step backward.

"My grandmaster..."

He swallowed hard.

"My grandmaster once told me about this."

"It was said to be the greatest acupuncture technique ever created."

"According to the ancient records, it disappeared centuries ago."

His eyes became filled with disbelief.

"I thought it was merely a legend."

Elias suddenly turned toward Adrian.

"You..."

He couldn't find the words.

The physician who had been respected throughout Eastcliff slowly bent forward.

Adrian immediately stepped aside.

"Dr. Harrison, what are you doing?"

Elias bowed deeply.

"I apologize."

"I was ignorant."

"I doubted you."

Adrian quickly helped him straighten.

"Please don't do that."

"I'm just trying to save my sister."

Elias looked at him with newfound respect.

"Who taught you this technique?"

Adrian fell silent.

He couldn't tell him about Cassian.

He couldn't tell him about the jade.

Not yet.

"My family taught me."

Elias noticed the jade pendant hanging beneath Adrian's bloodstained shirt.

His eyes narrowed.

There was something about that pendant.

Something strangely familiar.

But before he could ask another question, hurried footsteps sounded outside.

The treatment room door suddenly opened.

The young pharmacy assistant rushed in alongside a middle-aged man in an expensive suit.

"Mr. Carter!"

The assistant pointed toward Adrian.

"This is the man I told you about."

Manager William Carter's expression immediately darkened.

He looked at Lily lying on the treatment bed.

"Dr. Harrison, what is going on?"

"I heard you allowed someone to bring a dead body into our pharmacy."

Elias's expression instantly turned cold.

"Who said she was dead?"

William froze.

"You did, Doctor."

"You examined her yourself."

Elias's face remained expressionless.

"I misjudged her condition."

William's forehead immediately broke out in cold sweat.

"Y-You..."

"Are you questioning my medical judgment?"

"No!"

William quickly shook his head.

"Of course not."

"Then get out."

"But—"

"Get out!"

William immediately grabbed the assistant's arm.

"Yes, Doctor."

The two hurried from the room.

Once the door closed, Elias looked back at Adrian.

His expression was completely different now.

There was no pity.

No skepticism.

Only respect and curiosity.

"Young man..."

"Who exactly are you?"

Adrian remained silent.

At that moment, a translucent screen appeared before him.

[First Miracle Successfully Completed.]

[Patient Stabilized.]

[Medical Points +100.]

[New Skill Unlocked: Divine Acupuncture.]

[Medical Rank Increased.]

Adrian's eyes narrowed.

Then another notification appeared.

[Hidden Legacy Detected.]

[Host has attracted the attention of a High-Level Physician.]

Adrian looked at Elias.

The old physician was still staring at him.

Neither man spoke.

Then—

"Brother..."

A weak voice came from the treatment bed.

Adrian's entire body stiffened.

He slowly turned around.

Lily's eyelashes fluttered.

Her eyes gradually opened.

She looked at him.

"Brother..."

Adrian's eyes instantly reddened.

"Lily?"

Her lips curved into a faint smile.

"I'm..."

She took a weak breath.

"Am I alive?"

Adrian rushed to her side and grabbed her hand.

"Yes."

His voice broke.

"You're alive."

Outside the treatment room, nobody knew what had just happened.

Nobody knew that a girl who had been declared dead had returned to life.

And nobody knew that the man who had performed this impossible miracle was the same worthless son-in-law the Sterling family had thrown away only hours ago.