Treating Xiao Ning Er (1/2)

Holy Orchid Institute's training ground. Midnight.

A crescent moon hung in the sky. Only the sounds of insects chirping and bushes being moved could be heard, as Lin Tian searched through the woods illuminated by starlight.

He was in the area with the weakest demon beasts. Horned Sheep were laying on the ground in groups of twos or threes. From time to time they pricked up their ears to listen alertly when they sensed Lin Tian walking nearby.

Horned Sheep are territorial creatures; once an outsider enters their territory, they would mercilessly attack them to chase them away. However, at this moment these sheep were all peacefully sleeping gathered in small packs, being very reluctant to get up as long Lin Tian kept a large enough distance from them; avoiding them wasn't difficult.

After searching all around, Lin Tian eventually found the person that he was looking for.

Under the starlight, a slender and slim figure stood in a large clearing, wearing a tight training outfit. Her lush and long orange hair was bound into a half-ponytail.

It was Xiao Ning Er.

Xiao Ning'er was as hard working as Lin Tian imagined, replacing sleep with cultivation late into the night when others have long gone to bed or went to taverns. However, what she didn't know was that her hard work was causing her harm.

Lin Tian's eyes landed on Xiao Ning Er's face lit up by her cyan soul force aura; both her eyes were shut and her long eyelashes slightly trembled, presumably in pain.

He recalled events of the first timeline in the novel. When Xiao Ning Er entered the 1-star Bronze rank, she fell sick for more than 2 years and her cultivation regressed a lot. Although she re-trained herself all over again through efforts, it was said that she had been pain-ridden since then. But although she had been ill all over, in the eyes of others she was still like a dazzling star. She was an unyielding woman, eventually escaping the arranged marriage into the dangerous wilderness where she became disfigured and further hurt.

After a while, Lin Tian sighed quietly and calmed down various emotions arising in his heart. Although he had many impressions of Xiao Ning Er, it was actually their first meeting.

After calming down, Lin Tian lightly smiled and called out, "Hey, Ning Er."

"Who!?" Xiao Ning'er frailly shouted, as she abruptly opened her eyes, retrieving a short dagger. As she warily looked at Lin Tian, her facial expression was chilling cold.

Xiao Ning'er's deeply alert eyes and panicked expression caused her to have an indescribable charming aura. Although she was only thirteen-fourteen years old, she can definitely be considered a beautiful teen. The fitting long-shirt's front chest area was slightly bulging - at her age, she was certainly well developed.

Lin Tian had no doubts that in a few years Xiao Ning Er would become a stunning beauty. Back on Earth she might even be called the most beautiful girl on the planet. He was not surprised that Shen Fei was so obsessed with Xiao Ning Er in the novel, but he only wondered what was in Nie Li's head when he was ignoring this girl.

Xiao Ning'er immediately recognized the intruder and wrinkled her eyebrows. She put down her short dagger, but still kept her full guard up, looking at Lin Tian coldly, as she felt a little uncomfortable being stared at. She said, "You are Lin Tian. What are you doing here?"

Xiao Ning'er looked at Lin Tian through the starlight. Lin Tian's expression looked kind and sincere, and he wasn't like some young masters that looked so terrifying or stuck-up on the first look. Furthermore, Lin Tian's hairstyle was extremely ordinary and his clothes plain and cheap, causing him to look very unthreatening.

She had no idea what Lin Tian was doing here and she only wanted to chase him away to resume her practice.

Lin Tian said, "I'm here to find you. Back in class I couldn't help but notice that you seem to be sick."

Xiao Ning'er raised her eyebrows in surprise. Her expression looked slightly panicked, as she asked, "What do you mean?"

Lin Tian looked down on Xiao Ning Er's bare foot. He could see a pair of creamy slender legs illuminated by the moonlight, which were slightly red. He said: "When the night falls, both your legs probably feel as if they're burned by fire, right?"

Xiao Ning'er was slightly stunned and soon answered, "How do you know?"

Due to the burning heat, when training at night, Xiao Ning'er usually wouldn't wear shoes.

Xiao Ning'er face looked startled, so Lin Tian continued, "You're training your soul force so late into the night, so of course I know. Other than that, your body should also be extremely cold. Every midnight you would feel as if it's hailing on your body and it's terribly painful, right?"

Lin Tian then continued to point out all of the symptoms of Xiao Ning Er's disease one by one, shocking her with how much he knew.

"You haven't stepped into 1-star Bronze rank yet, so that's good. But once you reach 1-star Bronze rank, in the best case scenario you will get seriously ill and bedridden for a few years, but in the worst case you will die," Lin Tian finally said.

After hearing Lin Tian's words, Xiao Ning Er was dazed momentarily. She clenched both of her fists tightly and her eyes reddened. She stared at Lin Tian in disbelief.

Her mind was in a mess as she thought, 'I put in so much effort in order to not be married off to someone like Shen Fei. In order to take control of my own destiny, I cultivated like crazy to display outstanding talent. I worked so hard and was about to finally reach Bronze rank, but now it turns out that it was all for nothing? In the end, I will be bedridden or die…'

Even though Xiao Ning Er was very strong, after hearing the news, she couldn't endure the blow; her expression twister and her eyes flashing with tears. Just when she was about to reach 1-star Bronze rank, her first success, she suddenly got to hear such news.

Xiao Ning'er wiped off her tears.

"Lin Tian, since you know what kind of illness I have, you should also know how to treat it, right?" Xiao Ning'er forced herself to ask, frightened by what Lin Tian said in such perfect detail. She pleaded: "Can you help me?"

Lin Tian was silent only for a moment, before saying: "Ah, sorry for scaring you so much, you can still be treated. It isn't too late yet."

"Really?" Xiao Ning Er's hopes were raised. "How can I be treated?"

"Someone must use Daoyin Technique on you to massage the affected areas and dissipate the bruises. And you also need to take yang rich medicine, for example, made from combining Golden Striped Grass with Imperial Sky Grass, once in the morning and once in the evening, for around a month," Lin Tian said.

"The Daoyin technique?" Xiao Ning'er knitted her brows.

"You must also stop training your soul force at night. Training after midnight below Silver rank can lead to a buildup of excess yin energy," Lin Tian said and then stretched his hand out towards Xiao Ning'er and followed up, "Show me your cultivation technique. It's probably also a culprit."

Xiao Ning Er hesitated for a while, after all, Lin Tian was a poor commoner with ragged clothing, while her family's cultivation techniques are very precious. However, she soon retrieved a parchment with her cultivation technique and passed it to Lin Tian, deciding to put her trust in him.

As Lin Tian received the parchment paper, he accidentally, or not so accidently, touched the back of Xiao Ning Er's white creamy hands.

After her hands were touched by Lin Tian, Xiao Ning'er quickly withdrew her hands and felt her heart was in turmoil, her mood in a mess, she thought: what if Lin Tian were to try to blackmail her now, and what if he had impure thoughts about her?

When she raised her head, however, she saw that Lin Tian was studying the paper and felt relieved in her heart. Lin Tian's expression when he looked at the parchment paper was especially serious, causing Xiao Ning'er to be a little absent-minded, she only reacted a moment later as she lowered her head; she seemed to be thinking about something.

"This technique is terrible. It's no wonder you became sick when practicing with it…" Lin Tian commented. With his experience such cultivation technique was simply trash, harming the user.

"What? Terrible technique?" Xiao Ning'er asked, stunned, looking at Lin Tian.

Lin Tian looked at Xiao Ning Er and said,"This cultivation technique is too poor; it damages the meridians as one practices it. Your disease is mainly caused by this cultivation technique. You should change it and practice another technique."

"Another technique?" Hearing Lin Tian's words, Xiao Ning Er was very doubtful. This piece of cultivation technique was passed down by her ancestors and was ranked sixth in the family's collection of cultivation techniques. How could someone like Lin Tian find flaws in it with a single look?

Lin Tian sighed and then proceeded to make changes to the cultivation technique, making it safe and a lot better than it was before, changing it beyond recognition into a monster of a technique.

Originally Xiao Ning Er was filled with doubt, but she still listened to Lin Tian's suggestions. She soon became shocked, as all of the modifications that Lin Tian made seemed very profound and made her cultivation technique far better than the original.

Xiao Ning Er's eyes widened in surprise as she stared at Lin Tian with a shocked expression.

"Lin Tian, can you repeat it again, I need to remember what you just said!" Xiao Ning Er quickly said.

"Okay, listen carefully this time." Lin Tian repeated the modified chant.

Even though Xiao Ning Er could only comprehend some of the modifications, she still managed to memorize the entire chant; the more carefully she looked at it, the more she realized how much more powerful the cultivation technique modified by Lin Tian really was - it was simply incomparable to the secret top-techniques of the Winged Dragon Family!

Xiao Ning Er's gaze towards Lin Tian initially had a hint of confusion in it, but it was soon turned into one filled with admiration.

It was simply inconceivable for a teenager like him to have such profound knowledge regarding cultivation and soul force to create such a powerful technique on the fly.

Treating it as treasure, Xiao Ning Er deeply memorized Lin Tian's modified cultivation technique in her heart. She couldn't tell yet what her feelings towards Lin Tian were; awe, worship?

Lin Tian was the same age as her, but Xiao Ning'er realized that there was a wide gap between them. She found it ridiculous that she previously thought that Lin Tian was just one of the insignificant good-for-nothings in class with little talent or ambition!

At this moment she realized just how ignorant teacher Shen Xiu was for looking down on Lin Tian. Xiao Ning Er was fully convinced that even though Lin Tian only had an Orange soul realm, he would still become a powerful and important existence in the future.

Lin Tian was always very low profile, completely concealing his abilities and knowledge that it shocked her. From a young age Xiao Ning'er had far surpassed her peers and this was her first time that she looked up to someone her age.

Xiao Ning'er's expression turned absent-minded, as she tried to recall what kind of person Lin Tian was in class in the past. She recalled how he was giggling and chatting carefreely today at the back of the classroom, not paying any attention to the lessons. It's ridiculous that she originally thought of Lin Tian as the tail of the class, not paying any attention to the lessons.

"With this technique you won't have any problems anymore and your cultivation will also be faster. Just keep the fact that I helped you to yourself," Lin Tian said with a gentle smile, looking at Xiao Ning Er. He had to admit that Xiao Ning'er's sparkling orange eyes were mesmerizing.

"En. Thank you." Xiao Ning'er nodded with a serious expression. She then suddenly asked, "Lin Tian, do you know the Daoyin technique?"

"I do." Lin Tian nodded his head and continued honestly, "It requires me to touch the bruised area, so it would probably be most appropriate if one of your family elders did it, but I strongly doubt that any of them know the Daoyin Technique."

Lin Tian shrugged his shoulders. Lin Tian, in fact, didn't know the Daoyin Technique, but he knew a similar redirection technique that did the exact same thing.

Xiao Ning'er looked up at Lin Tian. Lin Tian's clothing was haggard, looking like a worn-out bathrobe. His hair was natural black and messily cut, while his eyes were dark brown, quite ordinary yet shining with an intelligent light. His facial appearance was also a bit ordinary, but to her he seemed like a pretty attractive boy with handsomeness that was waiting to be unearthed, which was slowly merging with the image she had in her heart. Especially Lin Tian's tranquil expression made him seem very reliable.

Xiao Ning'er lowered her head. She couldn't tell about her condition to the family elders who only wanted to marry her off to the Sacred Family as a trophy wife, and she also never heard of the Daoyin Technique herself, so she fully believed what Lin Tian had said.

She said, "I don't mind if you touch it, isn't it just a treatment? I don't want to die!"

At this moment, Xiao Ning'er completely dropped her cold guard that she had against Lin Tian. Currently it was midnight and the pain from her bruises was at its peak. Since there was a chance to be finally treated, Xiao Ning Er was desperate to take it. Furthermore, inside her heart, Xiao Ning Er really wanted to put her trust in Lin Tian.

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AN: I know that the meeting with Xiao Ning Er follows the same script as in the novel, but Xiao Ning Er and MC's relationship would seem too shallow if I simply skipped or summarized it. The MC is different from Nie Li and the chapters are pretty heavily edited, so I don't see much harm done. Also, it will be a romance heavy story.