In Azure Peak Town, night had already taken hold as lamplight started to glow along the road. While one part began to close, another filled with chatter and laughter, and the smell of food and drink filled the road he walked.
"I wonder who will find Lin. I hope it's her senior sister."
Wu Han, now in his Zhong disguise, hummed along the way since he achieved more than he could ask for today.
The reason he commanded Theron to start hunting cultivators, and why he humiliated Lin to such a degree, was for one purpose.
Conflict.
He needed conflict to stir within this town.
Azure Peak Town, since he came here, might look chaotic. Internal power struggle, betrayal. But in the grand scheme, the Luo clan had iron-handed control over everyone.
It was not just relatively peaceful. It was objectively peaceful.
But peace has too much stability. If he were to start his big plan, it would be quickly stopped by the Luo, or worse, by their joint effort.
No matter how well he prepared, even with all the Wu clan's wealth, it was just a drop in the bucket compared to the Luo or even the Han clan.
That would only happen if they were standing together though.
If he managed to pull the conflict off and they started going to war with each other, then it would become all he needed from that point on.
"Hm, a lot of people today." Zhong was visiting Hui Lian's apothecary for his next step, but there was a very long line of people outside, even though her shop sat in a relatively quiet part of town.
"Please, if you see him, tell him please." One patient came out with a purple bloat on his shoulder. Just by looking at it, one could tell he had poison in the wound, and if not treated he would surely lose that arm.
"I'm sorry, but I hope you find a cure." Hui Lian, with her voluptuous figure, sighed after pushing him out because the man took too long and made others wait.
She felt sad that she could not help with her skill, but this was her limit.
Since the news that she met a miracle doctor spread out, people kept lining up at her shop day after day to try to meet him.
Some she had enough skill to treat herself, but there were also a handful she could do nothing for.
She told them repeatedly that she did not know where Zhong was, but they never listened.
Hui Lian sighed, then noticed someone in the crowd.
Her eyes opened and she smiled, eyes to eyes.
"Doctor Zhong!"
She cried out and rushed toward him. Her steps looked exhausted from all the work she had been doing, and adjusting to her new back, but she still carried the weight and her age on her shoulders.
"Hello, Hui Lian. Sorry for leaving you for so long." Zhong embraced her and grabbed her hand, and he rejuvenated her with his Qi.
Her face that once looked pale and weak now refreshed with blood and vigor.
"Oh, that's the miracle doctor."
"Yes, I remember him. It is Doctor Zhong."
People became like savages. They rushed toward him like a group of starved homeless begging for food. Zhong smirked as he extended his hand forward.
"Rank 1 magic, shield."
A hexagon barrier appeared and blocked the incoming horde from all sides, stopping them one meter from him. He shook his head and spoke with calmness.
"If anyone wants to be treated, line up or go away."
Hearing his aid, many started to form a line, with most cultivators staying in front since no commoner dared to cut them. With the chaos subdued, a line of patients formed.
This time many came with injuries and poison, but there was no illness or wound he could not heal.
The only limitation of his spell as it stood was regrowing limbs and fixing birth defects.
And since then, he had grown much stronger.
Even if the patients tripled, he quickly dispersed them all.
With that, the news of the miracle doctor was confirmed and spread even further, into every clan in town, fueling his reputation.
"I guess we're done for today." He spoke to Hui Lian, who was just standing by, amazed.
"Yes, Doctor. Oh, I wished to become even a fragment of your skill, but an old lady like me may be too late." Hui Lian hugged her arms and sighed.
She already showed her age, starting to get sleepy early in the night.
Morning does work, and night stops early. Where is the time to learn more.
"Haha, don't worry. If you wish, I can teach you arts you already have some basics in, like doubling the effect of herbs."
"Oh." Her eyes opened with hope and she smiled brightly.
Before the night shift ended, two cultivators arrived in front of them. They did not come normally. They landed from the sky with no mount or tool in sight.
One was a grown man with a very long sword on his back, scars across his body. His face was stern and precious, but there were a calm and happiness on the surface.
The other was a man around Wu Han's age, bald, with a frown on his face.
"Greetings, Doctor Zhong, and herbalist Hui Lian. My name is Han Rui, and this is my son, Han Shi." Han Rui bowed with respect, then glanced to his side and saw his son still standing straight, so he grabbed his head and pushed it down.
"My name is Han Shi." He spoke plainly, as if he did not care who stood in front of him.
"Sorry for my son's rudeness. He is a bit of a, strong-willed to say the least." Han Rui laughed nervously, afraid to offend Zhong, while glaring at his son.
"Greetings, esteemed sir. This is Han Rui, the head of the Han clan, and his son and heir, Han Shi." Hui Lian seemed to be meeting them for the first time, so she helped introduce both sides.
He was none other than the current leader of the second-strongest faction in Azure Peak Town, the one under only Luo Chen himself, whose power was at the Foundation Establishment Realm!