Max Level Return—I'll Protect That Fragile One

His emotions were incredibly complex.

Old Madam Ying toyed with two walnut artifacts and looked at Ying Huai. ”Are you dissatisfied?”

Ying Huai shook his head and replied, ”I’m not dissatisfied; I just feel she is too formidable.”

Old Madam Ying nodded and said, ”This Lady Captain of the Huo Family indeed has some skills.”

”Little Huai.”

Ying Huai looked up at Old Madam Ying and remained silent.

Old Madam Ying said, ”Our clan, due to mediocre talent, was left in the Mortal World by the Divine Martial Realm. In the Divine Martial Realm’s eyes, we are regarded as useless, and in the Mortal World, we are seen as traitors. Our Ying Family’s situation will be very tough.”

”Being able to return to the Divine Martial Realm and to be re-accepted by the Ying Family is the mission of our clan for generations.” Old Madam Ying beckoned to Ying Huai, ”Little Huai, come here.”

Ying Huai walked to Old Madam Ying, his small, not fully grown hands were grasped by the old lady.

The old lady patted the back of his hand and sighed, ”Little Huai, your talent in Chinese medicine is the best I’ve seen in my life. Rest assured, this time, you will definitely enter the top three and will go to the Ying Family in the Divine Martial Realm to study.”

Looking at Ying Huai’s tender, youthful handsome face, Old Madam Ying couldn’t help but feel a bit unwilling. ”In the Divine Martial Realm, talents like you are rare but not absent. Little Huai, when you reach the Ying Family in the Divine Martial Realm, your situation will also become very tough.”

”Listen to me, that girl Xu Xingguang doesn’t seem difficult to get along with. When you reach the Divine Martial Realm, you should try to build a good relationship with her. If you can receive care and protection, your situation might not be very tough. Understand?”

Ying Huai nodded. ”Rest assured, old lady, when I reach the Divine Martial Realm, I will obediently follow Sister Xingguang.”

”Good that you understand.”

*

The third test took place in the courtyard where Old Madam Ying resided. This time, there were no spectators; Huo Wen’an, Ying Ziyao, and others could only wait in the tea house outside the old lady’s room.

Six contestants who advanced stood in the courtyard. Besides Xu Xingguang and Ying Huai, there were three men and one woman. The woman’s age was on the higher side, looking around forty, with a low ponytail, plain appearance, but a pair of eyes that were bright and piercing.

The three men’s ages spanned a wide range, the oldest looked around sixty, and the youngest in his twenties, plain-looking, which Xu Xingguang didn’t observe clearly.

At ten o’clock, they were invited by the examiner into the old lady’s room.

This time, they were to diagnose the old lady’s condition.

The old lady was seated on her Taishi Chair, wearing her usual ochre-red Tang suit, with hair that was half black, half white, tied into a bun at the back of her head and accented with a black jade hairpin.

The old lady squinted slightly, held two walnut artifacts in her left hand, and had six threads attached to her right wrist.

Xu Xingguang and the others sat below, each holding one thread to check the old lady’s pulse.

Suspended silk pulse diagnosis is a great test of a doctor’s skill. The more experienced the doctor, the better they are at this.

Ying Huai was at the biggest disadvantage; he was young and hadn’t even learned pulse diagnosis properly, let alone using suspended silk.

Yet he still pretended to sit in the chair seriously, acting as if he were diligently checking the pulse.

In the silence, the oldest male doctor sitting at the end said, ”The old lady’s pulse is calm, with no hidden disease; she’s healthy.”

The second young man from the left also said, ”Old lady, your body is very healthy.”

The third middle-aged man said the same.

When it was the turn of the middle-aged woman with the low ponytail, she frowned and perplexedly said, ”The old lady’s pulse indeed seems fine.”

She stared at the old lady’s deeply wrinkled face and said bluntly, ”Forgive Yajun for being blunt, but for the old lady to be 90 and have such a healthy pulse is rather unusual.”

But she couldn’t pinpoint where the problem was.

In the end, the middle-aged woman only said, ”The old lady must be ill, but Yajun’s abilities aren’t sufficient to diagnose the condition.”

Upon hearing this, the three men on the left looked surprised at Yajun. Perhaps finding her words reasonable, they too frowned.

The old lady smiled at Ying Huai, ”Little Huai, what do you say?”

Ying Huai blindly said, ”The old lady’s pulse is normal, indeed no problem.” In truth, he hadn’t felt any so-called ”pulse.”

The old lady knew he understood nothing, so she bypassed him and looked at Xu Xingguang.

Xu Xingguang gave the old lady a deep look and replied, ”Based on the pulse, the old lady’s body is indeed very healthy.”

Upon hearing this, Old Madam Ying nodded and was preparing to announce the end of the test when suddenly Xu Xingguang said, ”You’re not Old Madam Ying, are you.”

With these words, everyone in the room was surprised.

Old Madam Ying frowned and asked, ”What nonsense are you saying?”

Xu Xingguang stared at Old Madam Ying’s deeply lined face and said, ”Judging by your pulse, your age should be between fifty and sixty. I’m really curious, has the Old Madam Ying who’s always appeared before us been the real Old Madam Ying or an imposter?”

Xu Xingguang playfully said, ”I really want to tear off your mask and see who you truly are.”

Upon hearing this, the person pretended as ’Old Madam Ying’ on the Taishi Chair laughed heartily, ”As expected of Lord Medicine Farmer Star, indeed impressive!”

The old woman unbuttoned her Tang suit, rubbed her collarbone lightly, and under everyone’s gaze, tore off a fake mask.

Beneath the mask was a completely unfamiliar face, looking no more than forty. She smiled at Xu Xingguang and said, ”That old lady told me there’s an impressive young girl in the Mortal World, and I was dismissive.”

”Allow me to introduce myself.” The woman smiled at Xu Xingguang and said, ”My name is Ying Jing, from the Divine Martial Realm, and I am your escort this time to the Divine Martial Realm.”

Upon learning that she was the escort from the Ying Family of the Divine Martial Realm, everyone’s expressions changed.

Only Xu Xingguang remained unmoved.

Ying Jing, observing Xu Xingguang’s composure, couldn’t help but curiously ask, ”What are you thinking?”

”I was thinking. Those super power users who abandoned their compatriots and hometowns, what’s so different between them and us humans of the Mortal World?” Slightly smiling, Xu Xingguang sardonically said, ”Turns out, aside from being uglier, there’s nothing else different.”

Ying Jing: ”...”

Ying Huai and the other four contestants looked at Xu Xingguang with eyes filled with shock and admiration.

Daring to speak like that to an escort from the Divine Martial Realm, isn’t she afraid that once she reaches the Divine Martial Realm, the Ying Family will make things difficult for her?