1490 Chu Shijian

Seeing Chu Shijian's state, Chu Liuxiang subconsciously turned to look at Yuan with a weird expression that seemed to ask if destroying his Dantian had caused this.

Chu Shijian saw right through Chu Liuxiang's worry and said, "This has nothing to do with him destroying my Dantian. I was living healthy until recently—around the time Cultivation Online had its system update."

"Do you have any idea what might have caused this?" Chu Liuxiang inquired.

Chu Shijian shook his head and sighed, "I have spent a fortune on the best doctors in the world, but none of them were able to identify the cause of my sickness."

Yuan stepped forward and said, "Let me inspect your body for a moment."

Chu Shijian looked at him with slightly narrowed eyes and asked, "Why… why have you come? If you're here just to mock me, I—"

"What would I get from doing that? Just give me your hand." Yuan extended his own hand and beckoned.

With nothing to lose, Chu Shijian offered his hand to Yuan for inspection.

A few moments later, Yuan said, "You've been poisoned."

"What?!"

Chu Liuxiang and Chu Shijian exclaimed in a shocked voice.

"H-how can you possibly tell when nobody else could?" Chu Shijian questioned, doubting his credibility.

"I don't know the exact poison used, but it flows through your meridians and is slowly killing you. Unless you have sufficient cultivation, even the best doctors in the world wouldn't be able to detect it."

"It most likely came from Cultivation Online since you became sick after the system update."

"N-no way…" Chu Shijian wore a look of disbelief on his face.

When could he have been poisoned? He could count the number of times he left his residence on one hand after his cultivation had been crippled! He also couldn't recall any opportunity for someone to have poisoned him after the system update.

"Yuan, do you think the poison can be treated?" Chu Liuxiang asked him with a worried face.

"Honestly, I don't know, but I know someone who might."

Chu Liuxiang pondered who this person might be for a moment.

"Wang Xiuying! She's a pill expert who studied in the field of medicine!"

Yuan nodded, "Yes, she might know something. I'll call her over now."

He retrieved his cell phone and called Wang Xiuying.

"Hey, Xiuying, it's me. I have a quick question. Do you know anything about poison?"

"Of course. Why do you ask?"

"Can you come to the Chu Family? Someone here has been poisoned, and I need your expertise."

"Sure. I'll be there as soon as possible."

"Thanks."

He hung up and turned to look at Chu Shijian.

"Why…? Why are you helping me?" Chu Shijian asked before Yuan could even open his mouth to speak.

"The same reason why I am visiting. I want to see if we can rectify our mistakes."

"Mistakes…?"

Yuan nodded and continued, "I heard from the butler that it was the Qin Family who pressured you into giving away Chu Liuxiang. Is that correct?"

Chu Shijian's eyebrows twitched at his words, and cursed in a low voice, "That damned Sebastian… I specifically told him to keep it a secret…"

"Why would you hide something as important as this from me?!" Chu Liuxiang suddenly exclaimed.

"Is your pride really worth that much?! If you had told us the truth, we wouldn't have needed to fight!"

Unsure how to respond, Chu Shijian could only remain silent, his head lowered in a shameful manner.

"Father! It's better to be late than never! Please tell us the truth!"

"You still see me as your father, huh?" A bittersweet smile appeared on his face.

After a moment of silence, he said, "Yes, it's true. It was the Qin Family who approached us first. They suggested ending our feud through marriage. Of course, I refused at first. However, that's when they started threatening to bankrupt our businesses."

"I don't know if you're aware, but our Chu Family has been declining long before we adopted you. The Qin Family showed us solid proof of their current prowess and influence, and it was more than enough to force us out of business within a decade if nothing is done. To make matters worse, they managed to receive support from the Ten Great Families—

from the Walkers Family and Gu Family."

'Walkers and Gu…' Yuan narrowed his eyes upon hearing these two familiar names.

'Fiery Queen belongs to the Walkers Family. As for the Gu Family… why do I keep running into people with their surname? How many times have I encountered them by now? Are we destined to clash with each other constantly?'

"Anyways, due to the pressure, I surrendered without even a fight, and I have been loathing myself for that ever since. This caused me great stress—to the point where I couldn't even think properly during your visit." Chu Shijian looked at Yuan.

"I was rash and irrational, which led to the misunderstanding of you killing Chu Liuxiang's Master and our fight. I know it's late, but I deeply apologize for that. Qi Fang explained the situation to me afterward."

Yuan shook his head and said, "I also hold some blame for that incident. I was still immature and hotheaded back then. If I had just explained the situation instead of being hell-bent on delivering 'justice', we could've ended it without fighting. If I were in your shoes, I would've probably done the same thing if I thought you'd killed someone important to me. Unfortunately, my head was too full of anger to think properly, and I'd even crippled your cultivation out of anger."

Chu Shijian was speechless. He didn't think Yuan would actually apologize for his actions.

'Compared to his last visit, he's like an entirely different person… even the atmosphere around him is different.' Chu Shijian could sense a dignified aura around Yuan, feeling almost as though he was before an exalted expert.

"As an apology, I will try to do something about your crippled Dantian and help you restore your cultivation." Yuan suddenly said.

"W-what did you just say? My Dantian can be healed?" Chu Shijian didn't dare to believe his ears, his eyes wide with shock.