484: Chapter 477: Sobering Up 484: Chapter 477: Sobering Up To cast the Soul Awakening Technique, one must first inscribe the Spirit Map with the tips of their fingers.
The Spirit Map of the Soul Awakening Technique begins with a single point, drawn in a continuous clockwise spiral, enlarging through nine loops.
Upon completing the ninth loop, the motion seamlessly transitions into drawing two ellipses below, one clockwise to the left and then to the right.
After the right ellipse aligns perfectly without pause, the movement continues upwards in a flick, piercing the center and breaking the loop.
Chen Hai’s right hand fingers came together, the palm concave, forming a hollowed grasp.
Meanwhile, his left hand fingers, akin to trailing phantoms, incessantly wrote the Spirit Map within the midst of his right palm.
Elder Huang, Elder Zhang, and a few others were merely a few steps away from Chen Hai.
Yet, even with all their focus, they couldn’t discern the precise movements of Chen Hai’s fingers!
The Dharma Method to perform the Soul Awakening Technique had been imparted to Chen Hai by Elder Zhang.
When Elder Zhang had described this method, Elder Huang and Elder Sun were also watching and listening by his side.
Although they could not see Chen Hai’s movements clearly, they could guess that he must be inscribing the Spirit Map.
It was his first attempt at drawing this object, yet Chen Hai’s movements, aside from being swift, were also smooth as flowing clouds and water, possessing an indescribable unique beauty.
The reason was simple.
His mastery over his body had already reached a terrifying level which ordinary people could only look up to in awe.
The Spirit Map of the Soul Awakening Technique was inscribed thrice in succession within his palm.
The next moment, his apparently empty palm suddenly began to emanate a faint white glow.
This kind of white glow was extremely pure.
To those witnessing it, it conveyed an inexplicable sense of sanctity and divinity.
“How could this be possible?
This white glow signifies the imminent successful deployment of the Soul Awakening Technique!”
“The Chen Hai before us just learned the Dharma Method of the Soul Awakening Technique from me, didn’t he?”
“Could he really succeed in casting it on his first try?”
With a shocked expression, Elder Zhang’s eyes nearly burst out in astonishment.
This method had lain dormant in his possession for over fifty years.
In order to perform it, he had attempted it countless times, but regrettably, he ended each try in failure, unable to manifest any miracle.
Leaving the Capital City and arriving in Liuyuan County, he had indeed learned about Chen Hai’s affairs to some extent.
Unfortunately, due to his status being somewhat insufficient, what he knew of Chen Hai amounted to barely a glimpse of the whole picture.
It was a certain influential figure who had cautioned Elder Zhang, that the Chen Hai they were about to confront in Liuyuan County, although appearing young, possessed Divine Skills capable of transforming decay into the miraculous, making the impossible possible.
It was considering these reasons that he had outright disclosed the unmasterable Soul Awakening Technique in front of Chen Hai.
His action also contained a bit of the desperation of trying to resurrect a dying horse.
But now, seeing Chen Hai, who had just learned the Dharma Method of the Soul Awakening Technique from him, was actually on the verge of a successful casting…
Elder Zhang felt as if his many years of medical practice had gone to the dogs.
Of course, as much as he was astounded, these thoughts could only be buried deep within his heart.
After all, this moment was the most critical for the casting of the Soul Awakening Technique.
Should his surprise disrupt Chen Hai’s spellcasting, causing the Soul Awakening Technique to fail in the end, that would be an unforgivable mistake on Elder Zhang’s part.
He felt this way, and so did Elder Sun and Elder Huang.
At their age, they were mature and steady; they knew the gravity of the moment and what was inappropriate to do.
Despite their shock, at most they exchanged glances, absolutely refraining from making any sound that might disturb Chen Hai’s spellcasting.
As for Ye Qingqing, she always wore a gentle smile, composed and serene, quietly watching everything unfold.
Compared to Elders Sun and Huang, her understanding of Chen Hai was evidently more profound.
Since Chen Hai had stated his confidence in executing the Soul Awakening Technique, Ye Qingqing wholeheartedly believed he would indeed succeed.
“The heavens clear, the earth divine, swiftly descend, grandmaster of medicine…”
Chen Hai roared, “Awaken!”
In the next moment, his right hand, radiating with white light, patted his mother Jiang Meixian’s head three times in succession.
The forehead, the back of the head, the crown—all were touched by a palm each.
Of course, Chen Hai was careful with the strength he used.
Otherwise, with his immense strength, were he to go all out, even a steel plate inches thick would be crushed to pieces under his hand.
By the time his hand left his mother’s head, the faint white light blooming from it had already vanished without a trace.
Jiang Meixian’s previously sallow face, at this moment, showed an abnormal flush of red.
Then, she began to cough without cease.
After she coughed up several clumps of phlegm, her murky eyes seemed significantly clearer.
“Hai?
Is it really you, Hai?
You unfilial son, have you finally decided to come back?”
“Your father passed away without anyone to send him off, and you were nowhere to be seen.”
“When we buried him in our ancestral home in Chenjiaping, the village folks whispered behind our backs that our family must have committed sins in a past life and were destined to die out in this one!”
…
Upon seeing Chen Hai, Jiang Meixian’s emotions inevitably surged with excitement.
With heart-wrenching sorrow, she pointed at Chen Hai and scolded him furiously.
As an older rural folk with strong traditional beliefs,
she saw the fact that her husband, Chen Zhonghua, had neither someone to see him off in death nor in burial as the utmost pain.
Because of this, it was inevitable that she would harbor resentment towards her son, Chen Hai!
“Mom, your son is unfilial, for having let you and Dad suffer…”
Chen Hai’s face was filled with guilt, and regardless of the presence of others, he immediately knelt down before Jiang Meixian.
To him, one may not kneel before Heaven and Earth, but kneeling to one’s parents is indeed the natural order of things.
In Hokkaido, at Great Snow Mountain, he had secluded himself for practice, and before he knew it, nearly thirty years had passed.
Despite having a son, Jiang Meixian and Chen Zhonghua lived like lonely elders all these years.
Chen Hai had always harbored a profound sense of guilt regarding this matter.
Being scolded by his mother, Jiang Meixian, was something he deserved.
“Qingqing?
How come you’re here?”
After seeing Chen Hai kneel and admit his wrongs, Jiang Meixian calmed down a bit after scolding him.
Her gaze shifted and she was visibly stunned when she saw Ye Qingqing.
After her son disappeared, Jiang Meixian naturally knew the situation with Ye Qingqing, his intended bride-to-be.
Whenever she saw Ye Qingqing on television, she and Chen Zhonghua would sigh with regret, lamenting their lack of fortune.
But now, with the return of Chen Hai, Ye Qingqing also appeared in her house, a situation Jiang Meixian could not quite understand!
“Mom, Qingqing and I are together now.”
“Some time ago, you suffered from senile dementia, dazed day in and day out.”
“These folks here are Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners from the Capital City, specially brought to treat you…”
Chen Hai quickly opened his mouth, explaining to Jiang Meixian.
“I have dementia?
What year is it now?
Which month and date?” Jiang Meixian asked suspiciously after listening to Chen Hai’s explanation.
“It’s September 11th, 2022!”
Ye Qingqing was the one who spoke.
She had been attending to Jiang Meixian since the moment she woke up.
“My husband passed away in the year 2015.”
“After his death, I started getting confused, and I don’t remember the subsequent events clearly.”
“This carelessness has brought us to 2022 already?”
Furrowing her brow and reminiscing for a good while, Jiang Meixian’s expression was complex as she sighed deeply.
“Troubling you experts to come all the way from the Capital City to treat my illness, causing you inconvenience…”
“Senile dementia is said to be difficult to cure.”
“To let me regain consciousness, to see our Hai again, I’m overwhelmed by such a favor and don’t know how to repay…”
Jiang Meixian, supported by Ye Qingqing, stood up.
She approached Elder Huang, Elder Zhang, and the others, bowed, and said.
“You’re being too serious, Sister Jiang, we can’t accept such a gesture.”
“We may have come from the Capital City, but the one who truly cured you was not us, but your son, Chen Hai.”
“If you want to thank someone, thank him.
He really put in a lot of effort to treat you!”
The elderly TCM practitioners promptly rose to their feet, returned the bow, and explained.
By age, they were probably not far apart from Jiang Meixian, but without specific comparison, they didn’t know who was younger or older.
But considering Jiang Meixian was Chen Hai’s mother, after some thought, they felt calling her ‘Sister Jiang’ would be more appropriate than ‘younger sister.’
“Elder Zhang, Elder Huang, my mother’s salute is definitely within your capacity to accept.”
“If you hadn’t come over, and Elder Zhang hadn’t been so benevolent and generous, sharing the Soul Awakening Technique with me, how could I have managed to awaken my mother?”
“Could you please examine my mother again, to see how she’s doing?”
Chen Hai, who had been kneeling, now stood up.
He looked at Elder Zhang and Elder Huang with a smile and spoke.
“With a successful cast of a spell, its effects are immediate.”
“Now that Sister Jiang has regained consciousness, her dementia is essentially resolved.”
“However, the serious depletion of her vitality cannot be addressed immediately; she clearly needs gradual recuperation.”
“We can prescribe several formulas…”
The elderly TCM practitioners examined Jiang Meixian’s pulse once again.
They were astounded by the effectiveness of the Soul Awakening Technique.
After a quiet discussion, Elder Huang spoke up, offering advice to Chen Hai.
As the saying goes, a weakened body can’t handle aggressive supplementation, and for Jiang Meixian’s health, recovery must be gradual and steady.
These senior TCM practitioners were quite adept in this area!
They left behind three prescriptions, each targeted at different stages of the recovery process.
After all was done, without much delay, Elder Zhang, Elder Huang, and the others got up to take their leave, with Ye Qingqing accompanying them to the hotel.