"Hmm?"

As the golden bee-tail needle pierced into Mr. Sun's Shenmen point, Shen Xingkong was taken aback because his supernatural ability didn't activate. In the past, whenever the golden needle made contact with an acupuncture point, the ability would immediately be triggered. This time, however, something seemed off; ten seconds had passed, and there was still no reaction.

Could it be that Mr. Sun was really already dead? Could it be that when the golden needle is inserted into a deceased body, the ability doesn’t get triggered? But Mr. Sun's heart was still beating—weak, but not completely stopped.

Furrowing his brows deeply, Shen Xingkong slowly closed his eyes, trying hard to recall the sensation of his ability. He had to summon his ability no matter what. Time was running out—one second, two seconds... At this moment, every second was as precious as gold, determining whether a life could return to the world.

After about thirty seconds, beads of sweat began to form on Shen Xingkong's forehead. He finally felt the presence of his ability, a faint warmth rising slowly from his spine. This was very unusual—normally, the warmth would be immediately drawn to the acupuncture point. But this time, it only lingered within Shen Xingkong's body, showing no inclination to flow towards the golden needle.

Another thirty seconds passed, and the warmth within Shen Xingkong's body increased, though it was still meager compared to previous experiences. Nonetheless, it finally began to move towards his right hand, which held the golden needle. Unfortunately, the process was too slow. If it continued like this, Mr. Sun might be completely gone by the time the warmth entered his body.

With his ability reacting abnormally at such a critical moment, Shen Xingkong racked his brain to figure out the cause. There was no more time to waste. Just then, Shen Xingkong noticed something—Mr. Sun's lips appeared to be a bit more vibrant in color than before, indicating that his heartbeat was gradually recovering.

“SHIT, I’m such a fool…” A flash of insight struck Shen Xingkong’s mind, and he believed he had found the reason for the delayed activation of his ability.

Before inserting the golden needle into Mr. Sun's Shenmen point, Shen Xingkong had first used two ordinary needles to stimulate Mr. Sun’s adrenal gland points located in the ears. The intention was to leverage the effects of adrenaline to stimulate Mr. Sun's brain and revive some of his vital signs.

However, using ordinary needles for acupuncture had a slower effect, and with most of Mr. Sun’s organs and tissues on the brink of total failure, his adrenal glands secreted very little adrenaline—insufficient to significantly stimulate his already "dead" brain.

Despite this, the small amount of adrenaline did strengthen Mr. Sun’s heartbeat temporarily. A stronger heartbeat meant that the Hand Shaoyin Heart Meridian began to regain a bit of its vitality. Prior to this, the extremely weak heartbeat had left the Hand Shaoyin Heart Meridian nearly exhausted, preventing the golden needle from receiving the usual meridian feedback necessary to trigger the ability.

As the Hand Shaoyin Heart Meridian slowly regained strength, the ability began to activate, their progress directly proportional to one another. Having figured out the reason, Shen Xingkong didn’t hesitate. He withdrew the golden needle and also removed the needle from Mr. Sun’s left ear before inserting the golden needle directly into the adrenal gland point on Mr. Sun’s left ear.

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The ear acupuncture points are part of the extraordinary points that aren't influenced by any specific meridian. As long as a person still has a breath of life, these points remain effective until the moment of death, when they lose their function.

As soon as the golden needle penetrated Mr. Sun's ear, a surge of warmth rose up Shen Xingkong’s spine, quickly flowing through the golden needle and into Mr. Sun's body. Still, the warmth was far from abundant, which left Shen Xingkong with no choice but to accept it—after all, Mr. Sun was already on the brink of death, and the fact that the ear acupuncture points could still activate the ability was already very fortunate.

The warmth moved through Mr. Sun's ear acupuncture point, but it encountered resistance, inching forward with difficulty. Shen Xingkong could only channel his consciousness, pushing the warmth as much as possible to stimulate Mr. Sun’s adrenal glands and produce more adrenaline to strengthen his heartbeat. As long as the heartbeat could be restored, the rest would be easier to manage.

The warmth in Shen Xingkong’s spine increased, reaching a near-boiling point, causing pain in his back and arm. Yet, he had to endure, guiding the scalding warmth like a tidal wave into Mr. Sun’s ear acupuncture point. Under this intense pressure, Mr. Sun’s adrenal glands finally started to revive, releasing a large amount of adrenaline into his bloodstream.

Shen Xingkong watched with delight as Mr. Sun’s lips regained their color and his face began to flush with blood. Encouraged, he quickly withdrew the golden needle and once again inserted it into the Shenmen point on Mr. Sun’s wrist. This time, the situation was entirely different from before. As Mr. Sun’s heartbeat neared normal levels, the ability was almost instantly triggered, with warmth surging into Mr. Sun’s Hand Shaoyin Heart Meridian.

During his training the previous night, Shen Xingkong had learned that the Hand Shaoyin Heart Meridian has three channels, one of which branches off from the heart, travels upward through the nose, and reaches the eyes. What this means is that the heart meridian is connected to the brain’s blood vessels.

In essence, the heart’s primary function is to pump blood, with the first destination for oxygenated blood being the human brain. The brain is also the organ that demands the most oxygen.

The warmth triggered the seventh sense, allowing Shen Xingkong to perceive the flow of the warmth reaching Mr. Sun’s heart. In his mind’s eye, he even saw a large, red, pulsating mass—Mr. Sun’s heart! The adrenaline was sustaining the heartbeat, but adrenaline’s effects are short-lived; within a few minutes, Mr. Sun’s heart could stop permanently.

Shen Xingkong sensed a channel leading upward from Mr. Sun’s heart and immediately directed the warmth along this path, soon reaching Mr. Sun’s brain. The seventh sense revealed that Mr. Sun’s brain was already bleeding, which was the cause of his brain death, and the bleeding was spreading.

Shen Xingkong forced himself to remain calm, carefully channeling the warmth to every part of Mr. Sun’s brain via the blood vessels. At one point, a small stream of warmth suddenly halted, prompting Shen Xingkong to redirect all the warmth toward that spot—Mr. Sun’s brain clot.

A clot is a blockage in the blood vessel, preventing blood flow. However, Shen Xingkong knew he had to be cautious, as Mr. Sun’s brain clot had already caused the blood vessel to burst, leading to bleeding. He didn’t want Mr. Sun’s brain to turn into mush.

The warmth stopped in front of the clot. Shen Xingkong attempted to push the clot with a small stream of warmth, but it didn’t budge. He gradually increased the amount of warmth, but the clot remained as immovable as a mountain. With Mr. Sun’s heartbeat now stronger, more blood was leaking through the cracks in the brain’s blood vessels. Even if the clot was cleared, it seemed Mr. Sun would not survive.

At this moment, Shen Xingkong’s mind was in turmoil, unable to regain focus. His left hand clenched tightly, cold sweat pooling in his palm.

Suddenly, a gentle, soothing voice echoed in his ears.

“Shen Xingkong, don’t rush. Take your time.”