Amid swirling clouds and mist, Kayson arrived in a strange realm.
Steep mountains rose all around, and white cranes strolled leisurely through the air.
Not far away, an elderly man with snow-white hair and beard sat alone, playing chess against himself.
Kayson rubbed his eyes. He felt as if he were floating, with no solid ground beneath his feet.
Amazed and confused, he muttered, "Where am I… playing chess against yourself?"
He sensed the old man was no ordinary being. Kayson knelt gently beside him and bowed respectfully.
"Senior, may I ask your name? How did I come to be here?"
The elder did not turn around. He placed a piece on the board and spoke calmly.
"Sacrifice the chariot to protect the general."
Kayson was about to ask who he was and whether he could heal the sick,
when the old man spoke as if reading his mind.
"I am the Divine Physician of Ancient Times. Your mother's left leg is blocked by clogged blood vessels, leaving her paralyzed.
Prolonged bed rest triggered a sudden heart attack and respiratory failure, pushing her to the brink of death."
"You planned to sell your kidney to save her. Sacrifice yourself to protect your mother. Such profound filial piety."
"A physician's greatest virtue is compassion. Your loyalty has moved me. I shall pass down all my lifelong knowledge to you."
"With my inheritance, you shall heal the sick with divine medicine, protect the innocent with martial arts, and master countless ancient skills. Go now."
The white-bearded elder waved his sleeve.
A pure white stone shot toward Kayson.
BOOM!
"Wake up! Stop sleeping! Go check on your mother!"
A nurse nudged Kayson, shot him an annoyed glare, and walked away.
Kayson slowly opened his eyes.
His head throbbed violently.
He assumed the vision was just a dream, caused by slamming his head against the wall.
"It wasn't real," he mumbled, sitting up.
But then, an enormous flood of information burst into his mind, overwhelming him completely.
Divine medical techniques, supreme martial arts, ancient spells, face reading, feng shui, treasure appraisal — all poured into his head at once.
"Argh! It hurts!"
Kayson clutched his head, feeling his skull was too small to contain it all.
After about five seconds, every piece of knowledge merged perfectly within him.
"It was real?" Kayson touched his head, recalling the dream.
He vaguely remembered the elder hitting him with a white stone.
He immediately searched the room,
only to be disappointed — there was no ancient stone to be found.
Kayson spread his hands. "Just a dream, after all."
But when he looked down, he froze.
On his right palm, a faint mark of a white stone glowed softly.
Ding!
The Ancestor Stone has activated!
Ancestor Stone?
A translucent interface appeared in Kayson's mind.
Its true power was now clear:
by touching another person's body, he could instantly diagnose any hidden illness.
It was like the most advanced medical scanner in existence —
no, far better.
Some illnesses showed no symptoms at all,
undetectable even by cutting-edge technology.
But the Ancestor Stone saw everything.
Kayson tried circulating the Taiyi Scripture from his martial inheritance.
After about ten minutes, his bones crackled loudly.
His entire body felt like exploding firecrackers; blood surged through his veins like a raging river.
A mysterious energy flowed through three key points in his body.
In an instant, intense heat spread throughout Kayson's body. His bones and joints popped repeatedly,
as if his entire body was being restructured.
The whole process lasted only three seconds.
When it ended, his headache was gone, his anger faded, and he felt lighter than ever.
Strength surged within him — he felt like he could punch through a wall.
Kayson threw a few punches in the room.
Each strike cut through the air with a sharp whoosh. He moved with incredible speed and agility,
as if he had trained this way his entire life.
Fists like iron, movement like the wind.
Even ten Ryans combined would be no match for him now.
Then he remembered his mother.
Mother!
He didn't need anyone's help anymore.
He could heal her himself.
Yet a deep sorrow weighed on Kayson's heart.
He had to heal his own mother with his own hands,
with no one else willing to lift a finger.
Such coldness in the world.
Shaking the thought away, Kayson rushed to the ward.
He burst through the door and shouted joyfully:
"Mom! Mom! Your son is here!"
"Quit yelling!" A patient's family member shot him a glare.
"Keep your voice down! This is a hospital! Can't you control yourself?"
"Huh? Where's my mother? Where is she!"
Kayson panicked.
He looked everywhere, but she was gone.
Where could she be?
She was critically ill. Did they…
Had they taken her to the morgue?
It would all be over.
"Mom! Mom!" Kayson broke into loud sobs.
If only someone had lent him money earlier — even half an hour sooner.
His mother wouldn't have died before his new medical powers awakened.
"Heaven!"
His cries echoed through the hospital.
Everyone stared in shock.
No one had ever seen a grown man cry like this, like a heartbroken woman.
"Can you be quieter? You're hurting everyone's ears!"
Two nurses rolled a hospital bed in front of Kayson.
They tossed a treatment plan and diagnosis report at him. "Our condolences."
"What? Condolences?"
Kayson snatched the papers and scanned them wildly.
Aster City General Hospital had performed emergency surgery on his mother.
The cost was $40,000.
But her condition was still critical.
The hospital had stabilized her temporarily. She had only thirty minutes left.
"Say what you need to say. You only have half an hour. Stop crying and get over there."
The nurses found it awkward watching a grown man wail on the floor.
Kayson was stunned.
"But I had no money for surgery. Did you treat her for free?" he asked, gratitude filling his chest.
"Are you kidding? Your wife, Sophia, transferred $100,000 just now.
She authorized us remotely via video to perform the surgery."
The two nurses spoke casually while filing their nails.
It wasn't that they were cold — they saw death every day and had grown used to it.
As Kayson's legal wife, Sophia had the authority to approve life-saving treatment.
Sophia.
His wife.
Thirty minutes.
A smile appeared on Kayson's face.
"She still cares about me," he whispered.
Though she rarely spoke to him, she had found the money.
She had remotely signed the authorization, giving his mother the emergency care she needed.
In doing so, Sophia had bought Kayson the precious time he needed to save her.
The doctors hadn't cured his mother,
but their emergency measures had given him half an hour —
more than enough for Kayson now.
Outside, the rain had just stopped, and colorful dawn light spread across the sky.
The sun rises in the east while rain falls in the west — one says there's no warmth, yet the warmth exists.
Kayson looked at the glowing sky and smiled in relief.
Thank you, my wife.
In this life, I shall stand beside you and share all glory.
Remembering his mother, Kayson rushed quickly to her bedside.