Welcome to Ability Store

Chapter 256 - 255: Not Yet Extinguished

Blood Orange is a type of injury medicine that is always carried around.

Chen Xuan took out two and crushed them, applying them to her bullet wound. However, the white frost did not appear as usual, and there was no sign of healing on the wound.

"Blood Orange can only speed up recovery; it can’t bring someone back to life." Liu Shuyue also walked over, frowning, "If the body itself has lost its self-healing ability, pills won’t be very effective."

"Do you have better medicine?" Chen Xuan looked at her.

She shook her head regretfully, "Legend has it that the Treasure Vault of the Lotus Cloud Sect contains an Immortal Pill that can revive bones and reverse yin and yang, but no disciple has ever seen it. As for Pill Medicine Study... it’s not something I’m good at."

From the first transaction, she had given Pill Medicine Study to Chen Xuan as a bonus.

White level LV2, indicating that she indeed hasn’t delved much into this skill.

Now even if Liu Shuyue re-learned alchemy, her level would probably be the same as before the transaction.

"Do you think she’s still alive?" Lin Qing asked, somewhat incredulous.

"Yes... because her name is still recorded in the store." Chen Xuan replied truthfully, "Gildre was also a customer of this store, but his record has now disappeared."

"I see." Lin Qing immediately believed him, "So next... should we perform a rescue?"

She spoke hesitantly because, despite believing it, her extensive first aid knowledge had no record of how to save someone’s life when the injured person showed no signs of life.

This question reminded Chen Xuan. He immediately took out his phone and called Sun Suigong, the Dean of Beitian Academy.

"Hello, is this Dean Sun? I need a favor!"

There was a pause before he replied, "You little rascal, I thought you were calling to wish me a happy new year, but it turns out you only remember the old man when something happens? Oh well, your tone sounds urgent. Tell me, what do you need help with?"

Chen Xuan briefly explained the situation.

In simplified terms, it was this: multiple gunshot wounds, looks dead but isn’t actually dead, is there a way to save her?

After listening, Sun Suigong was also taken aback, "Wow... I should have known, if you can’t handle it, it’s definitely not a small matter. I won’t question how you got the gunshot wounds, but no matter how advanced Beitian Academy’s medicine is, we can’t bring the dead back to life. So, I can only treat her as someone who is almost dead but not yet dead. Coincidentally, we’ve recently been working with Dingsheng to develop a new treatment device. Would you like to bring the injured person over?"

Dingsheng? Is that the Dingsheng Pharmaceutical Company of the Gu Family?

"Alright, I’ll head over now." Chen Xuan had no choice but to try anything to save a desperate situation.

Taking a cab would be too slow, so he had Liu Shuyue carry Elorie using the Invisibility Talisman and the Wind Riding Talisman to fly over, while he and Lin Qing took a cab.

Half an hour later, when he arrived at Beitian Academy’s treatment room, he found that Elorie had already been placed inside a large glass tank.

The tank was filled with a pale yellow liquid, and bubbles continuously emerged from her body.

"You’ve arrived." Sun Suigong was chatting with Liu Shuyue, and upon seeing Chen Xuan enter, he waved, "Young man, your friend here is quite talented."

"You’re too kind." Liu Shuyue replied modestly.

"Ah, I never say things just to be polite."

Chen Xuan walked over and observed the tank, "What is this device?"

"It doesn’t have an official name yet, we temporarily call it the Sea of Life." Sun Suigong explained, "The sustenance liquid inside is a high-tech product. It can exchange oxygen with the alveoli when the body loses its self-breathing ability, and simulate the most suitable growth environment for cells to promote the recovery of injured areas. Of course... that’s not all it does; the ultimate goal of the project is to make it a nourishing bed for life, allowing cells or embryos to grow smoothly inside."

"I didn’t expect Beitian Academy to create something like this..." Chen Xuan expressed his surprise.

"What, did you think of me as a medicine farmer in the mountains, only knowing how to practice alchemy and pursue the Tao?" Sun Suigong disdained, "Medicine must always keep pace with the times. If you don’t understand the most cutting-edge technology, you’re not fit to be the heir of the Medicine Sect. In fact, you’re partially responsible for the creation of this thing."

Chen Xuan was puzzled, "My contribution?"

"The sustenance liquid is mixed with Blood Orange, which acts like a moderator that completely counteracts the side effects of some medications. Even the most delicate cells can survive in it for a long time."

It turned out to be like this.

However, he wasn’t too concerned about the composition of this thing. What he cared about was the life and death of his guest, "So, what about Elorie... the person in the tank?"

"Her name is Elorie, right? Miss Liu has already introduced her to me." Sun Suigong, with his hands behind his back, walked to the glass tank, "As I’ve said, the dead cannot be resurrected. In my opinion, she’s already dead. If you hadn’t requested it, I definitely wouldn’t have put a deceased person in the Sea of Life, because it would be pointless."

"But as long as she still has a breath left, this treatment can sustain her life, correct?"

"Correct." Sun Suigong sighed, "Even if the patient’s heart stops beating, and there’s no blood pressure, this liquid can replace the blood and provide the necessary oxygen and nutrients to the organs. Do you see those wires attached to her body? They monitor the nerve pulses, internal hormones, and any parameters that symbolize life. Unfortunately..."

He did not continue.

Chen Xuan knew what the other half of the sentence was, that all of Elorie’s parameters indicated she was beyond saving.

"For now... let’s leave it at that."

Chen Xuan was also somewhat unsure, could there be a delay in deleting the customer record? The incident with Elorie happened in another world, so it wouldn’t be surprising if the Ability Store’s information update was a bit slow.

"Alright." Sun Suigong didn’t try to persuade him, "The sustenance liquid is being renewed every second, and it costs about three million a day in medicinal materials. I won’t charge you, but the research progress can’t be delayed too long. How about treating for five days? If there’s no effect after five days, we’ll have to give up."

Chen Xuan was about to nod.

However, at that moment, a doctor stationed at the console suddenly gasped.

"Dean Sun! The DR5 electrode just detected a brain signal!"

"What?" Sun Suigong was greatly surprised, "It’s not interference?"

"No... another one! The brain wave image is out!"

The doctor’s shocked cry caused the other doctors to gather around.

"Is it possible?"

"Could she really come back to life?"

"All of you, move aside!" Dean Sun hurriedly pushed through the crowd to the console. Among the numerous displays of various sizes, one showed a clear change. While it was a chaotic waveform, it was far more vibrant compared to the other unchanged straight lines.

"What does this mean? Is it good news?" Chen Xuan asked.

"A deceased person does not have brain waves, so from this perspective, it is indeed good news. However..." Sun Suigong paused, then shifted his tone, "But this waveform is not the shape of a person awakening. No matter how weak, it should be complete. In my experience, this kind of brain wave does not produce true consciousness. In other words, it belongs to the unconscious discharge of nerve tissue, and such patients are usually referred to as vegetative."...

This went on for a week.

Chen Xuan took time every day to visit Elorie at Beitian Academy. Compared to seven days ago, the Angel’s condition showed significant improvement. Not only did the nerves begin to respond, the heart started to beat faintly, and various wounds on her body were healing. Due to concerns that removing the patient from the Sea of Life device might worsen her condition, Sun Suigong did not rush to operate to extract the bullets remaining in her body, but instead chose to continue observing.

As the dean said, Elorie’s body was undergoing self-repair, but she still hadn’t woken up. The fatal wound on her forehead reached deep into the skull, rendering the brain incomplete, and this part of the tissue lacks the ability to repair — it is unlike skin, blood vessels, or liver and other organs that continuously regenerate as long as there are enough nutrients.

The sustenance liquid could not change the underlying logic of genes. It could promote healing but could not add functions to cells that they inherently lack.

In these days, Chen Xuan also came to realize one thing.

Elorie’s survival was not due to her having a strong fate.

The key was her ability.

Previously, Chen Xuan had traded the Living Dead to Elorie, which was probably the reason she didn’t immediately perish. The Living Dead greatly reduces the requirement levels for survival factors like body temperature, oxygen, blood pressure... Even when the body is at twenty degrees and holding its breath underwater for thirty minutes, a living dead’s performance remains the same as a normal person.

If taken to the extreme... such as lowering it to ten degrees, cardiac arrest, severe blood loss, and complete oxygen cut-off?

The Living Dead wouldn’t last either, but it would extend the dying period long enough. Coupled with the Angel’s inherently strong physique, this made Elorie effectively a true Living Dead: appearing breathless, yet the flame of life never fully extinguished.