Chapter 3: Saving Genevieve

"I told you to be out in nine minutes, but you wouldn't listen!" Finnley heard a commotion in the bathroom. He sprinted to the door, seized the knob, and channeled a burst of inner strength into the handle. Bang! The lock blew apart, and the door swung open. Steam billowed. A lithe, flawless body lay motionless on the tiles. Finnley snatched up a white bath towel, wrapped Genevieve in it, and swept her into his arms, racing for the bedroom upstairs. … He laid Genevieve on the bed. Finnley bent over her at once.  His cultivation method kicked in on its own.  The True Energy he'd built up all afternoon surged to his right thumb. His finger darted like lightning across Genevieve's porcelain-smooth skin. A glance earlier had told him her liver energy was stagnating.  The bottled-up energy had ignited into heat, and it could rise to cloud her senses at any moment, causing her to pass out.  The stifling heat of the bathroom had acted as a natural catalyst for fainting. That was why he'd warned her. Too bad she hadn't listened… though maybe not such a bad thing. Time slipped by as he worked. The bloodless pallor in Genevieve's face slowly warmed to a healthy flush.  Her long lashes trembled. "Get some sleep. You haven't rested properly for a month. That's why your liver energy is stagnating," Finnley murmured.  "Besides, waking now would be awkward." He lifted his thumb and pressed lightly to her neck. Genevieve's eyes, just beginning to open, drifted shut again.  She sank back into deep sleep. Finnley studied her breathtaking face.  Scenes from two years ago rose unbidden: a café, a library, a cinema, an amusement park… He smiled, and his gaze dropped to the towel-draped swell of Genevieve's chest. He sighed.  "Your breasts get swollen and sore before your period. That must hurt. Let me help." "As long as no one sees, I'm not practicing medicine illegally." His thumb brimmed with True Energy again. His thumb moved to the fourth intercostal space on the chest, the Lower Chest Acupoint, and the ST36 Acupoint. … Ten minutes later. "She's a regular officer, yet possesses martial force. Did she come from a military background? Or from a martial family?"  Finnley frowned at the condition of Genevieve's musculature, surprised. "All right. In for a penny, in for a pound." "I'll help her break through to the Transformative Realm. She has been stuck in the Dark Realm for a long time." He continued the treatment. This time, he flooded his right hand with True Energy and placed it on Genevieve's wrist. Then other joints: elbow, shoulder, neck… "Done." The True Energy he'd accumulated through his inherited method all afternoon emptied in an instant.  Finnley went pale and sagged against the mattress, eyes fixed on Genevieve. Then something strange happened. A fine, wavering thread, shining with a mysterious gold light, rose from Genevieve's body. "The Merit Golden Thread is real!" His heart gave a jolt, his eyes bright as starlight. In the memories of his lineage, the ancient masters had a thousand ways to cultivate.  His family came from the divine healers, the legendary pioneers of traditional medicine, who cultivated their skills by saving lives, punishing the wicked, and championing the good, thereby accruing merit.  Their method was called the Merit Training Method. It granted a privilege unique to the divine healer line.  Besides cultivation, like other methods, they could also obtain Merit Golden Threads through punishing the wicked and championing the good. The Merit Golden Thread had immense uses.  It improved one's cultivation, enhanced efficacy, and certain talismans and immortal arts required it to function correctly. Finnley reached out to grasp the golden thread.  The instant his fingertip touched it, the thread melted into him. Heat surged through him at once. His limbs and bones felt reforged.  His body turned light, and his senses sharpened.  He even heard the faint drip of water in the downstairs bathroom corner. He began circulating his True Energy. True Energy in the air around him stirred and rushed toward him.  In a blink, a tenth of the True Energy he had burned away returned. "One single Merit Golden Thread can speed up cultivation this much?" "I wonder how many Merit Golden Threads I'll earn by bringing Khester Pharmaceuticals to justice." "Tomorrow, I need to get my medical license first. With that, I can practice medicine and earn Merit Golden Threads." "Moreover, I can keep chasing the dream of becoming a great physician that I never achieved in my last life." … Morning light filtered through the gauzy curtains in thin strands. Genevieve's eyes flew open.  She sat up fast, scanning the room, alert. A second later, she froze. She was wearing a black silk robe.  Her last memory was of stepping into the shower, naked. Then she spotted a note on the pillow. "Officer Genevieve, good morning. I left you breakfast. You should wake at seven-thirty. With thirty minutes to spare, you won't be late for work. "I'm heading out to take the medical license exam. Wish me luck. As for last night, it was nothing. No need to thank me." "Also, no need to prepare lunch. After the exam, I'm going to the hospital to check on the patients who took my medicine and had serious complications." "I'll come back this evening. Don't worry about me running away. Here's my new phone number." Genevieve came fully awake.  She remembered she had fainted in the bathroom, right at the nine-minute mark after stepping into the shower. Exactly as Finnley had said. He had been right to warn her. She grabbed her phone and checked the time. Her pupils tightened. I was at 7:30 am. He had nailed the time she would wake up, too. Finnley not only knew the exact moment she would pass out, but he also knew the minute she would wake.  He had even controlled when she would come to. There was no time to be shocked.  The key question was why she was in a robe. Her phone's ringtone chimed. Genevieve glanced at the screen.  Harlan was calling. She answered at once. "The suspect confessed. You nailed it! The killer was a third party!"  Harlan's voice crackled with excitement. "I'm on my way!" Genevieve leaped up, then froze again.  She stared at her perfect, ivory skin. The vague discomfort that had dogged her body had vanished. She felt healthier and more energized than ever. That wasn't the point. The point was that her inner strength flowed evenly throughout her entire body.  What had once been confined to a few areas was now everywhere, even down to her bones. "Did I reach the Transformative Realm?" Genevieve's eyes widened. Advancing from the Dark Realm to the Transformative Realm was a major threshold for a martial artist.  She had been stuck in the Dark Realm for three years. "Could it be…" Finnley's handsome face flickered through her mind, and she went blank for a heartbeat.  Her hidden ailments were gone, she had broken through to the Transformative Realm, and she was wearing a robe.  What on earth had happened last night? … Ten-thirty in the morning. Musmeynia College of Traditional Medicine. Medical license exam room one. Finnley stood before five examiners with an easy smile. Four men and one woman sat in a row at the center of the classroom. They studied the score sheets in their hands and frowned in unison. "This candidate is reapplying after a medical license revocation…" First-time candidates take three assessments, and their score sheets are divided into three categories.  A reapplicant after revocation faces only two assessments.  First was Body Diagnosis. To see whether the candidate still has a solid medical foundation. Second was analysis. To see whether the candidate can still perform. Finnley's scoring sheet had only two assessments, which meant his medical license was revoked. There were only two common reasons for revocation: medical ethics problems or a criminal offense. Finnley's medical ethics were questionable, and he even showed up dressed casually. The five examiners exchanged glances without a word. The understanding in their eyes was clear. They decided to let Finnley fail the exam. Finnley caught the examiner's expression and smirked. If he had repeated the event in his past life, he would undoubtedly have failed the exam. If he wanted to pass, he couldn't play by the book.