Chapter 743
Chapter 743
According to ancient records, this jewel was called the Nightmare Stone. This was because many ancient humans used it to stimulate their nerves and brains, and one of its side effects was frequent nightmares. Thus, everyone stopped calling the jewel by its original name and dubbed it the Nightmare Stone instead. The ancient records contained forty to fifty thousand words about this Nightmare Stone, along with hundreds of illustrations. But what Shen Lang needed now was a way to save Ning Yuanxian. He read through tens of thousands more words before finally finding two possible methods.
The first method was to strengthen Ning Yuanxian's body. By doing so, he could awaken on his own. For example, if this Nightmare Stone were used on Mulan, it wouldn't cause any harm and would, in fact, make her stronger. But Shen Lang couldn't strengthen Ning Yuanxian. First, he didn't have a second Marrow Cleansing Crystal. Moreover, even if he found one, Ning Yuanxian was not someone who had undergone a bloodline transformation. What did it mean to have a transformed bloodline? It was akin to reverting to a primitive state. Among the people of this world, those with special bloodlines manifested certain traits of ancient humans, like Wudaozi and Mulan. However, Ning Yuanxian was definitely not one of them, so the Marrow Cleansing Crystal would have no effect on him.
The second method was to modify the Nightmare Stone itself. The Nightmare Stone itself was a good thing, created in the ancient world to enhance thought and nerves. It had also evolved into an object with other uses. For example, severing memories or even healing the brain. When humans suffer severe physical trauma or oxygen deprivation to the brain, they can lose consciousness or fall into a vegetative state. This is a challenge even in modern medicine. Television and newspapers often report cases of people waking from vegetative states, calling them miracles, but they are called miracles precisely because they are so rare. In reality, the vast majority of people in a vegetative state never wake up, and modern medicine has no effective treatment, leaving it as a blank space in the field.
However, ancient humans used the Nightmare Stone to treat people in vegetative states with remarkable success. This meant the Nightmare Stone could be modified into a device that could control energy waves. When the Nightmare Stone emitted strong, stimulating energy waves, it could instantly paralyze a person's nerves and brain, but by emitting a different kind of energy wave, it could strengthen them. It could even emit extremely sharp, localized energy waves to erase memories from a specific area of the brain. Furthermore, it could be modified to emit energy waves that would stimulate someone in a vegetative state to awaken.
In any case, the ancient records described over fifteen different properties of the Nightmare Stone, making it sound almost like an electronic device. But that wasn't the case at all; there was nothing science-fictional about it. The device's components were all various types of jewels, along with hundreds of special metal slivers. It felt more like something out of fantasy than science. Regardless, according to the records, Shen Lang had to modify this Nightmare Stone to save Ning Yuanxian.
Shen Lang had tried to disassemble it using physical force, but each time, the Nightmare Stone's self-destruct mechanism activated. And the ancient records clearly stated that the Nightmare Stone had to be dismantled in a special environment. What kind of special environment? It referred to a special magnetic field. As everyone knew, both Earth and this world had magnetic fields. However, neither was the right environment for dismantling this Nightmare Stone. According to the ancient records, it could only be dismantled in one place: the ancient ruins.
The magnetic field there was different from that of the outside world. Moreover, one couldn't just force it apart. Doing so would inevitably trigger the self-destruct mechanism, so a special method was required. For example, stimulating a certain part of the Nightmare Stone with a special electric current would cause it to automatically disassemble. So, where in this world could Shen Lang find such a current? Generate electricity through friction? Static electricity wouldn't be enough. Summon lightning? That current would be too strong. But for Shen Lang, this was no problem at all; in fact, he could solve it easily. Using pieces of copper, iron, copper wire, and a cooked potato, he could make a potato battery. Of course, if there were no potatoes, a sweet potato would suffice.
***
When Jiang Li faced Shen Lang again, he was stunned. He had never seen Shen Lang look like this. His beard was overgrown, his hair was a mess, and he had dark circles under his eyes. The Shen Lang of the past had always been meticulously groomed, almost to an excessive degree. He recalled when Shen Lang had come to the Southern Kingdom to negotiate, dressed immaculately without a speck of dust, holding a parasol, and wearing homemade sunscreen. In contrast, the Shen Lang before him now was a mess.
"I need several cooked sweet potatoes. And I need to go to the ancient ruins beneath the Cave of Ten Thousand Snakes."
"I'll get the key."
"That won't be necessary. Just outside the ruin's gate will be enough; we don't need to go inside. I just need the special magnetic environment of the ancient ruins."
"I see. But are you sure you don't want to go in? I've been very eager to take you inside."
"Next time. I really don't have the time right now."
***
Two hours later.
Shen Lang and Jiang Li once again stood before the gate to the ancient ruins beneath the Cave of Ten Thousand Snakes. Shen Lang hadn't paid much attention when he was here before, but now he could feel that the air and magnetic field were unique, calming one's mind like still water.
"I'll wait for you on the other side of that bridge," Jiang Li said.
"That won't be necessary. It would be better for you to observe this process, Brother Jiang. It will help you gain a deeper understanding of ancient civilization."
"Very well!"
Then, Shen Lang began what looked like a magic show. He quickly fashioned a sweet potato battery and then used a metal skewer to stimulate several points on the Nightmare Stone. The sequence of stimulating these points had to be exact. Any mistake would not only fail to disassemble the stone but also trigger its self-destruct mechanism. It was essentially the password to dismantle the Nightmare Stone. The ancient records described a hundred types of Nightmare Stones, each with a different disassembly password. Shen Lang could only pray that the Nightmare Stone before him used a factory-set password and not one that could be privately changed. Otherwise, all his efforts would be for naught.
As if his prayers were answered, the Nightmare Stone shifted slightly and automatically disassembled, finally revealing its internal structure. It was a dense, beautiful, and intricate structure. Jiang Li watched, mesmerized. Who would have thought the inside of this jewel, less than an inch in diameter, could be so exquisite and complex? Shen Lang, too, couldn't help but marvel at it. When he first used his X-ray vision, he couldn't see inside the Nightmare Stone, so it had looked like an ordinary red jewel. If the scan had worked, Shen Lang would have known long ago that this was an extraordinary object. Inside the Nightmare Stone, over a hundred different jewels were densely packed together, connected by various metal slivers. The most commonly used were slivers of gold and platinum.
Shen Lang took a deep breath and took out a microscope he had made himself. Its magnification wasn't as powerful as a modern microscope from Earth, but it was sufficient for the current situation. He put on gloves and, using a special pair of wooden tweezers, began to modify the Nightmare Stone. He intended to convert this Nightmare Stone, once used by ancient humans to enhance nerves and thought, into a therapeutic version that could awaken someone from a vegetative state and stimulate their brain.
The entire process wasn't difficult, but it required approximately seven hundred eighty-nine operations, and every step had to be flawless. Many of the internal metal slivers and jewels were only about a millimeter in size. Fortunately, Shen Lang was a renowned physician, and many of the surgeries he had performed required even greater precision. Modifying this Nightmare Stone was, at the very least, simpler than suturing a nerve.
Jiang Li held his breath, watching Shen Lang's every move with utter admiration. It was like performing a complex operation inside a snail's shell. Despite not having slept for days, Shen Lang's hands didn't even tremble.
A full three hours later, Shen Lang completed the modification of the Nightmare Stone.
"Brother Jiang, haven't you still been unable to decipher the ancient records you possess?"
"Her Majesty Jiang Li deciphered a hundred volumes, but the rest remain undeciphered. For now, our Great Southern Kingdom need only digest the ancient records Her Majesty has already translated."
"I have deciphered several of them. When I have time, I will transcribe them into text and diagrams and send them to you."
"Thank you."
After modifying the Nightmare Stone, Shen Lang reassembled the now-therapeutic device. It once again took the form of a complete jewel. Jiang Li held it in his hand and examined it closely, but couldn't find even the slightest crack.
"Her Majesty Jiang Li's ideal was to liberate the wisdom of the people, increase productivity, and extensively develop ancient civilization so that the people of the world could lead better lives. Yet, some sought to seal it all away, keep the populace ignorant, and were desperate to turn everyone in the world into primitives."
***
As soon as they returned to the capital of the Great Southern Kingdom, Shen Lang asked Jiang Li.
"Brother Jiang, do you have any patients like that here? Someone who is alive, whose heart is beating and who is breathing, but who never wakes up, falling into a deeper sleep each day."
Jiang Li nodded.
"We do!"
A short while later, Shen Lang was startled by the person who appeared before him.
'Such a powerfully built man?'
Of course, the man was now extremely emaciated, just skin and bones, and his muscles had atrophied from being asleep for so long. But his frame was astonishingly large, and his height was no less than Big Dummy's—he was a veritable giant.
"His name is Sha Dun. He was the greatest warrior and gladiator of the Western Regions. In the arena, he killed countless ferocious beasts. He could have continued to live in glory, but one day, his body underwent a drastic change and collapsed. His muscles and tendons twisted, not only making it impossible for him to fight anymore but also turning him into a hideously ugly creature."
Doesn't that story sound familiar? Yes. It was just like Chou Duhuan's story.
"Eventually, he was cast out and became a beggar. He was utterly miserable, but he couldn't die, no matter what. Later, Grand Preceptor Sha Yin found him and cured his strange illness, after which he became the mightiest general under my command. He may not be on par with your sworn brother, Big Dummy, but on the battlefield, the difference in their strength wouldn't be that great. But about two years ago, while fending off an enemy infiltration, he was surrounded by dozens of masters and severely injured. Grand Preceptor Sha Yin saved him again, but he never woke up."
"He's in a vegetative state."
"That term is remarkably accurate."
"Then who were the ones who infiltrated and launched the surprise attack?"
"Men from the Blackwater Terrace and the South Sea Sword Sect."
Ugh. That was awkward. About two years ago, Ning Yuanxian had used every means at his disposal to assassinate Jiang Li, mobilizing dozens of masters, but they were nearly all wiped out. So, in a way, Ning Yuanxian was responsible for Sha Dun falling into a vegetative state.
"This man also possesses one of Her Majesty Jiang Li's special bloodlines. Just like Nanpo, Chou Duhuan, Duo Da, and Duo Yi."
Jiang Li nodded.
"Her Majesty Jiang Li is no longer with us, but she fell from the sky like a star, shattered, and scattered across this world. Yet every fragment is like a rare treasure."
"Now, I will use this modified Nightmare Stone to awaken Sha Dun."
If it succeeded, it meant he could also save Ning Yuanxian. But if it failed...