Lord Seventh continued, "Even though the poison is troublesome to deal with, it is but a minor issue. The crux is your pinned meridians. If the nails are removed all of a sudden, your meridians will be unable to withstand your internal energy. You are unwilling to rid yourself of your martial arts, so it will take much effort to treat it, and I’m afraid that it is arduous to endure. However…”

He smiled. Looking at Zhou Zishu, he said, “While others might not be able to survive it, I feel that you might be able to give it a try.”

The Shaman picked up where he left off. "We need someone with immense martial power, who can sever all your meridians in one instant--you can do this yourself too."

Hearing this, Gu Xiang, Cao Weining, and Zhang Chengling were shocked into stillness. Gu Xiang asked falteringly, "Once all his meridians are...severed, won't he die?"

The Great Shaman lifted his head to look at her. He did not deny it, but said, “There is indeed such a possibility. However, with how immense Manor Lord Zhou’s martial power is, he will not die immediately. In this period of time, as long as someone preserves his meridians…”

Wen Kexing asked, "Do you mean that we can reconstruct his meridians?"

The Great Shaman nodded.

Wen Kexing’s eyes brightened. He asked, "Will you be able to do it?"

The Great Shaman paused. Always very careful with his words, he never made overt promises. He said, "If I operate alone, I have a thirty-percent confidence of success. But this still depends on…whether the Manor Lord can hold out through it."

“Thirty-percent…” Wen Kexing’s brow creased. “Only thirty-percent?”

The Great Shaman nodded. “Pardon my lack of expertise.”

Yet, Zhou Zishu laughed out loud, the last of the gloom clearing from his face. “Fine, forget thirty-percent, I’ll be willing to take my chances even if it’s ten-percent. Anyway, it’s no big loss.”

He kept the small medicine bottle, and solemnly saluted the Great Shaman and Lord Seventh with his palm over his fist. “Many thanks.”

The Great Shaman did not express much in reply--he merely nodded briefly, as though he had not presented someone with a bottle of life-saving medicine, but two mantous instead. On the other hand, Lord Seventh smiled and said, “What do you have to thank him for? If you do not let him repay the favour that we owe you from those years back, Wu Xi, this silly lad, will not be able to live out his life in peace.”

The Great Shaman glanced at him, but did not refute it. He said, "Reconstructing your meridians will not be that easy. I will need a place of extreme cold, and you may be left with some vulnerability to frost. However, as you regain your martial abilities and attend to your health habitually, it should not be a problem.”