Chapter 212: Becoming a doctor
The line moved at a painfully slow pace, but Alex remained patient. He used the time to observe the cultivators around him, listening to their hushed conversations and absorbing every detail about the environment. Most of the people in this line wore worn out robes and carried anxious expressions, clearly struggling to make a living in this vast Genesis Realm.
After waiting for nearly an hour, Alex finally reached the front of the counter.
The registrar was a middle-aged man who looked thoroughly exhausted by his repetitive duties. He did not even look up when Alex stepped forward.
"Name?" the man asked mechanically.
"Alex," he replied calmly.
"Age and place of origin?"
"I have lost my memory. I only know my name," Alex said, repeating the story he had given to the guards at the entrance.
The registrar paused, finally raising his eyes to look at Alex. He seemed slightly surprised by Alex’s calm demeanor and striking appearance, which stood in stark contrast to the desperate cultivators he usually dealt with.
However, since Alex was only registering as a commoner, the man did not ask any further questions. No other documents or proofs were required for the lowest level of citizenship.
The man took out a blank gray token, placed it on a small formation inscribed on the desk, and gestured for Alex to inject a strand of his energy into it. Alex complied, sending a tiny, controlled wisp of his power into the device. The formation flashed briefly, embedding his unique energy signature into the stone.
The man was surprised when he saw that Alex was actually a grade 3 entity. Normally commoners were all grade 2 or below. But he was professional and didn’t ask anything furthur.
"Here is your commoner identity token," the registrar said, sliding the gray stone across the counter. "It grants you the right to reside in the city and access the public areas of the Origin Temple. Do not lose it."
Alex picked up the token, nodded politely, and walked away.
With his identity established, his immediate priority shifted to the next urgent issue. He needed money. Without Genesis Coins, he could not purchase a compatible cultivation technique, and his strength would remain stagnant.
He turned his gaze toward the massive floating sign that read Mission Hall and walked directly toward it.
The Mission Hall was even more crowded than the registration area. A massive crystal wall dominated the center of the hall, displaying thousands of rows of glowing text that constantly refreshed. Cultivators crowded around the wall, eagerly searching for tasks that matched their capabilities.
As Alex approached the board, he noticed that the missions were strictly categorized. There were all kinds of missions available. Some requested the culling of demonic monsters in the outer wilderness, while others involved gathering rare materials from dangerous environments. There were also missions dedicated to finding missing members of powerful families, and even tasks for exorcising ghosts and evil spirits that plagued the outskirts of the city.
Alex quickly noticed that the missions were graded from one to six.
According to the rules displayed on the side of the wall, only graded entities could take on those missions accordingly. A cultivator could not accept a mission that exceeded their own verified grade, a measure designed to prevent reckless deaths.
Alex focused his attention entirely on the grade three section of the mission board. He scrolled through the listings until a specific request caught his eye.
The mission required the healing of a patient who suffered from a strange affliction and could not be healed by ordinary means. The description noted that the family had exhausted their savings and could not afford anyone above grade three to look into the matter. The reward for successfully curing the patient was exactly ten Genesis Coins.
Looking at the other grade three missions, which mostly offered five or six coins for grueling and dangerous physical labor, Alex now understood how valuable those coins truly were. Ten coins for a single healing job was an exceptionally high reward for this level.
He did not hesitate. He walked to the nearby counter, showed his newly acquired identity token, and officially accepted the job. After receiving the address of the employer, Alex left the temple and stepped back into the bustling streets.
Following the map coordinates provided by the temple, Alex navigated away from the grand central district. He walked for nearly an hour, watching the architecture gradually shift from magnificent jade palaces to simple stone buildings. Eventually, he came to the eastern part of the city where the middle class civilians lived.
The atmosphere here was much quieter, filled with the sounds of everyday life rather than the intense pressure of powerful cultivators.
He found the specific house listed in the mission details. It was a modest, two-story stone structure with a small courtyard. Alex walked up to the wooden door and knocked. A worried-looking middle-aged woman opened the door, and after Alex showed her the mission scroll, her eyes lit up with a glimmer of hope. She quickly ushered him inside.
The woman led him to a small, dimly lit bedroom on the first floor.
There he would see an old man was lying on the bed, a grade two being. The man was incredibly frail, his skin pale and wrinkled, and his breathing was shallow and ragged.
Alex frowned slightly as he looked at the elderly man. He could clearly feel the dense, powerful nature of the old man’s core. Despite his physical weakness, his fundamental existence was that of a multiversal entity.
"What is going on? Is there lifespan for such beings? He is a multiversal being, how can he become old?" Alex asked, genuinely baffled by the sight. In the lower realms, reaching such a level of power meant absolute immortality and eternal youth.
The system answered his confusion immediately.
[Ding! Only beings of grade five can be called eternal. The rest have long lifespan but mortal.]
Alex swallowed hard. It was a terrifying information. The absolute truths he had believed in for so long were completely overturned in this higher realm. Even a being capable of destroying universes could still die of old age if they did not continue to break through their limits.
Calming his mind, Alex turned to the anxious housemembers standing by the door. "How did he end up in this state?"
The woman wiped a tear from her eye. "My father was exploring the outer valley a month ago when he was attacked by a demonic beast. He managed to kill it and return home, but he couldn’t be healed since then. His body has been wasting away every day. Many doctors came but they failed all the same. We have spent almost all our savings just trying to keep him alive."
Alex walked closer to the bed and extended his hand over the old man’s chest, closing his eyes to sense the energy within.
[Ding! He has been corroded with an evil element. Host should use partial Arch Angel transformation on his hand to use his Supreme healing power.]
Alex nodded and did the same. He knew the risks of showing too much power in an unfamiliar world. He didn’t use full transformation because that could attract attention from powerful entities or the temple itself.
Focusing his will, he restricted the transformation strictly to his right hand. Beneath his sleeve, his skin began to radiate a faint, pristine white glow, and a profound, holy aura concentrated entirely within his palm, completely hidden from the rest of the room.
Alex placed his glowing hand gently on the old man’s chest.
A healing light gushed from his hand and entered the old man’s body. The holy energy acted like a blazing sun entering a frozen wasteland.
Instantly a dark energy was vaporized and only then did he was healed. Black, foul-smelling smoke briefly drifted out of the old man’s pores before dissolving into nothingness under the influence of the pure light. The grey, deathly pallor on the old man’s face vanished, replaced by a healthy, ruddy complexion. His breathing instantly became deep and steady.
The old man’s eyes fluttered open, and he sat up on the bed, looking around in utter bewilderment. He looked at his own hands, feeling the strength that had suddenly returned to his body.
The family thanked him like he was god. The woman and her children fell to their knees, weeping tears of profound gratitude and bowing repeatedly toward Alex.
Judging by their reaction, doctors were very rare.
Alex maintained his calm demeanor, accepting the ten Genesis Coins from the overjoyed woman. As he placed the heavy, glittering coins into his pocket, a sudden realization struck him.
"I think have found my business idea here," he thought. Healing was clearly a highly valued and scarce skill in this realm, and his unique abilities allowed him to solve problems that local doctors found impossible.
As he walked out of the house and made his way back toward the bustling streets, Alex communicated with his system once more.
"System, monitor the surroundings from now on, and tell me if any Celestial rank talent holder ever enter my range. I’ll need to upgrade my talent."