Sect Master Ma seemed to sense the tension between the two, but instead of being concerned, a faint hint of delight appeared on his face. "Although young Doctor Han is young, his medical skills are absolutely superb. I'm sure Elder Li will be brought back from the brink of death." He suddenly began to praise Han Li's medical arts.
"Is that so? So young, yet with such high skill? I hardly believe it. Could he be even better than Doctor Mo?" This elder was also of a fiery temperament; goaded by the other, he fell for the trap and, without thinking, voiced his disbelief right in front of Han Li.
As soon as these words left his mouth, the family members standing nearby were thrown into a difficult position. Agreeing was out of the question—they were counting on this young prodigy doctor to save them with an antidote! But openly refuting the elder also seemed inappropriate, after all, he was close friends with Elder Li and a senior to most of them.
"Heh heh! Elder Zhao, you must not know. Young Doctor Han is Doctor Mo's prized disciple, and his skills have already surpassed his master's, far exceeding Doctor Mo's." Sect Master Ma, secretly delighted, added more fuel to the fire.
"He's just a kid, barely into his teens. Even if he started learning in the womb, how good could his medicine be? I still don't believe it. I'd need to see it with my own eyes." Elder Zhao shook his head vigorously like a fan, still unaware he had walked into a trap and offended someone he shouldn't have. He seemed like a rash individual—yet it was puzzling how such a person had managed to keep his high position as an elder without being ousted.
Han Li, listening from the side, rolled his eyes internally. Does my skill need your validation? He knew this was Sect Master Ma deliberately goading the other into saying it, but he still felt a little vexed.
It was obvious this Elder Zhao and Sect Master Ma belonged to different factions, with a hint of hostility between them.
"Elder Zhao's Perfect Round Hand technique is truly practiced to perfection—its power is boundless!" Sect Master Ma, seeing a look of displeasure on Han Li's face, felt even more delighted. He abruptly changed the subject and dropped a cryptic, pointed remark.
"Hmph! How can it compare to the purity of Sect Master Ma's Dark Yin Finger?" Elder Zhao, seemingly indifferent to the other's status as Sect Master, retorted without courtesy, his expression stern.
"Haha! Elder Zhao flatters me."
Sect Master Ma was clearly the type to hide a blade behind a smile. He paid no mind to the veiled sarcasm in Elder Zhao's words, smilingly accepting the insincere compliment with equanimity.
Elder Zhao was no stranger to such situations, but he felt helpless. Unwilling to entangle further with such a thick-skinned opponent, he fell silent. Still, he was secretly baffled as to why Sect Master Ma had suddenly made such a remark at this moment. After all, while they were from different factions, it was the first time Sect Master Ma had so openly exposed upper-level conflicts in front of so many juniors. He wondered what scheme lay behind it.
Hearing these pointed exchanges, Han Li's expression didn't change in the slightest; he pretended to know nothing. But he understood perfectly well that Sect Master Ma was once again trying to sow discord between him and the other high-ranking members.
Since his first interaction with Sect Master Ma, the latter had repeatedly tried to hint and probe, hoping to recruit this brilliantly skilled young doctor into his own faction to bolster his own influence.
But Han Li had no intention of getting involved in the power struggles of the Seven Mysteries Sect.
It wasn't out of arrogance, but because since encountering experts like Doctor Mo and Yu Zitong—especially after mastering two magical techniques—his horizons had unknowingly expanded. He long since looked down on the petty power struggles of a minor sect like the Seven Mysteries Sect. Even if he were to become a great man who couldn't be without power for a day, he would never stoop to serve under someone like Sect Master Ma.