Was John Lopez really the Master of Clouds?
To Mr. Kurds and Mr. Wood, it was like being struck by lightning. The revelation stunned them.
Impossible!
The Master of Clouds had risen to fame six or seven years ago. At that time, wasn't John just a teenager?
Could there truly be such a genius in the world?
This was beyond belief.
Yet the evidence was right before them.
Mr. Kurds's eyes fell on the painting. The ink was still wet—it had been freshly drawn.
There was no denying it.
John Lopez was the Master of Clouds.
There truly were prodigies in the world!
Overwhelmed, Mr. Kurds stood up and grasped John's hands tightly. "Mr. Lopez… Master of Clouds… I never imagined someone so young could possess such unmatched talent. The Lopez Family truly raises geniuses!"
Coming from the alliance director of the State of New York, this was the highest praise.
John, however, accepted the compliment with serene indifference. He merely smiled, unaffected by the awe surrounding him.
Mr. Wood, meanwhile, was still frozen in place, unable to process what he had just learned.
Who exactly was Mr. Lopez?
A genius doctor.
A martial artist.
Now the famed Master of Clouds?
He was so overwhelmed that if someone now told him John was the legendary King of Horizon, he'd probably believe it without question.
It was all just… too incredible.
At that moment, Emily emerged from her room, startled by the excited voices. "Dad? Uncle Kurds? What's going on? Why are you both so worked up?"
But when her eyes landed on the painting laid out on the tea table, her expression shifted. She blinked, stunned, and then frowned in embarrassment.
It wasn't that she recognized the style of the Master of Clouds.
It was the subject of the painting.
The flowing lines revealed the elegant outline of a curvaceous female figure—subtle, tasteful, but undeniably sensual.
It was clearly a little joke from John.
Emily's expression twisted in disgust. Without saying a word, she picked up a piece of fruit from the table and turned to head back to her room, shaking her head in disbelief.
Really? she thought. These two men—one a family patriarch, the other a state-level official—and they're sitting here gawking at that kind of painting? Aren't they ashamed?
She even worried that Mr. Lopez might be corrupted by their bad influence.
In the living room, Mr. Kurds was puzzled. "Why did Emily give us that look?"
Mr. Wood scratched his head. "Huh? You don't think…"
Their eyes turned back to the painting at the same time.
And then it hit them.
They immediately understood her reaction.
"Emily! Don't misunderstand!" Mr. Kurds called out, flustered. "We're studying art! Real art!"
Bang!
The bedroom door slammed shut in response.
A complete misunderstanding.
But the awkwardness didn't last long. Mr. Kurds's phone suddenly rang, and when he answered it, his expression changed immediately.
Mr. Wood noticed. "What's wrong?"
"It's my father," Mr. Kurds said urgently. "He was getting an acupuncture treatment—something went wrong. A needle got stuck in his muscle, and it won't come out!"
As he spoke, his eyes instinctively turned to John.
Wasn't there a master physician right here?
John read his look and smiled. "Let's go."
"Thank you, Mr. Lopez!"
Despite knowing John's identity as the Master of Clouds, both Mr. Kurds and Mr. Wood still preferred calling him "Mr. Lopez"—out of habit, and respect.
The situation was urgent. They quickly headed to the Kurds Family estate.
The atmosphere there was tense. Family members were pacing anxiously, and the attending doctor was visibly panicked.
After all, the patient was the father of the State of New York's alliance director—and the doctor had left a needle embedded in his leg. It was a serious mistake.
When Mr. Kurds arrived, the doctor stood frozen in fear.
But the moment he saw John enter, he gasped, eyes wide with recognition.
"Grandmaster!"
The doctor was Marvin Phillips, a disciple of the renowned Holbrook Davis. Ever since Holbrook had accepted John as his teacher, Marvin had regarded John as his own grandmaster.
Everyone turned in confusion.
Grandmaster?
They all looked toward John, the only unfamiliar face in the room.
Was he the grandmaster Marvin spoke of?
Their surprise deepened.
But Mr. Kurds wasn't surprised at all. He already knew—within the medical community, John was respected as a great master.
John walked up to Marvin. "Explain the situation."
He remembered Marvin. When John's second sister's Feazer Medical Clinic had been under pressure for Julian's sake, Marvin had spoken up kindly on her behalf. John had appreciated that.
Marvin quickly summarized: "Everything was fine during treatment. But when I tried to remove the needle, the muscle contracted suddenly—it bent the needle, and I couldn't extract it…"
John examined the patient's leg. The needle was visibly bent, embedded in the outer side of the left calf.
He immediately saw the problem.
Marvin had forgotten to relax the patient's muscles before pulling the needle. The resulting cramp had made things worse—more force only bent the needle further and locked it in place.
Mr. Kurds asked nervously, "Mr. Lopez, is it serious?"
"It's just a small issue," John replied casually.
With a flick of his wrist, he took a silver needle from Marvin and swiftly inserted it into a key acupoint on the patient's thigh.
In an instant, the thigh muscle tensed, while the lower leg relaxed. John gently pulled.
The stuck needle slid out with ease.
"The thigh and calf muscles must be counterbalanced," John explained. "One tightens, the other loosens. That's the key."
Marvin's eyes lit up with admiration.
Watching the master work and explain his technique so clearly was both humbling and enlightening. His respect for John grew even deeper.