Chapter 2201: Zhang Xuan's Medical Competition

"President Liao, during the last spiritual tide, I sustained some hidden injuries. As a physician myself, over the past decade, I've consumed countless medicines and studied countless books, but nothing ever worked!"

Seeing their confusion, a middle-aged physician from the side explained, "In the past two years, the hidden injuries spread and worsened. I thought I had reached my limit and couldn't hold on any longer... Then, a few days ago, someone bought him a Beauty Pill and gave it to him. He didn't think much of it, but to his surprise, after taking it, the pervasive hidden injuries in his body gradually recovered! He then asked others to buy more, and after ten pills, not only were his injuries completely healed, but his lifespan also seemed to have increased significantly... So, it's no exaggeration to say you saved his life!"

Zhang Xuan understood.

The principle behind the Beauty Pill was that it contained his Heaven's Path zhenqi, which effortlessly repaired the hidden injuries. Once the injuries healed, his vitality improved, and his lifespan was naturally extended.

"The injuries I studied for so long and couldn't cure were easily resolved by your pill. Doesn't that mean your medical skills far surpass mine?" Liao Xin asked.

"Well... if you see it that way, it's fine!" Zhang Xuan wanted to be modest, but after thinking about it, it was indeed true, so he reluctantly nodded.

Heaven's Path zhenqi could cure most common illnesses. For those it couldn't cure, there was little hope.

Admitting that his medical skills were inferior to others was something he truly couldn't say; just thinking about it made him blush!

Being excellent was just like that... there was no other way.

The thought alone gave him a headache.

"Alright then, I'll send a message back now to arrange for the token you need to use the Great Teleportation Formation!" Liao Xin said.

He had come to challenge the Physician Guild of Phantom City, but normally, he wouldn't need to come in person. The reason he hurried over was to meet Master Apothecary Zhang Xuan and personally express his gratitude.

Since the other party had a request, agreeing to it would be a way to repay the kindness.

Just as Liao Xin took out a special communication jade token, intending to send a message, another elder walked out of the room and quickly waved his hand, "President, you can't..."

"Vice President Wang, why not?" Liao Xin frowned.

The person who arrived was Wang Fei, the Vice President of the Physician Guild of Cloud Chi City.

"Alchemy is alchemy, and medicine is medicine; they cannot be confused!" Wang Fei quickly stated.

Although he admitted that the Beauty Pills refined by the young man before them were unparalleled, alchemy was still alchemy. No matter how powerful, it couldn't be equated with medical skill.

Medical skill involved diagnosing and treating the root cause of illness, while alchemy combined medicines through special methods solely to enhance their efficacy. The two were fundamentally different and could not be compared.

If they helped arrange this token today, it would be akin to admitting that their medical skills were inferior to this young man's. Should he make a mistake, President Liao Xin's lifelong reputation would likely be ruined.

"President, please reconsider!"

Immediately after, more people walked out.

The five physicians from Cloud Chi Heaven were now all present.

"He saved my life, and I was planning to retire anyway. At worst, I'll just stop treating people from now on... Enough said, my mind is made up!"

Liao Xin waved his hand.

Although he admitted that Zhang Xuan's pill was indeed unparalleled, deep down, like everyone else, he believed that while Zhang Xuan was skilled in alchemy, his medical expertise might not match his own.

He agreed simply to repay the life-saving kindness.

Compared to his life, a damaged reputation was insignificant.

"How about this? Isn't there a medical skill competition? Since I'm already here, there's no harm in competing!"

Understanding their concerns, Zhang Xuan wasn't angry.

It was normal for him to be doubted, being so young and having only recently arrived in the God Realm.

"You want a medical skill competition?" Liao Xin frowned.

"Might as well!" Zhang Xuan said calmly.

"This..." Seeing his resolute attitude, Liao Xin nodded, "A medical skill competition consists of four steps: observation, listening, inquiry, and palpation. For each step, you must write down your judgment, then diagnose the ailment, prescribe a remedy, and finally see if it targets the disease effectively!"

Zhang Xuan nodded.

He had previously wondered about the medical skill competition, but now it seemed similar to a regular diagnosis, except...

"What about the patients? Are they just left to endure pain, waiting for the competition, instead of being treated?" Zhang Xuan frowned.

That would not be the heart of a compassionate healer, but rather treating patients as bargaining chips for fame.

It completely violated the professional ethics and conduct a physician should uphold.

"Of course not..."

Liao Xin looked at him with a hint of surprise. "You... don't know about medical skill competitions?"

This person, who proposed the competition, actually knew nothing about it?

He had initially thought that admitting defeat would be repaying a favor, and even if the other party's medical skills weren't as good as his own, someone who could refine Beauty Pills shouldn't be too bad. But now... it seemed that wasn't the case at all.

If he didn't even know about medical skill competitions, then his medical skills were probably not just slightly inferior, but... nonexistent!

"Medical skill competitions are a method devised by the top medical experts of the Nine Heavens to evaluate medical proficiency, primarily relying on the Medical Path Stone!" Seeing that he truly didn't know, Liao Xin shook his head helplessly and explained.

It seemed Vice President Wang's concerns were valid.

This person's medical skills were probably not great; otherwise, who with excellent medical skills wouldn't know about medical skill competitions?

"Medical Path Stone?"

"It's a special treasure that can record a patient's true physical data and create illusory projections for physicians to examine and question. As long as you can provide the most accurate prescription, the 'illness' on the projection will also recover!"

As Liao Xin spoke, a stone appeared before him, and he lightly tapped it.

With a soft hum, ten figures suddenly appeared before them.

They were illusory projections formed by a special formation.

Each one looked sickly, as if suffering from a severe illness that, if not treated promptly, could lead to immediate death.

"The illnesses of these ten figures are difficult and complex diseases recently discovered and cured within the Nine Heavens, as well as cases from hundreds or thousands of years ago, replicated through special means. They are identical to real patients, allowing you to use the four methods—observation, listening, inquiry, and palpation—to determine the cause and devise a remedy."

Liao Xin explained a bit more, seeming to notice Zhang Xuan's concern, and added, "Don't worry, these ailments cover both ancient and modern times, and some are even intertwined. It's impossible for anyone to memorize all of them! Furthermore, each time power is infused, the figures that appear are completely different from before, so memorizing answers won't be possible."

Zhang Xuan nodded.

Treating illnesses wasn't like memorizing exam questions. Even seemingly identical symptoms required different approaches to medication based on individual physique and gender.

For this reason, Zhang Xuan had been concerned that someone might have memorized the patients' characteristics and treatment methods in advance and simply recited them. Now, it seemed that wouldn't be so easy.

Although experts in the God Realm possessed powerful memories, there were countless diseases from thousands, even tens of thousands of years ago. Coupled with the lack of historical data, it would certainly not be easy to fully investigate and remember them all—in fact, it would be impossible!

Liao Xin said, "Since you know the rules, let's begin! The rule is to diagnose these illusory figures. After each step, write down your conjectures. Once observation, listening, inquiry, and palpation are complete, write down the prescription and hand it to the other party. If the prescription matches the previously successful treatment plan for the illness, the illusory figure's symptoms will completely resolve. If there's an error, a corresponding result will appear!"

Zhang Xuan nodded, placed his hand on the Medical Path Stone, and with a light touch, the ten illusory figures above indeed changed completely, becoming entirely different from before.

"Begin!"

As he spoke, two physicians handed over paper and pens. Liao Xin took two steps toward the first illusory figure and examined it carefully.

As a physician, "observation" was the first step: purposefully observing the patient's spirit, complexion, form, posture, tongue, etc., to gauge the internal pathological changes.

Seeing him approach one side of the ten figures, Zhang Xuan walked to the other side.

He quickly scanned all the figures and had already deduced most of their conditions.

He moved to the very center and softly called out, "Defects!"

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Ten books appeared in his mind.

Although he had already deduced the causes and symptoms of the ten figures' illnesses from the first step alone, he was still not at ease. He used the Library of Heaven's Path to double-check if his deductions were correct.

Since it involved getting to Spirit Origin Heaven as soon as possible to find Luo Ruoxi, he didn't want to waste any more time.

Although the figures before him were mere illusions, since they involved actual illnesses, the Library of Heaven's Path indeed provided the defects present in the patients. After a quick glance, he confirmed that they were almost identical to his own deductions, and only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.

Although he hadn't studied much of the medical arts of the God Realm, he was the most formidable medical master on the Master Teacher Continent, having researched the human body and the efficacy of every medicinal herb to their core. At this moment, by simply understanding the differences between deities and mortals, as well as the variations in medicinal properties compared to those on the Master Teacher Continent, he could completely integrate both sets of knowledge.

After a quick mental deduction, he sat down and wrote out the calculated results. Ten sheets of paper were quickly filled.

"Alright, I'm done!"

Zhang Xuan smiled slightly.

"Done... already?"

"How much time has passed? Ten minutes? Eight minutes? And he was mostly just writing?"

"He diagnosed all ten people's conditions and wrote prescriptions in such a short time? Is this a joke?"

Everyone was stunned.

Diagnosing and treating illnesses was about saving lives. While time was of the essence, diagnosing ten of the most challenging and historically notable cases in under ten minutes, and even writing out prescriptions...

Were they sure he wasn't joking?

Everyone exchanged glances, then looked at President Liao Xin again. They saw him rubbing his brows, standing before the first patient, having just finished his inquiry, and now taking the pulse.

After another moment, he finally took out paper and wrote down his diagnosis and prescription.

Having finished, he breathed a sigh of relief. He turned to see Zhang Xuan had stopped and frowned, "Don't waste time. If two people solve the symptoms, the faster one wins!"

He had been so focused on studying the patient that he hadn't paid attention to the young man's actions.

After speaking, as he was about to move on to the second patient, he saw everyone else looking at him with speechless expressions.

"What's wrong?" he couldn't help but ask.

"President... he has already diagnosed the conditions and written all the prescriptions. You should... hurry up!" Wang Fei said, his face full of embarrassment.