Library of Heaven’s Path

“He has finished writing down the treatment methods?” Guild Leader Liao was startled.

He was barely done with the first patient, but his opponent was already done devising the treatment methods for all ten of them.

Guild Leader Liao shook his head as his opinion of the young man fell a little further.

Diagnosing a patient was not just about acquiring information. It was about piecing all the details together—be it the patient’s age, strength, health history, or drug allergies—and creating a complete picture out of them. If one neglected even one of these factors, it could cause the situation to run out of control, thus placing the patient’s life at risk.

In his view, it was utterly ridiculous for someone to formulate a treatment without going through the four key steps of diagnosis. It was such arrogance that would eventually cost a patient’s life!

Sighing deeply, Guild Leader Liao made a mental note in his mind to talk to the young man about this later before moving on to his next patient.

All in all, it took Guild Leader Liao two hours in order to finish diagnosing all ten of the patients and devising their treatment methods.

A little exhausted, he rubbed his glabella before turning in the papers with his answers.

“Let’s check the results!”

With the answers of both participants in hand, Vice Guild Leader Wang took the first paper from Guild Leader Liao’s stack and flipped it over.

Everyone else in the room craned their necks over to see what was written on it—”Likely to be Ephialtes Bane Symptom.”

This was the first conclusion that he came to after observing the first patient.

Vice Guild Leader Wang moved on to flip the second and third pieces, which reflected his diagnoses from the scent and inquiry, and the answer was the same.

However, on the fourth piece of paper, which he wrote after feeling the patient’s pulse, he overthrew his previous diagnosis, writing, “Not Ephialtes Bane Symptom but Night Terror Affliction. Treatment method:…”

The Ephialtes Bane Symptom was a symptom that tortured one’s spirit. The patient would suffer from constant nightmares during their sleep, as if they were haunted by a devil. Their spirit would continue to wither as time went by, causing their great distress.

In truth, it was just the side effect from a deficiency in a cultivator’s spirit resulting from the damage caused by one’s cultivation going berserk. As long as the cultivator cultivated their spirit and avoided putting stress on themself, the symptom would eventually disappear.

This symptom was almost identical to what a patient plagued by the Night Terror Affliction would face. The only difference was that the former would only appear during any types of sleep and was not lethal whereas the latter would only occur during deep sleep, and once the symptoms struck, there was a chance that the cultivator would never wake up again.

Through just observation, scent, and inquiry, the information one would receive from patients suffering from those two diseases would be nearly identical. Unless one felt the pulse and sensed the differences in the fluctuation of energy, it would be impossible to discern the two.

“A perfect answer.” Vice Guild Leader Wang nodded.

In the diagnosis procedure, the first step, observation, would only suffice for a preliminary assessment. It did not provide enough information for one to fully ascertain the illness. For most physicians, it was only at the fourth step that they were able to eliminate other possibilities and decide on one.

Guild Leader Liao used this method to determine the cause of the illness and identify the root factor that he had to resolve.

Taking the sheet of paper detailing the treatment method, Vice Guild Leader Wang walked up to the first patient and placed it in his hand.

Weng!

The next moment, as if having eaten medicine, the complexion and spirit of the projected patient began to recover gradually.

There was only one scenario in which such a situation would happen—the medicine was effective!

Guild Leader Liao stroked his beard in satisfaction.

It had been many years since he had participated in a Physician Tournament, but it seemed like he had not grown rusty yet. He had treated the first patient impeccably.

With this, he turned to Zhang Xuan.

He wanted to see what kind of answers the young man could come up with in less than ten minutes.

With a smile, Zhang Xuan passed over the treatment method he had jotted down.

Vice Guild Leader Wang took the piece of paper, but upon seeing the content, he frowned.

The crowd also glanced over, only to frown in bewilderment.

“There isn’t any illness jotted down here?”

“Did he fail to diagnose anything from the patient?”

“But why would he write down a treatment method if he failed to diagnose anything from the patient?”

“I have no idea…”

On the paper was a list of medicinal herbs, but there was nothing that indicated what kind of illness the first patient was suffering from.

“Furthermore, it seems like the prescription he wrote down is a little different from that of Guild Leader Liao…”

“A little different? They are two completely different sets of herbs!”

“But Guild Leader Liao’s prescription is correct, right? Given that Apothecary Zhang’s prescription is entirely different, doesn’t that mean that he has already failed?”

At this point, everyone in the room had already come to a conclusion about Zhang Xuan.

The young man was really just an apothecary. He knew nothing about diagnosing and treating a patient at all.

It was one thing for him to fail to diagnose a patient’s condition accurately, but he even boldly came up with an incorrect prescription. It was fortunate that it was just a projected patient. If it had been a real patient, the consequences would have been dire.

“Is there even a need to continue this?” Vice Guild Leader Wang remarked in disappointment.

In his opinion, Zhang Xuan was no physician at all. It was pointless to continue the Physician Tournament like that.

“Are you suggesting that I have already lost without even testing my treatment method?” Zhang Xuan asked with a frown.

“Isn’t it already obvious from this?”

“Why don’t you try placing my treatment method on the projected patient and see what happens?”

“You are only humiliating yourself at this rate, but since you insist…” Vice Guild Leader muttered in exasperation as he walked up to the projected patient and took away Guild Leader Liao’s treatment method.

As soon as the paper left the projected patient’s hand, the latter immediately reverted to his sickly state.

Vice Guild Leader Wang then placed Zhang Xuan’s treatment method in the projected patient’s hand.

Weng!

As soon as the projected patient came into contact with the paper, his sickly yellowish face immediately turned pale. Just as everyone thought that the patient was going to pass away from the wrong prescription, a minor explosion suddenly sounded, and the aura of the projected patient abruptly surged.

It took a while before the surge finally came to a halt, and the fluctuations in energy calmed down.

Taking another look at the projected patient, the physicians in the room realized that not only did the patient manage to recover from his illness, his complexion also looked redder from before. In fact… he seemed to have grown stronger!

“Is this… Did he make a breakthrough in his soul cultivation?”

“Hang on a moment. Are you saying that Apothecary Zhang’s prescription has not only cured the patient but even helped him make a breakthrough?”

Silence.

Even Guild Leader Liao’s eyes had widened in shock.

His treatment had only alleviated the patient’s condition. On the other hand, the young man before him had not only cured the patient from the root cause—he had even turned this crisis into an opportunity to make a breakthrough!

In other words, the young man’s proposed treatment method was not just on the level of perfect. It had surpassed perfect to reach an even higher level!

“That’s not all. The medicinal herbs in Apothecary Zhang’s prescription are quite common. They can be found in most dispensaries in town, and they aren’t too expensive…” Ao Hua pointed out excitedly.

On the way there, he had received strict instructions from Zhang Xuan not to address him as ancestor but Apothecary Zhang.

Clearly, the young man did not want to expose his identity as a Pureblooded Dragon, or rather, he did not wish for the Sky of Cloud Dragon to investigate his affairs.

“Indeed!”

The crowd widened their eyes in astonishment upon noticing that fact. Realizing that this could be revolutionary, their eyes reddened in agitation.

With the medicinal herbs in the prescription being inexpensive, it meant that they could easily apply this treatment to other patients facing the same affliction.

In other words, the treatment was easily replicable!

Such a prescription could potentially be used to save many lives in the future.

What was the use of a prescription if the ingredients could not be obtained or were unaffordable? This was a very practical problem that most physicians faced while treating their patients.

There were some physicians who were kind enough to pay on their patient’s behalf, but that was clearly not sustainable! Physicians had to earn a livelihood as well, and it was perfectly normal for them to expect compensation for their hard work. It was ridiculous to expect them to pay on a patient’s behalf.

They were not saints!

After a long while, Guild Leader Liao finally recovered from his shock, and he asked hoarsely, “How is it that your prescription is able to accomplish so much?”

“To be frank, he is not suffering from the Ephialtes Bane Symptom nor the Night Terror Affliction. Instead, it’s a poison that causes him to be susceptible to hallucinations!” Zhang Xuan replied. “In the strictest sense, it can’t be considered an illness, so I refrained from writing it down…”

“He is poisoned?” Guild Leader Liao’s eyes dilated in disbelief. “But those are clearly the symptoms of the Night Terror Affliction!”

Having diagnosed the patient carefully, he was certain that his judgement was not wrong. Furthermore, the patient had also recovered after consuming his medicine. So, how could it be a poison?”

“The patient does have symptoms of the Night Terror Affliction. However, the Night Terror Affliction only damages one’s soul, making one feel constantly exhausted and lethargic. It doesn’t have much of an effect on one’s physical body. However, the patient’s body showed clear signs of deficiency, such that even his skin has turned yellowish. Like a tree in autumn, he looked as if he was going to hit the limit of his lifespan at any moment. From this observation, it’s clear that there are some issues regarding the vitality of his body as well.

“The body of a Celestial God is strong and resilient, making it highly resistant to most physical anomalies. Given so, it seems a little hard to imagine that a mere Night Terror Affliction would leave the patient’s body in such a state.

“So, I wondered if the patient had been poisoned. Through my careful observation, I realized that the patient is actually from the Sky of Deathlessness’ Wangyue Mountain, which is known to be the habitat where Night Terror Cobras thrive in. So, I deduced that the patient might have encountered a Night Terror Cobra there and ended up getting bitten, resulting in his current state. While most prescriptions dealing with the Night Terror Affliction alleviate the effects caused by the venom of the Night Terror Cobra, they are unable to neutralize the venom itself.

“Short term, the patient will appear to have been cured. However, the venom will act up once every two years, and on the fifth time that the condition relapses, the venom will have already circulated throughout the patient’s body. By then, there’ll be nothing that can be done to save the patient anymore!”

The crowd in the surroundings blinked blankly. They were having trouble trying to process what they had just heard. This…

Are you sure you are a physician and not a prophet?

The person in the projection has been dead for innumerable years, and his corpse has already been reduced to dust. How in the world did you manage to tell that he is from the Sky of Deathlessness’ Mountain Wangyue?

From what I remember, you only looked at the patient and didn’t ask any questions, right?

Guild Leader Liao quickly turned to the projected patient and asked, “Where do you live?”

As the environment where a cultivator lived could potentially reveal the cause of the illness, the projected patients were allowed to answer this question.

“Sky of Deathlessness, Mountain Wangyue,” the projected patient replied.

“This…”

Hearing the response, everyone staggered a little from shock.

Perhaps calling it shock was an understatement. Things were starting to develop in a creepy direction.

With just a single look, the young man had not only been able to diagnose the patients accurately but also figured out where the patients were from.

It was almost as if the young man was bom with an innate talent to become a stalker!

Terrifying!

The Sky of Deathlessness is located at the south of the Firmament, and the climate is hot and humid. Through his clothes, it’s possible to deduce as much!”

Zhang Xuan could see through the doubts the physicians had in mind, so he explained his thought process to them.

Hearing those words, the crowd quickly turned their gazes over, and indeed, the patient was wearing light, cooling clothes.

“Nourished by the moist atmosphere, southerners tended to have paler and suppler skin. In comparison, northerners tend to have drier and rougher skin. It’s possible to discern the region that one originates from through such physical traits,” Zhang Xuan said.

That is not the conclusive evidence though. Regardless of whether he was afflicted with the Night Terror Affliction or venom, his soul would have been injured. However, the condition of the injury would have been different. If it was the former, it would have been an overall deterioration of his soul. If it was the latter, his injuries would have been more severe at the location where the poison first seeped in. Through careful observation, I was able to sense that the deterioration of his soul was uneven, and that proved that he had been poisoned.”

“I see!”

The crowd nodded in realization as they looked at the young man in awe and admiration.

They had thought that the latter was an inept physician wannabe, but who could have known that he was actually a grandmaster way beyond their league!

“Let’s continue!”

Vice Guild Leader Wang continued to verify the remaining nine patients. Guild Leader Liao’s treatment methods were all correct, but they paled far in comparison to what Zhang Xuan had come up with.

All of the prescriptions that Zhang Xuan suggested allowed the patient to achieve some sort of breakthrough after they were cured, making it clear which method was superior.

Of the ten patients, all his treatment methods were beyond perfect!

“I have lost,” Guild Leader Liao remarked with a bitter smile. “It was a great battle. I have learned a lot from it.”