Divine Level Witch Doctor

That morning, Zhao Yuan had just gotten to the classroom when he was accosted by Yang Jing, the arts committee head. She asked him, ”Zhao Yuan, how are the rehearsals for your act coming along?”

”Er...”

Zhao Yuan froze.

It turned out that ever since acquiring the Thought Borrowing Technique, Zhao Yuan hadn’t gone back for any more zither lessons with Huang Shijia. Huang Shijia had even called to see what was going on, but Zhao Yuan just made the excuse that he was too busy to go. Though disappointed, Huang Shijia had a student deliver a Guqin and a USB drive with instructional videos to Zhao Yuan, urging him to practice on his own whenever he found the time.

Although he had thanked Huang Shijia, Zhao Yuan hadn’t touched the Guqin or the USB drive since bringing them back to his dorm. The reason was simple: with the Thought Borrowing Technique, he could directly borrow Wu Peng’s Zither Skill from the miscellaneous knowledge on the Information Leaf. Why bother learning? Why bother practicing? ’If I had that kind of free time, I’d be better off studying more medical techniques and focusing on my cultivation!’

After all, those two were his foundation.

And ever since he began Bone Marrow Refining, Zhao Yuan had discovered that while the process was even more agonizing than Muscle Strengthening and Vein Cutting, the results were incredible. His memory, in particular, had improved by leaps and bounds. With the added boost from the Soul-Stabilizing Incense and the Concentration Technique, his learning speed had increased significantly.

In the past few days, Zhao Yuan had already gotten more than halfway through several subjects: Traditional Chinese Medicine Diagnosis, Chinese Herbal Medicine, the theory of Acupuncture, and Traditional Chinese Surgery. He was confident it wouldn’t be long before he finished them and could move on to new courses.

”Hey, hello? What’s going on with you? I’m talking to you. Why are you spacing out?” Yang Jing waved her hand in front of Zhao Yuan’s face. Her delicate brows knitted together as she said suspiciously, ”You haven’t even finished rehearsing your act, have you?”

Zhao Yuan finally snapped out of his reverie. Shaking his head with a smile, he said, ”How is that possible? Mr. Yang, rest assured, my act is all prepared. I guarantee that at the New Year’s Gala, it will stun the entire audience and win the greatest possible honor for our class!”

”Wow, listen to you!” Yang Jing said, taken aback. ”You seem pretty confident.”

”Of course!” Zhao Yuan said with a grin.

’Are you kidding me?’ he thought. ’This zither music and dance came from the records on Wu Peng’s Information Leaf, created by a real Fairy. It completely blew away Huang Shijia and Zhang Liping, two of the nation’s top-tier musicians and dancers. It would be stranger if it *didn’t* stun the audience and take first place at the New Year’s Gala!’

Yang Jing rolled her eyes at him and said irritably, ”Look at you, all full of yourself.” But then she broke into a smile. ”In any case, confidence is a good thing. Oh, right, I haven’t told you about that thing, have I?”

”What thing?” Zhao Yuan was completely lost. ”Are you speaking in riddles?”

Yang Jing said, ”I just got the notice myself. This year’s New Year’s Gala isn’t going to be a few departments joining together. The entire university is putting on one big celebration!”

Zhao Yuan was taken aback. ”The whole university? Why?”

Yang Jing replied, ”I’m not too clear on the details. I heard a lot of celebrities are coming to spectate, so the university decided to combine all the departmental galas into one big, grand event. They’re probably worried about losing face in front of all the famous people.”

”Oh, I see.” Zhao Yuan didn’t give it much thought and just asked, ”Since the New Year’s Gala is now a university-wide event, doesn’t that mean a lot of acts will be cut?”

”Yep.” Yang Jing nodded, then added with a smile, ”But none of our class’s acts will be cut. And speaking of which, it’s all thanks to Zhao here.”

”What does that have to do with me?” Zhao Yuan asked, puzzled.

Yang Jing explained, ”You’re not just a celebrity at our school, you’re our great hero. As your classmates, we’re bound to get a little special treatment. It’s like they say: when one person attains the Dao, even their chickens and dogs ascend to heaven.”

Before Zhao Yuan could say anything, Wu Yan snorted with laughter.

”What are you laughing at?” Yang Jing asked, looking at him in confusion.

Wu Yan grinned mischievously. ”Mr. Yang, you don’t often see people comparing themselves to chickens and dogs.”

”I was just using a figure of speech,” Yang Jing explained, but then her expression changed as she lunged at Wu Yan. ”Why you—Wu Yan! How dare you say I’m a chicken!”

Wu Yan scrambled away, yelling defensively, ”What’s it got to do with me? You said it yourself! Besides, you don’t have to be the chicken. There’s also a dog, isn’t there?”

”Get back here! I’m going to rip that mouth of yours right off!” Yang Jing roared, absolutely furious.

Watching the two of them chase each other around the classroom, Zhao Yuan shook his head. Ignoring them, he found a seat, lit a stick of Soul-Stabilizing Incense, activated his Concentration Technique, and resumed his study of Traditional Chinese Medicine Diagnosis on the Information Leaf.

Meanwhile, Ma Guotao was in his office discussing the New Year’s Gala with several of the vice principals.

One of the vice principals lamented, ”The event is in two days, and we’re only now talking about making it a university-wide celebration. The timing is too tight.”

Ma Guotao said helplessly, ”I didn’t want this either. Who knew all those musicians and dancers would suddenly lose their minds and start clamoring to come see a performance at our school? These people are artists renowned both nationally and internationally. Could I really have refused them?”

Another vice principal added, ”It’s strange. If these musicians and dancers want to see a show, why not go to an art academy or a professional arts troupe? Why come running to see the New Year’s Gala at a medical university?”

”Who knows?” said a third vice principal. ”But since they’re coming, we have to make sure this New Year’s Gala is done well and looks good. We can’t afford to be embarrassed!”

Ma Guotao nodded in agreement. ”Old Liu is right. We have to do a good job with the New Year’s Gala this time. We can’t let these artists see us as a joke.”

Vice Principal Liu added, ”Time is tight, but thankfully, all the departments and colleges have already been rehearsing their acts. We just need to select the highest-quality ones from the lot. The most critical parts are the stage, lighting, and sound system... but two days should be enough to get all that sorted out.”

The men discussed the specific arrangements for a while longer before Ma Guotao made the final call. ”Let’s do it that way. We absolutely have to pull off this New Year’s Gala!”

Even after leaving the principal’s office, people were still muttering, ”What in the world has gotten into these musicians and dancers?”

Of course, they had no idea that the real culprits behind all this were none other than Huang Shijia and Zhang Liping.

The two artists had decided long ago to come to West Hua Medical University to see Zhao Yuan and Lin Xue’s performance in person, and had turned down numerous other invitations to do so.

When people grew curious and asked them why, they didn’t hide the reason. They said frankly that a truly sensational act was going to appear at West Hua Medical University’s New Year’s Gala. If they weren’t there to see it in person, they would regret it for the rest of their lives.

As soon as word got out, it piqued the curiosity of countless musicians and dancers.

What kind of act could possibly earn such high praise from Huang Shijia and Zhang Liping?

They tried to find out more, but Huang Shijia and Zhang Liping remained tight-lipped and refused to say a word. Their curiosity stoked, the artists began calling and sending letters to West Hua Medical University en masse, all hoping to attend the New Year’s Gala. And that was how the current situation had come to be.