Chapter 00011: Bone Refinement
# Bone Refinement
Chapter 11
Novel: Abandon The Universe
Chapter 11: Bone Refinement
Lan Xiaobu nodded, no longer wasting words. He set aside the necessary medicinal herbs, donned sterile gloves, and picked up a dozen fine acupuncture needles, piercing them one by one into Xiaoman's leg.
After the nuclear war, medical conditions were scarce. Not to mention anesthesia; sometimes even disinfection was difficult to achieve. The principle behind Lan Xiaobu's surgery on Xiaoman was a cell transplantation and regeneration operation, achieved through acupuncture and medicinal herbs. This acupuncture technique was something Lan Xiaobu had learned from an old traditional Chinese medicine practitioner. Before learning this, if someone had said that muscle cells could be transplanted and regenerated through the application of traditional medicine, Lan Xiaobu would have absolutely not believed it. Because even if it were possible, the painfully slow results would be insufficient to treat Frozen Silkworm Disease.
Reality made him understand that many things were beyond his imagination.
The combination of acupuncture and medicinal application to promote the transplantation and recombination of necrotic muscle cells was Lan Xiaobu's own research achievement. However, this medicinal application required a place infused with Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi; only with the combination of Spiritual Qi and medicine could such effects be achieved. The reason Lan Xiaobu dared to claim he could treat Xiaoman was that he could cultivate, and being able to cultivate meant that Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi was already present.
Lan Xiaobu's technique for inserting the acupuncture needles appeared quite skilled. Sister Shu still felt anxious, worrying about the absence of any auxiliary equipment. At this moment, Lan Xiaobu had finished disinfecting the surgical knife, and the blade had already cut open the skin of Xiaoman's calf...
"Wait, you haven't anesthetized her..." Seeing Lan Xiaobu start the surgery like this, Sister Shu suddenly woke up; there were no anesthetics and no anesthesiologist. Lan Xiaobu hadn't mentioned this, and she had also forgotten.
Lan Xiaobu did not raise his head but calmly said, "This is already one of the better conditions I've had for all the surgeries I've performed. As for anesthesia, it’s unnecessary."
He was not speaking nonsense. After the nuclear war, those who could perform surgeries in sterile operating rooms were the elites among elites. The vast majority of patients were grateful just to have a doctor operate on them. As for anesthesia, it could be summed up in two words: 'heh heh.'
Sister Shu dared not speak further, merely watching as Lan Xiaobu cut away the necrotic flesh from Xiaoman's leg...
Watching Lan Xiaobu's surgical knife actually slice through the healthy skin above the knee, Sister Shu's hands trembled. She wanted to stop him, but having once been a doctor herself, she understood that one should not disturb a surgeon while they were operating.
Despite being reborn, Lan Xiaobu's hands remained steady. At least in this life, he had cultivated the Muscle-Tendon Altering Sutra, supported by Inner Qi. Meanwhile, Sister Shu continued to wipe her sweat. She was sweating, yet her mind was blank, not even knowing what she had done that day.
She watched Lan Xiaobu continuously change surgical instruments, and she had no idea how much time had passed. She saw Lan Xiaobu begin to bandage Xiaoman, then apply the prepared traditional medicinal paste on top, even starting to give Xiaoman an IV...
Was this also considered surgery?
"Is it done?" Sister Shu looked at Lan Xiaobu in disbelief. This was the strangest surgery she had ever witnessed; it seemed unlike anything else.
Lan Xiaobu washed his hands, nodded, and said, "It’s done. The IV is the medication I wrote; give Xiaoman this IV every three days. As for the medicinal paste, it needs to be changed once a day. Remember, she must stay in Hu Prefecture for treatment. Once Xiaoman can stand up, she can leave Hu Prefecture."
This medicinal paste was essential for muscle regeneration and killing the Frozen Silkworm cells, both requiring Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi. Lan Xiaobu did not dare to be certain if there would still be Spiritual Qi outside of Hu Prefecture. After all, in his previous life, the discovery of Spiritual Qi had occurred a year later.
"Can I keep Xiaoman here?" Seeing that Xiaoman seemed to have fallen asleep, Sister Shu hesitated to ask.
Lan Xiaobu shook his head. "No need. In two hours, I will remove the acupuncture needles, and you can take Xiaoman to continue her hospitalization. As long as you don’t move her legs, they will heal."
...
Ji Zheng excitedly held the freshly printed paper. Without Lan Xiaobu's help, this paper on the defects of Lancomycin would have taken at least another year to complete. This was under the assumption that everything progressed smoothly; if there were any issues, it might take even two years to publish. In fact, without Lan Xiaobu's assistance, this paper would have surely been stalled.
The paper had two authors: the first author was himself, and the second author was Lan Xiaobu.
Ji Zheng was very satisfied with this authorship. Lan Xiaobu had repeatedly reminded him not to include his name. However, Ji Zheng felt that Lan Xiaobu's contributions were greater than his own, and it was only right to include Lan Xiaobu's name. Once the paper was published, he would inform Lan Xiaobu. With this paper, Lan Xiaobu would no longer be just an intern; given Lan Xiaobu's level of medical theory, obtaining a certification and becoming an attending physician in a hospital would undoubtedly not pose any significant issues.
Ji Zheng recalled how he had initially pointed out the problems with Lancomycin and argued his case, only to be suppressed by others. They had demoted him, a chief physician in the cardiovascular department, to the emergency department. He thought to himself, just wait. This paper would only be submitted to the Journal of Medical Pathways. Although the journal had only been established for less than twenty years, its status and reputation far exceeded that of The Lancet, JAMA, BMJ, and other medical journals. Every paper published in the Journal of Medical Pathways could drive advancements in global medicine. So, it was not just ordinary medical papers; even the articles of top medical elites faced immense difficulty in getting published there.
Once this paper came out, it would definitely cause a seismic shift in medicine. No, this was not merely a medical earthquake; it was a storm far stronger than that. And this was Ji Zheng...
As Ji Zheng thought of this, his hand suddenly froze. Although he had written the entire paper from start to finish, the key data and several critical issues had all been raised by Lan Xiaobu. Moreover, it could be said that all the difficulties had been resolved by Lan Xiaobu.
Was it really appropriate for him to list himself as the first author for such a paper? In fact, what he had done could have been accomplished by any medical researcher, while what Lan Xiaobu had done could only be done by Lan Xiaobu himself. So even if he had done ninety percent of the work, the crucial ten percent was unrelated to him.
His former mentor had once said that when a person begins to falsify their papers, that person will never again make any academic progress and will eventually become a burden to society.
And placing the key author Lan Xiaobu in the second position—wasn't that also a form of deception? The reason Ji Zheng had been sent to the emergency department was that he refused to engage in deceit; he wanted to speak the truth. If he placed the true author in second place and himself in first, that would be a disgrace for Ji Zheng.
"Ah..." Ji Zheng let out a long sigh. After coming to terms with this issue, he felt a wave of relaxation wash over him.
...
After sending off Sister Shu and Xiaoman, Lan Xiaobu's life returned to its previous routine. To his surprise, Sister Shu did not bring Xiaoman back to Kunhu Hospital.
Lan Xiaobu did not mind this; as long as they did not leave Hu Prefecture, it was fine. In fact, he was equally unclear whether there was Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi outside of Hu Prefecture. He had taught Sister Shu how to proceed; as long as she followed his methods, it would be the same no matter which hospital in Hu Prefecture she chose for Xiaoman's recovery.
What relieved Lan Xiaobu even more was that Ji Zheng seemed to understand he had many matters to attend to and recently no longer required his help with the Lancomycin research. After all, he had already informed Ji Zheng of the issues with Lancomycin and the potential repercussions. Unless Ji Zheng was still pondering how to resolve this issue, he likely would not need Lan Xiaobu's assistance in the short term.
With time on his hands, Lan Xiaobu devoted himself to fervently practicing the Muscle-Tendon Altering Sutra and Bright Fist.
After a period of intense training, Lan Xiaobu could clearly feel his progress. Every time he practiced his fist techniques, his Qi flowed with his strikes. When his Inner Qi circulated, it felt almost like a small tornado.
One day, while practicing Bright Fist, Lan Xiaobu suddenly felt a series of faint cracking sounds from his bones, followed by a lightness throughout his body, as if he had become significantly more relaxed than before.
What is this? Lan Xiaobu was startled and immediately threw out another punch.
With this punch, Lan Xiaobu distinctly sensed a sense of fluidity, no longer the clumsy appearance of relying solely on Inner Qi.
Could it be that he had entered the Bone Refinement Stage? Lan Xiaobu suppressed his excitement, circulating his Inner Qi, and leaped upwards. His body moved naturally with the flow of Inner Qi, and he leaped up effortlessly.
When he landed again, Lan Xiaobu glanced at a nearby tree and felt ecstatic. He had never learned any lightness skills, yet that leap had covered at least four meters, and that was without exerting himself fully. If he were to participate in a high jump competition now, he could probably easily surpass the world record by several levels.
He had definitely entered the Bone Refinement Stage. Moving forward, he would not only need to practice diligently but also train in lightness skills. He had downloaded several lightness techniques, but judging by their names, they seemed somewhat far-fetched, nowhere near as authentic as the Muscle-Tendon Altering Sutra and Bright Fist. If it came down to it, he would just have to figure it out on his own.
(End of this chapter)