Chapter 18
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: A Challenge and a Promise
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Dan Yeo was from the Flower Garden Medical House.
The words she heard most often there were these:
"Vicious girl."
Though considered a prodigy among the young medical students of Nanyang, she was not, in fact, a genius.
She had only attained her superior skills because she studied with a fierce, almost desperate tenacity.
Her desperate devotion to her studies wasn't driven by any grand ambition as a physician, like a dream of saving the people.
It was a means of survival.
If I showed even the slightest incompetence, I would be cast out.
She was no ordinary inner disciple.
She was the daughter of Dan So-cheon, the head of the Flower Garden Medical House.
To be precise, she was an illegitimate child.
The product of an affair between the head of the house and a kitchen maid.
Naturally, she was never acknowledged as a legitimate child and grew up walking on eggshells around the official wife and her other siblings.
To make matters worse, her mother died when she was young, and Dan Yeo, left all alone in the world, became an inner disciple of the Flower Garden Medical House.
Her other family members, who saw her as a thorn in their side, tried to find fault with her at every turn, so Dan Yeo clung desperately to her medical studies.
To prove her skills were too great for them to cast her out.
However, all that effort came to a futile end not long ago.
"Just like her harlot of a mother, she doesn't know her place."
Her senior brothers.
To be precise, her half-brothers had insulted her late mother.
By the time she came to her senses, the deed was done.
Excommunicated for the great sin of deceiving her masters and forsaking her ancestors, she had ended up at the Medical Immortal Medical House.
I will have my revenge.
Dan Yeo now had a goal.
To take revenge on the Flower Garden Medical House.
This didn't mean she intended to shed blood like some martial artist seeking vengeance.
As a physician, I will crush the pride of the Flower Garden Medical House.
She hadn't chosen the Medical Immortal Medical House simply because no other house would take her.
Her plan was to become a physician of the Medical Immortal Medical House and humble the Flower Garden Medical House.
But to think that incompetent oaf is the Grand Senior Brother.
She knew who Wi Ji-cheon was.
He was her polar opposite, despite their similar circumstances.
An illegitimate child, the youngest direct descendant of the house head.
A prodigy, an incompetent fool.
A pariah hated by all, a darling loved by all.
The world that had been so harsh for her must have been nothing but sunny skies for that immature boy.
He probably used the Medical Immortal Medical House's money to help those other students with their debts. And now he's strutting around acting like he did it all himself, calling himself Grand Senior Brother?
Of course, she wasn't making a fuss just because she found him disagreeable.
If that incompetent, bed-wetting brat becomes the Grand Senior Brother, the Medical Immortal Medical House is doomed!
She needed to crush the Flower Garden Medical House as a physician of the Medical Immortal Medical House, and she couldn't stand by and watch it fall into chaos.
The Medical Immortal Medical House would change.
And she would be the one to change it.
The genius medical student Dan Yeo, the tragic protagonist, would become its center!
"I wonder if you're qualified to say such things. Tell me about Qi Shang, Qi Wan, Qi Xiao, and Qi Xia."
Dan Yeo scoffed.
It was a passage from the Huangdi Neijing, the Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon, which could be called the root of Central Plains medicine.
The Suwen section of the Inner Canon? Please. I finished reading it before I could even walk.
...That was an exaggeration.
In truth, she finished it after she turned ten.
In any case, she knew the answer to the question inside and out.
"Qi Shang is when qi rebels upward, causing one to vomit blood or have diarrhea. Qi Wan is when the flow of qi is smooth, allowing for the proper circulation of nutritive and defensive qi. Qi Xiao is..."
She spoke fluently, without hesitation.
The other medical students looked on in admiration as she answered, reciting the text as if reading directly from the original Huangdi Neijing.
"Is that the skill of an inner disciple?"
Seeing their gazes, Dan Yeo lifted her chin proudly.
Hmph, let's see what he says now.
She anticipated one of two reactions from Wi Ji-cheon.
First, he would be struck dumb, stammering at her perfect answer.
Second, he would resort to some ridiculous argument to try and one-up her.
If Wi Ji-cheon chose the latter, she was prepared to crush him in a Debate of Medical Arts, just as she had often done at the Flower Garden Medical House.
But Wi Ji-cheon's reaction was neither the first nor the second.
Clap. Clap.
"Excellent. That's exactly as it is written in the Huangdi Neijing."
"!!"
He had praised her, unexpectedly.
She thought it might be sarcasm, but it wasn't.
His eyes held genuine admiration.
In fact, Wi Ji-cheon was impressed.
She recited the exact passage I read this morning. Without a single mistake.
She had clearly memorized the Huangdi Neijing. Considering how many volumes it had, he could tell how much painstaking effort she must have put in.
"You've studied hard."
Flush!
Dan Yeo's face turned red.
No matter how hard she tried, no one at the Flower Garden Medical House had ever praised her.
As a result, she had no defense against such a compliment.
...Maybe he isn't a bad person?
It made sense.
The general assessment of Wi Ji-cheon was that he was an incompetent fool, but a kind one.
Looking at him again, his features were indeed gentle and clear. He had an innocent face, as if he couldn't harm an ant.
Looking again, he even seemed a little cute.
Did they say he was younger than me? He's still young, accidents can happen. If I scold him and teach him like a little brother, maybe he'll turn out alright.
Ahem. Just as her hostility toward Wi Ji-cheon was beginning to subside...
"But do you know why Qi Shang, Qi Wan, Qi Xiao, and Qi Xia manifest those symptoms?"
"That's because the disruption of qi leads to an imbalance of excess and deficiency..."
"I understand that you have studied the Huangdi Neijing diligently. But what is your interpretation?"
Interpretation? What?
Dan Yeo frowned.
A kind face, my foot. He was trying to pull a fast one after all.
Her impression of Wi Ji-cheon instantly soured, and Dan Yeo replied provocatively.
"What is your interpretation, Young Master Wi Ji-cheon? Don't just ask me, why don't you enlighten us? It is the duty of the Grand Senior Brother to teach his juniors, after all."
"I can't explain it."
"Ha! And you say that?!"
"Please don't misunderstand. It's not that I don't know. It's just that the principles are so profound, I cannot explain them in a way you would understand."
He wasn't just bluffing.
Did Dan Yeo, or any of the other students, truly know?
What Qi Shang, Qi Wan, Qi Xiao, and Qi Xia truly meant?
It wasn't just about that passage.
The moment Wi Ji-cheon opened the Huangdi Neijing, what he saw was not mere medical knowledge.
The providence of the great universe unfolded before him.
Medical knowledge was merely a 'phenomenon,' a fragment of that providence manifested in reality.
"I know you've studied hard. But do you believe that what you've studied is the entirety of the medical arts?"
"You...!"
Dan Yeo was forced into silence.
He was right.
But hearing those words from that incompetent fool, she couldn't bring herself to admit it.
But then.
"One month from now, after the hellish intensive training is over, let's hold a Debate of Medical Arts. As your Grand Senior Brother, I will teach you that what you've studied is merely the tip of the iceberg."
"Ha!!"
Dan Yeo scoffed.
"Fine! But if you lose to me in the debate, I will not acknowledge you as Grand Senior Brother!"
"I have a condition as well. If I win, I, as Grand Senior Brother, will take charge of your 'Medical Arts Special Training' from then on."
"!!"
The room stirred with murmurs.
The Medical Examination Ceremony test is divided into numerous subjects.
Internal medicine, pulse diagnosis, pharmacology, acupuncture, and so on.
These subjects can be broadly grouped into two categories.
'Theoretical knowledge' and 'practical treatment.'
The hellish intensive training Wi Ji-gang was about to conduct covered 'theoretical knowledge.'
In truth, theoretical knowledge wasn't a major concern.
Most of the students here had been studying for the examination for years, so their knowledge was quite thorough.
The problem was 'practical treatment.'
Practical treatment consisted of the following subjects.
Pharmacology, acupuncture, qi guidance, internal qi arts, external qi arts, and so on.
With the exception of pharmacology, which dealt with medicinal herbs, all of them required the manipulation of qi through the eight extraordinary meridians.
In other words, they required Medical Arts.
This was the biggest hurdle for outer disciples hoping to pass the examination.
Despite charging enormous tuition fees, the houses never properly taught Medical Arts, claiming they were family secrets.
I had high hopes because they said the Medical Immortal Medical House even teaches outer disciples a Medical Art called the Earthly Immortal Medical Art.
The students' faces fell.
They had naturally assumed the hellish instructor, Wi Ji-gang, would be teaching the Medical Arts as well. But now Young Master Wi Ji-cheon was saying he would do it?
Of course, they were nothing but grateful to Wi Ji-cheon.
But in all honesty, they couldn't help but worry.
And so, their meeting that day came to an end. Afterward, Wi Ji-cheon was summoned by Wi Ji-gang and given a scolding.
"Why did you say that? You, teach Medical Arts? The training is my responsibility."
"Brother, what do you predict the passing rate for this year's students will be?"
Wi Ji-gang furrowed his brow.
"They all seem very determined, so the passing rate should be higher than previous years. Perhaps around thirty percent?"
Thirty percent.
Only three out of ten.
And that was considered high.
The passing rate for outer disciples was usually less than twenty percent.
It was because of the Medical Arts.
"If I teach them, they will all pass. Not only that, they will all pass with a Gold Plate."
"!!"
This meant passing with an exceptionally high score and receiving a commendation from the examiner dispatched by the Medical Alliance.
"What...?"
"If you don't believe me, then please watch me after the hellish training ends in a month. You can see for yourself whether I am qualified to teach Medical Arts or not."
Wi Ji-gang looked unconvinced.
To hear him talk, you'd think he was a seasoned master of medicine. And here he is, just starting on the basics of the Huangdi Neijing.
And so, time passed.
The promised month was drawing to a close.
A deep summer settled over Nanyang, and the Medical Examination Ceremony loomed ever closer.
At the Flower Garden Medical House, a powerful rival to the Medical Immortal Medical House, a banquet was underway.
"Please, have a drink! I, Dan So-cheon, am honored to meet such a renowned master from the Central Plains medical world!"
It seemed a distinguished guest had arrived.
But the guest's response was cold.
"Excessive hospitality could be considered bribery."
The face of Dan So-cheon, head of the Flower Garden Medical House, soured.
Dammit, of all the examiners, why did it have to be such a stubborn formalist?
The Ice Crane, Sa Ma-so.
A world-renowned physician, counted among the Ten Peaks, had come to Nanyang as an examiner for the Medical Alliance.