Chapter 22
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: A Devil's Scheme
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Although our Medical Immortal Medical House is a school of medicine, I'm ashamed to say we don't have much experience with antidotes. The True Toxin of Taiyi requires delicate treatment. I apologize for imposing on you during your busy time.
Sa Ma So nodded.
Medical houses that primarily treated the common folk were bound to have little experience with antidotes.
They could have insisted on treating him themselves, yet their concern for the patient runs deep.
The treatment for the True Toxin of Taiyi itself is not difficult. The method for detoxification is also widely known.
However, that's only true for conventional treatment.
As mentioned before, the True Toxin of Taiyi has components similar to a restorative elixir.
Therefore, depending on the treatment, the poison can be turned into a medicine.
It can be made to have the same effect as a spiritual elixir.
Of course, achieving that requires the touch of a skilled physician.
Especially one who has extensive experience treating poisoning in martial artists.
Someone like Ice Crane Sa Ma So.
You are Sect Leader Jang Sam of the Black Ghost Sect, correct? Your misfortune will become a fortunate encounter. You will gain a considerable amount of internal energy today.
Th-thank you.
Thank me not, but this young boy. He seems to worry about you as if you were his own family.
Ha ha.
Jang Sam could only make an expression that was impossible to discern as laughter, crying, or anger.
Come inside. After taking the antidote, you will need to circulate your vital energy according to my guidance, so it will take some time.
Would it be all right if I wait here? Someone might accidentally enter and disturb the treatment, so I will stand guard.
Do as you wish.
Though he replied curtly, Ice Crane Sa Ma So was once again slightly impressed.
He is quite thoughtful.
This was a treatment by Ice Crane Sa Ma So, one of the Ten Phoenixes.
Any other physician or medical student would be desperate to observe the treatment, yet he had stepped forward to guard the process.
When he first arrived, he waited his turn in line. I've lost count of how many brats barged in today, making the other patients wait. As expected of a disciple from the Medical Immortal Medical House, he is well-mannered.
In Sa Ma So's mind, Wi Ji-cheon's score went up.
Of course, his outward expression remained cold.
Could it be that child who receives the protection of the Earth Spirit Star?
It had already been about a month since Sa Ma So came to Nanyang.
During that time, he had met every single medical student in Nanyang.
He had visited not only the major medical houses but also the smaller clinics.
However, he had not been able to meet the students of the Medical Immortal Medical House.
-I apologize. The students of our house are currently undergoing special training for the Medical Examination Ceremony and find it difficult to make time.
It was a baffling situation.
A senior practitioner, one of the Ten Phoenixes no less, asks to see his juniors for a moment, and they flatly refuse?
But it wasn't something to be stubborn about, so he had no choice but to wait until the day of the Medical Examination Ceremony to see the disciples of the Medical Immortal Medical House.
It's not that there weren't a few who stood out.
The one who caught his eye the most was the eldest son of the Medical Immortal Medical House, the one who had curtly refused his visit.
He had exchanged a few words with him later and was impressed by a depth of medical knowledge rarely seen in such a young physician.
So they're not called the Medical Immortal Medical House for nothing.
Ice Crane Sa Ma So knew that the Medical Immortal Medical House had certainly not fallen due to a lack of skill.
He knew just how dirty the world of medicine could be.
Thus, Sa Ma So held both respect and sympathy for the Medical Immortal Medical House.
And the third son, the youngest, has such an excellent character. He'll become a fine physician.
He had yet to see his skills, but a physician's heart for their patients was just as important as their ability.
A physician with outstanding skills but no compassion for their patients would often harm them out of their own greed.
Well then, I shall begin the treatment.
Some time later, Jang Sam and Wi Ji-cheon emerged from Sa Ma So's clinic.
A sharp glint shone in Jang Sam's eyes.
Thanks to Sa Ma So's treatment, the True Toxin of Taiyi had acted like a spiritual elixir, allowing him to gain a significant amount of internal energy.
...At this rate, won't I reach the peak stage soon?
With the New Soul-Returning Heavenly Arts that Wi Ji-cheon taught me and the internal energy I gained this time...
His martial arts skills were growing by leaps and bounds.
Did I receive a bit of a favor?
Jang Sam shook his head with a start.
A favor, my ass.
That bastard is nothing but a devil!
Because of him, my martial arts have grown stronger, I've gained a reputation as a great hero of the underworld who understands justice, and I've become the hegemon of Nanyang's southern district, but still, that bastard was a devil!
What are you doing, standing there by yourself?
Nothing. But, why did you do all this? Why go so far as to use the True Toxin of Taiyi?
Jang Sam had no idea what Wi Ji-cheon was aiming for with this incident.
To make a good impression on Sa Ma So?
It didn't seem like that devil would orchestrate something like this for such a petty reason.
...Could it be that he really did it to increase my internal energy?
Of course, that was impossible.
Wi Ji-cheon gave an answer he could never have imagined.
He took out a small booklet from his robes.
Because of this.
What is that?
It's written right there.
Nanyang Medical Examination Ceremony Questions? Don't tell me?
Yep, these are the questions for the upcoming ceremony. I swiped them while the Ice Crane was treating you.
!!
This crazy bastard?!
Now he's even resorting to cheating on an exam?!
However, Jang Sam paused.
For a scheme hatched by that devil, something seemed off.
If they find out the exam questions are missing, won't they just write new ones?
Of course they will.
Then why?
Because cheating was never the goal.
Fwoosh.
Wi Ji-cheon summoned a True Samadhi Fire and burned the book to ashes. After going to all the trouble of stealing it, he didn't even glance at the questions!
Just as Jang Sam furrowed his brow at Wi Ji-cheon's incomprehensible actions, Wi Ji-cheon grinned.
When the Ice Crane finds out the exam questions are gone, how do you think he'll react?
He'll obviously be angry.
Still don't get it? How have you managed to be a sect leader all this time with that brain of yours?
Jang Sam bristled.
How was a normal person like him supposed to comprehend the devil's bizarre way of thinking?
Especially with the Ice Crane's rigid personality, he'll be furious. So, what will happen to the questions for the ceremony?
They'll obviously get harder Don't tell me?
Wi Ji-cheon nodded as if to say 'that's right'.
A similar incident occurred once before when the Ice Crane was sent as an examiner. Someone tried to steal a look at the questions while he was busy with patients. Guess what happened as a result?
He didn't need to hear the answer to know.
Jang Sam looked at Wi Ji-cheon, horrified.
Because of the enraged Ice Crane, every single person who took the Medical Examination Ceremony in that region failed.
So?
Yep. I'm going to make sure no one passes this year's Nanyang Medical Examination Ceremony. Except for our Medical Immortal Medical House, that is.
That's right.
This was Wi Ji-cheon's scheme.
To make all the students from the other medical houses fail, and have only the students from the Medical Immortal Medical House pass!
Wouldn't something like this be enough to grab everyone's attention?
But wouldn't the Medical Immortal Medical House have to take the same difficult test?
It's fine. The students of our Medical Immortal Medical House will be able to pass on their own merit, no matter how difficult the questions are.
Wi Ji-cheon would make it so.
Returning to the Black Ghost Sect, Wi Ji-cheon shouted to his junior brothers, who were still rolled up in straw mats.
Junior brothers, I have developed another training method! It will be of great help to you all. It's the Blood-Shattering no, anyway, it's a good training method!
And so, time passed.
The day of the Medical Examination Ceremony drew near.
On the long-awaited day of the Medical Examination Ceremony.
The atmosphere at the examination hall was like a funeral home.
It was because of the major incident that had occurred a while ago.
What kind of crazy bastard stole the Ice Crane's exam questions!
If you want to die, die alone!
Which house was it? The Huazhong Medical House?
Those bastards from the Iron Horse Medical House! Or was it the Nanzhong Medical House?!
Unexpectedly, the Medical Immortal Medical House was excluded from the list of suspects.
This was despite the fact that, based on the timeline, Wi Ji-cheon had been at the clinic the longest on the day of the incident.
It was because of what Ice Crane Sa Ma So had said.
-If that child had stolen them, do you think I wouldn't have noticed?
Among physicians, there were often those who also practiced martial arts, and Ice Crane Sa Ma So was one of them.
Sa Ma So's martial arts were also at a first-rate level.
Therefore, even while treating a patient inside, he could sense the presence outside.
Wi Ji-cheon, in particular, had come alone.
Meaning he could not have escaped Sa Ma So's senses.
Unless that child has reached a level beyond the peak stage, it would be impossible for him to deceive my senses and pull something like that.
In contrast, the students from the other medical houses who had visited Sa Ma So that day had come in a large, rowdy group.
Even for Sa Ma So, it was difficult to keep track of the presences of so many students, not just one or two, while concentrating on a patient's treatment.
Notably, the Medical Immortal Medical House made no excuses.
This was different from the other suspected medical houses, whose members had turned pale and vehemently denied their involvement.
Above all, Sa Ma So trusted his own eyes.
Wi Ji-cheon, that child is not the kind of petty person who would cheat on an exam.
If Jang Sam heard that, he would have clicked his tongue and thought, Physician, sir, you should treat your own eyes first.
In any case, thanks to all this, the medical students in the examination hall were all on the verge of tears.
It was then.
Shwaaak!
The doors to the examination hall opened, and a group appeared.
It was the examinees from the Medical Immortal Medical House!
But something about their atmosphere was strange.
Their faces were not gloomy at all.
They must have heard the rumors, but there was no trace of the funereal mood, and they didn't even seem nervous before the exam.
Instead, their faces were alight with excitement.
It was as if.
They had been liberated from something.
Khehehe, the lessons from hell are finally over.
Eldest Brother is mean.
Save me. Save me. Save me. Oh, it's over, right? Still, please save me, Eldest Brother.
Someone tried to steal the exam questions?
Who cares about that crap?!
We've finally been freed from that terrible hell!
-Junior brothers! I've prepared another new lesson for you all!
The new disciples flinched, recalling Wi Ji-cheon saying this with clear, bright eyes.
Wi Ji-cheon certainly had no ill intentions.
In fact, they could feel his deep concern for them.
And that's what made it even more terrifying.