Mountain and River Festival

Chapter 145 Blood Ulcers

"Knock knock~" There was a knock on the door. Ah Nuo opened her eyes from her cultivation, curiously opened the door and peeked out. In front of her was a group of examiners: "Gentlemen, is it not allowed to eat in the room? We're not eating..."

“Well, first of all, meals will be delivered at mealtimes, so don’t eat any more afterwards. Just look at that oily paper you’re using, it’s not appropriate to take it too seriously…” Meng Li coughed twice and handed over another sealed test paper: “Secondly, this is a test paper we prepared for the pageboys, we forgot to give it to you before. Do it yourself, don’t let your master give you any pointers.”

Ah Nuo, who was feeling bored, was quite delighted: "Great! My master is in meditation anyway."

The examiners exchanged a glance and left the room. Ah Nuo opened the exam paper and immediately started scratching her head.

What's with this name... Lu Nuomi Tuanzi?

Ah Nuo chewed on her pen and thought for a long time. Remembering what she had said to Sheng Yuanyao that day, she wrote down "Lu Nuonuo" stroke by stroke.

In the examination room, a group of people surrounded the large screen, watching the young girl scribbling furiously on the test paper, almost as fast as her teacher. The only time she paused to think was when writing her name…

Gu Zhanting couldn't help but ask, "You didn't get the same set of questions, did you?"

The examiners exchanged bewildered glances: "Your Majesty, it's really not."

Of course, they are not the same set. These kinds of exams usually have two sets of questions prepared in case of unforeseen circumstances; this is the other backup set. It just doesn't include the specific questions set by the emperor himself. Overall, the two sets of papers are roughly the same in difficulty.

This little girl is only a few years old. Even if she started learning from the womb, she shouldn't be this good at it!

That being said, even if it's the same set of test papers, if this little girl can memorize the whole thing after watching her master answer, then she's definitely a genius, right?

After a long silence, Meng Li finally awkwardly tried to smooth things over: "Kids don't understand. They might answer quickly, but they're probably just scribbling randomly. They'll know once the papers are graded; they might just be writing nonsense."

Everyone could only accept this answer for the time being, and remained silent.

…………

The papers were sealed with names when they were collected, but this set was meaningless to Anuo because her paper was different from everyone else's and it was obvious at a glance.

The examiners, including the emperor himself, didn't go home to rest that night, but instead worked overtime grading papers. Everyone wanted to snatch Anuo's paper to look at first, but no one could beat the emperor. Gu Zhanting leisurely took the paper, leaned back in his chair, and started reading. As he read, his expression changed.

He himself did not originally practice alchemy, but after years of illness, he became quite knowledgeable and could tell at a glance that Anuo's answer was very methodical and definitely not just a child's random scribbles.

Hmm... if we're talking about graffiti, maybe those ugly, unbearable words count?

It's one thing to have a methodical approach—after all, he's Lu Xingzhou's disciple, and the lineage is well-established. But why does this child seem to be completely correct? How old is he?

"Academician Qin, come and take a look." Gu Zhanting was starting to lose confidence in his own judgment, so he handed the paper to Qin Zhiyu, the academy's dean and a renowned top alchemist in the Great Qian Dynasty.

Qin Zhiyu took the test paper, and as he looked at it, he subconsciously stood up: "This..."

"how?"

"All, all correct!"

The examiners were in an uproar and gathered around: "Professor Qin, don't give him special treatment just because he's a child. It wouldn't be right to count someone who only guesses as a correct answer."

Qin Zhiyu's beard bristled with anger: "Look for yourselves! It's not just completely correct, some of the ideas should have been at the top-tier level!"

Upon hearing this, Meng Li fell silent, and Gu Zhanting nodded slightly.

Previously, when Lu Xingzhou answered the exam questions at Meng Li's house, Meng Li felt that some of his ideas were within the first-rank category, the kind that looked down on others from a higher perspective. At the time, the Imperial Preceptor was still present and thought that it was because Meng Li only knew the first rank... meaning that Lu Xingzhou's ideas had the potential to surpass the first rank, or at least his lineage was beyond the first rank.

A'nuo is Lu Xingzhou's apprentice, but the term "apprentice" likely doesn't refer to martial arts prowess. Gu Zhanting could sense that A'nuo's strength seemed to be on the opposite side of the Heavenly Gang, even surpassing Lu Xingzhou's... So, the master-apprentice relationship was probably related to alchemy? That would explain the answer sheet.

But what's even more shocking is that this child is said to be only seven years old!
"This assessment is interesting." Gu Zhanting stood up in a good mood: "I hope the treatment assessment tomorrow will bring me even more surprises."

Meng Li then said, "Does His Majesty mean that this... uh... this child should also formally participate in the assessment?"

Gu Zhanting smiled and said, "Hasn't she already officially participated in the assessment? How many people are better than her? As for her name, just open the package and see. It's a unique exam paper, why bother hiding it? It's all just formalities."

Meng Li carefully opened the package and glanced at it; it was Lu Nuonuo.

Qin Zhiyu immediately added his name to the assessment list. The emperor and the empire's highest alchemy academy tacitly gave this solemn and dignified examination preferential treatment, and everyone did so as if it were perfectly natural.

In the exams of such a prestigious institution of learning, a seven-year-old gets a perfect score... Who's out of their mind to cling so tightly to the rules and shut out geniuses?

…………

The next morning, the door rang again. Ah Nuo rubbed her eyes and went to open the door. She saw another group of examiners, with a gaunt patient by their side.

Ah Nuo, the chubby boy, finally looked confused: "Grandpas, do you all come to each house in such a large group? Is three days enough time for you?"

Everyone was a little embarrassed. How could they say that the exam wasn't even starting the next day yet, and that a group of people had deliberately come early just to watch her?

Even the emperor hid in the examination room early in the morning to watch the large screen. "Ahem," Meng Li coughed, "You don't need to worry about that. Is your teacher here?"

Lu Xingzhou's voice came from inside the room: "Please come in, everyone."

The group led the patient into the room, and Lu Xingzhou took his pulse. After a short while, a slight smile appeared on his face.

This patient has leukemia.

These symptoms are very similar to the emperor's injury. The "demonic power" in the emperor's body could not be completely eliminated and continued to interfere with his blood. Isn't this very similar to cancer, where cancer cells can only be suppressed but not eradicated?

Just as he was about to speak, Qin Zhiyu suddenly stopped him: "How about this young lady also comes to see the patient?"

Lu Xingzhou's smile deepened. Yesterday, when they were giving Anuo some homework, he seemed to be in a trance, but how could he not know the answers? Thinking that it would be quite fun for the master and apprentice to be classmates, he didn't say anything.

Ah Nuo's medical knowledge was indeed all learned from me, and Ah Nuo had been my assistant in all my treatments and alchemy. Over the years, his skill level was almost a one-to-one replica. It was only after obtaining the Maha Notes that a difference emerged, because I hadn't fully grasped the new knowledge myself, so naturally, I had much less to be confident in teaching others.

But Ah Nuo was more than capable of handling this assessment.

Ah Nuo, however, thought it was just a group of old men playing with a child, so she went up to take the pulse, examined the patient's eyes for a while, and then exchanged a glance with Lu Xingzhou.

The master and apprentice smiled in perfect unison and said in unison, "Blood ulcer."

Qin Zhiyu said, "It's generally called a blood disorder, so why do you two call it an ulcer?"

Ah Nuo said, "It's like having an ulcer in the blood. Saying it's a blood disease is too vague."

Qin Zhiyu nodded and asked, "Since you know the symptoms, do you have a solution?"

Cancer is a notoriously difficult disease to treat in modern times, yet this world of cultivation has many powerful elixirs that can cure it. However, this isn't a test of this level; simply being able to correctly diagnose the disease is enough to pass. Qin Zhiyu and the others didn't expect Lu Xingzhou and his apprentice to provide a solution directly; they were just asking casually, hoping the emperor would listen.

Ah Nuo said, "There are a few kinds of pills that can cure it... well, but I can't refine them. If we don't rely on pill refining, there's a rare and precious herb called Thousand Blood Mushroom, which I think can also cure it if taken directly."

Qin Zhiyu nodded. These solutions were effective for this blood disorder, but unfortunately they were not the right treatment for the emperor's illness and could not cure the damage to the demonic power.

After all, they are only similar, not the same illness.

But Lu Xingzhou said, "Judging from this patient's condition alone, a marrow transplant can solve the problem. However, it's very difficult to find a matching donor, so we can't count on it. I answered this question on the exam paper. Those with sufficient resources can try to use a precious item for a marrow transplant."

Qin Zhiyu narrowed his eyes slightly, and Gu Zhanting suddenly stood up in the examination room.

Meng Li hurriedly said, "You can't just make things up. Are you sure you can do it?"

Lu Xingzhou said, "Judging from this patient's condition alone, it is indeed possible. You are all top figures, and you must have your own deductions, which you can verify. But you should also understand that just because this patient is capable does not mean that others are capable as well."

Gu Zhanting sat back down silently in the examination room. After thinking for a long time, he whispered to those around him, "Academician Qin also made a similar proposal, and Lu Xingzhou said the same thing... Let Academician Qin start to verify it. He should know how to refine the Marrow-Changing Treasure."

"Yes."

Gu Zhanting's gaze fell on the "big screen" again, his expression unreadable.

The diagnostic assessment wasn't limited to treating just one patient. Throughout the day, Lu Xingzhou and his apprentice saw at least twenty or thirty different difficult and complicated cases. Some required on-the-spot treatment, some required prescriptions, and others required special elixirs. Those would be the assessment items for tomorrow: alchemy.

For the people of the capital, being selected as one of the examinees for this kind of assessment was an incredibly lucky thing, as the level of the examinees here was a hundred times better than that of ordinary free clinics.

After a long day of work, Ah Nuo wiped her sweat, feeling utterly exasperated: "Master, is something wrong? I'm a virgin boy, why do they want me to treat him?"

Lu Xingzhou smiled slightly: "You should also try some hands-on experience. What's the point of always being an assistant? You'll have to become an independent person someday."

Ah Nuo's expression changed: "No! That day will never come!"

"Alright, alright, that day will never come." Lu Xingzhou rubbed her head: "But you still need to get hands-on experience, right? In the future, if Master has to see a lot of patients, like today, and can't manage on his own, you'll have to help out, won't you?"

Ah Nuo breathed a sigh of relief and laughed, "How could there be an occasion where Master would treat so many people at once? Does Master intend to open a clinic in the future?"

"Maybe, once Master has finished what he wants to do, he can go back to the county town, open a clinic under an assumed name, and become a 'city doctor immortal' to show off and slap people in the face. What do you say?"

"You're just fooling yourself, Master. Someone as restless as you, hiding your identity..." Ah Nu complained, "The Imperial Academy should pray that you don't cause any chaos in there, and that's a blessing in disguise."

"Look at what you're saying, we're not even sure if we can pass the test."

"But Master, out of thirty people, twenty-eight have been cured... There are only two left that require additional pill refining, but those pills seem so easy to make..."

Lu Xingzhou sighed: "Alchemy is not like these two days. Tomorrow is not an assessment, it's a competition."

(End of this chapter)