Chapter 155 - 149: Practicing Medicine

Chapter 155: Chapter 149: Practicing Medicine

Over the years, the Divine Wood Sect had expended considerable effort in the Mortal Territory to find Jiang Zuo.

Many mortal Grandmasters and other well-built individuals had suffered for it.

While they hadn’t lost their lives, they had endured much hardship.

That they had found nothing for over a decade was within Ge Fangrong’s expectations.

After all, that mortal was absurdly powerful, with methods far beyond those of an ordinary person.

If he wanted to hide, how could common people possibly find him?

But until today, Ge Fangrong had always held onto a sliver of hope.

He knew Wu Zhonghai’s methods and had hoped that one day, Wu Zhonghai might outlast that mortal, seize his body, and return to the Divine Wood Sect.

But he never imagined that in less than twenty years, that mortal would somehow manage to kill Wu Zhonghai.

"Forget it. Let the matter rest."

Ge Fangrong sighed and shook his head.

Without Wu Zhonghai’s soul lamp to track him, the man could now return to the Cultivation Realm without fear.

Continuing the search in the Mortal Territory was now pointless.

However, they couldn’t just drop everything at once, lest watchful eyes notice something amiss. It was best to let time slowly erase the matter.

「Mortal Territory.」

Jiang Zuo spent another six months raising mountain rats, and he successfully nurtured their innate talent.

The mountain rat’s primary talent was the Bone Shrinking Technique, with a secondary talent for smell.

Jiang Zuo thus gained a talent for smell, and his olfactory sense strengthened considerably.

His Bone Shrinking Technique was also enhanced, though the effect itself didn’t improve much. The main enhancement was its duration.

What could originally only be maintained for a little over two hours now lasted for nearly six—an increase of almost double the time.

’The Bone Shrinking Technique is very useful. I should consider raising a few more species of rats.’

Jiang Zuo mused.

If he could maintain the Bone Shrinking Technique constantly, he wouldn’t have to hide in this barren and desolate mountain range.

’Wu Zhonghai is dead, but I still have no way to deal with this Spirit Poison in my body.’

Wu Zhonghai had been dead for half a year, but the poison afflicting Jiang Zuo was still active.

It seemed his only option was to rely on the Heaven and Earth Sealing Spirit Array to slowly deplete the Spiritual Power within the poison.

Without Spiritual Power, the poison would lose its effect.

’But if I just wait, it will probably take about twenty years to be completely cleansed.’

’As long as it remains, there will always be a risk.’

’Or perhaps I could try reducing my age to see what happens.’

Jiang Zuo thought to himself.

When he used his Beast Taming Reputation to reduce his age, his body would also undergo a massive transformation.

When he tried to Promote to Innate, his age couldn’t be too high, or it would reduce his chances of having an Awakened Spirit Root.

Jiang Zuo had already planned to reduce his age when he Promoted to Innate, so with this new idea, he didn’t hesitate. He immediately opened his status panel and began reducing his age.

As his age decreased year by year, Jiang Zuo grew younger, and his physique gradually changed.

Jiang Zuo stopped when his age reached his early forties.

’It worked, just as I thought. While it couldn’t be completely eliminated at once, most of it is gone.’

’In ten years at most, the remaining Spirit Poison will be completely purged!’

Jiang Zuo was very satisfied with this.

In fact, if he had been willing to become even younger, he could have removed more of the Spirit Poison.

However, Jiang Zuo was planning to spend some more time in the Mortal Territory to practice the medical skills he had learned over the years.

Having reduced his age to his early forties, his physical appearance had changed dramatically, and this age was also convenient for practicing medicine.

If he were any younger, it would be inconvenient to practice medicine.

This would take about ten years anyway, by which time the remaining Spirit Poison would naturally be purged.

’This will probably be my last stretch of time in the Mortal Territory. Once my medical skills are proficient enough, I won’t wait any longer for the Mysterious Island, regardless of whether there’s been any sign from it or not.’

In another ten-odd years, it would be close to the time of his hundred-year plan.

After this final period, he would begin preparations to Promote to Innate!

After a long absence, Jiang Zuo returned to a mortal town.

After a simple disguise, Jiang Zuo became a traveling physician.

From then on, under the guise of a traveling doctor, Jiang Zuo practiced medicine on the road.

Because Jiang Zuo charged very little, many people who normally couldn’t afford to see a doctor flocked to him for a consultation.

At first, Jiang Zuo couldn’t diagnose the true cause of many illnesses and was often called a fraud.

It wasn’t his fault; the medical texts he had studied were far too vague and general.

If one could become a doctor just by reading a few medical books, there wouldn’t be so few physicians in the Mortal Territory—and most of them wouldn’t be charlatans.

It wasn’t until more than half a year had passed that Jiang Zuo could gradually apply his book knowledge to treat patients.

After seeing many common illnesses, Jiang Zuo could even make a rough diagnosis with a single glance.

’The medical profession really is all about grinding for experience.’

Jiang Zuo couldn’t help but shake his head.

He recalled a classmate from his past life who had become a doctor. After seven or eight years in a hospital, he was still just an assistant, with almost no opportunities to handle cases on his own.

Only in a world like this were there so many patients for him to grind experience on.

As Jiang Zuo traveled and practiced medicine, he continued to raise a species of grain-eating Valley Rat.

After a year of practicing medicine, Jiang Zuo’s skills had improved significantly, reaching the level of an average physician.

One day, Jiang Zuo arrived outside a large mortal city. ℴ

He had just crossed a stretch of desolate, untamed mountains.

Upon arrival, he found the name of the kingdom where the city was located to be rather interesting.

The kingdom was named the Venus Kingdom.

For a moment, Jiang Zuo couldn’t help but suspect that a fellow transmigrator had come here and given the kingdom such a name.

However, after a bit of inquiry, Jiang Zuo learned this was not the case.

The real reason was that the Venus Kingdom had a unique type of fish called the Venus Fish.

The Venus Fish was said to only be able to breed in the great lake within the Imperial Palace grounds and possessed a wondrous ability.

It was said that whenever the court of the Venus Kingdom was unstable, the fish would disappear, only reappearing once the court was stable and peace reigned throughout the land.

Thus, the Venus Fish was regarded as an auspicious symbol of the Venus Kingdom, which was how the kingdom got its name.

When Jiang Zuo arrived, the Venus Kingdom was in a state of turmoil.

It was beset by powerful enemies from without, while from within, treacherous officials had taken the royal family hostage in a rebellion.

This city, the largest one closest to the Venus Kingdom’s Imperial Capital, was also affected, and its people were living in misery.

After arriving, Jiang Zuo found an endless stream of patients every day, so he decided not to leave and settled down for the time being.

「In a flash, two years passed.」

Jiang Zuo gradually made a name for himself in the city.

He had always charged low fees and treated everyone equally, never looking down on the poor or refusing them treatment.

Those who truly had no money could run a tab. He wouldn’t even chase them for payment; whether they paid was entirely up to them.

However, if someone didn’t pay up after a long time and tried to come back for another consultation, they would be turned away.

Moreover, Jiang Zuo had real skill. For most illnesses, he could diagnose the problem.

Even if he couldn’t cure them completely, he could at least alleviate the symptoms.

After just two years, Jiang Zuo had earned the title of Great Divine Doctor Zhou.

One night, Jiang Zuo heard a strange noise from his courtyard.

He went out and found a young boy lying unconscious in his backyard.

The boy was a little over eight years old and had suffered severe wounds from blades.

After a moment’s thought, Jiang Zuo brought the boy back into the house to treat his injuries.

The boy’s injuries were severe. Even with Jiang Zuo’s best efforts, he lay in bed for a week before he could get up and walk.

A month later, the boy’s wounds had mostly healed.

"Alright, your wounds are almost better."

"You seem to be from a well-off family. Is there any way to contact them to come get you?"

Jiang Zuo asked the boy.

Although the boy’s clothes were tattered, the skin on his palms was extremely soft and delicate, clearly belonging to someone who had never done manual labor. He was obviously not from an ordinary family.

Jiang Zuo had to ask twice before the boy finally reacted and looked at him.

Jiang Zuo had noticed over the past few days that the boy seemed somewhat dazed, often just lying there with his eyes staring off into space.

"S-Sir," the boy stammered, "m-my parents died in the chaos of the war. I have nowhere to go. Please, Sir, take me in!"

The boy hadn’t spoken in a long time, and his words were halting at first.

However, he had clearly received a good education from a young age, and his tone towards Jiang Zuo was sincere and respectful.

Jiang Zuo could tell the boy wasn’t lying.

His parents being dead and him having nowhere to go were both likely true.

If he sent the boy away, there was a high chance he would die in the wilderness.

But to let him stay...

Jiang Zuo tapped his fingers on the table, pondering.

Over the past year, more and more people had come to him for treatment, and doing everything himself wasted a lot of time.

Jiang Zuo had thought about finding someone to help, but he hadn’t found a suitable candidate.

This boy, however, was a viable option.

"You can stay, but I need to tell you first: you’ll have to be my assistant. If you can’t be helpful, I won’t go easy on you."

After some thought, Jiang Zuo said to the boy.

"Thank you, Sir!"

The boy thanked him profusely.

The boy then said his name was Yi Yang, but Jiang Zuo knew at once that it wasn’t his real name.

But Jiang Zuo didn’t expose him. It was better that he didn’t use his real name.

There was probably another reason why this little fellow’s parents were dead and he had nowhere to go.

The boy was afraid of Jiang Zuo knowing his real name, but Jiang Zuo actually thought it was better not to know.

And so, Yi Yang became an apprentice at Jiang Zuo’s clinic.

Jiang Zuo didn’t coddle him and gave him plenty of work to do.

Yi Yang had never endured hardship growing up, and it took a great deal of effort, gritting his teeth, to persevere.

Seeing this, Jiang Zuo’s estimation of him rose slightly.

After getting through the initial period, Yi Yang fully adapted to his new life.

Then, Yi Yang discovered that Jiang Zuo was an excellent master.

In terms of medicine, whatever he wanted to learn, as long as he asked, Jiang Zuo would hold nothing back.

This was unlike other master-apprentice pairs, where masters hoarded their skills, fearing the proverb, "to teach the apprentice is to starve the master."

Not only that, but Yi Yang found that when Jiang Zuo discovered him secretly practicing martial arts, he even gave him some guidance from a medical perspective.

However, he never would have guessed that Jiang Zuo’s guidance and teaching didn’t stem from kindness, but merely from the thought that if Yi Yang’s medical skills and stamina were better, he would be of more help.

In the blink of an eye, Yi Yang was sixteen years old.

Ten years had also passed since Jiang Zuo had arrived in this city.

’This Spirit Poison in my body is finally, completely gone.’

Feeling the absence of the Spirit Poison in his body, Jiang Zuo felt a sense of relief wash over him.