Chapter 2334 - 2069: Too Unruly, Let’s Use Him as a Test Subject

Ma Chao’s unwavering gaze of death didn’t make Zhang Fei feel awkward; instead, he excitedly said, "See, see, I knew he would be fine. Look at him now, isn’t his spirit great, even blowing out a puff of black smoke."

At that moment, Ma Chao’s heart was once again set on becoming stronger. With the steely eyes of a dead fish, he stared at Zhang Fei, swearing that one day he would strike Zhang Fei to this state.

Zhao Yun, Huang Zhong, and Xuu Chu were all speechless. Zhang Fei’s thick skin remained unchanged from before, bullying a kid and refusing to admit it.

"Uh, Zilong, are you sure Meng Qi is okay?" Feeling the disdainful gazes from the people around directed at Zhang Fei, and hearing those long sighs, Chen Xi didn’t hear any signs of excessive concern for Ma Chao.

"Don’t worry, isn’t he still alive? As long as he’s alive, there will be no problem." Zhang Fei was very optimistic, "His physical quality is still very good."

"Forget it, Zilong, take him to Physician Hua, get some medicine for Meng Qi, and let him recuperate. Xiaoo Zhi’s wedding is in four days; we can’t just let him lie there." As Chen Xi spoke, Fa Zheng was already squatting beside Ma Chao, poking him with a small stick he picked up from the ground.

"Crack!" Watching Fa Zheng casually poke off a charred piece of Ma Chao with the stick and then not knowing how to handle it, Chen Xi decisively decided to quickly send Ma Chao to Hua Tuo.

When Zhao Yun and the others sent Ma Chao to the Medical Academy, Hua Tuo and Zhang Jii were holding some syringe, preparing to inject something into themselves.

"Uh, Physician Hua, can you not use yourself as a test subject?" Chen Xi’s expression wasn’t right seeing this scene; he had warned these two at least ten times, but sometimes these doctors would still casually give themselves a shot.

"No worries, it’s just a nutritional injection to quickly recover and uplift spirits." Wearing a white coat, Hua Tuo casually threw the syringe into boiling water for sterilization.

"But it freaks me out." Chen Xi said helplessly.

"Let’s not talk about Yuanhua; the guy on the stretcher behind you has over 60 broken bones, and most of his skin is severely burned. What’s going on?" Zhang Zhongjing redirected the topic to Ma Chao, speaking with a hint of curiosity.

After just one glance, Zhang Zhongjing knew that this would be a fatal injury for someone else, but seeing that the guy on the stretcher could still understand human language and show clear will through his eyes, Zhang Zhongjing knew this was an Inner Qi Manifestation, a material with considerable research value.

"Punched by someone." Zhang Fei quickly spoke, and lying on the stretcher, Ma Chao turned his neck with difficulty, glaring at Zhang Fei.

"How do you plan to handle such an injury?" Hua Tuo, who had approached in the meantime, looked at Ma Chao on the stretcher, quite satisfied with an Inner Qi Manifestation as a test subject.

"What do you mean by how we plan to handle it?" Chen Xi asked Hua Tuo, puzzled.

"We have a slow method, with full recovery in half a month, or a quicker one that takes five days, or an immediate recovery option, but it will result in a three-day weakness." Hua Tuo explained casually, "We have developed a new type of potion over here."

"Let’s go with the immediate recovery option." Chen Xi decisively replied. As for the three-day weakness, he didn’t care much.

"During the Northern Frontier battle, we developed a potion that can suppress injuries. Now we’ve developed a stronger one, but it only suits Inner Qi Manifestation. Minor injuries can be handled with auxiliary potions, but for such severe wounds, although they can quickly recover, they will enter a period of weakness." Hua Tuo instructed people to bring out vials from inside as he spoke.

"Uh, why is she here?" Chen Xi asked Hua Tuo suspiciously via voice transmission, looking at Ji Xiang, expressionless and mixing vials.

"We know what happened, we’ve dabbled in divination therapy. Although it doesn’t reach her level, we understand what needs understanding. In facing such things, it’s important to stay true to oneself." Hua Tuo responded with a smile via voice transmission to Chen Xi.

"Make sure to keep an eye on her; I don’t mind much, but if Wen Ru and Wen He caught her, who knows what trouble might arise. Luckily, they didn’t come along." Chen Xi half-warned.

"She merely lacks something; Zhongjing is writing a piece on medical ethics. Her medical skills are actually quite good, so we let her assist and study at the same time." Hua Tuo quickly set Ma Chao’s bones while responding to Chen Xi.

"It’s about done, give this a try!" Zhang Zhongjing shook the vial in his hand, injected it into the syringe, then mixed in another vial with a faint green glow, and said, "It might hurt a bit, bear with it!"

As Zhang Zhongjing slowly injected the serum into Ma Chao’s vein, within about five minutes, Ma Chao exhibited astonishing changes. First, there was a slight tremor all over his body, some bruises were squeezed out, charred areas swiftly developed a new layer of skin underneath, and with convulsions, the charred skin began to fall off.

"Wow, amazing!" Chen Xi watched this process with an expression of admiration.

"Does this mean that in future battles, injuries can be quickly recovered with just a jab? Does this make the high-risk life-for-life tactics much safer?" Huang Zhong watched in shock as this scene completely overturned his perception.

"Not quite. The current method relies entirely on the amazing recovery power of Inner Qi Manifestation, and during the process, it places a significant toll on the user. It originally had a huge impact on lifespan, but thanks to Yuanhua’s refinement, the lifespan impact was removed, yet other costs increased significantly," Zhang Zhongjing explained helplessly.

"Besides releasing a cell-level self-repair mechanism, that earlier injection mainly provides nutrition for self-repair and acts as a stabilizer, offering a substance that extends cell life cycles," Hua Tuo said calmly.

"To put it simply, that injection contained a substance that could directly extend lifespan," Zhang Jii said with a grin.

"Whoa!" Everyone took a sharp breath; revealing such news would indeed stir trouble.

"However, the unfortunate reality is such a substance cannot exist long-term within a living being. To be precise, it is harmful to the human body and could even transform the living being into something unusual," Hua Tuo said reluctantly, "The Pill of Eternal Life is essentially a failure."

"Infinite cell division?" Chen Xi asked with curiosity.

"Yes, as long as nutrition is sufficient, it keeps dividing," Hua Tuo replied, slightly surprised but unperturbed, as even Hua Tuo had to take notice of Chen Xi’s medical insights back then.

"And you guys use this for ’experiments’?" Chen Xi asked, flabbergasted.

"Yes, every living body contains it, but a larger type of cell engulfs it," Hua Tuo nodded, "So Zhongjing and I researched it specifically, eventually discovering it as a unique kind of cell—endlessly dividing, thus implying endless life."

"Unfortunately, endless division is real but comes with numerous negative repercussions. Generally speaking, using this for treatment on normal people ensures certain death; Inner Qi Manifestation doesn’t care: treat first, then the rest can be managed," Zhang Zhongjing said indifferently.

"Overall, based on our current research, when considered from any angle, Inner Qi Manifestation shouldn’t really be regarded as human," Hua Tuo stated plainly.

"Alright, I get it. The three-to-five-day weakness comes from having to devour the already healed parts, right?" By this point, Chen Xi had caught on, and Hua Tuo nodded.

"So, using this for major, or fatal, injuries is worthwhile, but for common wounds, it’s not cost-effective?" Chen Xi asked curiously.

"Correct, and heart muscle injuries can’t be treated with this method," Hua Tuo nodded in explanation.

"I think you guys should further study medications for treating sword and blade injuries," Chen Xi said, rubbing his chin, "The recoveries provided during the Northern Frontier Battle were quite good."

"Those weren’t for recovery; they were for forcibly suppressing injuries without sacrificing combat power, through strong suppression of injuries and combining with the robust recovery power of Inner Qi Manifestation, initially sealing external injuries. If an injury is too severe, the injection stimulates it, using up life resources to heal critical wounds," Hua Tuo shook his head.

"Using life to treat injuries is heretical," Zhang Zhongjing outright dismissed the notion.

"It’s better than dying on the spot, isn’t it?" Chen Xi retorted, annoyed.

"Simply saying it’s heretical doesn’t mean it can’t be used," Hua Tuo explained with some reluctance.

"Currently, we’re developing new types of battlefield recovery medicine, but due to our current status, we only have three options available: one used for Meng Qi, another from Northern Frontier, and the third entirely for suppressing injuries," Zhang Zhongjing said, somewhat resigned.

If one desires a non-life-costly, swift wound recovery agent given the current circumstances, it’s impossible to avoid using what was given to Ma Chao, but using it prevents a person from recovering in a short time.

Though seemingly worst, the third type turns out to be the best when Hua Tuo and Zhang Zhongjing are involved.

No matter how severe the wound, using the third type of agent to suppress it ensures survival, Hua Tuo and Zhang Zhongjing can quickly heal it.

However, Ma Chao’s gift-based treatment is the fastest. It’s just that Ma Chao is too reckless, and it’s not easy to obtain experimental materials, so capturing Ma Chao was just right to validate their experiments.