Chapter 655: What a Coincidence

Chapter 655: Chapter 655: What a Coincidence

Life in the Central Army was much more relaxed than the days at the front lines.

Though their resources were limited and no one dared to stand out in the army—the last time he dared take a sip of plain boiled water, someone used it as ammunition to file a complaint at the military strategy meeting—Shen Hao was now adamant about not bringing unnecessary trouble onto himself.

It was just that Chen Zifang was a bit annoying. Like a fly, he just wouldn’t go away. Whenever he had free time, he’d saunter over and linger in front of you. Ask him what he wanted, and he’d answer, "Nothing, just came to have a look," as though he were waiting by a tree for a rabbit, hoping to catch another "stroke of genius" from Shen Hao.

But it wasn’t that Chen Zifang was stupid; he had tasted the sweetness firsthand. The trick of drinking plain boiled water had already been proven to sharply reduce cases of diarrhea in the army—by as much as half! The effect was, frankly, outstanding.

Later, at Fish Stone Military Station, Chen Zifang heard about the method of "boiling gauze before use," which was supposed to reduce the risk of wound suppuration. And after a small-scale rollout, the results were just as excellent. In fact, when minor wounds were wrapped with boiled gauze, there was almost no pus or fever anymore.

If it happens once, you could call it luck. But twice? That can’t just be a lucky guess. And then later Shen Hao came up with the "emergency medical team" concept, which had already been piloted at Shimen on the front lines. Once Chen Zifang heard Shen Hao explaining the detailed plan, he immediately drew from his many years of frontline medical experience and concluded—this has promise!

Chen Zifang estimated that if the emergency teams were fully implemented, they could reduce battlefield casualties by at least twenty percent. Do you realize what that means?

If Chen Zifang could jump in from the start and play a trailblazing role, he might well make his mark in the history books again. That prospect tempted him greatly.

What’s more, these days Chen Zifang was officially tasked by Zuo Yuliang to coordinate closely with Shen Hao on the emergency teams and the unified registry for physicians, so he was involved all the time. And, as a bonus, he uncovered another idea that made his eyes light up: equipping every soldier with an emergency hemostatic medicine kit.

As both an alchemist and a physician, the moment Shen Hao uttered the words "hemostatic medicine kit," Chen Zifang already had the relevant recipe and design in mind: something fast-acting for minor and moderate wounds, small, portable, simple to use, maybe with a bit of painkiller thrown in...

This medicine kit would raise the army’s daily supply costs, but in wartime it was a clever way to reduce casualties—and could greatly save medical team and physician resources. For minor wounds, soldiers could handle them on their own, instead of letting them fester into serious injuries or even die because of delays.

So you couldn’t really blame Chen Zifang for being annoying; if anything, blame Shen Hao for not being able to keep his mouth shut. Things he’d always taken for granted just slipped out, and by the time he realized it, it was too late to take it back—he could only brace himself and explain thoroughly.

It was foreseeable that, whatever the outcome of this major battle, at the very least, Shen Hao’s string of "strokes of genius" would push the Jingjiu Dynasty’s military medical system a giant step forward.

But whether any of it would actually work still required a large-scale battle to put it to the test.

These days, Shen Hao was keeping quiet. He’d said enough as it was, and it wasn’t as though he had any other tips left; everything he knew about emergency medicine had already been laid out. There was nothing more to add.

Besides, over the past few days, Chen Zifang had been moving with lightning speed, and most of the details about integrating the emergency teams and physicians had been smoothed out. The rest had to be tested in action. Shen Hao’s assignment from Zuo Yuliang was just about wrapped up.

"Sir, Alchemist Chen is here again."

"Tell him to go back. I won’t see him."

Li Jiang smiled wryly. "I told him, but Alchemist Chen said he can wait until you’re free. He’s in the tent up front and refuses to leave."

It wasn’t just Li Jiang smiling bitterly; Shen Hao was helpless too. The guy showed up grinning, thick-skinned as ever, and you couldn’t really turn him away, could you? Especially since he also had official business as an excuse—you still had to give him a little face.

Still, Shen Hao didn’t change his mind. "Just tell him I’m about to break through and will be in seclusion for a few days. If there’s anything else, he can ask later."

Li Jiang was suddenly enlightened—and didn’t think his lord was just making an excuse to dodge Alchemist Chen. He’d sensed that lately, his lord’s aura was restless, as if at any moment True Qi might be surging within him. Now, after hearing this, he realized—was it really time for a breakthrough?

You couldn’t blame Li Jiang for being slow to react. Even Shen Hao himself was unsure of the exact moment he’d break through. In any case, he couldn’t leave right now, so he decided to just go with the flow. Only yesterday did he suddenly sense that the breakthrough would happen in the next few days.

"Understood! Please rest assured, sir, I’ll go gather the brothers right away and make sure your breakthrough is fully protected!" Li Jiang said resolutely. After saluting, he hurried off to arrange camp defenses—probably preparing to guard Shen Hao as though they were on full wartime alert.

"You really plan to break through in the camp? Can’t you hold it back a little longer?" the three guards asked, visibly worried. They knew full well that this breakthrough would be nothing like the last ones for Shen Hao.

If he broke through beyond the Gathering Spirit Realm Ninth Layer... that would be a leap to the Great Realm—advancing to the Primordial Pill Realm! Even breaking from Qi Refinement into Gathering Spirit meant surviving a life-and-death tribulation; moving from Gathering Spirit to Primordial Pill was sure to be even more dangerous. The three guards were all Primordial Pill Realm experts—they knew this hurdle was no joke. So for Shen Hao to choose to break through in the army, without even securing a proper protector...

"Is there a problem? Surely, being in the middle of ten thousand troops is safe enough? And besides, there are hundreds of brothers keeping strict watch outside. The three of you are helping me, too—what’s there to be afraid of? As for whether I succeed, that’s up to my own skill. I know what I’m doing," Shen Hao replied, completely at ease. Even standing on the cusp of his breakthrough, he felt none of the fatal discomfort others feared—in fact, he could sense a bubbling excitement stirring within him.

"I still think this is too reckless. If you can suppress it, you should."

"Can’t hold it any longer. The breakthrough will happen tonight at the earliest, and by noon the day after tomorrow at the latest. Otherwise, my meridians and Sea of Consciousness will be damaged."

"..."

There was nothing more they could say at that point. The three guards, however, still felt a bit put out. When they’d reached this hurdle themselves, weren’t they all walking on eggshells, scared out of their wits? Yet this kid Shen acts like he’s just off to buy groceries—just looking at him was infuriating.

Soon, the entire Inspector’s camp went on lockdown—not only was every available hand mobilized, they went to full combat readiness, locking the camp and guarding every access point, everyone suited up, talismans cupped in their palms.

As for Chen Zifang, he was hesitatingly shown out.

Breakthrough? At first, Chen Zifang suspected Shen Hao was just avoiding him on purpose. But as he looked back and saw the Inspector’s camp suddenly go into lockdown, his heart skipped a beat—could it really be such a coincidence?