Physician’s Odyssey

As Cai Yan got busy dealing with the branch, Su Tao secluded himself once more to make preparations for the National Healer Selection.

He knew that anyone that made it this far was an elite in the medical world, so he had to treat this seriously.

Although he smoothly won numerous competitions, he was serious in every single one of them. But this time, his opponents were extraordinarily formidable.

There were five people that made it through this stage, which meant that aside from Ling Yu, there were three other western medicine candidates.

At the same time, the list created a major commotion in the medical world when it was announced.

Most people had the conception that physicians should be old men, but the two candidates were only in their twenties!

In the past National Healer Selections, there weren't many physicians that could make it through the selection, and they're usually at least a decade older than their western medicine counterparts. But this year, the National Healer Selection's main focus was on young talents, so there's an age limit and western medicine doctors were all younger than the previous years. However, the young age of the two physicians left everyone astonished.

Furthermore, the two of them had a background as well. One of them was a genius from the Medical Dao Sect, while the other one was the disciple of both Song Sichen and Dou Fanggang. That practically meant that the two of them represented the future of TCM.

Thus, the TCM magazines, Xing Lin and Qi Huang, both conducted a detailed introduction on both Ling Yu and Su Tao, along with their history.

Xing Lin focused on Ling Yu and reported his history, which they'd investigated for nearly half a month in order to write the article.

Although Ling Yu did not have a dazzling celebrity halo like Su Tao, he had rooted himself amongst the common folk. Not only did he treat many complicated illnesses, he even treated several patients that were in the last stage of their cancer, and their conditions even showed improvements, practically being a miracle. In the past, he was only low-profile, so his fame wasn't known by the public. But under Xing Lin's exposure, Ling Yu's reputation instantly soared and was acclaimed as Xing Lin's Tomorrow Hope.

As for the magazine, Qi Huang, their report was focused on Su Tao by listing his achievements for the past year after he took over the Three Flavour Hall, especially how he treated a Leukemia patient in Jianghuai Hospital. Furthermore, the magazine also praised Su Tao for defeating the South Korean talent, Kim Jung-ho, during the International Medical Summit.

Putting it in other words, Xing Lin and Qi Huang were having a competition on the candidate that they're supporting, and even the industries were all discussing who's the better one.

Under everyone's attention, the final phase of the National Healer Selection finally began. The venue was Beijing's Zhonghe Hospital, since it's more convenient for western medicine specialists with all the equipment available.

Aside from Su Tao and Ling Yu, the three western medicine candidates were also here, Ouyang De, Ji Donghe, and Peng Hanyi.

Ouyang De, thirty-eight years old, a Harvard University graduate. He's proficient in surgery and the youngest postdoc advisor of Shuimu University. At the same time, he was also an expert in subarachnoid haemorrhage surgery.

Ji Donghe, thirty-seven years old, a graduate of Cambridge University. He's a general practitioner who provided the best family doctor service. Not only was he a medical specialist, but he's also a supporter of the medical industry's revolution. He founded a family doctor company with nearly ten thousand doctors around the country, who provide services for more than ten thousand elite families.

Peng Hanyi, thirty-nine years old, a graduate of Oxford University. He had been working overseas for many years and was proficient in cancer treatment. He had once taken up a position in London's Royal Marsden Hospital, and he was also often reported in England's newspaper as the Bane of Cancer.

From their résumés, the three of them were outstanding western medicine specialists in the country with glorious overseas histories. But naturally, they had been thoroughly investigated and were all from elite families. After all, it's hard for ordinary families to afford the expenditure of studying abroad.

It's normal for western medicine specialists to have a history of studying abroad. After all, western medicine was brought into the country from overseas, so it's unavoidable for other countries to have a leading foundation.

Since the three of them were around the same age and met each other several times in the past, they immediately started chatting the moment they arrived.

However, their conversation did not start off with the selection, but the latest news around the world, or their own respective teachers receiving an award, or which martial brothers of theirs discovered a piece of earth-shattering news when treating a Hollywood celebrity.

On the other hand, Su Tao and Ling Yu were neglected towards a corner. Regardless of their age, the special relationship between their respective medical studies, or their status in the society, Su Tao and Ling Yu couldn't attract their attention.

If an old physician roughly in his fifties was standing here, perhaps they might go up to pay their respects.

But in their view, both Su Tao and Ling Yu were still kids, and their research or postdocs were much better than the two of them.

Although they knew that they cannot judge the book by its cover, they still revealed the doubt that they had for the judges in their tone.

When they were in their twenties, they were still studying without any medical knowledge. So in their view, it was a joke for Su Tao and Ling Yu, who were in their twenties, to compete for the National Healer Selection.

"It looks like there's no suspense today. TCM will fail and the three of us can obtain the National Healer title!" Ji Donghe smiled.

Waving his hand, Ouyang De replied, "I've looked into the two of them. Despite their young age, some of their achievements can be acclaimed as miracles. Do you see that young man, Su Tao, over there? Do you know who recommended him? It's Teacher Xia Dechun!"

"I know the story about this matter. Mr. Xia wanted to use TCM's principle of nurturing health to treat Sire Cao with a medicinal cuisine, which he made a mess instead. In the end, Su Tao only used a bowl of soup to alleviate Sire Cao's situation, and this is the reason why Mr. Xia would think so highly of Su Tao." Peng Hanyi smiled in disdain.

"It's undeniable that TCM has its own unique methods in treating some illnesses, but it still pales in comparison to the western medicine system. We're going to treat important people or guests in the country, so how can we use TCM on them?" Ji Donghe said with a grave expression.

Wearing a bitter smile, Ouyang De sighed, "This is also because western medicine has reached a bottleneck. So when many patients discovered that their illnesses cannot be treated with western medicine, they would seek out TCM, and there are also occasional miracles that were spread like legends. It is so much so that even without the support of any scientific data, TCM is treated as the last hope by everyone. A few years ago, a physician even said on television that eating mung bean can treat all illnesses, which resulted in the soaring of mung bean. This is practically a joke!"

"TCM is already outdated, we can't allow it to continue. Since it has already been abandoned by history, then we can't allow it to revive." Peng Hanyi coldly added.

Thus, the three western medicine doctors got together and started to attack TCM amongst themselves.

Even if they knew that TCM had an advantage in several factors compared to western medicine, they still degraded TCM out of their respect for their own medical study.

Although they did not raise their voices, the resting room wasn't large, and so, they were naturally heard by Su Tao and Ling Yu.

Hearing those words, Ling Yu turned to look at Su Tao, who was seen resting with his eyes closed. However, Ling Yu could see that the latter's brows were furrowed.

He knew that Su Tao must be furious, just like him.

Although he cultivated in the Medical Dao Sect's path to have a tranquil psyche, he still couldn't help the desire to win blaze within his heart after hearing how those three belittled TCM.

A gentleman doesn't fight because he's a coward, he just doesn't wish to lower his level to the likes of those people to argue for a moment of satisfaction.

There's no meaning in going up to argue with them just to shut them up. The best method was to show outstanding performance on the selection and show them that TCM wasn't useless; it's the essence of China's medical study for the past few thousand years.

As one of the judges today, Tan Luoyou came into the resting room, in which the three western medicine candidates instantly shut their mouths and looked at the judge. This person was a titan in the western medicine world, and he was also their idol. In the international medical field, Tan Luoyou had the title of China's Divine Physician. At the same time, he had also been invited to other countries numerous times to treat patients.

After sweeping his gaze around everyone, Tan Luoyou immediately showed a smile.

But just when the three of them were about to go up, they saw Tan Luoyou swiftly walking to the corner.

The three of them instantly fell into silence, since they now realised that he was here for Su Tao!

Not knowing what the three western medicine candidates were feeling, Tan Luoyou swiftly walked over to Su Tao and sincerely said, "Su Tao, thank you!"

When the three western medicine doctors heard those words, they were instantly dumbfounded.

Why is Tan Luoyou thanking Su Tao?

What's the relationship between the two of them?

Tan Luoyou is the deputy judge, and he has high authority. Wouldn't that mean that Su Tao will have an advantage?

"Seeing your complexion, your lack of Yang seems to have gotten much better." Su Tao modestly smiled.

During the second phase, the paper that Su Tao gave to Helian Zhen was to point out Tan Luoyou's condition and also provided a prescription.

When Tan Luo returned and tried the medicine, he realised that his condition improved, which was why he came to look for Su Tao today. However, it wouldn't be simple to treat his condition for good.

"I have also once consulted a physician, and his evaluation of my condition was also the lack of Yang. But I have a question that I would like to ask, why can't the medical apparatus detect anything?" Tan Luoyou asked.

"Lacking of Yang is a rough term, and there's a wide range for the meaning. At the same time, it can also be detected with western medicine, but if you look at it from western medicine's angle, then you have a slight autonomic dysfunction and hemiplegia.

"As for the symptoms, they're namely numbing when you try to stretch your arm and also incapable of spreading your arms fully when you're awake; when you're asleep, you will also have all sorts of hallucinations. It's so much so that you will also hear voices in the surroundings, but you won't be able to move no matter how you try. In TCM, we call it demonic suppression, while western medicine calls it sleep paralysis. This is something that most people will experience, but your condition is slightly more serious since it has already started to affect your normal life!" Su Tao patiently explained.

Tan Luoyou naturally knew his own condition, but he couldn't treat it for good. Thus, he wanted to probe Su Tao by asking, which he was soon left in shock since Su Tao's judgement was spot on!