As Academic Credits were the currency of the academy, their distribution had to be regulated to avoid inflation. Thus, every ten years, the ten schools would be given a set number of Academic Credits to distribute to the students.
The amount was determined by many factors, such as the total number of students in the school, the number of occupation promotions in recent years, the accomplishments of its students…
As the fifth largest school in the academy, judging from recent history, the Physician School would usually be given at least a hundred thousand Academic Credits to distribute for the following ten years.
As students spent their Academic Credits on using the services of the Physician School, such as accessing the library or purchasing valuable herbs in the school, the Physician School would earn back the Academic Credits, forming a mini economy in itself.
Given that Zhang Xuan could cause the Wall of Dilemma to be unable to process the distribution of Academic Credits, resulting in a severe error that caused its collapse… That could only mean to say that the Academic Credits he had earned exceeded a hundred thousand!
That was the entire budget the Physician School had to live off for the next ten years!
And yet, it was gone in an instant…
If there aren’t enough Academic Credits for the teachers to distribute to the students as rewards for the missions and tasks… Darn it, the Physician School is in deep trouble… Realizing the implications of Zhang Xuan’s actions, Sun Yuan’s mouth twitched violently, and he nearly burst into tears.
His teacher, You Xu, happened to be in charge of regulating the distribution of Academic Credits in the Physician School. For ten years’ worth of Academic Credits to be earned by a single individual… This meant that they had no more Academic Credits to award to the other students!
Earning Academic Credits was no easy task. Students had to undergo laborious tasks or life-threatening missions just to earn a couple of them. If they were to realize that they would be awarded nothing at the end of their efforts…
At this moment, Sun Yuan could already see the huge pandemonium that would arise due to the displeased students!
Furthermore, the distribution of the Academic Credits was a major affair concerning the development of the students. If the Physician School was unable to compensate its students properly for their efforts, that would be flouting the rules of the academy as well. As the vice school head in charge of its regulation, his teacher would surely be severely punished!
Sun Yuan had thought that the fellow would rush to the Blacksmith School to complain to School Head Zhao, but who knew that just by challenging a Wall of Dilemma, he had already managed to corner his teacher!
Without a doubt, students would start withdrawing from the Physician School due to this matter, and its overall prowess would fall rapidly. Perhaps, by the end of this decade, they might very well be the last place among the ten schools.
And for allowing such an incident to happen under his watch, his teacher would indubitably be stripped of his responsibilities.
“Indeed!” Having realized this much as well, Hu shi also had a bitter smile on his face.
“Right, where is Zhang Xuan? Why isn’t he here?”
At this moment, Sun Yuan suddenly realized that the culprit of this mess had disappeared, so he couldn’t help but ask.
“Zhang Xuan? After clearing the Wall of Dilemma, he headed straight for the Malady Platform…” Hu shi said.
Realizing that it was possible that Zhang Xuan wasn’t quite done yet, Sun Yuan’s body trembled in apprehension at what that could potentially happen next. Fearfully, he asked, “Malady Platform? What is he going to do there?”
“The Malady Platform has a unique mechanism that allows physicians to experience illnesses themselves so that they could better understand its symptoms, and they can also treat themselves so as to verify the effectiveness of their proposed treatment method… If he is heading there, I guess he should be trying to assess his current proficiency in the Way of Medicine,” Hu shi replied.
The Malady Platform allowed a physician to put themselves in the shoes of the patients to better understand what they would be going through, thus building compassion within them for those who were suffering. At the same time, through verifying their treatment methods here, they could avoid mistreating their patients.
“Since he was able to overcome even the Wall of Dilemma, does he really need to verify his proficiency in the Way of Medicine?” Sun Yuan rolled his eyes.
The Wall of Dilemma was already the most difficult test in the entire Physician School. Given that Zhang Xuan was able to solve over five hundred illnesses within five minutes, would he still need to verify his proficiency in the Way of Medicine at the Malady Platform?
“This… Crap!” At this moment, Hu shi also realized what was going on.
Just as he was about to rush over with Sun Yuan, a loud rumbling suddenly echoed from afar, and smoke could be seen rising in the distance. It seemed something else had collapsed too.
Sun Yuan’s mouth twitched uncontrollably. “That’s where the Malady Platform is! Let’s hurry over to take a look…”
With Hu shi and a few others, they hurriedly rushed to the Malady Platform, and the sight before them upon reaching it left them staggering weakly.
At this moment, the massive building housing the Malady Platform was reduced to ruins, and a middle-aged man was looking at the rubble with a dazed look.
“Zhou shi, what happened?” Sun Yuan hurried forward to ask.
Zhou shi was also a direct disciple of Vice School Head You Xu, Sun Yuan’s junior. He was in charge of maintaining the Malady Platform.
“A student said that he wanted to verify a new treatment method he had, so I allowed him to enter after paying the required Academic Credits. Who knew that… within three minutes of his entry, this would happen…” Zhou shi’s face was pale, and his lips was quivering in agitation.
Knowing that this wasn’t the time to be concerned about the collapse of the Malady Platform, Sun Yuan asked anxiously, “What is the freshman called… and where is he now?”
“I believe his name is Zhang Xuan, and from the direction in which he was heading… I think he’s going to the ‘Ancestor Forest’!” Zhou shi replied.
“Ancestor Forest?” Sun Yuan was taken aback. “The Ancestor Forest is a place where the will of the predecessors lingers alongside their tombstones. Engraved on their tombs are the most outstanding feats they achieved in their lives and how they had achieved them. It serves as an inspiration to the later generation to learn from their example and their wisdom. Why would Zhang Xuan head there…”
If the Wall of Dilemma and Malady Platform were premises to verify one’s expertise as a physician and earn Academic Credits, the Ancestor Forest would be a place to admire and worship the predecessors.
All renowned physicians of the Master Teacher Academy would have a tombstone erected for them there. The illnesses which they had discovered a cure for, along with the cure itself, would be inscribed on their tombstones alongside their name so that the later generations could admire their work…
It was nothing more than a platform to motivate the current students, and there was not a single Academic Credit that could be earned there. Why would Zhang Xuan head there?
“I think we should still go over to take a look,” Hu shi said.
“Yes!” Sun Yuan nodded in agreement.
Even though they couldn’t see how Zhang Xuan could break anything in the Ancestor Forest—the Ancestor Forest had absolutely nothing to do with tests or Academic Credits—there was simply something so extraordinary about him that it would be unwise to gauge him via common sense. It was still best for them to take a look themselves.
As such, they rushed off to the Ancestor Forest, but as usual, before they could reach their destination, the ground shook intensely, and the sound of countless tombstones shattering sounded.
The violent shaking caused even cracks to appear on the ground, and even the resilient Tower of Physicians was shaking violently.
“What happened?” Rushing into the Ancestor Forest, they realized that the entire area had been reduced to rubble. Sun Yuan and the others felt as if they were going insane.
This was a place to honor the glorious deeds of their predecessors! How could it be destroyed as well?
Did Zhang Xuan… destroy them with his own hands?
The reason the Wall of Dilemma and Malady Platform collapsed was due to Zhang Xuan’s overwhelming capability exceeding the limits of the mechanism, resulting in its own collapse. Considering that the destruction occurred due to the limitations of the Physician School’s facilities, it would be unreasonable to lay blame on him. After all, he hadn’t flouted any rules at all; all he did was challenge that which should be challenged.
But for the Ancestor Forest… there was no examination involved here, so there shouldn’t be any mechanism for him to overwhelm. Could he have created the ruins here with his own hands?
To intentionally destroy the property of the Physician School, not to mention disrespecting the predecessors and their heritage, that was a grave sin that could have Zhang Xuan sent straight to the Tribunal of Master Teachers to be judged!
“This… How could this be?”
At this instant, a middle-aged man with a ghastly pale face walked over with a stupefied expression on his face. It was as if he had just suffered a blow so great that he was losing his mind.
“Ye shi…” Sun Yuan shouted.
Ye shi was also his junior, and he was in charge of maintaining the Ancestor Forest.
As the Tower of Physicians was under Vice School Head You’s jurisdiction, the facilities in the area were mainly taken care of by his students.
Seeing that Sun shi, Hu shi, and the others were standing before him, Ye shi finally snapped out from his daze. Gesturing to the rubble behind him, he exclaimed with a defeated look, “Wrong! To think that they are all wrong!”
“Ye shi, what happened? Did someone destroy the Ancestor Forest using brute force?” Sun Yuan asked.
“Brute force?” Ye shi shook his head and sighed deeply. “Take a look yourself…”
Without explaining, Ye shi took out a Record Crystal and tossed it over to Sun Yuan and the others.
Catching it, Sun Yuan hurriedly infused his zhenqi into the Record Crystal to activate it.
With a flash of light, a completely unharmed Ancestor Forest suddenly appeared before their eyes. Following which, a young man walked into the scene.
Who else could the young man be if not Zhang Xuan!
Zhang Xuan swiftly walked up to the first tombstone.
The tombstone contained the writings of the first head of the Physician School. Inscribed on the tombstone were the contributions he had made to humanity in his lifetime, the most significant one being formulating a cure for the Demonhound Affliction.
The Demonhound Affliction was a bizarre disease that was rampant in that period of time. Those who were bitten by a hound-type beast would begin shedding their skin and growing fur within three months. A few days after the transformation began, they would lose their rationality and turn into monsters that would bite anyone they saw. Those who were bitten by the infected would be inflicted with the Demonhound Affliction as well.
What made things worse was that the disease was so potent that not even Saint realm experts could suppress the symptoms.
Due to its nature, the disease spread swiftly, causing great calamity to the human race. The first head of the Physician School, through half a year of tireless research, finally managed to formulate a vaccine against the Demonhound Affliction.
However, the vaccine was only effective for prevention; it couldn’t save those who had already been transformed. In order to suppress the plague, the academy had to dispatch countless experts to slay those who had been infected and cremate their corpses, resulting in a huge death toll.
Even though the first head of the Physician School failed to save those who had already been infected, he played a major role in suppressing the plague, saving many innocent lives through doing so. He was honored for his contribution in that calamity, and his story was passed down from generation to generation.
Just as Sun Yuan and the others were perplexed by what Zhang Xuan was going to do, they saw the latter glance at the tombstone briefly before speaking.
“The Demonhound Affliction is a disease caused by the virus present in the blood of hound-type beasts. It can be easily cured by taking two qian1 of Sunflower Hemp, four qian of Crimson Frond, half a liang of Violetdawn Stalk, and a pinch of a hound-type beast’s heart flesh! A disease that can be cured so easily, and yet you had all of the afflicted killed and cremated. On top of that, the vaccine you came up with is at least dozens of times more expensive than mine as well. I really don’t understand how you can feel proud of your achievements and have a tomb erected here. Are you that intent on having the later generations learn of your shameful failure?”
Kacha!
Hearing those words, the will contained within the tombstone realized that there was indeed a far better medicine to the one he had formulated back then, and he had wronged those who were killed in the plague. The tombstone began to shake violently before abruptly bursting into smithereens.
Without sparing the first tombstone a second glance, Zhang Xuan walked on to the second tombstone, and just like before, he took a glance and spoke a few words, and the will contained within felt ashamed of its deeds too and broke apart.
The same scene occurred again and again as he walked down the path.
From the moment he glanced at the tombstone to the moment he spoke, there was only an interval of two breaths. But despite that, each time he spoke, a tombstone would surely burst apart.
In other words… the prescription that he had proposed was even more advanced, effective, and easier to concoct than the ones the predecessors had come up with!
“In a battle in the Way of Medicine against the predecessors, he was able to display such overwhelming knowledge that left the latter ashamed of themselves, to the point that they would willingly erase all traces of themselves…”
The mouths of Sun Yuan, Hu shi, and the others twitched at the sight before them.
They finally understood why Ye shi would look so defeated!
Guarding the Ancestor Forest, he had been studying their wisdom day after day, and he was filled with awe and respect for them. But a man suddenly walked in and said that everything was wrong, and he even won the acknowledgement of the predecessors at that… It was extremely fortunate that his mind didn’t break immediately!
Wall of Dilemma, Malady Platform, and the Ancestor Forest… Three of the most important facilities of the Tower of Physicians have been destroyed. Just what kind of monster did Teacher offend?
Taking another glance at the ruins of previously majestic lands, Sun Yuan shook his head and sighed deeply.
To point out the mistakes in the predecessors’ deeds and induce the erasure of the flawed solutions on the tombstone, preventing them from misleading future generations, not only did Zhang Xuan not err, he had even contributed greatly to the Physician Guild!
If the Physician Guild were to learn of this matter, they would surely reward him handsomely for it…
But still, to be able to come up with even more brilliant solutions to difficult diseases that took the predecessors months or even years to formulate… Just how did that fellow do it?
“Wait, where is Zhang Xuan?”
After a moment of shock, Sun Yuan suddenly realized that he still hadn’t found Zhang Xuan, and he quickly looked around to find him.
“Sun laoshi, bad news! Zhang shi has headed to the higher floors of the Tower of Physicians. He intends to take the physician examination…”
All of a sudden, a student running toward them shouted frantically. However, before he could finish his words, the ground shook yet again.
Following which, the massive tower in the distance abruptly collapsed, and countless rock fragments rained down on the earth.
“The Tower of Physicians… is gone as well!” Sun Yuan cried.
