When I had returned to the sect to discover almost all of my disciples embroiled in a fierce argument, led by Xiao Cui and Feng Mei, I made my displeasure known in a loud and clear manner. Unfortunately, I knew that my presence was only a stopgap measure.

If the root cause of the conflict wasn't resolved, it would simply continue to simmer until it exploded in an even worse manner than a verbal conflict. So for the last two days, I'd finally begun to personally teach my first disciple and the most promising contender for my second.

"The patient's symptoms are a dry cough, itchy hives in the torso area, and twitching in the eyes. What is the diagnosis and how would you approach the treatment?" I asked the two girls sitting cross legged in front of me.

All of us were sitting on the qi focusing mats that I'd discovered while visiting Second Elder Li. On my way back from the Blossoming Heavens I'd picked a few up in Twisting Ridge City.

They were useful for secluded cultivation mostly, but they did help increase mental clarity just a little, making them ideal for teaching sessions. The two girls' faces were scrunched in thought as they pondered the problem I'd posed.

In the end, Xiao Cui was the first to answer. "Based on the symptoms, I would diagnose Field Flu. The dry cough is a trick symptom, not connected to the other two. The treatment for this is to apply a poultice made from spirit grass and ash bark to the hives every day for a week," she said with a satisfied smirk on her face.

Feng Mei returned her gaze, saying nothing but her eyes betrayed her thoughts. Xiao Cui's lips curled into a frown. "What, are you going to say Master Dan's methods are wrong again? Why even join the sect if you refuse to learn?" she snarled.

"Xiao Cui, enough," I sighed. "Let her speak. Also, there's nothing wrong with challenging me, I don't know everything. In fact, a healthy curiosity is a positive trait for a healer."

"But, Master," she whined. My fierce expression shut her up, but she continued pouting as Feng Mei shared her thoughts.

"Senior Sister Cui's treatment, as taught by the Sect Leader, is indeed correct for a patient suffering from Field Flu," Feng Mei began. Xiao Cui's pout turned to satisfied confusion, but returned in full force as Feng Mei continued. "However, her diagnosis for this particular patient is incorrect. At a glance, the dry cough might seem unconnected to the other symptoms, but there is a rare affliction that I've seen before in my village which presents all three together."

I nodded for her to continue, schooling my expression so as to not give anything away until she was finished.

"I don't know the official name for it, but we called the bugs which cause it Rice Mites. Usually they keep the paddies free of nastier insects, but occasionally they can get into a farmer's lungs and sinuses, leading to the state symptoms and in severe cases, permanent breathing difficulties. Luckily the treatment is simple. Mix two parts yuzu juice with one part salt water, boil the mixture and inhale it morning and night for three days. It kills the mites and their eggs," she explained, leaving Xiao Cui slack-jawed.

I waited a moment before allowing a smile to cross my face. Feng Mei continued to impress me with the depth of her medical knowledge. Despite growing up in a backwater village she was as skilled as some of the herbalists and alchemists I'd encountered in the larger cities and even my old sect.

Unfortunately that meant the rift between her and Xiao Cui continued to widen. Even now that she could cultivate, I knew Xiao Cui feared I might abandon her for a more 'talented' disciple.

I would never do such a thing of course, but the mind of a teenage girl was a fickle thing. I needed to solve this conflict before it blew out of proportion.

"Great answer, Disciple Mei. Quite a niche affliction, I'm surprised you've heard of it. Even I only read about it in an old village herbalist's records," I said, refraining from excessive praise. "Xiao Cui, don't be dispirited. Even though you were technically wrong, as Feng Mei mentioned, your treatment for Field Flu was correct to the letter. I can tell you've been studying in my absence."

Her gloomy expression brightened a little at my words. The girls had proven their knowledge to me, so I felt it was the right time to start some practical lessons.

The stream of patients had only grown while I was away, with the girls barely managing to treat the lesser afflictions and being forced to simply stabilise those with worse wounds or illnesses. There were plenty of opportunities for teaching.

I had cleared up the backlog over the last few days, earning plenty of goodwill and a decent amount of gold. Those who were cured would spread the name of the sect further, growing our reputation.

"I think you're ready to begin healing patients. We'll start with some simple illnesses and wounds, building up the complexity and severity as you prove yourselves," I said, standing up and keeping the mat in one of my spatial rings.

The ring from the shadowy cultivator itched on my finger, still waiting to be looted. I hadn't had the time since returning to fully inspect it, plus I wanted to wait for Wang Ren and Manager Zheng to be there to help me appraise the items within.

The girls followed after me as we made our way to the treatment pavilion which had been constructed in my absence. The original building hadn't had the capacity and that had led Yu Chun to have another constructed. She designated one for high-risk patients and another for those with less severe afflictions.

It was an impressive, if rudimentary, application of a triage system. The fact Yu Chun had come up with it on her own had surprised me, but also made me confident that she hadn't lost all direction. Slowly but surely, everyone was finding their place in the Grasping Life Sect.

In fact, after hearing of her organisation in my absence, I had a great idea for the former brothel mistress. It would have to wait for Manager Zheng's visit, however, so I squared it away in a corner of my mind for now.

"Saviour!"

"Divine healer, please treat my son!"

The cries of those gathered in the two treatment pavilions rang in my ears as I made my way through the crowds. Even Xiao Cui and Feng Mei had a few admirers, though their nicknames gave me a good chuckle.

"Herb princess!" The cry of an old man addressed to Xiao Cui made her cheeks flush red in embarrassment.

If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

I suspected she had continued her 'vitality boosting' treatments to make some money on the side based on the moniker used by the majority male admirers who cried out to her. I didn't begrudge her that. All paths of medicinal research had merit.

As for Feng Mei, the opposite trend could be seen. Most of those shouting her praises were women, both young and old. They called her the 'Medicine goddess', which made Xiao Cui glare at her in envy.

Eventually we made it inside, where I wandered through the rows of patients, talking with each of them. In the end I chose a husband and wife who were both suffering from a nasty case of pneumonia.

Treating them would be as easy as turning a hand for me, but this was a challenge for my disciples. I would be there in case anything went wrong, so there was no risk to the patients.

"Old Ji, Granny Ji. Today my two disciples will be handling your treatment. You can put your faith in them, they are both skilled healers," I told the couple with my best doctor's smile plastered on my face.

Xiao Cui took the husband, while Feng Mei was treating the wife. I hadn't told them anything about the patients, leaving them to make their own diagnoses and then deduce a suitable treatment.

They had more than proven themselves capable of doing so. Both girls gave their respective patients a thorough check and performed some tests, some of which I hadn't even taught them but they'd learnt on their own, before turning around to face me at the exact same time.

"It's pneumonia," Xiao Cui declared confidently.

"Pneumonia, quite a bad case," Feng Mei said in a softer yet still decisive tone.

As if to punctuate their conclusions, both the husband and wife broke out into a nasty coughing fit one after the other. The girls spun back around once I nodded my confirmation, preparing to treat them.

Their approaches differed. Xiao Cui immediately began preparing a herbal elixir as well as placing a warm, wet cloth on Old Ji's forehead.

Meanwhile, Feng Mei raised Granny Ji into a half-seated position while ordering her to breathe over a bowl of boiling water that she'd had one of the mortal 'nurses' prepare. There were a few who had asked to help out after seeing our work here and Yu Chun had chosen to let them in my absence. It was a decision I approved of until we had a better solution or more disciples.

After that, she began to grind a root into a paste with some water, feeding it to Granny Ji. The old woman grimaced as she swallowed it. Once it was done, Feng Mei closed her eyes for a moment before clapping her palms together.

My eyes went wide as I realised what she was doing, switching to my spiritual senses to observe. She followed up by jabbing her fingers against various points on the old woman's chest. Each jab caused a reaction between Feng Mei's blood essence and Granny Ji's, slowly purging the bacteria.

About five minutes later, both of the girls had concluded their treatments. Both the husband and wife looked a lot healthier, though the occasional wet cough told me these treatments would need to be continued for a few days to fully cure them.

To my surprise, both girls had performed successfully despite their differing approaches. I was particularly shocked that Feng Mei could already manipulate her blood essence to that extent, more so because it was the first time aside from my own techniques or the qi healing technique I'd seen a cultivator heal someone with their blood essence or qi.

"Well done, both of you. Your diagnoses were spot on and your treatments seem to be effective." They preened at my praise, but Xiao Cui glanced at Feng Mei, still green with envy at her display. I sighed internally, knowing I had to put a stop to this. "What are your next steps?"

"I will need to give Old Ji the elixir every day for the next four days. The pneumonia should be fully treated by then," Xiao Cui answered, earning a smile and a weak "Thank you," from the old man.

"Good. Keep it up, Little Cui. You're progressing well. And you, Feng Mei?"

"About the same. I will need to repeat the treatment each morning and night for three days until the pneumonia is cleared. This method is effective, but it is difficult without being able to sense the patient's blood essence," she responded with a wistful sigh.

I nodded in understanding. I was a special case, having gained a potent spiritual sense from the very first moment I arrived in this world. Most cultivators didn't really develop one until the Qi Gathering Realm and even then it was weak.

The fact she could even use her blood essence to such a degree of control already was more than impressive. Perhaps it was down to her wood affinity spirit roots?

"Alright, let's move on. Granny Ji, Old Ji, just shout for one of the nurses if you need anything," I told the couple as we moved to the next set of patients.

****

I spent most of my first week back in the sect in this manner. To tell the truth I was more than impressed with both girls' progress.

Xiao Cui's cultivation was advancing slowly, but she had only recently gained the ability to do so, hence it was understandable. Her knowledge of herbalism and medicine was advancing in leaps and bounds, however, building on her prior experiences in Three River City and observing me at work.

She'd come far from that mischievous little kid I met back in Nine Paddy Village. I struggled to think of a way to fix her growing envy towards Feng Mei, which troubled me. I had to hope it would resolve itself as Little Cui's talent advanced further and she achieved more.

As for Feng Mei, I was growing more convinced that her upbringing was anything but ordinary, despite her origins in a backwater village. Her control of blood essence and her medical knowledge were simply too advanced to be purely self taught.

It wasn't an easy topic to broach though, so I would resign myself to observation and teaching for now. If she continued to impress me in this manner, I would likely take her on as my second disciple. Xiao Cui wouldn't be too happy about that, but she would have to deal with it.

As well as taking a heavy hand in guiding the two most promising disciples of the sect, I also gave lessons to the Yu twins and Teng Sheng. I was a far cry from Wang Ren when it came to martial instruction, but my knowledge was enough to guide some untested brats.

I had to admit that young boys were a lot easier to handle compared to girls. Perhaps it was my own lack of social skills to blame. Teng Sheng and the Yu twins had been on opposite sides of that conflict I'd returned to, but despite that they embraced each other as brothers after each training and sparring session.

Teng Sheng had managed to reach four-star Body Tempering using the first method I'd given him. Nothing seemed wrong with his condition, so the experiment went on as we'd planned.

The twins meanwhile had managed to achieve two-star Body Tempering. Apparently they'd broken through on the same day, just ten minutes apart. I really, really wanted to do a deep dive into the cultivation of twins, but there really was no time in my days to add another project.

Especially because all this teaching had led me to a conclusion that was both worrying and gratifying at the same time. My methods of healing were perhaps the most efficient in the entire empire, with the exception of the emperor's ridiculously overpowered techniques, yet at the same time I was a much less talented doctor than I'd originally believed.

Because of how incredible my physique was, my blood essence and then medicinal qi applied through my self created technique could deal with almost any wound or sickness I encountered. However, that had led me to neglect my diagnostic knowledge and repertoire of actual treatments.

Hence making me an absurdly efficient healer, yet a shoddy doctor. It was a deficit I could ignore, relying on my technique to brute force all the problems I needed to solve.

I suspected that would work for almost every situation I encountered. However, it upset me on a personal level. It was a weakness.

More than that, it was inefficient. Sure, I could treat anything with a single application of my technique, but at my realm that had become ridiculous overkill when it came to mortals suffering from common colds, tiny cuts and bruises, and other lesser afflictions.

I winced at the memory of medical school, but I had to do this. Luckily I had a wide range of knowledge to draw on, ranging from village herbalist's records all the way to the ancient esoteric tome I'd been gifted by the Spring and Autumn Sage.

It was time to hit the books once more and brush up on my skills as a doctor.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.