Physician's Odyssey Chapter 150

Su Tao requested to open up the surgery room for viewing in Zhitong's treatment. Although the couple wasn't comfortable with having so many people watching their daughter's surgery, Su Tao had promised that there's no need to remove Zhitong's clothes nor did he require a scalpel to perform the entire surgery.
"A physician is trying to perform surgery." Lou Zi'an sneered. It was the biggest joke that he had ever heard. Right now, he wanted to see how Su Tao would fail to prove that refusing his entry into the TCM Association was the wise one.
So what if you can obtain the Physician King's title? There's no need to joke with everyone, right?
Lou Zi'an wasn't the only one present, Kim Jung-ho was also there and his face looked puzzled. If it was him, he would opt to use massage to increase the patient's blood flow by stimulating the acupoints on the surface of the body, but there's also side-effects to this at the same time.
Two possibilities, one being clearing up the abnormal veins, and the other being the veins erupting due to the high pressure. It was the reason why Kim Jung-ho wasn't willing to try.
So when Kim Jung-ho heard that Su Tao was going to perform surgery on the patient, and even a TCM surgery, he was puzzled. No matter how he dug through his heart, he couldn't figure out what Su Tao was trying to do!
He could tell that Su Tao was younger than him, but he wouldn't be judgemental like Chen Jingyi or Lou Zi'an. He had been paying attention to Liu Ruochen, and since Liu Ruochen was so confident in Su Tao, that meant that the latter must be capable.
He had actually noticed that Su Tao was carrying a medical box with him. Thus, he squinted his eyes and focused on Su Tao's movements. Although those movements seemed casual, there weren't any flaws in them. Whether it was his gesture or angle at inserting the needles, it felt that it was from the textbook model.
Accurately speaking, Su Tao had turned acupuncture into an art. His movements were neither quick or slow and looking at the trajectory of the needles wandering through the air; it gave off the misconception that he was drawing a portrait instead of fighting with an illness.
Kim Jung-ho's expression turned grave. Compared to Wang Guofeng, Su Tao was more skilled with his needles, giving off a casual feeling with the same steady foundation as Wang Guofeng.
The Four Divisional Acupuncture Technique…
A complicated smile appeared on Kim Jung-ho's face. The Four Divisional Acupuncture Technique was TKM's foundation, and it was also a skill that every outstanding TKM physician would know. The Plum-Blossom Needles that he had previously used weren't his forté. It was the Four Divisional Acupuncture Technique, instead.
As long as someone used the Four Divisional Acupuncture Technique, Kim Jung-ho would be able to put on a fussy gaze. But Su Tao did not make Kim Jung-ho feel as though he was displaying his puny skills before an expert. Although Su Tao started with the Four Divisional Acupuncture Technique, he came up with innovations and changes throughout the process, changing into one that seemed to like the Nine-Palaces and Eight-Trigrams Acupuncture Technique.
The Nine-Palaces and Eight-Trigrams was a mysterious technique. Although there were people that tried it with the bits and pieces of clues, most of them couldn't figure out the profundities behind it.
To put it briefly, the Nine-Palaces and Eight-Trigrams Acupuncture Technique was exceptionally profound, since it implicated the Taoism's Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams' esoteric. So it's incredibly profound, and some people might not even comprehend the essence of it in their entire lifetime.
Kim Jung-ho had also researched about this acupuncture technique, but he only managed to slightly pry through it.
Su Tao's Nine-Palaces and Eight-Trigrams Acupuncture Technique started around the Shenque Acupoint. The Shenque Acupoint was an extraordinary foundation in the body, and throughout history, there have been many people that tried to work into it. But up till now, no one managed to crack it.
The Shenque Acupoint was located in the naval, and as the current medical knowledge has proven, the Shenque Acupoint was located at the golden point of a human's body. It had the optimal effect of readjusting the body and connected to the body's 12 Standard and 8 Extraordinary Meridians. Some of them were even connected directly to the Shenque Acupoint, like the Conception and Governing, along with the Girdle Meridians.
He's using the Nine-Palaces and Eight-Trigrams Acupuncture Technique to clear up the Shenque Meridian?
This made Kim Jung-ho fall into thoughts. He was considering the possibility of it and sighed. He didn't understand the Nine-Palaces and Eight-Trigrams Acupuncture Technique too well, so he couldn't predict the outcome.
Needles seemed to dance in Su Tao's hands. In a brief moment, there were already ten-odd needles around the Shenque Acupoint, and Su Tao's forehead was covered in beads of sweat because of it. Not only did it consume energy, but it was also taxing on Qi.
"What surgery doesn't require a scalpel? Isn't it just acupuncture?" Lou Zi'an felt relieved. If acupuncture could treat an illness that required surgery, then TCM wouldn't have fallen like today.
Chen Jingyi tugged his chest with one hand, with another holding onto his chin. Although he originated from Western Medicine, he had a few contacts with TCM as well. He knew the fundamentals of acupuncture, and he could tell that Su Tao had already reached the realm of Complete Focus in Needles. It wasn't something that was achievable at his age, so he no longer looked down on Su Tao. On the contrary, he held expectations in his eyes. Su Tao might be able to bring miracles.
Su Tao wasn't alone in the surgery room, Liu Ruochen was also there as his assistant. It wasn't something that just anyone could enjoy, having the previous Physician King, and the Sect Master of the Aqua Cloud Stream pass needles and wipe sweat.
However, Su Tao was entirely focused on the treatment, so he did not have any extra attention to be concerned about that.
Liu Ruochen had another thought while standing beside Su Tao. She would gain a new insight whenever Su Tao inserted a needle. It made her reflect on what she had learned and suddenly realise that she managed to learn many things, even on those that she had reached a bottleneck with.
It's like math, and she made the question too complicated with her formula. So if she sought help from a teacher, it turned out that it could be easily resolved, and it was such comprehension that made Liu Ruochen feel excited, despite her mild character.
She felt her blood boiling as it coursed through her veins. She was even more determined that her judgment wasn't wrong. Su Tao was the person that TCM needed right now; the one that could stand out amongst the masses and possessed heroic attributes.
Su Tao had inserted ten-odd needles into Zhitong's lower abdomen through the Nine-Palaces and Eight-Trigrams Acupuncture Technique, but this was only the first step. It was akin to a surgery, where the doctor would apply anesthetic and intravenous drips to strengthen the patient's immunity, ensuring that there wouldn't be any negative response coming from the body.
Su Tao had spent roughly three years researching the Shenque Acupoint before he discovered the numerous beneficial effects of the acupoint, like maintaining the normal functions of the meridians. Blood Swollen Diseases were usually due to the clogged up veins, which caused qi and blood unable to flow. It could be resolved through the Shenque Acupoint.
The Nine-Palaces and Eight-Trigrams Acupuncture Technique was akin to an enormous array on a treasure trove to form an endless loop of qi to stimulate Zhitong's blood flow. Kim Jung-ho had also realised this and bitterly smiled. His Plum-Blossom Needles were simply childish when compared to the Nine-Palaces and Eight-Trigrams Acupuncture Technique. The Plum-Blossom Needles were entry skills that any beginner in acupuncture would pick up. On the contrary, the Nine-Palaces and Eight-Trigrams Acupuncture Technique implicated profound studies of the Confucian School and Taoism. So if one didn't thoroughly research China's culture, it would be tough for them to grasp the essence in it.
Naturally, that didn't mean that Kim Jung-ho had acknowledged Su Tao's strength. After all, he still couldn't figure out what the latter was trying to do. Is he trying to treat the abnormal veins through the Shenque Acupoint? But that doesn't make any sense at all!
"Sweat!" Su Tao stuck his head over. Liu Ruochen discovered his forehead was covered in sweat, so she swiftly wiped it for him.
Once again, Su Tao threw his concentration into the surgery and started his next step. "5-inch awn-needle!"
Liu Ruochen was briefly stunned before she handed the needle over.
There were different types of needles used in acupuncture, and awn-needles were unusually long. They were slim and tender, forged with stainless steel. Because it was akin to awns, it was named awn-needles. It was developed based on the long needle amongst the nine needles that physicians used in ancient times.
Awn-needles were generally from 3-inch to 15-inch, and 3-6 inches were usually for clinical use. 8-inches and above were rarely used. Another fun fact was that awn-needles were only recently developed in the past century, first used by the famous Acupuncture King, Shen Jinshan, who was familiar with using the 3-inch awn-needles. He would often hide the needles in his crutch and only retrieve them when needed for treatment purposes.
"Acupoint Channelling Therapy?" There were many of those amongst the spectators that were experienced, so they could swiftly tell what Su Tao was trying to do. He was trying to treat the Blood Swollen Disease through Acupoint Channelling Therapy.
This was typically used to treat headaches, so it was an innovation for Su Tao to apply it here.
As the long needle pierced into the patient's skin, Dong Likun couldn't help saying as she looked at her husband, Jin Guoxiang, "Guoxiang, that needle is so long, will it harm Zhitong?"
Jin Guoxiang also looked worried. Although this scene was much better than surgery, it was still terrifying. It was terrifying to watch a needle that was roughly ten-odd centimeters long being inserted into a person's body.
"You can rest assured about this matter." Chen Jingyi patiently explained, "TCM commonly uses the Acupoint Channelling Therapy. Although it would be used to pierce a person's body, that's because the acupoints are connected. As long as you have determined the right location and are accurate with it, there won't be an issue. The patient will only feel a sour and numb sensation from the needles."
Hearing Chen Jingyi's explanation, Jin Guoxiang nodded his head and gently patted on the back of Dong Likun's hand. "Rest assured, nothing will come to Zhitong!"
When Cheng Peini heard that explanation, she felt an urge to take photos with her camera.
After six 5-inch awn-needles were fully inserted into Zhitong, Su Tao felt relieved, since this was the most crucial process in his surgery. He was trying to form a bridge with the needles in Zhitong's body. In layman's terms, he would be using them to maintain the unobstructed flow of Zhitong's qi and blood in those acupoints through the awn-needles. It was akin to the Myocardial Bridge Surgery. He was trying to form a protective umbrella and generator for the flow of qi and blood in the veins.
Liu Ruochen's eyes flashed with admiration at this scene. Generally, awn-needles could only pierce through two acupoints, and those that could do three acupoints were usually experts with it.
But every single one of Su Tao's awn-needles had pierced at least 5 acupoints, which meant that his technique with awn-needles had already reached the level of grandmasters.