Night of the Broken Gliph

“Third segment: medicine.” 

“Respective disciples of all clans, please step forward.” 

Wong Lai and Ping Ching returned to their seats. They were mainly alchemists, not doctors, even though alchemy and medicine were closely related. As for Mo-Ying Kit, it was the other way round. He was stronger in medicine compared to alchemy. 

Currently, he stood on stage with his head high. So what if Wong Lai and Ping Ching overshadowed him? He was still the winner of that segment, and as the direct disciple of Mo-Yung Yin, he was extremely confident in his medical skill. 

Mo-Yung Kit was a talent, but the other five clans were full of talents too. After all, they were in Southern Ping, the city of alchemy and medicine. There was always the possibility of another dark horse like Wong Lai. 

More disciples stepped up for this segment. Besides the Mo-Yung Clan who only had one representative, there were twelve disciples on the stage. Of all the Ping Clan disciples, one disciple who looked extremely confident stepped forward. He turned towards Ping Ching as he stood up, whispering in her ears.

“For you and the clan, I’ll win.” 

Ping Ching looked at him complicatedly and shook her head. 

Ping Man Bun was the strongest in medicine of the Ping Clan’s younger generation. He was the disciple of Old Chan, Chan Chung Ching whom Chui Yim had met previously. As Ping Ching’s childhood sweetheart, he knew about Ping Ching’s identity as a female, and Ping Ching knew that Ping Man Bun had feelings for her. 

As a child who wanted to focus on alchemy, she ignored his feelings. 

This was the first time Ping Man Bun had openly confessed his feelings to her, to which he hadn’t received a reply. He glared at Chui Yim, the lowly kid standing next to his crush and future wife. That was the reason why he hated Chui Yim to the core. 

He controlled his emotions and stepped into the arena. He’d have done a meritorious deed as long as he won this round. Then, he’d be able to express his feelings for Ping Ching to the clan leader and request an engagement with her, setting the wedding date as her coming of age day.

Having accomplished such a meritorious deed, even the Clan Leader wouldn’t be able to reject my request! No matter what, I must win! 

Ping San Yat frowned on seeing Ping Man Bun so determined. 

Is he anxious? He’s still young, after all. Ping San Yat sighed, waving his hands, sending a ball of light into the air. 

The two spectating teenagers were watching this scene, interested.

“I have always wondered how you graded someone’s medical skills and how this competition is carried out.” The boy in white laughed. 

“Medicine is unlike forging and alchemy,” the teenager in black replied softly. “They aren’t graded according to the items they produce, but the level of their skills.

“To become a great master, one needs to be able to perform gliph changing. To become a grandmaster, you have to be familiar with all the meridians and acupuncture points in the human body. You need to be able to heal internal injuries with your energliph and rejoin limbs with your gliph strings. As for becoming a Divine Doctor, you need to be able to stimulate organs and save critically injured patients.” 

It wasn’t that the teen in white was less knowledgeable, but there was too much information for him to know. The presence of the teen in black was to help him remember things that he couldn’t. In other words, being his second brain. 

The teen in white understood his companion immediately. “Such an interesting grading technique.” He laughed. “No wonder they say that there’s an expert in every field. Mo-Yung Kit is skilled in alchemy, but I heard that medicine is his actual forte?” 

“Yes. Mo-Yung Yin, the Divine Doctor, is his master.” The teen in black nodded. 

“If he wins this segment as well, give him the invitation.” The teen in white hummed and smiled thinly. 

“Yes, young master.”

Every light from Ping Sat Yat contained a piece of paper. Like the teen in black said, medicine wasn’t graded based on physical items but on the doctor’s skill. As such, they could only compete with an actual medical case. 

And that was what was inside each light. 

The balls of light danced in the sky, slowing down gradually. One light landed on the ground soon after. The light dispersed, and a paper floated out. There were only two words, “Three Palms”, written on the paper. 

“The first round of this segment: Three Palms. Bring the puppets out.” 

At his order, thirteen servants from all five clans walked up, each carrying a life-size puppet. Chui Yim watched this scene excitedly. He realised that there were many more interesting professions, unlike the Sallow Continent. There was medicine and alchemy on the Sallow Continent too, but it wasn’t a profession like it was in this world. This was what made Chui Yim fall in love with this world. 

Be it medicine, alchemy, gliphism or battle, Chui Yim was happily enchanted with all of them. He shook his head and focused on the puppets. They were placed in front of each disciple, and Chui Yim could tell they were similar to the ones Ping Chi used. 

Ping Ching might have lost the previous segment, but she calmed down quickly and explained the competition to Chui Yim. “Brother Chui, that’s a medical puppet. It’s said that just like Thirty-Six Night Lunar Needles brother Chui owns, its way of manufacturing was derived from the Gentle Moon Priest’s tomb. It uses Silent Wood, a common ingredient. This puppet can simulate all types of injuries and illnesses under a gliphist’s control as long as enough energliph is inserted into it. Centuries have passed since its discovery, and this medical puppet is an absolute necessity in medicine. 

“Similarly for the competition. They simulate an injury to test the doctor’s skill. The four diagnosing methods are very important in medicine, and they are impossible to perform on puppets. But we have no choice but to use them as it’s impossible to find several patients with the same conditions and injuries.”