Medical Sage

From Chen Fei’s personal perspective, the so-called Korean Medicine experts were far beneath him, not even on the same level. This was without even mentioning his already low opinion of these shameless, arrogant bastards who had forgotten their own heritage. Naturally, he couldn’t be bothered to feign politeness. That would be too hypocritical, wouldn’t it?

But from the viewpoint of those South Koreans, and even the vast majority of the audience, Chen Fei’s attitude seemed a bit too arrogant, didn’t it?

Suddenly, the online live broadcast chat exploded again.

”Holy shit, where did this guy come from? His arrogance knows no bounds.”

”It’s satisfying to see him act all high and mighty in front of those sticks, but is this really okay? Isn’t he going a bit overboard?”

”Who is this little punk? Spouting nonsense and acting like he’s some national grandmaster? Pfft!”

”I don’t think this is a good idea. If he loses in the end, won’t that be incredibly embarrassing? We’ll all be implicated, and the world’s media will have a field day laughing at us.”

Many people felt Chen Fei was too arrogant and voiced their dissatisfaction.

Even the Traditional Chinese and Korean Medicine experts on the platform were either sneering, mocking, or scowling. In their eyes, Chen Fei was just a young man in his twenties. Even if he had the skill to represent the Traditional Medicine Community of Huaxia in the final battle, such arrogance and blatant ignorance were not good qualities.

If he lost, who would be disgraced? Who would take the fall?

The only exception was Elder Du. He sat on the high platform, a smirk playing uncontrollably on his lips.

He knew very well that the reason Doctor Chen’s mood and attitude had soured was likely due to the earlier incident. But the worse his mood was, the more unlucky the South Koreans would be, and the more miserably they would lose.

”Good, good, good... I, Che Engui, have practiced medicine for more than thirty years. I’ve seen my share of prodigies and arrogant geniuses, but I have never met someone as appallingly ignorant and senseless as you!”

Che Engui laughed out of pure rage, looking at Chen Fei with disdain and mockery as he said, ”Since this is an acupuncture duel, I don’t think we need a patient. At least, for someone like you who’s all talk, there’s no need to make things so complicated! Watch closely.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Che Engui had someone bring up an expensive, life-sized wooden mannequin. He then took out a set of golden needles he carried with him. With a flip of his palm, nearly ten needles appeared between his fingers in the blink of an eye.

WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

He held his breath and focused, his hands moving like lightning as he swiftly inserted the golden needles into the various ’acupoints’ on the wooden mannequin in a precise, orderly fashion.

”Mystic Crane Acupuncture!”

At this sight, the Korean and Traditional Chinese Medicine experts closest to the stage, along with several experts on the platform, couldn’t help but stand up.

”Mystic Crane Acupuncture... it truly is Mystic Crane Acupuncture. What a pity that it has been lost in our country,” one of the Chinese masters lamented, his voice trembling with grief. This was a treasure of their Ancient Huaxia ancestors, yet now it was lost to them, flourishing instead in the hands of the South Koreans.

Witnessing this, Che Engui’s expression grew even more haughty and self-assured. As the number of golden needles between his fingers dwindled, his gaze sharpened dramatically when he reached the final one.

WHOOSH!

BUZZ! BUZZ! BUZZ!

When the last golden needle pierced an acupoint on the wooden mannequin, a sound tore through the air, followed by two distinct humming vibrations. Incredibly, the tail of the final needle trembled three times in a distinct rhythm. Instantly, the Korean Medicine physicians in attendance grew restless.

”Is that... is that the Three Chirps of the Tail Needle!?”

Some of the Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners specializing in acupuncture couldn’t help but exclaim in shock, ”He actually... he actually...”

The Three Chirps of the Tail Needle was an exceedingly profound and elusive technique within the art of acupuncture, especially for specialized methods like Mystic Crane Acupuncture. Its difficulty and effect were both astonishingly evident. For an average practitioner, even achieving two chirps was immensely difficult; twenty or thirty years of hard practice might not guarantee success. But now...

”My goodness, I never expected Engui to have secretly practiced to this level. This is a huge surprise! Bingying, what do you think?” on the stage, Grandmaster Li Binglie from Qingnan Province of the Republic of Korea said to his disciple, Jin Bingying, his face a mask of excitement and astonishment as he laughed heartily. He truly hadn’t expected the young man to give them such a wonderful surprise. Three Chirps of the Tail Needle? Even I, Li Binglie, can’t do much better than that.

”Engui truly is an acupuncture prodigy. In this respect, I am not his equal,” even a monstrous talent like Jin Bingying admitted, which spoke volumes about the impact this display had on them and the rest of the audience.

”Hmph!”

Hearing their conversation, a renowned master on the experts’ table snorted coldly, his expression complicated and grim. He understood Korean and knew exactly what the Three Chirps of the Tail Needle signified. How could someone from the younger generation possibly reach that level!? It’s just too, too difficult.

Not far away, Li Dongshen, who stood behind Master Muf Longkun, witnessed this ”conclusion” and muttered to himself. Are we going to lose? His tone was tinged with relief and a hint of schadenfreude. He was relieved because even he hadn’t expected the South Korean kid’s acupuncture skills to be so formidable—his own disciple, Zhou Zhengping, had only managed the Two Chirps of the Tail Needle. And he took vicious pleasure in the fact that someone else would be taking the fall for this. That little bastard was truly clueless about his own limitations, haha...

But he hadn’t even had time to finish laughing to himself when his expression suddenly froze. What happened next left him utterly stunned.

”Hey.”

On the stage, Chen Fei clutched his head with a strange, almost ’weary’ expression. He looked at his opponent as if he were looking at a moron and said, ”You call *that* acupuncture? And you had the gall to run your mouth in front of me... sigh, whatever. Open your eyes and watch closely. I’ll show you what real acupuncture is.”

With a wave of his hand, Chen Fei instantly swept all the golden needles off the mannequin. He then casually picked up seven of them, holding them at his fingertips. Without even looking, he flung them forward. Immediately, a series of whooshes and buzzing hums erupted, sounding like a chorus of frogs in a marsh.

The first golden needle landed on an acupoint, its tail chirping once.

The second golden needle landed on an acupoint, its tail chirping twice.

The third golden needle landed on an acupoint, its tail chirping three times.

...

When the final, seventh golden needle landed on its acupoint, it let out an astonishing, jaw-dropping seven resonant chirps.

Che Engui was stunned.

On the experts’ stage, Grandmaster Li Binglie from Qingnan Province and the Korean Medicine prodigy Jin Bingying were also stunned.

At the same time, all the other experts on the stage were stunned.

Even Elder Du was no exception.

The Seven Chirps of the Tail Needle... What does that even mean? Are we dreaming?

BOOM!

The entire venue fell deathly silent.

Then, it erupted into an unbelievable, tumultuous uproar.

As for the online live broadcast rooms, the tens of millions of netizens following the final battle of the medical arts competition between Huaxia and South Korea...

In an instant... the chat exploded in a frenzy!

”HOLY FUCKING SHIT... What the fuck is this?”

”Hey, what the hell does that mean? I don’t get it. Did I hear the last needle vibrate seven times? Is that good?”

”MOTHERFUCKER, it’s not just ’good,’ it’s INSANELY powerful! Super powerful! Super-duper powerful! I come from a long line of Traditional Chinese Medicine acupuncturists, and I have never seen anything this insane! The Seven Chirps of the Tail Needle?”

”Goddamn it, my master is a famous acupuncturist in the country. Do you know what he just said? He said that even he, at eighty years old, can at most manage the Five Chirps of the Tail Needle, and only when he’s in peak condition! This is fucking...”

Meanwhile, inside the Stadium of Jingdong University, a Huaxia commentator on the broadcast team sat dumbstruck for a long moment before bursting into an uncontrollable roar: ”Mother of God, this is divine! The Seven Chirps of the Tail Needle! I’ve never seen this in my damn life; I didn’t even know it existed before today! This is divine, fucking awesome!”

”NICE!”

”Damn, no wonder that kid was so cocky earlier! He’s got the skills to back it up!”

”So... does this mean we won?”

”Isn’t that obvious? Didn’t you see the looks on those South Korean sticks’ faces? Every single one of them looks like they’ve seen a ghost. They’re scared shitless, right? Hahaha!”

”Awesome! This is the strength of our Traditional Medicine Community of Huaxia! Fucking badass! Hahaha!”

The internet had gone completely wild. They might not have understood the acrobatic-like feat of the Seven Chirps of the Tail Needle, but they weren’t idiots. Judging from the utterly bewildered expressions on the Koreans’ faces, they knew Huaxia had won! And it was a dominating, overwhelming victory that left their opponents without a shred of will to fight back.

At that moment, on the competition stage, the Korean Medicine Team’s contestant, Che Engui, stared dumbfoundedly at the seven golden needles in the wooden mannequin. Recalling the scene from moments ago, his face turned completely white as cold sweat dripped down his forehead. He simply couldn’t fathom what the hell he had just witnessed! The Seven Chirps of the Tail Needle... Does such a thing really exist in this world?

GULP.

The thought made him swallow hard. He looked at Chen Fei again as if he were seeing a ghost and stammered, ”You... you... what on earth was that!?”

”You don’t even know this?” Chen Fei looked at him as if he’d just discovered a country bumpkin and said disdainfully, ”This is called Seven-Star Moon Worship. In the art of Traditional Chinese Medicine acupuncture, it’s considered a decent entry-level skill. What, you’re still not convinced? Want me to show you something even more impressive?” As he spoke, he actually made a move to retrieve the golden needles.

”No, no, no! I’m convinced! I’m convinced! I surrender!”

Hearing this, Che Engui trembled all over and, nearly bursting into tears, frantically stopped Chen Fei.

Are you kidding me? Something even more powerful? Does he want me to drop dead right here? I don’t want to die from a goddamn heart attack! What kind of monster is this guy? Could this be the true standard of Huaxia’s younger generation of Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners!? If so, then our challenge this time was like lighting a lantern in an outhouse—we were just asking for it, courting our own doom!