<h4>Chapter 351: Chapter 351 Despicable and Shameless Tactics</h4><h4></h4>


    Beyond a doubt,


    Qiao Xi had be the first.


    Yet she did not stop, as if she aimed to break the historical record for this event. The points on the big screen continued to advance.


    "She’s past three hundred!"


    "There’s hardly any time left!"


    "301!"


    "302!"


    The timer stopped.


    The final score disyed was 302.


    Ten years ago, Lu Yingxue’s record was 308 acupoints.


    It was not that they could not recognize all the acupoints; it was just that with the pressing half-hour limit, how could one possibly identify all 361 acupoints entirely? Sometimes it also takes time for the examiner to react.


    With a score of 302, Qiao Xi firmly secured first ce, while Xiang Mingzhu trailed closely behind with 292 acupoints.


    Her face turned shades of green and white.


    But she had not lost yet.


    Li Songwen and Han Jia, although not as good as the two girls, could also easily advance. Shen Xuanzhi of Group 49 turned out to be quite a surprise, with a count of 290 acupoints.


    "The first round has ended, please, the eliminated contestants leave the field."


    Just one round of acupoint recognition eliminated more than two hundred people.


    The second round would be even harder!


    Though it was about prescribing the right remedy, there were two segments, first concocting the correct prescription and then searching the vast library of herbal medicine for the ingredients to match.


    If one drew aplex illness, they could only me their bad luck!


    Moreover, many prescriptions involved a variety of herbs, naturally taking up more time than others.


    Thispetition truly tested one’s mentality.


    The second roundmenced with full intensity.


    Standing right next to Qiao Xi was Xiang Mingzhu, who suddenly spoke, "Qiao Xi, I was just momentarily distracted, allowing you to get the upper hand. Ten years ago, I too had recognized over three hundred acupoints."


    Qiao Xi gave her a nce and asked with a calm voice, "Do you also get distracted when you perform acupuncture on patients?"


    "You... don’t be smug. Prescribing the right remedy is my forte; hundreds of miraculous medicinal decoction prescriptions are in my mind. I’m the most fantastic at diagnosing and prescribing, sometimes even Lu Yingxue would admire."


    However, what the Lu Family’s Thirteen Ghost Needles valued most was still the technique of acupuncture.


    "Wait and see."


    Qiao Xi had read her fair share of medical books, having been made to memorize the "Thousand Gold Prescriptions" and others by being hit on the palm of her hand since she was young, as well as Cheng Han’s book summarizing the experiences of his predecessorsbined with his own lifetime of treating illnesses.


    Stuffed full on three shelves, she had nearly all of them by heart.


    She loved this profession; it was ingrained in her very bones and blood.


    The rules for the second round ofpetition were soon broadcast through the speakers around them, mainly to ensure the audience on site could understand.


    "The second round is about prescribing the right remedy. Each contestant draws a lot to select the signs of the illness, decides on the prescription to use, and then identifies and matches the right medicinal herbs from the herbal medicine cab on one side. The judges will evaluate thepletion within a time limit of half an hour."


    The scoring criteria were not mentioned here.


    It clearly indicates the difficulty of the second round—the challenge was not in diagnosing the illness and matching the treatment.


    Instead, it was about finding the desired herbs out of an area filled with unidentified ones. On the side, rows and rows of three-meter-tall rosewood medicine cabs stood, each with a hundred drawers, every drawer filled with herbs. The outermostyer of the small drawers was transparent ss, allowing a view of the herbs’ appearance, but some Chinese medicines looked quite simr.


    These rows of medicine cabs housed thousands of herbs.


    Thepetition tested both a solid foundation andposure at every turn!


    Therefore, finishing within the time limit in the second round meant a perfect score; failure toplete resulted in zero points!


    This round could create a 100-point gap!


    "Now, thepetition begins!"


    The voice echoed as the announcement concluded.


    Everyone reached out to draw lots, and Qiao Xi pulled back a piece of parchment paper-wrapped slip.


    A look revealed the following: "A boy seven or eight years old with a robust blood constitution, suffering from alternating chills and fever, strong warmth, fever and vomiting, shortness of breath, and abdominal pain. He cries out in terror when the symptoms strike!"


    Qiao Xi determined this to be pediatric epilepsy!


    If she were to prescribe a medicinal decoction, the best choice would be Gentian Soup, a clear-heat, stop-convulsions form.


    It needed Gentian, Poria, Bupleurum, Scuteria Baicalensis, Rhubarb, and other such ten herbal ingredients chopped up, with two hundred milliliters of water to brew it, taking half of the extracted juice. The dosage would be adjusted ording to the child’s age.


    She wrote down the prescription for Gentian Soup and stuffed it into the parchment envelope, then headed for the herbal medicine cab.


    Xiang Mingzhu moved fast as well, drawing symptoms that indicated solid spleen heat, necessitating the clear-heat, calm-spirit Xiere Soup.


    Xiere Soup mainly consisted of nine herbal ingredients such as Poria, Gentian, Scrophriaceae, and Almonds.


    Among them, Poria and Gentian were the same as Qiao Xi’s prescription!


    Both of their prescriptions weremonly used medications and didn’t require much differentiation.


    The herbal medicine cab was bustling with people; some ran over right after drawing their lots, checking their prescriptions while identifying the medicine to save time.


    Little did they know, this was the most wasteful approach!


    As Qiao Xi raced into the herbal medicine cab, she instantly spotted the very noticeable Poria. And Xiang Mingzhu also spotted the white Poria cut into chunks.


    The Poria’s small drawer was almost as tall as two people, requiring one to go up a fixed woodendder to reach it.


    Qiao Xi saw her monopolizing thedder and turned around to get the Scuteria Baicalensis.


    She had no intention of wasting time with Xiang Mingzhu, it was better to first gather the other herbs.


    She got the Scuteria Baicalensis, Rhubarb, and Bupleurum packaged when she was bumped by a man as she turned around to get the Gentian.


    She lost her bnce and fell to the ground, the back of her hand getting stepped on.


    Painfully standing up, she saw Li Songwen "kindly" reminding her, "Miss Qiao, the hands of a Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner are most precious. You shouldn’t be too hasty, take your time."


    Qiao Xi looked at Li Songwen and said with a cold voice, "There are cameras everywhere here."


    "So what? I bumped into you by ident, and I already apologized."


    Li Songwen was somewhat shameless; he had guessed there were likely several ovepping ingredients in Qiao Xi’s and Xiang Mingzhu’s prescriptions and thus wanted to dy Qiao Xi. Ultimately, ensuring she got not a single point in the second round.


    He wanted Xiang Mingzhu to im the first ce.


    Qiao Xi didn’t have time to argue with him. She turned around, but Li Songwen kept following her, continuing to disrupt her work.


    Suddenly, Qiao Xi realized Xiang Mingzhu’s intentions. Her public challenge on the forum wasn’t just to sway public opinion but also to use everyone’s hostility against her in the second round to interfere with herpetition.


    Those "haters" would more or less attempt to hinder her, at the very least, they would not make things any easier.


    People from the Lu Family in the Imperial Capital sure had deep scheming!


    Difficult to guard against!


    With the obstacle that was Li Songwen, Qiao Xi’s pace was significantly slowed.


    And Xiang Mingzhu finished thepetition effortlessly, sitting in the rest area.


    On the big scoring screen, Xiang Mingzhu had already leaped to first ce. As more people finished the second round, Qiao Xi’s ranking was squeezed further back.


    The audience in the Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinic saw this y out as well.


    Young Master Sun’s face turned red with anger, "Despicable and shameless! Isn’t this an obvious targeting of Qiao Xi? Thispetition is not fair at all, doesn’t anyone care? I want to make aint!"


    Huo Sijiao and Du Juan were also extremely nervous!


    Shu Xue exined with an unsightly look, "The rules don’t prohibit hinderingpetitors. I remember there has been an analysis of the rules of the acupuncturepetition before. Thispetition tests one’s mental fortitude more, and you see, the judges are not getting involved at all."


    The second round was simply a free-for-all!


    Utterly helpless.


    After hearing this, Huo Sijiao clenched her fists, "What should we do then? If this drags on, my sister-inw is bound to lose."


    Her gaze stayed fixed on the big screen.


    Suddenly.


    A cold, unique figure shed past.


    Huo Sijiao pointed excitedly at the screen, saying, "Look!"