Chapter 24: Apprenticeship in Medicine
After some haggling, Xu Ning finally bought it for one tael and nine hundred coins.
After signing and sealing the document, Xu Ning looked at Bai Muyang again. "Uncle, I have a favor to ask!"
Bai Muyang was surprised. "Young friend, please speak freely!"
Xu Ning immediately stood up, cupped his hands, and respectfully said, "This humble one, Xu Ning, wishes to become your apprentice, Uncle, and learn the art of saving lives!"
Bai Muyang was surprised to hear this. "You want to learn medicine from me?"
Xu Ning nodded. "This humble one is precisely... I understand!"
Bai Muyang hesitated. "To be honest, young friend, the medical skills of my Bai family are far inferior to those of our ancestors. I'm afraid I might mislead you!"
Xu Ning replied, "Uncle, the Bai family has always compared the medical skills of the younger generation with those of our ancestors. Of course, they cannot compare. But compared with ordinary doctors, they are still beyond the reach of the latter."
Bai Muyang was taken aback. Indeed, the Bai family had always taken their ancestral physician as their role model, so they had always felt that the Bai family's medical skills had declined, which made Bai Muyang, the head of the family, lose confidence.
In fact, this was not the case. Every generation had never slackened in their study and research of medical skills, and their medical skills were all very superb.
Xu Ning's words instantly enlightened Bai Muyang, and he nodded vigorously. "Thank you for your guidance today, young friend. Since we have this affinity, I will accept you as my disciple. Come tomorrow to formally become your apprentice!"
Xu Ning was overjoyed and quickly bowed. "Thank you, Master!"
Afterwards, Xu Ning took his leave and went to the thatched hut to settle down.
The advantage of this thatched hut was the adjacent garden plot, convenient for Xu Ning to cultivate his things.
After placing his items and integrating the legendary thatched hut, Xu Ning looked at the garden plot.
To the left was the thatched hut, and behind and to the right was a forest. He only needed to plant some trees in front for cover, thus creating a secluded place.
However, there was no rush; he needed to do that after completing his apprenticeship ceremony.
Early the next morning, Xu Ning prepared a bag of grain, several bundles of charcoal, and two thousand coins, and then went to the Bai family.
These were all apprenticeship gifts, which were not considered meager in this era.
Upon arriving at the Bai family, they were much more enthusiastic when they saw the gifts Xu Ning had prepared.
Even Bai Muyang was somewhat surprised, secretly nodding in approval at Xu Ning, since he hadn't mentioned apprenticeship gifts yesterday and had assumed Xu Ning wouldn't give any.
So, seeing them today was still a bit of a surprise.
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In fact, apprenticeship gifts were very common in this era; after all, no one would teach you a skill for a living for no reason.
This apprenticeship ceremony was very grand, and most of the villagers came to watch the spectacle.
After a series of formalities, Xu Ning knelt down and offered tea. "Master, please have some tea!"
Bai Muyang looked at Xu Ning, nodded slightly, and drank the tea.
After the apprenticeship ceremony, Bai Muyang gave Xu Ning many medical books. "The master leads you in, but cultivation depends on yourself. How well you learn in the end depends on yourself!"
"These are basic medical books, including knowledge and effects of herbs, detailed explanations of basic acupoints, a comprehensive list of common diseases, and basic theories of meridians. Take them and read them first. Ask me any questions you may have."
Xu Ning took the books and nodded vigorously. "Thank you, Master."
Bai Muyang waved his hand. "Go ahead. Don't try to do too much at once. I'll teach you other things after you've thoroughly understood these."
Xu Ning bowed respectfully again and returned to the thatched hut with the medical books.
Instead of rushing to read the medical books, Xu Ning practiced his martial arts for the day.
Because of Zhao Datou's encouragement over the past few years, Xu Ning had developed a habit of setting aside time to practice martial arts every day, no matter how busy he was.
After finishing his practice, Xu Ning began to read the medical books.
As Xu Ning read, he was surprised to find that the three cultivation techniques Zhao Datou had taught him had undergone some changes.
They seemed much more profound than before.
Could cultivation techniques really be upgraded? Had he simply not noticed it before?
Xu Ning continued reading and gradually confirmed that reading could indeed improve the level of cultivation techniques.
However, the improvement from reading medical books was very slow; Xu Ning speculated that the improvement would be much greater from reading cultivation techniques.
Moreover, Xu Ning discovered a pleasant surprise: because reading these medical books could improve cultivation techniques, and because he had his own understanding of the techniques, they were particularly easy to remember and impossible to forget.
This made learning medicine much easier for him.
For the next month, Xu Ning devoted himself to studying, spending his time reading and practicing.
Unbeknownst to him, his Iron Shirt technique had improved.
Previously, Iron Shirt wasn't particularly profound; it was just a basic body-training technique, only reaching a maximum of the fourth level.
In comparison, the Vajra Indestructible Divine Art and Snow Shadow Step were much more profound, reaching a maximum of the seventh level.
In other words, if one only practices Iron Shirt, one can only ever reach the level of a post-natal martial artist, never becoming a pre-natal martial artist.
While practicing the Vajra Indestructible Divine Art and Snow Shadow Step could lead to the pre-natal level, that was also the limit; one could never become a grandmaster.
After a month of studying medical books, Xu Ning could now practice Iron Shirt to the fifth level, far surpassing his previous level. However, in that month, Xu Ning had thoroughly studied all the medical books Bai Muyang had given him, and despite multiple attempts to read them, he found he could no longer improve the level of the techniques.
So, the next day, Xu Ning went to the Bai family to find Bai Muyang.
Whether it was a misperception or not, Xu Ning noticed that Bai Muyang was noticeably different from a month ago; he seemed much more confident, radiating a warm and welcoming aura.
Seeing Xu Ning arrive, Bai Muyang asked, "Is there some problem, Xu Ning?"
Xu Ning said, "Master, are there any more medical books?"
Bai Muyang asked in surprise, "Have you finished reading all the medical books I gave you?"
Xu Ning nodded. "I've read them all, and memorized them all!"
Bai Muyang was surprised again, and then asked, "You've memorized them all? If you only read them once and can't remember them, it's meaningless!"
Xu Ning said, "Master, please feel free to ask!"
Although Bai Muyang still didn't believe him, he still asked a few questions.
To his surprise, Xu Ning answered every question fluently, and even offered his own insights.
Bai Muyang went from disbelief to surprise, and finally to astonishment, calling him a genius.
In the end, Bai Muyang didn't give Xu Ning any medical books, but instead sent him to collect herbs.
In his words, theoretical knowledge alone is meaningless; medical skills are all about practice.
Next, Xu Ning needed to familiarize himself with the appearance, taste, effects, and combinations of various herbs.
Bai Muyang gave Xu Ning three months. After three months, he would test Xu Ning again.
If he passed the test, he would then take him on a clinical practice, teaching him pulse diagnosis, prescription writing, acupuncture, and other medical skills.
Xu Ning agreed and went back.
He then began gathering herbs in the mountains.
Of course, he didn't just go into the mountains to gather herbs.