Two Clear Identities

Facing Xuan Su's bone-chilling glare that could freeze the surrounding air into ice sculptures, Lin Qi's reaction once again gave everyone present a roller-coaster ride for their hearts.

Instead of trembling and begging for mercy like an ordinary person under the pressure of this divine beast, she squinted her eyes and appraised the black-clad young man before her with great interest.

Her gaze was unabashed, sweeping from his sharp, knife-like brow bone, past his high nose bridge, over his tightly pressed thin lips, and down to his broad shoulders, slender waist, and long, straight legs.

That blatant, critically evaluating look was not like a weak woman gazing upon a deity, but rather like an experienced, skilled butcher at a market meat stall, contemplating the best place to make the first cut on a beautifully marbled piece of pork belly to get the perfect slices.

"Hmm... the human form looks acceptable." Lin Qi rubbed her chin with an air of academic seriousness, commenting in a tone of rigorous scholarly discussion,

"The bone structure is unique, broad shoulders and narrow waist, the inverted triangle ratio is almost perfect. What's most rare is the subcutaneous muscle texture, tight and distinct, without an ounce of excess fat. From an anatomical perspective, this is definitely a prime specimen for making a skeleton or muscle specimen, a true treasure for a lab."

She paused, then suddenly shifted her tone. Her modern toxic veterinarian nature was exposed in that moment: "Too bad it's male. Honestly, if not for your manic episodes and pathological aggression that go off at the slightest provocation, I would suspect you have severe gender identity disorder. If that were the case, I might be merciful and give you a sex change operation, to completely solve your damn troubles from both a physical and psychological perspective."

"..."

Dead silence.

A deathly stillness.

On the bluestone street, a breeze rolled a fallen leaf to lightly land on a nearby bloodstain. Apart from this faint rustling, there was no other sound.

If the earlier casual remark about "neutering surgery" had shattered everyone's worldview and made them doubt life, then this lofty discussion about "making specimens" and "sex change operations" completely breached the imagination limits of all the cultivators and commoners present, churning their brains into mush.

Xuan Su's handsome face, which seemed eternally frozen and expressionless, finally showed a clear crack in that moment.

The muscles around his eyes twitched uncontrollably. The red cinnabar mole also jumped, looking somewhat comical.

"Make specimens"? "Sex change operation"?!

Although he had lived for over a thousand years and never heard the specific meanings of these two terms, his keen divine beast intuition and the other party's almost ferocious gaze told him that the actions behind these words were definitely more horrifying and monstrous than "neutering"!

Qin Miao felt his vision go black, stars dancing before his eyes, his legs weak, and he almost spat out a mouthful of old blood and fainted on the spot.

This old man had experienced enough shocks for a lifetime today. He had barely pulled his old face, disregarding the dignity of a sect leader, to rescue this little ancestor from the brink of manic rage. But this young lady, instead of being grateful, had escalated the situation and pushed this demon god one step closer to complete rampage and destruction!

This was no lifesaver; this was a living King of Hell come to collect debts!

"L-Lin Divine Physician!" Qin Miao, scared out of his wits, quickly rushed forward to mediate. His dignified square face had forced a brilliant chrysanthemum-like smile, uglier than crying, and he kept bowing repeatedly, "The child is young and ignorant, speaking without restraint! Please be magnanimous, with a belly like a prime minister's, don't lower yourself to his level, don't lower yourself..."

As he spoke, he frantically signaled Xuan Su with his eyes, his eyelids nearly cramping, and reached out his hands, dragging and almost begging to pull Lin Qi away from Xuan Su's attack range.

"Who is a child?"

Xuan Su's voice was a dozen times colder than before, as if shedding ice particles. He rudely pushed aside Qin Miao, who was blocking his way, and his wide black robe fluttered without wind.

He took a step forward, just one step, and that overwhelming pressure descended like a tangible force, making the surrounding air feel as thick and heavy as quicksand.

"I'll ask you one last time," he stared fixedly at Lin Qi, speaking word by word, the voice almost squeezed through gritted teeth, filled with chilling murderous intent, "What exactly did you intend to do to me just now?"

Lin Qi, overwhelmed by his terrifying aura, couldn't help but take half a step back. This original body, malnourished year-round, was too weak to withstand such level of spiritual pressure. But although her body retreated, her mouth was still hard-boned, not yielding an inch:

"Are your ears bad? What can I do to you? I already told you I'm a veterinarian, you know? A vet specializes in treating animals! Naturally, I want to study the physiological structure of a so-called 'ancient divine beast' and see what essential differences there are from us modern Homo sapiens! For example, your nerve conduction speed, your endocrine system mechanisms. Rest assured, since you're so resistant, I promise not to open you up. Medical research can proceed step by step. At most, I'll draw a few large tubes of blood, take a little sample of epidermis or muscle tissue for a slice. Oh, and if you're generous enough to cooperate and provide some sem... ahem, bodily fluid samples, that would be even more perfect. That would be of immeasurable significant scientific value for my in-depth study of the reproductive mechanisms and genetic inheritance of your rare species!"

Her words grew more absurd and more technical, modern medical terms raining down like a barrage on Xuan Su. Qin Miao, standing nearby, was sweating profusely, even his underclothes soaked through.

He stole a glance at Xuan Su. This ancient divine beast's complexion had gone from an iceberg to an imminent volcanic eruption, black enough to drip ink. The black light around him began to flicker uncontrollably—a precursor to another spiritual power rampage and massacre.

At this critical, tense moment—when everyone thought Lin Qi would surely bleed and die—

An extremely ill-timed, crisp, even lingering, "Gu—" sound suddenly rang out in the dead street, instantly breaking the suffocating deadlock.

The source of the sound was Lin Qi's empty stomach.

Lin Qi was stunned.

She suddenly remembered that since she had woken up in this unfortunate body, she had been busy for half a day without eating a single grain of rice or drinking enough water, relying solely on a breath of "immortal energy" from her previous life and the adrenaline from the emergency rescue just now.

It hadn't seemed so bad when she was highly focused and enjoying her verbal sparring. Now that the crisis was temporarily resolved and she relaxed a little, the suppressed hunger surged like a tidal wave, instantly draining all her strength.

That arrogant momentum, which had just been defying heaven and treating a divine beast as a specimen, collapsed like a pricked balloon with a "poof".

Lin Qi awkwardly covered her stomach, a suspicious blush appearing on her pale face. She cleared her throat to cover up the embarrassment, but her stomach uncooperatively let out another loud "gurgle".

Xuan Su was also stunned by this sudden, mundane sound.

The terrifying murderous aura he had been building up, enough to destroy heaven and earth, was like a fist hitting soft cotton, stuck halfway. Unable to go up or down, it remained trapped in his chest, causing extreme discomfort.

His murderous eyes stared at Lin Qi's hand on her stomach, uncertain whether to continue his rage or mock this outwardly strong but inwardly weak mortal woman.

In the end, this absurd farce was brought to a forced conclusion by Qin Miao's decisive actions.

Afraid of further trouble, the sect leader quickly pulled out a heavy pouch embroidered with gold thread and stuffed it into Lin Qi's arms like a hot potato, along with a non-jade, non-metal ink-colored token engraved with the archaic characters "御灵" (Yuling).

"Lin Divine Physician! This is the consultation fee, and also my Yuling Sect Master Token! Please keep it! You can use this token to come find me at the Yuling Sect anytime! Welcome anytime!" Qin Miao's voice came from far away, speaking rapidly, with a hint of panic as if fleeing.

As he shouted, he used all his strength, dragging and pulling the 'son' who was still threatening with a fierce gaze that said 'You'd better wash your neck and wait for me,' and the two turned into streaks of light, disappearing at the end of the street in flight.

Lin Qi disdainfully weighed the heavy pouch of gold coins in her hand, listening to the pleasant clinking, and her expression relaxed a little. She looked down at the token that supposedly commanded the Yuling Sect, coveted by countless cultivators, then shrugged indifferently and casually stuffed it into a pocket of her emergency kit.

What sect tokens, what backing—all empty. In this unfamiliar world, it was only these solid gold coins that could fill her stomach and buy the medicinal herbs she needed.

The farce finally ended completely, and the crowd of onlookers dispersed like birds and animals, afraid of catching any bad luck.

As for the initially arrogant and murderous Squire Zhang, he had wet his pants in fear when Qin Miao appeared and the divine beast showed its power. He scrambled away with his lackeys, not even bothering to collect the corpse of his precious spirit dog, which had been 'killed' by Lin Qi and was lying stiff on the ground.

In front of the dilapidated pharmacy door, the wind rolled a few fallen leaves, making it seem somewhat desolate.

Only Lin Qi and A Guo remained, along with the smashed medicine jars and scattered dregs all over the ground, a mess.

"S-Senior Sister..." A Guo finally dared to breathe deeply, looking at Lin Qi with a complex expression of worship akin to a deity and deep worry, "You were really amazing just now... Even the Yuling Sect leader knelt to you... But what you said also offended the leader and that terrifying Xuan Su deeply... What if they come back for revenge?"

"Offense is offense, no fear." Lin Qi brushed the dust off her hands, shrugged nonchalantly, speaking as lightly as if talking about the weather, "After all, the barefooted aren't afraid of those who wear shoes. If they dare come, at worst I'll give him another enhanced shot."

She turned and walked into the pharmacy, looking around at this small, dark, decrepit, and even leaking sunlight through the roof 'home', finally having time to carefully assess her current hell-level situation.

Based on the memories in her mind, the original host was an orphan wandering the streets, taken in by Old Man Su of this 'Huichun Pharmacy'. They were called master and apprentice, but actually the original host only did menial tasks like serving tea, fetching water, and preparing medicine. In this world, her only family was A Guo, also an orphan taken in by Old Man Su.

Now, the only support, her master, had died while collecting herbs in the mountains. The deed to this shabby pharmacy was held by a greedy distant relative of Old Man Su, who had long been eyeing this piece of land and could come at any time to kick them out.

And now, aside from the pouch of gold coins Qin Miao had just given her, she was poorer than a church mouse. Her only possessions were this tearful, skinny A Guo and the waterproof emergency kit that had crossed over with her, containing the last few modern emergency medicine vials and a basic set of surgical instruments.

No power, no influence, no house, no land, and she had offended the local powers.

This cross-dimensional start was a hell mode of difficulty.

"Alright, don't look so gloomy. If the sky falls, there are tall people to hold it up." Lin Qi patted the anxious A Guo's shoulder reassuringly. She took out a few shiny gold coins from the pouch and pressed them into his hand. "Go, first buy several tens of catties of fine spirit rice and spirit flour at the grain shop at the street corner, then cut a few catties of mutated wild boar meat. Then go to the Baicao Pavilion next door and buy some high-quality notoginseng, safflower, and other healing herbs. Today we'll have a good meal to calm our nerves."After sending off A Guo, who kept looking back and was still full of worry, Lin Qi rolled up her sleeves, found a broken broom, and began to clean the small shop that carried all the bittersweet memories of the original owner.

During the cleaning, while sorting out the scattered, somewhat moldy herbs, she gradually absorbed the original owner's memories and gained a deeper understanding of this unfamiliar world.

This is a cultivation world that completely reveres "spirit beasts." Here, a person's status and strength largely depend on the rank of the spirit beast they can contract. The stronger the spirit beast, the higher the owner's social status and the more privileges they enjoy.

Corresponding to this distorted worship is the world's extremely backward, even ignorant, "medical" system.

Here, when a spirit beast falls ill, people do not think of organ pathology or bacterial infection but rather believe it is "spiritual energy imbalance" or "mixed bloodline."

Thus, so-called treatment either relies on the spirit beast's own strong physique and spiritual energy to tough it out, or pays a large sum to those aloof "spirit doctors" to use their unique techniques to "infuse spiritual energy," "dredge meridians," or "resonate bloodlines." If these fail, they must invite even more mysterious "sacrificial doctors" to set up altars, burn talismans, and chant incantations, euphemistically called "praying for blessings and eliminating disasters" or "driving away heavenly punishment."

For someone like Lin Qi, who treats noble spirit beasts as biological organisms composed of muscles, bones, internal organs, and nervous systems, and tries to use modern medicine's anatomy, pathology, and pharmacology to analyze illnesses and prescribe treatments, she is nothing short of a heretic among heretics in this world, someone who would be tied to a stake and burned as a madman.

"No wonder the original owner killed a dog by misremembering the property of a medicinal herb and ended up losing her own life." Lin Qi picked up a pinch of black powder with a pungent odor and smiled bitterly. "In this world, there is essentially no difference between a doctor and a charlatan witch."

In the evening, as the sun set.

A Guo came back panting, carrying a heavy bag of rice and flour, and holding two pieces of dripping animal meat.

He not only brought back abundant food but also a piece of news that would scare ordinary people out of their wits.

"Master, Master, it's terrible!" A Guo threw the things on the ground as soon as he entered, not even bothering to drink water, his face pale. "I just heard from Uncle Wang, who sells pancakes at the street corner, that Lord Xuan Su... he is a slaughter god!"

He swallowed, his voice filled with uncontrollable fear, his body trembling slightly. "Uncle Wang said that Lord Xuan Su is not the biological son of Sect Leader Qin Miao. He is a battle companion that the sect leader contracted after a near-death experience in an extremely dangerous ancient relic when he was young. His true form is the ancient ferocious beast 'Xuanming Pixiu' (Xuanming Pixiu), which has lived for thousands or tens of thousands of years! It is said that he has the strangest and most violent temper, moody and unpredictable. Decades ago, a noble disciple from a first-rate family only glanced at him on the street and made a slight disrespect. He immediately revealed his true form, slapped him into a pulp, and even devoured his soul! That family didn't even dare to fart!"

A Guo grew more terrified as he spoke, tears welling up in his eyes. "Master, today... today you said in front of so many people that you would perform that kind of surgery on him. With his vengeful and bloodthirsty personality, he won't let you off! We... we should escape under the cover of night!"

"Escape? Where to? Under heaven, all land is the king's land. Do you think two legs can outrun wings?" Lin Qi's reaction was unusually calm, as if hearing gossip about someone else.

She was fully focused on processing the fresh herbs A Guo had bought. Without looking up, she skillfully sorted and washed them, casually asking, "Besides this old gossip, is there anything else? Did you buy enough rice and flour?"

Seeing her demeanor as if Mount Tai had collapsed without changing color, completely unfazed by life and death, A Guo was so anxious that tears finally fell. "Master! This is not a small matter! This is life-threatening! Are you even listening to me!"

"I heard, I heard. When the sky falls, there are tall people to hold it up. Your master has a hard life; even the King of Hell dares not take me."

Lin Qi brought a strangely purple-red leaf to her nose and sniffed carefully, then pinched off a small piece and tasted it. Suddenly, her eyebrows lifted, and a glimmer of surprise flashed in her eyes. "Eh? This 'heartbreak grass,' which they treat as a weed, its alkaloid composition is very similar to modern atropine! If properly extracted, it can be used as a specific medicine for relieving smooth muscle spasms! Jackpot, jackpot!"

Watching Lin Qi completely immersed in her own incomprehensible herbal world, eyes gleaming at a poisonous weed, A Guo was both helpless and deeply impressed.

He quietly looked at this master's profile and suddenly felt she was a bit unfamiliar.

Since she "died" once yesterday and opened her eyes again today, it was as if she had been possessed and completely changed.

The former timid, self-abased little girl who dared not talk back when scolded and blushed when speaking to people was completely gone.

In her place was a person who remained absolutely calm in the face of great crises, with a terrifyingly strong inner self, a tongue sharp enough to anger ancient divine beasts to death, yet radiating a light that inexplicably made people want to believe and rely on... an incredible monster.

However, A Guo secretly thought, he seemed to... like this new master better.

The next morning, the first ray of sunlight just shone into the dilapidated pharmacy.

As Lin Qi expected, "trouble" came calling on time.

But to her surprise, it was not the slaughter god Xuan Su who had threatened revenge.

As soon as the rickety wooden door of the pharmacy opened, a burly man in the standard black armor of the city defense guard, with a sword at his waist, strode in. With a stern, businesslike face, he pulled a notice stamped with the city lord's seal from his pocket and slapped it heavily on the broken wooden table in front of Lin Qi.

"Miss Lin, this is the latest ban issued by the city lord's mansion this morning," the guard said coldly, with the characteristic arrogance of government personnel. "The city lord's mansion orders: To rectify the medical chaos in Qingyu City (Qingyu City) and strictly prevent quacks from harming people, from now on, anyone practicing medicine in the city, whether treating humans or spirit beasts, must hold a 'Special Medical License' jointly issued by the Medical Hall of the Yuling Sect (Yuling Sect) or the Medicine King Valley (Medicine King Valley)."

The guard paused, his gaze lingering on Lin Qi's pale face for a moment, and sneered meaningfully. "Practicing without a license will be considered a violation of city rules. For minor offenses, all property will be confiscated and fined; for severe offenses, fifty strokes of the cane and immediate expulsion from Qingyu City, never to set foot in it again! The city is under tight surveillance recently because of the commotion you caused yesterday. Young lady, you are a smart person; you should know what's good for you. Don't risk your life for a little money."

Having said that, the guard didn't even bother to look at the shabby pharmacy again, turned around, and left.

Lin Qi stood silently, looking down at the thin, still-wet notice on the table.

The paper had few words, just a brief statement. But these few lines were like an invisible, heavy shackle that precisely and viciously locked down the faint hope she had kindled last night of restarting her medical practice in this world.

It was a dead knot.

Without a medical license from the Yuling Sect or Medicine King Valley, she couldn't legally practice medicine; once caught, it was a serious crime.

Unable to practice, she, who had no other skills besides seeing patients and performing surgeries, had no source of income.

With no income in this exotic world where prices were exorbitant and money was needed at every turn, she and A Guo, this orphan and widow duo, would either starve to death or be kicked out by that greedy distant relative, eventually ending up on the streets and dying miserably in the wilderness.

This move of cutting off the source was indeed vicious and precise.

If there wasn't the petty and narrow-minded black-hearted divine beast Xuan Su behind this, she, Lin Qi, would turn her name upside down!

This was clearly his way of retaliating in a more sophisticated, bloodless manner for her "sterilization" remarks on the street yesterday. He wanted to cut off her livelihood and force her to submit!

"Ha, the magnanimity of an ancient divine beast—I thought it would be greater. Turns out it's just a despicable person who plays dirty tricks." Lin Qi sneered, picked up the notice with the official seal, crumpled it into a ball with both hands like trash, and tossed it into the fire basin in the corner.

"Master..." A Guo watched the burning notice, spinning like a cat on a hot tin roof. "What do we do now? No one dares to defy the city lord's ban! Without a medical license, who will dare to come to us for treatment? What will we eat and drink!"

What to do?

Lin Qi stood at the pharmacy entrance, looking at the bustling, lively street outside. Sunlight fell on her delicate but stubborn face.

A crazy and bold idea, like a seed breaking through the soil, quickly took root and sprouted in her mind, gradually becoming clear and unshakable.

Since you high and mighty nobles and divine beasts like to use the secular rules you established to choke me.

Since you monopolize the qualification to practice medicine and treat anyone who doesn't follow your outdated dogma as a heretic.

Fine.

I will use these hands of mine and the absolute strength I possess, thousands of years ahead of you.

To smash your rotten rules to pieces!

To overturn that lofty altar!

"A Guo." Lin Qi turned her head, her originally calm eyes now burning with blazing flames, so bright that people dare not look directly.

"You just said, where is that coward Xuan Su hiding these days?"

Startled by her imposing manner, A Guo stammered subconsciously, "I-I heard from wandering cultivators who came to buy medicine that Lord Xuan Su has been staying at the medical hall on the main peak of the Yuling Sect. Because... because the commotion yesterday was too big, the sect leader was worried and invited many famous spirit doctors from the mainland for consultation. But Lord Xuan Su has a very bad temper and doesn't give face to anyone. He scolded those respected spirit doctors severely and kicked them all out..."

"Yuling Sect's, medical hall?"

Hearing those two words, Lin Qi's eyes lit up instantly, and a dangerous curve formed at the corner of her mouth.

She clearly recalled from the original owner's memory something A Guo had mentioned casually a few days ago.

Every fifteenth day of the month, which was today, the Yuling Sect's medical hall, as the highest medical institution in the cultivation world, holds a "Public Diagnosis Conference for Difficult Diseases" open to all healers in the city.

This was a tradition. Any folk healer or wandering cultivator without a medical license, if they dared to go on stage and provide constructive insights into difficult diseases or directly cure terminal patients whom even the medical hall elders couldn't handle, could break the rules and be granted the highest-level "Special Medical License" on the spot, allowing them to do whatever they wanted in Qingyu City!

And according to the inside information A Guo had gathered, the ultimate "question" for today's public diagnosis conference was a rare sacred beast of great origin that had contracted some strange disease, had been given up on by all the top spirit doctors in the city, and had only one breath left.

Lin Qi's smile grew wider and wider, eventually blossoming into a confident grin brimming with the arrogance of a top modern surgeon.

That grin made A Guo's heart pound, feeling that someone was in for big trouble.

Heaven has a road you refuse to take; hell has no door but you barge in.

Xuan Su, Xuan Su, you went to great lengths to cut off my lifeline.

You'd better pray to your damn beast god that I don't run into you at the medical hall's public conference today.

Otherwise, old grudges and new scores, I'll settle them all in front of the whole world!

"Let's go, A Guo." Lin Qi pulled the cloth bag off the wall, slung the first-aid kit over her shoulder, and strode across the pharmacy threshold, her voice crisp and resolute.

"Your master is taking you to get a certificate and, by the way, to crash a party."