Pulse Diagnosis

"Class One."

"Class Three."

"Class Four." Lorist glanced at the aristocratic boy standing before him. The boy was dressed flamboyantly, with a pale face and dull eyes. Lorist shook his head. Another spoiled brat. He's young, but he's already drained himself dry. Though he looked sturdy, his Vital Energy was severely depleted. Without a period of rest and nourishment, he had no chance of awakening Battle Qi. No wonder the list said he had failed his first Battle Qi awakening.

"Go complete the formalities. Your body is actually in very poor condition, and you should know that yourself. Do you often feel tightness in your chest? Do you get short of breath and break out in a cold sweat when exerting yourself? Even slightly strenuous exercise leaves you tired and weak, and you don't have much appetite? Do you also often have nightmares at night?"

"Huh? How did you know?" The aristocratic boy looked utterly shocked. It was incredible. This legendary Locke Instructor had placed only three fingers on his arm for a moment, yet had accurately described his condition—even knowing that he often had nightmares. He had never even told his family about that.

"Heh. Experiencing intimacy between men and women too early at such a young age can easily damage your Vital Energy. As long as you strictly follow the rules we set over the next six months, I guarantee you'll awaken Battle Qi. Don't worry about your first failure. Go over there and have the other instructors examine you again." Lorist spoke gently.

The aristocratic boy rose and eagerly bowed to Lorist before withdrawing.

"Next."

"Class One."

"Class One."

"Class Two."

In the spacious grand hall, four long tables had been arranged in a row on the left. Lorist sat behind the first table. A small leather cushion lay on it, and he was having the new students lining up place their hands on it so he could feel their pulses. If he changed into a white coat, the scene would have looked exactly like a street-side free clinic.

Behind the other three tables sat the three instructors, Anfia, Marlin, and Hughes. Lorist often had the new students whose pulses he had examined go over and let the three instructors examine them as well. The three instructors also imitated Lorist and felt the new students' pulses. Instructor Anfia was utterly focused, Instructor Marlin scratched his head and ears, and Instructor Hughes looked deep in thought.

Behind the four of them stood more than a dozen Silver and Iron Instructors. A female Iron Instructor held the student roster and marked it whenever Lorist announced a student's assigned class. Several instructors excitedly felt their own pulses, muttering to themselves as they did so. More than a dozen other instructors were handling formalities for the assigned new students on the right side of the hall and handing out student uniforms, washbasins, bedding, and other daily necessities. The twenty-four newly promoted instructor assistants were the busiest of all. They not only had to maintain order, but also escort the students who had completed their formalities to their assigned class dormitories, politely answering the curious new students' endless variety of questions along the way.

The academy's dismissal bell echoed through the building. Lorist stretched and said to the new students waiting in line before him, "All right, that's enough for this morning. We'll begin again at two in the afternoon. Remember your numbers, and don't be late."

The new students in line could only disperse helplessly, grumbling nonstop. Most of their complaints were about finally reaching the front of the line only for the time to run out.

"How many are left for this afternoon, Instructor Krisha?" Lorist asked the female Iron Instructor holding the roster and making notes.

"One hundred and six," the female instructor replied.

"Mm, we're finally almost done. I'm exhausted. This afternoon, once all the students have been assigned to their classes, our instructor group will also need to hold a meeting to discuss how to handle each class and appoint the instructors in charge." Lorist turned to Instructors Anfia, Marlin, and Hughes. "What about you three? What have you learned over these three days?"

"I can't tell them apart. They all feel the same when I touch them." That was Instructor Marlin.

"That aristocratic boy just now had a weak, somewhat unsteady pulse. It also seemed a little rough. It wasn't like the new students you assigned to Class One. Their pulses were firm and powerful, and when I pressed down, their arms felt smooth and rounded. I could clearly feel their pulses beating. That aristocratic boy looked very sturdy, but when you pressed hard, you couldn't feel his pulse at all. You could only feel it when pressing lightly." Although Instructor Anfia spoke somewhat incoherently, Lorist knew that after a year of study and practice, she had already gained an initial understanding of pulse diagnosis.

"You're absolutely right. That aristocratic boy has been drained by women. His Vital Energy is damaged, making him strong on the outside but weak within. That produces exactly the sensation you described. The several dozen students assigned to Class Four this time are basically all aristocratic children. Their physical problems are much the same. They experienced intimacy between men and women too early, failed to restrain themselves, and are all severely weakened. With poor energy and blood, how could they possibly awaken Battle Qi? That's why we have to strictly control their diet and daily lives." Lorist was highly pleased by Instructor Anfia's progress.

"Chief Instructor Locke, I can already sense that the new students' pulses differ, but I still can't distinguish the differences as finely as Instructor Anfia can," Instructor Hughes said.

"Actually, Instructor Hughes, I'm already amazed that you've sensed anything after only three days. Instructor Anfia began learning last year and has only now gained a basic grasp of it. Pulse diagnosis is actually very simple: keep your mind calm, pay close attention, and practice more. Once you've felt enough pulses, you'll naturally understand. There are so many new students this time. If you examine a hundred students a day, carefully distinguish the differences in their pulses, and compare them with your own pulse, then by the time this Battle Qi Enlightenment Class ends, you might even surpass Instructor Anfia." Lorist smiled as he spoke.

"As for the rest of you, those who are interested can give it a try as well. If there's anything you don't understand, come ask me. Once you master pulse diagnosis, you can understand the students' physical conditions at any time and know when their energy and blood are at their strongest. Having them awaken Battle Qi at that time allows for a hundred percent success rate. That's how I can make every student awaken Battle Qi." Lorist spoke to the Silver and Iron Instructors behind him.

Several instructors were eager to try. A few thought it over, then glanced at Instructor Marlin. Seeing that even Marlin, a Gold Instructor, had failed to make sense of it after three days, they decided pulse diagnosis was clearly not as simple as it sounded. They shook their heads, indicating that they had no interest in learning it.

When Lorist was first appointed by the academy to teach a Battle Qi Enlightenment Class, he had only seventeen commoner students. At that time, the theory of bloodline inheritance was prevalent. People believed that Battle Qi awakening was mainly caused by Magical Beast Factors inherited through one's bloodline. The more likely one's ancestors were to have produced a Sword Saint, the greater one's chance of awakening Battle Qi. Thus, the proportion of aristocratic children who awakened Battle Qi was far higher than that of commoners.

Lorist scoffed at this claim, considering it complete nonsense. Based on his own experience cultivating Blazing Flame Battle Qi, he believed that Battle Qi was cultivated through the blood, and that awakening Battle Qi must therefore also be related to one's energy and blood. As long as one awakened Battle Qi when one's energy and blood were at their strongest, the success rate would certainly rise sharply. Whether one's energy and blood were vigorous depended on one's health and nutritional condition.

The higher awakening rate among aristocratic children was likely due to their living environment. They consumed better nutrition and were therefore stronger, with more vigorous energy and blood, giving them a higher chance of success. Through his own observations and the information he had gathered, Lorist discovered that aristocratic children who failed to awaken Battle Qi did not have weak inherited bloodlines. Instead, they led decadent, undisciplined lives and were all addicted to wine and women. This only strengthened Lorist's conviction.

As for why the proportion of commoner students who awakened Battle Qi was low, it might also have been due to malnutrition. They had scraped together their tuition through frugal living, leaving them in poor physical condition. Without sufficient nutrition, their energy and blood naturally could not be vigorous. How could they possibly awaken Battle Qi? Lorist made a bold assumption and wanted to see whether his idea held water, so he treated the seventeen commoner students he taught in his first year as test subjects.

But how could he understand the students' physical conditions? Lorist thought of the traditional Chinese medicine passed down through his previous life. When he was young, he had not properly learned medicine from his grandfather, but after years of hearing and seeing it practiced, he could still feel a pulse. Although he could not distinguish specific internal injuries or hidden illnesses, he could tell whether someone was healthy and whether their energy and blood were vigorous. That was enough for Lorist.

Just as Lorist had guessed, the pulse diagnoses showed that most of the seventeen commoner students were malnourished. That was easy to deal with. Lorist remembered the new-recruit training from his previous life in the military. After three months, all those sickly, pale city boys had become as lively as dragons and tigers. There was just one problem: how could he provide these students with sufficient nutrition? Students from commoner backgrounds could not possibly have extra money to pay nutritional expenses.

They would have to work for their keep. Although these commoner students had not awakened Battle Qi, they could still handle odd jobs such as sweeping floors, hauling garbage, washing clothes, buying things, watering flowers, and raising fish. Lorist argued with the academy administrators responsible for menial work for half a day before taking on a large number of long-term odd jobs and assigning them to the commoner students. He pooled their wages and prepared to provide them with nutritional meals.

Doctors in Galintea were also apothecaries, and their greatest specialty was producing potions to cure every illness. Although many potions used medicinal herbs, their raw materials more often came from Magical Beasts themselves. In his previous life, Lorist had memorized several recipes for nourishment, but in Galintea he could not find the required herbs. He could only combine his knowledge of Magical Beast Lore and alchemy with the recipes from his previous life, fumbling his way toward a nutritious menu of three meals a day.

After more than three months of physical training and nutritional supplementation, all seventeen commoner students awakened Battle Qi, greatly shocking the academy. Thus, when the new academic year began the following year, Lorist was once again appointed to teach a Battle Qi Enlightenment Class. This time, the arrangement was more ordinary. The thirty-one students had not been selected by other instructors first, and their ages, family circumstances, and identities varied widely. Lorist once again employed pulse diagnosis as his secret weapon, assigning different training based on each student's physical condition. Within one term, all thirty-one students awakened Battle Qi, making another clean sweep.

This time, the academy was not merely shocked. They began to suspect that Lorist had mastered some secret of Battle Qi awakening. Thus, in the third year, the academy assigned Lorist a Battle Qi Enlightenment Class with as many as fifty-nine students. More than a dozen aristocratic students had come because of his reputation, including three students who had previously failed to awaken Battle Qi. For this reason, the academy sent five instructors, led by Instructor Anfia, to serve as Lorist's assistants, hoping to understand the reason for his success.

The conditions of these fifty-nine students were more complicated than those of the previous two classes. The aristocratic students in particular accounted for half of the physically weak. The three students who had previously failed to awaken Battle Qi were in even worse shape. They looked as though they were about to drop dead after running two laps around the training field. Lorist truly admired their courage in attempting to awaken Battle Qi.

Considering the physical condition of these aristocratic students, Lorist believed that simple nutritional meals would have little effect. Their bodies had been depleted too severely. In any case, these aristocrats had plenty of one thing: gold coins. Thus, Lorist collected another fee for nutritional potions and cooperated with the academy's potion laboratory. Using the blood of several Magical Beasts and some nourishing medicinal ingredients, they produced a batch of potions that replenished energy and blood and strengthened Vital Energy. The aristocratic students took them daily and supplemented them with physical training. By regularly checking their pulses, Lorist kept track of their physical conditions. When their energy and blood became vigorous, he had them awaken Battle Qi. As expected, they succeeded in one attempt.

Throughout this process, Lorist did not keep pulse diagnosis secret. He openly demonstrated it before Anfia and the other instructors, even explaining clearly that it allowed him to understand the students' physical conditions. He enthusiastically taught everyone how to feel pulses.

Lorist did not believe these instructors could learn pulse diagnosis overnight. It looked simple, but in his previous life, how many people studying traditional Chinese medicine had not spent several years learning pulse diagnosis and diagnosis directly from their masters? Even doctors trained in medical school who understood the principles of pulse diagnosis—how many could actually diagnose a patient by feeling their pulse? Without direct instruction and practical insight, it was impossible to learn. Among the foreigners in his previous life who researched traditional Chinese medicine, how many white people could actually diagnose an illness by feeling someone's pulse?

In his previous life, Lorist had grown up beside his grandfather, an old practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine. Only after more than a decade of practicing martial arts and studying medicine had he gained a superficial understanding of pulse diagnosis. He did not believe that someone as mediocre as himself could make these instructors truly understand it. And so it proved. The other four instructors soon gave up, including Lorist's friend, Instructor Yuri. After advancing his Battle Qi to Silver Rank, Yuri had been formally hired by the academy as a riding instructor. This time, he had also been transferred to serve as Lorist's assistant.

Instructor Anfia, however, persisted. She believed Lorist when he said that one would naturally understand the differences between pulses after feeling enough of them. It was said that after the term ended, she continued practicing pulse diagnosis at home. Her subjects were Instructor Krudd, herself, and their two children. In the end, whenever her family saw her preparing to feel their pulses, every one of them fled at top speed.

Naturally, all the students in the third year's Battle Qi Enlightenment Class awakened Battle Qi as well. This result earned Lorist the insignia of a Gold Instructor in Battle Qi. Combined with his status as a Gold Instructor in swordsmanship, he became the famous dual Gold Instructor of Dawnlight Academy.

Last year, Lorist had signed up for an exploratory expedition to the Ruins Archipelago and had not taught the new academic year's Battle Qi Enlightenment Class. This was his fourth time teaching it. There were eight hundred and seventy-nine students in total, all of whom had come because of Lorist's reputation as a Gold Instructor in Battle Qi. Some had even paid double tuition.