In those days, doctors did not have specialized departments. They were essentially general practitioners. Only wandering physicians might specialize in one or two ailments. Thus, people did not think that if Dr. Xiao Hu could cure someone with a ruptured intestine, he could only treat that specific injury.
They merely believed Dr. Xiao Hu possessed superior medical skills.
He would undoubtedly be adept at treating other illnesses as well.
It was rare to find such a skilled doctor willing to provide free consultations. They absolutely could not miss this opportunity to seek medical treatment.
So, within a few days,
Dr. Ding Yun's free consultation booth was swarmed by numerous patients with complex and chronic illnesses, as well as those with severe conditions.
Some were so emaciated, bedridden with paralysis for years, barely clinging to life, and covered in bedsores, that their relatives and family members had to carry or drag them over.
Few people wished to die when they could live.
They knew the hope of a cure was slim, but they were willing to take a gamble and try, perhaps it would work?
Ding Yun could easily handle minor ailments by prescribing medicine.
However, these severe and complex illnesses were clearly not curable with a simple prescription. Some required surgery, others needed long-term care, and still others needed acupuncture, medication, along with medicated baths, massage, and rehabilitation.
Ding Yun could not provide one-on-one service for them.
Therefore, she eventually rented a relatively inexpensive and spacious residence nearby.
Then, she moved those patients to the new residence.
She turned it into a temporary hospital.
She began treating wealthy patients, even developing and selling elixirs for health, longevity, beauty, and radiance to earn money, which she then used to subsidize the poor who were critically ill.
She had no choice. Those poor people were truly destitute, unable to afford the cost of treatment even by selling their children. But Ding Yun could not let them sell their children, so she could only help them reduce medication costs as much as possible, earning more from the wealthy.
Initially, the local medical clinics were unhappy.
They even began plotting how to deal with Ding Yun.
But after Ding Yun publicly announced that she would no longer treat common illnesses, focusing only on complex and severe cases, those clinics backed down.
This was because the illnesses Ding Yun treated were those they couldn't cure. Although they could string patients along and try to extract more money and sell more medicine, it wasn't good for their reputation if the patient ultimately died.
Although they now earned less from selling medicine,
they also had fewer troubles.
Furthermore, Ding Yun purchased her medications from them, so their profit margins remained the same, and they bore no responsibility.
Why not embrace this?
Therefore, they no longer targeted Ding Yun.
Sometimes, when they encountered cases they found difficult and potentially untreatable, they would directly recommend patients to Ding Yun.
Their relationship had become quite harmonious.
As for whether Ding Yun could cure those patients?
Initially, given her medical skills, it was undoubtedly difficult for her to cure those patients with complex illnesses and severe conditions. Her medical skill was only at level four, far from that of a master or grandmaster, let alone a divine or renowned physician. Keeping them alive would have been a great feat.
However, not all complex and severe illnesses were beyond Ding Yun's ability. She could cure a portion of them. After curing some patients, obtaining over a dozen skill points, and allocating all of them to medicine,
her medical skill quickly increased by two levels.
She advanced from level four to level six.
She then naturally had new treatment plans for patients she previously couldn't help.
This formed a virtuous cycle: more patients were cured, her medical skills improved, and she could then treat patients she couldn't before, earning more skill points, further enhancing her medical skills, essentially leveling up like a game.
Through successive upgrades,
Ding Yun finally figured out the proportion for skill point upgrades: level four to five required five skill points, and level five to six required six skill points, increasing incrementally.
Overall, although obtaining skill points was slightly more difficult, the cost was not significant and quite worthwhile.
Most importantly, as Ding Yun's abilities improved,
the difficulty of acquiring skill points decreased rapidly.
Through her exploration and experiments during this period, she now understood precisely how to save lives and earn skill points.
First, patients on the brink of death.
As long as she cured them, she would gain skill points.
She hadn't encountered any villains yet, so she wasn't sure if treating a villain on the verge of death would also yield skill points.
Second, patients whom others could not cure, or for whom treatment was impossible without Ding Yun's intervention, or who were simply unable to afford treatment.
There was a chance of obtaining skill points.
This probability, she had not yet fully understood.
She only knew it might depend on the patient's character, whether they had done evil deeds, if they were good people, and their age. Younger patients, especially children, almost always yielded skill points. However, for the elderly, those in their seventies or eighties, generally did not. Thus, age seemed to be a significant factor.
However, Ding Yun couldn't refuse patients.
So, she continued to accept all of them as usual, treating them if she could.
After Ding Yun had been there for half a year, she had treated virtually all critically ill patients in Hefeng City and even in the surrounding villages and towns. She had also cured most of those she could. Now, her courtyard might not see a single critically ill patient for three to five days.
The income of skill points had plummeted.
[Host: Hu Xing'er (Ding Yun)
Skills: Tree Climbing Lv5, Literacy Lv7
Embroidery Lv9 (Grandmaster)
Poison Arts Lv9 (Grandmaster)
Medical Skill Lv10 (Grandmaster)
Health and Breathing Exercises Lv13 (Breaking Limits, Enhancing Youthfulness, Leak-Free Longevity Trait, Lifespan 150 years)
Skill Points: 4]
Since her medical skill reached level ten, with the suffix "Grandmaster," Ding Yun had no longer encountered any illnesses she couldn't cure. Therefore, she hadn't rushed to add newly acquired skill points to her medical skill. Instead, she had invested a significant amount into the Health and Breathing Exercises, which she felt were effective in stabilizing one's foundation and repairing congenital deficiencies and root damage.
Who knew that after Health and Breathing Exercises reached level eleven,
Ding Yun underwent a complete transformation.
First, her marrow was cleansed, and then her congenital deficiencies and acquired root damage were all replenished and restored.
Moreover, the Health and Breathing Exercises later gained the traits of "Breaking Limits," "Enhancing Youthfulness," and "Leak-Free Longevity,"
along with the inscription "Lifespan 150 years."
This meant that barring any unforeseen circumstances, Ding Yun could smoothly live to the extreme limit of her lifespan, 150 years.
At that time, Ding Yun thought, since she hadn't found any suitable martial arts to cultivate, she decided to allocate all subsequently gained skill points to the Health and Breathing Exercises. After further upgrades, although no new traits appeared, with each level up, she could feel her physical fitness, and even her innate foundation and essence, improving in a comprehensive manner.
She estimated that if she continued like this for a few more levels, she might undergo another transformation and even break her lifespan limit.