Both men quickly finished preparing their medicinal soups. Although Yang Qi started later, he was faster, so they submitted their results at almost the same time.

The judges walked over to the two medicinal soups and froze.

"Yang Qi, are you sure this medicine is correct?" a judge asked.

"Of course, there’s no problem!"

"What is it supposed to treat?" the judge asked again.

"It’s an antidote," Yang Qi replied.

"An antidote? That’s not right," Zhang Yao interjected. "This patient’s symptoms are clearly qi and blood deficiency, along with deficient Yang energy. How could it be poisoning? You must have made a mistake."

Yang Qi said nothing, simply looking toward the judges.

A judge announced, "Zhang Yao wins this round. Yang Qi, you completely missed the point!"

Upon hearing this, Gu Lingshan burst out laughing. "Hahaha, what an idiot! He went completely off-topic! How stupid!"

The members of the Gu Family all roared with laughter, and jeers filled the arena.

On the Jingnan Prefecture side, many people lowered their heads. It seemed they had overestimated Yang Qi, who had actually gotten the diagnosis wrong.

"What are you all laughing at, you bunch of fools!"

Just then, the Medicine King spoke up. "On this question, Yang Qi is correct. Although Zhang Yao’s medicinal soup matches the provided answer, the answer itself is wrong."

What! The Medicine King was a leading authority—the top doctor in the Dragon Country. If he said Yang Qi was right, how could Yang Qi possibly be wrong?

"Yang Qi, how did you determine this person was poisoned?" the Medicine King asked, looking at Yang Qi.

Yang Qi replied, "It’s simple: his symptoms are those of poisoning. You ask how I can tell? How am I supposed to answer that? In my eyes, all his symptoms are caused by Aconite Poison from a plant that is likely over a hundred years old."

"That was a foolish question on my part," the Medicine King said with a self-deprecating chuckle. "Actually, I knew the provided answer was incorrect the moment I saw this case. I even made a special call to contact the patient and ask a few things, which confirmed my suspicion that this was poisoning. Coincidentally, the patient is here today. Let’s have him test the medicine on the spot."

Just then, a man walked up from below the stage—it was indeed the patient in question.

Seeing the man in person, Yang Qi became even more certain. By all rights, the man should have died long ago. However, he was a Medicine Gatherer and had eaten some of the herbs growing next to the aconite, which had suppressed the poison and allowed him to survive until today.

His symptoms were highly deceptive, fooling not only the judges but Zhang Yao as well. Zhang Yao excelled at preparing medicinal soups, but his diagnostic skills were far inferior to Yang Qi’s.

"Gentlemen, please take his pulse. You might make a mistake without seeing the patient, but now that he is right in front of you, there should be no room for error," the Medicine King said.

The judges and Zhang Yao went up to take the man’s pulse and examine him. A few minutes later, they all reached the same conclusion: Yang Qi’s diagnosis was correct. The man was indeed poisoned. However, whether Yang Qi’s medicine was effective could only be determined after he took it.

Yang Qi gave the medicinal soup to the patient, who drank it all down. Ten minutes later, his superficial symptoms began to disappear.

"Gentlemen, please examine him again!" the Medicine King announced.

This time, the examination revealed that the patient had indeed improved significantly, to everyone’s astonishment.

"I have lost. This time, Divine Doctor Yang is the winner!" Zhang Yao conceded, offering a deep bow.

"It was a good match," Yang Qi replied.

"I look forward to seeing it. Everyone talks about how amazing Xue Huai is, but Divine Doctor Yang, you’re only in your twenties, right? I suspect you’ll be the one to make it into the top ten this time," Zhang Yao said before stepping down from the stage.

The judges also announced the result.

Yang Qi had won! He had won the medicinal soup duel!

The crowd was stunned. His formidable theoretical knowledge was one thing, but for his diagnostic abilities and skill with medicinal soups to also be so outstanding was truly awe-inspiring. Those who had been proclaiming Yang Qi’s certain defeat felt their faces burn with a fiery pain, as if they had been slapped a hundred times.

Over with the Gu Family, Gu Lingshan was the most embarrassed of all. He had been the loudest one shouting just a moment ago, making his current humiliation all the more acute.

"Don’t worry. As long as I’m here, he can’t win," Gu Baiyi reassured him.

But Gu Lingshan still felt uneasy.

Back in the Jingnan Prefecture seats, everyone was ecstatic. This victory was a massive morale booster.

The twenty-five matches ended quickly. Next was the revival round. This time, five people were selected to compete, after which the final group of twenty-five contestants was decided. Zhang Yao passed the revival round smoothly; after all, he had genuine skill.

Of the final twenty-five contestants, Jingnan Prefecture predictably had the worst showing with just three people left: Yang Qi, Chen Guo, and Yao Ran. Chen Guo had previously been within the top twenty, and Yao Ran had finally stepped up, proving Yang Qi’s mentorship worthwhile.

The Su Mansion still had the most participants advancing. As expected, all top ten doctors on the Southern Territory’s Divine Doctor List advanced without any surprises.

「The third round of duels was acupuncture!」

There were specialized acupuncture simulation robots that would simulate various illnesses. The dueling opponents would then provide treatment, and whoever achieved a better result faster would advance.

One person had a bye this round. Unfortunately, it wasn’t anyone from Jingnan Prefecture. The bye went to Xue Renyi. This was perhaps intentional, as he was the only one who could receive a bye without anyone raising objections.

The remaining contestants drew lots for their opponents. To everyone’s surprise, Yang Qi drew Xue Renyi’s son, Xue Huai—the very doctor hailed as the strongest genius. He was also considered the most likely person to enter the top ten of the Southern Territory’s Divine Doctor List before the age of fifty.

The other duels seemed ordinary by comparison, so naturally, none were as highly anticipated as this one. This was what everyone was paying attention to. Could the son of Divine Doctor Xue defeat the dark horse, Yang Qi? And was Yang Qi skilled in acupuncture as well?

The competition began swiftly.

The first to take the stage in the third round was Gu Baiyi. His opponent was also formidable—an acupuncture expert whose advantage in his field was comparable to Zhang Yao’s with medicinal soups. But against Gu Baiyi, that was useless.

Gu Baiyi won with ease, giving his opponent no chance whatsoever. His opponent was still analyzing the condition when Gu Baiyi began the treatment. By the time the other doctor started with his own needles, Gu Baiyi had already successfully completed the procedure. The simulated illness was completely cured.

The next few top-ranked competitors also won their matches. Though they took more time and didn’t win as effortlessly as Gu Baiyi, they won nonetheless. Of the top four, aside from Xue Renyi with his bye, the other three all secured their victories.

Before leaving the stage, Gu Baiyi shot Yang Qi a proud look, as if showing off his ability. Yang Qi was left speechless. Gu Baiyi’s technique is impressive, but comparing himself to me? Isn’t he just asking for a thrashing?

In this round of duels, Yao Ran lost. Chen Guo, however, won his match, fighting his way into the top thirteen. Since there was no revival round this time, this advancement was final.

Thus, the time soon came for the duel between Xue Huai and Yang Qi—a true clash of the new generation of Divine Doctors.