Zhao Chengliang was well aware that he had lost this Prescription Medicine duel, but he wasn't willing to accept it!
He was the Jinling Medicine King, a man acclaimed as a living dictionary of formulas. How utterly humiliating would it be to be bested by some unknown brat?
His expression darkened as he rapidly searched his mind for a countermeasure.
Meanwhile, although Li Heping and the others were eager to dive into a deep study of the Digestive Qi Tonic Decoction Zhao Yuan had presented, they fortunately remembered the task at hand. With Li Heping presiding, the voting began.
"Vote for whichever formula you think is better. The person with the most votes at the end will win this round of the Prescription Medicine duel!" Li Heping announced the rules simply before saying, "I'll go first. I cast my vote for student Zhao Yuan."
"I also vote for student Zhao Yuan!" Qiao Zhixue said without hesitation.
"The same. Student Zhao Yuan," Professor Tu also stated his position.
Following them, the other medical masters also declared their votes one after another. "It's definitely for student Zhao Yuan. His formula is clearly more refined than Zhao Chengliang's!"
Even the medical masters who were on good terms with Zhao Chengliang cast their votes for Zhao Yuan.
Afterward, they quietly apologized to Zhao Chengliang.
"Sorry, Old Zhao. With so many people watching, I can't just speak against my conscience, can I?"
"Brother Zhao, I'm sorry. I'm actually on your side, but student Zhao Yuan's formula just now really was a bit better!"
Hearing these words, the frustration in Zhao Chengliang's heart, far from dissipating, actually grew heavier.
He felt that these words were less of an apology and more like kicking a man when he's down, rubbing salt in his wounds! If it weren't for so many people watching, he really wanted to clamp his hands over these old friends' mouths and make them shut up.
In the end, all twenty-six renowned medical experts present cast their votes for Zhao Yuan.
Twenty-six to zero. Zhao Yuan's victory was indisputable!
The result was beyond anyone's prior expectations, yet it also felt entirely deserved.
Li Heping took a deep breath and announced, "The winner of the second round, the Prescription Medicine duel, is..."
Before he could finish, Zhao Chengliang cut him off. "Wait! I object to the rules of this Prescription Medicine duel!"
Qiao Zhixue frowned and said, "Zhao Chengliang, the rules for this Prescription Medicine duel were agreed upon in advance by your Jinling Zhao Family and West Hua Medical University. If you had an objection, why didn't you raise it before, but are bringing it up now? Don't tell me you can't afford to lose and are trying to be a sore loser?"
Zhao Chengliang's old face flushed slightly.
Qiao Zhixue was right. He couldn't stand losing and was looking for a chance to turn the tables.
He gave a light cough to ease the awkwardness. Ignoring Qiao Zhixue, Zhao Chengliang said rapidly, "Since this is a Prescription Medicine duel, it should be a contest of the number of formulas each side has memorized, not a matter of winning or losing over a single formula."
'A contest of memorized formulas? Do you have any shame at all? Everyone knows you, Zhao Chengliang, are known as the 'living Great Dictionary of Formulas'!'
The expressions of Li Heping and the others all changed.
They understood that this old fellow Zhao Chengliang couldn't take the loss and was starting to act shamelessly.
Zhao Dezhu's eyes lit up.
He firmly believed that if it were a contest of memorized formulas, there were very few people in the world who could defeat Zhao Chengliang. And Zhao Yuan was definitely not one of them. He couldn't help but feel a little regretful. 'Why hadn't I chosen to compete on the number of memorized formulas when I set the rules with West Hua Medical University?'
'I was too careless and underestimated the enemy!'
'But it's fine. There's still a chance to fix this.'
Zhao Dezhu immediately stood up and said, "My second uncle is right. Since it's a Prescription Medicine duel, we can't just compete over one formula! I admit, the rules for this duel were indeed flawed. I will conduct a self-criticism here, and at the same time, I propose that the Prescription Medicine duel be held again, this time to see which side has memorized more formulas!"
The entire hall erupted in an uproar!
The more hot-tempered Yang Jingbo demanded, "Zhao Dezhu, does your Jinling Zhao Family have any shame left? Changing the rules for a rematch? How dare you even say that! If you lose the next duel too, are you just going to keep changing the rules until you finally win?"
Liu Zhu and the others also chimed in with accusations, "You act like a sore loser and demand a rematch? You people are truly shameless! Is this the conduct of a Noble Family of medicine? It's certainly an eye-opener!"
It wasn't just them. Even the renowned medical experts who were on good terms with the Jinling Zhao Family couldn't stand it anymore. They all shuffled away, putting distance between themselves and the members of the Jinling Zhao Family, disdaining to be associated with them.
In the online live stream, the comments section was a sea of curses.
Being stared at with contempt by everyone, even the thick-skinned Zhao Dezhu felt somewhat awkward. But at this point, he was already riding a tiger and couldn't get off!
'Besides,' he thought, 'losing face now is better than losing two rounds, or even all three, right?'
Zhao Dezhu braced himself and said, "Everyone, my request for a rematch and a change of rules is to give this duel more weight and make the outcome more convincing!"
He turned his gaze to Zhao Yuan, baiting him, "If student Zhao Yuan is afraid of losing, he can refuse the rematch and the rule change. It's just that your victory in this duel would be on shaky ground and would inevitably draw criticism."
The uproar died down, replaced by scornful laughter.
'On shaky ground?'
'Draw criticism?'
'The only ones who would think that are probably you Jinling Zhao Clan Members, right?'
Zhao Yuan couldn't help but laugh.
'To win, the Jinling Zhao Family has really thrown all shame to the wind.'
A cold glint flashed in Zhao Yuan's eyes as he said in a deep voice, "You want a rematch? Fine."
Liu Zhu, Wang Rongfeng, and Wu Yan instantly grew anxious. They hurriedly said, "Third Brother, don't fall for it! He's clearly trying to bait you!"
Lin Xue, Yang Zi, and the other girls also urged Zhao Yuan not to be impulsive.
Ma Guotao and the others were even more direct about the stakes. "You've already won, why would you agree to a rematch? They're clearly being sore losers, you can just ignore them! Zhao Chengliang is known as a living dictionary of formulas. He has tens of thousands of formulas memorized. Don't fall into their trap!"
Faced with everyone's attempts to dissuade him, Zhao Yuan simply smiled.
It was a smile filled with profound confidence.
"I've said it before. In today's medical skill competition, I'm not just going to win, I'm going to win completely! Since the Jinling Zhao Family refuses to accept the outcome of the Prescription Medicine duel, that's fine. We'll continue. I will keep winning until they submit, until they have nothing left to say!"
These words made Zhao Dezhu, Zhao Chengliang, and the others' faces darken instantly. They roared in unison, "Arrogant!"
"You'll find out in a moment whether it's arrogance or not," Zhao Yuan replied, his tone calm, but his confidence completely unshaken.
'Although there isn't a section on Prescription Science in the Information Leaf yet, there are medical cases!'
'Among those medical cases, the various illnesses and symptoms recorded number in the tens of millions! As for the formulas within, even excluding duplicates, there are at least several hundred thousand!'
Zhao Yuan refused to believe that no matter how good Zhao Chengliang's memory was, he could possibly have memorized several hundred thousand formulas.
Looking at Zhao Dezhu, Zhao Chengliang, and the others, Zhao Yuan sneered repeatedly.
'Since having your faces slapped once wasn't enough for you, and you want to keep courting death, then I'll be happy to oblige!'