This…

When Zhu Quanxin saw Li Xu performing acupuncture, a flicker of doubt crossed his mind.

'This level of skill… doesn't seem like that of an expert capable of performing the "Bone Extraction from the Throat" with acupuncture, does it?'

'Could it be that what happened yesterday was really just luck, like Xue Shuheng said?'

He was worried Li Xu might make the patient's condition worse.

He prepared to step in and take over. After all, he couldn't let Li Xu treat a patient recklessly in his own department.

However, the moment he lifted his foot, he abruptly froze!

His eyes were glued to Li Xu's right hand as it administered the needles.

He saw that as Li Xu worked on the Neiguan acupoint, he was using none other than the "Tighten and Slow Press" method—a technique that uses intent to guide qi and expel cold. It was the "penetratingly cool" technique!

Although Li Xu's technique was still unrefined from a lack of practice and fell far short of Elder Cheng's "Cold to the Bone" level of mastery, the unique rhythm of his needling and its principle of expulsion were unmistakably the "penetratingly cool" technique!

A tidal wave of shock crashed through Zhu Quanxin's mind!

'He actually knows the real "penetratingly cool" technique.'

Zhu Quanxin subconsciously halted and decided to watch a little longer.

Li Xu, however, was completely unaware of this.

He was completely focused, applying every skill he had learned from the videos to this treatment.

He knew his technique was still a bit rough,

but he was even more certain that his diagnosis was absolutely correct.

In the practice of TCM acupuncture, the accuracy of the diagnosis is even more crucial than the technique itself.

As long as the general approach was correct, even minor flaws in technique could be compensated for.

As he inserted the final needle and applied the "penetratingly cool" technique to stimulate the qi,

the middle-aged man on the bed suddenly felt an icy-cool sensation spread across the right side of his face. Immediately after, an unprecedented, tingling, electric current shot out from deep within his stiff facial muscles!

He shivered uncontrollably.

"All right, you can get up now."

Twenty minutes later, Li Xu removed the needles and said calmly.

Facial paralysis is a peculiar illness.

It strikes like a landslide, causing a crooked mouth and drooping eye in an instant.

But if the diagnosis is accurate and the right needling method is used, it can also recede like snow melting in hot water, with recovery being extremely fast.

The middle-aged man sat up from the bed, half-believing and half-doubting.

He subconsciously tried to move the right corner of his mouth.

The next second, he froze completely.

Because he could clearly feel that,

the right corner of his mouth, which had been numb for over a month, could actually… move!

He rushed over to a mirror.

In the reflection, he saw that his mouth, which had been severely crooked to the left, was now mostly straight.

He tried to raise his right eyebrow.

Although it still took some effort, he was able to do it.

"Haha, my face is healed!"

The middle-aged man was overjoyed.

He thanked Li Xu profusely.

Li Xu replied politely, "Go to a pharmacy and buy a box of True Martial Pills to consolidate the treatment. Remember to get the ones made by Ding's Pharmaceutical Factory."

He had used the "penetratingly cool" technique to purge the excess condition.

Although it cured the illness,

it also left the patient with a yang deficiency.

Therefore, he needed to tonify his yang.

True Martial Pills were the perfect remedy for this.

Moreover, the True Martial Pills from Ding's Pharmaceutical Factory used high-quality ingredients and were the most effective.

"Definitely, definitely."

The middle-aged man nodded repeatedly. "I saw on the news that Ding's Pharmaceutical Factory's medicine is very good."

After the patient left, the consultation room fell silent once more.

Zhu Quanxin looked at Li Xu, his gaze no longer filled with the earlier scrutiny and testing.

In its place was the appreciation of a senior for a junior.

"Doctor Li," he said sincerely, "that technique of yours just now truly opened this old man's eyes. I'm thoroughly impressed!"

"Your diagnosis was, I must say, precise to the extreme! 'A mix of deficiency and excess, with excess being primary'—you hit the nail on the head. Your selection and combination of acupoints also showed a deep understanding of classic formulas. But what's most remarkable is that your use of the 'penetratingly cool' technique was perfectly suited for the condition. Truly, a hero emerges from the young generation!"

Li Xu said humbly, "Director Zhu, you praise me too much. I'm just building on the experience of my predecessors."

"No, there's no need to be modest."

Zhu Quanxin waved his hand, then changed the subject to point out a problem. "Your diagnosis and reasoning were both perfect. However, in your specific technique, I can still see some lack of practice."

Fearing Li Xu might misunderstand, he quickly explained, "I'm not saying you did a bad job. On the contrary, to have grasped the principles of 'penetratingly cool' to this degree at your age is already extraordinary. I just think that if you paid a little more attention to some details, the results could be even better."

With that, he led Li Xu over to an acupuncture training model.

"Look,"

Zhu Quanxin picked up a steel needle and pointed to the Huaroumen acupoint on the model's abdomen. "Just now, when you needled this point, the angle of insertion was off by a tiny bit.

The Huaroumen point is located one cun above the navel and two cun to the side. Deep to it lie the rectus abdominis and transversus abdominis muscles.

Your needle just now did hit the acupoint, but because the angle was a bit too shallow, the tip mostly affected the sheath of the rectus abdominis instead of penetrating into the muscle belly.

While that can still mobilize the channel qi, the effect is diminished."

As he spoke, he personally demonstrated on the model.

With a slight flick of his wrist, the steel needle entered the acupoint at an extremely tricky yet precise angle, sinking in steadily.

"The correct way to needle is like this: tilt the tip slightly inward at a fifteen-degree angle and insert it straight for one and a half cun. This way, the needle tip can pierce the muscle sheath and directly stimulate the nerves and blood vessels deep within the acupoint, achieving the optimal effect of 'qi arriving at the site of the disease.'"

He then pointed out aspects of Li Xu's "penetratingly cool" technique and continued his explanation:

"And your 'Tighten and Slow Press.' Your rhythm just now was a little too fast. The essence of 'penetratingly cool' lies in the word 'cool.' You have to allow the cold qi a process of permeating and conducting through the meridians.

Your rhythm was too fast. Although the qi arrived, it wasn't deep enough, not penetrating enough.

You should be half a beat slower. With each lift and thrust, you must let the patient clearly feel that cool sensation spreading outwards. That is what can be considered true 'Cold to the Bone.'"

Zhu Quanxin held nothing back, breaking down his precious experience from over forty years of immersion in acupuncture, piece by piece, and explaining it to Li Xu.

He even guided Li Xu's hand, correcting the subtle movements of how he held and manipulated the needle.

Li Xu listened, completely engrossed. It was as if a veil had been lifted from his eyes!

These were details that couldn't be fully conveyed in Elder Cheng's notes or the system's videos.

This was the kind of 'feel' and 'experience' that could only be understood intuitively, not explained in words—something accumulated only through thousands of clinical practices.

He had accumulated some questions of his own while practicing alone with the model over the past few days.

Zhu Quanxin's guidance instantly resolved all of them.

It gave him a much more thorough understanding of the finer points of acupuncture techniques.