Chapter 118: Looks Simple, But Actually Lacks Feasibility

"Last night..." Zhao Xiangming's old face flushed at the mention of this, and he said sheepishly, "I drank a bit too much, but that's not why I'm looking for Ji Yisheng Xiang."

Liu Zhuren was still somewhat protective of Ji Xiang; he stared at Zhao Xiangming, carefully scrutinizing his micro-expressions, wanting to find some clues.

"Pfft, what are you thinking?" Zhao Xiangming was no fool; he observed his words and expressions and "understood" what Liu Zhuren meant.

Zhao Xiangming had assumed Liu Zhuren was worried he had come to cause trouble for Ji Xiang.

"What do you mean?" Liu Zhuren asked.

"That surgery yesterday that Ji Xiang performed... under my supervision."

After saying this, Zhao Xiangming's old face flushed.

He and Ma Jiaoshou had studied that surgery for an entire night and simply hadn't been able to figure it out.

But Zhao Xiangming vaguely felt that the ceiling that had confined him for many years was beginning to loosen, and that he was about to make progress in his technique.

"Zhao Zhuren, thank you for your guidance," Ji Xiang suddenly turned his head and said politely.

Zhao Xiangming's first instinct was that Ji Xiang was being sarcastic, mocking him.

But as he met Ji Xiang's eyes, he saw only clarity and transparency, and in his heart, he knew Ji Xiang understood what he meant.

After all, Ji Xiang was just a Standardized Training Student and didn't even have a Physician Qualification Certificate; performing a surgery as the lead surgeon? And a Level 4 Surgery at that? He'd be sued to death.

It seemed that from a certain perspective, it could also be considered a surgery he had performed himself.

Thinking of this, Zhao Xiangming's back straightened slightly.

"I sent that surgery to Sui, who used to be in our department and is now at a hospital in Yongcheng," Zhao Xiangming said. Although he was thick-skinned, he still had a sense of propriety, and he steered the conversation away from this sensitive topic. "After watching the surgery, they invited me to participate in a surgery competition!"

"Hm? Your Interventional Department holds surgery competitions too?" Liu Zhuren asked, surprised.

"Pfft, what are you saying?" Zhao Xiangming didn't indulge Liu Zhuren at all, unlike how he treated Ji Xiang.

"The surgery competitions you guys in the Surgery Department hold are unreliable; you even have to record them."

"All our operations in the Interventional Department are stored in the computer; we just take them out. It's nothing like you guys, who go through all that unnecessary trouble."

Liu Zhuren automatically filtered out Zhao Xiangming's trash talk. He thought of something and asked with a frown, "Inviting you to compete—is it by recording or live?"

"Recording. The surgical process stored in our DSA host is enough."

So that was it!

"Lend me Ji Yisheng Xiang for two days," Zhao Xiangming said directly.

Liu Zhuren didn't speak, but instead looked at Ji Xiang.

Ji Xiang didn't know the gravity of this matter either. He held his breath, focused his mind, and entered the System Space.

He definitely had to consult the System NPC about medical matters.

Ji Xiang entered the System Operating Room and told the System NPC everything that had happened today.

"So that's how it is," the System NPC nodded. "The Interventional Department should have had competitions for a long time."

"Teacher, is there much significance to this kind of competition?"

The System NPC pondered. A few seconds later, he suddenly said, "Ji Yisheng Xiang, you know which department I was a doctor in, right?"

"Cardiothoracic Surgery."

"Mm," the System NPC nodded. "My lifelong dream was for cardiothoracic surgeons to be able to perform Hybrid Surgery. For a cardiothoracic surgeon to perform Interventional Surgery, the compatibility is extremely high. It's just a pity that human energy is limited; there are very few people who can truly master both and be proficient in both areas."

Ji Xiang was silent, quietly listening to the System NPC tell his story.

"But even I couldn't do it," the System NPC was clearly somewhat dejected.

"Teacher, how about we smoke a cigarette? Shall I keep you company?" Seeing that he was in a bad mood, Ji Xiang asked.

"Let's go," the System NPC walked with his hands behind his back and his waist hunched, slowly heading toward the changing room.

Upon arriving at the changing room, he didn't smoke; he just picked up a White Lingzhi and sniffed it forcefully in front of his nose.

"Teacher, is it that you can't smoke in the system?"

"Smoking is harmful to health; just smelling it is enough, why bother?" The System NPC laughed. "Never mind me, let's talk about you. I want to ask you one thing."

Ji Xiang sat up straight.

"You have already initially mastered the Renal Partial Nephrectomy. I ask you, what is the disadvantage of this surgery?"

"The biggest disadvantage is postoperative bleeding, and it's bleeding that occurs a long time after the surgery," Ji Xiang replied. "I feel that even if I reach LV9, I can't guarantee 100% that there won't be postoperative bleeding; I can only try my best to increase my Luck."

"There is a way to try and make up for this flaw. Do you want to learn it?"

Ji Xiang suddenly recalled a line from Journey to the West—"You monkey, not learning this, not learning that, what are you waiting for!"

Could it be that the System NPC was going to hit him three times with a ruler and then come in the middle of the night to pass on the Dao of Immortality to him?

Thinking this in his heart, Ji Xiang smiled and said, "Teacher, I want to learn!"

"The passive skill rewarded by the mission was something I modified on the fly," the System NPC said.

"Hybridization?"

"Mm," the System NPC nodded. "Doing cardiothoracic... never mind that, let's talk about the Renal Partial Nephrectomy first. The best surgical method is to first use Interventional Surgery to embolize the tumor's blood-supplying vessels, and then perform the resection."

The System NPC spoke calmly, but his words were like a thunderclap on a clear day, ringing in Ji Xiang's ears.

"Teacher, is it the other way around?" Ji Xiang asked blankly.

"That is exactly it," the System NPC said. "Embolizing the vessels that might bleed beforehand avoids intraoperative bleeding while also preventing postoperative bleeding."

"That's just the first point. Furthermore, research on tumor hematogenous metastasis during the surgical process has been done for many years. Clinical data shows that the probability of metastasis is reduced by 63.2% if embolization is performed before resection."

"!!!"

"In short, there are many benefits."

Thinking of the benefits, Ji Xiang was somewhat excited, but upon second thought, he felt it was somewhat unreasonable.

"Teacher, since it's so good, why hasn't anyone done it?"

The System NPC's expression became extremely strange, with a touch of sadness, a touch of helplessness, and a touch of compassion for the world.

"In essence, it is still because Interventional Surgery causes damage to the operator's body, and even wearing Lead Clothing while performing surgery cannot completely avoid it. The probability of operators developing baldness and thyroid disease after the age of fifty is particularly high."

"There is also the Tumor," Ji Xiang added.

"Yes," the System NPC said, "and because the branches of medicine are now very complex, one must devote a lifetime of time to study any single branch; once one has learned the surgery of the Urology Department, there is no time to learn Interventional Surgery. It is difficult to truly master both."

"And once the collaboration between two departments is involved, things become complicated: who takes the lead, and whose fault it is if problems arise after the Patient's surgery. There will certainly be no shortage of such matters."

"It looks like something that should happen naturally, but when it is actually implemented, it is almost impossible."

Ji Xiang wanted to ask why he could master things so quickly by learning in the System Space, but he swallowed the words that reached his lips.

Since he was using a cheat, he shouldn't be greedy and complain.

Facing the helplessness of the System NPC, Ji Xiang hadn't even understood the surface, so he just noted this problem down to ponder during Clinical practice in the future.

The System NPC didn't continue on this topic either and began to explain the principles of the surgery to Ji Xiang in detail.

Ji Xiang became increasingly enlightened; so surgery could be done this way!

The principle was very simple; the System NPC mainly talked about the details.

After finishing, the System NPC took a deep, lingering sniff of the White Lingzhi, "Let's go, let's try doing two surgeries."

Ji Xiang nodded and clicked the system menu, but he couldn't find a similar surgical procedure.

"Teacher..." Ji Xiang was somewhat speechless.

Without a similar surgical procedure, how was he supposed to level up?

"What's wrong?"

"There is no surgical procedure."

"Just perform the surgery," the System NPC said. "Because it is a Hybrid Surgery, setting it as a fixed surgical procedure would waste too much energy, so Zhou Congwen and the others discussed it and changed it to be activated passively."

A flash of that young professor, who was the same height as him, with eyes like bright stars, and who had dug up all the bamboo shoots on the mountain, crossed Ji Xiang's mind.

Thinking back carefully, Ji Xiang believed that 【Superior Doctor's Gaze】 must have come from Zhou Congwen's template rather than the System NPC.

But these things had nothing to do with the surgery.

Ji Xiang and the System NPC arrived at the corridor of the operating room, and the System NPC took him to the innermost Operating Room.

"A Hybrid Operating Room, also called a Composite Operating Room, is a comprehensive integration of 3D imaging technology from equipment like DSA, CT, and MRI with surgery in a Level 100 Laminar Flow Operating Room."

"Thereby realizing the combination of minimally invasive Interventional Surgery and traditional open surgery, thus solving various complex surgeries, reducing surgical risks, and saving surgical time."

"The first Hybrid Operating Room in the country was built at Didu Fuwai Hospital in 2007."

Every time Ji Xiang heard the System NPC speak about matters concerning Cardiac Surgery, there would be a hint of regret and disappointment in the tone.

Even someone as strong as the System NPC had things that did not go as desired.

Entering the Operating Room, the System NPC first explained the machines in the Hybrid Operating Room to Ji Xiang, and then began surgical training.

Putting on the Lead Clothing, Ji Xiang saw the System NPC also put on a suit weighing several dozen jin, and asked worriedly, "Teacher, the Lead Clothing is very heavy; can you handle it?"

After asking, Ji Xiang laughed at himself.

This was the System Space; the System NPC might just be a piece of data or program code, and he had asked a bit too much.

"Although I am old, I maintain my body very well, and I can still wear Lead Clothing to perform surgery for 4 hours in reality," the System NPC said calmly. "Do you know what else is needed to become an academic giant, besides having a good foundation?"

"What?" Ji Xiang asked curiously, pricking up his ears.

"You need to live a long time."

"..."

"This point has nothing to do with surgery; you will slowly realize it yourself in the future. Now, let's start the surgery."

The System NPC smiled and began to teach Ji Xiang the surgery.

The Basic Endurance Value was not completely exhausted, and Ji Xiang came out of the System Operating Room.

After all, it was daytime, so he couldn't just lie down and sleep. As for the Endurance Potion, Ji Xiang didn't want to waste it either.

Light and shadow flickered; the operating room was very quiet, and Liu Zhuren was looking at him with his head tilted.

Ji Xiang recalled what Zhao Xiangming had said before; it seemed like a long time had passed since then.

Facing Zhao Xiangming's invitation, what should Ji Xiang do?

At this moment, Ji Xiang remembered the matter that even the System NPC found a headache—the problem of division of labor and collaboration between two departments.

For many things, the System NPC, as a teacher, only provided a starting point; Ji Xiang knew that he still had to constantly ponder and realize the rest himself.

This must be what is meant by "Knowledge gained from books is ultimately shallow; one must practice it to truly understand it."

(End of this chapter)