A barrel, how much water it can hold is determined not by its longest plank, but by its shortest one.

Traditional Chinese medicine emphasizes the human body as a whole, stressing the reciprocal relationship between people and the natural environment. It treats the human body as an organic whole, curing illnesses by adjusting the yin-yang balance and the flow of qi and blood.

Lu Xuan can accept that he is not proficient in everything, but he does not allow himself to have any overly weak areas.

In the realm of rheumatism, it has clearly become a blind spot for him at the moment.

If he hadn't encountered such a patient today and learned quite a bit about rheumatism from Du Huo, he might still not know where his weaknesses lie.

Filling in the gaps is something Lu Xuan feels he must do.

After going through a few books for about an hour, Lu Xuan gained a better understanding of the meridians and limb diseases.

"Fortunately, I have the ability to memorize things instantly. Otherwise, let alone an hour, I might not be able to finish reading so much content in half a month."

Flipping through seven or eight books isn't such an easy task.

Moreover, the key is not just to finish reading them but to remember and then compare them with the clinical situations he encountered during the day, fully digesting all this knowledge.

That's the hardest part.

Lu Xuan thought of his patient Liu Baizhe, who had rheumatism belonging to dampness evil among the six excesses. Additionally, because Liu Baizhe previously had an upper respiratory infection, the heat evil had not dissipated, and both heat evil and dampness evil were present.

The term six excesses refers to the six external pathogenic factors: wind, cold, summer-heat, dampness, dryness, and fire.

According to the principles of traditional Chinese medicine, the alternation of yin and yang, the shifting of cold and heat, and climatic changes all follow certain regular patterns. When these changes deviate from the norm, especially if any of the six qi factors become excessive or insufficient, or if out-of-season weather appears, resulting in abnormal climate change; when such changes surpass a certain threshold, the body might not adapt, leading to diseases. Thus, the six qi can transform from harmless to harmful, becoming pathogenic factors.

The six excesses cause disease by invading the human body through the mouth, ears, or skin, from outside in, leading to "superficial" symptoms, also called external contraction of the six excesses.

There is also a noticeable seasonality in disease onset, such as wind disorders being more prevalent in spring, summer-heat in summer, dampness disorders in long summer, dryness in autumn, and cold in winter.

Moreover, there are certain clinical manifestations not caused by the external six excesses, but rather due to dysfunction in the organs, producing pathologic transformations of the wind, cold, dampness, dryness, heat, and fire.

While their clinical presentations might resemble those induced by the six excesses, the cause isn't external pathogens but some intrinsic pathological states, thereby they are termed "internal five evils," including internal wind, internal cold, internal dampness, internal dryness, and internal heat.

"Wind is yang evil; its nature is to open and release, easily attacking yang positions."

"This sentence..."

Upon seeing this phrase, Lu Xuan noticeably furrowed his brows in bewilderment.

He frowned, lost in thought.

However, a voice ringing in his ear caused Lu Xuan to be instantly filled with surprise and joy.

[Dr. Lu's achievements today are no coincidence; encountering a rheumatism case during the day and then researching the topic at night.]

[It seems like Dr. Lu doesn't quite understand this sentence, does he?]

[It's normal not to understand, given that it's not in plain language; much of traditional Chinese medicine is indeed obscure and difficult to grasp.]

[Du Huo expert, you're an authority on this, could you explain a bit to us?]

[Let me explain then.]

Lu Xuan was thrilled as if he'd discovered a new continent. Previously, no matter how many books he read, these guys never said a single word. But today, it was like the sun had risen in the west.

Lu Xuan knew exactly what this meant.

From now on, whenever he encounters anything he doesn't understand, this group of erudite teachers will clarify all his doubts one by one.

[Wind is yang evil; being light and dispersing, it easily attacks yang positions. The meaning is simple: wind evil tends to move and not stay in one place, possessing characteristics of being light, rising, and going upward and outward, hence it is categorized as yang evil.

Its nature to open and release means it can easily make the skin pores spread and sweat emerge.

Thus, when wind evil invades, it often affects the upper part of the body—the head, face, yang meridians, and outer body, leading to headache, sweating, aversion to wind, etc. Hence, the "Suwen·Taiyin Yangming Theory" says: "Injuries from wind, the upper part receives them first."]

[Then how to interpret "Wind moves frequently and changes often"?]

[As mentioned earlier, wind, by nature, is mobile and unsettled, with its disease characteristics being moving disease locations and undefined stationary points. The "frequent changes" refers to how wind evil causes diseases to change rapidly and unpredictably.]

Clenching his fist, Lu Xuan suppressed the excitement in his heart.

If he wasn't afraid of unforeseen issues arising from him asking questions, he would be dying to chat with this teacher [Du Huo] day and night, voicing his doubts one by one.

Fortunately, it wasn't only him who was curious; many others also had a strong desire for knowledge in this area, so Lu Xuan didn't need to worry about not understanding many things.

[How do you explain "Wind is the leader of a hundred diseases"?]

[Du Huo] chuckled:

[This doesn't quite fall under rheumatism anymore, but since I know something about it, let's discuss it together.]

[Actually, this sentence isn't hard to understand—leader, meaning the beginning, the first.

Wind is the leader of a hundred diseases, indicating how wind evil often combines with other evils to harm people, acting as a forerunner for illness by external pathogens. Because wind's nature is to open and release, evils like cold, dampness, summer-heat, dryness, and heat often accompany wind to invade the body, forming syndromes such as wind-cold, wind-dampness, wind-heat, wind-dryness, etc.

The "Clinical Guide Medical Case·Volume Five" mentions: "Among the six qi, only wind can entirely combine with the five qi—like with cold, it's called wind-cold, summer-heat with summer-wind, dampness with wind-dampness, dryness with wind-dryness, fire with wind-fire.

This is because wind can drive these five qi and harm people, thus called the leader of a hundred diseases…Thus, it can be seen that diseases initiated by wind are numerous." Also, not only that, wind evil invades seamlessly, affecting both superficial and deep layers, harming various organs and tissues, potentially causing a variety of diseases; ancients even considered wind as the generic term for external pathogenic factors. As "Suwen·Bone Hollow Theory" says: "Wind is the beginning of all diseases."

Moreover, "Suwen·Wind Theory" also states: "Wind is the leader of a hundred diseases."

While listening, Lu Xuan swiftly located the basic medical books mentioned by [Du Huo] and quickly turned to the relevant page, carefully comparing [Du Huo]'s explanations with what he read.

Upon finishing listening to everything, Lu Xuan's face once again lit up with delight.

"From now on, I won't need to worry about not understanding anything."

"However, I can't guarantee if this time was just a fluke."

At this moment, alongside his happiness, Lu Xuan felt immensely worried.

But soon, Lu Xuan calmed down again.

Having this experience was already extremely luxurious.

Whether there will be another chance like this for top-notch guidance, Lu Xuan didn't think too much about it, leaving it for the next time.

Of course, he could make use of this opportunity to thoroughly understand the so-called external six excesses, but thinking it over, he eventually decided against it.

The wind evil alone already encompasses so much; even though he has a photographic memory, mastering it entirely, to the point of applying it, isn't something achievable in just one night; corresponding clinical practice will also be needed.

Practice is always the sole truth.

This sentence holds true in any field.

In traditional Chinese medicine, it's especially so.

No matter how solid theoretical knowledge might be, without clinical practice, it is just empty talk, unsure how to treat when the time comes.

[Is Dr. Lu not reviewing others anymore?]

[Wind evil is already complex; trying to completely grasp the external six excesses all at once isn't a simple task. Even for us, without [Du Huo]'s explanations, understanding this would be challenging.]

[In a sense, what Dr. Lu is doing is the wisest choice. Take it slowly; with his abilities, mastering this knowledge thoroughly is just a matter of time. I even suspect that within a week, Dr. Lu might have it fully mastered.]

[What does [Du Huo] expert say? Continue or...?]

[Let's leave it for next time; Dr. Lu will certainly continue reading these medical books, and even if I say more now, it doesn't guarantee understanding, right? From this perspective, I quite admire Dr. Lu's approach—knowing when to advance and retreat, not being greedy. Others might wish to finish everything in one night.]

[Although I always thought Dr. Lu was just of ordinary talent, in this regard, I must admit, I have quite a bit of respect for him.]

Is that...dry ginger?

Lu Xuan paused, then a smile gradually appeared on his lips. This guy actually praised him, albeit quite rarely.

And truly, it felt right.

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