CHAPTER 73: CHAPTER 68 RETEST

Li Ang browsed the information in his mind’s Memory Hall and continued, "General, have you ever seen people who go long periods without eating salt?"

"Of course, I have."

Yan Yundang faintly guessed what Li Ang was about to say and nodded. "Going long without salt can cause your limbs to feel weak, your complexion to turn pale, and nausea and vomiting. Even the strongest of men would become exceptionally frail after a year and a half without salt, unable to mount a horse or wield a blade."

"That’s exactly the point."

Li Ang said, "One must consume a variety of nutrients daily from food and water sources to maintain internal balance. Once you eat too little, or don’t get certain nutrients at all, you become weak and eventually fall ill."

"Balancing Yin Yang Five Elements and circulating the blood and body fluids?"

Yan Lin nodded. As an Innate Realm Martial Artist and the Right Jinwu General who had grown up in the military, what Li Ang described was somewhat familiar and not hard to comprehend. It bore similarities to the Body Refining Technique taught in the military, which also involved using multiple prescriptions for Medicine Baths in the Body Refining Early Stage.

"But..."

Yan Lin frowned. "The dishes my father consumes are quite normal, balanced between meat and vegetables. He has even stopped drinking alcohol under the doctor’s advice recently."

"The dishes are normal, but the issue lies within Duke Yan’s digestive system," Li Ang said helplessly.

Yan Yundang’s megaloblastic anemia could be due to two possibilities: one is a lack of folate—that is, Vitamin B9; the other is a lack of Vitamin B12. The daily required amount of folate is 200–400 µg. Humans store enough folate for four months’ usage, and as long as fresh vegetables are consumed daily (overcooking or pickling vegetables can cause folate loss), there shouldn’t be a problem. Vitamin B12, however, is synthesized by natural microorganisms and is the only vitamin that requires a specific gastrointestinal secretion to be absorbed. Its storage in the body is about 2–5 mg, with a daily requirement of only 0.5–1 µg, and it can be reabsorbed. Even a vegetarian who doesn’t eat meat would need ten to fifteen years to develop a Vitamin B12 deficiency. Yan Yundang wasn’t a vegetarian, nor did he exclusively eat meat; his diet was normal. This meant that regardless of whether his megaloblastic anemia arose from a lack of Vitamin B9 or B12—causes that could only be distinguished through methods like blood tests, which weren’t available now—there had to be issues with his digestive system’s absorption functions! A folate deficiency would imply that small intestine damage is affecting absorption. A lack of Vitamin B12 would indicate a deficiency of the intrinsic factor in the stomach and intestines, leading to malabsorption of Vitamin B12.

Li Ang said, "Suppose a person’s body is malfunctioning such that no amount of salt can maintain internal balance; then, he would inevitably grow irreversibly weak. Similarly, since Duke Yan’s digestive system is malfunctioning, no matter how balanced his diet is, his energy and blood levels will still be insufficient."

"The three Jiaos are the passages for grain and water, which mark the start and end of energy. Does the Lower Focus need to clear turbidity, and the Middle Focus need to facilitate flow?" Qiu Jing murmured to himself. He was referring to the Lower Focus and Middle Focus. These terms are from the *Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor*, which divides the chest and abdomen into three sections: the Upper Focus above the diaphragm, the Middle Focus at the stomach, and the Lower Focus below the stomach.

Li Ang nodded. "Exactly."

"Does Dr. Li have any solution?" Yan Lin pursed his lips tightly, folded his hands respectfully, and asked earnestly.

Li Ang took a deep breath and slowly said, "It’s hard to say what solution there might be. A temporary measure would be to eat well-cooked but not overly soft animal organs, eggs, fish, pears—including Langqiong Zhao’s Polenta—and various vegetables, beef, pork, chicken, tofu, and so on. However, the chance of alleviating or even curing it is only about thirty to forty percent."

Upon hearing this, Yan Lin stiffened, unintentionally clenched his fists, and said gravely, "Why only thirty percent?"

"Digestive diseases don’t accumulate in just a day or a month," Li Ang replied. "Once such conditions develop, they are extremely difficult to cure."

Yan Yundang interrupted his son, who was about to ask further. "That’s enough, Lin," he said slowly. "I, Yan Yundang, have battled on the battlefield for over fifty years. I’ve gnawed on rotten horse carcasses, drunk from muddy swamps, and even eaten Guanyin Soil and demon flesh, and haven’t suffered intestinal perforation. To live to this ripe old age is already a blessing from Haotian. A thirty percent chance of curing these visceral changes is plenty."

He gazed deeply into Li Ang’s eyes and asked, "Dr. Li, if this severe anemia does not improve, how will I eventually fare?"

"...Severe anemia won’t immediately be fatal, but if it doesn’t improve, it could continuously cause weakness, sleepiness, numbness in hands and feet, and jaundice." Li Ang added softly, "In the worst case, it might lead to listlessness and even... mental derangement."

"Mental... derangement?" Yan Yundang leaned back, agape, a strange smile appearing on his face. "Hahaha, when I was young, my comrades always jokingly called me ’Mad Warrior,’ ’Mad Warrior.’ I never imagined they would all die of old age or in battle, and now I really might become mad..."

"Father!" Yan Lin’s eyes turned red and welled with tears as he choked out, only to meet Yan Yundang’s stern, knife-like glare. "Stand up straight! What kind of appearance is that for a great man, weeping!"

Yan Lin instinctively puffed out his chest and stood up straight, the outline of his tightly clenched jaw visible on his cheeks. Just like when I was young.

With complex emotions and slightly pursed lips, Yan Yundang gazed at Li Ang and said, "My thanks to Dr. Li. At least now I know what might cause my death."

Li Ang bowed slightly, about to speak yet hesitated. Actually, the thirty percent cure rate he mentioned largely applied to folate deficiency, which could be alleviated by significant folate supplementation.