Chapter 818 - 837: This Is Not a Free Clinic, It’s a Trial, They Are All Tools

Jiang Qiuqiu went to see the dean.

Dean Zhu was the initiator and decision-maker of this practical activity, the undisputed leader standing at its very core. If she had any concerns, coming to him was the most direct route.

This was to be a confidential conversation.

KNOCK KNOCK.

Slender fingers tapped on the door.

"Come in."

Jiang Qiuqiu walked into Dean Zhu’s office. The dean didn’t look too pleased himself, but his expression softened upon seeing Qiuqiu. "I knew you would come."

"Did you see the news outside?"

"Yes." Qiuqiu nodded. "I saw it."

"Let’s talk behind closed doors. I didn’t expect the people of Q3 to make such a blunder."

Skipping the pleasantries came naturally to them. Qiuqiu and Dean Zhu shared a deep bond as student and teacher; they resonated strongly in their understanding of Spirit Healing, their general outlook on life, and their views on their healing abilities.

Thus, Qiuqiu asked her question directly.

"Dean, before we came here, you told the students in our department that this was a free clinic...

"But since arriving, I feel like it isn’t one at all."

It wasn’t the competitive aspect that made her feel this way. With so many schools participating, a free clinic could easily include an evaluation; ranking the participants was perfectly normal.

What made Qiuqiu feel this had absolutely nothing to do with a free clinic was the attitude of the planet’s staff toward the patients coming in for "treatment." That, along with the tone the guides used when speaking about them. And the status of the patients themselves here—it was all very strange.

"What exactly are we here for?"

"In my heart, we are indeed here for a free clinic."

If that was only true in his heart, then in reality...

Dean Zhu’s expression shifted. He didn’t answer Jiang Qiuqiu’s question directly, instead changing the subject to something related to the "free clinic."

"Actually, it’s not just the new students who come for practical experience; many senior students do as well. It’s just that only the freshmen participate on such a massive, joint-academy scale.

"The academies gathered here encompass almost every Spirit Healing Master academy in the entire interstellar. The freshmen are brought here so the schools can interact and see what kind of promising talents have emerged this year."

Everyone got to learn the names and traits of these geniuses. It was a way to scout them for their academies, recruit them for certain nobles on their home planets, or analyze a genius’s study methods to see if they could be widely implemented.

Incidentally, it also allowed everyone to size up the future pillars of the profession. Furthermore, it established an unspoken hierarchy among the academies.

"Then why do the senior students come to interact?" she asked.

"As you know, the academy is a natural greenhouse for training Healing Spiritual Power," Dean Zhu said, looking at her.

"Everyone can learn a wide variety of techniques in a school environment.

"A long time ago, we didn’t hold these events. But later, we discovered... many of the students who graduated back then simply couldn’t master practical treatment techniques. They only possessed theoretical knowledge and couldn’t actually apply it to different situations.

"If they were sent to the battlefield, they required a long time to learn the ropes. If they stayed at the academy to teach, they were utterly incompetent.

"And so, these practical courses were created."

Jiang Qiuqiu understood. "So... the patients on Q3 Planet are brought here specifically for us to practice on?"

They were just—tools?

"It was originally meant to be a win-win situation," he said.

"But later, I discovered that every year, people would die just trying to make the journey here."

These patients would exhaust themselves traveling here, only to have the event end shortly after they arrived, forcing them to make the grueling trek back. Tossed back and forth by the relentless travel, many simply perished.

"Teacher, why can’t we establish designated zones then?" But as soon as the words left her mouth, Jiang Qiuqiu realized it wouldn’t work. Zoning wouldn’t solve the issue. There were too many refugees here; they would inevitably cross into other zones, which would just cause massive complications.