Chinese Medicine: Starting with Daily Intelligence-Chapter 231: Making Dragon Horn Powder

"Brain-dead?" Ding Aiguo and the other two men fell silent.

They all understood the weight of that word.

In the medical world, brain death signifies the end of a life.

"Yes." Sun Qingli sighed. "My older brother and sister-in-law are going insane. No one should have to endure burying their own child. They refuse to give up and absolutely will not agree to take her off the ventilator. Right now, Haiqing is lying in the ICU at the Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, her vital signs maintained by all sorts of machines. But she's in a deep coma, and because her central nervous system has failed, her immune system has collapsed. She suffers from recurring high fevers, often spiking above forty degrees Celsius, and no antibiotic can bring it down."

"Sigh. That poor child." President Qian shook his head, unable to bear it.

"Later, we consulted with Professor Gao, the most authoritative brain disease expert at the Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine." A faint glimmer of hope ignited in Sun Qingli's eyes. "Professor Gao said that Western medicine had no more options, but Traditional Chinese Medicine might be able to 'prolong her life' by 'opening the orifices to restore consciousness and clearing heat to detoxify.' He suggested using the An Gong Bezoar Pill to clear heat, detoxify her system, and lower her intracranial pressure to see if it could stimulate any of her remaining life potential."

As he spoke, a hint of helplessness crossed Sun Qingli's face. "A few days ago, we used every connection we had to buy a few expensive An Gong Bezoar Pills, supposedly from the nineties. We also had someone buy the best An Gong Bezoar Pills available from Tongren Hall.

After using them, there was indeed some effect. Whenever Haiqing's high fever wouldn't break, we'd give her one, and her temperature would temporarily drop.

But… her condition kept fluctuating. Not long after her temperature went down, it would spike again.

Professor Gao said this means the medicine isn't potent enough. It's not powerful enough to turn the tide, only to temporarily suppress the symptoms."

"Old Ding! I think that An Gong Bezoar Pill of yours is incredibly potent! It reversed my severe, sudden stroke in just over ten minutes. Its medicinal strength must be a hundred times stronger than the ones we bought!"

"So, Old Ding! Please, help my poor niece! Maybe… maybe it really can work a miracle and pull Haiqing back from the brink of death! Even if… even if it just lets her hold on a little longer, to give my brother and his wife a sliver of hope, I would be content!"

His words were so sincere and heartfelt, they moved all who listened.

Chairman Zhao and President Qian were both deeply moved.

Ding Aiguo's heart was heavy.

Even heavier than theirs.

He'd felt the same way when his wife was sick—he would have given anything just to make her a little better.

He wanted to agree immediately, but the medicine wasn't his.

He couldn't make the decision for Li Xu.

Ding Aiguo considered this for a moment before speaking seriously, "Old Sun, regarding Haiqing, if I can help, I absolutely will. But… the medicine really isn't mine."

Sun Qingli's face fell.

Ding Aiguo quickly added, "But don't lose hope. I'll ask for you. My friend has a doctor's compassionate heart; I doubt he'll refuse."

"Good, good."

Sun Qingli grew excited again. "Old Ding, whether it works out or not, we will remember this kindness."

...

「Li's Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinic.」

Li Xu wrote down the formula for Dragon Horn Powder, which had been optimized by the system's intelligence.

He still didn't know if the city would develop the Shanyang County mining area in the future.

However, he probably wouldn't be able to get his hands on the 3.99 million cubic meters of Dragon Bone Ore anytime soon.

'What should I do?'

Li Xu thought of the two large pieces of Dragon Bone he had specially traveled to Shanyang County to buy last time.

He quickly decided to give it a try.

He would use the materials on hand to produce a test batch and verify the miraculous effects of the system-optimized formula.

No sooner said than done.

Li Xu told Song Sisi to stay in the clinic.

He walked into the backyard.

From a room to the side, he retrieved a heavy wooden box.

He opened the lid. Inside, two pieces of Five-Floral Dragon Bone, one large and one small, lay quietly.

Their surfaces had a gentle, lustrous texture. Upon a grayish-white base, they were covered in magnificent, cloud-like patterns of red, yellow, and brown, layered and stunningly beautiful.

This was the origin of the name "Five-Floral."

To the touch, the stone was hard and heavy, yet it had a jade-like warmth, completely lacking the roughness of an ordinary rock.

This was because, over long geological ages, the organic matter within the bones had been completely replaced by minerals like silicon dioxide, while also absorbing various trace elements from the surrounding rock strata, resulting in such a unique appearance and medicinal properties.

The first and most crucial step in making Dragon Horn Powder was to process the Dragon Bone.

Unprocessed, raw Dragon Bone is astringent, and its contractive properties are too strong for internal use.

It must go through the "calcining" process to remove its harsh nature, making its medicinal properties gentle and easier for the body to absorb.

Li Xu set up a special calcining furnace, gripped one of the Five-Floral Dragon Bones with iron tongs, and placed it inside.

He didn't use a high flame. Instead, he controlled the furnace temperature, using a low flame for a long, even calcination.

As the temperature rose, the color of the Dragon Bone began to change in a wondrous way.

The magnificent five-floral patterns gradually faded, and the entire piece of bone turned fiery red, like a red-hot branding iron.

A faint, peculiar odor, similar to lime, filled the air.

Li Xu's expression was focused as he periodically turned the Dragon Bone, ensuring every inch was heated evenly.

This process tested one's patience and experience. If the heat was even slightly off, the calcination would be incomplete, and the medicinal properties wouldn't be activated.

Or, if it was over-calcined, it would turn into a pile of useless powder.

This process continued for two full hours.

Then, Li Xu took the Dragon Bone out with the tongs.

After it had cooled naturally, he began to grind it into powder.

Li Xu used a stone mortar.

The stone pestle, by its own weight, crushed the brittle Dragon Bone.

When the Dragon Bone was completely crushed into a fine powder, he filtered it through a silk sieve. The resulting Dragon Bone Powder was snow-white and as fine as flour.

After processing the core ingredient, the Dragon Bone, Li Xu began to prepare the other supplementary ingredients: Knotweed, almond, Polygala Tenuifolia, licorice…

During this process, Li Xu thought about Dragon Horn Powder and Watermelon Frost.

Watermelon Frost primarily treats canker sores, but it can also be used for sore throats.

It had similarities to Dragon Horn Powder.

However, their mechanisms and focuses were vastly different.

Watermelon Frost is cold and cooling in nature. Its main effects are clearing heat, purging fire, reducing swelling, and relieving pain. It is more suited for treating excess-heat syndromes like a swollen, sore throat or mouth and tongue sores caused by "heatiness."

Dragon Horn Powder, on the other hand, was more subtle.

It didn't just clear heat; its core function was to "diffuse lung qi, expel phlegm, and soothe the throat."

The Knotweed in the formula opens and diffuses lung qi, guiding the other herbs upward.

The almond descends qi and stops coughing, working with the Knotweed's ascending action to regulate the flow of lung qi.

Polygala Tenuifolia facilitates communication between the heart and kidneys, calming the spirit and expelling phlegm.

Licorice harmonizes all the herbs in the formula, clearing heat and detoxifying.

Combined with Dragon Bone, which calms shock and soothes the spirit, the entire formula became incredibly versatile. It could not only treat excess-heat syndromes—like throat discomfort, hoarseness, and coughs with phlegm caused by wind-heat or heat-toxin—but it was also highly effective for chronic pharyngitis and even asthma caused by constricted lung qi and the internal obstruction of phlegm-dampness.