HSR Lore and Notes

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====== Overview of Xianzhou's Materia Medica ======
Provides and overview that helps healers in the Alchemy Commission to reference medical texts.

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==== The Medical Research Collection ====
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//**Liu Hua's Medical Compendium**//\\
This book, written by the medical scientist Liu Hua, is widely recognized as the foundation of the Xianzhou Alliance's modern medicine. Liu Hua was a Vidyadhara from the Xianzhou Fanghu. He was a Pearlkeeper that supported the Fanghu high elder for the first three hundred years of his life, and became the head healer that closely served the Fanghu high elder for the last four hundred.

Through his long years of clinical practice and research, Liu Hua had acutely realized the Xianzhou medical science's problem at that time. The Xianzhou's tradition of preserving the past meant significant amounts of medical practice relied on experience instead of science. For the Xianzhou natives of the time, their millennia of medical experience was far more reliable than scientific theories written on paper.

Liu Hua therefore authored this //Liu Hua's Medical Compendium// in the hopes of re-organizing and better explaining the principles of Xianzhou medical science using more scientific methods of inquiry.

The book did not gain much attention at the time of its publication. It was not until ninety-three years after Liu Hua's hatching rebirth that a group of young Alchemy Commission members on the Luofu formed an innovative organization in the Cold Springs delve, later named "Cold Springs Sect" by posterity. The Cold Springs Sect re-discovered how //Liu Hua's Medical Compendium// had a vision before its time and offered critical value to the field of medicine, and regarded the book the standard for medicine.

Later, the Cold Spring Sect's innovative thoughts were gradually acknowledged by the various groups in the Alliance, and //Liu Hua's Medical Compendium// also finally gained the importance it deserves.

//**Key Tenets of Long-Life**//\\
As the earliest contact point of the Ambrosial Arbor, the healers of the Luofu's Alchemy Commission have a deeper understanding of the core principles, biology, anatomy, and the process of conversion of long-life species than healers on the other Xianzhou ships do.

Everyone knows the author of //Key Tenets of Long-Life// is the famous healer Changsang from the Theophany Era. Some medical historians share the belief that this book was based on Changsang's writings, and only emerged in its current form after repeated modifications and edits by those who came later. For example, many records about the civilizations of long-life species were only discovered after the Theophany Era.

//Key Tenets of Long-Life// lists the physiological characteristics of twenty-six long-life species, all of which are further supported by anatomical and genetic evidence. In particular, the study of the Xianzhou natives' physiology has a profound impact on the establishment of the relevant regulations in the Ten-Lords Commission.

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==== The Nutritional Sciences ====
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//**Achievements in Alchemy**//\\
This book, compiled by the Zhuming Alchemy Commission, is a comprehensive summary of alchemical prescriptions and their smelting and refinement techniques. It is also an alchemy textbook used in the academy.

The crux of alchemy lies in synthesis and transformation. During the period before the Xianzhou set sail, alchemy was already divided into the medical and artifex branches, and the art was considered the most important cultural inheritance retained from the Primeval Imperium. In the era of the Ambrosial Arbor, medical alchemy progressed even further by leaps and bounds, illustrating the wonders of life across all its changes.

Following the Flaming Catastrophe War, many alchemical prescriptions in the //Achievements in Alchemy// were destroyed because of the Ambrosial Arbor and could never be restored. Nevertheless, a vast number of remedies recorded in the book can still be applied. For example, the revitalization pellet that enhances the self-healing capabilities of long-life species and the gallantry infusion that strengthens muscles and increases muscle power are military prescriptions still used even to this day.

//**Compendium of Remedies**//\\
This book is compiled by Dan Shu, the chief alchemist of the Luofu Alchemy Commissiono. Dan Shu's team extensively researched almost all the materia medica from the Theophany Era to the present, carefully selecting and summarizing a total of 39,500 medicinal prescriptions. About 3,726 of them were invented by Dan Shu and her team through medical practice.

The //Compendium of Remedies// is widely recognized as the pinnacle of pharmacological achievements in Xianzhou's 8,000-year history. The book categorizes all the prescriptions into 28 sections based no the ailments they treat. Among them, the volumes of the Vasculature Section, the Orthopedic Section, and the Transfiguration Section are the most complete and detailed. The Gourd-Born Section and the Hatching-Born Section encompass the medical techniques of the foxians and Vidyadhara. The Mara Section is the most impressive, as it compiles the latest research findings on the study of mara-struck conditions over the past few centuries. After this book was published, it immediately became a must-have guidebook for every alchemist of the Alchemy Commission. It's also designated as the official textbook for all related disciplines in the academy.

Due to various reasons, the Alchemy Commission has irrevocably gone downhill. Against the historical backdrop of the Alchemy Commission, the birth of the //Compendium of Remedies// is undoubtedly a boost of confidence that encourages the Alchemy Commission to start exploring the value and meaning of its existence in modern society again.

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==== The Unorthodox Collection ====
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//**The Comprehensive Handbook of Exotic Knowledge**//\\
On a literal level, "Exotic Knowledge" could be construed to mean "knowledge from outworlders." However, at the height of the Alchemy Commission, the Alliance was almost completely dependent on the progress of medical science. Therefore, the "Exotic Knowledge" in //The Comprehensive Handbook of Exotic Knowledge// specifically refers to "medical science from outworlders." This book is also the first work in the history of the Alliance that systematically presented the medical science of foreign civilizations.

//The Comprehensive Handbook of Exotic Knowledge// occupies an important place in the history of the Xianzhou civilization's contact with the outside world. It could even be said that the book had profoundly influenced the direction of the Xianzhou civilization's development, shaping the Alliance into what it is today.

The author of this book is unknown. It is thought to be a collective work from the Alchemy Commission staff of the Xianzhou Yuque and Yaoqing. According to //The Chronicles of the Yuque//, the editing of this book was a part of the "Exotic Knowledge Revival Movement" spearheaded by Dieyu, the Cauldron Master of the Yuque's Alchemy Commission at the time. It is commonly thought that Dieyu also directly led the editing of //The Comprehensive Handbook of Exotic Knowledge//.

When published, //The Comprehensive Handbook of Exotic Knowledge// was split into three volumes according to civilization clusters, with four chapters in each volume. he first volume was "The IPC Volume," the second was "The Guild Volume," and the third was "The Abomination Volume." The third volume encountered significant push back toward publication. Even though Dieyu overcame publicly scrutiny, the third volume was only made available seventy years after the first two had been published.

Time proved that "The Abomination Volume" provided a very positive contribution to the development of the Xianzhou's medical sciences. After all, both the IPC and the Guild are civilizations dominated by short-life species, and the residents within their domains have drastically different anatomies and physiology to long-life species. Though the Alliance could learn from their scientific thought processes and medical technologies, there was only so much to gain from them.

Meanwhile, the topic of investigation for "The Abomination Volume" are the Denizens of Abundance, long-life species just like the Xianzhou residents. Wingweavers and borisin have always had their own unique medical science systems, but the Xianzhou native habitually looked down upon these abominations' technical achievements in the millennia prior. No, we are well aware of the kind of danger that lurks in our arrogance and spite toward enemies. Howeover, for the Xianzhou natives of the time, publishing a work such as "The Abomination Volume" that humbly learned from our enemies was practically tantamount to treason.

Thankfully, Dieyu was able to withstand pressure and could rid the entire Alliance of the shackles of arrogance and spite, thus obtaining more useful knowledge.

//**Grand Encyclopedia of Xianzhou — Chapter on Medical Sciences**//\\
This book was authored by Izumitamagawa bint Amatullah from the IPC, who was an expert on the study of the Xianzhou, a natural scientist, and a writer.

In the year 7032, 23-year-ld Izumitamagawa arrived at the Xianzhou Zhuming as a trade specialist, and resided there as a visitor for the rest of her life. She realized that the cosmos' knowledge of the Xianzhou Alliance at the time was mostly based on incomplete stories or unfounded rumors. Therefore, she resolved to author an epic work that would comprehensively present the Xianzhou civilization to foreigners. That was how, forty years later, the //Grand Encyclopedia of Xianzhou// was born.

The Chapter on Medical Sciences features prominently in this epic work, taking up almost one-third of the pages. In the Chapter on Medical Sciences, Izumitamagawa used the IPC's medical system to classify all the medical and pharmacological works that could be found in the entire Xianzhou Alliance, as well as recounting their histories and explaining their principles.

While the Chapter on Medical Sciences is only an amateur piece of work when compared against professional pharamcopoeias and medical textbooks, this publication still managed to achieve Izumitamagawa's original goal of letting every traveler understand the Xianzhou's medical sciences.

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==== The Heretical Collection ====
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//**Yaoshi's Manual of Viscerals**//\\
After the end of the Theophany Era, countless secret believers of the Plagues Author wrote books and established schools to argue for the correctness of its heresies. Apart from certain mad followers of theodicy, there were also some who tried to establish a medical system rooted in the worship in Yaoshi.

The most wide-spread and influential among these books is //Yaoshi's Manual of Viscerals//. This book is the first to systematically establish the "Yaoshi medical sciences" while tightly connecting this science to the worship of the Plagues Author. With this negative impact, the book became the beginning of the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus.

This book originally had seventy-five volumes split into medical sciences, pharamacology, magic, and artisanship. Now, most of these volumes have been lost. The version currently available is a four-volume version re-edited from the remnants of the book by archivists.

These residual chapters were mainly taken from books, manuscripts, and private correspondences of the time that rebuked the religion of Sanctus Medicus, and some of them could be inaccurate or plain untrue.

//**Theories on Returning from the Underworld**//\\
An infamous heretical medical text. Its author is very likely an alchemist or healer who continued to worship the Abundance in secret after the establishment of the Xianzhou Alliance.

//Theories on Returning from the Underworld// records sixteen different outrageous ways to "resurrect" short-life species after their lifespans have expired. For example, the Hive-Soul technique sacrifices the body of the deceased to the immortal soul snatch bees, letting them parasitize the body and turn it into a hive, then using the species' hivemind consciousness to achieve rebirth. Alternatively, the Blood Hatching Curse transplants the scales and flesh of the half-human half-snake Cobrakinds into the person to deliberately infect them with the blood fever of the hatching snakes, thus transforming them into long-life species.

All these forbidden arts, without exception, require exceptional mastery in methods such as surgical operations and gene therapy. Some of these are closely linked to the IPC and the Intelligentsia Guild, leading the majority of medical historians to conjecture that this book was completed with foreign help.

//**Scripture of Yellow Pneuma Yang Essence**//\\
Scripture composed by anonymous alchemists in the branch of the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus known as the Inner Secrets Sect.

All extant copies of this book are replicas of the original. Its foreword records the process through which this book re-emerged into the light of day. In approximately Year 6610 of the Star Calendar, the Luofu Alchemy Commission's Elixir Research Terrace was conducting an inventory of its books when they discovered this book in their collection by pure accident. The Alchemy Commission at the time sank into intense debate regarding whether this book should be destroyed. In the end, Baize, the Cauldron Master of the Alchemy Commission, opted for middle ground: The original copy would be destroyed, but the content will be reproduced and sealed away. Only the Cauldron Master of the Alchemy Commission, the chief healer, the chief alchemist, the lead medical assistant, and any officials ranked higher than these positions may consult this book as a historical reference.

The believers of the Inner Secrets Sect in the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus are convinced that the Xianzhou natives' bodies possess circulatory vessels in the branching form of the Ambrosial Arbor after receiving the blessings of the Arbor and becoming long-life species. These circuits lead toward an organ known as the Core Esse, which is key to the Xianzhou natives' second evolution (alternatively known as the ascension).

Based on the theoretical foundations of //Yaoshi's Manual of Viscerals//, the //Scripture of Yellow Pneuma Yang Essence// systematically explained the circulatory structure of the Xianzhou natives. It also proposed that the body should be considered as soil, the breath considered rain, and combined they nurture the Core Esse (a seed) to spread the circulatory system (as branches), finally achieving an "inner Ambrosial Arbor" that thrives and grows as an "inner secret." The Yellow Pneuma mentioned in the book's title is an essence that drives the vitals in the theories of the Inner Secrets Sect, and opposes the Black Prana that symbolizes death and decay. The author believes that the purpose of life is to maintain the presence of Yellow Pneuma and let life continue to evolve.

The views of the Inner Secrets Sect have long been considered superstition. However, it is important to mention that some excerpts of its medical theories have been included in later scientific texts.

//**Divine Scripture of the Secrets and Miracles of Shuhu's Manifestations**//\\
One of the scriptures left by the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus. Its author is Yueyan, the foxian Helm Master of the Xianzhou Yaoqing's Sky-Faring Commission. He was a knowledgeable pilot, and also helped the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus to thrive as its first master primus.

According to records in the //Ten-Lords Commission's Book of Imprisonment//, Yueyan witnessed how the Ruin Author's Legion destroyed Muldrasil, the home world of the wingweavers, after the first Denizens of Abundance Wars. Due to Xianzhou's creed of eradicating abominations, the Alliance stood by and observed the entire process. The overwhelming death and destruction shook Yueyan's belief to the core, and he proclaimed that he must re-think about the long-life species' duty and purpose in life.

In the end, Yueyan left his position and drove a starskiff to roam the stellar seas in search of an answer. On the ancient planet of Rahu, he found an Emanator of the Plagues Author — a living entity called Shuhu. Yueyan witnessed how Shuhu granted life back to Rahu, which had long ago become a dead planet, and caused the planet to throb like an embryo in the mother's womb. He followed Shuhu and recorded their healing miracles and various teachings, ultimately composing this scripture.

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