Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 176

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 176
After Myeong-gil Jingin left, I turned to Cheonwoo and asked.
“Are you alright?”
“Of course. I’m actually grateful. But when he teaches, he’s quite fierce, so I’m worried whether you can endure it, older brother.”
Cheonwoo seemed more concerned that I might collapse and be unable to withstand the training.
“Don’t worry. I’m strong.”
“That’s a relief then.”
‘Whatever happens, it’ll be better than getting beaten by Yoo Ho.’
Jegalling taught with affection, but Yoo Ho had taught with hatred.
I had already experienced the depths of hellish training.
My endurance for pain was stronger than anyone’s.
“What would you like to eat?”
“You need to rest too, older brother.”
“No, no. Mudang food isn’t to my taste, so I’m making my own anyway. Might as well cook for both of us.”
As I worked, Cheonwoo’s appetite grew along with mine.
“Let me help, older brother.”
“You’re already helping by cleaning up afterward. You did a thorough job yesterday.”
“Still, let me help with the finishing touches.”
Cheonwoo said this and nodded as if he had made some great resolution.
“You need to eat more, older brother. You’re too thin.”
“…Standing next to you, anyone would look thin.”
His towering height, muscular frame throughout his entire body, and even the eye patch.
Living with Cheonwoo, I was startled anew every single day.
One would think I’d grow accustomed, but it wasn’t easy.
* * *
The second day.
I learned the fundamental martial arts of the Mudang Sect.
“Tai Chi, Minor Clarity Qi Cultivation, Minor Clarity Sword, Flowing Cloud Steps. Both lay disciples and direct disciples learn these as fundamentals. They’re the common martial arts. After that, lay disciples are permitted to learn intermediate techniques like Pure Yang Skill and Minor Clarity Divine Skill.”
“I see.”
“Your foundation in the Jegal Family’s basic martial arts is already solid, and your inner energy is nothing to be ashamed of anywhere. Teaching you this is quite bothersome for me. Yet I suspect you understand why I’m teaching it anyway?”
“…”
My contemplation was brief.
“Isn’t it because I need to do this to truly understand and utilize the Dual Thought Technique?”
Myeong-gil Jingin clapped his hands in delight at my words.
“Correct! Absolutely right! A clever one truly is different. How did you arrive at that conclusion?”
I answered calmly to his question.
“If we compare the martial meridians to a tree, I believe the Dual Thought Technique can be likened to its fruit. Understanding the roots allows one to comprehend how that fruit bears. That’s what I think.”
“Well said! You understand it. Learning this won’t immediately perfect your martial arts. However, it will certainly aid in achieving the Dual Thought Technique.”
‘I’ll be able to save more patients.’
How much the Dual Thought Technique had helped in surgery was enough to make my mouth ache from speaking about it.
My heart raced at the thought of saving more patients.
“Hmm? You don’t seem happy like a martial artist would be.”
An old ginger’s intuition was quite sharp.
Myeong-gil Jingin had sensed the reason for my joy.
I didn’t hide it.
“I’m thinking about a new treatment method.”
“Good heavens… using the Yangui Simgong to heal people? You’re truly born to be a doctor.”
I could only laugh.
“I’m not sure how we ended up with such a fellow as our joint Jingin… but very well. From now on, I’ll demonstrate, so watch carefully. Cheonwoo.”
“Yes, Master.”
Cheonwoo stepped forward two paces.
“Show me the demonstration.”
Cheonwoo didn’t draw a sword. What he showed was the fist form.
It was Tai Chi.
The Tai Chi that old men and children learn and that people mock as mere breathing exercises—Cheonwoo performed it with a solemn expression.
Yin and Yang flowed together, drawing the Tai Chi symbol.
The joy and sorrow of human emotion achieved harmony.
The subtle principle of softness overcoming hardness flowed from the tip of Cheonwoo’s fist, slowly but unmistakably.
‘This is strange… it’s a fist form that looks like it couldn’t even tear a single leaf… yet why does it captivate my gaze so?’
How was the Tai Chi that Cheonwoo was performing different from what I had seen before?
I couldn’t understand it, but I continued to watch intently.
Soon the Tai Chi began to transform into Flowing Cloud Palm, then into Clear Sky Sword.
The softness of Tai Chi became Flowing Cloud Palm, and its clarity became Clear Sky Sword.
I didn’t miss a single moment of it.
“….”
By the time the demonstration finally ended, the sun was beginning to set.
“Master, I have finally finished.”
“Much better than last time.”
“The points you corrected last time stayed with me, and I pondered them. I’m relieved it worked out.”
Cheonwoo seemed to have made progress as well.
His satisfied expression made those watching feel good too.
“Then can you follow along?”
I pointed to myself.
“Me? The Tai Chi?”
“Every movement from beginning to end. You can do it with the Heavenly Origin Elixir Divine Skill, yet you keep pretending you can’t—why are you being so evasive?”
At those words, I scratched my head vigorously and stood before Cheonwoo and Myeong-gil Jingin.
“Um… will you punish me if I make mistakes?”
“Of course I’ll punish you. That’s why you learn. Besides, I’m quite a strict master, so you should be prepared.”
I recalled Cheonwoo from last night, looking utterly tattered.
For his body to be reduced to such a state, he must have been put through quite the ordeal.
‘Well, I’m used to hellish training anyway. And…’
Watching Cheonwoo’s movements, something occurred to me.
I laughed brazenly.
‘Well, since Grandfather took me as his disciple, he should tolerate this much.’
I decided to push forward with my characteristic shameless self-centeredness.
Thus I assumed the opening posture of Tai Chi.
“Huh?”
Cheonwoo’s eyes widened slightly in surprise.
It was similar to Cheonwoo’s posture yet different.
Like a mirror image.
That meant the movements were identical, but left and right were reversed.
“Hmm…”
Myeong-gil Jingin seemed to be deliberating whether to scold me harshly.
“Let’s see how you do it first. If you can’t manage it, know that you’ll be punished!”
Whether he was deliberately teasing or not would become clear soon enough.
* * *
I continued with the Tai Chi form.
Movements embodying the mysteries of yin and yang, of softness overcoming hardness, flowed in circles.
The strange thing was that occasionally a movement would be omitted or added in the middle.
Yet despite this, both footwork and palm techniques flowed seamlessly like water without tangling.
‘A Tai Chi form I’ve never seen before…’
If you asked someone from the Mudang Sect whether this was Tai Chi, they would say yes.
But if you asked whether it was truly Tai Chi, they would be at a loss for words.
Cheonwoo concentrated his perception in one eye, scrutinizing me intently.
Among the later-stage practitioners of the Mudang Sect, Cheonwoo was the best at handling and sensing inner energy.
‘Ah…!’
The method of inner energy circulation was different.
I had absorbed the mysteries of Tai Chi and understood how to apply them, but I was using them in my own way.
“Cheonwoo. How does that appear to you?”
“It appears to be performing Tai Chi using the Five Elements, sir.”
“A genius is a genius indeed. You grasped that with merely one eye?”
Myeong-gil Jingin was delighted by Cheonwoo’s talent.
For a later-stage practitioner who had received the Mudang’s guidance to possess such talent was extremely gratifying.
Moreover, his disposition as a martial artist lacked nothing, which pleased him even more.
“You flatter me.”
“What are you saying? Who would guess at first glance that someone is using Tai Chi with the Five Elements? Even Jang Mun-in and Jeong Hyeong would need considerable time to ponder it. You grasped it through pure intuition.”
“…I’m at a loss for words.”
“Kekeke. You don’t really think that way, yet your words are proper. Yes, that’s what’s needed. To survive in this rotten Mudang Sect, you must be capable of such conversation.”
My movements now transitioned from Tai Chi to the next form. It was not the Flowing Cloud Step.
The Small Clear Sword.
I skipped past the Flowing Cloud Technique and drew the Minor Azure Sword instead.
Swish—
Despite being a wooden sword, it produced a crystalline sound.
Without consciously intending it, water essence seeped into the wooden blade.
Water corresponded to the yin of the tai chi.
It aligned with the Minor Azure Sword’s subtleties. Yet the water essence…
Once again, as a movement was added or removed, the Minor Azure Sword flowed seamlessly into continuation.
Suddenly, Cheonwoo asked.
“If I am a genius, what does that make you, Master?”
“An extraordinary talent. A sword master must demonstrate non-action through the sword and naturally achieve decisiveness. You’re not a child with exceptional aptitude as a sword master. Look—would someone wielding such crystalline energy seem capable of killing?”
At those words, Cheonwoo shook his head.
“It seems like you could fell trees or rocks, but somehow I cannot imagine murder.”
“That’s precisely what’s strange. You clearly understood the subtleties from observing my techniques and were able to transform them into your own way. Yet you’re not using the sword to kill people.”
“Is it because of medicine?”
At Cheonwoo’s words, Myeong-gil Jingin let out an exasperated laugh.
“I’m beginning to wonder if you really did learn the Dual Thought Technique for medical purposes. I thought you were joking.”
My sword traced spiraling tai chi patterns. Fire essence brushed against water essence, drawing arcs.
Yang.
Again, rather than imagining cutting down a person, I could only envision severing wood and grass, then cauterizing the wounded areas with flame.
“How can something with such keen sharpness not seem frightening?”
“It seems like you’ve trained for ten years.”
“Indeed. You gained enlightenment of the Way by reading Taoist scriptures, memorized what you demonstrated as the Heavenly Origin Elixir Divine Skill, and created your own commentary. Tsk, tsk, tsk.”
He clicked his tongue several times and muttered.
“No wonder everyone fears the Jegal Family.”
Soon after, I completed all the techniques.
My half-closed eyes slowly opened. A blue light of enlightenment flickered across my retinas.
It seemed I had achieved some small accomplishment.
“A genius and an extraordinary talent. My back will be bent.”
Myeong-gil Jingin patted his back several times as if to prove his point, then spoke.
“Still, continue to diligently cultivate the fundamental techniques. Only then can you approach the profound mysteries of the Dual Thought Technique.”
My eyes widened at those words.
“Wait…”
“It means I’ll acknowledge that tai chi that isn’t quite tai chi and that Minor Azure Sword that isn’t quite the Minor Azure Sword. You’ve been practicing the Flowing Cloud Technique from the start.”
“Yes. Yes!”
“I don’t know how the white qilin taught you. It’s already becoming burdensome.”
With that, he turned to leave.
“Oh, let me get some food too. I’m your master after all—why should only you eat?”
“The dining hall is…?”
“You do it better. Even those spirit creatures that follow you only eat what you prepare.”
Woof woof! – Master, food! Are you giving us food?
Chirp, chirp! – If you need anything, just say it quick. I’ll catch everything for you!
And so another person fell victim to Jin Cheon-hee’s culinary addiction.
Myeong-gil Jingin spoke.
“And I should teach each of them something worth learning.”
“Can you teach a spiritual creature?”
“What’s impossible about it? Just think of their fists as front paws and their wings as limbs. Form is form—as long as you beat it well enough, it works out.”
That actually works?
Myeong-gil Jingin was indeed an eccentric among eccentrics.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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