Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 20

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

Chapter 20
It was a golden box.
At first glance, it seemed to contain something of considerable value.
Spirit pills, spirit pills, that sort of thing.
The brilliance it emanated was incomparable to the Baeksong Restoration Pills the Gongseon Family had sent last time.
I pondered this.
‘…If my suspicion is correct, this would be a jackpot…’
Cheongsong Pills.
Spirit pills crafted by refining the life force of thousand-year-old pines that grew only in special regions.
The Gongseon Family’s pills not only enhanced inner strength but excelled at treating internal injuries, protecting their successors through countless bloodline conflicts.
“Wow, what is this, sister?”
“It’s nothing special.”
Gongseon Hyeon’s voice trembled.
What were Cheongsong Pills? They were premium spirit pills passed down specifically for the main family’s direct heirs, and only for treating internal injuries at that. There were barely any left now.
Though she had decided to give generously, her voice quivered with conflict.
“Eat well. But before you do, show it to your master first, yes?”
That way Baekrin Uiseon would understand its true value.
I laughed like a child, delighted.
“Wow, this is exciting! Thank you so much, sister!”
Watching me, Gongseon Hyeon thought with melancholy.
‘Still, shouldn’t you have declined once…?’
My life had never known such things.
* * *
Yoo Ho arrived to inform me that preparations for departure were complete.
“Young Master, we are ready.”
One moment he radiates killing intent, the next his decision is made and he doesn’t look back, changing his demeanor entirely.
I had thought him merely a supporting character in a novel, but truthfully, there was no one more enigmatic or terrifying than this man.
I smiled calmly.
“Understood.”
The young man bid farewell to everyone and rose to his feet. The Gongseon Family, Yunlong Courier Bureau, and all their members regretted my departure.
The Gongseon Family and Yunlong Courier Bureau—these two were in a strategic alliance. And I had come to bestow favor upon both organizations.
After I left, Gongseon Hyeon and Gongseon Yeong would depart the Wunryong Pyoguk’s Branch Headquarters together with the Gongseon Family’s warriors.
“Travel well, my little benefactor.”
Gongseon Yeong embraced me warmly.
“Hehe, see you again, sister. Oh, Gongseon Hyeon sister, thank you so much for everything. I’ll take good care of the gift you gave me.”
“Yes. Before you consume it, show it to your master first, absolutely.”
Gongseon Hyeon emphasized it once more.
“Yes!”
Gongseon Yeong interjected.
“And use the Black Pine Cloud Sword well too.”
“Of course!”
Gongseon Yeong smiled brightly.
“Thank you again. I truly mean it.”
“I should be thanking you. And I didn’t get to say this earlier… sister, congratulations on reaching the pinnacle of mastery.”
According to the alliance, the attack on the Yunlong Courier Bureau would now be investigated and addressed jointly by both the Yunlong Courier Bureau and the Gongseon Family.
I couldn’t predict what role Gongseon Yeong would play in all of this.
It was another future for Gongseon Yeong—one not written in the novel.
“I’m grateful for your kindness, Baekrin Uiseon.”
“Please, it’s been a good connection.”
Gukju Woon Ji-sang and Baekrin Uiseon exchanged respectful fist salutes.
It was a heartwarming sight.
After all the farewells were complete, Baekrin Uiseon boarded the carriage.
I followed behind him.
The Gukju watched our departure with a wistful gaze.
‘That’s right. A young phoenix must grow beneath a phoenix.’
He was a man who had observed people for a long time.
In his eyes, the young Jin Cheon-hee was truly a young phoenix.
Gifts had been given abundantly. It seemed the Gongseon Family’s Dokryong had given something to the boy as well.
How this debt of gratitude would flow remained to be seen.
Just then, I poked my head out from the carriage window.
“Mister!”
The young man waved cheerfully toward him.
‘I wonder when that young phoenix will take flight.’
Waving his hand in return, Gukju Woon Ji-sang thought to himself.
003. The Tree (1)
Several months passed after that.
I climbed the mountain carrying a water bucket.
Though the mountain slope was quite steep, my breathing never once became ragged.
A valley stream flowed past thousands upon thousands of stone steps.
What was peculiar was that the valley water had a milky white color. And one more thing—steam rose endlessly from the water.
A dormant volcanic region near the Yunlong Courier Bureau’s fortress.
The water in this area flowed as hot springs.
The warm steam flushed my cheeks red.
Despite the heat, my legs did not stop.
The water bucket remained steady as well.
After climbing how many more steps, a large manor’s gate came into view.
“Hup!”
Finally reaching the end of the stairs, I set down the water bucket for a moment and caught my breath.
Hearing my arrival, the servants hurried to open the gate.
I shouldered the water bucket again, gathered my strength, and walked toward the center of the courtyard.
Thud—
“Master! I’m here!”
“You’ve arrived!”
Baek Rin stepped outside at the sound of Jin Cheon-hee’s voice.
“Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine. But Master, look at this. The water.”
“Let me see.”
My master gazed down at the water in the bucket and spoke in an astonished voice.
“It barely ripples now. Impressive. Normally, the foundational training alone would take a full year, yet you’ve already achieved this.”
Carrying the water bucket from the base of the mountain to its peak required more than mere strength or endurance.
One needed a sturdy lower body and a flexible upper body. Moreover, the distribution of force was critical—concentrating strength in a single area would cause serious problems.
I had to breathe in a prescribed manner and ascend in a prescribed way.
Correcting breathing and footsteps that I had never consciously thought about before, now adjusting each one to the proper method, was an extraordinarily difficult task.
But it had to be done.
Breathing is the foundation of inner cultivation techniques for cultivating inner energy. Footwork is the foundation of movement techniques, and it develops the lower body muscles necessary for learning martial arts.
Jegalling was a rational master, so he had explained in detail all the reasons why such training was necessary.
Yet as Jegalling observed my months of foundational training, he marveled.
Even if a person understood intellectually that effort was necessary, actually executing it was another matter entirely.
But I was accomplishing it.
‘I told him this would be an extremely difficult endeavor, yet he perseveres like this.’
Jegalling spoke to his disciple thus:
“I won’t transmit formal martial arts yet. What you will learn is external cultivation, the foundation, and movement cultivation.”
Movement cultivation—movement energy cultivation.
It referred to a method of accumulating inner energy through repeating the same movements.
What I would learn was the most basic form of movement cultivation, a low-grade technique one might find sold in the marketplace.
The lower body had to be solid. It had to become one with the earth.
In Jegalling’s view, this was something that could not be learned through the Jegal Family’s secret teachings alone.
It was a matter of will, not knowledge.
‘The Jegal Family has long been called strong in inner cultivation but weak in external cultivation—in physical development. That’s true. We grew arrogant, thinking that strong inner energy could easily overwhelm external strength. So you will learn differently.’
The martial knowledge of the Jegal Family was worthy of being called supreme. Yet intoxicated by that supremacy, they had neglected fundamentals for some time.
It was a consequence of relying on intellect rather than the body for so long.
As Jegalling restructured the Family’s inner cultivation, he came to understand how crucial fundamentals truly were.
“First, I will give you a vessel. A large and mighty vessel that will never shatter.”
Jegalling had explained this months ago when he accepted Jin Cheon-hee as his disciple.
A vessel was sometimes compared to the dantian, but broadly speaking, it referred to the body itself.
I continued to temper my lower body using movement cultivation.
Climbing the endless staircase was part of this regimen. Yet it was not as simple as it sounded.
Those who had learned martial arts passed by my side, using lightness techniques to soar past effortlessly.
Watching them fly through the air like wind itself stirred desire.
But I did not let my focus waver, gritted my teeth, and endured.
‘I know full well that I haven’t even learned to crawl yet, so I can’t be flapping my wings already. Physical strength is national strength. For now, I’ll take it one step at a time!’
Jin Cheon-hee had his own calculations as well.
* * *
In martial arts novels, there are two ways to become stronger.
1. The orthodox method of climbing steadily from the basics.
2. The shortcut method of obtaining a fortuitous encounter and aiming for the top in one leap.
Which is stronger varies depending on the novel’s world. But one thing was certain.
The path the protagonist takes usually becomes the path to becoming the strongest.
Yeo Ha-ryun does both.
It’s one of the characteristics of a long novel spanning over a dozen volumes. But in the beginning, it’s just one.
Despite being the Heavenly Demon, he prioritized the orthodox method above all else.
It was due to his martial philosophy that the body containing such insights needed to have sufficient foundation through combat.
In the beginning, he consumed blood pills and trained the basics alongside the Demonic Sect’s initiates.
The other initiates were already trying to impress the higher-ups of the Demonic Sect, hoping to obtain fortuitous encounters, but our protagonist, true to form, diligently built his foundation—a scene that unfolds.
Perhaps it could be called a clichéd development. But Jin Cheon-hee truly loved this basic training scene.
Young and stoic, Yeo Ha-ryun was disliked by many initiates.
If only he showed a smile now and then. His cold demeanor seemed to provoke confrontation.
The sharp stone gets its corners worn down.
Eventually, trouble erupted.
Dozens of initiates, led by the instigators, lynched Yeo Ha-ryun.
Here, Yeo Ha-ryun used no martial techniques whatsoever, defeating them all with merely simple basic movements.
Not faster than others, with no flashy changes, yet precise stances and appropriate force born from solid muscle.
On top of that, there was the subtlety of true energy gained from long years of horse stance training.
To such a Yeo Ha-ryun, dozens of trainees were nothing.
‘That was cool. Really cool.’
While he enjoyed varied and brilliant sword forms, he also truly loved such understated martial combat.
To such a Jin Cheon-hee, his master Jegalling’s words to build solidly from the basics were like rain in a drought.
Had he been taught according to the original Jegal Family methods, Jin Cheon-hee would never have been able to defeat Yeo Ha-ryun.
Because in martial arts novels, the training method used by the protagonist is later described as having been the shortcut to becoming strong all along.
‘Truly, a genius is a genius. Perhaps it’s also because of the Jegal Family’s secret techniques and knowledge added to that.’
Yet Jegalling knew this method without having read the novel. Perhaps it would be stranger if he didn’t know.
He was a tragically short-lived genius who possessed all the secret techniques and knowledge of the Jegal Family, a great clan.
That’s why he had me wake at dawn to draw water with a bronze bucket, and while the water boiled, he had me practice the horse stance.
The water I drew was used for my own breakfast.
A sense of accomplishment is important.
I needed to feel the sensation of having achieved something, no matter how small.
Jegalling planned for me to feel this habitually every day.

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