Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 226

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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 226
‘I can see her sitting right before me, yet I sense absolutely nothing?’
I had become a supreme master, and my senses had sharpened accordingly.
If I focused, I could perceive the presence of everything within thirty meters—yet I felt nothing from her.
‘I can see her with my eyes, and yet…?’
Even Mudang Gwon-je had never been like this.
It felt as though an illusion were sitting before me, and I stared at her with my body rigid.
Sensing my gaze, she let out a soft laugh.
“You have keen instincts, child.”
“Who… are you?”
Sweat pooled in my tense palms. I couldn’t even begin to grasp what manner of being she was.
I’d never even heard rumors of such a master coming to the Yongbong Gathering, so what in the world…?
Just then, the server approached.
“Your food is ready, sir!”
She set down a crab and shrimp soup before me, then placed a small plate and teacup.
Clack, clack.
All of it only in front of me.
She was acting as though the woman before my eyes didn’t exist.
I forced the words out.
Even amid the tension, the Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong continued its work, searching for the optimal choice.
If this mysterious being sat before me, there had to be a reason. In that case, there was no need to provoke her.
“Server, please bring dishes and a teacup for this guest as well.”
“Pardon? But there’s only one guest, sir?”
The woman before me isn’t visible?
I understand not sensing her presence, but is it truly possible for her to be completely invisible?
My eyes widened in that moment.
Then the woman burst into laughter.
“What a bold child. This is the first time someone has dared to ask for a plate to be set before me.”
In that instant, her presence returned.
“My apologies! There was another guest. I’ll bring them right away! I’ve been so scattered lately.”
With that, the server hurried downstairs to fetch the dishes and teacup.
I was perplexed.
‘That she was visible only to my eyes—yes, I suppose that’s possible. The martial world is vast, and techniques are numerous.’
Normally, one would focus on that point. But what truly puzzled me was what came next.
‘Yet when a person who was completely invisible suddenly appeared, she didn’t startle in the slightest—she simply went downstairs calmly to fetch the dishes?’
A doctor diagnoses by observing symptoms. It was a habit of the profession.
In a way, the work of a detective and the work of a doctor were quite similar.
“Could it be… soul-binding technique…?”
“Hehehehe, how amusing. Do I look like the sort to dabble in such parlor tricks? Though you’ve come quite close. This is simply… yes, to put it plainly, my power overwhelming the surroundings.”
“What do you mean by….”
“Illusion magic, fundamentally speaking, is merely drawing a picture different from reality and presenting it, is it not? Soul-seizing techniques interfere with the mind to entrance people. But true Demonic power requires no such thing.”
At those words, I held my breath for a moment.
Demonic power.
In the novel, there existed one being utterly alien to all else.
She continued speaking with playful amusement.
“By my mere existence alone, all things submit to me and bow their knees. Thus, naturally, everything unfolds as I desire—such is the principle of things.”
The Heavenly Demon!
The supreme being of the Ilwol Divine Cult and its Cult Master!
As I tried to rise from my seat, my entire body became immobilized as though bound.
It was as if the very air itself possessed consciousness, pressing down upon my shoulders.
I performed a fist salute while still seated.
“You are Yeo Ha-ryun’s Master. I offer my respects as a brother-in-arms.”
My voice remained composed, yet the hand performing the salute trembled still.
“Hehehehe. What a child with an unwavering resolve. And quite clever at that. I do favor children like you. Upright and pure… to ordinary people, such things approach madness infinitely. Hehehehe. How adorable.”
“….”
Her hair swayed gently.
Clearly, it was ordinary hair.
Yet even that hair seemed to possess consciousness, moving of its own accord.
“…What would happen if I planted the seed of Demonic power within a child like you?”
She parted her crimson lips and let out a soft, delighted laugh.
Beyond the distant realm of martial arts, treading the path of tyranny.
There dwelt one who had drawn infinitely close to Demonic power.
The being I had thought to exist at the continent’s end now sat across from me, separated only by a single table.
‘One careless word and I die….’
To the Heavenly Demon, human life was merely like rice consumed at breakfast.
Thus she had become Demonic, transcending human reason into something far beyond.
Here, if she so much as lifted a single finger, my breath would cease.
That fact remained unchanged.
In that instant, the force pressing down upon my shoulders dispersed and vanished.
“Well, I am curious, but if I continued, that annoying Heaven would trouble me… what a pity.”
“Gasp, huff….”
I breathed heavily, cold sweat pouring down my face.
The being before me could not be measured by the vessel of humanity.
Like the Celestial Immortal revered by the Hyeolseonggyo.
Something transcending comprehension.
A being that was human, yet not human.
Merely confronting such an existence and experiencing the faintest fragment of her power left my entire body tense.
“Hahaha, my apologies. Even as ascension approaches, my bad habits persist. I played such tricks on your younger brother Cheon Sal-seong as well, yet your reactions prove far more entertaining.”
“…Your jesting exceeds propriety.”
“Hehe, I cannot claim to be a substitute, but I shall share a meal with you. So let us converse.”
A conversation with the Cheonma herself. This is insane. Yet for some reason, she seems to be in a good mood.
She shows no intention whatsoever of killing me.
If we could call it goodwill when a cat shows affection toward a mouse, then she seemed to possess that as well.
If that’s the case, then this is—
‘An opportunity to extract information.’
However, I mustn’t ask about the Demonic Cult.
This entire situation arose from her whim in the first place.
Even if I were to ask about the Demonic Cult, which she treasures so dearly, there’s no guarantee I’d receive a proper answer.
Already in the original work, the Demonic Cult’s significance is quite high where the protagonist is concerned.
I already know what’s worth knowing, and anything else I’m curious about, I can simply ask Yeo Ha-ryun.
My thoughts accelerated through the Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong, producing answers that drew infinitely closer to the truth.
‘Then there’s only one answer. Stories from outside the novel.’
The server set down a teacup and empty plate before her, then withdrew.
Even amid this chaos, she acts as though she’s seen nothing. No, that must be correct.
Everyone within this inn sees, hears, and eats all within the palm of her hand.
“I’m afraid I don’t understand what you mean by ‘Heaven.'”
“Do you know of causality? She is already on the verge of ascending to immortality. Beings like myself are thus shackled by this thing called causality. It is Heaven that governs such matters, which is why it’s so troublesome.”
I had already suspected that those who ascend don’t immediately do so the moment they achieve enlightenment.
After all, one opens the Cheonma Blood Passage and achieves enlightenment at precisely the right moment?
When my understanding of the martial way was shallow, I might have thought so vaguely. But not now.
The martial way, enlightenment—they are like flashes of lightning.
You cannot control when they come or don’t come at will.
‘So there must be a grace period between achieving enlightenment and ascending to immortality, severing all ties with the mortal realm.’
She laughed with a sly grin.
“But it won’t be long. The time of my ascension. Even Heaven itself shall kneel before me.”
Wow… look at that ambition…
Yes. That’s the level one must reach to claim the seat of Cheonma.
“Then… may I ask what brings you to this place?”
If I were to ask how she could come here when causality exists, I’d be openly fishing for information about Heaven, which would surely offend the Cheonma.
Moreover, beyond mere offense, if my intentions were to leak out through my thoughts, that would become troublesome in its own way.
So I changed my question.
Whatever answer she gives, I can infer the next move from it.
Yet as if mocking my inner calculations, the Cheonma answered lightly.
“I came out to play.”
“Pardon?”
“Hahaha, your expression is amusing. Is she not permitted to come out to play? Though causality has imposed certain restrictions, moving about like this is still within my capabilities. Besides… when I heard that someone was scattering the Heavenly Mechanism, I couldn’t help but be curious.”
Scattering the Heavenly Mechanism?
‘The Cheonma is surprisingly talkative… Oh… thank goodness.’
In the novel, I only ever saw her manipulating the entire stage like a deus ex machina until her ascension to immortality. I never expected her to be like this.
She continued speaking.
“Your master, the White Qilin, was always destined to die by last year at the latest, or certainly within this year. When she dies, the heavenly mandate flows as it should, but now it has changed and the heavenly mandate is in chaos. Is this not delightful? Hahahaha.”
Cheonma burst into joyful laughter.
Yet caution was essential. Despite her appearance as an ordinary warrior, if she so wished, she could easily snap Jin Cheon-hee’s neck.
“Thanks to her, I can wander about freely and came to observe. You, the one who shakes the heavenly mandate.”
She pointed at me with her finger.
At almost the same moment, I completed a deduction.
‘Ah, I see now. I am someone who came from outside this world. The fate of the world changes by the number of people I have saved. This is what it means that the heavenly mandate is in disarray.’
Sama Hyeon’s younger brother Sama-hye. Cheonwoo. Gongseon Yeong. And Wang Gak-yeon and Gungwi, Il-geol of the Gaebang. Juwang-ya’s son-in-law Yu Rang-hu.
Eun Wang-ya.
And countless other nameless people.
Those who survived through penicillin.
Doctors who received education through medical records and various training.
Medical texts written so that even the poor could receive treatment, and Baekrin Uigak….
‘Because of all those I have saved….’
The future had changed.
That was how they expressed that the heavenly mandate was in disarray.
“Now no one can know what will happen in the future. It will take a long time for the roiling heavenly mandate to settle. And not just the dregs of Hyeolseonggyo, but those sensitive to the heavenly mandate will all likely target you. This seems most entertaining.”
My eyes widened at those words.
‘What? Those sensitive to the heavenly mandate? Besides the Hyeolseonggyo who call me the “seed of heresy,” there are others targeting me too?’
My throat went dry.
I swallowed my tea.
“How delightful. How joyful. Thanks to you, I have felt human emotion for the first time in ages. I thought it had all weathered away and disappeared. Yet this flutter still remains in me.”
In that instant, my body froze.
Kuguguguk—
The tea in the cup, the air itself.
Everything moved according to Cheonma’s will. Movement became impossible.
Under pressure incomparable to before.
Cheonma extended her finger.

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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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