Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 228
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Chapter 228
The arena floor touched by the sword energy cloud began to crack and crumble with sharp, splintering sounds.
The noise created by the collision between sword energy cloud and the formation-reinforced arena floor.
Normally, that stone ground would have been torn to shreds as if ground in a blender.
‘Wow, our Cheonwoo. You really put in the effort, didn’t you? I have to admit, I’m genuinely impressed.’
Considering Cheonwoo’s age, this achievement is extraordinary.
I cannot determine whether he absorbed the Taeching Divine Elixir, but it’s certain that only those who have transcended their own limits can reach this realm.
“I’ll make my move first, brother.”
Even now, Cheonwoo remained vigilant.
Cheonwoo is one of the few opponents who has witnessed my true martial arts.
He understands there’s no room for mercy, nor any reason to hold back.
So I have no choice but to show him my best strike!
“Go ahead.”
The moment the words left my mouth, Cheonwoo stepped forward.
At the same time.
The cloud made of sword energy moves.
Crackle. Crackle, crackle, crackle!
An eerie sound continued to emanate from the floor as it advanced slowly, yet with undeniable speed.
‘That cotton candy-like mass is basically a concentrated bundle of Star Wars Force energy. Anything that touches it gets ground to dust like it went through a shredder, right?’
Slow, yet certain—each step.
That is the very essence of offense and defense as one!
‘The sword energy cloud exists only in a hemispherical form at the front. The weak points must be the sides and rear, then….’
Cheongi Miribu.
The instant my body seemed to flicker like a phantom, I pivoted sharply toward Cheonwoo’s back.
But Cheonwoo also spun his body, rotating the sword energy cloud with him.
‘Oh… he’s fast. Well, that makes sense. I have to move nearly fifty meters, but he just needs to turn his body. Still, using sword energy against the sword energy cloud isn’t a constant variable. If sword energy collides with sword energy, the energy will react and explode. So then… I need to cut through it?’
I thought to myself.
Cheonma.
The Cheonma Divine Art she gave me.
The secret techniques are embedded in my mind.
Though I cannot use it directly without Cheonma True Energy, a certain degree of modification and adaptation is possible.
Proper execution would require repeated practice, but since I’ve grasped the essence through Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong.
That means I can pull off the shameless trick of extracting only the martial techniques needed for the Five Elements Divine Art.
‘Good. Let’s try it.’
And so something became possible.
Whoosh.
I leaped backward to the very edge of the arena in one bound, then immediately drew the Icelight Sword.
It was strange.
My movements were not fast at all.
As if a feather drifting on the wind, I simply regarded Cheonwoo with serene composure.
“The Icy Frost Blade! The one Baek Rin-ui-seon received from the Northern Sea Ice Palace!”
“Is this the first time Seo Baek-ryong has drawn his sword!”
The fact that someone could recognize and shout this out in such a fleeting moment meant he was undoubtedly a warrior.
Jin Cheon-hee spoke.
“I suppose I should show you that there exists a heaven above heaven. Come then, receive this. This is my blade.”
Cheonwoo sees a smile playing at the corners of Jin Cheon-hee’s lips.
Taeul Danseonggeom.
Heart Technique—Heaven and Earth Single Slash.
Cheonwoo’s spine bristles with dread.
Feeling an icy sensation, Cheonwoo clenched his teeth.
‘Brother… you were this strong?’
Cheonwoo doesn’t realize.
What fragment of Heart Technique I had glimpsed.
I had suppressed it within myself, yet I had deconstructed and absorbed the supreme techniques of Cheonma Divine Art, then reassembled them.
The functions of Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong, the insights gained from watching masters who reached the pinnacle of Heart Technique in the Mudang Sect, combined with practical combat experience accumulated while dancing on the line between life and death.
I had even grasped a fragment of Heart Technique that only masters at the very edge of the Flame Realm could use.
A Heart Technique move that only those who mastered the Taeul Danseonggeom and then reached Heart Technique could employ.
Heaven and Earth Single Slash.
Its function was singular.
It cuts through anything.
This was precisely why the Taeul Danseonggeom was classified as a divine technique sword art!
Whoooosh!
The enormous sword energy extending from the Icy Frost Blade split the sea of sword energy in an instant, as if cleaving through the ocean itself.
It even severed the formation protecting the arena and carved through the ground.
Crack!
“…”
Everyone fell silent in shock.
To cut through the sea of sword energy and scatter it, and to slice the arena itself so cleanly!
Everyone could only stare in awe at such raw, overwhelming power.
The most shocked was Cheonwoo himself.
‘Wasn’t my brother a supreme master? This is clearly the Heart Technique Realm…?’
Normally, when energy collides with energy, an explosion should occur.
To cut so cleanly through only what one desires—that should only be possible if the opponent was at least one realm higher, perhaps even two or more?
Jin Cheon-hee simply sheathes the Icy Frost Blade again.
Sheathed!
The moment Jin Cheon-hee’s blade entered its scabbard, Cheonwoo’s sword was cleanly severed in half.
Clang.
The severed half fell to the ground with a sound.
Complete defeat.
“…”
Cheonwoo searches for a long time to understand what he has just experienced.
Mudang Gwon-je, my master, had said something clear.
Seo Baek-ryong, you should have grown even more.
‘Then just how much further could I have gone….’
A bitter smile escaped him.
My brother was someone who would never hurt me.
He was simply, overwhelmingly strong.
“I concede.”
“Winner: Jin Cheon-hee of the Medical Guild!”
Uwaaaaaa!
The crowd in the martial arena screams as if the place might burst.
Jin Cheon-hee rises on his toes and brushes his large younger brother’s head.
“You worked hard. You bastard.”
Then he added one more thing.
“You haven’t fully absorbed the Taeqing Divine Elixir yet? For that, you did quite well.”
It’s strange that Jin Cheon-hee brutally decomposes it using the Five Elements True Qi, but normally one should consume it and then slowly release and absorb it from the dantian over time.
“You can become even stronger.”
At my brother’s words, Cheonwoo gazed at me with a complicated expression.
The fleeting martial technique my brother displayed in that brief moment remained imprinted on my retina, refusing to fade.
“Once I complete the full absorption, we’ll cross blades again then, brother.”
“Yes.”
Jin Cheon-hee advances to the semifinals!
Coming down from the martial arena, my gaze met Mudang Gwon-je’s who had been watching.
He crossed his arms and spoke with displeasure.
“Is that all? You could have done more.”
“No, Master. There’s nothing more.”
“You used it strangely again.”
“Haha.”
What could he mean by that?
Cheonwoo couldn’t understand, but one thing was certain.
Jin Cheon-hee had drawn his sword against Cheonwoo.
Not to strike him down and render him unconscious like when facing Cheon I-mun last time.
He had drawn it to truly fight.
It was an acknowledgment that Cheonwoo was a worthy opponent.
Yet it seemed that this was not Jin Cheon-hee’s maximum power.
* * *
Semifinals.
Sama Hyeon and Jin Cheon-hee. Yeo Ha-ryun and Hwangbo Mu-a.
‘So it’s Sama Hyeon next.’
Jin Cheon-hee steeled my resolve.
‘This time, I’ll at least get a bump on my head. Sama Hyeon!’
Thanks to Mudang Gwon-je, I know the martial arts of the Mudang School at a glance, but I know very little about the Heavenly Transformation Sword Technique that Sama Hyeon has mastered.
So my countermeasures will be inadequate.
‘Don’t worry. Your older brother will make sure not to break any bones.’
I gazed at my younger brother with gleaming eyes.
The referee shouted.
“Hao-mun Golden Blood Chamber’s Sama Hyeon versus Baek Rin Medical Guild’s Jin Cheon-hee! Match, begin!”
My body glided, leaving afterimages in its wake. Sama Hyeon saw the sword energy gathering on the Bing Jing Sword.
Sama Hyeon quickly cried out.
“Ah~ I surrender!”
Huh?
I stumbled forward.
Sama Hyeon shouted.
“I said I surrender! Brother! Are you really going to hit such a fragile younger brother!”
“You’re a warrior—why won’t you fight to the end?”
“If we fight seriously, one of us will be badly injured. I’ll just take a hit to my pride instead.”
Hmm, that’s quite an unexpected answer.
Moreover, he didn’t say “lose”—he said one of us would be seriously injured.
Whether it’s bluster or a hidden trump card remains unknown. But one thing is certain.
‘Sama Hyeon doesn’t seem like a typical Gangho warrior at all…?’
I noticed it from the moment I visited the Golden Blood Chamber.
[Hey, is your younger brother okay?]
[It’s better than one of us bleeding. Still, I’m going to keep calling him my older brother—what are you going to do about it?]
I see. Then there’s no way to stop it.
Sama Hyeon said.
[And if my brother wins, it all becomes a draw anyway.]
…Can he beat Yeo Ha-ryun?
Looking at the adjacent arena, Yeo Ha-ryun subdued Hwangbo Mu-a in just three exchanges.
Even though he gained enlightenment in martial arts, his opponent was the protagonist of Cheon Sal-seong.
The fact that he ended it without spilling blood is even more terrifying.
Sama Hyeon clenched his fists.
[Brother, you have to win! Cheer for our brother~ Fighting, fighting!]
Watching Sama Hyeon act cute so cheerfully, I suddenly felt an eerie thought.
‘Come to think of it, Sama Hyeon is the only one who hasn’t shown his true strength even once in this tournament?’
Even Yeo Ha-ryun fought properly when he had to.
Only Sama Hyeon was enjoying this situation like a game. In fact, even when Jin Cheon-hee provoked him in the past, he only pretended to be angry—it wasn’t genuine.
[Are you planning to face Yeo Ha-ryun outside the tournament grounds?]
He had no intention of showing his final card.
My older brother noticed it.
Sama Hyeon answered shamelessly.
[I have no regrets toward anyone, brother~ I’m simply observing what kind of person he is.]
Until then, he would never reveal his hand.
Rather, he merely observed the duel between Jin Cheon-hee and Yeo Ha-ryun, gauging the latter’s capabilities.
Though his cold calculation of profit and loss was somewhat frightening, Sama Hyeon added one more thing.
[Brother, you’re my benefactor. If one of us has to get hurt, it’s better that I lose~]
‘Slipping him a sedative is fine, though?’
That was Sama Hyeon’s way.
* * *
As the finals approached, the Baek Rin Medical Guild’s emergency center buzzed with festival atmosphere.
“Goodness, the number of patients has actually decreased!”
“I finally slept for seven hours straight for the first time!”
“I ate all three meals!”
A miracle had occurred.
The emergency room, which normally would be packed with patients awaiting treatment, those currently being treated, and those needing hospitalization after treatment, was now functioning like a proper medical facility.
Two patients arrived having slashed at each other with blades due to a grudge, yet for some reason, neither had fought with true intent.
“Apparently, it’s because of the rumor that if you get injured here, you’ll have to meet Seo Baek-ryong.”
“Me? Why me?”
“Well… perhaps it’s because of that declaration that he’ll safely knock you unconscious and ship you home before you can get hurt.”
What? Why? Isn’t that a good thing? He said he’d protect their health.
I felt oddly wronged.
“My Master is surely several levels above me in cultivation, so why does it have to be me specifically?”
“The mountain closest to you always appears the largest.”
I couldn’t understand it.
“Entrusting oneself to someone overwhelmingly stronger, and someone who is somewhat… by the world’s… common sense… difficult to comprehend, is not an easy thing to do.”
My Master had used a roundabout way of saying ‘madman.’
“Could it be that you’re confusing me with Hyeolsaeng Nogoe…?”
“That’s different. He is a moving natural disaster. You are a natural disaster that arrives when one falls ill.”
“….”
Were they really different?
A sharp premonition suddenly struck the back of my head—the feeling that my epithet was about to change.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————