Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 246

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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 246
The scent of medicine hung in the air.
When I opened my eyes, naturally I saw the ceiling of Baek Rin’s Medical Guild’s temporary branch headquarters.
What troubled me more was the complete lack of sensation below my neck.
I couldn’t feel the weight of the blanket, its warmth, its coldness—nothing at all.
I could intellectually understand that I was circulating my inner energy, but I couldn’t feel the sensation of qi flowing through my meridians.
‘It’s not complete paralysis, at least.’
Throughout the fight, I had carefully observed the extent of my injuries.
I had avoided damage to my spine as much as possible, and in that final confrontation, even as other meridians were damaged, I had been cautious not to rupture that particular one.
‘Then it must be acupoint sealing.’
After reaching that conclusion, I turned my head to the side.
‘Eek?!’
My Master was gazing down at me with a radiant smile.
“M-Master… hello.”
“Indeed. As a final mercy, I didn’t seal the acupoints above your neck, Hee. Thanks to that, I get to hear such courteous greetings from my disciple—truly, I am a blessed master.”
No disciple hearing this would think, “Wow, our Master is truly blessed!”
The normal reaction was, ‘This is bad.’
“Ha… haha, this disciple has brought honor to the Martial Alliance and spread the name of Baek Rin’s Medical Guild far and wide.”
“Your mouth may be torn, but your words flow well, Hee.”
“Y-you won’t release me, will you?”
“The toxins from the Four Corpse Blood Poison Technique haven’t even fully cleared yet, and you want to move in that condition? Go ahead and try.”
So I would have to lie here like a puppet, completely paralyzed?
Jin Cheon-hee gazed at his Master with a pale expression.
My Master spoke.
“All eight of your extraordinary meridians are in ruins. This time too, you barely avoided falling into demonic cultivation, but with the Four Corpse Blood Poison Technique added on top, the healing is progressing even more slowly. If you move in this state, within moments you’ll be coughing blood from your seven vital points.”
So that’s why he had sealed me completely immobile.
“Then how long will it take…?”
“Minimum of five days.”
“Ugh.”
“Does it sound like a joke? You know this Master has never spoken falsehoods regarding medicine. So endure the boredom. I too will restrain myself from thoroughly beating my disciple.”
“…”
At those words, Jin Cheon-hee fell silent.
“Though my disciple may be said to have an inflated liver, I never knew he would personally realize Jegalling’s stratagem against one of the ten greatest masters under heaven—digging such a trap.”
“Haha…”
“Learning how you survived against such a foe and how you captured him alive left me even more astounded. You used the Five Elements Apocalypse? Using purely the five elements alone?”
Jegalling clicked his tongue softly.
He stopped his anger when he saw the sad light seeping into his disciple’s eyes.
He must have desperately wanted to prevent his Master from sacrificing his close friend as a disposable pawn.
When had he noticed the plan? Or had Dokgo Seon’s loose tongue somehow let something slip?
The boy was sharp-witted enough that even without hearing it directly, he would have certainly figured it out.
“There is good news and bad news. Which would you like to hear first?”
“The good news, please.”
“First, since you’ve overcome the Sasa Blood Poison, you’ll develop immunity. Your Five Elements Mutual Destruction Poison seems to have grown stronger. Even among the Hyeolseonggyo’s Toxin Masters, few would be capable of poisoning you now.”
“So I’m advancing from Hundred Poisons Unpierceable to Thousand Poisons Unpierceable?”
“Exactly. A tremendous achievement will be realized. Though compared to the fact that you’ve returned alive, it’s merely a trivial reward.”
No matter how I looked at it, this matter seemed far from over.
“What is the bad news?”
“Changwang suffered the same fate as you. When facing Won Cheon-gun directly, he sustained severe internal injuries. As for Dong Cheon-gun, whom I faced—though he managed to escape, his qi and blood throughout his entire body have become hopelessly tangled. He won’t survive the year.”
‘He’ll die after suffering unbearable agony, eventually passing when he no longer has the strength to even feel the pain.’
I felt no sympathy.
I knew what he must have done within the Hyeolseonggyo to reach that position.
“Beyond that, numerous other sects have suffered casualties.”
“The remaining sects were dealt significant blows, then.”
“Indeed. Moreover, the traitors have been identified. Two sects from the Martial Alliance and one from the Four Great Clans were revealed to have betrayed us.”
“…I suspected as much, but it’s still shocking.”
I had thought there would be more heterodox sects involved.
But reality seemed somewhat different. My Master continued.
“These traitors damaged portions of the formation from within and brought in suspicious sorcerous tools, which only intensified the chaos.”
“With this, the Hyeolseonggyo has officially become a public enemy of the martial world.”
“Yes. We’ve decided to issue an extermination order. The orthodox sects will jointly mobilize all their strength to annihilate the Hyeolseonggyo.”
“…What of the Ilwol Divine Sect?”
“They’ve withdrawn. Since there were no traitors within the Ilwol Divine Sect, they told the orthodox sects to handle it themselves and recalled all their members to the sect.”
‘I can’t quite read Cheonma’s intentions. It seems she has no intention of lending aid at all.’
On the surface, it might appear to be a strategy to expand power while the Martial Alliance, heterodox sects, and Hyeolseonggyo tear each other apart.
But that’s a basic tactic even a novice strategist could devise.
She didn’t seem like the type to employ such shallow schemes.
Rather, it was something else.
‘It must be because this benefits us as the celestial fortune scatters.’
The reason Cheonma met me directly.
And the reason she transmitted the Cheonma Divine Art before disappearing.
In the original work, Supreme Cheonma, we now enter the latter half of Volume One and the beginning of Volume Two.
Due to the nature of Supreme Cheonma, dates and times are rarely described with precision.
Yeo Ha-ryun completes a certain degree of growth and resolves various missions assigned by the Ilwol Divine Sect.
If we consider the moment when he, as the Young Sect Master, closes the first button of his role, it would be the latter half of Volume One into the beginning of Volume Two.
In other words, the story’s prologue is at this very moment.
Now that Yeo Ha-ryun has become the Young Sect Master, he must resolve the various missions assigned by the Ilwol Divine Sect and open the blood pathways against the secrets and conspiracies of the martial world.
Moreover.
In the war between fellow Young Sect Masters, he must also assassinate rival Young Sect Masters and devour their original qi.
It was a blood arena where he had to juggle both missions and fratricidal struggle.
“Has Yeo Ha-ryun left as well?”
“I heard that Cheonma herself gave the order directly. To return immediately. My wounds haven’t fully healed, but I have to go anyway.”
“Directly?”
“Yes. Considering that to her, a sect leader is merely one feather among countless lesser demons, it’s quite an unusual occurrence.”
I knew this from having read the original work.
Even if the opponent were Cheon Sal-seong, that fact wouldn’t change.
She only showed a hint of interest when the protagonist began to display his feats as the protagonist.
However, this was certainly a divergence from the original storyline.
“Cheon-hee, you’re thinking of the ‘future’ that you know, aren’t you?”
“…Yes. But I have no idea how things will change from here on, so I’m struggling to get my bearings.”
“That’s because you’ve done far too many things. Wouldn’t the Emperor have died without you? The Prince, Wang Gak-yeon, and I as well. So much has already changed.”
To gain one thing, you must give up another.
Why does this world share this principle with Earth?
“It’s troublesome.”
“Do you regret it, then?”
I shook my head without a moment’s hesitation at my Master’s question.
“A doctor simply does a doctor’s work.”
Saving lives is a doctor’s calling.
If I were to begin making distinctions even once, I would continue to make them.
And someday, when saving someone, I would prioritize conditions over duty.
Could I even call myself a ‘doctor’ then?
“This much… I cannot compromise on.”
Even if others call me foolish, I will trudge forward like an ox.
“Good. With such resolve, I’m pleased.”
My Master thus described the hellish path my disciple would walk, and was already walking.
“By the way, what will our schedule be like going forward?”
“They’ll move extensively to search for Hyeolseonggyo. All forces of both orthodox and unorthodox sects will concentrate on it. However, we won’t move. The search will likely be fruitless anyway.”
The ‘we’ here didn’t simply mean Baek Rin’s Medical Guild.
A blue moon rose in my vision.
“I see. Then what should we do while the others are moving?”
“We must seize the interests that the existing martial sects overlook and expand our power. Leave it to me. Your master is quite capable in such matters.”
Jegalling stroked his disciple’s head and rose to his feet.
I spoke.
“Master… couldn’t you just release the pressure points? I’ll be careful not to rupture my qi channels as I move…”
“Hehehehe, don’t be ridiculous, Cheon-hee.”
Clearly displeased with his disciple in this state, his voice was quite sharp.
“But if I just lie here, I’ll sweat… and if the pressure points continue, I might actually develop paralysis.”
“Either I or someone else will release the pressure points periodically, so don’t worry. Just stay lying down.”
“Master, Master!”
My Master left without even looking back.
‘Ugh, do I really have to live like this for five days?’
At that moment, a voice rang out.
“You reap what you sow~”
“Brother, why not take this opportunity to learn a lesson?”
Cheonwoo and Sama Hyeon.
The two of them entered the room.
A wet towel and once again… a bowl of rice porridge.
I thought to myself.
‘This is a scene I’ve witnessed many times before.’
Cheonwoo spoke.
“Brother… if you hate this, wouldn’t it be better to take better care of yourself from now on?”
“No, how was I supposed to prevent this from happening?”
Sama Hyeon replied.
“Brother. You deliberately became the bait and danced around saying you’d save everyone—that’s absolutely not ‘how it happened’~”
Tears blurred my vision.
Sama Hyeon added one more thing.
“Cheonwoo hyung. Doesn’t it feel strange? Our eldest brother is lying in bed after being struck at the vital points. Now you don’t have to worry about him going off to die?”
At those words, Cheonwoo shook his head.
“Hyeon, you may think that way, but I hope our brother recovers quickly.”
“Ha, there you go subtly scoring points again.”
‘No matter how much I think about it, Cheonwoo seems to treat me differently than he treats others… or is it just my imagination?’
When Cheonwoo’s senior brothers from the Mudang Sect had confronted me, weren’t they slightly afraid of Cheonwoo standing beside them?
‘And during the martial competition, he broke someone’s limbs once….’
Of course, it was a martial competition, so it could be unavoidable—a tragic accident.
But since he always appeared so kind and docile in front of me, it was hard to imagine.
‘Right. People have many different sides to them. Why bother knowing all of them?’
As long as Cheonwoo is a warrior, he must have a ruthless side to survive.
I nodded at that thought.
“What happened to Yo Cheon-gun, the one we captured?”
“Well… we made a temporary antidote to the Four Limbs Acupoint Poison using Yo Cheon-gun’s blood, but true to its name as a temporary remedy, it didn’t completely cure him. It only saved his life and prevented further poisoning.”
The fact that we managed to create that was already a great help.
If we just prevent the poison from spreading further, what remains is the matter of time—expelling the toxins.
Now I only need to focus on that.
“As for the rest… he’d rather die than spill any information. But we did gain some valuable intel.”
“Intel?”
“Well, these guys go berserk sometimes, right? When they receive power from Yoseon or whatever.”
If that happens, they can’t even find freedom in death, so even Hyeolseonggyo members must use it with great resolve.
“Right. I know.”
“When he woke up and tried to go berserk, I inserted a fire-type qi at the base of his skull and he couldn’t go berserk~”
“What?”
“It was Baek Rin-ui-seon who discovered that.”
Master did?
Cheonwoo spoke.
“He’s a traitor who has killed countless people. If he were to die during interrogation, it would be exactly what he wants. Baek Rin-ui-seon personally oversaw the proceedings. Brother.”
“Even after severing his limb meridians, he absolutely refused to divulge any information.”
A world where a single warrior could massacre thousands upon thousands of innocent civilians.
Against such evil, modern human rights principles meant nothing—the thousands upon thousands of dead would not return to life.
Nor could his actions be stopped.
“….”
I wore a complicated expression before shaking my head.
‘I am merely a doctor, neither a politician nor a philosopher. To impose my standards upon the people of this world would be nothing but arrogance.’
Just as one follows Roman law when in Rome, I must grow accustomed to the ways of the martial world now that I walk within it.
‘For now, let me be grateful that I survived against such a formidable opponent.’
He had been a being powerful enough to haunt my dreams.
I had to engage in a battle of seconds, pushing myself to my absolute limits.
“So what did you find out?”

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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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