Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 251

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

Chapter 251
Before coming here, I heard something from a friend.
The fees at this place aren’t exactly expensive, but they’re not cheap either.
‘The value is ambiguous.’
Paying this much to learn makes me feel like I’m getting a good deal, but when I calculate what it would cost to master everything, the money falls short.
They’d calculated the price to hit exactly that sweet spot in between.
‘Even the merchants said whoever set this price is a genius at business.’
Dujin’s recent earnings had been disappointing, so he’d decided to dedicate himself entirely to inner energy cultivation at a mid-tier lodging.
“Wow! The qi is gathering! I can feel it!”
Third day.
He continued to focus on inner energy cultivation at the mid-tier lodging.
“Inner energy that would take a month of training to accumulate is gathering in just three days… If I could spend a year here, that would be wonderful. But for that, I’d need to earn more money.”
The gap between prestigious martial families and bottom-tier warriors suddenly felt painfully real.
Even light movement techniques consumed inner energy.
Sword energy required inner energy to manifest.
It was absurd for a bottom-tier warrior to catch up with those born into families who received ancestral blessings, found the best places within their sects to accumulate qi, and practiced breathing exercises daily.
‘So that’s how they could use sword energy before reaching adulthood.’
They lived in places several times better than this, receiving superior support.
The vague sense of a different world—even tasting its edges—made his chest ache.
It was different from simple jealousy.
Forty years of time tore open, and blood spilled.
‘If things had stayed the same, I wouldn’t have caught up even if I lived several more decades.’
A child raised in the Wudang Sect would aim not just for sword energy but the realm of sword force by the time they reached fifty.
Whether he lived to fifty or sixty, he would never reach that.
He wasn’t even confident he’d survive to that age.
How many times had he barely survived by sheer luck already?
Eventually, he sighed, finished his dawn breathing exercises, and headed outside.
‘Even if I wanted to continue, there’s the money…’
It was true that martial artists earned more than ordinary farmers, but most of that money went to weapon repairs, trauma ointments, or various street-level martial technique manuals.
This naturally made it difficult to save money.
‘Let me grab some breakfast and lift my spirits.’
A warm meal in the belly always improved one’s mood.
That’s when something caught his eye.
A small notice was posted on the wall.
[Baekrin Uigak is recruiting martial artists!]
The notice contained simple payment amounts, conditions, and qualifications.
‘Oh, this is better than most merchant escort work.’
The monthly salary was substantial, and especially the provision of various medical supplies and treatment by doctors was like rain in a drought. Moreover—
[Martial artists affiliated with Baekrin Uigak receive benefits for using the practice grounds!]
That was it.
With that, I felt I could continue to achieve success in this place.
“…?!”
When I suddenly looked around, all the other martial artists nearby were staring at the room with blazing eyes.
Everyone had the same thought.
‘The competition is going to be fierce…?’
Still, I had no intention of giving up.
* * *
The martial arts training city that I had designed was completed in three months after grinding through manpower.
And before even half a year had passed since opening for business, we broke even and turned a profit.
“No, when we first started, everyone pointed fingers at Baekrin Medical Hall, saying we were crazy and burning money in thin air….”
“Didn’t only a few connections we had enter as cooperative merchants?”
All the other merchant guilds could only laugh in disbelief.
It was something no one had anticipated.
“Now the martial arts training city is packed every single day. People even receive waiting tickets and have to wait about two days to get in.”
“And Geumhyeol Hall built a temporary inn for those people who would need to stay for those two days.”
Indeed, it was Geumhyeol Hall.
Though they didn’t directly get involved, they quickly built an inn nearby for people waiting for their tickets to rest, and used servers and proprietresses to their advantage.
They researched and sold a “martial arts training city preparatory education”—a method to train most efficiently in the martial arts training city within the allotted time.
In other words, they were conducting “instruction on instruction,” teaching people how to use the place they were going to learn at more efficiently.
But it sold incredibly well.
The martial artists, with nothing to do anyway until their turn came, threw money at it hoping to try something.
Geumhyeol Hall, despite not being a partner business, squeezed in and made money.
But that was short-lived.
I instructed a large-scale expansion project for the martial arts training city.
For the construction, many martial artists, merchants, couriers, and laborers were hired, revitalizing the surrounding economy.
Once this happened, Geumhyeol Hall hastily converted the inn into temporary lodging for construction workers and operated a street stall selling rice balls.
No matter how I looked at it, the conversion speed and idea switching reeked of Sama Hyeon, but I decided to pretend not to notice.
As if I’d been waiting for it, I developed the surrounding lands I’d purchased in advance one by one, creating a small city for Baekrin Medical Hall personnel to work in the martial arts training city.
And I steadily prepared the first branch.
The second branch of the martial arts training city.
The place where I had purchased a nearby silver mine while digging for medicinal herbs.
Now, while building this second branch, I plan to “coincidentally” discover the silver mine.
Moreover, since martial artists will be training in the vicinity, even the Demonic Sect’s finance team wouldn’t dare openly send people to plunder the silver mine.
The martial artists would unknowingly end up standing guard at the silver mine while coming to train—truly a vicious plan.
Thanks to the goods flowing into the first and second branches and the people consuming them, the economic scale began to skyrocket.
When logistics move, money moves, and when money moves, people move.
That was enough to become a force in itself.
The movements of Baekrin Medical Hall that began this way started spreading throughout Jiangsu Province.
“Baekrin Medical Hall definitely has the best monthly wages, right?”
“Yes, and they’re famous for quick treatment when injured and consistent compensation payments.”
“All the martial artists of any considerable skill in the area have applied there.”
“…Ah… I applied too, and I’m desperate. My daughter is already ill, and if I become part of Baekrin Uigak, they provide substantial family medical support. I’ve never properly been a father until now, so I absolutely must get in.”
At those words, the fellow martial artists raised their cups.
“Bang Hyeong will definitely get in.”
“That’s right. I’ve never seen a martial artist as capable as Bang Hyeong in my circles!”
“Thank you for saying so, brothers…. I will get in. For my daughter’s sake, I absolutely will get in.”
Clang!
The martial artists clinked their cups together.
Like a single drop of water finally overflowing the cup.
Once that moment passed, the name of Baekrin Uigak began spreading rapidly.
Originally, Gangso Province had no sects as massive and renowned as the Nine Great Sects, the Eight Great Families, or those comparable to the Four Paths and Eight Gates.
It was a region where moderately sized sects proliferated.
Since Baekrin Uigak did not operate as a martial sect, Gangso Province had always remained moderately chaotic and moderately balanced.
That Gangso Province was gradually being absorbed into Baekrin Uigak’s sphere of influence was, in a sense, entirely inevitable.
Organizations emerged to procure the materials Baekrin Uigak needed, and martial artists were stationed to protect them.
Thanks to the various martial artists recruited through Yeonmu City, it was possible to quickly fill the ranks.
“There’s a rumor that Baekrin Uigak possesses a thousand martial artists.”
One thousand.
At those words, the other martial artists’ eyes widened.
“Isn’t that the level of what’s called a major sect in Gangho?”
“Even so, compared to other renowned major sects, the number of supreme masters is insufficient. Most of them are first-rate to second-rate martial artists, aren’t they?”
Wine fills the bottle.
Glug glug glug—
Enjoying the sound of wine pouring, the other martial artists spoke.
“Even so, everyone knows how terrifying the power of numbers is. With enough heads, one becomes strong regardless.”
“I agree. And Baek Rin-ui-seon himself is rumored to rival the top ten masters of the realm, and ah, his disciple below him, the Baek-ui Sinryong… hasn’t he also demonstrated considerable martial prowess?”
At those words, the oldest martial artist murmured softly.
“Where is Baekrin Uigak headed?”
Until now, it was a place that merely awaited Patriarch Baek Rin-ui-seon’s death.
No attempts to expand power, no such ambitions had been visible.
Everyone had predicted that Baekrin Uigak would scatter to the winds once Baek Rin-ui-seon died.
But Baek Rin-ui-seon had returned alive.
The landscape of Gangho began to change.
* * *
Jegalling drank his tonic today as well.
A medicinal decoction with compressed vital energy so concentrated it would be poison to ordinary people, yet for him it was medicine.
“At minimum three thousand, at most five thousand. And half of them will have their inner strength aligned to half a rank, even if it requires pushing them.”
My Master added one more thing.
“And through several tests, we’ll verify their character and loyalty, then teach them effective ascending martial techniques that are easy to learn and convert them into combat strength.”
Gulp—
Master swallowed the boiling medicinal broth without flinching, as if it were nothing, despite the scalding heat.
I responded.
“That’s terrifying.”
Whether I meant Master’s plan was terrifying, or the sight of him casually drinking boiling medicinal broth like water in the middle of summer, I couldn’t quite say.
Either way, it was quite a spectacle.
I added another thought.
“The martial artists must be delighted.”
“They would be. It’s an opportunity to learn ascending martial techniques.”
Outside, cicadas had already begun their summer song.
This summer was particularly scorching, and the number of elderly patients collapsing from heat exhaustion had increased.
It wasn’t merely hot—the humidity combined with the heat made it feel as though I were enduring a bathhouse.
Only when night fell did it become slightly cooler, yet the heat remained relentless.
Master maintained the ondol heating system and wore winter robes despite this sweltering weather.
Yet the air around Master felt several degrees cooler.
This must be because his inner power had grown so much stronger.
“It’s good that you gained enlightenment from your battle with Dong Cheon-gun, but the problem is that you specifically gained enlightenment in ice techniques.”
“Could the five elements be disrupted…?”
“You needn’t worry about that now. The fire essence you planted in your chest still guards it well. The cold aura you’re releasing is simply a byproduct of the process.”
Between Master and me lay an immeasurable gulf in martial enlightenment.
Knowing the vast distance between Hwagyeong and Hyeongyeong, I nodded in understanding.
‘Well, his complexion has become remarkably vibrant.’
It was strange indeed.
Master was emitting even more cold energy than before, yet his complexion had only grown healthier.
As for what martial cultivation process this represented, I could only speculate, but from a health perspective, he was improving daily.
In this sweltering season, the air beside Master felt oddly refreshing.

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