Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 301
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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 301
The time I devoted to reading was roughly twenty hours a day by modern standards.
Two hours for sleep, and about two hours for handling biological necessities and morning exercises.
The provisions in my bundle were similar to grain-avoidance pills, though they were preserved foods that tasted far better.
True to their origin in the imperial palace, they were made with honey, various medicinal herbs, and culinary secrets all concentrated into them—eating them reminded me somewhat of modern energy bars.
‘And they fill me up quite well after eating.’
Essentially, ten days of healing(?) life spent tearing through energy bars and the imperial palace’s collection of books.
Surprisingly, my own satisfaction with this lifestyle was quite substantial.
‘Roughly two hundred and forty volumes a day. So I’ve absorbed seven hundred and twenty martial arts texts over three days.’
Many of them were thinner than novels, so my reading speed was even faster.
Of course, the insights gained were far from shallow, but I would digest and compare them as I read the next martial arts text.
Crunch—
I chewed on the imperial palace energy bar and fell into thought.
‘For some reason, it reminds me of when I played that animal forest game. I was the first one throughout the entire medical guild to pay off my debt and achieve the final house upgrade.’
Animal forest was a good game for healing.
I achieved K-healing by paying off my debt faster than anyone else.
Because it was K-healing, my fields were lined with flowers of various colors arranged efficiently, and my furniture placement was optimal for turning the village into a tourist destination.
My house placement also considered the optimal positioning relative to the movement patterns of each animal NPC and shops.
It was a K-healing life that embodied the K-fantasy of buying a house by selling butterflies. Throughout all this, I never touched stock investments.
‘Hehe… resting without stress lately has really improved my skin.’
Enjoying the imperial palace energy bar, I organized what I’d gained so far.
First, what I learned after reading.
‘I’ve read a diverse range, from what the martial world considers third-rate to what’s counted among divine art masterpieces. However, even among those counted as divine art masterpieces….’
Even among divine art masterpieces, there existed what was called ‘grades.’
Within divine art masterpieces, there always existed higher and lower martial arts, but here only those that could be called lower-tier among divine art masterpieces existed.
‘The most important things are supposedly hidden elsewhere….’
For example, the Jegallga’s Taeul Danseonggeom.
It was certainly a divine art masterpiece, and in the martial world, mastering just this one technique would earn respect wherever one went.
However, in truth, among divine art masterpieces, it wasn’t exactly top-tier.
The greatest weakness was that Jegallga martial arts were particular about the practitioner and difficult to perfect.
Moreover, even the same Taeul Danseonggeom varied drastically in power depending on how it was applied, which only compounded the problem.
‘Master, I apologize.’
Objectively comparing my school’s martial arts with other martial arts was itself a taboo that shouldn’t exist for traditional martial artists.
In a way, it was no different from comparing one’s parents to another family’s parents.
Only a modern person grounded in pure pragmatism could do such a thing.
‘It’s something I shouldn’t even dare speak aloud.’
A modern person doesn’t know such things.
I only know that nothing in this world holds greater value than my own life.
That’s why Master told me to do so when he said I would receive transmission of the Taegeuk Hyegeom.
Unless I achieve perfection… in this state, I must concede two levels to the Taoists’ Taegeuk Hyegeom.
‘So I’ve read nine divine martial techniques at the level of the Taeul Danseonggeom?’
As Eunuch General Han Gwang had said, the “genuine articles” were stored separately, but there were plenty of martial manuals capable of “shaking the martial world.”
The Taeul Danseonggeom was itself a divine martial technique, so it was certainly capable of shaking the martial world.
‘So the divine martial techniques I originally knew were the Taeguk Hyegeom, Dual Thought Technique, Cheonma Divine Art, Five Elements Divine Art, Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong, Taeul Danseonggeom, and Geongong Geumgang Art—and now I’m adding nine more techniques I’ve absorbed instantly.’
Though they were said to be on par with the Taeul Danseonggeom, divine martial techniques were still divine martial techniques.
Even if they were counted among the highest-tier martial arts in the intermediate realm, they couldn’t compare.
If even a fragment of one of these techniques leaked out, dozens of small-to-medium sects or two or three major sects would scramble to obtain it, creating absolute chaos.
‘This is… the doctors would lose their minds dealing with the chaos.’
For now, these nine divine martial techniques were still at the level of memorization.
It was impossible to master and compare them the way I could with other intermediate-level martial arts.
‘I’ll need to research them slowly later and extract the essence… it should be helpful for training warriors.’
Wind God Bow. Nine Dragons Spear Method. Thousand-Li Divine Step. Profound Extreme Great Step.
Along with the Qiankunshen Art, a divine martial technique of the Qingcheng Sect.
The formula for Tianyi Zui, the supreme alcohol that allegedly lasts a thousand days with a single drink.
‘This is also a divine martial technique.’
Divine martial techniques weren’t only about splitting someone’s skull with martial arts.
And there’s also the Savage Beast Sensation Blade.
The Kunlun Sect’s Supreme Void Divine Art was unfortunately partially lost.
And one of the demonic arts.
The Chilmakeum.
A martial art played on the guqin that could attack enemies through sound or even manipulate emotions.
‘While this would be classified as a demonic art, the cultivation process is quite stable—it’s a case where it became demonic because the practitioner was evil.’
It seemed it could be substituted with a pipa if a guqin wasn’t available.
The imperial library collecting secret techniques from various sects was a common trope in many martial arts novels, and apparently this world was no exception.
Well, there were even incomplete martial arts from the Songshan Sect, so…
‘Still, the lost portions of the Supreme Void Divine Art aren’t too extensive, so I should be able to reconstruct and use the rest. This is quite a remarkable internal cultivation technique.’
However, if I simply used existing sect martial arts as they were, I’d become a public enemy of the martial world.
In a world indifferent to intellectual property rights, where people freely plagiarized my soap formulas, plagiarizing martial arts was different.
Around next month, I might find myself in the Martial Alliance’s dungeon or the Demonic Cult’s underground prison, severed at the meridians, spilling information whenever needed.
‘Even if I use them, I’d need to decompose and reconstruct them in various ways… but the Savage Beast Sensation Blade, Nine Dragons Spear Method, and Wind God Bow should be fine since their sects have already been destroyed.’
Though the martial world was sensitive about intellectual property rights of martial arts, techniques that had become “open source” after their sects’ destruction were called “practical martial arts” and could be used.
‘So all I need to do is research ways to make the warriors under the Medical Guild stronger with these.’
Create a downgraded external technique based on the Geongong Geumgang Art that’s easier to learn and more effective.
For long-range combat, a degraded version of the Wind God Bow, a divine martial technique I obtained this time.
For close combat, a degraded version of the Nine Dragons Spear.
For movement techniques, a degraded version of the Thousand-Li Divine Step for long-range mobility.
For short-range, a degraded version of the Profound Extreme Great Step.
If I said I was deliberately creating degraded versions, everyone would think I’d gone mad.
Why would I create inferior techniques when superior ones were available? It made no sense.
But this was my own philosophy.
‘Effort is a limited resource. Divine techniques and secret arts are powerful, but difficult to master. Achieving great completion is rare—even reaching proficiency requires long years of dedication and deep understanding.’
Effort never lies.
Divine techniques and secret arts are so potent that to learn them properly, one must begin in childhood, undergo rigorous foundational training, and receive elite instruction step by step.
With such dedication, if one’s five elements align, they’ll earn an epithet like ‘~Divine Dragon’ in their twenties, and by their forties, they’ll become a pillar of their sect and establish themselves.
Great completion typically requires reaching one’s fifties or beyond.
Only a rare few unparalleled geniuses achieve the dream of great completion before thirty.
Or a fortunate elder in their sixties who attains half-step return to movement, living a second life.
‘It would be better to focus on weapon enhancement probability instead.’
Teaching divine techniques and secret arts to martial artists in their thirties and forties is wasteful.
It was obvious they’d fall on some battlefield before reaching great completion.
‘They won’t even achieve the sixth stage of mastery before fifty, let alone great completion.’
I should simplify it.
Make it so even ordinary martial artists with late aptitude and slow five elements can follow along.
If they can live to see tomorrow, that’s enough.
‘Good. I’ve roughly shaped this project. Now what remains….’
Research for myself, my sworn siblings, Wang Gak-yeon, and Samjeolchuho to reach Hyeongyeong.
‘Dang-a is… a problem.’
Currently, Dang-a is the one with the least information.
For some reason, she hasn’t replied to the letters I sent, and apparently she’s been secluded within the Dang household.
According to an elder from the Dang family who visited as a patient recently….
This period after escaping from demonic influence is extremely delicate, so one must never press for replies or attempt to force a meeting.
During this time, memories of the deeds she committed under demonic influence and the expressions of those around her keep surfacing.
She needs time to choose between accepting it or burying it in the warehouse of oblivion.
‘A difficult age indeed.’
Well, I’ll think about that later.
For now, shall I tackle the research right in front of me?
“Still… even after reading this desperately, there’s an enormous amount left. From what I can tell, there are at least ten thousand martial arts manuals… reading all ten thousand was simply impossible.”
Even after achieving speed-reading that far surpassed human capability, I hadn’t realized ten days would be so insufficient.
“Even filtering by importance while skimming titles and opening passages, it’s still this much… sigh, I wish I could stay longer. What a shame.”
Ten days is the maximum viewing period.
I’ve already stretched it to the maximum possible, so there’s no extending it further.
Crunch—
Continuing to chew the Imperial Palace Bigu Pellets, I rapidly turned my thoughts over.
This was the most important time of the day—when I organized my thoughts.
“…Hm?”
Suddenly, a deeper azure light gleamed in my eyes for just an instant.
With the pellet still in my mouth, I swiftly pulled out four books from those I’d read.
Examining the books carefully, I found myself speaking without thinking.
“Why is this here?”
In the corner of the pages of the books I’d just pulled out were written ancient characters in an old language.
It had nothing to do with the content and was completely disconnected from the context.
If I were to compare it to modern books, it would be like ancient characters written where page numbers should be.
Among the cipher texts transmitted to Baek Rin’s Medical Guild, many used such forgotten ancient characters, so I had learned them as Soggakju.
‘These characters seem to connect somehow…?’
If I hadn’t learned ciphers, I would have overlooked it.
Or perhaps, if I hadn’t had time to organize my thoughts, I would have missed this small scribble even more.
I disassembled the strokes and reassembled them.
‘Twelfth bookshelf in the western direction. Qiankungan Li…?’
Who left this?
How many people could have left something like this?
I couldn’t know. But there would be no reason for the master of this imperial palace to leave this.
Since this library itself already belongs to him.
It wouldn’t be a warrior merely granted temporary access, passing through.
Just finding and reading what one desires among this vast collection would be overwhelming.
‘Then it’s highly probable that it would be the administrator…a librarian.’
An administrator, that is, a librarian.
It was said that the Previous Emperor abolished the librarian for some reason.
Is that all I can deduce?
‘Hmm… alright. Let me go check it out.’
I walked toward the twelfth bookshelf.
Then I tapped on the bookshelf.
Tap tap tap—
It was difficult to tell from sound alone.
I channeled my inner energy and this time tapped while infusing the fundamental principles of sound technique.
Chilmakeum.
All the content of the martial technique I had just read was stored in my mind.
I simply hadn’t yet fully grasped the essence of that martial art.
I had only completely understood the core theory of how that martial art operated.
Even that alone made this level of application possible.
Boom—!
“….”
With eyes closed, I tapped several more times for a quarter hour.
Pulse diagnosis using inner energy is a diagnostic technique using qi, but this is sound technique—I deduced that vibrations flowed and bounced back.
My highly developed five senses detected where and what returned at each position.
I roughly found the structure and principle.
That was because of an intellect that far transcended ordinary people.
The infinitely compassionate yet self-destructive genius opened his eyes.
“There’s a hidden mechanism here?”
Yesterday’s me wouldn’t have known this.
No one could have imagined a madman who learned the Chilmakeum in the morning, disassembled and reassembled it at noon, and found the hidden mechanism by evening.
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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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