Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 317

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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 317
“Right, I won’t ask how you cleaned up the mess.”
I cut the conversation short immediately.
For some reason, I didn’t feel like those young ones were alive, and even if they were, it seemed like they were living a life that wasn’t truly living.
“I made an example of them, sure, but fundamentally, the heterodox sects operate by different logic than the orthodox. There are plenty of dim-witted ones, so I’m worried they might come at me again~?”
Crack—
It seemed like he’d probably flayed the skin from his face at least.
“Hey, I’m also Hwagyeong now, so you don’t need to worry about me that much.”
“So the rumors are true. Ooh~ brother, congratulations! It looks like I’ll need to work hard to catch up to you, huh?”
Due to the nature of heterodox martial arts, they’re learned quickly and powerful from the beginning, but after the thirties, things gradually become difficult, or so I’d heard.
The qi and blood become twisted, leading to death by entering demonic cultivation, or falling into heart demons easily.
Or hitting a wall that can never be crossed, with breakthrough forever impossible.
“I’ll help you with that effort. Come find me after this is over.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I’ve already told Cheonwoo about it. If you train with me, it’ll be quick. Don’t worry.”
“Hmm….”
Sama Hyeon narrowed his eyes in thought before speaking.
“Your words sound true, brother… but for some reason, I have a feeling I’m going to suffer tremendously, you know?”
“Short-term training is always tough, Hyeon. But once you suffer through and reach Hwagyeong, isn’t it a profitable deal?”
I said this while gazing at Sama Hyeon with sparkling eyes.
Upon reaching Hwagyeong, it seemed even one’s gaze gained the power to shake people’s hearts. Sama Hyeon choked on his tea and coughed for quite a while.
“Cough, cough! Brother, you’re not going around making requests with that expression, are you?”
“…?”
Sama Hyeon replied.
“Fine, fine. Let’s just train together.”
“Right. Just trust your brother. You’ll suffer like you’re dying for a bit, then once you reach Hwagyeong, it’s a profitable deal!”
Sound logic. It is sound logic, but….
The phrase “suffer like you’re dying” coming from my brother’s mouth bothers me.
Still, it’s a good opportunity.
The training method my brother devised could never have been made carelessly.
‘Well, if training goes wrong, I can just play around a bit. But there’s no way it’ll fail with brother’s personality…right~?’
Sama Hyeon thought that far and finished his tea.
* * *
The next day.
The Martial Arts Alliance Leader, the Minor Sect Leader, and the Demonic Sect Leader all gathered in one place.
My Master Jegalling took the seat of honor as he was appointed as the judge. I stood behind my Master.
‘Wow, this is serious.’
Since the open ground in front of Bidong was quite large, each faction displayed their flags and stood in formation.
Orthodox, heterodox, and demonic.
Warriors in different colored martial robes and wielding different weapons had gathered to witness today’s battle.
Each time they moved, the sound of weapons scraping against their robes echoed through the air.
That alone was enough to chill the heart, and their undisguised hostility toward one another only intensified the effect.
From the orthodox faction’s camp, dressed in neat martial robes, came Changwang Akjin.
One of the ten greatest masters under heaven, former patriarch of the Sandong Ak Clan, and a spear virtuoso.
He cast a subtle glance at Jin Cheon-hee, who stood behind Baek Rin-ui-seon.
‘So the rumors of reaching Hwagyeong weren’t false after all.’
That aura was unmistakably that of one who had transcended Hwagyeong.
To have reached Hwagyeong at merely twenty-something years of age.
Had anyone else made such a claim, I would have dismissed it as mere boasting.
But this was no ordinary person—this was the White-Robed Divine Dragon.
Anyone who had witnessed him fight even once would know those rumors were no fabrication.
What was even more remarkable was how stable his aura remained despite having only recently transcended the barrier.
‘Did he digest the enlightenment of Hwagyeong the moment he broke through the wall?’
Changwang watched his disciple transform into a monster much like his own master, and his heart grew conflicted.
‘The Medical Guild remains neutral, refusing to take the orthodox faction’s side. They wish only to stay impartial.’
Given what Master Baek Rin-ui-seon had endured, it was only natural.
A bitter taste filled his mouth.
But that was a concern for later. He drove his spear into the ground with a resounding thud.
“Changwang Akjin of the Martial Arts Alliance stands here!”
Roooaaarrr!
In that instant, every warrior of the orthodox faction roared in unison.
To them, the Eight Absolute Techniques had to belong to the orthodox faction.
Better that no one possessed them than to see the heterodox sects or the Demon Sect claim them.
Then, as if waiting for this moment, a drum sounded from the Demon Sect’s side.
To the rhythm of the drums, disciples in black robes stepped sideways in unison, creating a long corridor. Through this passage walked a woman dressed in ornate black garments.
Cheong-yeon, Minor Sect Leader.
She wore a sword at an angle across her waist and bore a crooked smile.
Whether from a love of ostentation, there was not a single piece of her adornment—from hair ornaments to hanging jewels—that lacked gold.
Even her black martial robes were embroidered with golden thread.
And the sword at her waist was adorned with gems so brilliantly that all who beheld it could not help but swallow hard.
What was remarkable was that her shoulders remained completely still as she walked.
Had one not watched her feet, one might have mistaken her for floating through the air.
She came to stand before Changwang.
“I am Cheong-yeon, Minor Sect Leader of the Demon Sect, the fifth among our leaders, and I have come in place of the Ilwol Singyeo. If you step aside even now, I shall show special mercy and spare your lives.”
Woooaaarrr!
The moment she finished speaking, the Demon Sect disciples roared in unison.
It was a cry so forceful it seemed determined to erase the orthodox faction’s shout from memory.
Now only the heterodox sect’s leader remained.
“Hey, move aside.”
“The boss says to move aside, everyone!”
Disciples from various sects, dressed in their own garb and wielding their own weapons, scattered like ants in the rain, wandering aimlessly in all directions.
Through their midst walked a gaunt man with dark circles beneath his eyes, leaning on a walking staff.
By appearance, he seemed to be in his late twenties, though that was likely because Sulgye had either undergone some form of life-extension technique or simply aged slowly.
He walked while coughing dryly for a considerable time.
His sleeves were torn away entirely.
From his hands to below his shoulders, he was wrapped in bandages inscribed with Sanskrit characters.
Because of those bandages, he appeared even more like a patient.
‘Is that man truly Sulgye, one of the Two Emperors of the realm?’
Despite looking as though a single breeze would topple him, why was it that—
I noticed Changwang’s palm had grown damp with perspiration.
Thud, tap. Thud, tap.
Despite the crowd of people surrounding them, only the sound of Sulgye dragging his staff across the ground could be heard.
Soon, Sulgye arrived before the two of us and spoke with a voice thick with phlegm.
“Filthy Martial Arts Alliance dogs. I told you to do this at night, yet you bastards scheduled the match for early morning anyway… Because of you, I couldn’t sleep at my age… You wretched fools. Is it right to deprive an old man of his rest? You mutts? Hack, ptui!”
He spat phlegm onto the ground.
He looked at Changwang Akjin and spoke thus.
“You call yourself righteous while claiming the name Changwang, yet you don’t even know the order of seniority. You deliberately scheduled this match at this hour knowing I sleep late in the morning, didn’t you? If you die by my hand, I’ll steal your corpse and turn it into a jiangshi. Even if I have to face the wrath of Hyeolsaeng Nogoe, I’ll do it. Hack, ptui!”
I thought to myself.
‘So it seems Hyeolsaeng Nogoe also desired Changwang’s corpse.’
For now, Changwang himself, the person in question, was still alive and well.
And when he eventually passed, he would probably wish to be buried in the Sandong Ak Clan’s ancestral tomb.
In this Confucian-influenced martial world where swords determined one’s place, such a statement about desecrating a corpse was quite a grave insult.
Yet Akjin remained composed.
“Still, I’m grateful you came, Sulgye.”
“Why is your tongue so long, you bastard son of a bitch, when I said I’d give you a forfeit loss if you didn’t show?”
“Even so, ten years have passed, and you haven’t aged a day.”
“I’m not the one aging—you are, you fool.”
It became quite clear that the Leader of the Cult of Poison had a rather cantankerous disposition.
This time, Sulgye glanced upward at Cheong-yeon Soegosu.
“And you—you managed to crawl back without dying. Last time you interfered with our operations, and I told you if I saw your face again, I’d kill you. Bang! Damn it!”
Cheong-yeon Soegosu spoke.
“Your lack of manners remains unchanged, Sulgye. Though I suppose all heterodox sects are like that.”
“Did your manners help you when you set foot in our operations? Hack, ptui! In any case, you Demon Sect bastards have your fingers in every pie. With so much gold and treasure in the Ten Thousand Great Mountains, watching you make money, I’d think you were running a Gaebang. Hack, ptui!”
Sulgye didn’t yield an inch.
Cheong-yeon Soegosu was different from Changwang Akjin.
“You dare call the Ilwol Singyeo the Demon Sect before me? Do you have a death wish, old fool?”
Ah, she’s angry. Definitely angry.
Sulgye glanced in my direction.
Toward me and my Master Baek Rin-ui-seon.
“You really survived? I thought you’d be half-dead even if you lived. You look healthy? Is it because of him?”
Sulgye pointed at Jin Cheon-hee with his chin.
Jegalling answered calmly.
“He is both my benefactor and my disciple.”
“I see why you’re wrapped up so tightly. But I read the heavens recently, and all I saw before your disciple was misfortune—truly wretched luck, that one.”
Even at those words, Jegalling’s expression remained unchanged.
“Since my master’s life has been turbulent, my own cannot be different.”
“Well. Yes. Still, you seem better these days, living righteously. Not like the old days when you’d hack up anyone from the righteous or demonic sects if things didn’t go your way. I really thought you’d lost your mind when you killed all our sect members and impaled their heads on spears for display.”
…What on earth did Master do in his youth?
Master answered calmly.
“Those who crossed the line required somewhat harsh methods.”
“Right. You madman. Anyway, you little White Dragon—thanks for treating the Hao-mun kids. I’m not the Hao Munzhu, but I’m the leader of the Four Paths, so I’ll thank you on his behalf.”
He was referring to treating the syphilis.
I thought he was irritable, but it seems Eun has a straightforward character.
“No… I merely did what was proper as a doctor.”
“Right. A life with nothing but misfortune, but still, living righteously makes it bearable. Just live that way. Though I suppose I’ll live longer than you anyway.”
Was that a curse or praise? It was ambiguous.
In any case, Sulgye seemed just as unhinged as Hyeolsaeng Nogoe, so I decided to let it pass.
Master and Changwang were both accepting it as well.
Only the Minor Sect Leader of the Demon Sect seemed to bristle.
Master Jegalling stepped forward to organize the current situation.
“First, the three of you gathering here means your interests align, does it not?”
“Damn it… I said we should do this at night, you bastards.”
Master ignored Sulgye’s words and continued.
“After all, in the martial world, everything is entrusted to fortune and the blade. Then, as originally agreed, let us draw lots first.”
Master lifted the lot-drawing box.
A small wooden box.
However, protective inner energy began swirling around Master’s body.
“I pledge by the name of Jegalling that no one can tamper with what is inside this box. Do you agree?”
“I agree.”
Changwang Akjin answered first.
Sulgye clicked his tongue.
“If it’s the little Baek Rin, I can trust him. I agree.”
Cheong-yeon spoke reluctantly.
“I also agree.”
“Then draw in the order you agreed.”
Changwang drew first, then Sulgye, and finally the Minor Sect Leader of the Demon Sect drew last.
The three glared at each other as if ready to kill, then at Master’s signal, revealed their lots.

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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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