Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 34

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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 34
Within the Dantian
I sensed
a greater quantity of true qi than before. And it was true qi similar to what I already possessed.
It was from the same school. And there was only one person from the same school who could give her true qi.
Wang Gak-yeon realized that her father would never again display the martial prowess he once commanded. And somehow, she herself had become stronger.
“Are you certain about this? You will never be able to draw a bow again.”
Perhaps it was because he had expended his innate true qi. Father looked older than the last time I had seen him. Yet there was a smile on his lips.
“My daughter lives. What more could I ask for? That was all I ever wanted.”
My Master glanced at me.
‘Hee, will you be alright? It seems he was planning to place this man under you….’
Ordinary true qi could recover, but innate true qi was different.
It was the very essence of human vitality.
One could still use internal energy, but it would never be the same as before.
If he had once been a supreme master, then Gungwi now could display at best the martial skill of a third-rate warrior.
‘Our Cheon-hee is such a virtuous child that he might find fulfillment simply in saving a life….’
The Master harbored quite the misconception about his disciple.
Reading the Master’s expression, I nodded.
I thought to myself.
‘He’s in perfect condition to be useful.’
Martial arts novels feature countless villains. Among them, some hold particularly significant roles. There are certain conditions necessary for this….
A wealthy villain?
They attempt to bully the protagonist, only to be stripped of everything later.
Whether the protagonist’s background is humble or privileged, and whether this genre involves reincarnation, regression, or possession—the manner of their downfall varies.
But regardless, their defeat is inevitable.
A powerful villain?
Powerful villains always exist in martial arts stories.
They display tremendous martial prowess early on, only to ultimately become stepping stones for the protagonist’s enlightenment. Truly, they embody the spirit of self-sacrifice for righteousness.
Using these villains as stepping stones, the protagonist fights through life-and-death trials, opening the twelve meridians, and transforms from a sword user into a sword master, reaching the realm of sword supremacy.
Living treasures of enlightenment, one might say. They grant the protagonist insights that even the Master could not provide.
But that is all. The ‘powerful villain’ defeated by the protagonist ceases to be a villain.
They die, reform themselves, have their dantian destroyed and never appear again, or something similar.
‘Ultimately, the best kind is the weeds villain.’
No matter how many times you kill them, they resurrect and grow even stronger, becoming enemies and sometimes allies, continuing the story.
Truly villains of the weeds variety, one might say.
Gungwi walks a middle path between the powerful villain and the weeds villain.
A character who is tedious yet occasionally impressive.
Combined: ‘tediously impressive.’
In the novel, Gungwi loses his family, becomes a villain and goes berserk, and after his battle with the Heavenly Demon, exhausts all his power.
The enlightenment he obtained then was an enlightenment impossible to achieve in any other physical state.
‘This works out well.’
While everyone else grieved, I alone wore a smile of conviction.
‘And since he’s lost his martial prowess, he’s in a perfect state to be swayed.’
Life is all the same for everyone.
People are more moved by those who help them during hardship than by those who help when things are good and going well.
On top of that, I had already bestowed upon him the grace of saving his family.
Judging by his temperament, he would never forget this debt of gratitude for the rest of his life.
Gungwi continued speaking.
“Moreover, my daughter’s martial power has become stronger than before. As a father, what could be more auspicious than this?”
Before being Gungwi, he was simply a parent.
And foolishly, a parent who lived only for his child.
“Let me check her pulse.”
When Jegalling extended his hand, his daughter Wang Gak-yeon, who lay on the bed, offered her arm.
After taking her pulse for a while, my Master spoke.
“All three meridians are open.”
At those words, Gungwi cried out in shock.
“All three meridians?! Every single one?”
For fifteen days, she had walked the line between life and death, sustaining her body with miraculous medicine, true qi, and various grand techniques.
And in my Master’s Gimun Jinbeop, she had endured to the very limit and even received her father’s innate true qi.
She too seemed startled, her eyes widening for a long moment.
Jegalling spoke.
“However, they are only temporarily open. If left as is, they will close again.”
“You mean to say….”
“From now on, for ten days you must cultivate your qi while channeling your inner energy through all three meridians. The Medical Assistants will provide supplementary acupuncture treatment, so if you endure for just ten days, your three meridians will remain open from that point forward.”
Inner energy flows through countless meridians in the body.
Whether qi moves along blood vessels or along nerves, even I cannot say for certain.
It’s not something visible, and there are no medical instruments from Earth to measure it.
I can only speculate that based on how turbid qi becomes pure essence and is expelled outward after bloodletting, it likely follows the blood vessels more than the nerves.
For a martial artist, having all three meridians open throughout the entire body carries great significance.
It means inner energy can be controlled and accumulated in desired forms more easily, so even with the same martial techniques, destructive power and versatility differ greatly.
Wang Gak-yeon spoke with tears glistening in her eyes.
“Thank you… truly, thank you. Dad too… I’m truly grateful.”
“No, no. This debt of gratitude ultimately began because of my own incompetence as a father, did it not? It is these people who deserve thanks.”
Jegalling answered coldly.
“There is nothing to thank us for. And in the first place, those villains from Jeongpa who tried to resolve the debt by beating such a young child are simply wicked.”
They were indeed people of Jeongpa. My Master let that much pass without comment,
but
he could not fathom what circumstances had led them to commit such cruel acts against this child.
In truth, I could scarcely imagine it myself.
Perhaps that was why Gungwi had gone even more mad.
The patient before my eyes was a child around my age.
Gungwi bowed deeply once more.
“I don’t know how I could ever repay such kindness.”
His daughter, still not fully recovered, tried to rise from the bed to follow her father and perform a deep bow.
Jegalling was startled and stopped her.
“You mustn’t move yet.”
“But….”
“It’s fine. In truth, there wasn’t much I did.”
He looked at me.
Wang Gak-yeon spoke.
“Actually, Father told me. He said if it weren’t for Sohyeop Jin, I would already be dead. And….”
She hesitated for a moment.
Gungwi’s expression darkened.
I asked, “Are you alright?”
She nodded and broke into a grin.
“Yes. Father is just Father, after all. The path of cooperation Father couldn’t complete, I’ll finish instead. Well. Hehehehe!”
With eyes reddened and wet with tears, she laughed boldly.
She continued speaking.
“I always knew. Father only understands one thing and misses two—he’s a fool like that. So I thought I’d better train hard in martial arts just in case. That’s why I trained so intensely.”
Jegalling nodded.
“Indeed. The fact that her body could endure that training, and that her meridians have opened—all of this is because she put in far more effort than someone her age typically would.”
Qi could only be grasped through effort.
Wang Gak-yeon spoke to her father.
“So stop crying. It’s fine. I’m alive and well, aren’t I? Yes? Father. I’m fine now.”
“….”
Gungwi didn’t answer.
He couldn’t answer.
He simply pulled his daughter into an embrace. I thought to myself.
‘To remain so composed even in this situation… she might actually earn the titles of Gung-shin or Gung-jon someday.’
Great trees are known from their saplings, and already her vessel was extraordinary.
The fact that she had survived her first real battle against what appeared to be adult beasts from Jeongpa without dying was already proof she was no ordinary talent.
If that were the case, it was all the better. She was around my age, and if she continued to grow as she was, the people of the Martial Arts World would speak of her name frequently.
‘I’ve caught two birds with one stone.’
With a single act of kindness, I had earned the gratitude of both Gungwi and the future Gung-shin.
I asked innocently.
“So… everything is resolved now?”
There was no way that could be true. Now came the next problem.
I had laid the groundwork; now it was time to reap the harvest.
As expected, Gungwi’s expression grew dark.
As expected, Gung-gwi’s expression darkened.
‘He asked. Now let me pull.’
My fingers itched with anticipation.
I felt the spirit of the old fisherman as I pulled the line.
* * *
Since it wasn’t something to discuss in front of the patient, I stepped outside with Gungwi Wang Chae-baek.
My Master Jegalling still needed rest, so he went inside.
Mentioning the evening breeze was cold.
In essence, it meant he was entrusting everything that came next to me.
“Truth be told, I’m not sure what to do from here on. Jin Sohyeop.”
Even if he wanted revenge, he no longer had the strength to achieve it.
Even if he wanted to work, the debts and grudges accumulated over the years would likely lead to an untimely death.
The adult and I walked through the bamboo forest of the rear garden like that.
“I’ve long heard that Medical Halls always have lush bamboo groves, but the one at Baekrin Uigak is particularly beautiful.”
Bamboo is an indispensable material for the Medical Hall.
The roots are used as medicinal ingredients, and the sap is used to age herbal medicines.
The trunks become bamboo strips, saving expensive paper.
Moreover, they serve perfectly as containers for herbal pills.
The leaves are used as tea leaves, and bamboo shoots are finely cut, slowly simmered until tender, and added to patients’ meals.
Bamboo doesn’t demand much from the soil and grows readily with adequate rainfall, so the Medical Hall always has a thriving bamboo grove.
“Don’t the Medical Clinics create bamboo groves these days as well?”
“They do, but they cannot compare to those of the Medical Hall.”
As the wind blew, the bamboo swayed. The leaves rustled against each other, sounding like falling rain.
The bamboo forest had one more advantage.
Sound didn’t carry far.
In a completely silent place, one could focus their hearing, but the bamboo forest was quiet yet full of sound.
Moreover, if someone approached, we could immediately notice from here, making it perfect for confidential conversations.
For the Medical Hall, which had to deal with countless secrets of the Gangho, this was incredibly important.
‘Looking closely, the bamboo seems to be arranged like some kind of formation.’
This forest was created by Jegalling, a master of Gimun Jinbeop.
It was clear that principles unknown to ordinary people were embedded within it.
When we reached the center of the bamboo forest, Gungwi Wang Chae-baek spoke.
“I have often witnessed first-rate martial artists become third-rate ones while accepting numerous requests from the Gangho. I have also witnessed their ends. It is something I was prepared for.”
He spoke calmly.
The wind stirred through the bamboo forest again. The sound of rain rushed in.
He continued.
“Thanks to your kindness, Sohyeop, my situation is somewhat better. My daughter, Gak-yeon, overcame her limits at such a young age. What greater joy could a parent have than seeing their child surpass them?”
A faint smile played at his lips.
The expression of one resigned to death.

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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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