Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 341

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

Chapter 341
That day, rain was falling.
Jegalling simply gazed at the raindrops falling aimlessly.
Counting the years, he realized that after a few more seizures, death would come.
That was what he thought.
In his youth, he had attempted to live tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of times.
Now, like most of the terminally ill, he had reached the stage of surrender.
Yet, at some moment, he witnessed the falling raindrops descending more slowly.
The slowed raindrops grew even slower, and slower still.
Finally, in the instant when the water droplets hung suspended in the air, forming perfect circles, unmoving.
A moment when time seemed to have stopped assailed him.
He realized that an enlightenment of martial arts he did not need had come to him in this way.
He knew that even if this enlightenment came, he could never undergo the rebirth that other martial artists achieved.
Rebirth is accomplished through the harmony of heart, inner energy, and body.
Even if his mind and inner power were fulfilled, the heavenly curse called the Nine Yin Meridians would bind him.
Jegalling sought to escape from the enlightenment of martial arts.
That moment which other martial artists would stake their lives to obtain.
Yet the deep azure Oseng would not release him.
He sank deeply into enlightenment once more.
What one has already learned cannot be claimed as unknown.
Thus, having transcended the wall of martial arts, Jegalling laughed bitterly for a long time.
To one about to die, such a pearl as this.
Like hanging a pearl around a pig’s neck, his Oseng had hung a pearl around his neck.
Perhaps he should take his own life instead.
At that time, he had contemplated it.
Yet his noble pride would not permit him to flee.
-Those vain thoughts then became meaningless, and the martial arts he had recalled then were being put to such good use now, what a fortunate thing.
My Master fanned himself with a pleased expression, moving the fan slowly.
Before the battle with Dong Cheon-gun, he had broken his fan, and now uses a new one.
However, this fan does not suit his hand well, so Jin Cheon-hee is currently searching through various regions for a fan craftsman.
Therefore, what Muyue has learned now is not merely the Honwon Ohaeng Hyeonwon Gigong.
Jegalling, from that enlightenment, had modified the Hyeonwon Gigong so that the new martial technique created by his disciple.
Could be learned together with the Honwon Ohaeng Gwichong Gigong.
If one had to give it a name, it was something that should be called the Honwon Ohaeng Hyeonwon Gigong.
Muyue needed that.
Because the workload was murderous.
Eventually, after the transmission of both the Honwon Ohaeng Gwichong Gigong and the Honwon Ohaeng Hyeonwon Gigong was complete.
Muyue’s movements, finally able to breathe freely, were remarkable.
Merely three months since Muyue entered Baekrin Uiseon.
In that time, all of Gangso Province had completely fallen into the grasp of Baekrin Uiseon.
Baekrin Uiseon’s branches expanded dramatically throughout Gangsu Province as well, to the point that any region with a population exceeding one thousand would inevitably have a branch.
Whenever a Baekrin Uiseon branch was established, even the smallest ones came with convenient facilities.
And within those convenient facilities, a small general store would open.
I called this establishment a “convenience store.”
Following my explanation that it meant a shop providing convenience, everyone began calling the general store a “convenience store.”
Since it came alongside Baekrin Uiseon branches, medicinal products weren’t sold, but they offered clothing, preserved foods, simple farming tools, and books.
Thus, the general stores commonly known as “Baekrin Convenience Stores” took root throughout Gangsu Province in mere months.
Controlling logistics, commerce, and military power was naturally the next step.
Moreover, with Ju Wang’s support combined with the Emperor’s covert backing, officials didn’t dare touch Baekrin Uiseon in Gangsu Province.
Tremendous growth!
However, it was also difficult for martial sects in other regions to interfere.
Baekrin Uiseon’s business expansion was so different from existing sects’ operations that there was no way to counter it.
The businesses of Gangho sects in this world varied by sect.
Some sects controlled mines and developed mining industries.
Others operated large courier services and earned money through logistics transport.
But Baekrin Uiseon began touching nearly everything.
Silver mine development was completed, and numerous workshops were acquired and merged.
Moreover, in coordination with Hao-mun, they were sharing profits with them.
Hao-mun, being quick-witted, was mimicking Baekrin Uiseon’s methods and expanding their influence in other regions.
For example, Fujian, Zhejiang, and Jiangxi.
These three regions had no major sects, and Hao-mun was advancing into them using methods similar to Baekrin Uiseon’s.
In this era without copyright, copying someone else’s ideas wasn’t even illegal.
-Brother, let me give you a share. Since whether someone else copies or Hyeolseonggyo copies, wouldn’t it be better to take the share and go?
-That is… well… if I’m receiving a share, shouldn’t we call them a cooperative partner from the start?
-That’s exactly what I’m saying~! Master also hopes this honeymoon relationship between Baekrin Uiseon and Hyeolseonggyo continues~
-…Please ensure the goods sold are proper quality.
I’ll leave the rest to Hyeolseonggyo’s conscience (?), but fortunately, they’re selling quality products, including rice balls and other foods.
Once Hao-mun asked for them and they began selling, the forces of Gangho sharpened their blades in secret.
Why?
Why are only those bastards thriving?
Why do they earn money so well?
Why exactly? Then… wouldn’t it be fine to take it?
Dark desires honed the blade.
Hyeolseonggyo’s tail was no longer visible, the conflict between Sadoren and the Martial Alliance temporarily ceased, and the Demonic Sect was quiet now.
Conversely, tension was rising throughout Gangho.
The grudges created in the struggle over the Paechen Musang Divine Art slowly rotted and began to emit a foul stench.
Time passed thus. Four months after Sama Hyeon and Cheonwoo began their training at Baekrin Uiseon.
At last.
Cheonwoo finally reached the supreme realm known as Hwagyeong.
* * *
My body felt impossibly heavy, and after sweating until no more moisture could pour forth.
I drove my physical form to its limits using only the power of my mind, thinking and rethinking endlessly.
‘Cheonwoo. What exactly is Hwagyeong?’
My senior brother, who had already reached Hwagyeong, posed this question to me.
I understood this was not a question born from ignorance.
I sensed instinctively that the moment I could answer this question would be the moment I stepped into Hwagyeong myself.
My brother continued speaking.
‘Hmm, I have this terrible habit of theorizing everything, so I wanted to deconstruct even that realm called Hwagyeong and examine it. I thought that the very process of deconstructing and clarifying it might be how one approaches the essence of martial arts.’
My brother seemed oddly delighted.
Like a child who had just received a new toy.
Deconstructing the realm of Hwagyeong?
It was a koan that seemed to yield no conclusion.
Yet my brother appeared to genuinely enjoy the very process of perceiving phenomena, deconstructing them, and reassembling them.
‘Those who reach Hwagyeong gain a perspective and spirit different from others. Their heart-qi-body advances one stage further. I think certain aspects are quite accurate. When warriors at Hwagyeong enter combat, they share a common trait—they see the very tip of their opponent’s blade to its end.’
A warrior before Hwagyeong typically predicts the next sword trajectory by observing the direction the blade swings, the opponent’s gaze, and the direction of their footwork.
But upon reaching Hwagyeong, one can see the entire sword path of the opponent and perceive even the direction of the blade’s tip, my brother explained.
When I asked if he was certain, my brother nodded.
‘Yes, every absolute technique targeting Hwagyeong was written with the understanding that one can completely see the tip of the opponent’s blade. I was able to confirm this through the absolute techniques I’ve read and even with the Pae Cheon Musang Shinggong I recently obtained.’
After countless cross-verifications, Jin Cheon-hee discovered several commonalities.
This unparalleled genius, unprecedented in Gangho, theorized it once more.
‘Cheonwoo. Hwagyeong means our cognitive function expands one stage further.’
‘If you could perfectly see snowflakes falling from sky to earth. And if you could precisely split each snowflake in half, that would be the realm of Hwagyeong.’
‘Of course, not by swinging carelessly and splitting them roughly.’
From beginning to end.
Until the snowflake falls to earth, melts, and freezes again.
You must be able to perfectly perceive the entire life of the snowflake, my brother said.
‘No one does it well at first. But as you practice, you improve, and when the critical point arrives, you make the leap.’
‘That is shedding. Shedding (脫却) and shedding (脫殼). Both meanings are contained within it. It is also the gateway to entering the next realm.’
If snowflakes are too difficult, raindrops work just as well, my brother said with a smile.
In a way, it resembles the Tai Chi, so it might suit you better as someone of the Wudang School.
‘You can do it. I believe in you.’
The world calls my brother mad, but I know he is simply different from others.
The world has already reached its conclusion and considers it the only correct answer.
But the answer my brother gave is not wrong either.
‘Think of Tai Chi. Tai Chi can be said to be two extremes interlocking and achieving harmony. But have you ever contemplated how that is possible?’
‘The Dual Thought Technique plays the most crucial final role in creating Tai Chi. That is why even within the Wudang School, they carefully select individuals to transmit it, and only after receiving that transmission can one truly claim to understand Tai Chi.’
It was because of that Dual Thought Technique that a hermit sold out Wudang.
He surely must have wanted to perfect Tai Chi.
Within that strange paradox of selling the Way of Tai Chi to understand Tai Chi, my brother cleaved through the Fire Demon.
At that time, my brother was certainly closer to Tai Chi than I was.
So where has he gotten to by now?
Restoring the formation, confronting Jeong Gwang, extinguishing the demonic flame, saving everyone through medicine—my brother collapsed once.
And from that collapse, he painstakingly reassembled himself piece by piece, then walked forward in silence.
At the Yongbong Assembly, he subdued the maddened martial artists, treated them as a doctor, fought against Sip Cheon-gun, and collapsed once more.
Then reassembled himself again.
In the small village he encountered on the way to the imperial capital, my brother repeated this same cycle.
Even in the process of acquiring the Pae Cheon Musang Divine Art, he showed no hesitation in destroying his own body.
Fame and reputation—things any martial artist naturally desires to be acknowledged for?
Has he ever truly cared about such things?
Now the world points at him and calls him mad, yet he remains unmoved.
Because he is certain that the answer he has chosen is not wrong.
Such an extraordinary person was my brother.
The one who gave me my name.
The only person who ever told me I was special.
So naturally, any advice from such a brother would be equally special.

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