Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 399
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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 399
“You’re not complaining these days~? Not asking about outside matters either.”
“I just decided to do it that way.”
From that day forward, I devoted myself quietly to my own recovery alone.
I didn’t concern myself with external affairs—recovery came first.
To Sama Hyeon, this shift in my mindset seemed quite remarkable.
Time passed, and the day came to remove my cast.
Though only half-strength, it was poison of Hyeongyeong caliber.
Even though it had been detoxified, I was somewhat worried about what color my limbs, stained by that poison, might have turned.
“Ha… Don’t tell me scales have sprouted?”
“It’s fine. Hyeong~ Even if scales sprouted on you, I’m okay with it. I’ll crack the skulls of anyone who complains, so don’t worry.”
The way he said he’d crack skulls seemed half-serious, which actually worried me.
“If it’s just darkened discoloration, I can cover it with clothes. Hmm… It might look a bit like a scar though.”
“That’s fine too.”
Jegalling spoke.
“Hmm, even I cannot guarantee this one. The poison of Oh Dok-mun combined with demonic qi poison, and a rampage of entering demons and losing one’s mind… A direct hit from that poison means it’s already a miracle you’re alive.”
The Medical Staff member beside him offered forward a cutter to sever the cast.
It was different from modern plaster cutters. Rather, it resembled scissors.
“What need is there for such a thing?”
My Master spoke thus and swung the fan he held once.
Crack!
I couldn’t even see it brush past. Just a silver line drawing gracefully through the air.
No killing intent, no ferocity—merely a peaceful, ordinary movement.
In that instant, the plaster shattered lightly, and the various medicinal herbs inside scattered in all directions along with the cast.
The scattered herbs all emitted a foul stench, and as they scattered, they fell into a prepared container.
“The medicinal herbs have absorbed the poison.”
“If you bury that in the ground, grass won’t grow for at least fifty years. If you burn it, livestock across the entire region will die from the poison.”
“Then how is it used?”
“Sorcerers and geomancers buy it at high prices. It’s used when cursing others or deliberately bringing misfortune to land.”
“I… see.”
“Since Hyeolsaeng Nogoe expressed desire for it, I’ve decided to give it to them. They helped me through correspondence when treating you. There are few who surpass Hyeolsaeng Nogoe when it comes to demonic qi.”
I nodded.
Thus, I removed all the casts from my limbs, and the poison-soaked medicinal herbs filled the container to the brim.
The bronze vessel couldn’t withstand the poison’s potency and rusted rapidly in a short time.
“The couriers will have quite the ordeal transporting this.”
My Master spoke thus and wiped down all my limbs with towels soaked in medicinal liquid.
My Master and Sama Hyeon performed this process.
If someone with low inner strength were to be poisoned, it would be troublesome.
Instead, the other Medical Staff members replaced the used towels with fresh ones.
The towels used to wipe away the poison were also placed in a bronze vessel.
Crackle—
“It’s infuriating that the poison still lingers. Go bathe now.”
I followed my Master’s command and headed toward the bathhouse.
My limbs creaked as I moved for the first time in so long.
Did the poison’s influence still remain?
A burning sensation and a cool numbness alternated across my skin.
As I settled into the prepared medicinal bath, Sama Hyeon entered.
“Baek Rin-ui-seon instructed me to watch over you so you don’t collapse in the water.”
“I’m doing better than expected.”
“Instead of saying you’re fine, try complaining a little about how hard it is. Why do you hate worrying those around you so much~?”
“Hate it? I’ve caused quite a bit of worry this time.”
At that, Sama Hyeon chuckled softly.
“Still, I’m alive thanks to you~ Well, I wish everyone else had been as merciless, but that’s probably impossible.”
With those words, Sama Hyeon watched over me until I finished bathing safely.
After finishing my bath and wrapping just my lower half with a towel, I stepped out to find my Master had already prepared a large mirror.
It was a remarkably luxurious mirror—clearly expensive at first glance.
Through the mirror, I could see all the skin on my limbs that had been hidden beneath the casts.
“Hmm, no scales have formed.”
“No discoloration either~”
“And the muscles haven’t atrophied.”
To the eye, they were simply the limbs of an ordinary man with firm musculature.
If anything, the pale, luminous quality was enough to evoke the phrase “beauty beneath the moon.”
I circulated my inner force experimentally.
In that instant.
Whoosh—
Simply by channeling my inner force, a cold sensation extended to my fingertips, forming snowflakes.
“What is this…?”
Ice crystals formed with perfect clarity.
But they were not ordinary ice.
Black snowflakes.
I could change them to white snow if I wished, but without concentration, poison seeped into the ice technique.
‘Did the Five Elements Mutual Destruction Poison devour the poisons of Oh Dok-mun and the Demonic Sect, making them its own?’
It seemed the precious jade within my body resonated while I lay unconscious.
While I sank into unconsciousness, the jade circulated my inner force, maintaining the Five Elements Mutual Destruction Poison more smoothly.
As a result.
I had made the poison technique my enemies used into my own.
“Huh…?”
Suddenly, it felt like it might be possible.
It was a call from instinct.
I licked and swallowed the poison emerging from my fingertips as if drawn by that impulse.
*Gulp*
Everyone stared at me with astonished eyes.
“Patriarch, are you alright?”
“Yes. There’s no adverse effect.”
My Master spoke in exasperation.
“So you’re somewhere between immunity to all poisons and immunity to heavenly poisons.”
Jegalling then stared at me intently before seizing my wrist.
“…!”
“The arm that was overexerted while bearing the poison toxin still seems to be in pain.”
How did he know?
I thought I’d deceived him quite skillfully, but my Master had apparently noticed that my movements differed from usual.
‘Well, before that, my limbs were bound the entire time I was lying down, so of course it would feel awkward.’
I’d been lying still for quite some time before finally being able to move.
Naturally, all my limb movements would feel unnatural.
What was truly frightening was how he pinpointed one arm specifically and detected something amiss.
‘My Master is still impossible to deceive.’
My Master sat me down and took my pulse for a long while.
Then he spoke thus.
“In terms of functional capacity alone, the improvement is incomparable to before. With no blockages in the meridians, your inner energy flows smoothly, your external techniques have advanced significantly, and your resistance to poison and ice arts is exceptional. However, whether the pain will fully recover is something I cannot guarantee.”
“I see.”
“Some might rejoice at the increased achievement as a warrior, but as your Master, I am concerned.”
“I’ll need to employ nourishing cultivation techniques for a while.”
“It’s fortunate that it’s your non-dominant hand. Or perhaps it’s karmic retribution, given how consistently you’ve destroyed that limb—during the Wudang Sect and the Dragon Phoenix Assembly alike.”
My Master clicked his tongue in disapproval.
I reflected.
‘It’s useful when unleashing a powerful strike. Perhaps I should reserve it for my ultimate technique.’
If the nourishing cultivation technique worked, there would be no need to consider such variables, and that would be satisfactory.
After all, I had grown stronger.
Wasn’t that crucial for survival?
I began circulating my inner energy once more with my uninjured hand.
‘I need to see what compatibility exists with the other vital energies of the Five Elements Divine Art.’
I focused my inner energy calmly.
Since it was not the arm in pain, I could perceive it in its enhanced state.
Self-examination as a warrior was an important matter.
While I fell into meditative concentration, my Master sent all the other doctors away.
He wanted to send Sama Hyeon away as well.
‘Though the probability is low, if the poison art were to run amok during cultivation, someone would need to serve as a shield in my stead.’
No matter how low the odds, one could not overlook such a possibility.
My Master calmly decided to use Sama Hyeon as a meat shield should that moment arrive.
That was precisely why he tolerated my sworn siblings to a certain degree.
Yeo Ha-ryun found such defensive formations ineffective against Cheon Sal-seong, making them troublesome and impractical.
Regardless.
I fell into a state of absolute focus, concentrating the Five Elements Divine Art into my right arm.
Thunder qi, frost qi, water qi, wood qi, metal qi, and earth qi flowed in succession through the handsome young man’s arm.
Each time, lightning crackled across my arm, then frost settled, then water droplets gathered and rose—the cycle repeating endlessly.
“That’s fast.”
Sama Hyeon exclaimed without thinking.
“The Five Elements Divine Art circulates that quickly?”
He muttered to himself while observing my condition.
The Five Elements Divine Art fundamentally relied on manipulating five different types of qi with distinct properties, combining them in the dantian to create or transform different attributes.
I often compared it to cooking, and Sama Hyeon understood well enough that it was far more difficult than it sounded.
Even the same level of enlightenment didn’t simply increase power or purify inner strength—it branched and evolved in countless ways.
In my case, my adaptability had been maximized.
‘It’s probably because of medicine. For me, martial arts are ultimately nothing more than a means to save lives.’
Whether this could truly be called martial prowess, I wasn’t certain, but since I was the first to transcend the enlightenment stage, this path couldn’t be entirely wrong.
My achievements didn’t end there.
Whoosh—
Extreme yang fire qi gathered at my fingertips.
The flames, grown like a wildfire, were soon compressed, forming a radiant sphere like the sun itself.
“A radiant sphere…?”
I slowly opened my eyes.
“Not quite a radiant sphere… something similar to it.”
[Could it be… the Jegallim Family’s martial arts aren’t truly at the level of Ansul Muhun, but rather a counterfeit version of Ansul Muhun, or not at the level of Sammaejinhwa, but rather a counterfeit version of Sammaejinhwa…]
Sama Hyeon quickly sent a transmission while gauging Jegalling’s reaction.
His skill at satisfying curiosity while maintaining social grace was admirable.
I spoke.
[Right… when I learned fire-generating qi, I wasn’t at true Sammaejinhwa, but rather something similar to it. So technically, this isn’t a true radiant sphere either… but it can certainly look like one.]
Sama Hyeon nodded.
[I’m jealous, hyeong. I wish I could scatter counterfeit radiant spheres and brag around that I’m Three Elites level~]
…Ah, you cunning schemer Jegalling.
* * *
After analysis, frost qi became my most prominent specialty, while fire qi was the easiest to circulate after that.
Ultimately, I could now use extreme yang and extreme yin without any meridian blockages.
And extreme poison was a bonus on top of that.
[You’re not using your left arm?]
[It still hurts. If I use it carelessly, my Master will hit the back of my head and drag me to the Medical Guild.]
As I grew stronger, I became a double-edged sword.
I tried throwing a counterfeit radiant sphere as a test.
Boom—!
A massive crater formed where it landed.
Hyeong watched and cried out, “Wheeee! TNT!” I had no idea what it meant, but Sama Hyeon gathered from context that he was comparing loud, powerful explosions to that sound.
“We should probably handle the matters with the Golden Blood Chamber soon, shouldn’t we?”
At Baek Rin-ui-seon’s order to leave, Sama Hyeon nodded obediently.
“I’ll add a few more letters and come back~!”
In any case, he was Hyeong’s Master.
Sama Hyeon had his own temperament, but Baek Rin-ui-seon’s personality was beyond comparison—truly lamentable.
From Sama Hyeon’s perspective, that man had no joy in life without Hyeong.
Trying to stand on principle against such a person would only result in losses on his end.
The math simply didn’t work out.
And so Sama Hyeon stepped outside and concluded his business here.
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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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