Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 40

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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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006. Four Pillars
Days passed.
Gungwi joined the Medical Hall, and Wang Gak-yeon remained in the state of a patient.
Winter began to set in earnest.
Nights in the mountains stretched long and dark. The cries of wild beasts echoed from distant places.
Occasionally, human screams could be heard as well. Yet whether those screams truly belonged to humans or to demons remained unknowable—or so the elderly Medical Assistant told young Jin Cheon-hee.
As the days grew shorter, wounds on my hands began to appear more frequently.
My skin reddened and cracked from the fierce winds that cut like blades.
Jin Cheon-hee pressed forward relentlessly with cultivation regardless.
‘They said once the Five Elements Spiritual Cultivation reaches a certain level, such things become trivial.’
Indeed, the Medical Assistants of Baekrin Uigak appeared ten or twenty years younger than their actual age.
Among the three great Medical Halls under heaven, some Medical Assistants of Baekrin Uigak even boasted that their appearance was unparalleled in all the land.
Of course, their skill was equally supreme.
As winter deepened, time bloomed and faded like flower petals.
‘It’s already been several months since I came to this world.’
Jin Cheon-hee opened my eyes in the cold dawn air.
Snow was falling outside.
The mountain range where Baekrin Uigak was situated received heavy snowfall throughout the winter.
The northwestern winds that blew during winter collided with the mountain range, scattering snow.
I learned this by studying a map of this continent, yet remarkably, the people here already knew this fact.
Though not in the same manner as on Earth where I came from, they interpreted it through the principles of yin and yang and reached similar conclusions—which I found quite fascinating.
The fortunate aspect was that since this was a thermal spring basin, it remained somewhat warmer than ordinary mountains.
‘Two hours of sleep per day?’
My sleep schedule ran from 10 PM to 2 AM, totaling four hours.
This was also the time when growth hormones were released.
Master somehow knew this and always ensured I slept before 10 PM. And waking at 2 AM in the early morning was my own will.
Thanks to the true qi filling my dantian, four hours of sleep felt as refreshing as ten hours.
‘So this is what Master meant by a vessel.’
After solidifying my foundation in the Five Elements true qi, I built my body gradually.
For an ordinary person, this would have been tedious enough to abandon.
When I poured the Five Elements Spiritual Cultivation into this carefully crafted vessel, the synergy was tremendous.
Jin Cheon-hee performed gentle stretching exercises in my room.
It was neither elaborate qi exercises nor tai chi.
It was Pilates.
Something I had done every morning since my previous life.
Stretching was beneficial for muscle relaxation and improved blood circulation. It also awakened muscles that were rarely used.
In truth, my lower back and pelvis had once been twisted due to poor posture in my previous life, and before resorting to surgery, I had desperately tried to correct it—and this habit had persisted.
Next came seated meditation.
Jin Cheon-hee closed my eyes and slowly regulated my breathing.
The duration of inhalation and exhalation gradually lengthened, grew distant, and became profound.
The young man felt the true essence of heaven and earth flowing through him.
As I awakened my senses, I realized countless times that this was not Earth.
This world was filled with the principles of the Five Elements and the balance of yin and yang.
Just as the elderly Medical Assistant had said, the screams echoing from the mountains might not be human—they could belong to demonic creatures.
Because such beings truly existed in this world.
Just as immortals and spiritual beings existed, so too did their opposites.
However, speaking of them was avoided because ‘they’ could actually hear it. It was one of the elders’ long-standing superstitions.
‘Well, martial arts novels do have stories where the protagonist fights demons and immortal cultivators after unifying the realm.’
When a novel became successful and publishers begged for it not to end, and the author thought they might as well pay off their mortgage while things were going well, such characters often made their appearance.
Yet Jin Cheon-hee found this surprisingly entertaining and continued watching despite his complaints.
Indeed, powerful enemies never failed to be satisfying when they appeared.
‘Whenever immortal cultivators are mentioned, Jang Sambon the Immortal always shows up to fight the protagonist or pass on his techniques before leaving.’
Jang Sambon.
He could be called the representative immortal cultivator of martial arts novels.
Depending on the novel, when it became an epic spanning countless volumes, he would eventually become a measuring stick for combat power.
‘This novel has demons too.’
Like any long work, demons appear—though very late in the story.
I began slowly gathering my energy, when suddenly I sensed a strange aura from far away.
‘Huh?’
A black speck was emitting a powerful energy wave as it raced across the mountain, growing distant.
The aura it carried was so majestic yet secretive that it sent chills down my spine. I couldn’t see who was running while radiating such a presence.
Originally, it would have been impossible for me to sense something like this.
‘What is this? Does the Five Elements Heart Method have such an effect? I’ve never heard Master mention it.’
Perhaps I had sensed it incorrectly. I concluded as much.
‘Right. How could I, a beginner, possibly sense that?’
I thought that if someone who had just learned could sense it, anyone at the Medical Hall would have detected it first.
As I felt the black speck disappear completely into the distance, I slowly opened my eyes.
The second watch of the night.
In other words, I had spent a full four hours in morning cultivation by modern time.
My inner energy was now quite substantial.
At least fifteen years’ worth of cultivation power could be felt in my lower dantian.
‘The medicinal properties of the Heavenly Pine Pill have been completely absorbed into my inner energy.’
It was a spiritual medicine I had received from Gongseon Hyeon.
In truth, if I were greedy, I could accumulate more inner energy, but impurities would only hinder the cultivation of the Five Elements Heart Method.
I absorbed only the purest wood essence and burned away the rest without hesitation.
Combined with consuming various medicinal herbs and spiritual medicines as they were provided, I continued cultivation without missing a single day.
Moreover, since I was training not only in seated meditation but also the Five Elements Heart Method simultaneously, the speed at which my inner energy accumulated was beyond imagination.
In half a year, I had gained fifteen years’ worth of inner energy, placing me beyond the ordinary realm of Gangho. Without the aid of spiritual medicines, this would have been impossible.
‘That’s enough cultivation for today!’
Six in the morning—or by Gangho reckoning, the Hour of the Rabbit, between five and seven in the morning.
At six in the morning, Baekrin Uigak began to stir awake.
The bell rang from Uiseon Hall.
The deep, resonant toll shook through the Bamboo Forest, dispelling the cold from every corner.
Servants rose and began their duties at the Medical Hall, while the Medical Assistants completed their morning cultivation and commenced their work.
Since the Medical Assistants had to cultivate their inner strength for treatment, the morning cultivation session was absolutely essential.
‘Today is the day I’m formally appointed as a Medical Assistant.’
Skipping the rank of trainee physician.
It was not merely unconventional—it was absurd. Yet this trainee physician had saved a patient at Wunryong Pyoguk’s Branch Headquarters whom even Baekrin Uiseon Jegallim could not save, and had brought back to life the daughter of Gungwi, whom Baekrin Uiseon Jegallim had abandoned.
Because of this, a formal meeting regarding Jin Cheon-hee’s position would begin today.
As a result, the four hall masters who governed Baekrin Uigak gathered in one place.
* * *
The air in the Medical Hall grew heavy.
The four hall masters who moved Baekrin Uigak took their seats like the star points on a Go board. Then the direct disciples who served each hall master became the supporting stones, sitting on either side of their master.
Following Yoo Ho’s guidance, I took the lowest seat.
It was the position befitting someone who had just entered the Medical Hall and had not yet been assigned an official rank.
In the cool atmosphere, no one greeted me.
Yet one person—a kindly-looking elderly woman—offered me a nod of acknowledgment. She was Manpagok, who held the position of medicinal herb hall master.
With her distinctive name, she had often given me honey-preserved bellflower root and dried persimmons and various other things.
Well-liked and without enemies in the Medical Hall, she had a generous nature, a large frame, broad hands, and a thick, hearty voice.
As an expert in medicinal herbs and quick with calculations, she maintained strong connections with wealthy merchants and could easily procure rare herbs that other Medical Halls could not obtain.
Finally, the door opened and my Master entered.
With his long silver hair neatly tied back, my Master appeared even taller than usual.
‘He already had a large frame, but now I can even feel the pressure of his presence.’

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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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