Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 417
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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 417
Jin Cheon-hee simply gazed down at them from beneath the eaves, unmoving.
“….”
He offered no response whatsoever.
The Surochaejoo mistook his silence for fear and burst into raucous laughter.
“If you surrender now, we shall abduct you most gracefully.”
“We promise to treat you with the utmost respect and courtesy!”
Though these ruffians typically spouted vulgar nonsense, they at least maintained a semblance of propriety in the princess’s presence.
Wang Gak-yeon and Gongseon Yeong stepped forward.
“Your Highness, allow us to handle this next part.”
“Please rest yourself, Your Highness.”
The Surochaejoo were momentarily taken aback by their demeanor—they looked every bit like loyal guards attending to a true princess.
“We already know your identities.”
“Aren’t you Gongseon Yeong, the leader of Cheonsondan, and Wang Gak-yeon, the vice-leader?”
‘Well, my sister said to be prepared for exposure up to this point.’
Gongseon Yeong thought to herself.
Then Jin Cheon-hee sent a transmission.
[Sister, all four of them don’t appear to be Hwagyeong experts—they look more like Chocheoljung masters.]
[Got it. Leave them to us. The more you fight, the worse it is for you.]
Jin Cheon-hee fell into thought before nodding.
“A woman masquerading as a man… Well, I suppose even cross-dressing has its own appeal. Hehehehe.”
“Krkrkrk, looks like we’ll have some real fun today?”
Watching these ruffians spew such filthy obscenities, Jin Cheon-hee’s eyes narrowed involuntarily.
‘Hwang-gu. I need Hwang-gu’s wrath.’
These brigands needed to learn the sorrow of losing their fire eggs.
Though Hwang-gu currently bore the form of an alpaca, being torn apart by a dog or an alpaca was equally a rare experience.
At that moment, Wang Gak-yeon sensed Jin Cheon-hee’s fury and spoke.
[Cheon-hee. Stay still.]
Wang Gak-yeon had no desire to see the ‘princess’ get involved in such a matter and immediately moved into action.
Piiping!
Speed invisible to the naked eye!
Wang Gak-yeon’s movements, leaving afterimages like the thousand hands of Avalokiteshvara, were truly breathtaking.
“Huh!?”
The four Surochaejoo, who had been cackling and running their mouths, suddenly found themselves bombarded with countless arrows and scrambled to draw their weapons and defend themselves.
“How dare a righteous sect resort to ambush! We shall not forgive this!”
‘Anyone watching would think they’re the righteous ones.’
As Jin Cheon-hee harbored such thoughts, the true battle commenced.
One wielded a thick broadsword.
One carried a pair of curved moon blades, one in each hand.
One bore a double-bladed axe, and another wielded a trident spear.
My exceptional intellect allowed me to identify them immediately through the information recorded in the Martial Artists Registry, but I simply assigned them nicknames on the spot.
‘Broadsword bastard. Twin Blade bastard. Axe bastard. Trident bastard.’
And then they clashed with Gongseon Yeong and Wang Gak-yeon.
* * *
Gongseon Yeong.
Having spent considerable time coordinating with Wang Gak-yeon, she advanced without the slightest hesitation.
Tssssss!
The sword aura stretched long and wide.
Those standing before her were seasoned veterans of the martial world!
Yet they were floundering beneath Wang Gak-yeon’s barrage of arrows, unable to even form a proper formation.
‘The opening is… here!’
Like a tempest, she burst forward toward the Twin Blade user, leading with her head.
The panicked Twin Blade Surochaejoo responded by coating his two crescent blades with blade aura, but the speed difference was already apparent.
Before his two crescent blades could even reach Gongseon Yeong, she had already closed the distance and thrust her sword directly at his face!
Thunk!
The sword aura extended in a long line, piercing straight through his throat.
With four opponents, this was a swift killing strike.
“Gack!”
The Twin Blade user made a gurgling sound and staggered backward.
She leaped to the right, passing by her wounded opponent.
A trident swept through the space where she had just been standing.
She had evaded the Trident Surochaejoo’s attack as he rushed to aid his companion.
In that split second.
She flipped her body in mid-air and scattered her sword strikes.
The sword aura formed a crescent shape, spreading outward in waves.
“What!?”
The waves of sword aura were so ferocious that the shocked Trident Surochaejoo spun his spear like a windmill, attempting to neutralize the aura waves.
However.
This action only opened a massive gap for Wang Gak-yeon, who had been waiting for precisely this moment.
Thunk thunk thunk!
“Aaaahhh!”
Three arrows embedded themselves in his back as he screamed, his movements becoming sluggish.
Then the unspent sword aura from Gongseon Yeong tore through his body.
Though not killed outright, his body reduced to tatters, he lost consciousness and collapsed.
Boom!
In an instant, two supreme masters had fallen.
“This… this is unbelievable. Their reputation was actually understated!”
“Why would someone with such skill not become a Gaju instead of doing something like this?”
Even the watching soldiers’ morale plummeted dramatically.
It was only natural that the remaining Broadsword Surochaejoo and Axe Surochaejoo’s faces turned ashen as cold sweat began to drip down their foreheads.
‘This is insane! They’re this strong!?’
‘Damn it. I need to retreat!’
* * *
In the midst of this chaotic battle, Noeji spotted a boat approaching from a distance.
However, if he signaled by shouting, the enemy might discover their identity. So Noeji simply circled while giving signals instead.
Jin Cheon-hee also confirmed that enemies were approaching.
Why was that? As my martial prowess deepened, I began to gradually discern the opponent’s level as well.
‘They seem to be masters at or above the Hwagyeong level…’
Of course, I would need to cross blades to be certain.
Gongseon Yeong flicked the blood from his long sword with a sharp motion and spoke.
“I’ll handle one. The other one…”
Jin Cheon-hee said.
[I’ll step forward.]
I asked Wang Gak-yeon to provide cover.
[If we find ourselves in danger, it would be best if you provided cover fire. You haven’t reached Hwagyeong yet, right?]
At those words, Wang Gak-yeon’s brow furrowed slightly.
[Sister said I have the body and qi, but…]
What I lack is enlightenment.
In other words, the mind.
When I first sensed Wang Gak-yeon’s qi, it felt like Hwagyeong level.
So I naturally thought she had transcended that realm, but watching that recent exchange, I realized she hadn’t yet crossed that wall.
‘Come to think of it, I’ve been surrounded by nothing but masters.’
Wang Gak-yeon didn’t possess a peerless physique like the Solar Body, nor was she born into a great family and raised eating spiritual medicine like rice since infancy.
Of course, she was still exceptional now.
Her skill in handling qi was so refined that even I had mistaken her for Hwagyeong level.
However, she remained stagnant, just like Namgung Un.
For someone like
Wang Gak-yeon
to fight a Hwagyeong master one-on-one would be unconditionally disadvantageous.
She couldn’t even cross blades as a swordmaster, and she was an archer who needed to maintain distance.
‘A bow is a good weapon for dealing with multiple weaklings or for ambushes. However, striking a swordmaster whose qi perception has developed to a certain level is quite difficult.’
The Gungwi Elder had found the answer.
But Wang Gak-yeon had not yet found it.
If I were to run to Father now and request a martial duel, I could receive some of his martial techniques.
However, that would be Father’s martial art, not my own.
‘In martial arts novels, this period is always portrayed as the most painful stage.’
Jin Cheon-hee broke through like a dog shaking off water, but normally, finding one’s martial art before Hwagyeong is the greatest wall.
[Well, you’ll find it soon enough.]
I sent a comforting telepathic message, but it seemed unlikely to restore her pride with just this.
Still, because of that, and so.
A martial artist would continue their training today as well.
In that moment.
Bang!
Two masters leaped onto the bow and slashed the mast with a single strike.
Whoooosh!
A clear blade aura.
Moreover, to unleash sword energy across such a wide range on a night like this meant they were masters who had long surpassed the early stages of Hwagyeong.
“The princess is quite difficult to capture, it seems.”
“If you surrender now without resistance, I shall escort you home without a scratch.”
They had modulated their voice with inner energy, but their distinctive refined manner of speech and ingrained habits bore the mark of a prestigious family clan.
Gongseon Yeong raised his hand.
“Everyone, fall back. These are not opponents you can face.”
The martial artists of the Gongseon Family and Unryongpyoguk retreated.
Jin Cheon-hee walked forward before the two, gripping a snow-white stone pipa upside down.
“The princess appears to possess considerable martial skill. It seems you practice sound-based techniques.”
At the level of voice modulation, I had already mastered the Seven Horses Forbidden Technique, so I could produce a more natural voice than simply infusing inner energy.
“Rather than sound techniques, I dabble a bit with the axe.”
Truly, a princess’s voice straight from imagination.
The two masked persons stared at the woman wearing the veil with expressions of surprise.
Jin Cheon-hee thought to myself.
‘What is a princess, anyway?’
In all the martial arts novels I had read so far, countless foreign princesses had appeared.
When I synthesized the princesses who had considerable weight rather than brief cameo appearances, there was a common thread.
First, they were beautiful.
I myself had a decent foundation to begin with.
With the hands of an expert hired by the Gongseon Family, I had become the most beautiful under heaven—so that passed.
Second, they had strong personalities.
‘If I smash a few cauldrons with this pipa, they’ll acknowledge that I have a strong personality.’
Now that I had become a princess, I couldn’t send them off gently with dislocated joints like I did with the Veiled Madman.
If I did that, someone might recognize the same touch (?) and grow suspicious.
So this also passed.
‘Yes. I am a princess.’
As Princess Jin Cheon-hee gazed coldly at the two masked persons from beneath the veil, the masked ones burst into laughter, apparently believing I was frightened.
“We have no intention of drawing blood.”
“That’s right. We merely wish to cause someone a bit of trouble, and that would satisfy us.”
Gongseon Yeong tightened his grip on the sword hilt.
Creak—
The younger sibling didn’t know that the someone they intended to trouble was his own older sister, Gongseon Hyeon.
‘One is wielding a spear, and the other is wearing metal knuckles.’
There was no evidence, but the situation made it obvious.
At a glance, the Sandong Ak Family and the Hwangbo Sega.
The fact that both had brought their signature weapons meant they were confident enough to commit their crimes and escape without being caught.
[Cheon-hee, I’ll handle the Sandong Ak Family.]
[The Hwangbo Sega… I’ll take care of them.]
[Very well.]
I could only hope that this masked person had no connection to Jin Cheon-hee or Gak-yeon.
‘It’s not that I fear making enemies. Rather, I’m afraid of seeing a friend walk down the wrong path.’
Whether in this world or the Gangho, human nature remains the same.
A company’s bastard could be the kindest and most loyal of friends.
Yet in the Gangho, a comrade with whom you once shared your heart could today collude with the dark path and assault innocent people.
The duality of human nature is truly terrifying.
So I could only hope that whoever walks this wrong path was not someone I knew.
“Princess, must we truly fight?”
The Hwangbo Sega’s masked person, displeased, took a defensive stance.
Jin Cheon-hee plucked the strings of the white pipa.
Ding-ding-ding—
“….”
It was a signal to attack.
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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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