Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 424
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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 424
One month.
From Wang Gak-yeon’s perspective, Jin Cheon-hee had spent the past month in perfect peace.
That drinking gathering seemed so distant now that I wondered if I had merely imagined it—I had dealt with the Namgung Family and the Gongseon Family with such composure.
For the entire month, I had focused solely on eradicating the water bandits of Shandong Province root and branch.
During this time, I had not performed any medical work whatsoever, instead delegating any injured patients to the other doctors of the family.
As a doctor, I was taking a brief respite.
Meanwhile, under Princess ‘Seon-hee’s’ command, all the water bandits had been arrested and handed over to the magistrate’s office.
As this process spread throughout the entire Gangho, shockwaves rippled outward.
The fact that I had cross-dressed and participated under the princess’s identity never came to light—remarkably, even those gossipers who fabricated the most absurd rumors failed to speculate about this—yet the circumstances of the Gongseon Family and Baekrin Medical Guild joining hands were widely observed.
One rumor that emerged was that the Hyeolpyeon-wang had disguised herself as a princess and participated.
Hyeolpyeon Wang Dang-a is a master of the whip, but she is also a genius of the Sichuan Tang Family and an expert in poison cultivation.
For this reason, with the truth obscured, the Gongseon Family ultimately gained entry into Shandong Province through the mediation of the Shandong Akga, the Hwangbo Sega, and the Namgung Family.
Zhejiang Province, Jiangsu Province, Shandong Province, and Liaoning Province.
I had completed a distribution network encompassing these four provinces.
The Unryongpyoguk handled shipping, while the Gongseon Family provided capital to purchase and sell goods.
On top of that, the Baekrin Medical Guild quietly expanded the Baekrin Convenience Store and the medical guild itself.
But that was not all.
Yeonmu City had begun its expansion.
Marble laid without restraint and new-style waterways constructed with cutting-edge technology.
Utilizing Liaoning Province’s terrain, I had further reinforced the formation arrays, optimizing them for qi circulation techniques.
This was not the end either.
Even a palace interior that rivaled imperial halls, created through collaboration with the Geumhyeol Pavilion!
Before the construction of Yeonmu City was even complete, martial artists from every corner of the realm came rushing in and formed queues.
Even I had not anticipated this situation where people gathered before the construction was finished.
Even the laborers transporting construction materials inquired whether they could wait in line once the project was completed.
‘For now… there’s no helping it. I need to prioritize issuing waiting tickets in order of arrival, but ensure these tickets cannot be bought or sold.’
In my past life, I had once sold my soul to obtain a ticket when an overseas rock band came to Korea.
I remember screaming until my throat was raw, and on the bus ride back, all those wonderful memories felt hazy, as if I had merely dreamed them.
Drawing upon those memories, I worked to prevent various problems that had plagued such venues in advance, and managed to organize the queues without major incident.
‘Cold Play must have released new songs by now.’
There would be no family waiting to welcome me if I returned to Earth, but still I wished to hear new music.
So this is what homesickness feels like.
Memories of those times surfacing unexpectedly, welling up from within.
When such feelings surge, it becomes difficult to swallow food.
Ordinary people would embrace their knees and weep, drink alcohol, or compose nostalgic verses about their homeland.
I fried chicken.
I could not perfectly recreate the taste of Korean delivery, but I had managed to make fried chicken taste quite authentic.
Crunch—
The taste of home.
Especially when I felt like I might die while writing papers, I would pluck a chicken to survive.
Here I was writing papers for the health of humanity, yet I myself lived drowning in insomnia, caffeine, and cholesterol.
A sad reality indeed.
‘I wonder if things would be different if I grew up tasting Mother’s cooking. Hmm. But still, fried chicken is….’
Thus, as I tore into the chicken, I ground myself down and completed the seventh branch of Yeonmu City.
And as a way of celebrating myself, at the entrance of Yeonmu City’s seventh branch stood a crowned hen spreading her wings.
The report read as follows.
-Patriarch, everyone marveled at the brilliant form of the phoenix.
I clearly ordered them to carve a chicken, but the workers unnecessarily ignited their artistic spirit.
And so, on opening day.
“To all the martial brothers and sisters who have joined Yeonmu City. Welcome to you all. Today is the opening day of Yeonmu City’s seventh branch!”
Waaaaaaa!
With the massive hen sculpture behind him that looked ready to soar into the heavens at any moment, the emcee announced the opening.
The words continued amid the cheers of countless martial artists.
“For this momentous occasion, we have invited a distinguished guest. None other than the famous instructor, Shifu Do Hyeon-jin of the Virtuous Martial School!”
“It is my pleasure. I am Do Hyeon-jin.”
Uuuwaaaaaa–!
The voices of the martial artists grew even louder.
Shifu Do Hyeon-jin of the Virtuous Martial School!
As Yeonmu City grew, there was no one who did not know of him.
“Shifu Do Hyeon-jin of the Virtuous Martial School! To think they brought the very man said to teach inner cultivation so masterfully!”
“As expected of Yeonmu City’s seventh branch. I knew I could trust it!”
“You have to arrive right when Yeonmu City opens to gain something extra.”
“Yes, yes indeed!”
Watching this, Do Hyeon-jin thought to himself.
‘To think the day has come when I, merely at the peak realm, receive such treatment…!’
It had been decades since he studied as a lay disciple under the Wudang School, called the great mountain and northern dipper of the martial world. No matter that he came from Wudang, by his generation, most either advanced to the transcendent realm, died, or found themselves unable to practice martial arts any longer.
The peak realm held high status in the martial world, but his Wudang origins made one tilt their head in confusion.
Becoming an Elder was a dream he dared not dream, and ordinarily, nine out of ten martial artists of his caliber died in the bloodshed of the martial world.
Even if one was fortunate enough to survive, in one’s twilight years one would typically open a small martial school and live watching the faces of local sects. Such was the life of a martial artist like him.
-Originally, a person of modest talent but steady character teaches better than a genius. Especially, I believe Dae Hyeop possesses greater patience than other martial artists, excellent eloquence, and an outstanding ability to convey what he understands.
It was Jin Cheon-hee, the Patriarch, who brought him here.
In the martial world, they called him mad—the Veiled Madman.
This very man offered him a large sum, forgave his debts, and provided him employment.
-There is no need to pass on what you learned from Wudang. Simply learn what I teach you and teach that to others. Ah, there is no need to learn quickly. Rather, you must learn accurately.
Thus, under Jin Cheon-hee, numerous instructor candidates learned martial arts.
Then one martial artist asked.
‘I have heard that the martial arts of the Jegallim Family are far more profound and complex. Making it learnable even by ordinary people and elderly martial artists is praiseworthy, but is this not merely slightly better than street-level martial arts?’
Everyone seemed taken aback by those words.
At that moment, the Veiled Madman answered thus.
-That is sufficient. This martial art is designed so that even warriors with insufficient talent like Oseng can easily master it and save their lives. It cannot be called a divine technique or supreme skill. Yet that is fine. This is not for a select few geniuses, but for the many ‘grays’ among us.
Grays.
I could not grasp the exact meaning, but Do Hyeon-jin thought it must refer to wanderers who were neither purely black nor purely white.
Viewed from that perspective, these martial arts were indeed easy to learn and simple to evade with.
Prioritizing defense and avoiding vital points rather than cutting down opponents.
‘Yet if one reaches the extreme, it should be sufficiently powerful, no?’
This alone was a different perspective from the warrior who had raised objections back then.
Either way was fine.
He had learned it, and taught martial artists in the training city.
Teaching students for payment—one could say it was a form of martial academy.
The difference from ordinary martial academies was that all the instructors studied under the Patriarch and received monthly wages while teaching.
-“Shifu” is not an appropriate term. It is the form of a martial academy, and in some ways an even shallower relationship. So “instructor” would be more fitting.
The Veiled Madman said so with a smile.
He thought to himself.
‘Great families nurture their children from the womb with prenatal education and elixirs, yet among wanderers, occasionally those with excellent bone structure and superior talent emerge. What if such people were to master these martial arts?’
He could not even imagine his disciples reaching the top hundred masters of the realm.
Yet, might there not still be a possibility?
They might surpass the family warriors who had consumed elixirs like daily rice since childhood.
They might reach places he himself could never go.
That was what drove Do Hyeon-jin.
Indeed.
This was Training City Branch 7, located in the outskirts a distance from Shenyang, the capital of Liaoning Province.
And they were holding its grand opening ceremony.
Ropes cordoned off the entrance, and before it gathered clouds of Gangho warriors.
The fervent heat of the Gangho people assembled here rivaled that of a world-class performance on modern Earth.
Before a massive marble statue of a hen, he spoke.
“I am originally a lay disciple who trained at the Wudang Sect. My realm is merely the pinnacle, yet many disciples I have cultivated have reached the transcendent realm. It seems Heaven has commanded me to nurture the next generation and benefit Gangho.”
Though he claimed to be a lay disciple of Wudang, he had not learned much there.
During his time at Wudang, the sect was in its period of decay.
They say it is different now, but it is too late regardless.
Still, the Wudang banner helps here.
The cheers grew louder at those words, needless to say.
Only after the moderator hastily raised his hands to calm them could he continue.
“…Therefore, fellow warriors of Gangho, please feel assured and make use of Training City Branch 7. I will be conducting lectures here for the next three months, so those wishing to register should do so quickly!”
“Waaaaaaaa!”
“Master Do! Master Do!”
“We too can advance to the transcendent realm!”
And Do Hyeon-jin descended from the platform.
The event proceeded smoothly like flowing water, and finally the moderator announced the opening.
“Training City Branch 7 is now open! Register now and receive fifty percent discount! Come, no pushing—maintain order!”
The martial arts tournament city opened in grand fashion, buoyed by the high expectations of the warriors.
And from a distance, a youthful man in plain clothes with a serene expression watched the spectacle with eyes clouded by concern.
* * *
The political landscape of the realm was shifting gradually.
The righteous faction’s influence expanded while the demonic faction’s power contracted in turn.
Though Baekrin Uiseon belonged officially to neither camp, judging by its actions alone, it could be called the most righteous of the righteous factions.
I had completely seized control of Jiangsu Province, where numerous factions once vied for dominance, and succeeded in consolidating the entire region under my influence more thoroughly than any other great family or sect.
Simultaneously, Oh Dok-mun fell and was absorbed into Baekrin Uiseon, while the activities of water bandits and mountain bandits withered.
Was that all?
Dorang, the Haesa Bangju, engaged in direct confrontation with Jin Cheon-hee before all eyes and suffered a humiliating defeat, being expelled from the ranks of the ten greatest masters of Gangho.
As a result, Haesa Bangju could not avoid a contraction of its power, and ultimately three sects that had belonged to Sadoren were stripped away.
Oh Dok-mun’s destruction.
Haesa Bangju cut in half.
The water bandits and mountain bandits lost roughly a quarter of their forces.
This naturally caused tension throughout the demonic faction and Sadoren, their alliance.
It was different from the past Bidong incident.
It certainly cast considerable unease across the entire Gangho.
Though they were villains, lawless, unjust, and illegitimate beings.
They were living humans nonetheless.
As their own survival instincts sounded alarms, Sadoren began to consolidate its unity.
And as the storm clouds gathered slowly.
The Hyeolseon Sect lifted its seal without anyone’s knowledge and resumed its activities, while the succession war within the Demonic Cult grew increasingly fierce.
The calm before the storm persists.
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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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