Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 487

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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 487
After consolidating my enlightenment, I couldn’t leave my quarters for about three days.
“Things aren’t proceeding as planned.”
It wasn’t as though I’d sustained a major injury.
If anything, I’d grown stronger through this battle.
“Hyeong, let me remove the bandages.”
“Mm.”
As Cheonwoo unwrapped the bandages, dark poisonous liquid seeped from them.
Not a lethal toxin.
Fortunately, it was at a level I could expel using my inner energy.
However, since the poison continued to seep out, treating patients in this condition was impossible.
“Why did you let it go this far?”
My left hand, discolored purple, clearly showed signs of tremendous pain.
Yet I answered calmly.
“Perhaps… there was a collision between the poison I absorbed and decomposed using the Five Elements Mutual Destruction Poison and the newly enlightened Transcendent Heart Technique…”
Cheonwoo found it difficult to understand.
The martial arts I was discussing were at the level of Mudang Gwon-je.
What he could at least infer was that enlightenment had caused some change in the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, which in turn affected the Five Elements Mutual Destruction Poison.
“The pain…?”
“It’s fine.”
Whether it truly was fine remained uncertain.
I gazed down at my hand and spoke.
“Unexpectedly, the battle consumed too much of my mental energy. Normally it would have been fine… but I tried to apply the enlightenment I gained from my battle with Khan again, and this happened.”
Transcendent Heart Technique—Life and Death Wisdom.
Was this a side effect? Or something else?
Cheonwoo was about to rewrap the bandages when he noticed the tendons on the back of my hand twitch.
“See? It hurts.”
“Yes, it hurts. But it’s fine, I’m telling you. I forcibly drew upon a realm I shouldn’t be able to access at my current stage—why would there be no side effects?”
“Sigh…”
Cheonwoo exhaled deeply.
I smiled faintly and spoke.
“There should be a pipe under the bed. Could you fetch it?”
Just as I said, a chest was visible beneath the bed, and when Cheonwoo retrieved it, an elegantly carved pipe of dark wood emerged.
“In the same chest, there should be some medicinal herbs rolled for pain relief.”
“Is it safe?”
“The Pharmaceutical Lord prepared it for emergencies, and while it’s quite potent, it’s fine. I wanted to avoid smoking it, but there’s no choice now.”
With the bandages removed, my hand continued to tremble.
Severe pain was setting in.
A realm incompatible with the body. This was the result of greedily pursuing it excessively.
I lit the pipe and drew in a deep breath, then exhaled slowly.
The trembling in my hands gradually subsided.
“I’ll have to postpone Life and Death Wisdom for later.”
“Perhaps you should simply forbid that technique, Master.”
“It’s better than dying. Still.”
Better than killing people.
I could sense what my brother had left unsaid.
“….”
Cheonwoo sighed.
I spoke.
“I should be able to control the poison in about three days. The pain will stop by then too. I’ll remain secluded until then.”
“Understood. You have my word.”
“Good.”
Whoosh—
Smoke drifted lazily downward.
I continued.
“Still, it was good to revisit my understanding.”
“Your understanding of Life and Death Wisdom?”
“Yes. If I’m careful, I might be able to reduce the burden on my body.”
“….”
“There’s no helping it. From the start, this body of mine was never built for martial arts. I’m not like my Master or you with a martial bone. I didn’t inherit Cheon Sal-seong like Yeo Ha-ryun did, which transformed his very constitution, nor do I have hands optimized for heterodox martial arts like Sama Hyeon.”
“People with bones like yours, brother….”
“…usually never reach this level. That’s why your Mudang Sect always examines bone structure before recruiting. You were a parachute appointment at the time, but your bones grew as you developed.”
This is a problem easily understood even by modern standards.
Every sport has a body type suited to it.
Basketball alone favors height, while horse racing favors lightness.
Gymnasts need a gymnast’s build, and volleyball players need a volleyball player’s build.
Wrestling and boxing are no different.
Martial arts are naturally the same.
Solid bones and elastic muscle. That’s the foundation.
Height, muscle mass, meridians suited to martial arts, and endurance too.
“Still, I do have one advantage—regenerative ability.”
Thanks to the Precious Jade.
However, I was not blessed with good bone structure by nature.
My growth had stopped at some point, and since my body wasn’t naturally inclined to build muscle, I had to train endlessly.
That’s why when Baek Rin-ui-seon first wanted to take me as a disciple, everyone wondered why he would accept a child without martial bones.
I said.
“Right now, my body can’t keep up with Oseng. My body will… somehow manage.”
Smoke slowly filled the room.
Then I spoke again, as if to convince myself.
“Yes, it will somehow work out.”
Then he pulled out a letter.
“The Abbot should be nearby. Try heading toward the Bota Trading Guild.”
“What is this, hyeong?”
“A challenge letter. Wasn’t your original purpose to have a martial match with the Bota Clan anyway? Do you think opportunities to spar with the Abbot come around often?”
“Hyeong, you….”
“What? I only needed you here until the relief center was finished. Did you think I was planning to keep you pinned down forever?”
Cheonwoo clicked his tongue softly.
So he had known all along.
I felt both resentful and understanding toward my hyeong for preparing this in advance.
He had been wary of Cheonwoo abandoning his original purpose.
“Take it with you. You don’t need to schedule the match right away, but when Baekrin Medical Guild’s second branch opens, just tell him we can do it then and he’ll understand.”
“Hyeong.”
“What’s your answer?”
My hyeong wasn’t someone who wouldn’t understand the benefits of having Cheonwoo nearby. But the reason he was speaking so firmly was.
‘I’ve taught you everything I can teach. Don’t stay still.’
Had I been too indulgent, staying by his side?
Had he seen through that and let it slide all this time?
“I understand, hyeong.”
“Good.”
Now Cheonwoo had to ascend to the next level.
That would be forged through real combat, not within the Medical Guild.
I issued the order to send Cheonwoo away.
There was another reason for sending him off.
I needed time alone.
Time to subdue this pain.
‘If Cheonwoo were here with me now, it would only become harder to let him go.’
That was a bad sign for a warrior.
I breathed deeply to calm the pain.
A groan escaped between my teeth from the excruciating agony.
If this was the price for coveting a higher realm with an insufficient body.
‘Then perhaps there truly is no such thing as a free lunch in this world.’
* * *
And so Baekrin Medical Guild’s second branch opened in Hangzhou.
The building was made even larger and more magnificent than the first branch.
A four-story pavilion with ample patient rooms.
Additional construction was also underway to establish a Baek Hwan-hu facility there.
Baek Hwan-hu was ultimately a place to make orphans with nowhere to go self-sufficient.
It would be an educational institution and a shelter, and it would provide employment.
In this era, children must labor.
Of course, once admitted to Baek Hwan-hu, they wouldn’t need to seek work while young.
Still, by this era’s standards, one must understand what they need to do before reaching adulthood.
The Baekrin Relief Center is merely a temporary measure.
After learning to read, mastering martial arts, and acquiring the means to survive, they must take flight.
‘This all comes down to money.’
To accomplish both tasks, I needed to employ capable people.
I hired scholars based in Hangzhou, and the Doctors who arrived from Baekrin Medical Guild’s main headquarters began receiving orders and moving into action.
Mercenaries employed from Manpunggeoganseo maintained an iron grip on security, keeping the surrounding areas safe, and supplies for their food and drink flowed in and out.
I began establishing Baekrin Convenience Stores throughout Hangzhou.
‘Medical infrastructure has expanded. People gather, security stabilizes, and more people come….’
Other small and medium trading guilds began arriving as well, creating even more jobs.
Thanks to this, Hangzhou’s property values were skyrocketing.
From this point on, even I had no answers.
It was work the magistrate’s office would handle on its own.
At dawn, I sat atop the roof of Hangzhou Bunta Branch 2, looking down over all of Hangzhou.
The dawn spreading in blue-violet hues resembled potato flowers.
A scream echoed from somewhere.
It was like any other day in Hangzhou.
But soon, the sound of someone running also reached my ears.
“Over here. Over here!”
A child grabbed a mercenary from Manpunggeoganseo and rushed toward the source of the sound together.
Had Hangzhou improved, even slightly?
“Oh my. What is this? Let me carry you.”
It seemed to have improved.
‘Isn’t this amusing? This was clearly supposed to be a losing venture.’
Having poured out so much money, I should have been running a deficit. Yet strangely, my finances remained in the black.
The wealth I obtained from eliminating nearly all of Hangzhou’s black path factions was beyond imagination, so funds continued to overflow.
How much money had they been draining all this time?
I exchanged silver ingots for currency.
And that amount was staggering.
‘Power becomes money.’
The three things I possessed.
Reputation, martial prowess, and organization.
Had I lacked even one of these three, this plan would have been nothing but a fantasy.
I gazed at my left hand.
‘The poison no longer manifests now.’
An Oseng that doesn’t match the body becomes poison.
I thought I had compensated reasonably well with the jade orb, but I was sorely mistaken.
This was a matter of species.
No matter how remarkable a sparrow becomes, using an eagle’s techniques will tear its wings—it’s exactly the same.
‘Is mere training insufficient?’
Simply drawing upon martial knowledge beyond my current realm resulted in this much pain.
Whoosh—
I took one last drag of cigarette smoke and tapped the ash away.
‘The strike landed on my left arm because it’s the weakest part of my body.’
Since I hadn’t told anyone, the meridians from my left middle finger to my shoulder were in tatters.
Had my Master known, he would have scolded me severely for what I’d done to my left arm.
‘Still, it’s recovered quite a bit by now.’
I leaped from one rooftop to another.
The white cloth billowed, revealing the lean muscles beneath.
“The Divine One!”
The Auntie from Hangzhou called me that.
“The Blue-Eyed Divine One!”
The martial artists called me that too.
Hangzhou’s new epithet.
And proof that I had become the overlord of this city.
Bounding across rooftops, I rushed toward somewhere.
A Black Swordsman called me this.
“The Mad Doctor of Pure Benevolence.”
A mad physician possessed of pristine goodness.
And ordinary martial artists simply began calling me by the sight of the emerald robes flashing past.
“The Mad Doctor.”
Dawn bloomed over Hangzhou.
It was the color of white potato flowers.

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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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