Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 508

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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 508
Villains always become talkative at moments like these.
When I was just a reader, I thought it was ridiculous.
But now I understand.
When you punch a cliff face until your hand bones shatter every day, and thrust your hands into scorching sand until they’re raw, your ego inevitably swells.
It’s human nature to want to tell someone about that effort.
So the righteous path speaks to their companions, the dark path speaks to those they’ll kill, and the mad speak to no one—or grab anyone and speak to them.
This one falls into the dark path category.
“Before I kill you, let me teach you. It’s called the Reverse Extreme Demonic Path True Scripture. It’s a demonic art and divine technique that amplifies power by mortgaging the future.”
In that sense, this bastard walks the dark path.
‘A latent explosive-type martial art… It seems to raise one’s realm by about half a stage. Still, the efficacy is considerable.’
I understood why Heukun had been so confident.
By my perception, his internal energy, physical strength, and reflexes all seemed nearly twice as powerful as when we fought before.
The fact that he could suppress my attacks to the point where I couldn’t counterattack against the Cheonma’s Sovereign Palm said it all.
“The time remaining for me is… about this much now. Before that runs out, I’ll capture you.”
Heukun’s muscles swelled grotesquely.
His protective energy burned with even greater intensity.
Watching this, I exhaled deeply.
Then I inhaled quietly and closed my eyes.
Thump—
My thoughts aligned.
The known conditions fitted together. Opening my eyes, I stared at my opponent.
“Very well. Let’s end this in one strike.”
“Krkrkrkr! So you’re ready. Then I come!”
Heukun’s entire body’s muscles swelled as his protective energy ignited.
I exhaled deeply.
“Why do you go this far?”
“What?”
“I don’t understand. You have everything. Power, a clan, influence. The Reverse Extreme Demonic Path True Scripture you’re using to draw out the Cheonma Divine Art to this degree—it must be taking something from you, whether lifespan or sanity. You said it mortgages the future, after all.”
White frost rises from my lips.
Winter.
Yet within that winter—
The extreme yin energy I created brought forth cold, and snow began falling inside the workshop.
Raising eyes as blue as that winter, I ask him:
“…Could you not live without wagering such things?”
“If I cannot become the Cheonma, I die.”
“Not all successors died in the past Cheonma Blood Path. Very rarely, some survive through fortune. If I ask Yeo Ha-ryun…”
“Whelp…”
Crack—
His words began coming out rough, whether from the influence of the demonic art or not.
“In the end, we’re all puppets dancing in the palm of Cheonma’s hand. Whether I live or die isn’t decided by that Cheon Sal-seong. It’s Cheonma’s decision.”
“….”
Thud.
He prepared his next attack, his face twisted as he spoke.
“You say you’re preparing for the Ascending Immortal Realm and tidying up your affairs, yet here you remain, crushing things in this mortal world—have you considered why?”
His distorted face bore sadness, pain, and hatred.
It was terror born from a single person.
A fear so vicious it could paralyze reason itself.
I never imagined a warrior of his caliber could wear such an expression.
“You don’t understand. You couldn’t possibly know what it’s like for us martial artists, forced to dance day after day in the grip of that demon wearing a human mask.”
Just imagining it, merely recalling it, made my limbs feel paralyzed by terror.
That was right. Anyone who didn’t feel fear upon seeing Cheonma now was either emotionally castrated or a fool who didn’t know how deep the ocean truly was.
“…A rather gentle form of suicide.”
“In the meantime, you’ve grasped the essence of the Reverse Extreme Demonic Path True Formula.”
“Yes. The flow of inner energy—the fact that despite drawing out the Cheonma Divine Art to such a degree, it remains subtly unstable must be because you’re drawing upon the Primordial True Qi to supplement the Cheonma Divine Art. Despite having little time, you’ve prolonged this conversation because of that.”
Whoooosh—
Winter arrives.
The winter that filled the outside world blooms within the workshop.
“…You prolonged this conversation because even drawing upon the Primordial True Qi, the Cheonma Divine Art remains unstable.”
“Kekeke. So you understood and still accepted it.”
“I can’t resist curiosity. And I’d prefer not to kill you if I can help it.”
“‘If I can help it’ means you’ll kill when necessary.”
At those words, I nodded slightly.
“Yes. I’ve come to understand that in a world like this, there is no such thing as ‘absolute.'”
Let’s end this conversation.
There’s no point in continuing further.
I asked one final question.
“Would you consider surrendering? The Baekrin Medical Guild will protect you. We’ll also research how to treat the side effects of demonic arts.”
“…Stop spouting nonsense, Ilgwang.”
“Yes. I expected you to say that.”
Snow falls.
White snow continues to fall, accumulate, and scatter within the workshop.
Soon it began to take on a form.
It was a blade of energy.
My left hand screamed as if dying. The pain was so overwhelming I might lose consciousness.
I cannot know what lies at the end of this.
But there’s no choice if I wish to survive.
The incantations of the Cheonma Divine Art and the Shattering Heaven Unparalleled Divine Art flow together through my mind.
Following the incantations, a strange fusion occurs, and my inner energy flows smoothly without collision from my dantian through the eight extraordinary meridians.
It’s cold.
Ice seems to flow through my veins.
Ah, the young man stands in the depths of winter.
*Crack*
The formidable qi clinging to the blade began gathering in a perfect sphere at its tip. Heukun cried out in astonishment.
“Qi Circulation?!”
“…A smaller form of it. I suppose we’ll need to rebuild the workshop eventually. Well… at least the craftsmen are safe.”
Muttering such mad words, the young man took another step forward with great difficulty.
*Rumble rumble rumble*
It resembled the Cheonma Sovereign Technique, yet it was the Five Elements Sovereign Technique.
“How dare you attempt to steal our sect’s Cheonma Sovereign Technique!”
“Let’s be precise about this. I didn’t copy it—you forced it upon me. That’s on you, Cheonma!”
Jin Cheon-hee added with an aggrieved expression.
Perhaps Cheonma had envisioned a grand scheme where Jin Cheon-hee, forced to deploy the Cheonma Sovereign Technique in a crisis, would be branded as a doctor who colluded with the Demonic Cult.
And afterward, whether he became a public enemy of the martial world or fell under Hyeolsaeng Nogoe’s command.
Traditional martial arts novels do tend to flow in such directions.
But as a modern person with no intention of letting others dictate my fate, I compromise appropriately and protect myself.
However, Heukun had no intention of listening.
“Hmph, can such trivial tricks overcome our sect’s orthodox Cheonma Sovereign Technique?”
Heukun took a step forward.
Cheonma Sovereign Technique—
*Rumble rumble rumble*
The Cheonma Sovereign Technique and the Five Elements Sovereign Technique collide.
But it doesn’t matter. What matters to Jin Cheon-hee is simply negating the Cheonma Sovereign Technique that Heukun will use next!
And.
It was Jin Cheon-hee who moved first.
Walking forward with a sliding, deliberate slowness.
Heukun too took a step toward Jin Cheon-hee.
*Thud*
On the surface, it might seem like they were merely playing.
Or perhaps walking slowly to deliberately match their martial prowess.
Yet between these two masters, a tremendous wave of qi was clashing.
Simply walking through it was no easy feat.
Rather, Heukun was inwardly shocked at the sight of Jin Cheon-hee taking the first step while maintaining the Five Elements Sovereign Technique.
‘He has the strength to pierce through even my true essence qi that has exploded with latent power?!’
Suddenly, Heukun noticed Jin Cheon-hee’s left hand tendons becoming grotesquely discolored.
‘This one was not born boneless. Therefore…!’
In that extreme moment, he discerned Jin Cheon-hee’s weakness.
He hurled a fist toward that weakness.
And.
Jin Cheon-hee, as if he had been waiting, switched the ice blade to his left hand and deflected his fist with his right.
A blue cloth scattered and dispersed as it wrapped around him, scattering snow in my eyes.
It was something made of strong energy, and something that erased the surroundings.
Whoosh!
The ice-frost blade pierced through his flank.
My protective energy barrier blocked it. However, a small explosion erupted along the ice-frost blade’s energy, scattering my protective barrier as it burrowed deeper.
‘Damn it… Was his left hand being a weak point just a deception?!’
Indeed, the Jegallga. Had he deliberately feigned an injured left hand to lure my attacks?
As my consciousness scattered, Heukun collapsed.
Thud—
His massive frame crumbled.
“Gasp, huff.”
I exhaled sharply, looking down at the fallen Heukun.
Purple poison spread again along my left hand.
“Damn it.”
Fortunately, before losing consciousness, Heukun hadn’t seen my sleeve staining purple.
He would forever believe I had deliberately used deception.
That was fortunate, at least.
I extracted a needle from the ornament on my hand.
Tap, tap!
I acupunctured my own left arm.
I watched as the golden needle discolored from the poison, then withdrew it again.
Then suddenly, sensing something ominous, I turned around.
A bird appeared.
That was strange.
Could an animal survive in this place?
Of course, if it flew as high as Noeji, perhaps. But animals would flee on instinct—there was no reason it should witness this duel.
This judgment took less than 0.003 seconds.
My finger flick energy shot out.
Tap-tap-tap—
The bird flapped its wings to escape but was immediately pierced by the energy projectile and died.
‘Sorcery.’
I couldn’t tell if sorcery had been cast on a living bird, or if the bird itself had been created through sorcery.
I don’t know much about mystical formations and hidden techniques anyway.
One thing was clear.
Someone had been watching this duel.
However, I had no energy to worry about that.
I immediately acupunctured Heukun’s vital points to provide emergency treatment.
As I checked his pulse, I murmured softly.
‘His innate energy is nearly depleted. Nearly depleted…’
Had he been so desperate for power that he made himself a man with limited time left to live?
Or perhaps it was fear of Cheonma that ran equally deep.
It wasn’t sympathy for an evil person.
Only the lingering regret of a doctor remained.
-If she speaks of ascending the Heavenly Path and putting her affairs in order, why do you suppose she still lingers and struggles in this mortal realm? Have you given it any thought?
His voice clung to my ears.
The original work contained little description of Cheonma. She felt like nothing more than a device to make the protagonist stronger.
Cheonma—she exists as a living Demon, still reigning over this world.
What could such a being possibly want that she hasn’t yet ascended?
‘No, that’s not it. The real problem is that my left arm’s weakness might have been exposed just now.’
There aren’t many places that employ such sorcery.
A few came to mind, but I could only pray it wasn’t the Hyeolseonggyo.
Yet somehow, ill omens never miss their mark.

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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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