Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 550

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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 550
The Gonggong Faction Elder emerged bearing two swords at his waist.
I drew in a deep breath and unsheathed the Bingjeong Sword.
Shing—
The blade sang out with a crystalline cry.
It was a declaration that my opponent possessed worthy strength.
Jin Seongjja was known as the Gonggong Unified Sword, and was renowned as a master superior even to Jang Mun-in, the faction leader.
Yet his true capabilities remained largely unknown throughout Gangho, and thus his actual power had never been fully revealed.
And now.
Jin Seongjja displayed his martial prowess.
“Floating Sword Technique!”
Someone cried out.
True to the words, a sword rose from behind his back, igniting with inner force as it blazed into existence.
But that was not all.
The blade he had drawn from his waist and gripped with proper form also shimmered with inner force, illuminating the surroundings in all directions.
Two swords!
Two waves of inner force!
It was only natural that all who witnessed this widened their eyes in astonishment.
Such a feat was truly remarkable.
‘He’s committed to this. Floating Sword Technique… let me see…’
My azure eyes dissected time itself.
My accelerated thoughts observed the surroundings repeatedly, confirming and analyzing possibilities, then retrieving information to counter them.
Transcendent Martial Arts Benevolence!
Transcendent Martial Arts Life and Death Wisdom!
Simultaneously, I cross-analyzed information about the Gonggong Faction’s swordplay and the Floating Sword Technique in an instant.
‘The Floating Sword Technique can only be mimicked through arduous effort by those who have reached the absolute pinnacle, and to achieve proper power, one must continue relentless training even after reaching Hwagyeong.’
Yet even that was ultimately inefficient.
The additional inner force consumption required for a sword to move independently in empty space would be substantial.
‘Ah. It’s because of the Six Yang Divine Art?’
I grasped the secret in an instant.
The Six Yang Divine Art, the inner cultivation method of the Gonggong Faction’s secret teachings, was known to combine six types of yang energy into one to produce tremendous power.
While I could not easily fathom the principle behind it, the Five Elements Divine Art similarly generated explosive force through the mutual generation and restraint of the five elemental energies, so it was likely a similar class of inner cultivation technique.
Even so, operating the Floating Sword Technique simultaneously with inner force manifestation would be akin to pouring out inner energy without restraint.
‘No matter how much inner force one possesses, human limits are said to be five decades of cultivation years… even consuming spirit pills like meals, inner force barely increases beyond three decades, so it would be roughly between three and four decades. That means he could exhaust his inner force in approximately half a double-hour at most.’
By the time my ultra-rapid thoughts reached that conclusion, merely a single blink of time had passed.
Jin Seongjja advanced with the Drifting Cloud Flowing Water footwork, a divine technique-level movement art of the Gonggong Faction.
Clouds drift, water flows.
With a momentum as gentle yet immense as those words suggest, he approached and unleashed the Floating Demon Swordplay.
I too raised the Bingjeong Sword to meet him, generating inner force and countering with the Taeul Danseonggeom.
The exchange of offense and defense commenced!
Screeeeeech!
Crack, crack, crack, crack, crack!
The formidable qi of the Demon-Subduing Sword Technique, forged from the true qi of the Six Yang Divine Art!
Against it, I combined the Five Elements Divine Art with the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, creating a qi as dense and suffocating as a mud pit.
To this, I added my own true qi and the formidable strength of the Taeul Danseonggeom, blocking the assault.
When the qi of two supreme masters collided, it produced a truly bizarre sound.
Like scraping metal, yet also like boiling oil.
The two forces of qi pushed against each other like water and oil, their residual power scattering in all directions and destroying everything around them.
In that state, the sword danced freely through the void and came flying down.
Along with it, my eyes flashed a brilliant azure blue.
Clang!
Ten sword strikes erupted in a single breath.
The exquisite swordsmanship was so formidable that even Jin Seongjja dared not underestimate it, retreating and forced to employ other techniques of the Demon-Subduing Sword Method.
The ethereal sword that flew in also collided with my blade and bounced away, spinning through the air before suddenly stopping and thrusting forward once more.
“Hah!”
With that, Jin Seongjja’s sword drew a crescent arc, releasing a sword qi that struck and attacked the empty space.
A dual assault of such formidable qi that even a supreme master would struggle to guarantee survival!
And yet.
I had ‘seen’ it.
And I had ‘read’ the future.
I stepped back and thrust my sword forward.
The edge of the Bing Jing Sword lightly grazed the ethereal sword falling from the sky, striking it.
With a ‘ting’ sound, ice formed on the sword’s surface as it flew away to the side, and simultaneously my body flipped backward with explosive speed.
Yet strangely, my head and back did not touch the ground, my knees remaining fixed in a bent position.
A posture that defied gravity itself!
The crescent sword qi passed across my face.
“A marvelous application of the Iron Plank Bridge technique!”
“You evaded the sword qi!?”
As the other spectators cried out, my body sprang back up like a coiled spring.
And then.
I spoke quietly, sword in hand.
“I understand now, Jin Seongjja. Your martial arts.”
“What?”
“I declare this. From now on, I will only defend.”
At my declaration, everyone gathered at the Training Ground gasped in shock.
“Truly the Unparalleled Ilgwang! Such mad words…”
“Isn’t that arrogance!?”
“What on earth…”
Yet I was sincere.
And Jin Seongjja, reading my sincerity, erupted like an exploding volcano with a furious roar.
“How dare you disrespect me, you fool! I am a true Swordsman!”
Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk.
The sword energy coalescing in his hand grew increasingly intense. Then he suddenly turned his head and glanced to the side.
There, the spectral blade was crawling across the ground, wavering unsteadily.
“Using the Five Elements Divine Art, I amplified and locked the ice-true energy from the Frozen Blade technique onto it. Spectral blade swordsmanship requires continuous transmission of true energy from a distance, but… I’ve severed that connection.”
At my words, the murmurs from the crowd grew even louder.
However, neither I nor Jin Seongjja paid the slightest attention to the spectators.
What mattered now was the enemy before us.
“Hmph! Do you truly believe your petty tricks can topple my spectral blade!”
From his hand, energy that had nearly taken physical form dispersed like mist, extending toward the spectral blade.
As the vortex of energy twisted and shattered the ice, the spectral blade soon began to rise again.
Yet I remained standing calmly, sword in hand.
“I shall present your head to Hyeolrin as a gift!”
Uttering a roar utterly unbecoming of a Swordsman, Jin Seongjja charged forward once more with the spectral blade.
But I remained composed.
‘The spectral blade comes first. If I block it, by the narrowest margin Jin Seongjja will bring his sword down like swinging a hammer—the Demon Subduing Sword Technique’s Jeolcho, the Hammer Pressure Sword Demon form. Therefore, I advance.’
I took two steps forward.
The spectral blade drew near my face.
I tilted my head to the side, evading it, and pressed forward.
Jin Seongjja’s eyes widened dramatically.
His raised arm was now in a position where he could not strike downward.
My blade aimed first at his abdomen, forcing him to explosively release the true energy in his legs, flipping his body backward. Then came Jin Seongjja’s counterattack.
I raised my sword to meet it.
Clang!
In the moment Jin Seongjja landed on the ground from mid-air.
The spectral blade rotated again, targeting my back.
But I grasped my sword with one hand and extended my other arm backward, catching the spectral blade with my fingers.
My left arm, sealed with Hyeongyeong’s Poison!
Now it was no different from indestructible diamond—no blade energy could wound it, and by wrapping it with strong energy, I could neutralize and seize equivalent energy with my bare hand.
Evolved further through confrontation with the Patriarch of Geumcheon-gun from Hyeolseonggyo, my sealed left hand pulled the spectral blade and drove it down into the earth beside me.
Thud!
The spectral blade embedded itself in the ground, and I stomped it down further with my foot.
Then I raised that empty hand and extended it forward.
“Old Master. Are you truly a Swordsman? How pathetic.”
My words were one thing, but my hand gesture was this:
Flick, flick.
Come at me.
Any Kang Ho-in would understand what that gesture meant.
“You worm!”
Jin Seongjja, consumed by rage.
He came at me like a raging storm.
Yet every single attack proved utterly futile.
‘Why?! Why… why can’t I break through at all?!’
Jin Seongjja’s eyes burned with rage and desperation. He attacked again and again.
But I stood my ground without retreating, deflecting every assault.
It was truly a wondrous sight.
A spectacle that filled everyone gathered in the Training Ground with awe!
Then gradually.
Bit by bit.
The qi scattered from Jin Seongjja’s blade.
What had been qi became sword energy, and even that dissipated until only the sword itself remained.
Jin Seongjja trembled, drenched in sweat as if he’d been doused with water, merely extending his sword.
But even that was growing slower by the moment.
“Why… why are you…?”
All the Kang Ho-in witnessed it.
Some lamented, some raged, some stood in awe, and some marveled.
Amid this tapestry of emotions, I moved forward.
As I approached Jin Seongjja, who barely had the strength left to lift his sword despite his exhaustion.
He glared at me even in his fatigue, gasping for breath.
I sheathed my sword and raised my hand to his neck.
Jin Seongjja said nothing.
And I opened my mouth quietly in the stunned silence.
“Your qi is depleted and heat is rising. A sign of Demonic Possession.”
‘What?’
‘What did I just hear?’
‘What did Ilgwang just say?’
‘My body’s been weakening lately—did I mishear?’
All the Kang Ho-in were shocked.
Jin Seongjja closed his eyes and collapsed.
I caught him and steadied him, declaring like the Jade Emperor himself.
“Emergency patient.”
No one could say a word.
* * *
By the next day, everyone in the Martial Arts Alliance knew of my deeds.
“Did you hear? Ilgwang utterly crushed Jin Seongjja.”
Sim Haksa spoke up.
“He flirted with the Doctor from Baekrin Uiseon and got slapped for it, didn’t he?”
Jang Haksa chimed in, bringing his chopsticks to the five-spice braised meat.
“…Still, I never imagined he’d actually fight Jin Seongjja to the death.”
Man Haksa poured wine into his cup and spoke. The other two nodded in agreement.
These three well-to-do idlers from prominent families gathered once again at their favorite tavern, dissecting, chewing over, and savoring the latest rumors circulating through Gangho.
Sim Haksa, a traditionalist purist of Gangho’s old ways, still wore an expression of displeasure at Jin Cheon-hee’s recent movements.
“I hear the Golden Blood Hall is about to sever all ties with the Hwaju Medical Institute entirely. They’ve even placed a bounty on the head of the Hwaju Medical Institute’s Patriarch—though I’m not certain if it’s true. This is all because of that wretched Ilgwang! The very foundations of Gangho tradition are crumbling!”
“Gwang Myeon-hori must be furious too. He’s been reduced to a living corpse, hasn’t he? The reward they’ve posted is absolutely staggering.”
Jang Haksa, an innovator and advocate of new martial philosophies, picked up the thread of conversation.
“…Can such a thing truly be done against someone who would become a Patriarch of the Righteous Faction?”
“The sum is far from ordinary. And who’s to say whether some assassin blinded by greed won’t come directly to tear his face off? That would cross into outright criminality.”
This time, Man Haksa—perhaps slow to receive news—blinked and asked in return.
“So he knows how to drive men mad with money. It seems that Doctor has become entangled with Gwang Myeon-hori, but surely….”
“Shh, it’s best we say no more on that subject.”
At those words, the three scholars nodded and glanced around them.
“Our conversation hasn’t leaked out, has it?”
“Well, we haven’t said anything slanderous, have we?”

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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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