Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 681

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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 681
His fists collided with Cheonwoo’s hands, and a deafening boom erupted. In that instant, a sword wrapped in an incomplete Kangwhan descended like thunder.
Crash!
The balance was bizarre, the speed deceptively slow, yet it carried devastating destructive power.
Each movement resembled a madman’s dance, yet the killing intent was thick—a fatal attack!
This was the true face of the Gonggong Faction!
However.
Cheonwoo’s two hands blocked both attacks, tracing small circles and the tai chi symbol.
His hands, wrapped in inner energy, repelled Jin Seongjja’s sword and fists as though they were an iron wall.
Did this displease Jin Seongjja? His face flushed crimson as he released an angry roar.
“Grrrr! So you’ll just keep defending, will you!”
Jin Seongjja burst forth with a furious cry, his attacks becoming even more ferocious.
His arm bent like a whip as he brought the sword crashing down, then his hand clenched into a fist, striking like a drum being beaten.
Attacks converging from all directions were truly menacing.
Yet.
Even so.
Cheonwoo was holding them back.
The tai chi was there.
‘This… how is this young brat doing this! I cannot leave him be. I must eliminate him here and now!’
As Jin Seongjja harbored wicked thoughts within.
Cheonwoo was observing his own inner state.
Each time he blocked Jin Seongjja’s attacks, his two hands tingled with numbness.
Though he defended with a tai chi as solid as an iron fortress, in truth, considerable damage was accumulating within Cheonwoo’s body.
Cheonwoo’s body finally swayed greatly.
Clang!
He barely managed to block the next attack.
‘So heavy. Is this… the power of an old master of the Gangho?’
Cheonwoo fixed his gaze forward, recalling his Master and his Hyeong—the one who gave him life and name.
The Master who was cursed as a thug.
Hyeong, whose heart was sincere in saving people.
The Master who lived with the pride of a Mudang.
Hyeong, whom others pointed at as mad.
The Master whose heart was more righteous than anyone’s.
Hyeong, whose heart was kinder than anyone’s.
‘Ah… can I never catch up to these two?’
If it were the Master, he would have already broken Jin Seongjja’s jaw, and if it were Hyeong, he would have already sent Jin Seongjja to the brink of demonic possession and been treating him.
What am I?
Death drew near.
Jin Seongjja had no intention of letting him live, and the unarmed Cheonwoo stood alone.
At the crossroads of life and death.
In that fleeting moment, he sees Jin Cheon-hee. His older brother with blue eyes.
He watches his brother’s lips move slightly.
-Clouds seem slow yet move infinitely fast, and Tai Chi appears absent yet fills heaven and earth.
It was the martial wisdom his Master left behind for the two of them before passing away.
While blocking Jin Seongjja’s attack, he looks at his brother again.
His brother says nothing more.
He simply munches contentedly on dried sweet potato.
Why is that?
What meaning lies hidden in those cloud-like words?
In that instant, Cheonwoo’s hands respond with movement.
His mind still searches for understanding, yet his body begins to advance, tracing Tai Chi.
That single motion he has practiced, contemplated, and drawn tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of times.
Following Cheonwoo’s hands, layers of energy ripple and trace out Tai Chi itself!
“What!?”
Jin Seongjja’s imperfect energy barrier begins to be sucked into the Tai Chi.
The suction force is overwhelmingly powerful.
“Ugh!? You bastard!”
Crack!
Jin Seongjja deploys the Thousand Pound Hammer, driving his feet through the stone platform of the martial arena. Yet all the power that had gathered in his sword and hands is already sucked away.
Cheonwoo’s Tai Chi grows larger, and it begins to rotate slowly.
And it accelerates further.
“You wretch!”
Jin Seongjja releases his grip on the sword.
He pulls both hands inward, folds his arms back past his armpits, then twists them strangely and clenches his fists, extending both hands forward.
The Gonggong Faction’s other secret technique, the Seven Wounds Fist, unfolds!
Boom!
“Argh!”
Yet.
It is Jin Seongjja who is sent flying from the explosion!
His two hands, having collided with the Tai Chi, are shattered and twisted, drenched in blood. In an instant, he is sent flying back twenty paces before dropping to one knee.
“Cough!”
And he spews forth a mouthful of blood.
Evidence of severe internal injuries!
Yet the Tai Chi does not stop.
Already Cheonwoo appears lost in a state of transcendence, his remaining eye gently closed as his hands continue to move.
“How… how could a mere child like you… master the Tai Chi Heart Technique….”
Jin Seongjja has seen this before.
In his childhood.
A man of similar age came seeking the Gonggong Faction.
And that man mercilessly struck down Jin Seongjja’s Master with that very technique, and his Master suffered from deviation sickness before eventually passing away.
Jin Seongjja’s Master seizing the lands of commoners in the surrounding regions for the sake of the Gonggong Faction was of little importance to Jin Seongjja.
From that day forward, he had trained in martial arts to bring down Myeong-gil and the Mudang Faction.
But.
But now that I have come to this point….
Now that I have come to this!
“I will not tolerate this!”
He rose to his feet.
Twisted hatred and madness surged with great force within him.
Crimson light began to overflow from his two eyes in torrents.
A passage from the secret teachings of the Gonggong Faction that had slumbered in his mind flashed through his consciousness.
-Demonic force merely follows the truth of its nature, so is this not also the natural way and the will of heaven?
The true essence of the Subduing Demon Sword Method, which subjugates demonic force, is to suppress it with righteous martial arts and harness its power.
Therefore, the Gonggong Faction studies demonic force as well, and Jin Seongjja began to draw forth that power.
Crack, crack.
His shattered hand was restored.
His two eyes began to shine with crimson light.
The inner force that had vanished from the blade emerged and writhed, but now its color was red.
“I… will not tolerate you, nor the Mudang! Die, Mudang!”
Jin Seongjja charged forward with all his might.
Becoming a red meteor, he advanced directly into the rotating Tai Chi, and a sword strike that split heaven and earth descended.
Was it the Heaven-Splitting Sword Strike?
Was it the perfected Tai Chi?
In that instant, Cheonwoo opened the one eye he had been keeping closed.
And that eye beheld Jin Seongjja’s eyes.
A moment became eternity, and an instant became infinite.
Resentment. Hatred. Obsession. Madness. Attachment. Arrogance. Rage.
Jin Seongjja’s sword, laden with intensely surging emotions, was gradually drawn in during that instant.
Tai Chi Perfection.
All things ultimately become one with the Tai Chi, neither overflowing nor lacking.
Whoosh!
All force was drawn in and vanished.
Jin Seongjja’s body seemed to have aged ten years, his muscles withered and his inner force drained.
And a Tai Chi rose into the heavens.
The sphere ceased its rotation and became a perfect, complete Tai Chi, beginning to rise higher and higher.
“It is the Tai Chi Heart Technique….”
“Ah… the very one that Gwon Je performed….”
“The Tai Chi Heart Technique’s Resonance. The power that can overturn heaven and earth….”
The Elders of Gangho, recognizing it, each spoke a word.
And soon the Tai Chi soared high into the sky and disappeared beyond the clouds.
Boom!
The sky explodes.
A Tai Chi symbol was drawn across the clouds.
Everyone who witnessed it wore expressions of awe.
“This martial competition rivals a hundred years of cultivation.”
And the dreamlike spirits of the people were pulled back to reality by a single voice.
They turned their heads toward the source of the sound.
Cheon-u Dojang stood there.
He bowed deeply and performed the martial salute.
“I offer my gratitude to Elder Jin Seongjja.”
And Jin Seongjja, whose body had been trembling, collapsed as he was.
“The victor—Cheon-u of the Mudang Faction!”
The referee shouted.
“Waaaahhhhh!”
The roar of the crowd shook the heavens.
At the same moment, Cheon-u’s massive frame collapsed as well.
Watching him fall like a mountain crumbling, Jin Cheon-hee rushed forward in alarm.
“Cheon-u!”
Blood spilled from seven orifices at the corners of his mouth, yet a smile lingered there.
It was the Tai Chi.
* * *
The entire Gangho was stirring with news of the Mudang Faction.
These gossips would not miss such an opportunity.
Sim Haksa, Man Haksa, and Jang Haksa.
These three Scholars gathered once more to discuss the affairs of Gangho.
Though calling it discussion was generous—all three were wealthy idlers.
The word “discuss” (論) was less accurate than “play” (遊).
“Do Seon-jin-in withdrew, didn’t he?”
Do Seon-jin-in, the Master of the Jongnam Faction.
“Witnessing the martial prowess of the younger generation and claiming there’s no need to discuss the Way further—what kind of nonsense is that?”
“Hehehehe, what nonsense indeed. It’s the sound of a coward fleeing with his tail between his legs. At least by keeping his mouth shut, he loses less face than if he lost and brought shame upon himself.”
“Either way, they’ve already lost all dignity, so this final struggle is quite remarkable.”
All three Scholars burst into laughter at the absurdity of Jongnam’s attitude.
“Well, I understand the sentiment. Who would have thought Wol-seon-san-in would be defeated?”
“So what’s his epithet?”
“There are many tales—both ‘Mad’ and ‘Solitary’ have been attached to him at different times…. His older brother Jang needs to be careful with the wind of change.”
I only hope my younger brother earns a good epithet so people don’t perceive him as Heterodox.
That Jin Cheon-hee had even used sound transmission to desperately shout the word “Mudang” everywhere was now something all martial artists in Gangho knew.
Soon, Jang Haksa spoke.
“Mudang Gwon-wang!”
“Oh, that’s excellent. Since he’s young, calling him by his master’s epithet Mudang Gwon-je seems off, but Gwon-wang fits perfectly.”
“A new one among the Ten Greatest Masters of the realm?”
“It’s too early to say. I’ll know for certain once I face off against the other masters of the Ten, but… for now, it seems likely.”
“Ilgwang’s sworn siblings are all formidable warriors without exception. And then there’s Mudang Gwon-je. Perhaps he might be the strongest among all the sworn siblings?”
“….”
Both Sim Haksa and Jang Haksa fell into contemplation at those words.
“I cannot say for certain. It’s difficult to accurately judge Ilgwang’s martial prowess. The techniques he possesses are all extraordinarily mysterious, and since he himself has lived without interest in martial fame, we can only remain curious about him.”
“I suspect Ilgwang is likely the strongest among them.”
All three scholars nodded gravely at those words.
“The very fact that he remains unknowable suggests we have yet to glimpse his limits.”
“Well said.”
The three scholars raised their cups and spoke thus.
“Now that I think about it, Tai Chi Fist might enjoy a resurgence in popularity.”
“You mean that rumor about the secrets of divine martial arts and supreme techniques being hidden within Tai Chi Fist?”
“Precisely. I hear that martial artists who came to observe have begun practicing Tai Chi Fist out of the blue.”
At those words, Sim Haksa let out a sigh.
“By that logic, Ilgwang’s specialties are the Three Calamities Stepping Method and the Three Calamities Sword Method. But does practicing those a hundred times make one like Ilgwang?”
That was true enough.
In the end, such trends were fleeting.
But there was something more important than that.
“With Gwon Je’s passing, a new era has truly begun.”
“Shall we offer a memorial to Gwon Je and a toast to Gwon Wang?”
Clang!
Cup struck against cup.
Thus began the dawn of a new age.
And within the eye of that storm, there was Ilgwang—a fact unknown to no one.
“I cannot fathom what Ilgwang truly is.”
“Isn’t he the most extraordinary madman to ever shake the Gangho?”
“I’ve heard that the Gonggong Faction, the Jeomchang Faction, and the Jongnam Faction have all issued strict orders forbidding any contact with Ilgwang.”
Ilgwang of the realm!
The three scholars murmured in unison.
“And he’s not even a child.”

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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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