Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 851
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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 851
“I’ll ask for that again a bit later. For now, would it be alright if I requested you to use only your bare hands? I’d like to obtain various samples.”
“That is possible.”
It wasn’t an unreasonable request.
As a fellow researcher, I understood his sentiment and readily agreed without hesitation.
Whether the foundation was science or the Five Elements, whether it was the Gangho realm or Earth, researchers’ hearts were all the same.
“Thank you then. So….”
Gaju Eon-gwon took out a bell and shook it.
The space for the corpse puppet experiment was enclosed by tall walls, and the ground was simply bare earth.
From that alone, I immediately deduced the situation.
“It seems the Jin Ju-eonga family’s corpse puppets lack precision compared to Kang Ho-in, but are considerably stronger.”
“How did you know that?”
“Because it’s bare earth. The Jin Ju-eonga family surely wouldn’t lack the funds to lay blue stone, so they must have frequently suffered damage and eventually replaced it with bare earth. Moreover, with each imprecise extension of their limbs, the ground would be destroyed even more.”
“So you discerned the state of the Jin Ju-eonga family’s corpse puppets from just that.”
“Well, discerned might be too strong a word. What I mentioned earlier was a precaution in case a warrior like me emerged who could infer the corpse puppet’s characteristics by observing the surrounding environment. If the characteristics can be inferred, one can decide what technique to use first.”
At those words, Gaju Eon-gwon shook his head in amazement.
“…It seems very few warriors can make such judgments. Don’t worry about it.”
“Understood!”
I answered with clear eyes.
Seeing this, Sama Hyeon muttered softly.
“Wow, he’s really something~ I’m glad I came to watch.”
Cheonwoo asked.
“You absorb that kind of thing too?”
“Of course. In the Gangho realm, there are very few people who can determine their technique’s direction based on just an unarmed stance.”
I took my stance.
One foot forward, the other back.
My hands were slightly open instead of clenched fists, like reeds before a storm.
Sama Hyeon and Cheonwoo spoke simultaneously.
“Tai Chi Flowing Fist.”
“Tai Chi Flowing Fist Ten Thousand Refinement Palm. It’s used against the Great Sword or axes, but just from seeing the unarmed stance, he pulled that out.”
Three coffins were prepared in the space.
As the Eongaju shook the bell and chanted an incantation, the leftmost coffin trembled and creaked.
Crash!
The coffin shattered into pieces.
And from within, pushing through the debris, a corpse puppet burst out!
Thud!
A pale complexion. With blood-red lips as if it had fed on blood, a handsome man’s face appeared.
But the problem was that its posture was extremely grotesque.
It stood on all fours like a beast.
Both legs were half-bent. Both arms pressed against the ground.
Even in that prone position, he only lifted his head to glare at Jin Cheon-hee, letting out a low growl.
“Ou, Eongaju. What in the world is this…?”
What is a Gangshi?
A corpse refined through sorcery and controlled as a puppet.
Usually, because their joints are rigid, they hop about on two legs like bouncing balls.
Their arms are also kept nearly straight, as they can barely bend them.
This is the common Donggang-si we all know.
Don’t mock them for their inability to bend their joints.
A single Donggang-si can slaughter ten Gangho warriors.
A Donggang-si infused with forbidden techniques can kill thirty.
They possess monstrous strength capable of piercing stone, and their skin is so hardened that blades barely penetrate.
But this Gangshi is utterly bestial.
‘If they’d made an actual beast into a Gangshi, I’d understand, but a human-corpse Gangshi acting like a wild animal?’
Admittedly, joints bending smoothly is remarkable, but among higher-tier Gangshi, such specimens do occasionally exist, so I can overlook that.
But a Gangshi that’s entirely beast-like?
My eyes gleamed.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before.”
I had never heard of such a thing even in the rumors circulating through Gangho.
“Through researching the Asura Blood River Monster, I learned many things. Unfortunately, the main family’s Gwisugangsi fell short compared to the Asura Blood River Monster. So there was much to learn from. This is what I created by applying those lessons—a Gwisugangsi, a Ghost Beast Corpse.”
A Gwisugangsi?
‘The character for beast certainly means animal…. Is this superior to a Gwisugangsi?’
I recalled what I knew of the Gwisugangsi.
I had never seen one.
But the Jicheon Cheonma novel contained detailed descriptions, and I had gathered sufficient information and rumors circulating through Gangho.
The Jin Ju-eonga family’s strongest Gangshi, known to fight on equal terms with a Hwakyeong Master.
It could use martial techniques from its living days to some degree, naturally possessed Adamantine Body, and despite being a Gangshi, it was a monster that wielded inner force recklessly—that was the Gwisugangsi.
But looking at it this way, ultimately.
‘Isn’t it just a downgraded version of the Asura Blood River Monster?’
Because the Asura Blood River Monster I’d subjugated during the Paechen Musang Singeong secret manual incident was like that.
A Gangshi that wielded inner force recklessly and used techniques from its past life—a half-baked Hyeongyeong—that was the Asura Blood River Monster.
Judging purely by abilities, the Gwisugangsi was indeed inferior.
Yet a Gwisugangsi capable of matching a Hwakyeong Master was certainly a fearsome weapon worthy of being called a demon.
“Is there a particular reason you chose to create a Gwisugangsi from a human corpse?”
I asked why they hadn’t made it look human, instead fashioning it in a beast form.
“If you create a Gangshi from an actual beast, its utility diminishes. Moreover, the Gwisugangsi uses a corpse of someone who learned martial techniques modeled after animal forms, like Tiger Form Fist.”
“I see.”
“And I introduced the main family’s secret techniques into the Gangshi, with excellent results.”
“Hmm.”
“Don’t misunderstand. I purchased it legally with proper payment. I even obtained a written permit from the deceased during their lifetime for corpse usage.”
“Don’t get me wrong. I bought it legally. I even got a permit from the deceased to use their body while they were alive.”
Saying so, he pulled out a deed from his sleeve and laid it out.
‘What exactly does he take me for that he’d prepare something like this? Wait, before that—how much silver are we talking about? One, ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand….’
I suddenly grasped the true financial power of the Jin Ju-eonga family.
‘Wow. This household is equally insane in their own way.’
I marveled at it.
That said, I couldn’t really object to this—there’s no ethical issue within Gangho standards.
In the first place, the Jin Ju-eonga family’s corpse monsters are created only with the consent of the bereaved family or the deceased themselves.
So it doesn’t really matter what the corpse does.
Without consent, you’d be a criminal deserving death, but with consent, it’s perfectly fine—like the difference between an open and closed church door.
After all, their own soul has already passed on to the afterlife and achieved enlightenment.
‘Right. I’ve seen corpse monsters with a similar vibe in old Hong Kong films.’
More importantly, could a Kang Ho-in actually prepare for such a corpse monster?
‘My thesis…. Ah, no wait, the secret technique just became worthless paper?’
I’d created the optimal examination method assuming encounters with ordinary corpse monsters, so against something like this, it would be useless.
‘Wow, I’ll need to write it all over again.’
New techniques require new theses!
The technological advancement in the corpse monster world is terrifying.
“If the Eongaju has secret techniques, wouldn’t it be unnecessary to obtain warrior corpses from the Ho-hyeong or Hyeong factions?”
“The martial prowess from life is quite important too, so it was unavoidable.”
“Obtaining corpses must be difficult.”
“That’s why, as you can see, it cost quite a lot of money.”
Is that where his stingy side comes from?
Right. Having spent this much money, he absolutely wouldn’t want to get into a corpse monster battle royale with the Hyeolsaeng Nogoe.
How much money does it cost to destroy a single corpse monster?
“Then are we ready?”
“Yes. Let’s begin.”
Eon-gwon rang a bell and chanted an incantation.
Then the corpse monster, which had been waiting on all fours and growling, began to move.
Thud-thud-thud!
It charged forward on all fours like a wild beast.
Its speed was quite impressive.
Yet it wasn’t entirely beast-like.
Normally, four-legged beasts have similar leg lengths.
But humans have longer legs than arms, so it was only natural.
Because of this, its running form seemed awkward, yet it was terrifyingly fast nonetheless.
Boom!
“Roooaaarrr!”
The corpse monster leaped high with a bestial cry, extending its hand like a tiger swinging its front paw.
But its hand was wrapped in something like claw-shaped sword energy.
‘Whoa, I can sense not just a beast, but something like a tiger’s will or intent?’
How on earth did I manage that?
It doesn’t seem like I put my soul into it.
My eyes sparkle like mint lollipops as I think this to myself.
I watch the front paw approaching my face, and at the perfect moment, I lean my upper body back, dodging the attack.
“Wow!”
Sama Hyeon gasped without realizing it.
The front paw brushes past through empty air.
In that moment, I spring my body forward like a coil, returning to my original position while extending my hand.
Cheonwoo gasps without realizing it.
‘Did Hyeong set up his initial stance with Tai Chi Fist from the beginning to counter like this?!’
This means Hyeong had already anticipated how the situation would unfold before it even began!
Chills ran down the back of Cheonwoo, a member of the Mudang Faction.
A fear that only those with deep understanding of Tai Chi could comprehend.
‘When the Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong that reads the opponent’s moves combines with the Mudang Faction’s Tai Chi, it creates an incredible synergistic effect!’
However, I know this is not something anyone can do.
If everyone could do it, the Jegallim Family wouldn’t have suffered such calamity.
‘Ah, experience. Is it experience?’
Countless real combat experiences that traverse the boundary between life and death accelerate the Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong even further.
The martial understanding awakened there unfailingly reveals the future several moves ahead and derives the answer.
Tai Chi Fist Ten Thousand Refinement Palm!
Soft as it appears, yet the force to push back Mount Tai is contained in that palm strike.
My modified version
Tai Chi Cotton Palm–!!
Boom!
With a tremendous explosion, the Gwisugangsi’s body flies far away.
“Oh. Did it instinctively disperse the impact?”
And I marveled at that sight.
The strike just now was a perfectly executed attack that exploited an opening, yet the Gwisugangsi flipped its body in mid-air in that instant and blocked my strike with its arm.
Should I call it fortunate?
The palm strike I had intended to break its ribs only inflicted minor damage to the Gwisugangsi’s arm.
It caused no significant harm.
Thud.
The Gwisugangsi bounces far away, rotates its body in mid-air, and lands smoothly.
Its sense of balance was truly like that of a beast.
“Remarkable. A corpse with such a flexible body….”
“Simply a flexible corpse is fairly common if you look around. The main family’s ghost corpses are like that too, but didn’t the Asura Blood River Monster also display movements completely identical to humans?”
“Isn’t it rare to see corpses like that?”
“But you may see them frequently from now on.”
Wasn’t the Asura Blood River Monster already known to both the Righteous and Heterodox Factions?
I began to think that the Jin Ju-eonga family wasn’t the only one showing evolution in corpse techniques.
So Jin Cheon-hee nodded his head.
“True. That could very well be the case.”
A new era requires new techniques… or rather, new secret methods.
For now, I intend to try everything to understand how to break through it.
The Gwisugangsi remained vigilant but did not attack during our conversation.
It seemed to have grasped the gap in our abilities from just a single exchange.
Despite being clearly a corpse, it possessed a bestial nature that made Jin Cheon-hee marvel.
‘Good. Then shall I make a move this time?’
Jin Cheon-hee extended both hands and turned them over.
His fingers moved as though conducting the very fabric of space itself.
At first glance, it resembled nothing more than a child’s play.
“What is Hyeong trying to do?”
The moment Cheonwoo voiced his confusion, the result manifested in catastrophic fashion.
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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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