Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 858

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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 858
Ku-gong!
A strange vibration suddenly enveloped the entire stone chamber.
And Jin Cheon-hee and Sama Hyeon realized that they were now standing at the far corner of the stone chamber.
‘The space divided on its own!?’
“Cheonwoo! Hey! Hey, you bastard!”
“Hyeong. I don’t think he can hear me.”
Sama Hyeon fixed his gaze forward with a serious expression.
“Damn it. Did he deliberately block it?”
“Hehe~ It seems like you know what this is, Hyeong?”
“I’ve heard that there are types of barriers and formation arrays that divide space itself. I’ve actually experienced it before too.”
Eungryong’s dwelling came to mind.
“Look over there. It seems the Third Hyeong can’t see that we’re here.”
Cheonwoo turned his head left and right. He appeared to be searching for something.
“There’s no way to help….”
‘What if. Cheonwoo dies…?’
Until now, I had grown numb to my own dangers.
But when my younger brother’s life hung in the balance instead of my own, a sensation I had never contemplated before wrapped around me.
A different sensation from Yeo Ha-ryun.
Especially Cheonwoo—wasn’t he a child who should have died long ago according to the original story?
A role that would never warrant even a single line of his name alongside mine.
‘Is this the feeling Master experiences when looking at me…?’
Could it be that Master sent my younger siblings to me so I would experience this pain as well?
In that moment, goosebumps rose on my back.
It was something like the primal fear of a human being.
‘Calm down. I mustn’t start doubting Master’s every intention one by one.’
I steadied myself by reminding myself that he was my Master.
Even if that were his intention, I knew well that it would greatly aid in my own growth.
Though his methods were somewhat unconventional, I understood how deeply he cared for his disciple.
Once I suppressed the fear, anxiety remained in its place.
Without realizing it, I clenched my teeth.
“Hyeong. Don’t worry so much. The Third Hyeong isn’t incompetent~ And you raised him yourself, didn’t you?”
Sama Hyeon’s smooth voice reached my ears.
Hyeon’s voice possessed a mysterious power to calm people.
It touched human emotion and intuition, not logic or calculation.
If anything, it was an inborn talent.
Though I knew reason was dangerous, that voice alone soothed my heart.
My pride as an older brother was slightly wounded, but I had to acknowledge what deserved acknowledgment.
It was comforting.
Groundless trust—yet even that alone made my racing heartbeat settle into a steady rhythm.
“Yes. I have to trust him.”
I gaze at the figure before me.
All the time we’ve spent together.
Just as Hyeon said, hadn’t I been teaching him directly until recently?
‘He’s not someone who dies easily.’
There, Cheonwoo had taken a fighting stance to battle Eon Jeon-mu.
* * *
“A martial expert of the Mudang Faction? It’s been a while.”
Eon Jeon-mu.
The one who differed by just one character in his name from Jin Ju-eonga’s Minor Sect Leader Eon Jeong-mu.
He was said to be one of the ancestors of Jin Ju-eonga.
To the eye, his build was smaller than Cheonwoo’s.
From the side, the difference was at least the size of one head.
You might say it was like the height difference between a middle school student and a high school student.
Yet Eon Jeon-mu overflowed with confidence.
In contrast, Cheonwoo regarded his opponent with a solemn expression.
“I am Cheonwoo of the Mudang Faction.”
Cheonwoo clasped his fists in salute. Eon Jeon-mu returned the gesture lightly.
It was the courtesy of a martial artist of Gangho!
“Eon Jeon-mu of Jin Ju-eonga. I was once called by the epithet ‘Blue-Faced Corpse Ascension.’ What is your epithet?”
“The people of Gangho call me the Mudang Fist King.”
“Hmm? Then are you currently one of the top ten masters of the realm?”
“Currently, I am called one of the top sixteen masters of the realm…”
“Sixteen? My, my… Much has changed in three hundred years.”
Blue-Faced Corpse Ascension Eon Jeon-mu took his stance.
His two hands were bent like claws, and the tips of his fingers began to darken distinctly.
His legs spread slightly wider than shoulder-width, his right foot extended forward.
“Then shall we begin!”
Boom!
He stomped his foot once.
As the ground crumbled, the explosive force surged from his foot up through his waist.
As a result, he charged forward like a tempest.
The moment his hands, bent like a black-stained dragon’s front claws, reached Cheonwoo.
Whoosh.
The surrounding air flowed.
A spiraling vortex of energy formed with Cheonwoo at its center.
Within that flow, Cheonwoo’s thick hands moved like clouds.
‘Wow, what a picturesque technique!’
I couldn’t help but marvel.
Tap.
At some point, Cheonwoo’s hand reached out and grasped Eon Jeon-mu’s wrist.
The massive hand that had arrived there casually pushed the opponent’s arm to the side.
The moment Eon Jeon-mu’s eyes widened, Cheonwoo’s other hand became a fist and struck his jaw.
It all happened in the blink of an eye.
Clang!
A metallic sound rang out as Eon Jeon-mu’s jaw trembled slightly.
But he quickly corrected his posture and swung both hands like flying birds.
‘As expected, he’s fast!’
Cheonwoo calmly retreated at the sight and drew circles with both hands.
Thwack!
Eon Jeon-mu’s two hands were deflected.
Through the gap, Cheonwoo’s palm strike shot forward!
Boom!
The palm strike struck Eon Jeon-mu’s abdomen, and a thunderous sound erupted.
But Eon Jeon-mu merely staggered back slightly, unharmed, and he too began to unleash his energy through both hands.
“Now then. Shall we do this properly?”
Formidable energy.
That ominous destructive force began to gather in his two hands.
* * *
“Oh… Cheonwoo is actually pretty good?”
“You’re not… wait. No, I’m the guilty one. I’m the guilty one.”
There was no billiards in this world, so how would Sama Hyeon know what that meant?
I acknowledged the fact that this man had memorized every single one of my movements.
‘They say you can’t even drink cold water in front of a child.’
The duel between Eon Jeon-mu and Cheonwoo.
Eon Jeon-mu had allowed several attacks, but Cheonwoo had not been struck even once.
Yet Eon Jeon-mu was truly remarkable.
His body seemed to be indestructible like diamond.
‘Cheonwoo’s palm strike is powerful enough to crush most corpse demons with a single blow, yet this fellow shows no damage whatsoever.’
This was no easy fight.
Watching this, I suppressed the urge to pull out a pipe from my pocket.
This wasn’t the medicinal herb my Master had prepared for times like this.
‘Diamond indestructibility granted by the Dreamless Ghost Spirit Corpse Demon technique… truly troublesome. Moreover, with a human from three hundred years ago resurrected as a corpse demon, even if I use my middle-tier methods, they won’t be very effective.’
For despite appearing human on the surface, a corpse demon couldn’t possibly possess the same organs as a human.
I continued my thoughts.
‘And it’s not as though Cheonwoo can infuse his energy with the five-element mutual restraint technique like I can…’
Wasn’t that far too cruel, even for a corpse demon?
Eon Jeon-mu now completely wrapped formidable energy around both his hands and began to clash with Cheonwoo.
I felt sweat forming on my palms as I concentrated.
‘Cheonwoo!’
* * *
‘So this is the strength of one of the ten greatest masters from three hundred years ago.’
Splat.
Even blocking by a hair’s breadth, flesh tears and blood sprays.
We had already exchanged blows several times.
Meanwhile, Eon Jeon-mu seemed to be enjoying himself.
“To think such a master exists in this age. Hahaha! I made the right choice becoming the gatekeeper of this underground place. You’re strong! Truly strong!”
Eon Jeon-mu spoke thus and shifted his offensive approach.
Now he no longer simply overpowered Cheonwoo’s fist strikes infused with inner force through sheer brute strength as before.
Instead.
He wrapped his entire body in protective inner force.
Protective inner force.
Combined with the indestructible body of the Diamond Realm.
With just that, Cheonwoo’s attacks were no longer landing properly.
Cheonwoo suddenly noticed his own footprints.
Footprints created from stepping backward.
Three paces.
‘When exactly did I fall into a defensive position?’
The opponent was certainly strong.
But this wouldn’t do.
A hundred years? Two hundred? Three hundred?
It didn’t matter how many centuries had passed.
Because I understood what was more important than time.
-Woo, was the Mudang Faction when Master Jang Sambon was there truly stronger than the Mudang Faction of today?
‘Woo’ was Cheonwoo.
It was a nickname Elder Gwon Je would occasionally call him when drunk.
It contained the character ‘woo’ from Cheonwoo’s name.
It could also mean friend, and when scolding, it meant fool.
-That could be the case, Woo. But if so, then nothing improved over a thousand years, so shouldn’t everyone bash their heads in? I should be the first to do it. I’m the oldest in the Mudang Faction now.
-Krkrkrkuk, just joking. But this thought did occur to me.
-Whether my fists truly contributed even one step, or half a step, to the Mudang Faction.
The expression Elder Gwon Je wore at that time remained behind my eyelids.
‘Three hundred years? What? The Mudang Faction has its own history.’
What was such a span of time!
The dead are the dead. But we had martial arts created by living people grinding away their lifespans.
If that side had three hundred years.
Then this side had over three thousand.
Beneath one master were tens, hundreds, thousands of Daoists.
Achieving dreams, abandoning them, dying, killing.
A path that could never be walked by a single person alone.
A path walked by one genius and tens of thousands of the mediocre.
I know that such years are no lesser than those of the dead.
‘Sigh, Elder Gwon Je must be laughing at me from heaven.’
Thus, Cheonwoo steadied his hurried heart and drew a deep breath.
I recalled Elder Gwon Je’s back.
The cup of wine we shared one last time.
The full moon that shimmered within that cup.
A circle within a circle.
That is how fate typically appears.
Was that not the way of the Mudang Faction?
Soon, Cheonwoo extended both hands.
Now was the moment.
“Haha! Quite exceptional talent you possess. You there! Especially those eyes. Had you cultivated for another ten years, I might have lost!”
Crash!
Their attacks collided in midair.
As the qi exploded and shockwaves erupted, Cheonwoo retreated three more steps.
In that instant, Eon Jeon-mu approached like lightning.
“Receive the Ghostly Corpse Ascension Technique!”
A hand as black as pitch, as if rejecting light itself, drew near.
Cheonwoo gazed upon it, half-opening his one remaining eye, and drew forth what dwelt within.
‘Is this the turning point?’
Instinctively, Cheonwoo knew he stood at a crossroads.
Life or death—ultimately decided in a single instant.
Yet dancing within that space was the very essence of the martial way, was it not?
For there are things one cannot obtain unless one fears death yet does not surrender to it.
Therefore, I thought.
In the end.
‘The root of the Mudang Faction is the Tai Chi form.’
A most ordinary realization even a young child could speak of.
The fundamentals of fundamentals that my brother had emphasized so much.
Thus, an ordinary technique of the Tai Chi form unfolded from Cheonwoo’s hands.
Yet why?
A small Tai Chi took shape at Cheonwoo’s fingertips.
That very Tai Chi form an old man had manifested with hands that had brewed wine.
Containing not a shred of martial technique—merely the desperate struggle of a life lived.
Cheonwoo’s fingertips stained with the scent of peach blossoms.
Flow forth.
Ancient Tai Chi.
In an instant, a great hand traced a perfect, round circle like a peach.
Gently grasping Eon Jeon-mu’s wrist, I drew it inward.
Taichi is not about strength.
Even with one eye missing, even with an aged body, even if ravaged by severe consumption.
Anyone can practice Taichi.
For the circle dwells everywhere.
The moon and a cup of wine.
Fate and years overlap and layer to form a circle.
Concentric circles.
As Cheonwoo’s pull added to the charging speed and force, his balance wavered for just a moment.
Yet Eon Jeon-mu was also an absolute master!
He immediately kicked off the ground, attempting to strike deeper.
In that instant.
Cheonwoo’s massive body became hazy like clouds and water.
That supremely soft body stepped back one pace, pulling Eon Jeon-mu’s form further, causing him to pass completely through.
Eon Jeon-mu’s startled eyes and Cheonwoo’s gaze collided in midair.
In that moment.
Like a flowing river, Cheonwoo’s enormous frame pressed inward through Eon Jeon-mu’s body.
Ah, so this is what it was.
This was the martial art that Jeong Gajangju had practiced.
Unknowingly, with a body that had never once engaged in a life-or-death duel, he had contained such martial mastery.
A martial art imbued with the life of a parent, a grandfather, and a brewery master.
Not the supreme technique of the most talented genius among thousands upon thousands of Mudang practitioners.
But the blooming of the dullest one who had to abandon his dreams.
Taichi that flowered in his twilight years.
That martial art.
Crack!
Somewhere along the way, Cheonwoo’s other hand had come to rest upon Eon Jeon-mu’s solar plexus.
The sound of something solid cracking echoes forth. What follows is an extraordinarily violent explosion.
Boom!
Eon Jeon-mu’s body was sent flying backward.
Since the strike was delivered with his balance already broken, his body could only be sent airborne.
Yet he spun his form and landed properly upon the ground.
A deep imprint of Cheonwoo’s massive palm was carved into his solar plexus.
Yet no blood flowed.
Strangely, the skin around it was torn as though metal had cracked, and black smoke seeped from the fissures.
He forgot even pain and marveled.
“Hah…. Just now. Did you employ the Rhythm of the Martial Way?”
The Rhythm of the Martial Way!
Those who have learned martial arts possess their own rhythm.
The beating of the heart, the intervals created by breathing, the contraction and relaxation of muscles.
Even the creaking of bones.
The human body is music.
Martial arts (武) resembled a kind of dance (舞) performed with that music.
Thus, every technique—be it fist forms, footwork, spear methods, sword techniques, or even leg strikes—possessed rhythm.
Assume the opening stance, observe the opponent, strike with full force.
But what if one could strike the opponent while disregarding such rhythm?
Many martial artists had entertained such thoughts.
Yet implementing arrhythmic martial arts was extraordinarily difficult.
And now it had been unveiled.
“The trajectory of life, sir.”
“Did you have advisors?”
“Two. Or rather, three.”
“The first would be the Master of the Mudang Faction, and the other is the one you call brother? From the Jegallim Family?”
“Yes. My sworn brother is a genius. He mastered the Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong of the Jegallim Family so thoroughly that he remembers everything he has seen even once.”
“That is what makes the Jegallim Family fearsome. Yet their martial prowess can never match that intellect. Is that not the Jegallim Family’s weakness?”
Eon Jeon-mu nodded along with the unexpected remark.
“Not anymore, after three hundred years have passed. That is why countering them has become nearly impossible.”
Never forgetting what one has seen once. Observing the opponent.
Creating methods to counter their martial techniques.
Of course, if one possessed greater speed or stronger power than the user of the Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong, one might overcome them somehow.
But.
Jin Cheon-hee was a body that had mastered and absorbed countless divine techniques and secret arts.
Though not possessing a martial bone, due to endless training and the accumulation of knowledge, few in Gangho surpassed him.
Therefore, Cheonwoo had resolved.
To catch up with his brother in order to aid him.
To become his shield at the moment of greatest need.
But how?
Cheonwoo found the answer in the Tai Chi.
Eon Jeon-mu’s eyes widened.
“Could it be a new transcendent heart technique? There were no signs until now, yet you achieved enlightenment and perfected it in a single exchange?!!”
Was such a thing truly possible?

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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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