Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 934

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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 934
The entire Baekrin Medical Sect began to stir with excitement.
A grand festival was about to commence to celebrate the complete recovery of Uiguk Baek Jegalling, the master of Baekrin.
‘Though he hasn’t removed what lies in the aorta.’
The stent I had installed remained in place.
With the Small Universe perfectly completed, he had already transcended the realm of humanity.
He could absorb it if he wished, but seeing that he left it as is, it seems he’s waiting for a complete metamorphosis.
Even so, the Nine Yin Meridian no longer torments my Master.
No matter how the cold invades from the severed meridian.
How could it possibly obstruct one who has ascended to such a distant realm?
‘Normally, he should have shed his mortal form and become an immortal….’
It seems he imposed restrictions through some method to lower his realm by one stage.
Yet now that the heavens have loosened enough for Mu-jon to emerge outside.
He wished to transmit his martial principles to his disciple.
Ironically.
Painfully so.
I myself have failed to properly absorb any of it.
Until now, I could accept everything my Master taught me.
Even after my metamorphosis and using the Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong, the principles remain too distant.
‘…It’s far. Or should I say, at this distance, it’s another world entirely?’
All I felt was despair.
The next day, I realized for the first time how grueling dawn training could be.
Even as I moved my creaking body, the realization that there was no path to reach that distant realm brought only pain.
‘It’s absurd, really. My Master rarely even grasps a sword…. How can there be such a difference between master and disciple?’
Yet I did not stop.
I could not put down the blade.
If I gave up here, all the effort I had made until now would scatter like grains of sand.
‘I never thought I’d experience despair over a difference in talent.’
Yeo Ha-ryun, who unfolds one stage above the abilities I possess.
I sincerely celebrated his achievements.
Cheonwoo, who can see anything and perceive all truths.
How proud his eyes were.
Sama Hyeon, who immediately mimics any martial art he’s seen even once.
I always thought he was admirably magnificent.
When I witnessed Mu-jon’s distant martial prowess.
I realized that legends and oral traditions truly existed in reality.
But why.
‘Why do I despair at my Master’s realm?’
Even if it’s a path I cannot follow, this single step is not meaningless.
Yet here I am, always calling myself a doctor rather than a martial artist.
‘How foolish.’
Thud!
I dropped the wooden sword.
A swordsman dropping a wooden sword was an unprecedented occurrence.
‘What is martial arts?’
For the first time.
For the first time, I approached martial arts with genuine seriousness.
This emotion arose only after witnessing something that I, as a doctor, could never obtain.
I could not let my Master discover this dark feeling within me.
‘What is martial arts?’
Had I not always thought of it as merely killing people?
I never expected that it would be my Master, of all people, who would show me otherwise.
Then Yoo Ho approached.
“Are you preparing for the celebration?”
I quickly wiped my eyes with my sleeve and spoke brightly.
“Oh, wonderful~ Leave the cooking to me!”
Today was a gathering to honor my Master.
There could be no wavering.
Yet.
‘So where do humans, where do we, reach through martial arts?’
A single question refused to stop, returning endlessly.
* * *
I had become a veritable cooking factory.
Whether I intended to pass on my dumplings to the entire population of Baek Rin, I was producing food at an incredible pace.
And not just dumplings.
Soups, fried dishes, rice cakes, honey pastries, taffy, candies.
Even snacks beyond the usual!
‘I should try making yuzu yakgwa as well.’
I was crafting dishes with the skill of a divine artisan.
“Soggakju, aren’t you going to collapse at this rate?”
Eventually, people began to worry, but I waved them off.
“Ah, it’s fine. I’m perfectly well.”
Being busy was good at times like this.
I did not want anyone else to discover this murky feeling within me.
Colorful dumplings and soups, braised chicken rich with eggs, and rice bowls spread across every surface.
For three days, everyone played, ate, and reveled in happiness.
“Oh, the performance troupe is arriving!”
Performance troupes came from various places, adding excitement to the celebration.
“Such skilled sleight of hand!”
“His face changes more than ten times with a single sweep of his sleeve!”
From whip sword performances to tightrope acrobatics.
Some performers spun stacked plates in layers, while others held swords in their mouths and created spectacular fire performances.
Jegalling watched such performances with genuine delight.
“So Hee is still in the kitchen?”
Yoo Ho answered his question.
“Yes. He said he wanted to focus on preparing dishes for Master.”
“…His thoughts must be complicated.”
With only that, Jegalling fell silent.
To protect a disciple, one must create the world that disciple desires.
A life spent worrying about that child, living for that child’s sake.
In the end, martial arts themselves dissolved into that purpose.
When I came to my senses, I had become something that child saw as the ultimate ideal.
Being captivated was inevitable.
For I had become that child’s ideal in order to protect him.
Despair too was inevitable.
For I realized there was no way to reach that ideal.
I had even subtly resisted martial arts, claiming it was merely a tool for killing people, as a doctor.
And it was true.
That child was the patriarch of the Busul Sect, and most of those who received treatment from him were people whose bodies had been damaged by others’ martial techniques.
I would spend hours stitching and mending wounds made by a single sword strike.
There were many scars I couldn’t guarantee would heal.
Martial arts that I had subtly despised.
Yet martial arts that absolutely had to be learned to protect one’s body.
That ambivalent object I couldn’t quite name.
‘It showed me the ideal I had longed for.’
Martial arts for the sake of protecting something.
What Jegalling showed me was a space itself for saving people.
This wasn’t something that could be hidden.
Besides, that was never Jegalling’s way.
‘Did he see the wall of talent?’
Was he despairing?
Did it feel like swallowing ash?
Pfft—
Jegalling chuckled softly and looked down at the confection before him.
A rabbit-shaped confection.
Yuzu bean paste formed a dandelion caught between the ears.
The shape was so adorable it seemed a shame to eat, yet the heart demon that crafted it must be as fierce as a malevolent spirit.
“Will you leave that boy alone?”
“I must leave him be. That too is part of his growth.”
“Growth…?”
“You may not understand this, but a true martial artist must face walls, overcome them, and experience all five desires and seven emotions. Those desires and emotions become martial skill, intention, and the means to bring a sword to life.”
“How tedious.”
“Indeed. Tedious, yet absolutely necessary. That boy has been overcoming walls with remarkable ease all this time.”
Yoo Ho asked.
“Then what happens if he cannot overcome it?”
“What do you think a martial artist is? If he cannot overcome it, he simply dies.”
Jegalling picked up a pastry with his hand and swallowed it whole in one bite.
A hearty, decisive bite.
“Do you think the young master can overcome this wall?”
“Who knows. I cannot say. However, if he continues to pursue the same martial path as I do… then it will be impossible.”
“How cruel. To show him what he desires, only to tell him he must walk a different path.”
Jegalling nodded.
“Yes. I am a harsh master indeed.”
He never denied it.
He sipped his tea and spoke.
“And it is time for that boy to admit something honestly.”
“What is that?”
“That despite claiming to hate martial arts so much, he is in fact pursuing it more desperately than anyone.”
A martial artist must ultimately overcome walls without end.
A true martial artist must swallow despair, fear, jealousy—everything—before overcoming a wall, thrashing and struggling within that filth.
If a martial artist cannot overcome that despair, caked with the five desires and seven emotions, he shatters.
Whether his heart breaks or his body breaks.
It matters not.
The most painful thing is the heart, after all.
Surprisingly, the breaking of the body is merely the final gasp of life.
What follows is death, and that too is a kind of peace.
That is precisely the Path of the Sword.
The Way of Martial Arts.
“Will you not help him this time?”
“I cannot. No matter how skilled I am, there is no clever method to resolve this. This is a problem that arises from the heart, a matter of intention. It is the very essence of martial arts that a martial artist cannot help but face.”
So swallow it.
Swallow it and overcome it.
If you cannot, you will shatter.
Jegalling closed his eyes.
“….”
Before despair, what shatters first—the body,
or the heart?
052. The Day a Human Dies
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Dawn.
Today, I wielded the wooden sword once more.
Yet.
It was not at the Baekrin Medical Guild.
I found myself in an unfamiliar place.
Still, I continued my training regardless.
Despite everything happening around me, whenever the appointed hour arrived, I would unfailingly step outside and continue swinging my blade.
‘It is meaningless, perhaps.’
The realm my Master showed me, that enlightenment—it cannot be resolved by sitting here and swinging a wooden sword a hundred times, or ten thousand times.
Yet now my body rises of its own accord when that time comes, and my hands naturally reach for the wooden sword.
After flowing through the undulating Tai Chi form, I perform the basic upper, middle, and lower cuts.
I merely practice the foundational Three Positions Footwork.
“….”
But I know I am not improving at all.
My mind understands that such walls come occasionally.
Yet I grow more anxious than before.
‘There is no way to follow in my Master’s footsteps.’
No, it need not be my Master.
Had some stranger displayed such martial arts, I would have been equally captivated.
An ideal is something that captures a person so thoroughly.
Especially something a warrior believed impossible throughout their entire life.
If someone were to unfold something carefully hidden away, it would ensnare one for a lifetime.
That person simply happens to be my Master.
‘Damn it. Why am I… why can’t I… even follow in my Master’s footsteps.’
Speaking coldly, the martial arts my Master displayed.
Were possible only because my Master, Baekrin Uiseon Jegallim, is a genius.
Whoosh, whoosh!
Even within the heart demon, I continue swinging the most fundamental sword techniques.
The sword wind I create sweeps the leaves away cleanly.
Yellow leaves.
Summer had passed, and autumn was upon us.
As the harvest season drew near, Baek Rin was growing crops of a completely different caliber than other regions.
A truly magnificent harvest!
“Wooooah! We’ll have no worries next year!”
The farmers rushed about, shouting with joy.
It was natural for their hearts to swell at witnessing such abundance.
‘Normally, such a bumper crop would cause grain prices to plummet.’
But I did not allow that to happen.
‘The remaining grain will be exchanged for something more precious.’
First, the Damjin Kingdom had not yet fully recovered from the aftermath of the plague.
And since that region naturally had low harvests, being able to import grain cheaply was the greatest advantage.
In exchange, Jin Cheon-hee obtains spices and medicinal herbs from the Damjin Kingdom.
Along with that, we also receive our soda stone.
Additionally, there is the North Sea Ice Palace to the north.
The North Sea Ice Palace has high-quality coal.
Moreover, the iron ore quality is excellent, and swords forged from North Sea Ice Palace iron are famous for remaining intact even after breaking the blades of ten other martial artists.
And furs.
Furs from the North Sea Ice Palace sell at premium prices in the Central Plains.
‘During wartime, they say a single sack of rice becomes more valuable than a gold bracelet.’
Of course, the two nations are not currently at war.
But the point is that grain, when used wisely, can work wonders.
What is the most basic resource in one place becomes a commodity worth dying for in another.
‘I’ve opened this trade route by sea.’
Having reclaimed the sea route from the pirates and restored the transport lines to proper function, there are no problems.
Thus, Baek Rin was able to pass through the year of abundance without incident.
‘Both birds have died there once before.’
It seems somewhat absurd to call it a life debt.
Still, it was acceptable.
Because I was able to protect so many people because of it.
Whoosh, whoosh!
Even as I think such thoughts, my wooden sword does not stop.
Though I know it is futile.
Medical relief tents are set up around the area.
Rather than tents, they are in the form of yurts.
We borrowed tents used by the Suksin Tribe.
That’s right.
Cheonhailgwang Jin Cheon-hee, the Soggakju, is currently traveling through Gangso Province with Sama-hye and various doctors from the Medical Guild.
“Please give me food! Eun Gong!”
At Sama-hye’s bold demand, I finally lowered my wooden sword.
“Oh my. Our Jaesengtangju will handle the dishes, won’t he?”
Joking with each other.

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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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