Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 956

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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 956
Twang—
And then.
When the performance ended.
The water melody became what it ‘had been’.
Everyone lay collapsed in unconsciousness.
And in that place, only one dog and two people remained unaffected.
Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!
I never expected to receive applause, so I turned to look.
“Indeed. Truly the Cheonhailgwang! I, Heo San, the Leader of the Supaechai and the future Tyrant Emperor who shall dominate the Gangho, am impressed!”
A man with streaks of blood-red light pouring from his eyes stood alone, perfectly unharmed.
His body wrapped in protective inner energy.
‘His martial arts are lacking… but certainly formidable. Has he perfected demonic cultivation?’
I removed my hands from the seven-stringed zither and spread my arms in an elegant response.
“Oh, I’m relieved you enjoyed my performance. Though I must say, it was a shame that all the audience members fell asleep. Many people do find classical music rather drowsy, after all.”
“Hehehehe. The rumors of your incomprehensible mad ravings were true. Having heard such music, how could one maintain sanity? Rather, it’s fortunate they lost consciousness.”
“Then, Leader, you are not sleeping?”
At my question, the Leader laughed wildly.
“To sleep before you would mean abandoning everything. Isn’t that what the Cheonhailgwang demonstrates—something worse than death itself!”
“…?”
The Doctor tilted his head and replied.
“That’s strange. What could be worse than death? One should live each day grateful for being alive.”
“Hahaha! Just as I heard—you truly are mad! I wonder how delicious that fresh blood of yours would taste!”
Heo San drew his blade.
I continued to hold the seven-stringed zither as I watched him.
“You won’t draw the Bing Jeong Sword?”
“….”
I did not answer.
Yet my eyes were already stained with azure light.
* * *
Heo San, Leader of the Supaechai.
From childhood, Heo San possessed extraordinary innate talent.
It was natural.
Neither the Righteous Faction, which systematically cultivated talent from youth, nor the Heterodox Faction—and especially for those at the lowest tier of the dark path to rise upward—innate talent was far more important.
And so he became a disciple of Baekdomunun.
Baekdomunun, merely a minor sect, yet through its martial arts he became a supreme master at a young age.
Intoxicated by his innate achievements at such youth, he lived with arrogance and even killed a fellow disciple.
Moreover, he had been in a romantic relationship with the Mun-ju’s daughter.
No matter how much of a Heterodox Faction one belonged to, one could not keep a disciple who killed those who shared the same roof.
Thus he left Baekdomunun, wandered the realm, gained enlightenment through hardship, and eventually flowed into the Supaechai, finally seizing the position of Leader.
I plundered indiscriminately and used the money earned to purchase elixirs.
Though my martial foundation was somewhat lacking, I managed to establish the elixir path and reached Hwagyeong.
Beyond that realm, elixirs could no longer suffice.
I stagnated here, yet my martial prowess exceeded what was necessary for the position of Saeju.
And then I cultivated demonic techniques.
‘What am I lacking?’
The Gangho respects only the strong!
‘I have grown stronger still, so I shall crush the accursed Namgung Family and become the ruler of Anhui Province!’
Now that the Head of the Namgung Family had become a cripple after accidentally cultivating demonic techniques.
His son Namgung Un had not yet been able to absorb that much power.
So now was the time.
A heaven-sent opportunity!
He reached out his hand.
Beyond Hwagyeong.
Behold.
Power transcending Ganggi. Ganghwan!
* * *
Above the great sword of the Water Sect Saeju, a blood-red orb materialized.
Ganghwan!
The edge of Hwagyeong.
Or the power that only those who have reached Hyeongyeong can wield.
“Hehehehe! Behold! This is the legendary Ganghwan spoken of in tales! You must be seeing it for the first time!”
“Ou, Ganghwan?”
Jin Cheon-hee widened his eyes in surprise.
‘If one cultivates demonic techniques, they manifest a black blade, a Saeju, and even Ganghwan?’
Now that I thought about it, there were indeed a few like that among the Jicheon Cheonma.
Those with exceptional talent who indiscriminately drained others’ vital essence and (literally) blood had reached that far.
The Saeju was actually bewildered.
‘That bastard Ilgwang, he’s not surprised by Ganghwan?’
Other martial artists would have trembled at the knees and fled at the mere fact that the Saeju had manifested Ganghwan, a power of Hyeongyeong realm.
Yet Jin Cheon-hee stood there with wide blue eyes, staring intently without flinching.
‘Hmm, he must be too shocked to react.’
The Saeju had no way of knowing that Jin Cheon-hee, at the Hwagyeong realm, had already faced Ganghwan wielded by quasi-Hyeongyeong cultivators like One, Two, and Three.
“Kahahaha! Since I lack the skill to control my power, try to survive without dying!”
With those words, he swung his great sword wide.
Then the Ganghwan stretched slightly and began flying toward him in a crescent shape.
At that same moment.
Jin Cheon-hee
raised his hand to strike
the Seven Silver Strings.
Why was this happening?
Why did time feel so impossibly slow?
Was it merely an illusion?
Within that endlessly stretching subjective time, he heard it clearly.
Jin Cheon-hee’s voice.
“Allow me to share with you. Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, the Ode to Joy.”
Beethoven… what?
In that moment.
The performance began, riding upon intent itself.
Diiiiing—!
With that majestic sound.
Jin Cheon-hee thought with solemn focus.
‘Ti-ti-do-re re-do-ti-ra sol-sol-la-ti ti ra-ra.’
I had once played it on a recorder until my lungs nearly burst.
Playing an orchestral piece on a seven-stringed zither made it sound rather quaint.
Barely better than a recorder.
Yet to that humble melody.
Remarkably, Kang Hwan’s advance came to a halt!
‘What is this?!’
It felt as though some invisible force was binding Kang Hwan in place.
The moment Heo San moved to raise his great sword in shock, his body would not budge.
And Jin Cheon-hee thought again.
‘Ti-ti-do-re re-do-ti-ra sol-sol-la-ti ti sol-sol…’
Forced to endure the Ode to Joy played on recorder, Heo San resisted desperately.
“I know not what strange technique you employ, but can you truly withstand Hyeongyeong’s protective inner strength?”
“Oh, Hyeongyeong, you say?”
A response that seemed almost mocking.
Jin Cheon-hee’s strings released the next notes.
‘Ra-ra-ti-sol ra-ti-do-ti-sol ra-ti-do-ti-ra sol-la-re-ti-‘
How could this be?!
The sound energy pierced through the protective inner strength and began battering his body relentlessly.
Thump-thump-thump-thump!
“Krraaaaaaagh!”
Toward the suffering Heo San, Jin Cheon-hee’s performance climbed toward its crescendo.
‘Ti-ti-do-re re-do-ti-ra sol-sol-la-ti ra sol-sol!’
Ziiiiing!
Whether we meet the angel seraphim, or return to that holy sanctuary on high, or all people embrace and kiss one another…
The lyrics mattered not.
In the Korean curriculum, it was merely ‘ra-ra-ti-sol ra-ti-do-ti-sol ra-ti-do-ti-ra sol-la-re’.
“How, how can such sound energy exist! What in the world…!”
Absolute shock!
Having lived as a water sect member all this time and heard tales of sound cultivation, I had never experienced anything like this.
Jin Cheon-hee spoke to the astonished Heo San.
“I merely infused my intent using the principles of ultrasonic resonance.”
“…That was magnificent playing.”
Thump.
Heo San collapsed.
“….”
I had subdued that man’s neck, destroyed his dantian, and severed the meridians in his limbs.
‘They say those caught by Ilgwang face a fate worse than death.’
Well, from a martial artist’s perspective, having one’s dantian destroyed would make suicide seem preferable.
But as a proper doctor, I severed the meridians in a way that didn’t completely sever them—allowing him to move his limbs minimally on his own.
So he could never dream of fighting anyone, yet could still labor and spend his lifetime atoning.
For a martial artist, that was the greater hell.
It meant living this way for the rest of his life.
Never knowing when the victims might come to kill him, when this servitude might end.
Never knowing if his sins could ever be absolved.
‘Yes. Life can be crueler than death. Life—for some it’s a hymn of joy, but for others it’s an endless dirge.’
With that thought, I had him properly disposed of where my subordinates were stationed.
Then I retrieved the Yuanxiang Compass.
I could see the Yuanxiang Compass spinning round and round.
According to the Moshan Sect Leader, if they blocked it with sorcery, the compass would spin like this—and that’s exactly what was happening.
‘They’ve noticed the tracking. Unfortunate, but I’ve gained much, so I should return to Baekrin Uiseon for now.’
Just as I thought that.
콰르르르르릉—!
From deep within the island, atop the mountain peak, I felt a massive expansion of qi.
“?!”
Turning my head to look, qi was exploding in the distance.
Moreover, the very space itself seemed to tear, and from within it, Yeo Ha-ryun was ejected.
“…Ha-ryun?!”
Ha-ryun was falling.
‘Why is Ha-ryun here?!’
Fate?
Misfortune?
I rushed rapidly toward where Ha-ryun was falling.
* * *
Days before Jin Cheon-hee arrived at the Water Sect.
Ju Yeong-yeong’s neck was gripped in Yeo Ha-ryun’s hand.
Half of her mask had shattered, and the Heavenly Silkworm Robe sent down by the Six Demon Clans was torn to tatters.
There were no living souls around her.
All of them corpses, corpses, corpses.
Though a demon cultist should be accustomed to death, the deaths that Yeo Ha-ryun created carried a peculiar flavor.
As if touched by hands that despised the living.
It was truly strange.
The man before me feigned emotionlessness, yet when dealing death to others, he became so passionate.
“Cough, cough. Indeed… you are truly worthy of being chosen as Soegooju by the Cheonma.”
“Do you feel like talking now?”
The man stared with crimson eyes.
“Aha, haha. That obsession… remarkable. Very well. I shall tell you, Soegooju. The reason we take interest in your Uigyeong… is because he is the compass of the world.”
“What do you mean?”
“Have you heard the tale of the Heavenly Mechanism being torn asunder?”
“…I’ve heard whispers of it here and there.”
“It was your Uigyeong who did it. The one who tore the Heavenly Mechanism. The seed of Banson. And the compass of the world!”
Whoosh!
Black smoke began pouring from Ju Yeong-yeong’s mouth, nose, eyes, and ears.
A side effect of demonic cultivation?
Impossible to know.
But Yeo Ha-ryun’s methods were always the same.
Kill.
“Hmph!”
Yeo Ha-ryun applied force to break the opponent’s neck.
However.
In that instant, what was in my hand simply vanished.
Where Ju Yeong-yeong should have been, there was only black something filling the space.
Black smoke!
Then a voice rang out not through human voice, but through the spirit itself.
-Soegooju! When the demonic nature settles in your Uigyeong’s heart, then truly shall the world be reestablished under the will of the Sun and Moon… If you wish to become the apostle of the Sun and Moon, you must remember this!
‘Tch, an illusion technique?’
Yeo Ha-ryun clicked his tongue.
‘So there was indeed a move I didn’t know. The Heart-Soul Ghost-Spirit Technique is troublesome even among the Six Demon Clans.’
Where did the illusion end and reality begin?
I suddenly realized the surrounding space had changed.
The forms of trees and grass were different.
Strange anomalies filled every direction.
‘Did the smoke transport me to another place? Or did it merely deceive me?’
Normally, one would assume the latter.
But since the opponent was a Heart-Soul Ghost-Spirit practitioner, even Yeo Ha-ryun could not be certain.
Crack—
“Ju Yeong-yeong… next time, you will not escape from my grasp.”
Yeo Ha-ryun’s hand immediately launched a fist forward.
Kiiiiaaaaahhh!
What met my fist was a pitch-black monstrosity.
It was no mountain beast I had ever encountered in the Gangho.
An anomaly.
As I struck down that creature, I found myself thinking of Hyeong in that instant.
Days later, the two brothers reunited after years apart.

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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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