Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 961

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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 961
Yeo Ha-ryun stared at me for a moment, then took a long sip of tea.
“Brother, you’ve truly grown stronger.”
He was speaking of martial prowess.
I slapped my flushed cheeks and replied.
“Yes. I put in the effort.”
“Even so… to wield the Cheonma Divine Art in such a way. I’m impressed.”
“Really? I actually think the Cheonma Divine Art should be used this way….”
I shrugged as I spoke.
Yeo Ha-ryun asked.
“This way?”
“Do you know anything about color?”
“I’d appreciate an explanation.”
“…”
Expressing enlightenment through language is not easy.
Language can only capture an infinitesimal fragment of that enlightenment, and careless words might actually hinder future achievements.
So I opened my blue eyes and deliberated for a long while, carefully selecting words one by one, as if picking pebbles.
“Red, yellow, blue, white, purple. Do you know what happens when you mix all these different pigments together?”
“I don’t.”
“It becomes black. Deep black. The Cheonma Divine Art I’ve witnessed is the same. Like a deep black. So if you can extract it properly, it blends well with other colors.”
“Hmm…. I see. So that’s why Dokun trains in both Poison Art and the Cheonma Divine Art together.”
I took another sip.
The fragrance of tea filled the depths of my throat and nasal passages.
The scent of the forest permeated completely.
“Probably the other Soegoojus do the same. That Heukun fellow used the Harmony Demon Art. Likely, you’re the only one purely practicing the Cheonma Divine Art as it is. Though I’m not sure about the Cheonma herself.”
“The Six Demon Clans already know this information through experience…. The other Soegoojus had no choice but to discover it themselves without knowing.”
“In that sense, you’re remarkable.”
“Is that so? Still, training only in the Cheonma Divine Art was sufficient without any deficiency.”
“…”
If the other Soegoojus had heard that, they would have been quite irritated.
Cheon Sal-seong’s talent was so overwhelming it eclipsed every other shortcoming.
I spoke.
“Anyway, a Soegooju succession battle…. Well, it’s about time. Or has it already been a while?”
“Did you know?”
“I had a rough idea.”
“…”
Yeo Ha-ryun didn’t ask how I knew.
I didn’t bother explaining either.
That brief exchange was enough for us two men.
“How many Soegoojus are there now?”
“Including myself, five of us remain.”
“Five…”
More survived than I expected.
Yeo Ha-ryun continued speaking.
“We have no way of knowing what changes have occurred in the sect. And though the Cheonma ordered me to leave only one Soegooju remaining…… I have no idea how to accomplish that either. The spy I went to meet seemed unaware of any changes in the sect.”
‘Perhaps that’s only natural.’
The empire is vast. Damnably vast.
Even with a spirit like Cheonryeong carrying dispatches, it takes several days to traverse.
Moreover, there’s a limit to how many dispatches can be transported at once, and they must be written in cipher to guard against interception, making transmission difficult.
It’s only natural that proper information doesn’t reach us.
‘The Ten Thousand Great Mountains are too far away.’
The Ten Thousand Great Mountains lie farther than most places in the realm.
Yeo Ha-ryun spoke.
“I suppose I must return to the sect first.”
As Yeo Ha-ryun rose to leave, Jin Cheon-hee seized his wrist.
“…Brother?”
Why was this?
If I let Yeo Ha-ryun depart like this, I had a premonition I would never see him again.
A sensation as though we would race onward in parallel lines forever.
No. I sensed I might see him once more.
But when I did see him that final time, I had a premonition that one of us would have to die.
A strange branching point of fate.
That fork was speaking to me now.
피이이이이잉——.
Jin Cheon-hee’s eyes suddenly gleamed with an otherworldly light.
For some reason, it felt as though I had experienced something similar before.
With these hands, I had killed Yeo Ha-ryun, and he had killed me in turn.
I felt as though we had died embracing each other’s corpses.
Had snow fallen there as well……?
Drenched in the blood of brothers.
A memory?
No. Not a single scene comes to mind—how could this be called a memory?
A premonition?
It was similar. But more intense than that.
Intuition?
I don’t know. But it’s true that my fingertips tingled the moment Yeo Ha-ryun tried to leave.
Merely a feeling.
I knew from my studies as a strategist how dangerous it was to choose based on feeling alone.
Yet Jin Cheon-hee held fast to Yeo Ha-ryun. And I desperately searched for the right words to say.
“I don’t think that’s the right choice.”
“…?”
“If we continue like this, a trap might be waiting. The fact that you weren’t given information is already unfair. This doesn’t seem like an equal fight. From the start, they have an unfair advantage with support from the Six Demon Clans.”
Logic.
Fortunately, there was logic.
Logic to hold him back.
“I see. You’re right—in this situation, I can’t know what Cheonma intends, nor can I trust her.”
“Exactly. But why are you smiling?”
A smile played at Yeo Ha-ryun’s lips.
Did he also hope to be held back?
Yeo Ha-ryun pretended not to notice and changed the subject.
“I trust only the will of Ilwol. You should learn more about our sect.”
“No, what good would it do me to understand the doctrines of Ilwol Singyeo…?”
“Savior Cheonma.”
“Ugh!”
I wanted to die a little.
“Even so, do I really need to know…? Besides, you took my ginseng soup and forced me to drink it.”
“Hyeong, in exchange you learned Cheonma Divine Art—that’s a good deal. Unless you fell into madness, you’ve even integrated the Heart Demon created by Cheonma Divine Art into your martial knowledge, earning the title Savior Cheonma yourself.”
“…Can you stop using that title?”
I wanted to bury my nose in the tea.
“Why? It’s cool and powerful. Let’s keep calling you Savior Cheonma from now on.”
“That’s… a good… idea… Savior Cheonma… sounds cool…”
Suddenly, another voice interjected into their conversation.
‘I didn’t sense any presence at all?’
Even if I was careless, could someone erase their presence to this degree?
And Hwang-gu too…
‘No, Hwang-gu is sleeping.’
It was strange not to hear sound, even if I couldn’t detect scent or presence.
Yeo Ha-ryun and I both looked to the side simultaneously.
There, a woman with peach-colored hair wearing a scholar’s robe sat at the same table as us.
But something was wrong.
The door behind her body—its outline was visible through her.
A semi-transparent body.
‘An illusion? She has no substance. Is it some kind of sorcery…?’
My mind immediately grasped the next realization.
‘A sorcerer’s creation.’
Even though I had just thought of this term, I knew what it was.
She spoke.
“Pleased to… meet you… I am… the Gaju of the Spirit Soul Ghost Spirit Clan… Ju Yu-ryo…”
“You found us through sorcery?”
“Yes… I specialize… in such things… Heaven Defying One… Cheon Sal-seong… two unique points… easy to find through sorcery… but as one who has learned Cheonma Divine Art… even easier to pinpoint…”
Finding someone through shamanism is easy?
If it were truly that simple, the Hyeolseon Sect wouldn’t need to play cat-and-mouse games, and she would have been kidnapped long ago.
‘She must be a master of shamanism.’
The Head Disciple of the Moshan Sect came to mind.
Perhaps even a realm far beyond that.
Yeo Ha-ryun asked.
“The Gaju of the Simhon Gwireung Family? That position has been vacant for a long time.”
“The main family’s… Gaju is solely… the Jicheon… Only the Jicheon… Other families are different… You… Cheon Sal-seong Yeo Ha-ryun… Soegooju… The Cheonma has left a message for you….”
She straightened her hunched back.
Hidden by her delicate features and stooped posture, she possessed quite a tall frame, and her shoulders were broad and solid—a martial physique.
It appeared to be an exceptionally well-developed, supreme martial physique.
‘Yet, she remains a shaman. And the Gaju of the Simhon Gwireung Family at that.’
“Speak.”
“Hehehehe…. Such bluntness is… adorable…. Then… I shall convey it….”
She seemed to take a liking to Yeo Ha-ryun.
Yeo Ha-ryun’s expression suggested he wouldn’t mind feeding her poison if he could.
Soon the phantom’s form transformed into that of the Cheonma.
Eyes as black as pitch, reflecting not a single glimmer of light.
And hair equally dark.
The unmarked martial robe appeared as shabby as what a poor wanderer might wear, yet on her it looked immaculate and refined.
Though she lived with ascetic severity, everyone in the martial world knew that no one possessed greed quite like her.
Indeed.
Merely by mimicking her form.
Prickle—
The goosebumps on my forearms stood on end, signaling danger.
‘Insane. Has she grown even stronger in the meantime?’
I gazed at the Cheonma with startled eyes.
Though merely a phantom, I could glimpse fragments of her intent.
Of course, the word “glimpse” hardly does justice to her overwhelming power. Yet precisely because she was so overwhelming, even the phantom faintly reflected her presence.
I beheld the vastness of a hundred-thousand-great mountain.
She was truly a great evil.
A being who lived to stain the world with demonism.
And now she opens her eyes.
[Cheon Sal-seong. My puppet who became my disciple. Perhaps the child of Reversed Heaven’s Fortune accompanies you. I, the Heavenly Puppet Master, leave this message for you.]
This voice. This overwhelming pressure!
Unmistakably the Cheonma.
[I command you. Devour all the other Soegoojus and stand before me. That is your destiny… Then I shall wait.]
She was smiling.
With a faint smile, she was clearly instructing Yeo Ha-ryun to devour them all.
‘Is she enjoying this?’
Soon after, the phantom vanished with those words.
The form had shifted once more—now bearing the appearance of Ju Yu-ryo, the Gaju of the Heart Demon Ghost Spirit Sect.
“I have conveyed it… Struggle and… survive if you can…”
She spoke in a drowsy voice and turned to leave.
‘This won’t do. I need to extract at least one more piece of information!’
Though Yeo Ha-ryun’s network of relationships had expanded since his time as the Jicheon Cheonma and more of his subordinates had survived, it was nothing compared to the Six Demon Clans.
He was fighting as a complete underdog.
Even the smallest scrap of information was precious to us.
I had decided to become Yeo Ha-ryun’s strategist.
“Wait.”
“…?”
Good. She didn’t leave immediately.
I spoke quickly.
“So the Six Demon Clans will all come rushing to kill Ha-ryun?”
“An interesting… child… you are… Not all of them… The true elite of the main family and the others… will be waiting to prepare for war against the Hyeolseon Sect… However… the Soegooju’s subordinates… will move together with them…”
“You also stand opposed to the Hyeolseon Sect, then.”
“You… seek to obtain information… A wise approach… I shall teach you something important… I do not dislike you either…”
She closed her eyes.
Then slowly, she opened her mouth.
“Soon… those wretches will cease to exist… Their Leader as well… the Cheonma shall sever his head… The timing was delayed because of Mu-jon… but very well… Then… Defier of Heavenly Fortune… act as you wish… For that is the way of the Demon… hehehehe… hehehehehehe… Cute Cheon Sal-seong… Cute strategist…”
With those words, Ju Yu-ryo vanished.
“…”
As if she had never been there from the start.
“Brother, you went to such lengths to obtain this information for me.”
Yeo Ha-ryun appeared moved.
But I fell deep into thought.
‘This is the branching point.’
The Cheonma rarely emerged from the depths.
The fact that she had moved meant this was a critical juncture.
And at the center of it all lay…
‘Myself and Ha-ryun.’
The Defier of Heavenly Fortune and the puppet of Heavenly Fortune.
Two pawns standing in the middle of the board.
Could the pawn truly capture the chariot and elephant, and finally…
‘Topple the King?’
How many were watching this board with bated breath?

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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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