Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 988

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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 988
Jin Cheon-hee hummed a tune today as well.
“Ou, elixir baking~!”
I was baking elixirs using the Yeondan technique.
In the Baekrin Medical Guild’s pharmaceutical chamber, where facilities had been expanded and personnel reinforced, mass production of spiritual elixirs continued even at this very moment.
But the highest-grade spiritual elixirs.
In other words, the Baekrin Medical Guild’s premium-grade spiritual elixirs—comparable to the Great Returning Pills—could only be crafted by Jegalling and his successor, myself.
Around me, spirit stones were arranged with perfect precision, aligned with the celestial stems and temporal moments like puzzle pieces.
As I crafted the elixirs, the spirit stones occasionally moved fluidly in response to my mental intent.
Crackle, crackle—
Just like now.
“Hmm, let’s shift it just a bit more to the side.”
Crackle—
Back on old Earth, there was a similar free game like this.
They’d give you a retry chance if you watched a ten-second advertisement.
It sounds insane, but it’s actually helping.
‘Humans really do need to try everything. Yeah.’
Spiritual energy crystallized as the spirit stone found its place.
“Fundamentally, making spiritual elixirs is surprisingly similar to cooking. Especially at this stage—it’s exactly like stirring bone broth so it doesn’t burn.”
For reference, kneading spiritual pills resembles the bread-making process.
Humming a tune—whether it was trot or rock, I couldn’t tell—I produced the spiritual pills.
The slower I stirred, the more five-colored light began to gather in the Yeondan furnace.
‘Others would be shocked if they saw this. After all, creating something this magnificent so casually is quite extraordinary.’
Anyone else would furrow their brow intensely, recalling respect for ancient sages and secret formulas while concentrating on stirring.
They’d probably be terrified of ruining it.
‘Besides, even the Baekrin Medical Guild only makes one of these per year.’
The materials had to be special, and the process was grueling.
Moreover, since it required the celestial energy to align properly, I had to wait for the right moment to create it.
That’s why these were expensive.
Great spiritual elixirs of this caliber rarely sold for money.
What could be purchased with money was at best inferior grade, or at most, middle grade.
Just as the Shaolin Temple’s Great Returning Pills couldn’t be bought with money alone, the Baekrin Medical Guild’s great spiritual elixirs were difficult to acquire with currency alone.
However, the reason for making this.
‘For imperial palace tribute!’
Immediately after resolving the drought, Gold & Silver issued a reward.
An extraordinarily generous one at that.
I had planned to go directly with the itemized list and extract it, but it’s surprising how an imperial edict came down swiftly, as if they’d prepared in advance.
To summarize the official document, it was as follows.
‘First, two thousand households of Baekrin County as a fief.’
That was originally what my Master had officially received as the Uiguk Baek.
Those who moved to this fief region were treated as subjects of Baek Rin County by implicit rule.
However.
It was merely implicit, not yet set in stone.
‘So this time, the entire Baek Rin County became a fief.’ The Emperor stamped it with an edict—decisive and absolute.
A truly staggering number!
With this, it becomes explicitly codified in imperial law, so if my Master simply has the will to marry and produce heirs…
‘…the Jegallim Family could rise to become a second Imperial Eight Family, replacing the extinct Miga Family.’
Essentially, treatment befitting a meritorious official.
Moreover.
Baek Rin County is undergoing a great renaissance, earning the title of the third capital.
Excluding Beijing and Nanjing, it’s developing even faster than places like Hangzhou.
Baek Rin County is where even twelve-story towers and other skyscrapers have been erected!
In any case, the situation where Baek Rin County was stamped as a fief with absolute authority.
‘Now it’s grown to a scale where even ordinary imperial relatives would have to step aside.’
Of course, the imperial relatives who survived are either those like Ju Wang-ya who completely sided with Gold & Silver and devoted themselves entirely to ascending the throne, or those with no power at all—not worth killing.
Though the Emperor lived like a madman when he ascended, he’s not a pleasure killer.
As a result, the prestige of the imperial family, excluding the Emperor, Ju Wang-ya, and myself, has shrunk infinitely, but since they weren’t completely annihilated, the seeds remain.
A conversation I had in the past with Namgung Un and Sama Hyeon came to mind.
Back then, Sama Hyeon had perfectly ‘copied’ Yeo Ha-ryun’s Cheon Sal-seong.
Namgung Un was facing off against an assassin from the Yang Family among the Imperial Eight Families.
-You speak such words while entangled in this filthy assassination work?
-I merely follow orders.
-It can’t be the Emperor’s side… yet still, a member of the imperial family….
The Yang Family.
The Divine Spear Martial Family, one of the Imperial Eight Families.
One of them had come to take my life.
She, a one-eyed spear sorcerer, carried an aura distinctly characteristic of the Divine Spear Martial Family.
-You understand this is dirty work, don’t you? Your lord may not be safe either.
-Killing one magistrate named Jin Cheon-hee doesn’t seem like it would endanger my lord. Besides, that’s not for me to judge.
-Hmm…. I’ve heard that the Yang bloodline judges their lord’s character… It seems you trust your lord.
Even though Namgung Un appeared outwardly like a wastrel from a wealthy family, he possessed unexpected insight.
No, it wasn’t just that he had it—he was exceptionally perceptive.
Had it been otherwise, he never would have reached that position in the first place.
I agree with Namgung Un’s assessment.
Someone among the imperial family is targeting me.
The reason is unclear, but it’s likely related to the Emperor’s favor toward me.
‘The power I now possess has grown to a scale that no single imperial relative can stop.’
I wonder what the history books will record.
‘I’m drawing ever closer to power. Steadily, very steadily.’
I began to feel the weight of the sack, but my Master said nothing about it.
It seems they must have made some separate calculations.
‘Well, in any case, as the Emperor’s secret physician, I’m baking elixir pills. Two of them at that!’
-My sister gets to have her mouth, but I’m the Emperor and I get a snout?
If I only bake one, she’ll pout.
Since we’re twins, I have to bake two.
What a troublesome Emperor.
On top of that, he’s incredibly petty.
He calls himself the parent of all people, so why is he being so stingy!
As I watched the blazing furnace burn intensely, I continued adjusting the formation by moving the spirit stones.
Creak, creeeeak-
“Goodness. Ancestor. My back is killing me from adjusting and rotating the formation. If we’re going to do this anyway, why not arrange something like a mechanical formation like the Namgung Family has? Why do we have to do everything manually? And besides, if I don’t reach the Great Achievement of Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong and master void absorption, it’s impossible to move the spirit stones while conducting alchemy.”
For some reason, I can almost hear Master Gongmyeong from heaven saying, ‘This way, even if the family falls, it won’t be plundered.’
I understand it intellectually.
On the surface, it’s just an arrangement of stones.
Still, no matter how I look at it, my ancestor seems either somewhat foolish or simply doesn’t care much about descendants who fall behind.
Realistically, how could talented individuals capable of doing this keep appearing generation after generation?
That was when it happened.
Uuuuuung-
All the spirit stones began to resonate.
A rainbow light emanating from the spirit stones spread like a curtain.
‘Ah, it’s just like the aurora I saw in a documentary about the polar regions.’
Except the aurora unfolds from the ground, not the sky.
Boom-
In that instant.
The colors of the world began to invert in a flash.
The earth turned violet, the air glowed crimson, and my jade-colored sleeves became white.
The spirit stones.
Only the resonating spirit stones shone with rainbow light.
As if twisting the world itself to draw out its principles.
I recognize this phenomenon.
Now I understand it.
‘My Master’s transcendent Shimmoo technique produces this phenomenon too.’
My Master, who had reached Hyeongyeong, could manipulate the world.
The world responded according to the mental image he showed, displaying vast power.
At the time, I wondered if such power could be granted to humans, but now.
Now I’ve developed eyes capable of perceiving intent.
And now.
I realized just how absurd this spirit stone arrangement truly was.
‘Without reaching Hyeongyeong, the formation alone creates a phenomenon that Hyeongyeong produces!’
Only then did I understand.
I shouldn’t curse my ancestor.
He had twisted the laws so that descendants unable to reach Hyeongyeong could still partake in its blessings and benefits, however slightly!
‘Of course, anyone who hasn’t mastered the Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong and reached the realm of Void Absorption doesn’t deserve to create this phenomenon.’
To possess the Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong yet achieve only this much—from that point on, it feels like he’s saying the rest can fend for themselves.
That is nothing short of arrogance.
Only the most talented can receive Hyeongyeong’s blessing and gain the right to witness this phenomenon.
‘In a way, it’s rather distasteful.’
What are descendants without talent supposed to do?!
Crackle, crackle, crackle!
Five-colored light poured into the refinement furnace.
In that moment.
I witnessed the flow of Hyeongyeong.
I ‘observed’ the spectacle of artificially condensing and materializing intent through the forces of nature.
It was a teaching more dangerous than anything else.
The intent created by each individual bolt of lightning.
Was the very vastness of nature itself.
And I felt the arrogance of humanity—that vastness transforming into intent, manifesting in true law, daring to command even nature itself.
What I felt last was.
An unwavering….
…human resolve.
Boom!
“It’s complete… is it?”
I rubbed my eyes.
Then immediately sat in lotus position beside it.
If I didn’t consolidate what I’d just witnessed into enlightenment, I would forget it all.
For an ordinary warrior, such an opportunity comes perhaps once in a lifetime, if at all.
“….”
It was from the distant past.
When this family had its beginning.
A fragment of enlightenment left by Gongmyeong for his descendants.
He had not installed bells in preparation for destruction like the Jin Ju-eonga, nor was he sealing gods like the ancient ruins of the Goe-eo-in.
He merely gave the fruit of wisdom that opened once a year.
Yet that fruit was undoubtedly a fruit leading to Hyeongyeong.
And to consume that fruit, one had to pass a trial.
Truly befitting the Jegallim Family’s arrangement.
An ancestor’s answer given only to the rare few who had devoted their entire lives to pursuing wisdom and martial prowess.
A chill—
My hair stood on end.
So it was possible to artificially bestow enlightenment.
‘This is absurd.’
Did Master leave behind only this one item?
Or perhaps something else….
When the Jegallim Family was annihilated, all the estate buildings burned down, and they said everything of value had been plundered.
If I gathered the scattered remnants, might something more emerge?
Master doesn’t seem to have much attachment to it, but….
As I internalized the enlightenment deeper and deeper, my curiosity within myself only grew stronger.
* * *
After internalizing the enlightenment.
I immediately rose and applied gold leaf to the completed spirit pills, then placed them in a jet-black box.
At first glance, it appeared to be a simple paulownia wood box, but its surface was carved with an ascending dragon.
The design only revealed itself when caught by light—there could be no greater luxury than this.
True luxury was always valued more when it appeared understated rather than gaudily displayed.
Was this what true extravagance meant?
“Excellent. A natural, eco-friendly wellness spirit elixir completed without any heavy metals like arsenic!”
Satisfied with myself, I brought this to Master.
Jegalling observed his disciple and asked this.
“…Did you observe it?”
Though there was no subject stated, I nodded.
“Yes. I have attained enlightenment.”
“Good. At your current level, you would be more than capable.”
“So that’s why Master had me refine the pills alone.”
“Certain insights only come when one contemplates in solitude.”
The disciple, moved by the Master’s profound intention, bowed respectfully.
Master replied with a somewhat perplexed expression.
“I had no certainty. Though the form of how you create spirit pills is the same, the essence within them is quite different, is it not?”
“You mean spirit elixir baking, sir.”
….
Jegalling gazed once at his mad disciple’s brilliant eyes, then slowly turned his gaze toward the distant view beyond the window.
“…Seeing that you’ve attained enlightenment, it seems Gae Pa Josa fortunately counted that as spirit pill refinement as well.”
“Yes. The celestial energy and spirit stones reacted, and the ‘phenomenon’ safely occurred. So the spirit elixir was baked deliciously and well.”
….
They say Gongmyeong read the celestial energy—could he have foreseen that such a fellow would come in later generations?
Whether it’s baking or spirit pill refinement, as long as the form is maintained, the ‘phenomenon’ seems to occur.
“Our ancestor left behind something truly remarkable.”
Jegalling gave up.
Whether one stirred the refinement furnace with a silver rod or a whisk, whether one sifted medicinal ingredients finely with a refinement sieve or a baking sieve.
…In any case, since it was accomplished, so be it.
The ancestor probably never imagined that someone at the tail end of Hwagyeong, standing before the threshold of Hyeongyeong, would do this before the refinement furnace, but what can be done when the descendant is the one doing it?
“Yes. It is something that those who have not reached that realm cannot recognize. You must treat it the same as always, without distinction.”
“If I treasure it, wouldn’t others also recognize that this is actually a treasure of the martial world?”
“Yes.”
Jegalling nodded. Then he continued speaking.
“At this level of care, even thieves won’t steal from it. Of course, if they did manage to steal a spirit stone or two, we could simply obtain replacements from elsewhere, but that’s beside the point.”
Even repairs are easy—that’s the advantage of this Jeon Dan furnace.
“What truly matters is the mind capable of operating it.”
“Exactly. Without a mind that understands true value, it’s merely a pile of stone. What the Jegallim Family must preserve isn’t objects like this, but the Hyeonwon Jeondan Singeong itself.”
I nodded in agreement.
‘Perhaps that’s why Master doesn’t speak of family matters.’
I suddenly recalled a document I’d seen earlier—it contained records of Master investigating the old Jegallim Family grounds.
It had been a cursory investigation.
The document didn’t include the results of that investigation, and I couldn’t tell if he’d done anything further afterward.
I didn’t press him about it.
‘That place is Master’s deepest wound, after all.’
I changed the subject.
“By the way, I noticed five-colored silk appearing around the furnace, illuminating the surroundings beautifully.”
“What?”
Jegalling had never experienced such a phenomenon even during his time.
When he learned from the Gaju in his childhood, no such occurrence happened at the furnace either.
“It’s not simply a change in the surrounding colors like when I unfold Transcendent Technique?”
“No. Five-colored silk…”
I pondered how to describe the aurora that only appeared in polar skies now spreading across the ground, then simply moistened my fingers with water droplets and drew across the air.
“!”
That alone was enough to shock Jegalling.
‘Such a phenomenon has never occurred before.’
Could it be that ‘cooking’—or as Cheon-hee would say, ‘baking’—
‘That insane method was actually the correct way to use the furnace?’
That couldn’t be.
Did some ancestor of the Jegallim Family leave instructions for descendants to do such a thing with the Grand Jeon Dan Furnace?!
At that point, wouldn’t it be a kitchen rather than a furnace?
‘No matter how eccentric Gae Pa Josa was—the one who invented dumplings—he couldn’t have been that strange.’
Meanwhile, I was bewildered by Master’s reaction.
‘Damn it. Did I accidentally touch something wrong while baking?!’

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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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