I Prayed for a Murim Reincarnation, But I Was Born as the Youngest Imperial Prince - Chapter 106
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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 106
Before his departure, Yaxian Gal U-ryang gathered his disciples and gave them various instructions.
“Seou.”
“Yes, Master.”
“I was actually thinking of having you descend the mountain soon… Fortunately, it seems there are no patients critical enough to absolutely require my presence right now. While I am away, lead the others and care for the sick. However, if you find yourself completely at a loss, Jeongyeop over in the neighboring county should be able to look over most matters. I will write a letter to him as well, so seek his support when things get difficult.”
“I shall do so.”
He finished his preparations to ensure everything would run smoothly even if he vacated his post for a while.
As he did, Seonwu approached him.
“Elder Yaxian, we shall accompany you on your journey to gather the herbs.”
“Hmm? It will not be a very interesting journey, you know.”
“What does that matter? If you would share some conversation with us on the road, when else would we ever get to occupy so much of Elder Yaxian’s time?”
“Hmm…”
Gal U-ryang fell into thought for a moment.
‘Though I have attained the Transcendence Realm in terms of internal energy… truth be told, I am not particularly skilled at fighting.’
It was highly unlikely anything major would happen on the way to and from Hunan Province, but having three exceptional youths accompany him would certainly make the trip safer.
‘Then again, if we are unlucky enough to cross paths with a powerful monster by some freak chance…’
A low probability was still entirely different from a zero probability.
In the absolute worst-case scenario, having three capable fighters as companions would vastly increase their chances of pulling through unscathed.
“Let us do so, then. I believe I will feel much more secure with you all along.”
“That is wonderful. We shall pack our bags as well.”
Having secured Gal U-ryang’s consent, Seonwu spoke to his companions in private as they packed their belongings.
“This isn’t an inference backed by any grand evidence, but I have a bad feeling about this.”
“Oh? Even if the evidence is thin, you must have a reason for feeling that way.”
“It’s just a bit too coincidental. Don’t you suspect that someone might be intentionally luring Yaxian to Hunan?”
At Seonwu’s words, Lee Jun nodded.
“Certainly, someone who is deeply knowledgeable about that mushroom and its specific counter-herbs could execute such a plot.”
This was a stratagem that even they, members of the Zhuge Clan, could not easily devise.
“Could the Sichuan Tang Clan pull something like this off?”
“Well, the Tang Clan wouldn’t lure Yaxian out in this manner… But what if it’s a villain who understands poisons just as well as the Tang Clan does?”
“Like Mandok Mazon, who is famous for his poisons among the Eight Hidden Demons?”
“Haha, surely not.”
As Seonwu laughed, Lee Jun joined in.
“Aren’t you taking that a bit too far?”
“I suppose so…”
The situation was severe, yes, but claiming a sudden outbreak of food poisoning was a grand conspiracy by Mandok Mazon just to draw Yaxian out felt excessive.
‘Even I have to admit that’s a wild leap in logic.’
It was simply that because he had clashed with demonic practitioners twice recently, all sorts of useless thoughts were popping into his head.
‘Come to think of it, I haven’t actually crossed paths with any of the Eight Demon Sovereigns yet.’
Furthermore, this was a secret known only to him because he had heard it directly from his father, but the Eight Demon Sovereigns could not move so freely due to a restrictive seal placed upon their very source by Tianlong Dadi.
Indeed, if demonic practitioners of the Realm of Creation were running amok everywhere as they pleased, they would have clashed with the Ten Great Masters of Wulin long ago, killing and being killed until they were subjugated one way or another.
Every single movement from a master of the Realm of Creation carried immense consequences, so who would ever just leave them to their own devices?
‘Because they are bound by such constraints, those Demon Sovereigns still cannot act easily even now.’
It truly was an overblown worry.
Even so, one could never be too careful…
Seonwu brought to mind the various items stored inside his ring.
He felt reassured, knowing he had packed an enormous stash of supplies when he left the Imperial Court.
‘If worst comes to worst, I’ll just mobilize everything.’
On top of that, he also possessed the formation manual he had received from the Zhuge Clan.
He had solid grounds for confidence.
* * *
Yaxian hastened their pace slightly on the road leading from Fujian Province through Jiangxi Province and back toward Hunan Province.
At any rate, he did not wish to leave the Medical Pavilion unattended for too long.
He watched the three youths keeping up with him effortlessly.
‘I am not pushing myself too hard… but all three are following along well. Is Lee Jun the one lagging behind, if anyone?’
Even so, Lee Jun was managing to keep up reasonably well by applying a certain formation formula to his own person through his own unique methods.
‘All three of them are magnificent.’
They were reassuring indeed.
As they moved swiftly, Seonwu spoke up.
“Since it would be troublesome if any incident occurred along the way, it would be best to maintain our internal force at a certain level while we travel.”
“Mm, that would be wise. I have already taken measures for the patients, so they will not completely succumb to the illness just yet.”
They could not hold out indefinitely, but there was still some time.
“Still, just to be safe, let us maintain our internal force, though I believe we can endure even if the paths are rugged and the lodgings are uncomfortable. Rather than wasting time searching for good inns and towns, why don’t we press forward through the rougher terrain to move as quickly as possible?”
“Mm, if you boys are fine with that, let us do so. It seems I shall be sleeping under the stars for the first time in a while. Haha.”
“Even if we camp outside, it will be decent enough to sleep comfortably if Lee Jun deploys a simple formation.”
Without revealing the true motive behind his suggestion, Seonwu successfully persuaded the elder.
“By the way, there is something I am curious about.”
“Haha, what might that be? Since you are accompanying this old man and acting as my guards, I shall answer almost anything.”
Seonwu asked the question that intrigued him most.
“You must be aware that your current actions have earned you the deep resentment of other physicians, correct?”
“Mm, truth be told, I have even received threatening letters claiming they would kill me.”
“Yet I have heard rumors that you continue your work out of your core conviction as the master of the Medical Pavilion—to ensure this country never lacks physicians, so that no one dies from failing to receive timely treatment.”
“Haha, well, it is true that I used that very principle as my personal truth to break through the wall of the Peak Realm.”
The Transcendence Realm of the Vitality Restoring Poison Medical Art.
Unlike ordinary martial artists, the Medical Immortal had pierced through that barrier by firmly establishing his own righteous path as a physician.
“Was there a specific catalyst that led you to establish such a lofty ambition?”
Seonwu was genuinely curious about that.
The vast majority of martial artists break through to the Transcendence Realm driven by a desire to attain some form of absolute strength.
‘Generals in the Military Command might break through out of patriotism or loyalty, while scholars might pierce the barrier through the path of academics…’
Monks might transcend through compassion or enlightenment in Buddhist law.
It varied from person to person.
However, most martial artists ultimately broke through the Peak Realm using some form of willpower related to martial prowess.
Yet Yaxian had reached the Transcendence Realm solely through his determination to ensure this country never lacked physicians and to keep medical fees from being as exorbitant as they currently were.
‘A martial artist’s pursuit of strength is close to basic human nature, but harboring such a mindset purely because one is a physician is definitely not standard human nature.’
In fact, the other physicians who hated Yaxian while trying to amass fortunes would be considered far more natural.
Because of this, Seonwu was intensely curious about the reason behind Yaxian’s choices.
“Haha, so you were curious about that?”
“If it is difficult for you to speak of…”
“No. It is not that difficult a tale. Though I am called Yaxian now, my circumstances were not very good when I was young. Of course, few people had good circumstances during the previous dynasty… Compared to those days, the present era is practically a golden age of peace.”
‘According to records and what people say, the Yuan Dynasty of this world was an even harsher era than the Yuan Dynasty of my past life.’
Consequently, people compared the current reign to the previous dynasty and praised it as a magnificent era of peace where life had become far better.
‘It’s not as if Yaxian is flattering my father just for him to hear, so he must genuinely think that… though calling it a golden age of peace seems a bit lacking given how deficient the laws are in many ways, doesn’t it?’
Nevertheless, Yaxian continued his tale of the past with a distant look in his eyes.
“Sigh, back then, it was common to go without regular meals. Whenever a famine struck, the entire land fell into chaos. Jiangnan yields a bountiful harvest of grain, but what good did that do? The land was so lawless that people could not farm properly, or if they managed to harvest anything, it was all stolen away.”
“You must have suffered greatly.”
“At the very least, my family’s situation wasn’t so dire that we starved to death. But that was exactly the limit of our fortune. When my parents fell gravely ill, there was absolutely nothing I could do.”
“Ah…”
Yaxian let out a deep sigh.
“At first, the physician was simply too far away for us to visit. ‘They will get better with some rest,’ or ‘They just need to eat a little of this.’ My parents spent precious time relying on such clumsy, amateur folk remedies. It was only when they became completely bedridden that we realized how dire it was, and we pushed ourselves to the absolute limit just to seek out a physician, but…”
“The medical fee was too expensive.”
“Yes. We scraped together everything we had by selling off all our household assets, but the cost of the medicine was unbelievably high… In the end, my parents passed away just like that.”
Finding no words of comfort to offer, Seonwu remained silent.
“At that time, I thought to myself that if only I were a physician, I wouldn’t have to suffer such a tragedy. I wanted to become a physician so that I would never endure this again, and to ensure the people around me would never have to face such a miserable fate. Harboring that single thought, I blindly sought out a famously renowned physician and begged him to take me as his disciple.”
“Was that the previous master of the Medical Pavilion?”
“Yes, he was my master. At first, he refused to accept me, but as I clung to him tenaciously, he gave me one or two tasks just to see how well I would actually perform.”
“And you possessed the talent for it, I presume.”
“Yes, fortunately, I truly possessed a natural gift for medicine.”
Having an ambition did not guarantee success for everyone.
However, without an ambition, one would never even step onto the path in the first place.
‘It seems this old gentleman was extraordinary from that very moment.’
How many people would move so fiercely to become a physician after enduring the exact same tragedy?
Then again, it was precisely because he was extraordinary that he managed to become Yaxian.
“As I studied medicine in that manner, I came to realize two things. The first was that if my parents had sought out a physician earlier, they could have been cured.”
“Ah.”
“For a master like me, traveling across provinces like we are doing now is one thing, but traversing a reasonable distance is nothing. But for poor folk like those from my childhood days… as you boys well know, leaving the village of one’s birth is an extraordinary hardship.”
In truth, Seonwu did not know it well.
‘I understand it with my head, but it’s an issue I can’t truly feel in my heart.’
In his past life, taking a bus or subway to visit a hospital slightly further away was not difficult at all.
In his current life, he was born an imperial prince, so he had never experienced such pain either.
However, he could comprehend the logic intellectually.
‘There are no cars, no buses, and no highways.’
If one made a wrong move and encountered a monster, it was a direct ticket to the underworld.
“One might manage to visit a neighboring village, but traveling any further usually requires an immense resolution. We cannot have a physician in every single township, but if there were at least one available for every few neighboring townships grouped together, my parents would have dared to try and see a physician in time.”
The words of the lamenting Gal U-ryang carried a lingering regret that had not faded even to this day.
“If that had been the case, they could have cured the illness before it grew worse… Furthermore, the fees were simply too exorbitant. Of course, becoming a physician requires a certain degree of intellect, there is much to learn, and the cost of herbs is not free… Moreover, treating an influential patient occasionally brings great rewards but also carries risk. Even so, it was too expensive. That physician could have easily made an ample profit even if he had charged only half the amount.”
As a physician himself, Yaxian knew the cost of treating patients better than anyone.
A physician certainly required compensation for their labor and a risk premium, but they could still earn a comfortable living without resorting to such extreme price-gouging.
“Sigh, I understand all too well the sentiment that the more wealth one possesses, the better… But back then, even selling every piece of property we owned could not match the wealth that physician demanded.”
“Ah…”
“That is just how humans are, is it not? Even if what you suffered is an unalterable past, a person naturally develops a desire to ensure the next generation does not suffer the exact same thing.”
‘Do they?’
Hearing Yaxian’s words, Seonwu immediately questioned the statement internally.
‘A mindset like that usually goes… um…’
‘As long as I never have to suffer it again, that’s enough.’ Isn’t that how the average human operates?
A person whose thoughts expand to wishing that ‘others’ wouldn’t suffer either is…
‘Hmm…’
Then again, such people did seem to exist on rare occasions.
He felt as though he had read about them in history books before.
Seonwu asked Lee Jun via Sound Transmission.
[What do you think of Yaxian’s words?]
[Who knows? To be honest, since I was born with a silver spoon in both my past life and this life, I can’t really say, as I’ve never suffered anything to hold a grudge over.]
Seonwu then questioned Absolute Shadow.
[What do you think of Yaxian’s words?]
[If the number of physicians in this country increases in the future, the number of citizens dying from illness will decrease, which will directly lead to an increase in national strength. I believe it is a beneficial endeavor.]
It was not exactly the kind of meaning Seonwu had intended to probe, but he chose not to ask any further.
‘Right, this is the unique path Yaxian found for himself, and it is his own Transcendence Realm.’
He simply acknowledged him as that kind of person.
‘I should use Yaxian to overhaul the medical system of this country, and I must personally oversee it so that this legacy continues even after his death.’
At any rate, protecting and saving the weak was the goal, so looking at it broadly, wasn’t this also a form of chivalry and righteousness?
It was a bit too grand an undertaking for a mere chivalrous xia to handle…
But an imperial prince acting as a chivalrous xia could certainly pull it off!
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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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