The Academy’s Unrivaled Professor - Chapter 74

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Academy Absolute Professor 074
The one who must be watched is the patient’s life
Whiiii—
Five figures trudged through the blizzard.
Ma Chul-ung and Gye Mu-jin led the way, with Kang Hyun following at an unhurried pace behind them.
At the rear, Batar and the Mongolian Government’s Translator moved in close step.
‘I simply cannot fathom it.’
Batar couldn’t understand their confidence.
The aura that Ma Chul-ung and Gye Mu-jin radiated was admirable, but speaking frankly, they were roughly on par with his own level.
As for the Professor, though?
‘No matter how many times I look, he’s weaker than me.’
If they encountered those Jiangshi as things stood, the outcome seemed painfully obvious.
Was guiding them truly the right choice?
Wouldn’t he simply be leading them to their deaths?
Could the sensation he’d felt from the Professor have been a misunderstanding all along?
Batar was about to speak, as if he could bear it no longer.
“Hah!”
Kang Hyun, walking ahead, exhaled sharply and stretched luxuriously.
As if that were a signal, Gye Mu-jin turned his head and looked back at Batar.
“This is where you guide us to.”
The fierce wind whipped his hair about wildly.
“If you come any further, I’ll consider it a breach of our agreement.”
“……!”
Though slightly taken aback, Batar had no choice but to stop walking.
“Understood.”
Then he offered a word of caution.
“Please, be careful. The Jiangshi are true monsters.”
“Don’t worry too much. I treasure my own life more than anyone.”
“If circumstances grow unfavorable, flee at once. No one will fault you for it.”
“Batar.”
It was then that Kang Hyun, who had been listening, stepped forward.
“Professor.”
“The Jiangshi inside here is a Simdeunggui.”
“……Simdeunggui?”
Batar blinked at the unfamiliar name.
“In Korea, research on it has already been completed in strictest secrecy—it’s a Demonic Beast. The fact that they’re extraordinarily tough is true, but they have weaknesses proportional to their strength, so don’t worry about us.”
“Weaknesses? What exactly are these weaknesses?”
“Didn’t I just say? Classified.”
Gulp.
Kang Hyun swallowed a mouthful of liquor and chuckled softly.
Of course, it was a lie.
What weaknesses did the Simdeunggui have?
He was merely honoring the Management Bureau’s request that he not reveal his true strength.
“Now go back to the Camp quickly. My student will be starting treatment soon, and you need to ensure there’s no interference from the Mongolian side.”
“Ah.”
Batar’s eyes widened.
The reasoning was sound.
In the eyes of the Mongolian leadership, Baek Yu-yeon would be merely a young foreign student, and he needed to be there to assist her.
“……I’ll do that.”
Whoosh!
Batar and the Translator turned away, and so the hunt for the Simdeunggui began.

* * *
Meanwhile, the Medical Tent was, in a word, bedlam.
“Gaaaaahhh! Cough-cough-ahhhhh!”
“Patient is convulsing! Hold the restraint straps tight!”
“Professor, we need treatment on this side! Blood pressure is dropping!”
“Severe hemorrhage! The hemostatic agent isn’t working!”
The government had opted to restrain the Hunters being controlled by the Jiangshi.
Consequently, the Hunters’ convulsions were growing progressively more severe.
Guided by the Translator, Baek Yu-yeon stepped onto the scene for the first time.
‘Ah.’
What could she even say?
She felt as though she were suspended alone in a whirlpool.
By now, her palms had grown clammy.
‘So this is what a real field site looks like—without Master’s protection or Professor Hwang’s backing.’
“Hey, student!”
A passing medic pushed a cart that bumped Baek Yu-yeon’s shoulder as he rushed by.
“Don’t just stand there gawking! Move it over there! Can’t you see we’re busy?”
“Oh, yes! Sorry!”
‘This is…’
Baek Yu-yeon hurried to find the site’s director.
‘It was Chend, wasn’t it.’
A martial medicine professor who had built considerable standing within Mongolia.
She found him without difficulty, explained her credentials and dispatch purpose, but Professor Chend’s brow furrowed sharply as he peeled off bloodstained gloves.
“A student?”
“Professor Batar invited me directly.”
“Batar? That man knows how to throw around martial techniques, but medicine? He knows nothing. What is this, some kind of children’s game?”
Professor Chend looked her up and down.
“Listen, think of yourself as here for an observation. Now stay crumpled up in the corner. We’re busy, so don’t get in the way.”
The blatant dismissal made Baek Yu-yeon’s lips tremble.
It was the first time she’d faced anything like this.
What was she to do now?
Should she really just turn back?
‘What would Master have done……?’
That was when it happened.
“Hack, hack—ahhhhh!”
A scream erupted from inside the tent.
“Professor! Patient three’s vitals are crashing! The blood vessels are bulging!”
“What?”
Professor Chend rushed in immediately, and Baek Yu-yeon instinctively followed.
The patient’s condition was similar to Kasar’s at the time.
The Demonic Qi inside him had begun to run wild.
“Inject the Qi-Suppressing Injection into the heart immediately! And get the needles! We need to suppress the Qi first!”
“Understood!”
Seeing through the blood meridians with her Heavenly Meridian Eye, Baek Yu-yeon grew frantic.
‘That won’t work!’
Demonic Qi doesn’t disappear just from being suppressed.
Hadn’t she seen what happened with Kasar?
Any containment will only cause it to break through at a weak point and backflow.
‘If they keep going, the brain will be in danger.’
Then, her Master’s voice echoed in her ears.
– The moment you make a mistake, one patient’s life is gone.
That’s right.
Why had she come here?
Wasn’t it to save lives?
So what are you doing?
Why are you cowering before some professor instead of the patient?
One thing was certain: Master didn’t bring her here for this.
‘The only person I should be second-guessing myself for is the patient’s life.’
Baek Yu-yeon decided not to back down.
And so.
“Stop!”
As she drew out the Blue Cloud Silver Needle, she raised her voice.
“From this moment, I’m taking over surgery. Step back and follow my instructions.”
“What, what are you—!”
Chend erupted in anger, but Baek Yu-yeon cut him off with an even louder voice.
“What are you doing? You’re trying to kill the patient?”
“What? Are you out of your mind?”
“If you apply pressure to the Pericardium Meridian now, the backlash will flow through the Yin Ying Point and burst the Brain Seal. The moment you insert the syringe, he dies instantly. Stop it now.”
“This, this insolent student spouting such utter nonsense!”
“Blood-Regulating Medicine instead of Qi-Suppressing Injection!”
Baek Yu-yeon drew a long needle from her needle pouch and spoke with such finality that Chend could restrain himself no longer.
“She’s lost her mind! Why haven’t you thrown her out already!”
“The moment you do, I’m taking this to the Mongolian Government. If you want to complain, don’t complain to me—complain to Professor Batar!”
Baek Yu-yeon gave them no time to respond.
If she hesitated here, she’d be dragged out.
And then the patient would die.
Whish!
The needle in her hand spun with fluid grace, and in the next instant—thunk, thunk-thunk!—it pierced the patient’s Yin Ying Point and Brain Seal at a speed the eye could scarcely follow.
‘She’s, she’s insane!’
Professor Chend gasped in horror.
To be fair, her technique was worthy of being called divine medicine, but to Chend’s eyes, it looked like a madwoman trying to kill the patient.
“You, what are you doing!”
In the end, Chend tried to throw himself forward, but at that very moment—
Spurt!
“Gaaahhhhh!”
Dark red blood erupted from the patient’s right arm where the Three-Edge Needle had punctured the Xiao Hai point.
“Ahhhhhhh!”
The nurse screamed, but Baek Yu-yeon quickly scanned her surroundings.
“Anything! Do you have something to cover it with?”
“Cover it?”
“Here, use this!”
She grabbed a basin from nearby and quickly clapped it over the writhing black blood.
And then—
Clatter, clatter!
An eerie sound issued from the basin.
“What are you doing? Hold it down, now!”
“Yes, yes!”
While the nurse pressed down on the basin, Baek Yu-yeon moved swiftly through the remaining procedures, and shortly—
Beep-beep-beep, beep! Beep! Beep!
The vital signs monitor returned to normal, and focus returned to the patient’s eyes.
“Where… where am I…?”
Silence fell over the Medical Tent.
Chend’s jaw hung slack, as if it might fall clean off his face.
Among Mongolian medical professors, not one had ever properly treated this condition before.
Already a dozen patients had died from it, and he’d been mentally prepared for this one to join them.
But…
The patient had lived?
‘Who… who exactly are you?’
What is your true identity?
How could a Student possibly do this?
Swish, swish!
Baek Yu-yeon disinfected her silver needles and replied matter-of-factly.
“Divide the patients by symptom type. Pericardium Meridian invasion, brain vessel penetration, whole-body reverse flow—sort them into three categories. I’ll place the needles myself. You’ll just need to assist.”
While everyone else stood dazed, only the Translator’s mouth moved frantically.
Baek Yu-yeon snapped out one more command.
“Move, now! What are you all doing standing around!”

* * *
‘I wonder how Yu-yeon is getting on?’
Kang Hyun mused as he walked.
‘She’ll do well, I’m sure.’
He wasn’t particularly worried.
Her talent aside, that girl had the resolve of a true healer.
Whenever she saw a patient in critical condition, she would never simply walk away.
‘Let her gain experience. Let her feel it all.’
You don’t grow by sitting at a desk stuffing your head with knowledge.
To endure the great calamity that loomed ahead, one had to grow accustomed to the smell of blood.
How long had he been walking through the Gorge?
Crunch.
Gye Mu-jin came to a halt.
“I sense something ahead.”
Kang Hyun had already noticed it too.
‘Simdeunggui. So it really is you.’
Shring!
Kang Hyun drew the Short Sword from his belt.
At that signal, Ma Chul-ung unsheathed his blade and Gye Mu-jin readied his spear.
“May I ask you something?”
“Go ahead.”
“This Simdeunggui… roughly what class would you say it is?”
“Hmm.”
Kang Hyun stroked his chin, considering the question.
“About the same as that thing drifting in the East Sea.”
“Pardon?”
Gye Mu-jin’s body stiffened at once.
“You mean… the Leviathan? The Mongolian soldiers said there were three of those Jiangshi here…”
“That’s right.”
Kang Hyun shrugged.
“So we’re going to face three Leviathan. That’s all.”
“…Hell.”
Even Ma Chul-ung swallowed a curse he hadn’t meant to speak.
Korea’s five finest S-Class Hunters had barely survived facing a single Leviathan—and there were three of them here.
“Don’t be scared. I’m here.”
In the modern age, S-Class Hunters occupy roughly the position of Peak Masters in the Martial World.
But to face creatures of the Leviathan or Simdeunggui caliber, one would need to reach the level of Peak Master—true Peak Master.
‘Then… am I the only one on this planet who can face such things?’
No, that couldn’t be right.
Looking at the global landscape, there were clear gaps even within S-Class.
Likely among the top-ranked Hunters in America, Europe, and China, there were those who had touched the true Peak Master realm.
But where did Kang Hyun stand?
In the Martial World, he had once passed beyond the Transformation Realm and reached the Mysterious Realm—the next stage.
Moreover, when he completed the Heavenly Divine Scripture and pierced Asura’s heart, he had even briefly set foot in the legendary Life-Death Realm itself.
‘The problem is my current state.’
Because of Asura’s toxin coiled in his Dantian, he couldn’t draw on his full strength.
Even wringing out everything he had, the ceiling was likely just the true Peak Master level.
Of course, not all Peak Masters are equal.
The depth of one’s understanding of the martial way itself differs.
Krrrr.
The Simdeunggui, which had been nothing but a silhouette, revealed itself.
“Sir.”
It was then that Ma Chul-ung stepped forward.
“Would you allow us to engage it first?”
So that was it.
Ma Chul-ung’s blood was truly up.
“Go ahead. Give it your best.”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————