The Genius Doctor of the Mount Hua Sect - Chapter 5

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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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Huashan School’s Medical Prodigy – Chapter 5

“Alcohol?”
“Senior brother, what are you talking about?”
The other disciples who had come with him murmured in confusion.
Yi Cheongyun answered them while beads of sweat rolled down his face.
“Well, I’m not entirely sure what you mean.”
“Really? Then what’s this alcohol poison still lingering in your body?”
“That is… !”
Yi Cheongyun flustered, casting a sidelong glance at Baek Jin beside him.
Baek Jin was staring at him with fierce eyes.
“… Cheongyun.”
“S-senior brother! That is… .”
“What were you thinking, drinking alcohol?”
“Well, life’s been so difficult lately that I just wanted to take a sip… .”
“You fool!”
“Aaahhhhh!”
Baek Jin let out a roar and yanked Yi Cheongyun’s ear.
“My ear! You’ll tear it off! It hurts!”
“My heart hurts looking at you, you idiot! And here I thought you had restraint, only to find you sneaking drinks… .”
“Ow! Senior brother, I was wrong, I swear!”
Yi Cheongyun shrieked as though the Medical Chamber itself would shake apart.
The other senior brothers laughed at the sight.
“I knew he’d be like this.”
“Senior brother, give him a real thrashing!”
“Baek Hyun, you’re really something! You caught that alcohol poison right away when there was barely any left.”
“It’s nothing special. I just felt it immediately.”
In truth, alcohol poison was something quite familiar to Baek Hyun.
‘Back when I worked as a physician, patients would come to me so often after drinking.’
He recalled how many people wouldn’t listen, even when warned to stop drinking while ill.
Well, given such memories, he himself had a certain fondness for alcohol too.
Some varieties had medical applications anyway.
“I’ll decide your punishment once we’re back.”
“Ugh… .”
As Baek Hyun was lost in such thoughts, Baek Jin turned to look at him.
His eyes held a different light than when he’d gazed at Yi Cheongyun — full of favor and pride.
“It seems we were worrying for nothing.”
“That’s right! Baek Hyun is truly remarkable!”
Yu Cheongah said this with evident satisfaction.
Baek Jin broke into a hearty laugh and nodded.
“Yes, you really do seem impressive. At this level, you wouldn’t lose to the other physicians in Hwaam County.”
He continued with brightened eyes.
“I’ll speak well of you to the Director of the Medical Chamber. Is there anything you need?”
“Something I need… .”
Baek Hyun paused to consider, then spoke.
“I’d like to gather medicinal herbs for making medicine. Would it be possible for me to go out for a while?”
“An outing? Hmm. Would your current condition allow it?”
“I can’t travel far yet, but I think I’ll be well enough soon.”
With continued practice of the Geonkun Gaeshin, his physical condition would improve in due course.
Hearing this, Baek Jin nodded.
“Then I’ll speak to the elders about it. You understand, of course, that you can’t go alone.”
That was only natural.
Why would anyone send someone who’d been a patient until recently out by themselves?
From Baek Hyun’s perspective too, having an assistant meant gaining help.
He smiled gently and bowed his head.
“Thank you, senior brother.”
“No. I hope you recover quickly so we can train in martial arts together.”
“That won’t take long.”
“Yes. I look forward to that day.”
Baek Jin smiled warmly and ruffled Baek Hyun’s hair, then turned to the other disciples.
“Come now, let’s be off. Baek Hyun needs his rest.”
“Yes.”
“Thank you for today!”
“Please take good care of the medicine for tomorrow!”
The disciples who had received treatment bowed one by one and departed.
Baek Hyun smiled and returned their farewells.
At last, when all the disciples had gone and he was alone.
“Martial Arts…”
He turned over Baek Jin’s words in his mind.
The suggestion to learn Martial Arts together.
Those words had struck something deep within him.
‘Is this the influence of Baek Hyun?’
The original self.
That is to say, the true Hwa Seo-myeong had never set his heart on Martial Arts so strongly.
Which made sense, naturally enough.
Hwa Seo-myeong had been, at his core, a physician. A physician learning Martial Arts needed only enough skill for self-defense, or so he had believed.
‘That’s why, as a martial artist, he’d been content to live at the Peak Level.’
True, if one were willing to stake one’s life on the secret techniques of Huata Acupuncture Art—the Eight Extremities Opening Origin—one could even kill masters beyond that rank…
But fundamentally, that was the extent of it.
Yet now, for some reason, he didn’t want to stop there.
‘I want to become stronger.’
He wanted to surpass the realm Hwa Seo-myeong had reached and venture beyond.
It was the wish of Baek Hyun, who had lived as a sickly man for so long.
Having been unable to train in Martial Arts because of his physical condition, the hunger to climb higher had only grown fiercer.
‘Besides, didn’t I swear to revive Huashan?’
Even now, when he closed his eyes, the promise he’d made with Cheong Jin remained vivid in his memory.
To achieve that, the mere practice of the Medical Arts would not suffice.
The Huashan School was ultimately a Daoist sect and a Martial World sect.
Therefore, to revive Huashan, martial prowess was necessary.
‘If anyone can do it, I can.’
He was the one whom Cheong Jin—a candidate for the title of Finest Swordsman Under Heaven—had recognized as possessing genuine talent in martial pursuits.
A man such as himself could not only reach the heights Cheong Jin had attained, but could also elevate the martial standards of Huashan’s other masters.
‘Well, for now I must focus on tempering my body through steady cultivation.’
With that thought, Baek Hyun drank his Herbal Decoction and circulated the Geonkun Gaeshin.
After repeating this for several days, he began to feel his physical condition improve a little each day.
Perhaps, after several more weeks, he would truly possess a healthy body.
Until then…
‘I must not let ambition run away with me.’
Fortunately, there was no shortage of tasks to occupy him.
First, there was the matter of earning the complete trust of the Huashan School.
‘At present, it’s premature to say I’ve fully gained their trust. They’ve acknowledged my medical skill, certainly, but only a glimpse of it so far.’
Of course, as time passed, that trust would only solidify…
Yet he wanted to seize control of the Huashan School as quickly as possible.
Then what must be done?
If someone fell gravely ill or was wounded, he could heal them.
But to hope for such patients to appear would not befit a physician’s proper principles.
‘Then I must prove my worth through some endeavor that requires no patients at all.’
Only one thing came to mind immediately.
‘Spiritual Medicine.’
If he were to create and distribute Spiritual Medicine, the Huashan School could not help but take notice of him.

* * *

“Ah yes, of course. So the boy managed it so well.”
Un Sang, receiving the report from Baek Jin, beamed with delight.
Though he had left the Medical Chamber in Baek Hyun’s hands for only a short time, the boy had acquitted himself far better than expected.
“I regret not having seen it with my own eyes.”
“Don’t say that! I’m telling you, he was truly remarkable!” said Yu Cheongah with a confident expression.
Un Sang’s remark drew an emphatic response from Yu Cheongah.
“If he’d seen that, even Master would have been satisfied. That boy is holding his own now, doing his part with genuine confidence.”
“Mm, it does seem that way.”
Un Sang gazed at Yu Cheongah with quiet satisfaction.
The two of them had been among those who’d looked after Baek Hyun with particular care during his illness.
No wonder they felt moved by how much he’d changed.
Un Sang turned to Baek Jin and spoke.
“Thank you for letting me know. I’d meant to oversee it myself, but I had negotiations with the Cheongwha Trading Company and couldn’t attend.”
“The Cheongwha Trading Company? You mean the one in Hwaam County?”
“That’s the one. They want to raise prices on several food supplies, so we had to hammer out a deal. I had quite the time of it, working through it with Un Jeong from the Finance Bureau.”
As he spoke, Un Sang exhaled deeply, weariness evident in the gesture.
Baek Jin listened with a grim expression.
‘We still don’t have enough money for proper meals.’
He knew well enough what the Huashan School’s finances looked like now.
If the Cheongwha Trading Company managed to extract more coin, Huashan would be ruined beyond recovery.
“We’ve decided to pay them in a different way instead. So we’re planning to take Baek Hyun to the trading company before long.”
“A different payment, you say?”
“We’re going for a pulse diagnosis.”
“Ah, so that’s why you’re taking Baek Hyun along.”
“Yes.”
Un Sang nodded.
“Word is the trading company master’s child has fallen ill. It must be a stubborn sickness—the physicians in Hwaam County couldn’t cure it.”
“And you mean to attempt treating such an illness?”
“I said we’d at least try. If we succeed, they’ve promised to repay us, so we’ll need to give it our best effort.”
The resolve in Un Sang’s expression was unmistakable. The future of Huashan hung, in no small measure, on his shoulders.
“Don’t worry too much, Master. Baek Hyun will help you.”
“Yes, his help will be essential. If I hadn’t known before, that would be one thing—but now that I’ve seen the breadth of his medical knowledge, I can’t very well ask for anything less.”
Under ordinary circumstances, it would have been harsh to burden such a task on Baek Hyun, a mere junior disciple….
But these were not ordinary times.
They needed results, any results that might benefit the Huashan School.
“In any case, I’m grateful to both of you. I’ll speak to Baek Hyun myself.”
“Yes, Master.”
Baek Jin and Yu Cheongah bowed their heads and withdrew.
Alone now, Un Sang made his way to the Medical Chamber where Baek Hyun was waiting.
But the moment he stepped inside, he couldn’t help but pause.
The scent of plum blossoms hung heavy in the air of the Medical Chamber.
“Ah, Master, you’ve arrived?”
Baek Hyun greeted him warmly.
Un Sang tilted his head, puzzled. “Baek Hyun, what were you doing?”

Baek Hyun smiled and answered, “I was making preparations.”
“Preparations?”
Un Sang’s face clouded with confusion.

* * *

Baek Hyun looked at Un Sang and nodded.
Even as he did, his hands never stopped moving.
He was grinding various medicinal ingredients and combining them.
Un Sang, unable to contain his curiosity, asked, “What sort of preparations are these?”
“I was thinking of making Xiaomeihuadan.”

Un Sang’s eyes widened. “What?!”

Xiaomeihuadan.
It was one of the legendary spiritual medicines passed down through the Huashan School—a precious elixir that, when consumed, increased one’s martial cultivation by at least three years.
And if one trained in the Plum Blossom Inner Energy Method, the absorption rate would only grow higher.
But unfortunately, the method for crafting Xiaomeihuadan existed only in written records.
Even then, the information was fragmentary, so he’d had to deduce the proper ratios himself.
‘But I have the knowledge and experience I’ve gathered as a physician.’
Thanks to that, Baek Hyun could promise with relative confidence that he would complete the Xiaomeihuadan.
The only question was whether the materials remaining at Huashan would hold out until then.
‘Spiritual Medicines require rare ingredients from the start, and just making one batch costs a considerable sum.’
It was clear that with the materials currently in the Medical Chamber, he wouldn’t be able to conduct many experiments.
When Baek Hyun explained this, Un Sang let out a deep sigh.
“Ah. Baek Hyun, you truly astound me.”
“Not at all. Rather, would it be all right if I used some of the remaining materials to try?”
“Let me first seek permission from the Sect Leader. If success comes, all will be well, but our finances aren’t in the best state at present.”
“Yes, I understand.”
“So then…… Baek Hyun.”
Un Sang explained what had happened during his absence.
In exchange for facilitating several transactions, Un Sang, the keeper of the Medical Chamber, would personally conduct pulse diagnosis on the Cheongwha Trading Company head’s child.
“So I intend to head down tomorrow as soon as preparations are complete. If you don’t mind…….”
“I’ll come with you.”
Baek Hyun answered without hesitation.
“Please let me help as well.”
This was his first chance to distinguish himself within the Huashan School.
He had no intention of letting this opportunity slip away.
Not in the slightest.

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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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