Doctor’s Rebirth

Chapter 140

‘Where could the children be held captive?’

Jin Cheon-hee ran through the stone chamber, cutting down the black-clad figures as he encountered them.

Though he didn’t kill them, they would never be able to wield a sword again.

The deeper he went into the cave, the more a strange smell made his mind hazy.

‘Is it poison?’

Jin Cheon-hee immediately started neutralizing it using the Five-Elemental Poison Arts.

‘This is quite a complex poison, isn’t it?’

It seemed to be used to scatter one’s mind and brainwash them.

Poisons that harm the body are easy to neutralize. Those that scatter the mind are troublesome. Moreover, as he went deeper, a rhythmic bell sound could be heard.

It seemed to be a sound made by a Taoist priest of the Blood Immortal Sect.

If one were to focus on this sound, which might have some magical significance, they would lose their mind in an instant!

‘It might be easier to deal with combined attack formations like before.’

That would exhaust the body, but not the mind.

In that sense, it was the right choice for Three Seasons Tiger to take charge of the entrance and clear the way, while Jin Cheon-hee infiltrated.

Even someone with high resistance to poison could easily lose their reason and wander in confusion if they weren’t careful.

If one were to wander in confusion like that, they would become an empty puppet following the will of the spellcaster.

How far had he descended?

He reached the place where the smell was strongest.

Deep underground, a temple of the Blood Immortal Sect was located.

And in the center, an old priest of indeterminate gender stood with young children behind them, their expressions blank.

“Little White Dragon, we’ve been waiting for you. Keukeukeu…”

The old priest looked down at Jin Cheon-hee from the altar, letting out a sticky laugh.

“Judging by the clarity in your eyes, it seems you haven’t succumbed to our Blood Spirit Poison. It’s more potent than opium, yet you’ve managed to withstand it.”

Jin Cheon-hee gripped his sword tightly and calculated.

‘If I shout “It’s you Blood Immortal Sect bastards again!” it’ll be troublesome, so I’d better play dumb.’

Jin Cheon-hee shouted like a hero of justice.

“Are you remnants of the demonic cult?”

“Demonic cult… demonic cult… Well, it’s natural for you to think that way. Think as you please. It doesn’t matter what you think, since you’re going to die anyway.”

“…What do you mean…?”

“Although it’s a pity your birth date and time don’t match, the evil immortals are very pleased with your appearance. And you’re a virgin too.”

‘How the hell does this bastard know I’m a virgin?’

Did they overhear his conversation with Three Seasons Tiger? But even then, Jin Cheon-hee hadn’t explicitly said he was a virgin.

He had only equivocated.

“That expression confirms you’re definitely a virgin. The evil immortals desire your flesh!”

“I am not a virgin!”

“Huh, there’s no use in lying. Om mani padme hum…”

The old priest muttered some strange sounds and then said:

“What? How come you’ve kept your virginity for over fifty years! I heard you were just a kid whose blood hadn’t even dried behind your ears!”

Jin Cheon-hee… thought.

Does it count the previous life when he lived as a lifelong single?

It’s not like he wanted to live alone.

He was just so overworked, overworked, and overworked that he had no leisure to think about anything else.

Jin Cheon-hee was an official hospital slave created by the South Korean resident training system. And just as he escaped that slavery and gained some leisure in life, he died.

The urge to kill rose within him.

This was a rare occurrence in Jin Cheon-hee’s life.

Jin Cheon-hee said:

“What does it matter if I’ve been a virgin for ten years, twenty years, or fifty years! Stop your evil deeds and release the children!”

“I don’t know how you have such a pure spirit without being a Taoist, but this is good. Keukeukeu… Lord Dalgi will be pleased when we offer you as a sacrifice.”

The old priest waved their staff.

Ding-

“You, if you don’t put down your sword obediently, I’ll kill all the children here.”

To those words, Jin Cheon-hee calmly replied:

“Staining the altar with blood without proper formalities? Wouldn’t that rather be an insult to the ritual itself?”

“…You’re quite clever. You…”

“Until the appointed day comes, you absolutely cannot touch the sacrifices. Especially not on the altar. Unless it’s the date chosen by the Eight Trigrams, you can’t do anything.”

“But I can still capture you!”

The old priest rang the bell on their staff loudly.

Ding, ding-

It was a different rhythm from before. Then, black-clad Blood Immortal Sect members rose up through the floor.

Jin Cheon-hee blocked the black-clad figures with his sword.

Clang!

It sounded like striking metal.

Jin Cheon-hee changed his technique and removed the mask of one of the black-clad figures.

The face of a corpse was revealed.

‘Jiangshi…!’

A smile appeared on Jin Cheon-hee’s lips.

‘How long have I… no, how much have I prepared for this day!’

When it comes to martial arts movies, it’s all about jiangshi, isn’t it!

He had run countless simulations in his mind on how to deal with jiangshi.

Jin Cheon-hee circulated his Five-Elemental Divine Technique, imbuing his Ice Clarity Sword with ice energy, and his other sword, the Black Pine Cloud Sword, with fire energy.

The Wudang Sect’s Dual Mind Technique allowed Jin Cheon-hee to create two different types of energy.

Seeing this, even the old priest seemed startled, their eyes widening.

“You can handle two types of elemental energy simultaneously?”

He targeted the jiangshi’s joints with cold energy to restrict their movement, then used fire energy to destroy their arms.

Kagakang!

Then he sliced the next jiangshi’s shoulder joint with cold energy.

His movements were closer to those of a butcher than a martial artist.

Jin Cheon-hee dissected the jiangshi with minimal movements that only someone who knew the exact location of human bones, muscles, and cartilage could perform.

‘Hmm, as expected, no blood flows out.’

After briefly observing the cut surface, Jin Cheon-hee immediately faced the next opponent.

‘The skin is like steel, but the joints are rather vulnerable to cold energy. I can observe that when these frozen tissues are shattered with fire energy, they’re easily damaged. Is this a side effect of extremely strengthening the skin and muscles? My hypothesis was correct.’

It was the mindset of a professor who had studied extensively.

‘To effectively capture jiangshi, a systematic combat method should be introduced where the joints are first stiffened with cold energy, then quickly invaded with fire energy to penetrate the soft tissues…’

The Dual Mind Technique allowed Jin Cheon-hee to indulge in academic fervor even while fighting.

If Yoo Ho had heard this, he would have said that the young master had finally gone mad with medical arts, but to Jin Cheon-hee, it was an important matter.

‘When the paper is complete, I must show it to Master. Master, having been in the martial arts world for a long time, would have overwhelmingly more experience fighting jiangshi, which would be helpful in verifying it.’

Jin Cheon-hee destroyed the jiangshi that came at him in waves, memorizing information for statistical use in his paper.

‘To include this as evidence in the paper, I need to capture at least 100 jiangshi as samples. One hundred using the conventional method of targeting the head, and another hundred using my hypothesis of attacking the joints with cold energy and then slicing through the soft tissues with fire energy in one go. A total of 200 jiangshi are needed.’

Bang!

Jin Cheon-hee launched himself against the wall. Then, like a wrestling triangle jump, he dove into the midst of the jiangshi.

‘Also, inviting other martial artists to attack jiangshi in the same way for samples… this is impossible.’

He would need a martial artist who used swords exactly like Jin Cheon-hee and was also excellent in martial arts.

Yeo Ha-ryoon.

Had Hwanggu found him?

‘By rough calculation, there are a total of 215 jiangshi in here. Since they’re jiangshi created by the same Blood Immortal Sect in the same location, they can be considered suitable samples. But I don’t have enough inner power to deal with all of these.’

Kagagak!

Taiji Immortal-Destruction Sword, Taiji Splitting Rays–!

The afterimages, which were previously four, divided into eight and attacked the jiangshi.

Even with the 120-years inner power, it was realistically impossible to capture all 215 Blood Immortal Sect jiangshi and that vicious old priest.

Jin Cheon-hee would die of exhaustion before that.

Jin Cheon-hee slightly folded the corner of his blue dream about the paper.

‘It doesn’t have to be now, I can complete it later. If successful, many martial artists will be able to safely deal with jiangshi.’

Creating a sword formation to maintain the battle formation, opening and closing the living and dead gates to guide the jiangshi, and establishing a formation using cold and fire energy.

For now, it seems only sects that have mastered fire and ice techniques could do this, but it can be improved over time.

Considering future calamities, the number of lives that could be saved this way would be immeasurable.

‘Perhaps in the future, even those with shallow understanding might be able to deal with jiangshi.’

It’s not something to be hasty about.

If not now, there would be a next time, so when it was eventually completed, he planned to send a letter to the Martial Arts Alliance and the Little Heavenly Demon.

Jin Cheon-hee changed his line of thought.

‘The old priest in front of me seems to be a Corpse Dissolution Immortal.’

Corpse Dissolution Immortal.

Their goal is to become a Corpse Dissolution Immortal]^[1].

In Taoism, besides Heavenly Immortals and Earthly Immortals, there are also Corpse Dissolution Immortals, which means becoming an immortal after death by shedding one’s physical body.

The exact process of how a human body becomes an immortal is not known in detail.

What’s certain is that it’s different from a martial artist attaining enlightenment through the way of the sword and ascending to immortality.

And the Corpse Dissolution Immortal in front of him is trying to achieve Corpse Dissolution Arts by controlling corpses.

This person is trying to create the strongest jiangshi using a special grand method before their own body ages, and then enter it to enjoy a state similar to that of an immortal.

This is a method befitting a branch of Taoism, especially the Blood Immortal Sect that worships Golden Crow Dao.

As an executive of the Blood Immortal Sect, their rank is even higher than the Black Thunder Blood Devil.

As their goal is to become a Corpse Dissolution Immortal, they’ve learned jiangshi techniques, mastered the martial art called Corpse Dissolution Jiangshi Technique, and the sound technique called Corpse Spirit Sound.

In the martial arts world, they’re known by the title Corpse Spirit Demon.

People think the Corpse Spirit Demon is from the demonic cult, but they’re not.

They’re from the Blood Immortal Sect.

‘In martial arts stories, Taoist priests are always portrayed as tricky opponents.’

Regardless of strength or weakness, they’re complicated and difficult to deal with.

Instead of matching weapon against weapon to determine superiority, they respond with countless methods like sound techniques, talismans, spells, jiangshi, and more.

Jin Cheon-hee’s heart pounded.

‘I’m curious.’

The opponent is a Taoist priest who has made thorough preparations.

Relying on the 120-years inner power seems insufficient against the poisonous fog filling the space, hundreds of jiangshi, and the altar equipped with various magical devices.

Even a sect leader of a decent family would need to prepare their grave.

Everything was flowing unfavorably for Jin Cheon-hee.

The fact that he had endured this far was thanks to the fantastic combination of the Five-Elemental Divine Technique, Dual Mind Technique, Profound Origin Divine Technique, and the Taiji Immortal-Destruction Sword.

‘Still… I’m curious.’

Escaping was out of the question.

If Jin Cheon-hee were to escape here, the enemy would be even more prepared next time.

With the new moon approaching, all the children would die.

This was the only chance to cut off the enemy’s lifeline.

Nevertheless, Jin Cheon-hee was facing the Corpse Spirit Demon not with fear or solemnity, but with academic curiosity.

Jingle-

As the Corpse Spirit Demon rang the bell, a terrifying sound technique burst forth.

Jin Cheon-hee quickly employed the Wind Rock Technique to protect his ears, but one eardrum still ruptured.

If he had been even a little slower, his semicircular canals would have been shaken, creating a kind of vertigo, and the Corpse Spirit Demon wouldn’t have missed that moment.

‘Well, normally, the next step would be coughing up blood from the Seven Orifices.’

Perhaps thanks to the wooden puppet made by Yoo Ho.

His external strength was also decent enough to take a hit if necessary.

Jin Cheon-hee observed how the Corpse Spirit Demon emitted the sound technique.

Jingle–!

The bell rang again.

Even the jiangshi momentarily stopped moving at the terrifying sound technique.

He defended immediately.

This time, both ears remained intact, but he couldn’t block the sensation of his internal organs vibrating.

However, the extreme observational skills gained from the Profound Origin Divine Technique and Dual Mind Technique stimulated Jin Cheon-hee’s brain.

‘Ah… so that’s the principle.’

1. 시해선(尸解仙)[↩]