Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 194

“In a few weeks, let’s go to the Martial Righteous Alliance.”

“Ah, the Dragon Phoenix Gathering, right?”

Though delayed due to the blood incident at the Wudang Sect, this year’s Dragon Phoenix Gathering would proceed as usual.

Zhuge Rin nodded.

“Yes. Of course, this is just a smokescreen…”

“A smokescreen?”

At Jin Cheonhee’s words, Zhuge Rin paused briefly.

The sound of the Two Emperor and disciple sipping tea momentarily filled the tea room.

Eventually, Zhuge Rin spoke.

“There’s been a claim that those who caused the blood incident at Wudang weren’t from the Demonic Cult.”

Jin Cheonhee realized this claim was related to the Three Seasons Tiger Do Baekha.

The Three Seasons Tiger was the only one who had identified the true nature of the Blood Immortal Sect.

Zhuge Rin continued.

“If it was the Demonic Cult, we’d need to subjugate them, but if it’s a third force, that’s also problematic and requires investigation. All the sects of the Martial Righteous Alliance will gather for a meeting to discuss this.”

Hearing this, Jin Cheonhee’s mind immediately grasped the ulterior motive.

“So they’re using the Dragon Phoenix Gathering as a smokescreen for this, right?”

“Indeed. Thanks to that, you’ll likely participate too. Though the championship is already a foregone conclusion.”

Jin Cheonhee responded with slightly surprised eyes.

“Do I really need to go and win? I’ve consumed so much elixir that I probably have no rivals in the late Foundation stage.”

“You think other sects aren’t taking elixirs? Anyway, the requests from other late Foundation stage practitioners were too intense to decline gracefully.”

Mom’s friend’s son… no, master’s friend’s disciple.

Jin Cheonhee realized the cause of this situation.

The late Foundation stage practitioners, suffering from White Dragon’s doting, had raised the flag of resistance.

Other masters must have played a part in this too.

The sentiment of ‘You’ve been bragging so much about your disciple, let’s see if it’s true!’

‘Hehehe… Right. Even seventy-year-old elders become like children when it comes to disciple matters.’

In the martial world, a disciple is like one’s own child.

And the Dragon Phoenix Gathering is the place to officially recognize their skills.

In modern terms, it’s like constantly bragging about your son but never showing his test scores.

‘I wonder how much Master has been bragging about me while I was away.’

From what Cheon-woo had said, he could guess it was no small amount.

Even the Wudang Sect’s leader who looked at Jin Cheonhee with pitying eyes, wondering why he got stuck with such a master. And Wudang Fist Emperor too…

‘No, no. Our Master was just expressing his joy at having an outstanding disciple! It’s not like he was badmouthing an incompetent disciple, what’s wrong with bragging a bit about a talented one?’

Just as Zhuge Rin doted on his disciple, Jin Cheonhee doted on his master.

That’s how this unparalleled crazy master-disciple relationship burned.

“Master, this disciple will definitely return victorious.”

I’m sorry, Cheon-woo.

As passion blazed in Jin Cheonhee’s eyes, Zhuge Rin nodded.

“It would be good to learn a few more martial arts in the meantime.”

“Learn more martial arts?”

This was unexpected. Zhuge Rin continued.

“Yes. After analyzing your fight at Wudang, this master thought you might have had difficulties in certain situations. For example, when you need to take down multiple low-level opponents at once.”

He was spot on. Jin Cheonhee nodded.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“To be frank, the Taiji Immortal-Destruction Sword is clearly two levels below the Taiji Wisdom Sword until you reach mastery. Although it pairs well with the Profound Origin Heaven and Earth Divine Technique and Five-Elemental Divine Technique, the problem is that the Taiji Sword Technique itself takes a long time to master, and until then, it’s difficult to use for anything other than one-on-one combat.”

This was unexpected.

Usually, people claim that their sect’s martial arts are unconditionally the best in the world.

Although there was the premise of “before reaching mastery,” Jin Cheonhee didn’t expect such an objective assessment.

He just nodded.

“Of course, this is true for any sword technique. In group battles, other types of martial arts are more effective than sword techniques.”

“When you say other types of martial arts, you mean…?”

“For instance, hidden weapons and poisons.”

“Hidden weapons and poisons are specialties of the Sichuan Tang Clan. And what I’m learning from Bloodborne Elder Eccentric.”

“Right. But you’ve been focusing on dodging and blocking them, so you rarely use or throw them yourself in these situations.”

Jin Cheonhee nodded.

Zhuge Rin looked at his disciple with satisfaction.

“There are a few more. Whip techniques, dual sword techniques, archery…”

Subduing multiple low-level opponents at once in a chaotic battle.

Compared to Master’s examples, a sword could indeed be considered a weapon specialized for duels.

“Among these, this master recommends hidden weapon techniques for you. Actually, it’s more of a finger technique than hidden weapons. With your level, you should be able to use it proficiently with just a bit of practice.”

Finger technique.

Jin Cheonhee felt desire rising.

“What kind of martial art is it?”

“Flicking Heaven-Penetrating Finger^[1].”

A martial art he had never heard of before.

Zhuge Rin raised his large, thick fingers one by one.

“This originated from the now-extinct Quanzhen Sect^[2]. The Quanzhen Sect, though now gone, was famous for its unique and powerful martial arts among Taoist sects. Their martial arts and Taoist scriptures greatly influenced the Wudang and Huashan sects, but for some reason, they disappeared.”

Jin Cheonhee could recall something at those words.

The Quanzhen Sect!

In the novel, it was the sect that was annihilated after clashing with the Blood Immortal Sect.

‘To think that a Quanzhen martial art would be connected like this…’

He never expected it to be linked in this way.

“In the past, this master once saved a survivor from the Quanzhen Sect. He eventually died due to worsening chronic illness and demon qi, but with my treatment, he was able to extend his life by a few years.”

A lone survivor.

The despair he must have felt was unimaginable.

“At that time, he taught me one martial art as a way of repaying the favor, and that was this Flicking Heaven-Penetrating Finger. The power of this finger technique and hidden weapon skill is truly extraordinary.”

For Zhuge Rin to use the word “extraordinary” meant it truly had that level of power.

“I’ll start teaching you that from today.”

“Thank you, Master.”

Jin Cheonhee accepted without hesitation.

When a master offers to give you a ride on the bus, a disciple should do whatever it takes to get on board!

***

At the training ground.

Zhuge Rin first demonstrated so that Jin Cheonhee could easily understand.

“You can start practicing with this iron ball.”

He placed an iron ball about the size of a thumbnail between his fingers and flicked it.

Tang!

The target ten jang (about 30 meters) away was easily penetrated.

What was surprising was that he made a hole in the wooden board just by flicking his fingers, without using any internal energy.

‘It’s like a pistol. What the…’

Zhuge Rin said,

“Let’s start with ten zhang. After that, when you can reach a hundred zhang (about 300 meters), the first task will be complete.”

Jin Cheonhee nodded seriously.

Zhuge Rin was pleased with his disciple’s attitude.

Smiling, he continued.

“At its peak, the Flicking Heaven-Penetrating Finger is said to pierce the sky. The basics are like this. You wrap energy around two fingers, create a small explosion of energy between the fingers, and flick the iron ball.”

“But Master, I just saw you shoot without wrapping energy?”

At those words, Zhuge Rin patted his disciple’s head.

“That’s because I’ve started to reach the level of transcending qi. If you were to use pure physical strength, even five zhang would be difficult, let alone ten zhang, so don’t try to imitate that.”

Nod, nod.

“A properly fired Flicking Heaven-Penetrating Finger travels at such a tremendous speed that it’s almost like a crossbow. But this is just the basics.”

“Then what comes next?”

“If you can infuse qi into the iron ball itself at the moment of flicking, the penetrating power and speed will be further multiplied. Moreover, if you’ve reached the level of Sword Qi, you can wrap sword qi around the iron ball and do things like this.”

Master lightly held a second iron ball.

He flicked his fingers as casually as if he were eating breakfast.

Tang-!

The iron ball hit the second target with a clear, crisp sound. However, this time, a hole more than five times larger than before was created.

It didn’t end there.

A tree about a hundred meters behind the target suddenly crashed down with a loud noise, and the tree behind it fell too, and the tree behind that also fell.

Crash-

The penetration didn’t stop.

The iron ball continued to advance, grinding everything in its path.

“Hmm, I slightly miscalculated the force. I meant to show you a weaker version.”

“…”

“Anyway, once the iron ball gains rotational force, it starts to grind its surroundings as it advances. Both penetrating power and destructive power increase together.”

…It was terrifying.

‘No, didn’t Master say he would teach me a way to subdue multiple low-level opponents?’

What Jin Cheonhee had expected was an extraordinary skill akin to a lightweight magnum.

That would have been enough to subdue multiple low-level opponents.

But what Master brought out was Alladin’s magic staff.

He brought out a rocket launcher that could send even a tank to God’s side in one shot.

‘No… sh*t…’

While Zhuge Rin was fondly observing his disciple’s violently shaking pupils, he added one more thing.

“If you do it weakly, it’s also good for acupuncture from a distance.”

At the mention of long-range acupuncture, Jin Cheonhee’s pupil earthquake stopped.

“Ah, and with more practice…”

Master cheerfully fired the Flicking Heaven-Penetrating Finger again.

Boom!

The target exploded and disappeared.

And all the fallen trees behind it exploded simultaneously.

The penetration and explosions continued.

Jin Cheonhee received Allah’s wrath from a distant martial arts world.

“The principle is to blow internal energy into the iron ball and make it explode. Its power is about half that of a Heaven-Shaking Thunder (a type of bomb used in the martial world. Its power is comparable to a burst of strong qi, and in modern terms, it’s TNT-level), but that’s more than enough to sweep away low-level opponents.”

At those words, Jin Cheonhee understood the hidden meaning in his master’s words.

‘Ah, I see. Since Heaven-Shaking Thunder is strictly controlled by the government office, if I use it, they would lead troops to subjugate me, but it’s okay if I use my fingers to create Heaven-Shaking Thunder.’

So Master was saying that when low-level opponents appear, don’t hesitate and just shoot Alladin’s magic staff.

‘Is an RPG-7 being imbued into my fingers?’

It wasn’t just at that level.

“A normal shot is called a direct shot, one with added rotational principle is a spinning shot, firing continuously is a consecutive shot, mixing sword qi for crushing is a shattering shot, and exploding like this is an explosive shot.”

Jin Cheonhee repeated to himself.

This is a world where humans can run on water and slice rocks with swords.

Perhaps learning something like this for self-defense is only natural.

“Are these five techniques all there is?”

“Yes. Simple and powerful. When you master it, you’ll be able to apply it in many ways.”

Jin Cheonhee deeply realized that his master truly loved his disciple.

“I wonder if this master is making you suffer because of excessive worry, Hee-ya.”

Zhuge Rin said gently, handing his disciple not a lightweight magnum but Aladin’s magic staff.

“Not at all, Master. I’ll learn diligently!”

“Hearing you say that makes this master happy.”

Zhuge Rin smiled brightly.

That smile was so radiant it was almost blinding.