Chapter 21
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Ice Crane, Sa Ma So
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Ice Crane, Sa Ma So.
A figure with whom he had no direct connection in his past life.
He had only heard rumors about him during his time as a medical student.
The reason he still remembered was that the rumors about Sa Ma So were exceptionally memorable.
He was one of the most famous figures among the Ten Peaks.
Was it because his medical skills were that outstanding?
How much could medical skills truly differ among the Ten Peaks?
Sa Ma So was famous for a different reason.
He was notorious for being inflexible.
"Inflexible" was putting it mildly.
A stubborn mule, set in his ways.
A hellish critic with a venomous tongue.
These were the kinds of rumors that mostly circulated about him.
There was even a rumor that quacks would tremble in fear of losing their medical licenses whenever Sa Ma So passed by.
Not bad. In fact, he's a good person to use.
To be honest, it was a given that the Medical Immortal Medical House would achieve the highest score in the upcoming Medical Examination Ceremony.
He had no confidence whatsoever.
Confidence that he would lose!
However, that alone was not enough.
Jang Bok, do you know what day it is in twenty days?
Isn't it the day of the Medical Examination Ceremony, sir?
Wrong. That is the day we will announce the greatness of the Medical Immortal Medical House to the entire Central Plains.
Ah, yes...
Although Jang Bok wore an expression that said, There he goes again, our young master, saying strange things, Wi Ji-cheon was serious.
Wi Ji-cheon intended to spread the news of their performance at the Medical Examination Ceremony throughout the entire medical community of the Central Plains.
But to do that, simply achieving good results wasn't enough.
Using Ice Crane Sa Ma So will make it possible.
Once again, a wicked(?) plan surfaced in Wi Ji-cheon's mind.
The Medical Hall of the Medical Immortal Medical House.
The new disciples of the Medical Immortal Medical House were waiting for their lesson to begin.
Senior Brother is teaching us again today, right?
I never imagined Senior Brother Wi Ji-cheon was such a genius.
I'm so glad I came to the Medical Immortal Medical House.
All the new disciples were filled with respect for Wi Ji-cheon.
How could they not be?
A benevolent personality and perfect skills!
Even Dan Yeo had acknowledged Wi Ji-cheon, declaring, "Hmph! I'll definitely surpass you one day, Senior Brother!"
They say that extraordinary geniuses are often eccentric, but Senior Brother Wi Ji-cheon's personality is like that of a celestial being.
The new disciples chattered endlessly, saying things that would have made Jang Sam's face harden in an instant had he heard them.
However, they did not yet know.
What they were about to experience.
Did you all sleep well? Good morning.
Good morning, Senior Brother!
A resounding greeting.
The anticipation for the upcoming lesson was palpable.
Wi Ji-cheon responded to their anticipation with a smile.
I'm glad to see all my junior brothers and sisters working so hard. Today, I've prepared a special lesson for you.
A special lesson.
The lessons had been excellent so far, but an even more excellent lesson than that?
The new disciples' expectations skyrocketed.
First, please stand up. The Medical Hall here is too small to conduct our special lesson. For the time being, you will be receiving your lessons at a different location, not here at our House. I've already spoken to my brother, Wi Ji-gang, who is in charge of education, about this field trip.
For reference, Wi Ji-gang now completely trusted Wi Ji-cheon and had entrusted the lessons to him.
Everyone nodded without any particular suspicion.
If our Senior Brother tells us to go, we go.
Such was their boundless trust in Wi Ji-cheon.
The first faint crack in that trust appeared after they saw the location for their lesson.
...Senior Brother, this place is?
Yes, this is our new classroom.
...So, why are we here?
The Black Ghost Sect.
A fearsome unorthodox sect that had risen to become the ruler of Nanyang's southern district.
Why on earth would they come to a place like this for a medical arts lesson?
Ah, the members of the Black Ghost Sect will be assisting with your lesson. And there's no brother or father here to get frightened and interfere.
Was he giving them a chance to treat some of the Black Ghost Sect members as practice patients?
That's what everyone thought.
But, why would Senior Uncle Wi Ji-gang and the Family Head be frightened?
It was after they entered the Black Ghost Sect's headquarters.
Clank!
The main gate of the Black Ghost Sect was firmly locked.
Why?
It felt as if their escape route was being cut off.
It was a final warning from their survival instincts, but they ignored it in the face of Wi Ji-cheon's bright, innocent expression.
Here are the great hero Jang Sam, the Hegemon of Southern Nanyang, and the heroes of the Black Ghost Sect, who will be assisting with your lesson.
Welcome, young medical students.
Jang Sam's expression was strange.
Instead of his usual expression, like he was chewing on dung, he was smiling brightly.
However, it was not a smile that made one feel pleasant.
It was an unsettling laugh.
The more experienced new disciples, those who had been through thick and thin, instinctively felt that this smile meant, You're all about to die, but they tried their best to ignore it.
The gentle smile on the lips of Wi Ji-cheon, standing beside him, reassured them.
So, what kind of lesson will it be?
Great Hero Jang Sam, please begin.
Lads, tie them up.
??
Whoosh!
The members of the Black Ghost Sect rushed at the disciples.
The new disciples were tied up tightly.
The Black Ghost Sect members didn't stop there; they even rolled them up in straw mats.
S-Senior Brother?
The new junior disciples still couldn't grasp the situation and looked at Wi Ji-cheon.
Wi Ji-cheon, with his usual bright and gentle face, approached the disciples.
Fsh!
He struck the acupoints of each one of them.
!!
The junior disciples' eyes widened. They couldn't speak.
They squirmed as if to ask what he was doing, but they couldn't move an inch due to the tightly bound ropes.
Now, let's begin the lecture. The point I struck, as you all know, is the Mute Point. You can release it by applying the seventh form of the Earth Spirit Medical Arts.
?!
What kind of nonsense is that, Senior Brother?!
They all looked at Wi Ji-cheon with such an expression.
Ah, but just unblocking a sealed acupoint would be too easy, wouldn't it? So, to further aid in your education, I've made other preparations. Great Hero Jang Sam?
Hehehe. Lads, bring it in!
Incense was lit, one after another.
An incense with an unsettling aroma.
Wi Ji-cheon struck additional acupoints on the junior disciples.
That was the Crying Sound Point, located where the Upper Dantian and the External Diagnostic Meridian intersect. Normally, striking this point wouldn't cause much of a change, but when the medicinal energy from that incense circulates, the blocked Crying Sound Point is stimulated, which in turn stimulates the Upper Dantian. In other words, it will enable you to circulate your ki more effectively.
It was an astonishing effect.
But, why isn't such an amazing technique widely known?
Just as someone was pondering that question.
The name of this technique is the Mara Ex... no, no, a slip of the tongue. It's called the Divine Immortal True Acupoint Grand Method. It's a forgotten technique because it has a slight problem.
??
It gets a little painful as time passes.
??
No, actually, a bit more than a little?
......
The more pain you feel, the more refined your ki circulation becomes, so even junior disciples who are not yet skilled in medical arts should be able to complete the task.
!!
An insane amount of pain began to surge through them.
The bright voice of their Senior Brother still echoed in the ears of the bloodshot-eyed new disciples.
I'll be cheering for all of you to overcome this!
Ah.
The new disciples thought.
Our Senior Brother has no ill intent.
This is all for our sake.
Yes, there's no way our Senior Brother is a bad person.
However.
...As expected of a genius. Our Senior Brother has a crazy side to him too.
And so, with silent wails, the new disciples' real medical arts training began.
The Medical Immortal Medical House is located in the southern district of Nanyang.
For reference, the Namjung Medical House and the Black Ghost Sect were also in the southern district.
Nanyang City had several districts besides the southern one, and surprisingly, the wealthiest people gathered not in the south, but in the northern district.
The central district was where the relatively poor lived.
The beggars of Nanyang's Beggars' Sect also gathered in the central district.
However, the most destitute place in Nanyang was not the central district.
It was the eastern district.
There were no beggars in the eastern district.
Because even beggars need someone to beg from.
A thick air of poverty permeated the entire district.
But a month ago, a strange sight began to unfold in the eastern district.
A long line of people had formed in front of a shabby building.
Ice Crane Clinic
Ice Crane Sa Ma So had set up a temporary clinic in the eastern district!
With time to spare before the Medical Examination Ceremony, he intended to care for the poor.
He's certainly amazing. He wasn't named one of the Ten Peaks for nothing.
Wi Ji-cheon was impressed.
The criteria for selecting a renowned doctor were different from those for a martial master.
A master only needed to prove their strength in some way.
Even an unknown person could be hailed as one of the Ten Great Masters overnight.
Renowned doctors were different.
It wasn't enough to simply have outstanding skills.
One had to accumulate sufficient achievements.
Apart from his prickly personality, Ice Crane Sa Ma So had accumulated enough medical achievements to be counted among the Ten Peaks.
Since he's such a great figure, the impact of my plan will be huge.
Well, are you ready?
...I am.
Jang Sam, his expression back to its usualthat is, like he was chewing on dungnodded his head.
But are you really, truly going to do this?
Why?
...It's nothing.
You crazy bastard. Are you in your right mind?
Jang Sam barely suppressed the urge to scream at the top of his lungs.
The more he saw, the more he realized this young punk wasn't just a simple demon.
He was a crazy demon.
Let's go.
The two of them got in line together.
People who recognized Jang Sam were startled and tried to make way, but Wi Ji-cheon shook his head.
Great Hero Jang Sam does not do things like cutting in line.
...That's right. I'm an unorthodox practitioner who respects order.
How long did they wait?
Soon, it was Wi Ji-cheon and Jang Sam's turn.
This humble student, Wi Ji-cheon, greets you, Master Ice Crane. I am the third son of the Medical Immortal Medical House.
Ice Crane Sa Ma So, who was brewing a decoction, glanced at Wi Ji-cheon.
His gaze was as prickly as the rumors said.
The third son of the Medical Immortal Medical House?
Ice Crane Sa Ma So looked puzzled.
What is this? The brilliance in his eyes? Wasn't the third son of the Medical Immortal Medical House rumored to be a good-for-nothing?
Wi Ji-cheon's changed appearance, especially his genius in medicine, was still only known within the Medical Immortal Medical House; rumors had not yet spread.
In fact, his father, Wi Ji-seon, had wanted to run out immediately and spread the news all over town, shouting, 'My son is a genius?! A genius?!' but Wi Ji-cheon had stopped him.
Why? Because he had a plan.
So, what is it? If you've come just to offer some trivial greetings, get out immediately.
Ice Crane Sa Ma So said bluntly.
After he opened his clinic, how many doctors and medical students must have come trying to curry favor with him?
Someone who truly cared for patients wouldn't waste time dawdling here.
I know you are busy tending to your patients, so how could I have come merely to offer personal greetings? I've come to request a consultation for Sect Leader Jang Sam.
A consultation? He doesn't seem to have any major problems.
Well...
Wi Ji-cheon lowered his voice.
As if worried someone might overhear.
Actually, Great Hero Jang Sam has been poisoned.
What?
Ice Crane Sa Ma So looked surprised.
There had been no sign of it at all.
It's the Great Monad Anger Poison. It's coiled deep within his dantian, so it's not easy to detect even through pulse diagnosis.
How did you know? Its properties are so similar to a restorative tonic that even renowned doctors wouldn't be able to tell unless they were suspicious.
Wi Ji-cheon answered inwardly.
Because I'm the one who fed it to him.
The Great Monad Anger Poison.
Depending on how it was administered, it could be either a restorative tonic or a poison.
Well, since he'd brought him to Ice Crane Sa Ma So, it would become a tonic, so it would be a good thing for Jang Sam too.
Great Hero Jang Sam is like family to our Medical Immortal Medical House! I was so worried something might happen to him that I came to find you, Master Ice Crane. Please, I beg you to treat Great Hero Jang Sam!
You damn bastard.
Jang Sam forced a smile.