Penicillin
The antibiotic made from blue mold, known as penicillin, was created more smoothly than expected.
There were some trial and error, but it was resolved before the season ended.
The result was now in front of Jin Cheon-hee.
"It actually worked."
Jin Cheon-hee clicked his tongue as he looked at the liquid inside the glass bottle.
"I was prepared for it to take twice as long, even if it went quickly..."
For the past month, he had been fully immersed in work as soon as he opened his eyes.
Training, research, development—he ran on three tracks.
He managed the medical staff assigned by his master and gave instructions to Yoo-ho.
He extracted samples, recorded them, and tried again.
"There's no reason not to do it when I have the money, time, and method."
Yoo-ho complained that he couldn't handle the ginger experiment.
If Jin Cheon-hee was grinding, it meant Yoo-ho was grinding too.
They were a labor community formed by their master.
Though they had no camaraderie, only hatred, they worked well together.
"Yoo-ho can work more. He doesn't know it, but he can do more!"
Jin Cheon-hee clenched his fist, thinking about how to make him work more.
The only reason Jin Cheon-hee could endure the hellish cycle was thanks to the Five Elements True Qi.
If there was another reason, it was youth.
"My brain doesn't get tired. My memory improves, and my sleep efficiency is good. I didn't know my inner strength would increase so much just by living a bit more intensely than during training."
The face of a child turned into the smile of a middle-aged man.
"Being young is good. Because I'm young, I recover quickly, my mind is sharp, and I can see everything without glasses. The neuralgia that was hard every morning is now gone."
While performing surgery, he realized that the sensitivity in his fingertips had become sharper than before.
Although it was a pity that his limbs were short, having sensitive senses and good recovery was a priceless asset.
Jin Cheon-hee laughed as he shook the glass bottle.
"They say that if you become a master of inner strength, the aging process slows down. If I'm lucky and achieve eternal youth, I could become younger."
Isn't the master a prime example? Jin Cheon-hee couldn't know exactly the master's age, but he knew there wasn't much difference in age with the head of the Yunlong Escort Agency.
Judging by age alone, he was middle-aged or elderly.
The Five Elements Divine Art balances and revitalizes the body just by practicing it.
It's more about health preservation than martial arts.
Although it's difficult to learn, there's no better inner strength for a doctor.
Thanks to this, the master's face is as youthful as in his twenties.
His body has forgotten its age.
The only problem is illness, but the master will almost forget his age until he dies.
The master's beauty motivated Jin Cheon-hee even more.
"I want a youthful face too! Joints that move smoothly! Eyes that don't see cells under the sunlight!"
Indeed, Jin Cheon-hee's desperation was on a different level from the goals of children his age.
Children his age usually dream of becoming martial arts masters and conquering the world.
But as much as it's a blue dream, it's also far away.
On the other hand, Jin Cheon-hee, having experienced aging, pursued immediate practicality.
The hellish life he chose for himself.
That life made Jin Cheon-hee grow one step further.
His mastery of inner strength had reached a level where he could say it was perfect, achieving the eighth level of the Five Elements Heart Method.
It's said that immediate practicality is a greater motivator than distant dreams.
Jin Cheon-hee was surprised by his own achievement.
"The master said that by repeating extreme fatigue and quick recovery, the body is changing closer to its natural state... In other words, is my body being trained through crazy hard work?"
Yoo-ho clicked his tongue, calling him a tough guy.
He said it was fortunate that the martial art of the Jegal family was focused on health preservation, otherwise, he would have been crippled.
Anyway, it was a good thing.
"Being able to learn the Five Elements Divine Art and the Hyunwon Jeondanshingong is a divine move. He said it was possible to learn from the sixth level of the Five Elements Heart Method, but I'm already at the eighth level, right?"
The Five Elements Divine Art is a higher-level heart method of the Five Elements Heart Method.
It is one of the famous divine martial arts in the world, but it's so difficult to master that hardly anyone has learned it.
Among the martial artists of the Jegal family, only a few chosen ones practice this divine martial art, known to control the natural energy by handling the Five Elements True Qi.
Isn't the master, Jegal Lin, a martial artist who reached the realm of harmony by mastering the Five Elements Divine Art? Moreover, the Hyunwon Jeondanshingong was even more amazing.
As the secret divine art of the Jegal family, it wasn't a type of inner strength method that created inner energy separately.
It's a martial art that consumes inner energy to activate the brain and enhance its abilities! By improving all brain functions, including memory, mental arithmetic, and cognition, it turns a dull person into an average one, an average person into a talented one, and a talented one into a genius.
If a genius learns it? They would possess a brain that could dominate the world.
That was the power of the Jegal family's secret divine art.
And now, he could officially learn this Hyunwon Jeondanshingong as well.
But that was for later.
For now, he had to experiment with the completed penicillin.
"So, are you satisfied?"
Yoo-ho spoke with a sulky face beside him.
"Of course. It's amazing. As expected of Yoo-ho. Our all-purpose nurse!"
"Were you about to call me a slave just now?"
"No way!"
"Hahaha, young master. You've become quite bold these days."
A murderous aura emanated from Yoo-ho.
In the past, a corner of his mind would have frozen in fear, but Jin Cheon-hee was different now.
He calmly continued his work with a relaxed attitude.
"I've improved."
Not only his inner strength but also his courage seemed to have grown.
"Of course, it's still a thin neck."
It was a neck that could be snapped at any time if desired.
If Jegal Lin wasn't involved, he would have twisted and killed him a hundred times.
"I still don't like him."
Yoo-ho thought so as he withdrew his murderous aura.
"So, what kind of medicine is this that required such a grand operation? It looks like Western alchemy equipment no matter how I see it."
"Is there alchemy in the West?"
Jin Cheon-hee asked with curiosity.
The Supreme Heavenly Demon is clearly a martial arts novel, and its world is set in an Eastern-style empire called the Hua Empire.
The Hua Empire's vastness was enormous, boasting a size even larger than that of China in that era.
In the novel, there's a region mentioned called the Western Region.
It's said to be inhabited by people with different appearances, but there's hardly any description, so it's unknown what kind of region it is.
"There is. Few people in the Hua Empire know about it, though. It's similar to alchemy but completely different. It's also part of the secret knowledge they call magic and sorcery."
Yoo-ho looked at Jin Cheon-hee with suspicion.
"You don't know there's alchemy in the West... But I'm very curious about why you're making something similar. I wonder if the master won't be curious too."
"Well, I'm more curious about how Yoo-ho could make this in just one day. And the master won't be curious. Of course not. Who's the master?"
"Hmm."
Their gazes collided in the air.
"Well, fine. I won't doubt the young master's skills anymore. If the master gets healthy, what can't be done? So, what should we do now? It would be nice if you could explain what this medicine is."
"Didn't you just call me a brat, Yoo-ho?"
"You must have misheard. It's similar to how I misheard you calling me a slave."
"..."
Jin Cheon-hee decided not to think deeply about it.
"Right. The master's health is important, what else could be more important? And this medicine... well..."
Jin Cheon-hee smiled brightly as he looked at the bottle.
"By the standards of this era... yes, you could call it a limited panacea."
He couldn't think of a better explanation for penicillin.
Jin Cheon-hee continued.
"And you asked what we should do? It's simple. We need to experiment."
"On people?"
"Yes. But first, on animals."
"It would be fine to do it directly on people. Do we really need to go through that process? There will be many patients willing to volunteer."
Indeed, it was a world where human lives were as cheap as flies.
As Jin Cheon-hee hesitated, Yoo-ho spoke.
"There are always plenty of patients, and most either have no cure or no money. There won't be many who refuse free treatment."
He had forgotten.
It was a world where a local doctor could bring an unheard-of treatment to a patient, apply it, and charge money regardless of recovery.
There was no medical insurance, and no system to protect patients.
Only the doctors of the medical halls were somewhat trustworthy.
"Still, let's at least do the minimum verification."
If it was properly made, it would only be a matter of whether it was effective or not, and it wouldn't harm lives.
Yoo-ho looked at Jin Cheon-hee with eyes that didn't understand and said.
"Young master is soft."
"I can't say I'm not. But you'll follow, right?"
Even if he couldn't go against the times, he wanted to keep the line as a modern person.
"What if I say no?"
"I'll tell the master."
"You should just order me."
"Well, it's better than not even pretending, right?"
Jin Cheon-hee chuckled and assigned tasks to Yoo-ho.
The first thing to do was statistics.
"The difference between ancient medicine and modern medicine is the presence of statistics."
Old doctors would say this.
"This treatment will probably work."
Modern doctors would say this.
"This treatment has a 90% chance of complete recovery, 8% chance of maintaining the current condition, and 2% risk of side effects."
It might not seem like much of a difference.
But in reality, it makes a big difference.
Modern medicine is the medicine of statistics.
It verifies with numerous patients and checks how effective it is clinically.
If drug A has a 60% cure rate and drug B has a 68% cure rate, it's obviously right to choose B.
Through this verification process, medicine evolves and becomes safer.
Practical data, not just intuition or personal experience, is used to save lives.
"After work, gather people infected with syphilis."
As Jin Cheon-hee smiled brightly, Yoo-ho looked at him with eyes that seemed to see a madman.
"You're crazy. No one can cure syphilis... Could it be?"
"Yes. If the calculations are correct, it might be possible. So gather them."
"..."
Yoo-ho's narrow eyes opened slightly wider.
"... Alright. Young master, I look forward to your abilities."
With those words, Yoo-ho left the cultivation room.
Watching him leave, Jin Cheon-hee muttered.
"Yoo-ho is capable, but dealing with him is a bit tough."