The Academy’s Unrivaled Professor - Chapter 19

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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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Academy Absolute Professor Episode 019
She’d barely uttered a word before
Gwak Dojin caught up with Baek Yuyeon as she headed toward the Dormitory.
“Yuyeon?”
At the familiar voice, Baek Yuyeon turned and greeted him warmly.
“Oh, it’s you!”
At that bright smile, Gwak Dojin cleared his throat awkwardly.
“You haven’t heard from Hwang Minwoo since then, have you?”
“No contact. And I heard he moved out of his room too?”
Whether dragged in for police questioning or summoned back to his family home.
Hwang Minwoo was no longer at the Academy.
“Good thing it worked out. That’s all thanks to Professor Kang. You know that, right?”
Baek Yuyeon laughed softly.
“You deserve some of the credit too.”
“Me?”
“You punched him in the face. That’s what triggered the disciplinary hearing.”
Gwak Dojin, oddly pleased, pressed his lips together firmly.
“Ahem. Well, I suppose that’s fair.”
A brief silence fell between them.
Gwak Dojin scratched the back of his head roughly.
For some reason, he couldn’t seem to get the words out.
‘Damn it, forget it.’
Just spit it out already!
“Say, have you thought about taking Professor Kang’s class?”
When you lack confidence in persuasion, the direct approach isn’t always bad.
At least if you force the issue, something will come to you.
“Pardon? I’m a medicinal martial arts major—isn’t Professor Kang Hyun’s special lecture about how to grow stronger?”
“That’s right.”
“Then why would I…?”
‘I don’t even know! Why the professor wants me to talk you into it!’
That was precisely what made this so difficult.
Surely he should at least give her a reason?
“Well, studying requires stamina too. If you exercise while you study, it’ll sink into your head better…….”
Wait.
Even as he said it, that sounded off.
After all, wasn’t she renowned as a walking encyclopedia with a photographic memory?
“Actually, if you’re going to study medicinal martial arts, you can’t afford to ignore martial arts itself, can you?”
“Well, that’s true, but…….”
“Either way, it’s just three hours starting at six in the morning. It won’t interfere with your schedule.”
Baek Yuyeon thought of Kang Hyun for a moment.
She was certainly not an ordinary professor.
But did that mean she needed to take the class?
‘No, it doesn’t.’
“I appreciate the suggestion, but I’m afraid I don’t have the bandwidth for anything else right now.”
Baek Yuyeon drew a firm line.
Gwak Dojin was her benefactor, and her gratitude was genuine—but he had no say in her career choices and future.
That was her honest conviction.
“I’m preparing to enter Professor Hwang Yerim’s research lab. There’s a selection test coming up soon, so every second counts.”
Hearing that, Gwak Dojin found he couldn’t push any harder.
“I see—you were in test preparation. Sorry for bothering you. Go on inside and rest.”
“Yes, and good luck with your class tomorrow!”
Baek Yuyeon bowed and disappeared into the Dormitory, leaving Gwak Dojin to exhale a deep sigh.
‘This won’t be easy.’

* * *
The next day.
After finishing her classes, Kang Hyun arrived at one building.
The Martial Arts Library.
Before transcribing the Muscle-Tendon Classic—called the greatest medical text in the history of the Murim—she’d come here to conduct preliminary research.
‘Quite impressive in scale, isn’t it?’
On the massive exterior of the building, a single phrase hung in bold letters.
[Secret Techniques Are National Strength]
‘True enough.’
Among all Murim organizations, nothing was guarded more zealously than the Secret Techniques.
A single line of a Formula leaked, and entire sects were annihilated without hesitation; senior and junior disciples who had weathered decades together spilled each other’s blood as readily as spilling water.
Whichever faction possessed the superior martial arts determined the survival of the group itself.
Thwick!
As he pushed through the heavy automatic doors, a middle-aged man greeted him.
Clearly the administrator of the place.
“Are you a professor?”
“Yes.”
“Present your faculty identification, and place all personal belongings in the lockers to your left.”
Behind the administrator, a set of rules hung displayed.
Martial Arts Library Usage Guidelines
1. Daily usage time: Professors 5 hours / Cadets 3 hours.
2. Absolutely forbidden to bring electronic devices such as smartphones or to photograph materials.
3. Absolutely forbidden to bring writing instruments or to take notes on contents. (Violation results in expulsion and criminal prosecution)
4. Forbidden to remove from the premises any Secret Techniques except those of common distribution
In other words: see it with your eyes, burn it into memory, and leave.
‘As it should be.’
Some outsiders thought Murim practitioners were crude swordsmen with nothing in their heads, but the truth was they were far more intelligent than most scholars, with superior memory to match.
They had to decode and memorize thousands upon thousands of characters in arcane Ancient Language formulas.
There was no room for approximation.
Misinterpret even a few characters in a martial formula, and Deviation into Madness was all but inevitable.
Beep!
The administrator held his credentials against the reader, and an alarm chimed.
[Professor Kang Hyun. Welcome.]
[Remaining usage time: 5 hours 00 minutes.]
‘Thorough as expected.’
The barrier opened, and as he stepped inside, towering bookshelves revealed themselves.
The Secret Techniques were organized with meticulous precision.
Sword arts, saber arts, boxing styles, lightness techniques, internal cultivation methods…….
As Kang Hyun walked past the placard signs, an intriguing smile played at the corner of his mouth.
‘Korean commentaries?’
The display method was quite unusual.
Within a special glass case at the center of the shelving, the original manuscripts were preserved under strict security, while the surrounding space was densely packed with copies and countless interpretive volumes.
What was particularly striking was that for the very same original text, the interpretations of those known as Secret Technique Interpreters each differed wildly from one another.
Kang Hyun pulled a common-distribution heart method manual from the shelf.
⪡Lesser Yang Heart Method⪢
In Murim, it was breathing technique you could purchase from a street book vendor for a handful of coins.
Rustle.
As he turned the pages of the copy, Ancient Language used in Murim was written throughout.
In modern terms, it would be old Chinese characters.
‘Clean.’
After returning it to its place, Kang Hyun now opened two interpretation volumes side by side.
“Hmm?”
For the very same line of a Formula, the two books offered contradictory interpretations.
Snap.
Closing the book, Kang Hyun let out a quiet tsk.
‘What is this madness.’
To truly understand a Secret Technique, one must first master the language, then independently discern the context and meaning embedded in the original text.
And yet here people were, learning martial arts solely from translation volumes compiled by others according to their whims?
Not even as a supplement to direct study—but from the very beginning?
Martial arts diverge into countless variations depending on one’s understanding and interpretation.
If one makes no effort to forge one’s own path, merely following the directions laid out by another, what becomes of such a practitioner?
‘If the direction happens to be correct, fortune smiles. But if it is wrong…… they wander forever.’
Suddenly, Dean Seo Ilhyun came to mind.
‘The Clear Void Heart Method, wasn’t it?’
Now he understood why the dean could not help but stumble at the Triple Gate.
He must have studied from a flawed interpretation.
Kang Hyun placed the book back on its shelf and headed to the second floor—the medicine and alchemy section—to pursue his original purpose.
He needed to assess the level of martial medicine and alchemy here.
What good was the Muscle-Tendon Classic if no one could understand it?
If the foundation wasn’t there, it was all for nothing.
He planned to examine this place carefully and fill in the gaps one by one.
Of course, not for the students here—for Baek Yuyeon.
‘Hmm?’
He’d been thinking of her just moments before, and there she sat in a corner at a desk.
‘So nobility doesn’t suit her after all.’
Kang Hyun silenced his presence and watched what she was doing.
‘Alchemy?’
Before her lay four thick alchemy books fanned out like a spread of cards.
Since writing implements were forbidden, she seemed to be shuffling the books’ positions slightly and combining their contents in her mind.
A good method.
‘Wait.’
But didn’t Baek Yuyeon have Infallible Memory?
Why would she need to do that if she’d already memorized everything?
He studied the titles of the books.
⪡Discourse on Congealing Fire Elixir⪢
⪡Resolution of Medicinal Property Conflicts⪢
⪡Spirit Herb Fusion Section⪢
⪡Sealing Pill Essential Method⪢
Kang Hyun’s eyes narrowed.
He didn’t know what pill she was trying to make, but if she only studied these four, something crucial was missing.
These texts were Secret Techniques that required five volumes to be complete.
First you ignite the flame and achieve Congealing Fire, then govern the clash of medicinal properties, then fuse the energies together, and finally shape and seal the form.
‘Everything’s good except the most critical Stabilization step is completely missing.’
It had to be one of two things.
Either she hadn’t found that Secret Technique yet, or it existed but contemporary alchemy scholarship was too shallow to know about it.
Baek Yuyeon must be sensing that dissonance and wrestling with it still.
The corner of Kang Hyun’s mouth lifted.
This actually made things easier to manipulate.
“What are you trying to make?”
She jumped.
Baek Yuyeon, all her attention absorbed by the books, looked up in surprise.
“…Professor?”
“You’ve got four alchemy texts laid out. I’m curious.”
Baek Yuyeon grew guarded.
This man was a martial arts professor—he’d have no reason to know about alchemy… She gave a vague answer.
“I was working out a formula for the Qi Circulation Pill.”
The Qi Circulation Pill.
A foundational pill.
A medicine that aids the circulation of blood and qi, smoothing open the meridian pathways.
Good to take before practicing inner cultivation.
“A fine pill.”
“You know about the Qi Circulation Pill?”
“Know about it? I’ve crafted one or two myself in the past.”
Baek Yuyeon’s blue-green eyes trembled slightly.
‘This professor knows alchemy?’
In Korea’s Hunter Society, professors who deeply studied alchemy were rare enough to count on one hand.
Hadn’t even Professor Hwang Yerim given up on alchemy?
And this drunk of a professor had actually practiced it?
“At the end, when you’re forming it into a sphere, it doesn’t come out the right color, does it? Comes out somewhat red?”
“…!”
Baek Yuyeon’s mouth fell slightly open.
Exactly right.
For days now, combining these four books in every possible way, this was the central problem she’d been struggling with.
According to the texts, the Qi Circulation Pill should be blue, but every time she completed it, it came out red.
“Right after the fusion ends, remove the fire completely and leave the cauldron open for two hours. You’ve done everything well but you don’t vent the heat, so it turns red. All the good components inside die too.”
“But the book doesn’t say…”
Such a process was not written in the books.
The stabilization step had been left out entirely.
Just as Baek Yuyeon was about to press further, Kang Hyun was no longer there.
He’d dropped a single remark and vanished into the martial arts and medicine section, already leafing through volumes.
The way he studied each book with such focus was nothing like the professor the rumors described.
‘This makes no sense.’
If the answer were truly so simple, why wouldn’t the texts say so? Why not a single line?
Her reason rebelled against his claim, yet curiosity gnawed at her relentlessly.
The Kang Hyun she knew was not a man given to lying.
Baek Yuyeon hastily gathered the alchemy texts and rushed out of the library toward the laboratory.
Two hours later.
“Seriously?”
Her eyes widened as she lifted the lid from the alchemical furnace.
“This actually worked?”
Where a burnt smell had always risen before, now drifted a crisp, clarifying fragrance that seemed to sharpen the mind itself.
The color, too, was unmistakably blue.
She swallowed hard.
Her throat went dry.
The image of Kang Hyun flickered across her mind.
That man with the perpetually drowsy eyes, always carrying a whiskey bottle.
His martial prowess alone was remarkable enough—tearing up a contract, driving out a Tae Wang executive with nothing but sheer presence.
But on top of that, he possessed mastery of alchemy?
‘Who exactly is he?’
It was now abundantly clear he was no parachute appointment.
No wonder even someone as demanding as Cha Yushik deferred to him.
Her doubt swiftly transformed into fierce curiosity, and a voice she’d heard before suddenly echoed in her memory.
— Hey, have you thought about sitting in on Professor Kang’s class?
Baek Yuyeon picked up her phone.
— Hello? Yuyeon? What’s going on at this hour?
“Senior.”
— Yes?
“Professor Kang’s class. I just need to go to the Old Building Training Grounds by six in the morning, right?”

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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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