The Academy’s Unrivaled Professor - Chapter 68

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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 Professor Absolute Episode 68
Geniuses Cannot Be Taught
Park Tae-gun’s footsteps were light.
‘That boy is a genius. Which is precisely why I must lay a solid foundation for him.’
In his arms lay lecture materials he had meticulously organized over a lifetime.
The foundational concepts of Qimen Dunjia, the correct arrangement of the Eight Gates Eight Trigrams, the flow of Qi by direction, and the principles of mutual generation and conquest.
‘Let’s see. He said Seo-jun would be behind the New Training Hall, didn’t he?’
As Park Tae-gun made his way past the narrow path toward Behind New Training Hall, he spotted a boy seated on a temporary bench.
‘There he is!’
A pleased smile spread across Park Tae-gun’s lips of its own accord.
Min Seo-jun was absorbed in study, alternating between the Celestial-Terrestrial Qimen Illustrated Guide and a thick Ancient Language Dictionary, and despite the difficulty of the material, his face was alight with a radiant smile.
How admirable!
A boy who read Formation Theory with a smile—a subject that even elite students avoided out of boredom and difficulty!
‘Ha, how remarkable.’
As Park Tae-gun approached carefully, his gaze fell upon stones and twigs arranged at the boy’s feet.
From their placement, he could tell at a glance.
“You were working through the basics of the Closed Maze Formation?”
At the sound of his voice, Min Seo-jun, whose nose had been buried in his book, lifted his head.
“It’s admirable indeed. Everyone starts by placing stones like this at first.”
“…Who are you, sir?”
“Me? Your professor going forward.”
“Professor?”
The boy’s eyes widened.
“That’s strange. I was told I would be a student of Master Kang Hyun…”
“He’s already given me his permission.”
“Ah…”
A flicker of confusion passed across Min Seo-jun’s expression, but he soon nodded.
The Academy was vast and offered many subjects; it made sense that multiple professors might teach him.
“Now, look here. The Qi enters from the east and flows out toward the south, doesn’t it? Then, to twist this flow and create a maze, what directional stone should you place at that southern exit to alter the Qi’s course?”
A guiding question that encouraged independent thought.
Park Tae-gun inwardly admired his own pedagogical approach.
But then.
“…?”
Min Seo-jun glanced briefly at the ground, then looked up at Park Tae-gun with an expression of profound bewilderment.
“What is it? Is there something blocking you?”
“This isn’t the Closed Maze Formation, sir.”
“Eh? It… isn’t?”
Park Tae-gun tilted his head in confusion.
The arrangement of the stones and the lines traced by the twigs were unmistakably the form of a classical foundational maze formation.
While Park Tae-gun remained flustered, Min Seo-jun continued.
“And even if you’re closing it off, why change the flow?”
“If you don’t change it, it just keeps flowing as is, doesn’t it?”
“Then wouldn’t you just place one here?”
Thud.
Min Seo-jun planted the twig he’d been holding down onto the ground.
“…There?”
It was a position entirely divorced from the formation’s structure—an utterly incongruous placement.
An arrangement that Park Tae-gun’s mind found utterly incomprehensible.
“If you put it here, the space just overlaps and folds, doesn’t it? Then you wouldn’t need to redirect the Qi flow at all…”
Professor Park Tae-gun’s expression turned bewildered.
‘Space folds?’
What manner of absurdity was this.
In over twenty years of studying Formation Theory, this was a concept he’d never encountered.
A genius, they said…
Was his imagination simply more unfettered?
“Seo-jun.”
Park Tae-gun assumed the expression of a stern yet kindly mentor.
“Formation Theory is not sorcery. It’s science. A single twig won’t cause space to fold or any such thing.”
“…I beg your pardon?”
“If you don’t grasp the foundational theory, such imaginings are understandable. I’ll build a strong foundation for you so that I can prove your imagination with logic. Come to the Formation Theory Research Lab on the 4th floor of the Main Building by two o’clock tomorrow afternoon.”
Whoosh.
Park Tae-gun set down the enrollment form with a slight smile, then vanished.
Min Seo-jun’s face scrunched up visibly.
‘Strange fellow.’
The boy’s gaze drifted to the wooden branch stuck in the ground.
Through Seo-jun’s Ghost Eyes, it was crystal clear.
Centered on the point where the branch was planted, the surrounding space’s energy flow was warped perfectly, layered and sealed closed.
To any ordinary eye, it would appear as nothing more than a stick jabbed into the dirt.
‘Ah, the flow’s cut off now.’
Min Seo-jun huffed dismissively and shoved aside the enrollment form Park Tae-gun had left behind.
Right now, diving into the fascinating book his teacher had given him mattered far more.

* * *
Main Building 4th Floor.
Back in his office, Park Tae-gun took a sip of coffee.
‘Space folding?’
It wasn’t that he dismissed what Min Seo-jun had said.
Free-thinking was certainly a necessary quality for a scholar, and it often led to new theories branching off from such insights.
Park Tae-gun’s gaze turned to the Formation Test Platform model sitting in one corner of his office.
It was equipment for experimenting with miniaturized formations constructed from Jade Stones and Formation Wood infused with various energies.
‘Still, for a boy who’s supposedly called a genius to do something like that…’
Seized by peculiar curiosity, Park Tae-gun approached the Formation Test Platform.
He replicated the basic Closed Maze Formation that Min Seo-jun had constructed, this time using Jade Stones.
And then.
“About here, wasn’t it?”
Thud.
He inserted the Formation Wood, but nothing happened.
‘See?’
The energy didn’t even reach that spot—the flow couldn’t possibly change.
‘Huh?’
Looking more carefully, the flow was… subtly distorted.
Goosebumps erupted down his spine as he began to twist the planted Formation Wood slightly.
Up, down, left, right.
Each minute adjustment sent the energy into oscillations, contorting and warping.
Like a man in a trance, he spent some ten minutes fine-tuning the angle.
Whoooosh!
The Jade Stones resonated, and the energy flow snapped into perfect stillness.
“…!”
Park Tae-gun’s mouth fell open.
This made no sense.
A phenomenon of Qi that appeared nowhere in the foundational principles of Formation Theory!
And yet it was unfolding right before his eyes.
What’s more, it was far more efficient than the orthodox methods he’d always believed in.
‘If this works, it would reduce the wasteful consumption of Jade Stones needed to circulate the energy, and above all, you could control the internal space without installing anything inside the formation at all!’
…Could space really be folding?
In that moment, heat flooded Park Tae-gun’s face.
The boy had spoken the truth, yet he’d corrected him as if he were wrong.
How pathetic and shameful that was!
‘This won’t do!’
For a professor to guide his student, his academic authority must not crumble.
Once students began to underestimate his abilities, no instruction of his would ever take root again.
‘Professor Gang Hyeon entrusted this to me—I can’t let it fall apart from the start.’
Park Tae-gun opened a drawer in his office and withdrew a practical formation diagram.
‘The Triple Illusion Formation!’
A formation he’d presented to the International Hunter Association five years prior.
Three entrances, but only a single exit.
The moment you step inside, your sense of direction twists in real time, scrambling your spatial awareness.
‘I have to show him this at least!’
Gathering the materials, Park Tae-gun dashed back toward the area Behind New Training Hall.
Fortunately, Min Seo-jun was still there.
“Seo-jun.”
“……Yes?”
The boy, deep in concentration, furrowed his brow.
The expression of someone wondering if he’d come to interrupt again.
“I’ll grant it—I was covering fundamentals before. Look at this.”
Thunk. Thunk-thunk.
Park Tae-gun planted several formation woods with frenzied precision, set a jade stone in place, and smirked.
“How does this look to you? Do you sense the space distortion?”
“Well…….”
Min Seo-jun’s Ghost Eyes gleamed as he scanned the formation.
“……Professor.”
“What is it? Too complex? Head aching?”
“No, sir.”
Min Seo-jun pointed with one finger at a formation wood planted in the center.
“That one’s wrong.”
“What?”
Park Tae-gun’s face hardened.
‘Wrong? But this is a formation I created myself?’
“The energy from the third wood and the first wood are interfering with each other.”
The boy’s voice was remarkably clear and measured.
Delivered as if he was finally finding this somewhat interesting.
“At first it’s fine, but as the energy keeps circulating, friction builds up in that overlapping section. After about an hour, it’ll start warping from the inside out, and the entire formation will collapse.”
“……!”
Park Tae-gun’s breath caught short.
It felt like someone had struck him hard in the head with a hammer.
– Professor Park, an excellent theory. However, I foresee a risk of internal collapse under prolonged activation. Further research will be necessary before practical application.
It was actual feedback he’d received at the association.
And this fifteen-year-old boy had identified it precisely at a glance.
Without scratching a single line of calculations, no less.
‘Insane…….’
Park Tae-gun felt his legs going weak.
“How did you…….”
“I just see it. Hold on. In a case like this, instead of suppressing with mutual restraint, if I leave the center open to give it breathing room……wait, my teacher’s books must cover this. I should read more of them.”
In that instant, lightning struck through Park Tae-gun’s mind.
Never mind that this was Min Seo-jun’s first time seeing the formation—Park Tae-gun had spent a full five years excavating this one.
‘Leave the center open!’
True, the central axis of the illusion would vanish, but wouldn’t the three outer layers mesh and spin of their own accord, completing a perpetual mechanism?
Park Tae-gun’s whole body trembled.
‘This…… this child is a monster.’
He should have been overjoyed to find the key to the Triple Illusion Formation, yet somehow joy eluded him.
What came instead, alongside awe, was…….
‘Self-loathing?’
Park Tae-gun had poured more time into formation theory than this boy’s entire age.
And yet…….
Min Seo-jun, still without even a solid foundation, had surpassed him.
‘How could I possibly presume to teach this child?’
– Try teaching him.
Suddenly, Professor Gang Hyeon’s voice echoed in his mind.
‘Professor Gang knew from the beginning…….’
The truth that he wasn’t even capable of teaching that boy.
Park Tae-gun could no longer stand in that place.
His shoulders slumped, and he began shuffling forward.
After walking for some time.
Whoosh.
A large shadow fell across his path—Gang Hyeon blocked his way, standing still.
“Professor Gang?”
“Do you drink, sir?”
Clink.
He shook the whiskey bottle he always carried with him.
Park Tae-gun answered with a bewildered expression.
“Ah, yes. Well… I can drink it.”
“Then let’s have a glass.”
Park Tae-gun found himself taking the Whiskey Bottle that Kang Hyeon had thrust toward him as if mesmerized.
The cap was already unscrewed, and from it wafted the sharp, characteristic scent of hard liquor.
Since he’d been craving a drink anyway, Park Tae-gun took several swigs.
“Ahh.”
He’d been thinking he needed to see Professor Kang Hyeon again.
“Professor, I don’t think I can teach that boy.”
In the end, he’d admitted it.
“I simply lack the skill to teach him. I’m afraid that if I rashly try to instruct him, I’ll confine his thinking within the boundaries of my own common sense.”
A genius’s infinite potential couldn’t be ruined by a mere professor’s ambition.
But Kang Hyeon merely smiled.
“Professor.”
“Yes?”
“Can you stop a flowing river by tossing a few pebbles into it?”
“……?”
“Don’t worry about such things. And I don’t teach Min Seo-jun either.”
Park Tae-gun’s eyes widened.
He’d heard that Kang Hyeon had given Min Seo-jun the Secret Manual he was reading?
“How do you teach a genius? You just toss them something and they figure it out on their own.”
Kang Hyeon didn’t dislike people like Park Tae-gun.
Pure scholars who harm no one, covet no power, and dig obsessively into their field of study alone.
He hadn’t lived wrongly.
He’d lived fiercely and rightly in his own way.
‘It’s simply that this world isn’t fair, so it occasionally sends down such a genius without warning.’
Kang Hyeon had witnessed countless times in the Martial World the frustration that ordinary talent feels before such unfairness.
“Do what you, Professor Park, are capable of doing.”
“……What I’m capable of?”
“Geniuses don’t communicate well with the world. They see things no one else can see, so they grow frustrated. They lack social skills, and there’s considerable risk they’ll veer off in strange directions.”
Glug.
Kang Hyeon took a sip of the Whiskey.
“Just show him the direction. Only the direction. Since you’ve already taken responsibility, you must see it through to the end.”
Park Tae-gun’s pupils trembled.
“And another thing. About the new buildings going up on the land behind the New Training Hall. I’ve entrusted the formation design entirely to Min Seo-jun.”
“What?”
Park Tae-gun cried out in shock.
To entrust the formation design of a massive project worth hundreds of billions to a fifteen-year-old child?
“The boy will handle all the formation work, but he’ll know nothing about practical matters like material procurement or coordinating with construction companies. Please help with your experience, Professor. I hear you designed the Academy’s main formation, didn’t you?”
“Yes, yes…….”
“Try working on this project together. Who knows? While helping that boy, your own skills might improve by leaps and bounds.”
“……!”
Park Tae-gun’s face filled with emotion.
He never would have expected the notorious Kang Hyeon to say something so warm.
Moreover, deep down, he’d wanted to continue overseeing Min Seo-jun.
“I’m grateful you’d say such a thing……. Then I’ll give it my best.”
“Much obliged.”
As Kang Hyeon turned to leave, the corner of his mouth curved upward.
‘I’ve secured a top-tier project manager without spending a penny.’
Now he didn’t have to worry about the construction at all.

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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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