The Academy’s Unrivaled Professor - Chapter 71

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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 071
Must we always request support from a great power?
The orthodox method for obtaining Mana Stones was, after all, to clear dungeons.
When hunting Demon Beasts, Secret Manuals and spiritual medicines occasionally dropped alongside them, and so too did Mana Stones from time to time.
But “from time to time” was the operative phrase.
Even low-grade Mana Stones were exceedingly rare in circulation, and the mid-grade stone he’d just embedded in the Spatial Transfer Array was such a precious commodity that money alone could barely secure one.
‘Why so rare?’
Kang Hyeon knew the answer perfectly well.
‘Because the creatures around here are pathetically weak.’
Spirit Beasts or Demon Beasts alike.
To grow stronger, a creature must accumulate natural force within its body.
It was the same principle as humans cultivating Internal Power in their Dantian.
That accumulated force, when condensed and solidified into residue, was precisely what a Mana Stone was.
In other words, the stronger the individual, the purer the Mana Stone’s quality.
And then.
When the compressed force exceeded mere residue, we called it an Internal Elixir.
What Kang Hyeon truly needed was not Mana Stones, but an Internal Elixir.
Embedding hundreds of petty Mana Stones was far less efficient than placing one proper Internal Elixir directly into the array.
‘So I need to find something that might possess an Internal Elixir…….’
Suddenly, a memory flickered across Kang Hyeon’s mind.
The trashy serpent he’d encountered the moment he returned to Earth.
An immeasurable-rank monster—Leviathan.
‘Let me think about this.’
He’d definitely incinerated it entirely with Samadhi True Fire and obtained the Flying Wind Step on the spot.
But…….
‘Why wasn’t there an Internal Elixir?’
Even for a worthless serpent that wasn’t a true dragon, maintaining a body of that size would be impossible without an Internal Elixir inside.
Kang Hyeon immediately called for Lee Se-ah.
“Chick.”
“Yes, Kang Hyeon.”
“When I fell asleep briefly after catching Leviathan, nobody took anything like an Internal Elixir from that spot, right?”
“Uh…… wait a moment!”
Lee Se-ah sifted through her memory.
After Black had disposed of Leviathan, they couldn’t approach the area for a while due to the toxins.
She’d asked the director just in case, but…….
— An Internal Elixir? There wasn’t anything like that. The Management Bureau never collected anything in the first place. Black said he burned it all.
‘That makes sense.’
She’d searched just to be sure, and found nothing in the Management Bureau’s main server records either.
Click, tap.
Lee Se-ah, who’d been tapping on her tablet, reached a conclusion.
“There wasn’t any.”
“Hmm, is that so?”
Kang Hyeon closed his eyes.
‘It probably wasn’t the Management Bureau.’
They seemed genuinely unable to approach.
Then who?
Were there people capable of slipping in while the cat slept, extracting the core, and vanishing from the East Sea?
‘How interesting.’
Curiosity kindled within him.
A little mouse had stolen the cheese while the cat napped.
Perhaps…….
Remnants of Asura like Sim Deung-gwi?
‘I’ve been far too passive.’
Now that he’d found disciples to some degree, it was time to make his move.
‘But.’
Kang Hyeon couldn’t afford to reveal himself too openly.
With his Internal Power still not fully recovered and lacking the Seven Luminaries Pearl needed to complete the Heavenly Scripture, exposing his identity to Asura’s servants could invite all manner of interference and schemes.
‘The old ones called them the Six Evils.’
Blood Heaven Society, Gate Opening Sect, Reverse Heaven Sect, Rakshasa Gate, Return Society, Killing Bow.
All independent factions that revered Asura, and their leaders were not human.
These were the very subordinates of Asura that Kang Hyeon was preparing to face.
“Is something wrong?”
Lee Se-ah asked with a worried expression, and Kang Hyeon shook his head.
“Nothing like that. If there are any more unmeasurable monsters or dungeons, investigate them for me.”
Mine some Mana Stones while you’re at it, and dig into those bastards too.

* * *
Mongolia, Hunter Management Authority.
“Hmm.”
Bataar, having returned safely after concluding his business at the Korean Academy, stared down at the report with a grim expression.
[Recent surge in hunters complaining of chronic fatigue of unknown origin]
Reading the details, there were sleep disorders, and apparently even cases of sleepwalking.
Bataar felt a sudden chill of recognition.
‘Kasar.’
Didn’t his symptoms match this?
Back then, they’d thought it was stress-related illness.
But now he knew better.
He’d seen with his own eyes Professor Kang Hyeon extracting that black blood from Kasar’s body.
But the problem wasn’t just the symptoms.
Knock, knock.
“Come in.”
His adjutant entered, his face drawn and ashen.
“Professor, there’s been another incident. This time in the outskirts of southern Bayankhongor.”
“Let me see it.”
Bataar snatched up the approval document and unfolded it.
Inside were horrifying photos from the scene.
A corpse with its chest savagely torn open.
“Again a civilian?”
“Yes…… A missing civilian. The cause of death matches the previous five cases. The chest was lacerated, and only the heart was extracted.”
“This is insane.”
Then he recalled hearing something from Kang Hyeon.
That Kasar had attacked a civilian and tried to tear out the child’s heart.
He’d stopped him, so Kang Hyeon had said to be grateful and compensate the civilian.
‘This is the work of a Demon Beast!’
Bataar intuited it immediately.
That parasite blood that had infested Kasar’s body—it was controlling Mongolian hunters.
An epidemic? A serial killer?
Nonsense!
“Request an emergency meeting with the Hunter Authority Director at once! This is a national disaster!”

* * *
Once the state mobilized, the location was pinpointed quickly.
Deep within the Gurvanssaikhan Mountains, south of the Gobi Desert.
It was a gorge known as Yolyn Am.
Hunters had been extracting hearts through the night and bringing them there.
“Location confirmed!”
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
A helicopter was broadcasting the area in real-time from above, while national leaders gathered in tense silence, their eyes fixed on the monitors.
Bataar stood beside them as a consultant.
“Deploy the vanguard team.”
At the Hunter Authority Director’s command, Mongolia’s elite unit advanced into the ravine.
They were among the finest A-rank hunters in the country.
– Vanguard, we’re in. There’s an ice wall here…… Static, internal temperature is abnormally low. Static…… visibility is poor due to darkness, difficult to…… Static! Wait, what is that?
The vanguard commander’s bewildered voice came through the radio.
Everyone in the control room strained to hear through the speaker.
“What’s happening? Report the situation on the ground!”
– An altar…… a massive altar. Static, and on top of it…….
Crackle. Crackle!
Suddenly, heavy static began interfering with the transmission.
– Good Lord, the entire ice wall of the canyon is…… Ahhh, blood, there’s blood everywhere!
“Captain! Respond! What’s happening!”
– Screech! Aaaaargh! Screeeech!
A spine-chilling scream mixed with static, and then.
Cut.
The transmission went dead.
“…….”
Silence settled over the control room.
The faces of the executives had turned deathly pale.
“Sir, all signals… have been lost. The vanguard of fifteen—completely annihilated.”
Fifteen A-rank hunters, gone in less than a minute?
This wasn’t even S-rank level.
“Director.”
Bataar’s voice came low and heavy.
“We must declare partial martial law at once and evacuate every nomad and tourist within a fifty-kilometer radius of Yolyn Am. And we need to mobilize every S-rank hunter in Mongolia.”

* * *
Mongolia possessed twelve S-rank hunters in total.
Yet only eight, including Bataar, answered the summons.
“Damn it.”
Bataar bit his lip and cursed.
Four had failed to appear, each with some excuse.
“Where did the pride of Mongolian warriors go? Tsk.”
But there was no time to grumble.
“Maintain distance as we advance. The moment you see anything, halt and report.”
The team leader’s order came down, and they moved in slowly.
Crunch, crunch.
They trod through the snow of the narrow canyon—how far had they gone?
The hunter at the very front raised a halt signal with his hand.
A silhouette had emerged through the blizzard.
– Grrrrr!
The cry of a beast.
Yet its shape was that of a human standing on two legs.
“That’s…….”
“A Jiangshi?”
“Be careful! Its aura is abnormal!”
The moment the S-rank hunters moved to battle stance.
Whoosh!
The Jiangshi vanished from sight.
At the same time.
Boom!
A deafening explosion rang out.
“Ughh—!”
The tank standing at the very front was struck by a fist and sent flying like a shell.
“Bart—!”
“Insane!”
“Bart in a single blow?”
The massive body slammed into the ice wall and slid downward.
“Cough!”
Bright red blood poured from his mouth.
“Shake it off and respond!”
“Attack!”
A moment of shock. But these were Mongolia’s finest.
The hunters instinctively drew upon their martial power and surrounded the Jiangshi.
Slash!
Sword Aura erupting from blade tips and heavy Fist Energy collided in rapid succession.
The tremendous impact shook the canyon, and all the snow within a radius of ten meters evaporated instantly.
“Is it done?”
“At that level, even an S-rank Demon Beast wouldn’t leave a bone!”
But.
“……!”
Through the dispersing steam, an intact Jiangshi walked out, its joints creaking with each step.
Its skin hung in tatters, yet not a drop of blood fell.
Before the hunters could even shudder at the grotesqueness, news struck like a thunderbolt from a clear sky, squeezing the breath from their lungs.
Flash. Flash.
Behind the Jiangshi, two more pairs of eyes gleamed from the dense mist.
“No. No way.”
One of the hunters’ voices trembled violently.
“There are… two more Jiangshi?”
“This can’t be happening!”
Bataar felt his heart stop.
‘There was more than one?’
Then it was over.
Eight S-rank hunters had poured everything they had into their Sword Aura, and the monster emerged without a scratch.
And now they had to face three of them?
‘This is beyond anything we can handle.’
Pride?
Clinging to that would only mean annihilation.
“Retreat!”
Bataar roared, his voice strained to breaking point.
“Grab Bart! Don’t maintain formation! Use any means necessary! Get out of the canyon! All of us, alive!”

* * *
That night, a state of national emergency was declared across Mongolia.
It was only natural—eight S-rank hunters had been deployed and failed.
“Eight S-rank hunters unleashed everything they had, and it didn’t have a scratch? How does that even make sense?”
“I confirmed it with my own eyes, Director. Those things weren’t living creatures… And there weren’t three—just three. We don’t even know how many more are in the canyon.”
“Damn it!”
The Director of the Hunter Bureau slammed the desk irritably.
When a calamity beyond the reach of S-rank hunters arrives, it is first classified as Unmeasurable-rank.
After that, an investigation team dispatched from the World Association assesses the situation, and if it seems warranted, they officially grant the SS-rank title and assemble an international coalition force.
In the case of Leviathan in Korea, it was Unmeasurable-rank, but five S-rank hunters subjugated it before the World Association’s investigation team even arrived.
That’s why Leviathan’s official global classification was later recorded as S-rank.
“Let’s first send a rescue request to the United States and China.”
“They’ll demand mining rights in exchange?”
“This isn’t the time to be choosy about who helps us!”
“Agreed.”
“Send special envoys to both countries immediately!”
The consensus in the conference room was tilting toward borrowing military support from the United States and China when—
“Wait.”
Bataar’s voice cut through the air of the conference room.
‘We need Professor Kang now. And Baek Yu-yeon.’
Professor Kang knew.
He had drained the blood poison from Kasar, and saved him with just a few acupuncture needles when his heart nearly burst from the demonic energy.
Naturally, superpowers like the United States and China would be reassuring, but when it came to this matter, the expert was Professor Kang.
“Director.”
Bataar clenched his fist.
“What if we request support from Korea?”
“What?”
“Korea?”
The eyes that turned toward him were decidedly cold.

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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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