The Lightning I Harbor Is Too Strong - Chapter 39

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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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Episode 39
Several days had passed since the Entrance Examination began, yet the fervor gripping Shenyang showed no sign of abating.
If anything, the merchants had mobilized every trick in their arsenal, determined to squeeze the season dry to its last coin.
“Come now, visit the Yinhe Guest House right this moment—one bowl of soup and a cup of Bamboo Leaf Green for merely…!”
“In thirty years of Qingjiang Tower’s history, we’ve never offered such terms! This chance may never come again!”
“Just taste this Dongpo Pork! Even a martial artist who participated in the Entrance Examination said the flavor haunted him so much he abandoned the examination and came back for more!”
Many fell for the pitches; others smirked and walked on.
The man observing Shenyang from the topmost floor of Tianxiang Tower belonged decidedly to the latter camp.
With his hair neatly pinned back, the man let out a soft chuckle.
“No one abandons an Entrance Examination for pork. These merchants should learn to talk sense.”
“Heh. Don’t you find it charming? I rather like their audacious nonsense.”
“Nonsense? They’re nothing but con artists through and through.”
The man with one leg propped up rested his arm loosely across his knee and asked,
“So… why did you call me here?”
Seated across from him was a woman whose beauty was so striking it was rarely seen even in sprawling Shenyang.
Yet the heavy powder and rouge applied to her face gave her an air of bewitchment rather than grace.
The woman slid a bottle of liquor across the table toward the man.
“Parched already? This is fine wine—hardly the sort one drinks with money earned so crudely.”
“Ha! I don’t touch anything unless I’ve sweated for the coin myself.”
The woman tapped the bottle’s mouth with a slender index finger.
A clear ring sounded—tinged with mockery.
“‘Gun Sopha,’ is it? Nothing but dog’s drivel.”
“Watch your tongue—”
“I hear you wanted to cause trouble near Shenyang, only to have dogs block your every move. So it’s true—there’s nothing quite like beating up a mutt, is there? Tee-hee.”
Bang!
Gun Sopha, Master of the Wind Cloud Pavilion, slammed his palm against the table.
The bottle toppled, yet not a drop spilled.
The woman gestured casually, and the bottle righted itself, standing upright on the table once more.
“Did your precious pet die? Is that why you’re so cross? I should have sent it out sooner, perhaps.”
“…Huan Hun Gong Zhu. Even my patience has its limits. Don’t forget—it was you who opened the door we walked through.”
“How curious. I did nothing more than what I’ve always done.”
Gun Sopha stared at the woman, utterly exasperated.
Then, as though his rage of moments before had been mere theater, his expression grew calm and measured, and he murmured,
“So the old woman who left white behind long ago is now a girl? That’s rich.”
In an instant, the temperature in the chamber plummeted.
Simultaneously—
Crash!
The table smashed into the wall.
In a heartbeat, the woman lunged forward and seized Gun Sopha by the collar.
Her mouth curled into a smile as though her lips might tear.
“Does Gun Sopha forget who sits before him?”
“Gack! Forget—how could I? The great Demon King herself.”
“Hmph.”
Huan Hun Gong Zhu, the Demon King, turned away coldly and returned to her seat.
At a flourish of her hand, the table wrenched free from the wall and glided back to its place.
Yet the shattered corner remained—reminding Gun Sopha that the creature seated before him was, without question, a monster.
‘Insane woman.’
He swallowed his indignation in a quiet curse and spoke,
“If that’s all, I’m leaving. The Patriarch still has work piling up for me.”
“The Patriarch…! Ah yes. Our Patriarch will stand tall as a supreme tyrant in this martial world.”
“…Absolute nonsense.”
Suddenly, Huan Hun Gong Zhu’s eyes softened and unfocused.
Like a woman seized by love, she clasped her hands together and murmured dreamily,
“But perhaps that’s precisely why. Our Patriarch, it seems, has never understood a woman’s heart.”
“Woman, this madness—pheh, cough!”
“One more peep out of you, and I’ll make you a dog in truth.”
“…Right. So in the end, you’re upset because the Patriarch wouldn’t listen to you, yes?”
Huan Hun Gong Zhu nodded.
“Precisely. I told him repeatedly that Byeokcheon Gakju lives. Yet he sent out a dog to confirm it himself.”
“A wolf, not a dog. In any case, what do you expect from Manryeo Cheonju? The man obsesses over everything—he won’t rest until he’s verified it with his own eyes.”
“The Lord still hasn’t escaped that nightmare from that day. Poor man.”
Gun Sopha gagged at the sight of Huan Hun Gong Zhu shaking her head with both hands pressed to her cheeks.
“There you go again, sharing secrets only you know. As if living long is something to boast about.”
……
“All right, all right. Next time I’ll charm him properly so you two can grow old together. I’m leaving now.”
“No, the real matter begins now.”
Damn. Weakness is a sin.
Gun Sopha clenched his teeth and jerked his jaw.
It was the only resistance he could muster.
Huan Hun Gong Zhu tapped the table deliberately, her expression turning grave.
“The Lord will turn his eyes away from Tianwu Academy. He’s achieved his purpose, so that will satisfy him. He won’t even glance at Shenyang for a while.”
“So what do you want me to do?”
“Take revenge, of course. Your pet dog died too, didn’t it? But you can’t bite the master who gave the order, so……”
“Strike at Tianwu Academy?”
That was absurd. He’d rather strike at the Lord of Four Paths himself.
And…… did he even need revenge?
‘Has Huan Hun Gong Zhu truly lost her touch?’
Gun Sopha’s wariness toward her stemmed not only from her monstrous martial prowess.
He feared that sorcery of hers—the alias Demon King suited her perfectly—the way she manipulated human hearts as she pleased.
……
Silence fell unexpectedly. How much time had passed in that quiet?
Finally, after staring long into Gun Sopha’s eyes, Huan Hun Gong Zhu let her mask slip.
Her violet irises rippled with an eerie glow.
“Hmm. I wondered if perhaps you’d reformed and turned over a new leaf, but here you are—the Demon King remains the Demon King.”
“You’re drowning me in preamble. Give me the essentials, nothing more.”
Tap. Tap. Tap—
Her fingers stopped.
Huan Hun Gong Zhu’s lips twisted into a grotesque smile.
“One of my planted agents has safely entered Tianwu Academy.”
“What? They passed the Entrance Examination?”
The monster smiled.
“Yes. I’ve been preparing for quite some time.”
“Huh…… And?”
“Tianwu Academy always releases its young disciples into the jianghu when summer comes, doesn’t it?”
“The First Mission Practice.”
“That’s when we strike.”
“Isn’t that too reckless? No matter how well you’ve planted an agent—”
The monster leaned close and whispered.
“A woman from Sword Forest has entered as a student.”
……!
“I only need the hide of the little Sword Heir.”
Hm……
“I’ll help you take the Sword Heir.”
……Uh-hah! Hahahaha!
“What do you say? Your heart’s stirring, isn’t it?”
Clang!
Gun Sopha, laughing loudly, snatched up a wine bottle.
He swallowed the liquor with a loud gulp.
“Ahh!!”
The Demon King laughed.
“How many dogs do I need? I can throw as many as you want at them. I raised them for exactly this purpose anyway.”
* * *
Whoosh!
It was hard to say how many times the space folded.
The moment Jung Ishin slipped through the crack Byeokcheon Gakju had torn open, the world inverted.
Then came the sensation of her feet touching earth, and the darkness around her receded.
Swoosh—!
A cool breeze and the warm light of late afternoon welcomed Jung Ishin.
Fresh green shoots and nameless wildflowers filled the space abundantly.
It could rightly be called a Flower Garden, so completely had it made one forget the season—even though winter’s end had only just passed.
Admiration and confusion did not end there.
Beyond the Flower Garden, the distant landscape spread before her was the reason.
“That is…….”
A city laid out before the fading sunset.
It was filled with palaces more brilliant and magnificent than anything she had seen in Shenyang.
The vast mountain terrain cradled the buildings in perfect harmony.
“……This doesn’t make sense.”
A separate realm.
She felt it again—the same realization that had struck her during the examination.
Countless palaces, sprawling martial training grounds scattered throughout, and towering mountain ranges.
The scale of all this was impossible to exist in reality.
It far exceeded the scale of Tianwu Mountain, where Tianwu Academy stood.
In other words, this had transcended the material world.
“It must be a formation technique. The natural Qi is abnormally abundant too.”
The crisp air was enough to remind her of Song Mountain.
If she practiced Qi Absorption Meditation here, her accumulated power in the Extreme Heaven Lightning Method would surely increase dramatically.
Jung Ishin drew a deep breath and surveyed her surroundings.
Beyond the stunning vista, it was far too quiet.
“Is there another trial? I was told this was the end.”
They had even called her First Place.
Top score in the Entrance Examination.
She had confidence, but not certainty.
She had assumed she would post a respectable score.
Jung Ishin now understood that her training was far from ordinary.
‘Perhaps among the students—the Academy students, that is…….’
Would there be many stronger than her?
Even the Ten Thousand Lightning Traces extending along the ground—would anyone even notice them?
That was when it happened.
“Whoa! What a neat trick!”
“……!”
She flinched at the voice from behind her.
By habit, Jung Ishin had deployed her Aura Sensing the moment she landed in an unfamiliar space.
She had done the same when she descended into the Flower Garden.
There had definitely been no aura detected nearby.
“Hello?”
A cheerful voice.
But then—a small head suddenly popped into view from Jung Ishin’s left.
It was a woman so short she barely reached his chest.
Her hair was neatly bound with purple cloth, and her refined features held a mischievous charm—her lips curved upward in a slight smile, her eyes bent gently with playful intent.
“Hey, sorry, but you can’t come in here for a while, okay? New Academy students are going to arrive soon.”
The woman, who had been fidgeting beside her, suddenly bounded forward to stand directly before Jung Ishin.
Only then did her clothing catch Jung Ishin’s eye.
A white martial robe with the character for “Martial” embroidered on both shoulders.
The same robe worn by Beom Cheon when the Entrance Ceremony began.
A third-year at Tianwu Academy. A senior.
Jung Ishin lowered her head respectfully.
“Greetings. I am Jung Ishin, who just completed the Entrance Examination.”
“Hmm?”
“I have just finished the Entrance Ceremony and emerged.”
“Wait, what? That doesn’t make sense—a dispatch from the Central Authority would be too young for this?”
The woman, whose entire bearing had been relaxed, showed confusion for the first time.
Unable to stay still, she swayed her torso back and forth repeatedly.
Then she suddenly clapped her hands together and gasped in astonishment.
“Ah! So you’re that Mujin!? Beom Cheon’s disciple, right!? Wow—that’s incredible. It took Beom Cheon four days!”
“That’s not correct.”
“Uh, what?”
“Mujin is my teacher. I am not Beom Cheon’s disciple.”
…….”
The playful curve of her lips hardened. Suspicion now flickered in her eyes.
Jung Ishin quickly grabbed the woman’s arm as she began to edge backward.
“It’s no lie. My name is Jung Ishin. Mang Agaek is my master.”
“……Ah? I… I see!”
Her response unfolded in transparent stages—confusion, recognition, understanding.
She raised her arm sharply and patted Jung Ishin on the shoulder.
“So a remarkable junior has arrived!”
A familiar teasing light kindled in her eyes.
Only then could Jung Ishin ask what had been puzzling her.
“Senior, how did you sense my Aura Sensing?”
Her smile deepened.
It was a look that said she could see straight through your thoughts.
“You were wielding it aggressively, like you’d just awakened to it. Be careful, though. There’s no martial artist within Tianwu Academy who doesn’t know Aura Sensing.”
Jung Ishin nodded in agreement.
This was where talents who had distinguished themselves within their respective sects and clans, their provinces and domains, all converged. They would have mastered Aura Sensing long ago.
“So it’s best not to flaunt your Aura Sensing recklessly here. You wouldn’t like it if someone entered your sphere without permission either, would you?”
Now it made sense.
Musang had once said he would teach her “the way to suppress one Aura Sensing with another.”
Using Jung Ishin’s own words, the one with the cruder Aura Sensing would naturally be overwhelmed.
And Jung Ishin was someone whose Aura Sensing Musang had acknowledged.
‘He said few would notice my Aura Sensing.’
Yet here was one.
“I hope you’re not upset. The truth is, I’m a bit unusual. You’d probably be counted among the top few in your year.”
“Upset? Senior, I’ve taken your words to heart.”
“Really? So you withdrew your Aura Sensing right away? ……I’ve gained a well-behaved junior. This is the first time.”
“Pardon?”
While her face showed genuine emotion, Jung Ishin could not hide her bewilderment.
“Aha! No need to be embarrassed.”
She stepped closer and whispered, her palm pressed against her mouth.
“Actually, this is a secret—even the professors sometimes miss my Aura Sensing!”
“Ah, I… I see.”
Jung Ishin nodded, letting her gaze fall.
What unsettled her was not the sudden closeness, but her words.
‘I never withdrew my Aura Sensing.’
She could see the Sky Lightning flowing up from the ground through her.
No—beyond that—the pure white Qi she was radiating was wrapped tightly, bound with invisible force.
“Anyway, I’m glad to meet you! Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Baek Rihyeon. Let’s get along well from now on!”
“……I’m Jung Ishin. It’s an honor, Senior.”
“The honor is mine!”
Jung Ishin grasped the hand Baek Rihyeon offered and bowed again.
“……Hmm, why do I suddenly feel so constrained? Is it just my imagination?”
Jung Ishin heard her murmur softly and considered it.
It was just as she’d thought.
The Lightning force I carry within me is simply too strong.
Author |
Woo San-yu
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(주) Samyang C&C
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Copyright © Samyang C&C – Dream Books. This work may not be used in any form or by any means without the written permission of Dream Books.

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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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