The Lightning I Harbor Is Too Strong - Chapter 47

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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 47
Jeong Ishin had not crossed blades with Nam Tae-gang since their reunion.
He’d thought the appearance of Mu-jin as a substitute had finally drawn his attention away, but Nam Tae-gang had maneuvered him into this match through such cunning tactics.
‘Persistent bastard.’
And so they stood facing each other at the Great Training Ground.
“More spectators than I expected.”
“That’s because of you. Isn’t it true you’re the most watched person in this cohort?”
The words came from Bang Si-jeong, who had come along to referee.
“Most watched—that’s generous. How about it, Nam Tae-gang? If all these eyes bother you, we can move to the Small Training Ground.”
“A true master doesn’t choose his battlefield.”
“This is unbearable. Then do you concede first move, at least?”
“…A true master doesn’t concede first move either.”
“Doing whatever you please.”
Jeong Ishin loosened up lightly while exchanging words with Nam Tae-gang.
Inevitably, his first meeting with Nam Tae-gang came to mind. And it seemed Nam Tae-gang felt the same.
“I’ve waited a long time for this.”
“Yes, let’s see how much stronger you’ve gotten. You were pathetic back then.”
“…I was hungry at Mukho Tavern.”
“An unbecoming excuse from a master.”
Jeong Ishin let out a soft laugh and studied Nam Tae-gang anew.
‘Actually, this works out well. I was troubled over how to spar with Eon So-ran, but I’ll use this fellow to take measure.’
Nam Tae-gang would surely be stronger, but what mattered to Jeong Ishin was the body’s durability.
He needed to understand the physical limits of those untrained in Shaolin’s external power methods.
“Come at me.”
“Internal Power?”
At Nam Tae-gang’s question, Thunder Energy briefly crossed Jeong Ishin’s mind, but after the evaluation match, there was no reason to hide his Thunder Energy anymore.
“Use yours. No excuses.”
“Admirable. I regretted not seeing that last time. If I’d used Internal Power then, the outcome would have been different.”
“You should have used it.”
“…Quite the confident words from a master.”
Nam Tae-gang’s eyebrows twitched, and he nodded toward Bang Si-jeong.
The moment Jeong Ishin nodded in turn—
Whoosh!
Heat rushed to his face. Nam Tae-gang had closed the distance in mere steps and appeared before him.
‘Yeolyang Zhiji.’
The flame-like energy cultivated through the breathing of pure Yang internal power.
For Jeong Ishin, it registered as something that transcended the mere word “attribute.”
The Namman Taeyang Sect was said to be foremost among those who commanded such Yang energy.
He could feel his skin warming beneath the Internal Energy coiled around Nam Tae-gang’s fist.
Thwack!
Yet the force behind that single punch was nowhere near Mu-jin’s level. Even as Jeong Ishin frowned at the heat transmitted through his hand, he anticipated an easy victory.
“Astounding physical strength.”
Nam Tae-gang seemed to feel it too.
He quickly withdrew his fist and reset his breathing. His Internal Energy immediately intensified.
It was unmistakably clear—he intended to shift from external to internal power combat.
“Inhhh!”
The ripple of Internal Energy enveloping Nam Tae-gang surged even stronger.
He could sense it instinctively. This was different from what came before.
‘His Internal Power reserves… are absurdly vast.’
The sheer quantity of Internal Energy was staggering. In pure comparison, Jeong Ishin was considerably outmatched.
As that old man had once said, the quantity of Internal Power doesn’t absolutely determine martial rank.
But among Jeolse Gosu, there was no martial artist lacking in Internal Power reserves.
This was perhaps the area in which Jeong Ishin was most deficient at present.
Whoosh-crash!
Nam Tae-gang lowered his stance and drew his palm upward.
From elbow to fingertips, Yeolyang Zhiji coiled around it, making it appear like a blade of fire.
Its destructive power had visibly increased. Even Bang Si-jeong’s gradual retreat made that plain.
Jeong Ishin’s brow furrowed. This was not something that could be solved by evasion alone.
Which meant he would have to meet it head-on and break through.
‘…It’s going to be hot.’
With resolve hardening, he summoned the Cheonroe Gi.
When it came to controlling internal power with precision, Jeong Ishin was without peer.
In an instant, his entire body was enveloped in an invisible membrane—a form of internal power barrier created by channeling energy itself.
For now it was merely a technique, but the masters said that once one entered the realm of the truly elite, this very thing became one of the twin pillars of martial arts: the Hoshin Kanggi.
‘End this as quickly as possible.’
If the path forward lay in confrontation rather than evasion, he would not shy away.
The instant his heels left the ground, Jeong Ishin’s form vanished. He reappeared directly in front of Nam Tae-gang.
Nam Tae-gang threw up his arms in hasty defense as Jeong Ishin’s fist came hammering down.
Crack! A roaring inferno—!
The collision of two torrents of internal energy unleashed a wave of searing heat.
“Huh!”
“So my eyes didn’t deceive me in that earlier bout……!”
“The purity is absolutely ferocious. I can feel it tingling on my skin.”
“That’s the Yeolyang Zhiji behind the Yeomhwa Gwon!”
The murmurs of classmates gathering around did not penetrate his awareness.
Fighting amid such heat proved harder than expected—resisting the environment consumed no small amount of internal energy.
“To a true master, this heat would be lukewarm!”
“Your heat is foolish talk!”
Hah!
Nam Tae-gang’s forehead veins bulged as he unleashed another surge of internal energy.
It wasn’t mere bluster. However much Healing Elixir he’d consumed, his internal power seemed bottomless.
Far different from Jeong Ishin, whose Dantian was already half-depleted.
With that realization, he retreated sharply and turned the matter over in his mind.
‘So this is my weakness.’
The truth he had known intellectually suddenly became viscerally real.
It wasn’t merely Nam Tae-gang—most of his classmates likely possessed far greater reserves of internal power.
Though the Thunder Wheel would steadily increase his accumulation, there was no bridging the gap with those who had consumed Healing Elixir like rice since childhood.
His old certainty that he had no equal among his peers seemed about to crumble.
“This is troublesome.”
Jeong Ishin absorbed every trace of scattered Cheonroe Gi with a quick rebound.
Then, before Nam Tae-gang’s energy could fill the brief void, he planted his feet once more.
Crack—
Even as he withdrew, he had held ready the subtle key of the Ilro Hangjin, now channeling it into the Muae Bo.
A gasp—
No force could fill every corner of space with energy.
Therefore, a hairline gap existed.
And where a gap existed, the Unobstructed Step found its mark.
He drove his fist into Nam Tae-gang’s solar plexus before the man could even react.
The warm Hoshin Gi dissipated against the Cheonroe Gi, and he felt the firm muscle beneath give way.
Boom!
Nam Tae-gang didn’t even cry out—he was hurled across the Great Training Ground, skidding to a halt.
Jeong Ishin gazed down at his own fist as the Thunder Energy dispersed. The back of his hand was flushed red and slightly scorched.
‘I thought the Cheonroe Gi would devour most ordinary forces with ease. So this too is the depth of a great sect’s power.’
Of course, had he truly intended to kill Nam Tae-gang, it would have been trivial—wrap himself in the Red Thunder God aura, drive through the defense, unleash Wall Breaking technique.
But not every bout in the martial world was a fight to the death, nor did he wish to become a blood-drunk maniac.
‘If my opponent is stronger than me, such caution would matter even more.’
Though the sparring had begun with Nam Tae-gang’s impure intent, Jeong Ishin had gained much from it.
Now the whispers of the crowd reached his ears.
“The Flame Fire Fist lost.”
“The Yeolyang Zhiji overwhelmed? But Thunder Energy is the same form of Extreme Yang—how?”
“It wasn’t an ordinary defeat. Both are yang energies, yet the prodigy’s robes weren’t even singed.”
“Isn’t the Flame Fire Fist’s Yeolyang Zhiji weak?”
“Keep your voice down. See that bald one standing there, the one whose jaw looks ready to snap off? He faced the Flame Fire Fist in the qualifying rounds. The Yeolyang Zhiji was so cruel it burned away even his eyebrows.”
The assembly of spirited youths certainly seemed impressed by such a display of power.
All eyes fled from Jeong Ishin’s as his gaze swept the crowd.
He turned away without concern.
“Bang?”
…
Bang Si-jeong was watching him with eyes like those from their first meeting.
Only when Jeong Ishin called again did Bang Si-jeong seem to return to himself.
“Ah! A victory for young Jeong Ishin. Truly the finest!”
Bang Si-jeong, soon relaxing back into his usual casual demeanor, turned his attention to Nam Tae-gang.
Jeong Ishin himself stepped forward and offered a word.
“I still have much doubt in my mind. But I’ve defeated you.”
“I acknowledge it.”
“What’s this about?”
“The strong, I acknowledge.”
He was struck by how genuinely forthright this man was.
Just then, Mu-jin appeared in the distance, walking from one of the separate training grounds.
“What in the world is all this? I sensed quite a bit of energy being released.”
At his teacher’s question, Jeong Ishin’s lips curved upward.
“Teacher, you lost your match, didn’t you?”
“Pardon? What do you mean?”
“You lost to Nam Tae-gang. I’ve avenged you, so worry not.”
“I didn’t lose, though?”
“What?”
“My bout with Nam Tae-gang was conducted without the use of Internal Power. Under such conditions, there’s no way I could fall.”
Jeong Ishin’s head whipped around.
Nam Tae-gang had already vanished.
“That bastard!”
* * *
Several days had passed since Nam Tae-gang’s shamefully cunning stratagem.
Jeong Ishin met Eon So-ran at the Great Training Ground. The moment she saw him, she bowed deeply.
“The Gold Wound Medicine was remarkably effective. My thanks to you again.”
“Think nothing of it.”
With some ten days remaining before the term began, Jeong Ishin broached the subject honestly.
“Truth be told, I’m unsure how to teach you such martial arts.”
When Eon So-ran had asked how he performed such techniques, Jeong Ishin had promised to demonstrate through sparring.
Though he hadn’t yet stated the price, he had been thinking of asking her to arrange a meeting with Hye-ran.
It was only a handful of days ago, yet that earlier Jeong Ishin had been rather impatient in every regard.
He’d thought he needed to investigate Jegal Ki-cheon immediately, meet with the Namgung and Dang families, and look into figures like Na Gun-cheon and Mang Ah-gaek.
Thrust into the new environment of Cheonmu Academy, he’d been overloaded all at once.
‘Sigh. How did I overcome it….’
Though the power of the Yeokgeun Sesuggyeong had played a role, in truth what had helped him settle his mind most was—oddly enough—his sparring match with Nam Tae-gang.
‘The strong don’t doubt. It’s absurd, but…it’s not empty nonsense.’
A conclusion brutally primitive, yet wasn’t it also the absolute answer in this world?
‘You must grow stronger.’
Those were the words Mu-sang had spoken before he left Shaolin.
Only now did Jeong Ishin grasp their meaning.
And so he bowed again.
“I’m not certain I can teach well, but if you use Internal Power at least, your bones won’t shatter. In the meantime, you’ll grow accustomed to your own durability….”
“Ha ha ha ha!”
“What is it?”
Eon So-ran, who had been listening quietly to his words, burst into laughter.
She laughed so freely that tears began to stream down her face.
Soon, wiping her eyes, she smiled even more brightly and spoke.
“How could I ever ask to be taught by you? I’m simply honored to spar with such a remarkable martial artist. Understanding must come from within oneself.”
“Ah.”
“Of course, once the term begins, I can receive guidance from my instructors. Beyond that, there’s the academy’s support as well. There’s a reason so many warriors seek to come to Cheonmu Academy, isn’t there?”
“That’s…true.”
Jeong Ishin’s gaze drifted downward slightly.
His face burned so intensely, he half expected Nam Tae-gang to kindle the Yeolyang Zhiji flame somewhere nearby.
Eon So-ran continued with a gentle smile.
“I simply didn’t want to waste these days before the term begins the way others do—idly, meaninglessly.”
“Idly?”
“I said meaninglessly.”
“Right.”
“Look. There aren’t many, are there?”
Eon So-ran pointed decisively across the Great Training Ground and posed her question. It was a doubt Jeong Ishin himself had harbored.
“Shouldn’t the others be at the Small Training Ground or the individual training grounds?”
Eon So-ran shook her head firmly.
“They say that within Cheonmu Academy, family prestige isn’t all that important. But how could reality work that way? The Nine Great Sects stand proud, the Eight Great Families remain strong. Well, of course the Eon Family has already fallen.”
She spoke with a note of self-deprecation, saying that now was a time for factions to form.
This place was simultaneously the center of martial learning under heaven and, in common parlance, where the upper echelons of the Jianghu could most easily associate with one another.
Especially among the children of prominent families—represented by the Eight Great Families—this tendency ran strongest.
“It’s like a social gathering place. Of course, they wouldn’t neglect martial studies, but……”
Only then did Jeong Ishin understand what Eon So-ran meant.
She had no interest in factional disputes and couldn’t afford to get involved in them anyway.
She simply wanted to raise her own skill. Jeong Ishin was precisely the right opponent for that.
“Ah! So what you’re saying is that I was the perfect choice precisely because I have no friends? And on top of that, my skills are reasonably decent.”
“That, that’s not quite what I……”
“Very well then. So how should we conduct our sparring match?”
For all her lengthy explanation, it boiled down to one thing: she wanted to grow stronger.
‘That’s no different from me, is it?’
Perhaps this was a common concern that all martial artists carried.
Eon So-ran, who had begun with different concerns yet arrived at the same conclusion—a subtle emotion stirred in him.
“I’m thinking of finding martial arts that suit me. As you know, the Eon Family’s techniques are currently incomplete.”
“Mm.”
She’d been peppering her speech with self-deprecation as though it were common knowledge of the Jianghu, but Jeong Ishin didn’t know the Eon Family’s circumstances. Still, from what he’d heard, he could piece together a rough picture.
‘Probably fallout from the Jeongma Tournament.’
It was easy enough to let that slide. There were no shortage of fallen powers.
What Jeong Ishin needed to concern himself with right now was something else entirely.
Just then, she handed him a book. The cover bore no writing whatsoever.
“I found the Azure Heaven Flow at Manmugak. Since they don’t allow books to leave the premises, I copied it separately.”
“The Azure Heaven Flow? More importantly—you went to Manmugak?”
“Yes, isn’t that where all the martial arts under heaven are gathered? Of course I should use it. Since I’ll be learning it anyway, perhaps you could……”
Eon So-ran’s lengthy explanation didn’t register with him.
‘She said the first floor of Manmugak still can’t be used? ……Is he really just senile?’
The old man—who had laughed heartily and sent him away—came to mind vividly.
If that were the case, why had he sent him to the basement at all?
It was the moment Jeong Ishin’s brow furrowed deeply.
Eon So-ran lowered her head respectfully.
“I have a favor to ask.”
“Miss Eon?”
“You need to see Hye-ran, don’t you?”
“……!”
“I know what the name Dokjeop means in the Jianghu. If you’re as straightforward as I believe, you wouldn’t be approaching this with frivolous intent. Let me arrange an opportunity for you.”
An unexpected blow landed—a sharp, cutting strike he’d never anticipated.
“……You knew?”
“Someone who took no interest in me whatsoever suddenly took my hand and offered to help. There’s no way there wouldn’t be a hidden motive.”
“Hah……”
“So then, please don’t hesitate to ask.”
Eon So-ran’s gaze didn’t waver.
It wasn’t the look of someone harboring petty schemes.
‘That’s right—the scheming was all on my side.’
In the end, Jeong Ishin smiled ruefully and nodded slowly.
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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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