The Lightning I Harbor Is Too Strong - Chapter 57

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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 57
Jung I-sin’s injury did not bring Cheonmu Academy to a halt.
No force in the world could stop time’s relentless march, so Jung I-sin simply persisted through his lessons with an aching body.
Theory-based classes posed no difficulty, but practical combat training proved taxing.
Cautious in defense, precarious in offense.
His movements had changed from the start of the term—an unavoidable shift. As a result, whispers about Jung I-sin came more often now, punctuated by scoffs.
“In my homeland alone, there are dozens of martial artists who flash brilliantly and vanish just as fast.”
“Among noble families, you could count them by the handful.”
“He was nothing but a small candle’s wick. To burn out so quickly…”
Many were quick to tear down Jung I-sin, as though they had been waiting for this moment. His unknown sect affiliation and mysterious origins became frequent topics of gossip.
Yet such things never troubled his mind. He had no energy to waste on them anyway.
If anything, his companions’ indignation was far more pronounced.
“These bastards! They only ever talk behind his back!”
“Young, you just hold on. We can beat it out of them during sparring.”
“Please, both of you, stay calm.”
Calming Gong-son Young and Eon So-ran—who had grown noticeably closer since visiting him in his recovery—Jung I-sin rolled his shoulders gently.
There was still a dull ache, but by his standards, the pain had receded enough to count as “better.”
In other words.
‘My lessons with my advisor… I can finally begin them.’
Since reading Na Gun-cheon’s biography, how long he had awaited this moment.
There was so much he wanted to ask Yeon Baek-ha, so much he wanted to know, and so much more he wanted to reveal.
Gong-son Young gazed at him pensively and asked.
“You look happy.”
“Yes, I’m looking forward to it.”
“That’s strange. Even being generous, Thunder Calamity is hardly an approachable instructor.”
“Young, you should address him as ‘Professor.’ And Thunder Calamity is only ruthlessly cold to disciples without talent.”
“His standards must be impossibly high. For years he’s only had one disciple to guide. Though, well, one more was added this year.”
Gong-son Young continued their casual conversation until they reached the Great Plaza, where they had planned to part ways.
“Then, pay attention in class.”
“Mind yourself, Jung I-sin.”
Watching the two women depart, Jung I-sin climbed to the upper level of Kangmu Hall.
As he walked slowly down the corridor, he could already hear bustling sounds coming from the lecture room ahead.
Tap. Tap.
With Jung I-sin’s measured footsteps, the noise in the lecture room gradually subsided.
The moment he opened the lecture room door.
Crack—!
A hand wrapped in murky blue Lightning Qi cut through the empty air.
“Hah!”
Immediately after, Yeon Baek-ha withdrew his arm in an awkward stance, biting his lip hard.
Jung I-sin, who had stepped aside as he opened the door, regarded him with a puzzled expression.
“…W-welcome.”
Yeon Baek-ha spoke in a visibly trembling voice, then hastily retreated into the lecture room.
Creak— Thud!
Jung I-sin closed the door firmly and strode forward until he stood before Yeon Baek-ha.
Noting his face had grown even paler and the shadows beneath his eyes deeper than when they first met, Jung I-sin bowed formally.
“I am Jung I-sin, honored to study under Professor Yeon Baek-ha, the Thunder Calamity. Having completed the first assignment you gave me, I have come to understand many profound truths.”
“Ah.”
Yeon Baek-ha let out a soft exclamation of admiration.
He seemed genuinely moved. Jung I-sin lowered his head further, infusing his words with sincerity.
“I walk the martial path based on the Nine Extremes Heavenly Lightning Art, which I alone cultivated.”
Click—
In perfect timing, the lightning wheel at his heart drew a thread of Lightning Qi and wove it through his body.
Click! Whoosh!
For an instant, the form of a golden wheel materialized behind Jung I-sin like a light halo, enveloping him before fading away.
“Good heavens!”
Yeon Baek-ha gasped, clapped his hand over his mouth, and staggered backward.
Even amid the commotion, Jung I-sin kept his eyes closed, conveying his resolve.
“Na Gun-cheon and his followers drenched the Central Martial World in Lightning Qi. I am nothing like such heroes of righteousness. I have only one goal.”
Click—
“I will become the Divine Punishment of the Samawoe Outer Daoism.”
* * *
“Excellent work. And just now, I extended my hand to check whether your injury had fully healed, Disciple Jung. It was absolutely not an attempt to ambush you.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“……I am Yeon Baek-ha.”
Clasping Jung I-sin’s hand in return, Yeon Baek-ha wept inwardly.
The sensation burning against his skin felt like a final verdict: there was nowhere left for him to flee.
‘A light halo? A wheel? A ring? What in blazes is wrapping around him……!’
That shimmer rising like heat-haze behind Jung I-sin’s back would not fade from his memory. It had taken the shape of lightning itself.
……It was as if an absolute master were displaying his inner vision.
He did not think it was a mistake. No—he could not.
‘His vital essence…….’
The mere sight of it shook Yeon Baek-ha to his core.
It was said that celestial beings, especially the divine beasts that lived for spans of time beyond mortal reckoning, could shake a human’s very soul merely by being encountered.
An absolute master, then. Or a divine beast.
Both were impossibilities to compare against a novice disciple.
Yet what Jung I-sin had just displayed surpassed even that. At least, it had for Yeon Baek-ha.
Only……he had been certain he would sustain an internal injury, yet his body felt strangely intact.
‘Why has his vital essence stabilized? The headaches have vanished too.’
The oversensitivity born from the Lightning Art’s side effects, the headaches that had plagued his sleep for decades—all of it had simply dissolved away.
His mind was so clear now, his body so light, that for a moment he nearly forgot the dread of standing before Jung I-sin.
“Are you well?”
At Jung I-sin’s question, Yeon Baek-ha nodded without furrowing his brow for the first time.
Without the headache, Jung I-sin seemed…… somewhat less frightening.
“The Nine Extremes Heavenly Lightning Art. A name of considerable pride, yet as a cultivator of the Lightning Art, I must acknowledge it. I should like an explanation.”
What manner of martial skill was it?
This was Jung I-sin’s first conversation of this sort, but in Cheonmu Academy it was the most fundamental dialogue between instructor and disciple.
The Mental Cultivation Method, the Heart Method—these were the foundation of every martial artist.
Knowing which method of breathing an artist practiced, one could infer much from that foundation.
The True Qi refined through cultivation mirrors the nature and temperament of the martial artist. An obvious principle.
A martial artist cultivating scorching qi cannot possess a temperament cold and sharp as a winter wind, nor can one cultivating yin-cold qi bear a passionate temperament like roaring flame.
Then what of Jung I-sin’s Nine Extremes Heavenly Lightning Art?
Crack—!
Hiccup.
Stifling the scream that threatened to burst forth, a hiccup rose unbidden.
“What do you think, Professor?”
Jung I-sin’s eyes brightened as he regarded Yeon Baek-ha.
Golden Lightning Qi coiled in a spiral around his elongated index finger, crackling with electricity scattered all around—the sight was terrifying.
‘Why has he wound Lightning Qi around his finger? Is that the rumored Finger Technique? Does it mean he means to pierce straight through me?’
Puff—
The swirling thoughts scattered as Jung I-sin dissipated the Lightning Qi.
Without changing his expression, Yeon Baek-ha spoke.
“A martial skill worthy of such a prideful name. It would be fitting to say it rivals even the Ten Thousand Thunderbolts Saber of Na Gun-cheon, the Great Virtuoso.”
“As I thought!”
“However!”
However……yes, however indeed.
No matter how extraordinary Jung I-sin’s Heart Method might be—or rather, precisely because it was so extraordinary—Yeon Baek-ha had resolved never to teach him.
By whatever means necessary, he would refuse. Yeon Baek-ha had not yet surrendered.
“The more elevated the Heart Method, the more exceptional the nature of the True Qi it produces. This is especially true of the Lightning Art, given the inherent qualities of such qi.”
“Ah, so I have heard.”
“……Heard? Why do you phrase it like that? Ah, in any case, without the Technique Forms and Body Cultivation Scripture suited to such a Heart Method, that martial skill is but half-complete! Worse than that, even. Turn around. We go to the Training Hall.”
It meant Yeon Baek-ha would examine the martial skill Jung I-sin had built up.
Jung I-sin smiled broadly and nodded.
Yeon Baek-ha did not smile.
* * *
The replacement of an instructor—it was not an impossibility at Cheonmu Academy.
Yet should the professor request it first, it would appear irresponsible; should the disciple request it, it would seem presumptuous.
In the end, both parties’ consent was necessary to obtain the Academy’s permission.
Yeon Baek-ha’s task was to align their opinions.
Since he had already carefully prepared and organized his position, he only needed to ascertain Jung I-sin’s views.
‘To become the divine punishment of Samawoe Outer Daoism? Far nobler than Na Gun-cheon, whose personal revenge happened to align with Greater Righteousness. Refining divine skills? I thought he was breathing lightning itself.’
But!
What good was any of it?
Every time I drew near Jung I-sin, the Inner Power I’d spent a lifetime cultivating trembled and shook!
I was walking disturbance itself.
‘Yet my body feels better than it has in years.’
Ever since I’d faced the Light Halo that Jung I-sin wielded, it had been that way.
My body and mind had come unmoored from each other.
Jung I-sin’s footsteps toward the private training ground seemed impossibly light.
‘Go ahead, enjoy yourself all you like. The moment you deploy even a single technique unworthy of that magnificent Heart Method of yours, I’ll issue an immediate prohibition.’
With that firm resolve, I followed in his wake.
Since Cheonmu Academy itself was wrapped in the contours of towering peaks, the forest near the dormitories held countless wide clearings.
All of them were spaces freely available as private training grounds.
You had to judge whether anyone was present by sensing the Qi Aura or listening for signs of life, but Jung I-sin walked forward without hesitation as though he’d already scouted a particular spot.
‘Does he have a dedicated place? There are quite a few presences scattered about.’
Jung I-sin, who’d been winding through various directions, suddenly pivoted and slipped between the densely tangled trees.
“Looks like they just left. Perfect timing—I was wondering if we’d need to go deeper.”
“Hm?”
When I tried to make sense of his words, sure enough, I caught sight of the back of a head disappearing beyond the foliage on the opposite side.
Yeon Baek-ha pressed his lips shut.
‘In a place where so many Qi Auras tangle together like this…… sensing is quite difficult…… tsk, now I really can’t tell.’
Things I would have glossed over in the past because of the headaches now caught my eye. That said, I certainly wasn’t unhappy that my mind had cleared.
“Which should I begin with, Professor?” Jung I-sin called out from the center of the clearing.
Jung I-sin, standing in the middle of the open space, asked.
“Start with what you’re confident in. If you take it lightly, you won’t hear anything worth praising.”
“Yes!”
Though I spoke coldly, Jung I-sin merely broke into a broad smile.
That didn’t last long.
“Professor, would you be willing to spar with me?”
“Me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“……?”
At Jung I-sin’s tilted head, Yeon Baek-ha stepped forward.
“I was joking. I’d planned to observe first with my eyes before getting hands involved, but if you’re that confident…… very well.”
“Thank you!”
Yeon Baek-ha steadied himself.
Perhaps breaking apart Jung I-sin’s martial arts right here was the faster path.
However exceptional what he carried within himself might be, Jung I-sin’s martial skill at this moment was simply incomparable to Yeon Baek-ha’s.
Yeon Baek-ha too possessed talent that dominated his peers. And he had the strength of time on his side.
A faint gleam of excitement showed on Jung I-sin’s face.
The thrill of displaying his martial arts. How could Yeon Baek-ha not understand that?
He himself had once started with third-rate martial arts in the streets, broken through every hardship, and passed the Entrance Examination to Cheonmu Academy.
‘…… All I need do is introduce him to a better teacher.’
With that resolve, he announced the beginning of their bout.
In that instant, I saw Jung I-sin’s eyes dart toward the space behind me.
‘This shallow trick!’
The faint goodwill I’d been building evaporated in an instant. To resort to something only third-rate thugs from back alleys would do.
“Wha—!”
His act of looking startled and raising his hands was quite convincing.
At the sight of it, my head began to throb again. Fatigue and irritation rushed over me at once.
‘I’ll finish this in one exchange.’
The moment Yeon Baek-ha made that decision, a horrible screech erupted from behind me.
Crash! Crack-crack-crack-crash!!!
“What the—!”
Spinning around in alarm, Yeon Baek-ha’s vision filled with an enormous boar, gleaming gold as a boulder.
Kuu-uu-uung!
He couldn’t dodge it.
The lightning I harbor runs too fierce.
Author|
Usanyou
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Samyang C&C Inc.
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Editorial Department
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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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