The Lightning I Harbor Is Too Strong - Chapter 62

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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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Chapter 62
The staircase was broad enough that four or five grown men could walk abreast without crowding.
Thud—
Though it was unmistakably wooden, each step felt as solid underfoot as stone, with none of the telltale creaking that usually came with such stairs.
He had descended without hesitation upon hearing mention of a time limit, and by the moment he reached the midpoint of the staircase, something shifted.
A low hum—
The ambient Qi rippled around him.
He felt something pushing him away, but as wisps of Hibiscus Incense curled around him, the resistance faded.
Then came a sensation like pressing against an invisible membrane—Jung I-sin’s entire body made contact with it.
The landscape around him undulated like raindrops falling into a still pond.
‘A Formation Array.’
He had encountered them before in the depths of Manmugak, so this was no shock. Still, he wondered how a Formation Array distinguished between people. It couldn’t possibly be doing facial recognition.
Jung I-sin drew on the formation techniques Yeon Baek-ha had taught him, manipulating Formation Qi according to the precise methods he’d been given.
A martial art Yeon Baek-ha had warned him about repeatedly.
The eye technique of the Thunder Calamity Rakshasa—Seom-an.
Crackle—
Lightning flashed across his pupils. The sensation resembled deploying the Red Thunder Divine Art.
But where the Red Thunder Divine Art hurled both spirit and flesh into a state of extreme acceleration, Seom-an was the art of pursuing ever-shifting flows in order to breach them.
‘So this is how it works.’
He saw the pattern—Qi gathering and dispersing in cycles, a labyrinthine dance of energy.
To see the flow was to know how to break it.
Before he could think, his hand reached out.
Whoosh—!
The wavering landscape receded like a retreating tide.
And what lay revealed was a towering mountain of bookshelves.
The scent of old paper brushed his nostrils, stirring him awake, while the deep, subtle fragrance of Hibiscus Incense urged him forward.
A nameplate hung prominently on the great shelves.
Written in bold, commanding script: Third Floor of Manmugak.
Jung I-sin gave his cheek a light tap.
“No time to stand here dazed.”
This chance had come suddenly, but if not now, when would he ever set foot in the third floor of Manmugak again? At minimum, it would demand years of waiting.
He moved quickly past titles he didn’t understand, scanning the shelves as he went.
“Welcome, Entrance Examination candidate. I am O Hwa, keeper of the third floor of Manmugak.”
A woman emerged from the center of the room. Her hair was neatly bound, though she let it fall across one shoulder as she inclined her head respectfully.
It was an elegant gesture, but Jung I-sin found himself stepping back involuntarily.
The flow of her Qi, still wrapped in Seom-an, was unfathomably deep. He quickly composed his expression and returned her bow.
“I am Jung I-sin. An honor to meet you.”
O Hwa’s eyes narrowed gently, curving into a smile. She covered her lips with the flowing sleeve of her robe as she laughed—a sound as pleasant as wind chimes.
“It seems our new Entrance Examination candidate has found a Fortunate Opportunity. Would my assistance be welcome?”
Still smiling with those narrowed eyes, she gestured toward his hand.
Only then did he recall the incense burning away, and without hesitation, he nodded.
He already knew So Ryang, a Martial Artist working on the first floor, and they were on good terms.
He knew better than anyone that receiving her help would smooth his path considerably.
“Are there any books here about the Five Heavenly Sovereigns or the Five Thousand Stars?”
“Those are not kept here. All such texts remain on the lower floors.”
“…I beg your pardon?”
“Anything that has no reason to be hidden, or cannot be hidden, resides on the first floor.”
Jung I-sin studied O Hwa thoughtfully, then bowed slightly.
“Thank you for the guidance. There is something else I have my eye on, so your further assistance won’t be necessary.”
“Very well. But should you need anything at all, please do not hesitate to call upon me.”
The moment O Hwa withdrew, Jung I-sin turned as well, a faint, sardonic smile playing at his lips.
‘Absurd.’
The third floor was silent as a tomb—as if only Jung I-sin had any use for it.
He moved swiftly through the shelves, scanning titles. Intriguing ones flickered past his eyes.
Third-year students began taking dispatch assignments primarily, he’d been told—work that often crossed into the territory of the Sama Foreign Path. Indeed, titles bearing what appeared to be aliases of Demonic Path practitioners and the names of the Four Paths Eight Factions caught his attention.
He was curious about Sama Foreign Path intelligence, certainly.
‘There’s no way the seniors’ records would be absent from the upper levels. If they’re not here… they must be higher up.’
Without breaking stride, he arrived at the staircase leading to the fourth floor.
Crackle—!
A single golden thread of lightning unfurled across Jung I-sin’s eyes as he deployed both the Red Thunder Divine Art and Seom-an simultaneously.
The Heavenly Thunder Qi did not catch on O Hwa’s movements.
Jung I-sin reached toward the stairs without hesitation.
Thwung—
* * *
The stairs of Manmugak were woven through with a Formation Array.
A mysterious formation that allowed passage only up to the level one’s qualifications permitted.
It was natural that the stairs became a challenge and subject of study for countless Entrance Examination candidates.
Yet throughout Cheonmu Academy’s history, no Entrance Examination candidate was said to have broken through the Manmugak stairs without proper qualification.
Jung I-sin came to understand the reason only after experiencing it himself.
‘It never stops shifting.’
This was not a formation that could be broken through by raw strength alone.
Thread-thin qi wove together in hundreds and thousands of layers, forming a translucent barrier.
That barrier blocked the path to the stairs, perpetually changing shape with every breath.
Whenever he tried to pierce one spot, the qi around it would surge inward, creating an even denser seal.
The harder one pushed blindly forward, the more inevitably caught in the formation’s transformations one became.
‘If I hadn’t learned from Yeon… this would’ve been rough.’
The Hibiscus Incense smoke billowed up and enveloped Jung I-sin, but the translucent barrier didn’t budge—far different from when he’d ascended to the third level.
Yet Jung I-sin’s resolve was another matter entirely.
Tap. Tap. Tap—
He pressed his palm against the transparent membrane and flicked his index finger in rhythm. The Heavenly Thunder Qi seeped in with each beat.
The structure’s logic was already mapped out through Seom-an.
‘…Dozens, hundreds of threads of Formation Qi braided together like a twisted cord.’
No matter how densely woven, if it wasn’t a single mass of qi, the gaps existed. The Heavenly Thunder Qi found those spaces and threaded through, tangling the threads.
Crack—!
‘Even a wall can be breached—what’s a mere formation?’
Thrum—thrum-thrum!
The Thunder Flower Chaos Meridian’s power unraveled the strands of qi that formed the barrier. The beginning was the hard part; once cracks formed, collapse was only an instant away.
The translucent qi-barrier began to scatter and dissolve. But the moment Jung I-sin took another step forward, the barrier began gathering itself again.
‘…!’
As if to say: Did you think that was the end? A violent surge of qi erupted. The new flow was many times stronger than the previous formation.
‘This… I don’t think I can manage it even with my Thunder Flower Chaos Meridian.’
He figured he’d need to reach at least Yeon Baek-ha’s level before attempting this.
It was the moment he withdrew his hand with reluctant acceptance.
Click—
The Thunder Wheel locked and turned.
The doubled Heavenly Thunder Qi passed through the first Thunder Wheel and immediately mounted the second.
Shrieeeee—!
An amplification function he hadn’t felt in far too long.
What’s more, two Thunder Wheels meshing and turning together was something that hadn’t happened since the day he left the Abyss.
‘Damn…’
Even Jung I-sin gritted his teeth at the sheer volume of Formation Qi gathering.
Before he could even consider how to direct it, the enormous torrent of Heavenly Thunder Qi burst from his grasp.
Boom—!
It was virtually an explosion. The painstaking work of unraveling the qi with the Thunder Flower Chaos Meridian seemed laughable.
The reforming qi-barrier vanished without leaving a trace.
Whoosh—
Jung I-sin brushed off his tingling hands and muttered.
“…Everything according to plan.”
* * *
The revealed landscape was entirely different from the third level.
Rather than towering bookshelves that soared to the ceiling’s heights, ordinary-sized shelves were scattered sparsely about.
There seemed to be no one maintaining the place; no presence could be felt.
Jung I-sin was granted one hour. The journey here had taken not even a quarter hour, so he still had plenty of time.
“Sichuan Meridian Grave, Divine Strength Demon-Slaying Path, Ascension Method Accompanying the Five-Level Guide, Five-Level Handbook, Yao King Transmission, Zim Records….”
As he scanned the shelves, passing by ominous titles one after another.
One name caught Jung I-sin’s eye.
The Nameless Immortal.
Jung I-sin seized the book as if under a spell.
—The Sect Master is the Nameless Immortal Dan No-baek.
“…What?”
According to Dan No-baek’s teachings, Jung I-sin had meant to close the book at the word “Sect Master”—
But a flowing, uninhibited hand stopped him. The script was hauntingly familiar.
Before he could help himself, a gasp tore from his throat as he read on.
―I am the successor to the Taeheo Immense Strength Art, greatest under heaven.
“Ah!”
―I am also the eighth patriarch of the Taeheo School, a mystical sect of single-line succession spanning nine hundred years.
A voice seemed to echo in his ears—unmistakably the old man’s own.
“Heavens above.”
The suspicion he’d been half-denying grew clearer with every line he read.
―The Taeheo School was originally a hidden sect of the Martial World. As recluse masters, we devoted ourselves only to our own cultivation—but facing the shadow creeping over Jianghu, we had no choice, truly no choice, but to descend the mountain.
―Before Taeheo Immense Qi, even demonic force is useless. It surpasses heterodox martial arts, surpasses Thunder Arts—a technique supreme. This Sect Master razed the Demonic Path’s minions who invaded Sichuan with brutal efficiency.
“…….”
Of course he wanted to know how it ended.
He turned the pages urgently until he reached the final entry.
The handwriting was different from before. He could still tell it was the same writer, but now the weight of years was evident in every stroke.
―My martial art surpassed all others, and I could find no one capable of inheriting it. I pray a talented child will one day master the Taeheo Immense Strength Art.
“Suddenly?”
The abrupt shift in tone and content left him deeply unsettled.
Jung I-sin closed the book and stared blankly into empty space.
“So the old man was… the Unnamed Immortal.”
Somehow it made sense. It fit perfectly.
Jung I-sin let out a soft laugh, then shelved the book. At the same moment, the nameplate hanging on the shelf caught his eye.
Manmugak, Fifth Floor.
He stopped dead.
“…….”
His motion to move to the next shelf froze mid-step.
He checked the nameplate again. The number hadn’t changed.
“What……?”
A confused sound escaped his lips before he could stop it.
Sss—
Suddenly smoke billowed up in thick clouds. The Hibiscus Incense in his hand had burned down to barely a fingernail’s length.
“……!”
He could see its size diminishing in real time. It hadn’t taken even a quarter hour to read the Unnamed Immortal’s account.
Yet the burning speed was abnormal.
There were no causeless phenomena. The nameplate reading “Fifth Floor” on the shelf shone with eerie clarity.
“Damn it!”
But there was no one to protest to.
Crack—
With the Red Thunder Divine Art deployed, Jung I-sin swept through the floor.
His eyes spun rapidly, reading titles, his accelerated mind methodically checking for connections to his Four Guardians.
Fortunately, there weren’t many shelves, so he found what he sought.
‘Three Paths Transmission Formation, Defeat Sword, Dark Severing, Yama’s Immortal Technique, Annihilation Vajra. Found it!’
They waited for him, lined up on a single shelf.
And just as his fingers were about to touch the first book, the smoke ceased.
“Ah.”
* * *
How he returned to the first floor lay beyond his awareness. One blink, and the space had shifted.
The incense he’d held so carefully had left no trace—not even ash remained—only a faint fragrance lingering on his fingertips proved it hadn’t been a dream.
“What a precious opportunity lost…….”
Dan No-baek grinned when he caught Jung I-sin muttering ruefully.
“Haha! You’ve no sense at all! Even if no martial art pleased your eye, you should’ve used every moment of that time!”
The old man approached with a light step, teasing him relentlessly.
“Still, don’t be too disappointed. Even if you’d thoroughly combed the third floor, there wouldn’t have been an art there to satisfy your tastes!”
“……You, sir.”
Now Jung I-sin could finally understand the old man.
His reasons for clinging to Jung I-sin, the strange way his words had always seemed slightly off-center.
Most of the strong martial artists around him lacked soundness of mind, so he’d never thought it particularly odd.
But there had been a secret all along.
‘Turn crisis into opportunity.’
He’d lost his chance to fully explore the fifth floor of Manmugak, but he must hold fast to his connection with one who could move freely there.
“I’m not disappointed.”
“Hmm?”
“Rather, it made me determined to work even harder. I’ve seen my goal with my own eyes now. So I’d be grateful for your guidance, Master Dan.”
“Well, helping is only natural…… Master?”
The old man’s ruddy complexion gradually hardened, his features turning rigid.
A memory buried long ago had suddenly clawed its way back to the surface.
Jung I-sin bowed deeply at the waist.
“I said I hoped for your instruction and guidance, Master Dan No-baek.”
……
The Lightning I Harbored Was Too Fierce
Author |
Woo San-yu
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(주) Samyang C&C
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No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any form or by any means without the written permission of (주) Samyang C&C – 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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