The Black Serpent (2)
“Want to master everything?”
At my words, Jin Hwi looked at me with an expression of disbelief for a moment before stroking his beard.
“Hmm, originally I would have scolded you for being greedy, but I don’t know about the thunder body…”
“Then… what exactly is the thunder body?”
I asked the question I had been curious about for a long time.
Upon hearing that, Jin Hwi slowly began to explain.
“If the Heavenly Golden Thunder Body is the ‘quality loved by all lightning,’ then the thunder body is the ‘body that is the lightning itself.’ It is also called the quality where lightning has turned into a human body. Therefore, there is no restriction on learning all kinds of lightning techniques, and the speed of cultivation is much faster than those who possess ordinary spiritual roots.”
“Oh…”
“Actually, the lightning techniques of our Golden Thunder Sect were all created in order to follow the Founder, Geumsinja.”
“…?”
Jin Hwi occasionally looked at my body, which was spitting out lightning uncontrollably, and said.
“The Founder’s Heavenly Golden Thunder Body, which aimed to control all the lightning of the three thousand worlds with a single word and hold even celestial ages in its hands… The beginning of our sect was the attempt to imitate that Heavenly Golden Thunder Body. Therefore, in the end, every lightning technique in our sect is no different from the shadow of the Heavenly Golden Thunder Body.”
For some reason, Jin Hwi’s self-mocking gaze continued with his explanation.
“But the Heavenly Golden Thunder Body is, as the name suggests, a quality that only appears in myths… No matter how much a human body hammers lightning, it was impossible to reproduce the myth. However, during the golden age of our sect in a distant past, a thunder body appeared. It is undoubtedly a legendary quality, but it is not as hollow as the Heavenly Golden Thunder Body. It was a quality that could serve as a bridge for the lightning techniques of our sect that imitate the Heavenly Golden Thunder Body.”
Thud!
Jin Hwi grabbed my shoulder and said with a serious gaze.
“Your innate thunder body… is the testing bridge that allows humans to reach the Heavenly Golden Thunder. When the thunder body appeared in ancient times, the lightning techniques of our sect were secret techniques that only the Founder’s direct descendants could understand, but it became a technique that could accept countless disciples and expanded the power of the Golden Thunder Sect. And today, since both the Heavenly Golden Thunder Body and the thunder body have entered our sect… your role from now on will be immense.”
“I will remember that.”
“Originally, I would have scolded you for mastering all the techniques as your master, but since you and Jeon Myeong-hoon entered the sect, the sect will grow explosively in the future. Therefore, I will entrust the future to you and give you permission.”
Jin Hwi handed me three books.
**Heavenly Thunder Scripture, Taiji Thunder God, Annihilation Thunder Heaven Palace.**
I received the three technique manuals and thanked Jin Hwi.
* * *
Just as the disciples of Changcheon Gaebyeokmun had ranks from the Five Disciple to the One Disciple, the Golden Thunder Sect also had ranks among its disciples, and they wore belts with their ranks indicated according to their level.
Starting with the most famous technique of the Golden Thunder Sect, **Heavenly Thunder Scripture**, naming the ranks.
Disciples who could not pass the Seven-Star Ceremony in the Qi Condensation realm received the belt of **Red Thunder** Disciples.
Disciples who passed the Seven-Star Ceremony were **Crimson Thunder** Disciples.
Disciples who reached the peak of the Qi Condensation realm were called **Yellow Thunder** Disciples.
Red, Crimson, and Yellow.
These three ranks were collectively called **Lower Thunder** Disciples who handled the miscellaneous duties of the Golden Thunder Sect, and those above them in the Foundation Establishment realm and above were properly recognized as the power of the Golden Thunder Sect.
Foundation Establishment Disciples were **Green Thunder** Disciples, Core Formation Disciples were **Blue Thunder** Disciples.
Those who showed the potential to reach the Nascent Soul realm were treated as **Black Thunder** Disciples, and those recognized as the future of the Golden Thunder Sect were called **Purple Thunder** Disciples.
And those who reached the Nascent Soul realm were treated as elders and were called **Purple Thunder**, receiving purple belts.
Furthermore, from the Heavenly Person realm onward, they received golden belts engraved with the character **Golden Thunder**, the name of the Golden Thunder Sect, and among the elders, the few who led the sect received white belts engraved with the character **Heavenly Thunder**.
Only a handful, including Supreme Sect Master Geum Byeok-ho, wore the Heavenly Thunder belts.
And I, from Jin Hwi, received the green belt symbolizing the Foundation Establishment Disciple.
“With your aptitude and the dense spiritual energy of the Gwangryeong Sect, the Foundation Establishment realm will come quickly, so for now your rank is Green Thunder Disciple.”
“I understand.”
“Also, the three technique manuals I gave you are not for you to master. To master those technique manuals, you need to reach at least the Core Formation realm. What you will master from now on is the basic technique of the Golden Thunder Sect called **Accumulated Thunder Technique**.”
“Yes.”
I accepted the **Accumulated Thunder Technique**.
And under Jin Hwi’s permission, I opened the book engraved with the Accumulated Thunder Technique and also unfolded the Heavenly Thunder Scripture I received.
“…Master, about this Accumulated Thunder Technique…”
“Yes, it is very similar to the beginning part of the Heavenly Thunder Scripture.”
It was.
The Accumulated Thunder Technique was almost identical to the **Red Thunder Scripture** at the beginning of the Heavenly Thunder Scripture.
It was nothing more than a slightly degraded version of several parts of the Red Thunder Scripture that could be mastered at the Qi Condensation realm.
When I looked puzzled, Jin Hwi explained.
“The Heavenly Thunder Scripture is a technique personally created by the Founder. It is the most important technique in the twelve-thousand-year history of the Golden Thunder Sect. And because of that, many disciples tried to master the Heavenly Thunder Scripture, and to make it easier for future disciples to enter the Heavenly Thunder Scripture, they changed the beginning part of the Heavenly Thunder Scripture to be familiar from the Qi Condensation period. That is the Accumulated Thunder Technique.”
“I see…”
After listening to Jin Hwi’s explanation about the Accumulated Thunder Technique, the Heavenly Thunder Scripture, the Taiji Thunder God, and the Annihilation Thunder Heaven Palace for a while, I received a little more instruction on the lightning techniques and returned to the eastern region assigned to me.
**Uuuuuung!**
The eastern region, where the Golden Thunder Sect’s best spiritual veins flowed, was allocated to me because of my thunder body, and I entered the eastern region and inhaled the spiritual energy.
“The Accumulated Thunder Technique…”
I looked at the Accumulated Thunder Technique, the foundation of the lightning techniques.
The lightning techniques were one of the most difficult to master among the normal attribute techniques.
Originally, because the lightning attribute was not included in the five elements, it was.
The lightning techniques were not naturally developed from the five-element spiritual roots, but were created only after the attribute technique system had developed quite a bit.
Therefore, those who were born with the five-element spiritual roots had two ways to master the lightning techniques.
They could be born with the wood attribute spiritual root, or they could forcibly raise the power of thunder within their bodies through the exchange of yin and yang.
‘For those who do not have the wood attribute spiritual root, mastering the lightning techniques requires the yin-yang exchange, but in the Golden Thunder Sect, they only find yin-yang partners for those who have passed the Seven-Star Ceremony.’
What did that mean?
The low-rank Qi Condensation cultivators who had not passed the Seven-Star Ceremony would have to find a way to exchange yin and yang by themselves or forcibly draw thunder power from the outside to obtain thunder power.
How to draw thunder power from the outside?
Simple.
Consume large amounts of Thunder-attribute pills, or receive electrical punishments from predecessors, or go to a region where lightning falls and take the lightning on their naked body.
Of course, all three methods required enormous wealth or risked one’s life.
That was why the Accumulated Thunder Disciples of the Golden Thunder Sect mostly mastered the Seven-Star Ceremony with basic techniques like the Five Elements Entering Thunder Scripture sold outside, and then exchanged yin and yang to master the techniques after that.
Of course, I didn’t need to do that.
‘Is this the Accumulated Thunder Technique?’
Since I already had the five-element spiritual root, I could manifest the power of thunder with the wood attribute spiritual root.
Wood symbolized the trigram Zhen, which was lightning, in the Bagua, so it was more than qualified.
**Tingling, tingling…**
When I first operated the technique, static electricity rose from my fingertips.
**Uuuuuung!**
I took a deep breath and immediately formed the Law Flower Core.
Inside the core, yin and yang intertwined and formed the Law Flower Core of the Elixir Cultivation realm.
‘Then, let’s see…’
I obtained the qualification to enter the Qi Condensation realm.
**Uuuuuuung!**
I released the colorless glass swords inside my core.
**Tzzzzzzzzz!**
The training stored in the colorless glass swords with the Ten Thousand Phenomena Affinity Diagram began to push back into me again.
‘Shall I try cultivating the lightning technique?’
I also have the wood attribute spiritual root.
Through the Yusu Technique, I have the method to manifest the yin-yang exchange by myself.
Moreover, thanks to the curse of the Thunder God, the thunder power is supplied spontaneously from inside, not from the outside,
and because I have repeated the Qi Condensation realm several times, the configurations of the Qi Condensation realm are already deeply engraved.
Furthermore, the training from the previous loop is also stored in the colorless glass swords with the Ten Thousand Phenomena Affinity Diagram…
**Chijijijijij!**
I sucked in the thick spiritual energy inside the eastern region and operated the Yusu Technique, the Five Elements Entering Thunder Scripture, and the Accumulated Thunder Technique all at the same time.
**Paijijijijij!**
The lightning of the Accumulated Thunder Technique, which was originally just tingling static electricity, immediately amplified into visible lightning the moment I started cultivating.
**Paijijijijij!**
Blue lightning danced above both hands and writhed wildly.
“Seventy-two veins.”
The seventy-two spiritual veins instantly activated.
At the same time, the yin and yang inside the core exploded, and the Yusu Technique changed to correspond to the First Layer of Qi Condensation.
And by adding a little of the Accumulated Thunder Technique’s configuration to the flow of yin and yang of the Yusu Technique, the power of thunder grew even stronger.
“Thirty-six thousand streams.”
Thirty-six spiritual energies gathered in various places, and the Yusu Technique grew as well.
The thickness of the lightning flowing above both hands became even thicker.
“Twelve laws.”
The twelve types of spiritual waves in the spiritual energy were held in my palm.
“Ten heavenly stems.”
The symbols of ten spiritual powers guided the spiritual power.
“Nine palaces, eight trigrams.”
I quickly passed the stages of Nine Palaces Returning to the Sun and Eight Trigrams Complete Wheel.
Instantly, Qi Condensation Sixth Layer.
To proceed to Qi Condensation Seventh Layer, I needed to align the heavenly stems and earthly branches.
But.
The Yusu Technique inside my body continued to push up and collided with each other.
As a result, the thunder power of the Accumulated Thunder Technique grew even stronger, and at some point the collision of yin and yang reached its peak.
**Kwaaaang!**
**Puk!**
The core burst.
It wasn’t a metaphor; blood literally spurted from my lower abdomen, and blood gushed from the corners of my mouth.
The Yusu Technique is very simple.
As the name suggests, it is just repeating the explosion of yin and yang energy inside the core.
Then, the Yusu Technique.
Is the Earth Clan Technique less difficult than the Heavenly Clan Technique?
Absolutely not.
If the body cannot endure it like this, the body explodes and dies as a result of the Yusu Technique.
Only the strong survive the Yusu Technique.
If the Heavenly Clan Technique is a sacrifice to the heavens for permission to cultivate, then the Earth Clan Technique is a way of survival of the fittest: burn yourself to live is allowed by the world, die is not.
Of course.
**Tzzzzz!**
I quickly formed the invisible sword and pulled it out as a real sword, quickly sealing the wounds with medical knowledge and returning the spiritual energy to regenerate.
The exploded power of the Yusu Technique became pure life force and helped regeneration.
‘How many more times do I need to explode?’
Both the Heavenly Clan Technique and the Earth Clan Technique always have high points at Seventh Layer.
If it is the Heavenly Clan Technique, it is enough to align the earthly branches, but the Earth Clan Technique measured pure luck and the strength of the body with or without earthly branches, so it was more demanding than the Heavenly Clan Technique in some ways.
**Kwaaang!**
**Kwaaang! Kwaaaang!**
**Puk, puk, puk!**
It took me several times after my lower abdomen burst to barely escape the Seventh Layer of Qi Condensation.
“Huu…”
The Yusu Technique doesn’t require earthly branches.
But if I had mastered the Yusu Technique when I was in the Qi Condensation realm, could I have easily crossed the Seventh Layer?
‘Probably the probability that I would die without properly responding to the bursting abdomen is higher.’
Of course, even so, it was good that I could cross the Seventh Layer of Qi Condensation without the ritual procedure if I just had a feel.
‘As for the Qi Condensation ritual in the Heavenly Clan Technique, I will do it later…’
**Kkuung, kkuung! Kuuung!**
I continued operating the Yusu Technique and recovered my realm.
**Tzzzzz!**
The Changryeong Seonggwang Ochae Daebop, which I remodeled with the Gwanghan Realm through the Yusu Technique, gradually began to emit blue light and dyed my body.
**Kuuuung!**
Finally, I instantly recovered the realm of Qi Condensation Peak.
**Uuuuuung!**
My core, which was originally the core, had become a larger core filled with pure life force.
**Uuuuuung!**
I exploded the core again, raised my realm until before entering the Foundation Establishment realm, sorted out the blood-stained clothes, changed clothes, and went outside.
The places throughout the Golden Thunder Sect were pushing out the buildings used in the Noeryeong-do and placing the buildings of the Golden Thunder Sect brought up from the lower realm on the mountain peaks.
Now, by connecting those buildings to the spiritual veins flowing on the mountain peaks and activating the grand array of the sect, a proper sect would finally be completed.
I quickly used the Wansuigungmurok to hide my presence.
I flew to a place with few people in Noeryeong-do using the invisible sword.
Previously, I hadn’t used the invisible sword because the total elder of Cheongong-do was watching.
But I had talked with Jang Ik in the Star Realm and talked about Tae Su Wi-ryeon, the Integration-stage elder who monitors the In Clan areas in the In Clan Federation.
And as a result, I had heard from Jang Ik that Wi-ryeon’s detection ability was not absolute, and rather, if I used the Wansuigungmurok, he would never detect me.
‘So that’s why, when I infiltrated Noeryeong-do with the Wansuigungmurok on the fifteenth loop to steal the Heavenly Thunder Banner, Wi-ryeon couldn’t detect me.’
I sat on an appropriate mountain peak of Noeryeong-do, sucked in the training stored in the colorless glass swords and the surrounding spiritual energy.
**Kugugugugu!**
In an instant, the sky flickered and dark clouds gathered around.
**Kkuung!**
I operated the spiritual energy as if breaking the core.
‘Break it.’
How does the Earth Clan rise to the Foundation Establishment realm.
Simply eat up the massive spiritual energy and explode it all at once inside the core.
Then, of course, a massive explosion that breaks the core occurs.
Re-condense the broken core here and activate all the spiritual veins of the body, and when the whole body spiritual veins and core are clearly connected, you reach the Foundation Establishment realm.
And if you fail, the Earth Clan loses all training and turns into a beast.
**Kwaaaang!**
I smashed the core without hesitation.
The spiritual power that made up the core spread throughout the whole body blood vessels.
It circulated inside the arteries and veins, adjusting the flow of yin and yang.
Yin energy was the veins, yang energy was the arteries.
And all yin and yang energy met again at the heart, the middle core.
**Kugugugu!**
The heart swelled as if bursting, and just before the heart burst.
I gathered the concentrated spiritual energy back to the lower core.
‘Gather!’
Gather the spiritual energy!
**Tzzzzz!**
The flow of yin and yang intertwined again in the lower core, beginning to form a firm ‘core’.
At the same time, the spiritual power that had been a little confusing with my inner power became a real ‘yao power’ and added life force to the whole body.
**Uuuuuung!**
The yin and yang energy extending from the core rotated the arteries and veins of the whole body and gathered into the heart, and the yao power collected in the heart returned to the core again.
The elixir and the flesh were completely connected.
The spiritual energy and the life force merged into this spiritual energy.
This was the **Yao Power**!
At the same time, a streak of blue lightning flew toward me from the sky.
In normal times, it would have been cut with the invisible sword.
But I operated the Accumulated Thunder Technique and opened all the pores of my whole body toward the sky.
‘Absorb.’
**Paijijijijij!**
The massive thunder power accumulated in the core.
I couldn’t convert it directly to law power yet because I hadn’t passed the Seven-Star Ceremony, but I could hold it with the Accumulated Thunder Technique.
When I passed the Seven-Star Ceremony, this massive power of thunder would be converted into training, and I would be able to pull the Heavenly Clan Technique to the Qi Condensation Peak realm in an instant.
‘It’s not the end.’
I went further.
**Kkuung, kkuung, kkuung!**
Yin and yang continued to collide.
My level, which had reached the early stage of Foundation Establishment, ate the training stored in the colorless glass swords and became a Foundation Establishment Core Formation Disciple again.
‘Explode!’
**Kwaaaaang!**
The shock of reaching the Core Formation realm was incomparable to the shock of reaching the Foundation Establishment realm.
When reaching the Foundation Establishment realm, it was just breaking the core, but when reaching the Core Formation realm, a much stronger explosion was required.
If you lose the core at the Foundation Establishment realm, you only lose the training and return to being a beast, but if the core explodes when you reach the Core Formation realm, the Earth Clan will almost certainly suffer serious injuries and even if you return to being a beast, you will live with disabilities.
**Uung!**
However, I created the strong return inside the core again and made my original core once more.
The original core would center the core and reduce the power of the explosion.
‘Go!’
The blue light of the Changryeong Geukwon-gyeol, the starlight of the Seonggwang Hogche-gong, and the five-color light of the Ohhaeng Jangwonjeon shone inside the core.
**Peoeoeong!**
**Ulk!**
A streak of blood flowed from my mouth.
But…
‘I did it.’
With this much shock, it was enough to recover.
The core that had exploded again swept through the whole body blood vessels.
The yin and yang energy divided into veins and arteries gathered into the heart.
But when you reach the Core Formation realm, you don’t go from the heart to the lower core.
‘Raise it.’
**Tzzzzz!**
The massive yao power collected in the heart headed toward the upper core.
By fully activating the upper core in this way, spiritual energies were born in various places of the yao power’s upper, middle, and lower cores.
‘And again…’
By planting yao power in the upper core as well, the spiritual energy was sent back to the lower core again.
In this way, the upper, middle, and lower cores were closely connected, obtaining a much firmer and stronger core than before.
This was the Core Formation of the Earth Clan.
**Kururung!**
I reached out my hand toward the heavenly thunder that flew to me again.
I also wanted to absorb this with the Accumulated Thunder Technique, but the one-handed capacity that could be absorbed with the Accumulated Thunder Technique had already been exceeded.
I clicked my tongue and split the heavenly thunder.
‘Then finally…’
**Kwaaaang!**
I continued sucking in the training of the colorless glass swords without stopping even though I had reached the Core Formation realm.
**Kwaaaang!**
And at some point.
**Tzzzzz!**
My consciousness area began to compress in the same form as me.
The compressed consciousness area entered my body and began to settle inside the core.
Inside the dark clouds, blue lightning and golden thunder power writhed.
**Kwarururung!**
The double-colored heavenly thunder hit me.
**Kwaijijijij!**
I didn’t care and took the heavenly thunder with the invisible sword and stood up.
The Wansuigungmurok was still being used, so there was no worry of being detected.
**Uuuuuung!**
I experienced a rapid afterimage.
Inside the body, a baby-shaped consciousness and a collection of yao power.
As soon as I realized that the **Yuanling** was born, I opened my eyes and looked up at the sky.
**Peeit!**
**Puk!**
And as I leaped toward the sky as is, my flesh cut the double lightning and pierced the dark clouds and reached above the clouds.
“Huu…”
Around me, three thousand colorless glass swords followed me up.
The power of the Changryeong Seonggwang Ochae Daebop remodeled with the Yusu Technique swirled with yin and yang under me.
**Uuuuuung!**
I retrieved the colorless glass swords back inside the core and smiled.
“Yuanling Scripture, recovery.”
How many times had I repeated the act of recovering my realm?
Now, for the Earth Clan Technique, which only required the sacrifice of the body without ritual procedure.
As long as I had the Ten Thousand Phenomena Affinity Diagram storing the training and the colorless glass swords, I could recover the training at any time.
“In this life, I will definitely reach the Heavenly Person realm.”
It had been only one day since I entered the Golden Thunder Sect.
After recovering the realm of the Yuanling, I re-set my goal.
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