The Black Snake (8)
Thunder roared like the wrath of heaven, shaking the Golden Lightning Pavilion to its core.
The Supreme Sect Master Geum Byeok-ho’s aura shifted the air itself; black clouds roiled overhead and lightning cracked like a whip.
“Do you honestly think it’ll take three full months just to condense your dantian?” Geum Jin-chan gritted his teeth, refusing to meet the blazing eyes of his master.
Normally, a cultivator with a spiritual root would require at least a year—and more often three to five—to form their first law-harmony pill. A true spiritual root might need only a month or two. A single-spirit heavenly root could do it in a day or two. But even that “normal” was measured by the standards of the mortal realm, Water Realm. Here in the Gwanghan Realm, law-harmony pills were born with every newborn.
Even babies born with a weak spiritual root were swallowing heaven and earth qi within the first one or two months and forming their first pill. In other words, Jeon Myeong-hoon moved slower than the slowest infant in the Gwanghan Realm.
“By what twisted method did you teach him? How did he waste an entire year like some brainless idiot?!” Geum Byeok-ho’s voice shook the rafters.
As expected, the furious supreme master did not scold his own disciple. He turned the wrath on his own master.
“I… I am too weak. I could not guide my disciple properly. Even if I had ten mouths, I would have nothing to say.” Geum Jin-chan bowed, lips pressed tight.
‘Damn it… Even if I had ten mouths, I’d still be grinding my teeth.’
Heavenly-root disciples were supposed to form their first pill in a day or two—provided they threw their entire heart into the training.
That meant absolute, unbreakable focus. Days without a single lapse in will, repeating the exact same motion until it became instinct. Common people’s young masters had been trained like that since childhood. Heavenly and sword sects’ disciples endured long stretches of mental discipline. Yet Jeon Myeong-hoon had almost none of that will.
He had spent his entire life on Earth living comfortably—tasks too easy for his connections and wealth to bother with. But cultivation required something he could not simply bribe or network his way out of.
For three whole months he had sat in one place, twelve hours a day by this world’s clock, drilling the formation of his first pill until his mind burned.
Geum Jin-chan wanted to complain, but bit his tongue instead. ‘All the mistakes my disciple makes are my fault as his master. Even if his will is weaker than expected, I cannot even see it. I’ll only look worse if I make excuses.’
“Still… I have come to know my disciple’s true nature better these three months. I will give you more time. I will guide Jeon Myeong-hoon properly.”
“Hmph.” Geum Byeok-ho’s expression stayed sour, but the storm inside him slowly settled.
“The Void Shattering Regent Seo Eun-hyun has already taken the post of elder and condensed his nascent soul long ago. He is now an official elder of the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect. Yet a disciple of the same bloodline as our founder Yang Su-jin is still wandering in the realm of elixir cultivation. That is… absurd.”
The supreme master rose from his seat on the lightning throne.
“Listen well, Geum Jin-chan! I, the Grand Supreme Patriarch, decree this: use every means, every method. Raise my disciple Jeon Myeong-hoon as fast as possible! The true power of the Heavenly Lightning Body awakens only after enduring a thousand cycles of tribulation. We must place him in the nascent soul realm as soon as possible!”
“I… I will obey the heavenly order of the Grand Supreme Patriarch.”
Geum Jin-chan and Jeon Myeong-hoon left the Golden Lightning Pavilion together.
The moment they stepped outside, Jeon Myeong-hoon’s face twisted in silent fury.
‘What the hell happened?’ He thought of Seo Eun-hyun. The same idiot who couldn’t even do spreadsheets at the company was already an elder here? The same brainless fool who couldn’t even memorize the basic cultivation formulas was now in the nascent soul realm?
‘Impossible. Seo Eun-hyun? He doesn’t have that kind of intelligence. No way. Then how did he reach the nascent soul so quickly?’ Jeon Myeong-hoon’s mind raced. ‘He must have eaten a lot of spiritual medicine. And he was sparred against one of the Cheonin-level elders, so he received the power of the dual-spirit grand law and skyrocketed.’
A dark, satisfied smile curved his lips. ‘Yes. He grew smarter, made friends with the upper echelons, trained with the best sparring partners, and received endless pills. Of course he reached this height.’
No matter the truth, Jeon Myeong-hoon believed it. ‘Just wait, Seo Eun-hyun. The day will come when I get the same good sparring partners you did and surpass you with nothing but my own effort.’ He smiled confidently and walked into the eastern district with his master.
Geum Jin-chan’s face remained strangely distant. Jeon Myeong-hoon noticed but said nothing.
“Myeong-hoon-ah, let’s begin proper training now.”
“Haha, yes. I at least feel the outline of the law-harmony pill now. From now on we’ll train exactly like that in elixir cultivation?” Jeon Myeong-hoon answered cheerfully.
“My disciple is still behind Seo Eun-hyun right now, but from today forward we will grow without end. I will become the face of the sect—”
“Yes, yes. A fine ambition. Let’s begin. This old man has considered your temperament and chosen a method that suits you perfectly.” The old master stroked his beard and reached into the void.
The floor of the eastern district trembled. Earth rose and reshaped itself into a stone seat.
“Sit, disciple. Your training will take place on this chair from now on.”
“Ah… I don’t need to form the lotus posture?” Jeon Myeong-hoon asked, secretly relieved. He had always found long lotus-sitting sessions uncomfortable. He dropped obediently onto the stone seat.
At the same moment—
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Armrests and leg supports shot out of the stone chair, binding Jeon Myeong-hoon’s limbs.
“Eh… Master?”
CLANG! A final, enormous ring of spiritual iron shot from the backrest and locked around his head.
Jeon Myeong-hoon was now completely bound in the stone seat.
Geum Jin-chan flicked his fingers. Dark runes of the lightning technique glowed across every surface of the chair and etched themselves into the stone.
ZIIIT! ZIIIT! ZIIIT! ZIIIT!
Lightning qi surged from the center of the chair, crackling with emerald fury. Yet a protective array held it back from touching Jeon Myeong-hoon’s body.
“Master…? What is this power?”
“The Heavenly Lightning Body is a vessel that draws the love of every lightning in the world. When its talent reaches its limit, it can swallow a thousand tribulations whole.”
Jeon Myeong-hoon swallowed hard, still pinned. ‘I’ll be damned… this chair looks exactly like the one they used to execute lightning criminals…’ Any fool would feel dread right now.
“…Yes, I understand…” he answered, voice trembling.
“From now on—” Geum Jin-chan’s face twisted into something between a smile and a grimace.
“I will imprint the seventy-two lightning laws onto your body. If you are lacking, this master will personally inject the power of the lightning and teach you both the forward-thinking and backward-thinking methods simultaneously.”
Jeon Myeong-hoon forced a smile at his master’s expression. “Um… could we just go back to normal lotus-sitting training?”
Hours later, a blood-curdling scream echoed from inside the eastern district.
“PAAAK! KUUUAAAAAHHH!!!”
* * *
“Heh heh. Well then, I shall entrust you with my cultivation from today onward, Elder Seo.”
“Likewise, I shall entrust myself to you, Elder Gal. Let us make a good match.”
After receiving congratulations from the elders of the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect, Seo Eun-hyun escorted them out, then formed the lotus posture in his own eastern district.
PAAK…
The Ten Thousand Scales Tree Ocean and the Extinguishing Lightning Heavenly Palace surged together, accelerating their mutual progress to terrifying speeds.
‘Both manuals are already at an impressive level.’ He also controlled the Taiji Thunder Divine Technique, perfectly grasping the yin-yang flow of the original energy. The comprehension he felt was profound.
He had fully mastered every major technique of the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect.
‘The more I train them… the more wondrous they feel.’ He thought about the relationship between the three techniques.
“No one has ever completed all three at this speed,” Hong Su-ryeong had once told him.
Their sparring partnership had evolved into something deeper than mere physical sparring—mainly a mental one. He passed on the insight of “seeing the future and acting in the present,” while she shared her understanding of the fusion between sword and cultivation. Thanks to her, Seo Eun-hyun now possessed considerable insight into the dual-spirit arts of the recent generation.
“And the sword intent itself…” He had also learned how to wield dozens of sword intents.
Thus their bond was no longer merely physical; it had become deeply spiritual. Hong Su-ryeong even gave him advice as a Cheonin-level elder while watching over his lightning technique.
He recalled the conversation they had once shared.
“No one has ever walked the same path you have, fully mastering every major technique of the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect. Even our ancestors who were born with the Void Shattering talent initially walked this same road—until some reason made them turn away.”
“Do you know what that reason was?” Seo Eun-hyun asked.
“I do not. But as someone who has trained these techniques for a very long time, I suspect the lightning techniques of the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect are… incomplete by nature.”
“Incomplete? What do you mean?”
“Exactly. When you train the incomplete techniques together, they naturally complement one another.”
“But then wouldn’t we need to train all three together?” Seo Eun-hyun asked.
“I tried that too—experimenting on my own body. The results were all failures. At first the progress seemed steady, even overwhelming, but eventually one technique would swallow the others, leaving me with only a single incomplete path.”
“So a technique could become dependent on another?” Seo Eun-hyun said, stunned.
“Exactly. There was once a cultivator who trained both the Extinguishing Lightning Heavenly Palace and the Seven Lightning Sutra at the same time. At one point the Extinguishing Lightning was slightly ahead. From that moment, the Seven Lightning Sutra began to dominate the Extinguishing Lightning.” Hong Su-ryeong drew lightning patterns in the air to illustrate.
“The dependency itself isn’t the problem. The real issue is that once one technique swallows another, the original technique’s progress is lost. The Extinguishing Lightning itself would rise, but—”
“The Seven Lightning Sutra’s progress would suddenly disappear.” Seo Eun-hyun finished.
“Precisely. Our bodies change to match the techniques we train. But if our body is perfectly adapted to two techniques and then one suddenly vanishes, what happens?”
“Balance collapses… life shortens, or strength suddenly vanishes?” Seo Eun-hyun guessed.
“Yes. If you look at the sect’s records, those ancestors who were born with the Void Shattering talent also failed to overcome the incompleteness of our lightning techniques.”
Seo Eun-hyun asked, still unconvinced. “Then why does the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect refuse to improve these flaws? And why did they not stop me when I said I would master every major technique?”
“Because the Void Shattering talent naturally harmonizes all techniques within the body. The ‘flaws’ of our lightning techniques would only manifest a thousand years from now at the earliest. And according to the founder’s records, even those ‘flaws’ did not exist in his time. Perhaps the power of the Heavenly Lightning Body could somehow compensate for the incompleteness.”
‘The power of the Heavenly Lightning Body…’ Seo Eun-hyun thought of the conversation and then of Jeon Myeong-hoon.
‘How long will it take that idiot to grow as strong as Yang Su-jin?’ He guessed at least ten thousand years. But even reaching elixir cultivation in three months was already beyond any normal heavenly-root disciple.
‘I cannot wait for Jeon Myeong-hoon.’ He would force balance himself. But how? There were countless other lightning techniques scattered across the sect—none of them the three major ones.
‘I will master every single lightning technique in the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect.’ He resolved it. ‘That way the imbalance will be maximized so no technique can swallow another.’ If one tried to dominate, he would simply empower the others instead.
‘Five hundred years to reach only the middle of nascent soul. Sixteen loops.’ Hong Su-ryeong had once said talent was an illusion. He knew it was real. His talent was gone.
‘In this life there is no time to grind like an idiot just to reach middle nascent soul again.’ So what now? Force it. Rampage through. Break through the middle nascent soul by brute force! And along the way, overcome the imbalance of the lightning techniques by mastering every one of them.
“PAAK! ZIIIT!” He asked Jin-hwi to gather every technique manual from the sect archives. He began training them one by one.
‘Starting with the Eight Lightning Heavenly Ceiling…’
* * *
Seo Eun-hyun and Jeon Myeong-hoon trained separately with all their might.
One and a half years later…
“WE DID IT!!!” Jeon Myeong-hoon and Geum Jin-chan hugged in the eastern district, roaring with joy.
“My disciple Jeon Myeong-hoon! Elixir cultivation sixth stage, the Eight Trigrams Completion is finished!!”
“Magnificent! Magnificent, my disciple! With this speed you are now on par with ordinary heavenly-root disciples!” Geum Jin-chan laughed.
One and a half years. Under Geum Jin-chan’s hellish training, Jeon Myeong-hoon’s will and concentration had forced themselves to grow.
Now his progress matched that of ordinary heavenly-root disciples—still far from the legendary Heavenly Lightning Body, but close enough.
“The only thing left is the Seven Stars Ceremony! Once we break through the gate of the Seven Stars, you will receive a proper dual-spirit partner and can advance the mastery of the lightning techniques even faster!”
“Yes, Master!” Jeon Myeong-hoon smiled with shining eyes.
‘Finally! I can finally train the lightning techniques with a dual-spirit partner!’ For one and a half years his mind had been near breaking. His master, afraid of Geum Byeok-ho’s wrath, had locked him inside the eastern district without allowing a single step outside. For a full year and a half he had endured endless lightning punishments while forced to train in isolation.
‘But that damned training is finally over!’ After the Seven Stars Ceremony came the dual-spirit binding. Many cultivators traveled to their partner’s eastern district after that, so Geum Jin-chan had promised to release him once the binding was complete.
‘Finally! I can leave this damned eastern district!’ Jeon Myeong-hoon was happier than anything else.
“Well then, the Seven Stars Ceremony in a few days.”
“Yes, Master!”
“Your will may still be lacking, but with every increase in will and concentration your training speed has been rising. The Heavenly Lightning Body is no empty boast—prove it!”
Jeon Myeong-hoon resolved to train even harder under Geum Jin-chan’s trusting gaze.
* * *
A few days later, Jeon Myeong-hoon’s Seven Stars Ceremony preparations were complete. He finally stepped outside the eastern district for the first time in a year and a half.
‘It feels so refreshing…’ The air was clean, the sky vast. One and a half years had passed—mere a blink to cultivators, but an eternity to someone who had lived as a regular person on Earth.
‘Every time I train the techniques, the qi inside my body grows stronger. My consciousness is expanding. I feel like I am beginning to leave human form behind…’ Yet he was beginning to enjoy the training itself.
‘A hellish ordeal, but the stronger I become, the more power I gain. Someday I’ll have the monstrous lifespan and authority of the Cheonin elders like my master.’ Jeon Myeong-hoon laughed at the future he could already see.
‘I heard Seo Eun-hyun stopped progressing after reaching the nascent soul.’ While Seo Eun-hyun was stalled, Jeon Myeong-hoon would catch up. ‘After the Seven Stars Ceremony I’ll have a dual-spirit partner. I’ll train harder than anyone before.’
‘I trained my Earth techniques so I could use them again. Good! I’ll use the power of the dual-spirit techniques to grow stronger and surpass Seo Eun-hyun!’ Just as he thought this—
KUGUGUGUGU!
A long, slender, massive shape flashed past his side.
“Hic!” Jeon Myeong-hoon yelped involuntarily at the overwhelming pressure.
‘What… what was that?’ His mind flashed with the thought.
The thing that had passed in front of him was a pitch-black serpent-like creature, its body long and sleek in the backlight.
‘No… a snake?’ Jeon Myeong-hoon stared harder. ‘It really is a snake!’ He realized the “black serpent” was no ordinary snake.
“Hiiik! What the—?!” He screamed at the sight. The creature’s segments were each as thick as a basin—giant centipedes.
Hundreds of enormous centipedes soared through the sky, passing directly in front of his eastern district.
The moment Jeon Myeong-hoon screamed, the centipedes’ antennae twitched and turned their heads toward him.
‘What…? But the sect said monsters cannot enter…’ Jeon Myeong-hoon’s face drained of color.
[Who… are you, little one?] A voice emerged from the centipede’s mouth. Polite, almost courteous.
“M-monster… can you speak?”
[I am Hong Beom, one of the elders’ pet beast of the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect.]
“Ah… I see.” Jeon Myeong-hoon finally understood. ‘It wasn’t a normal monster.’
“I’m sorry. I thought an intruder had entered the sect and panicked. Still, for an elder at the nascent soul level to—” Jeon Myeong-hoon sized up the centipede. “You can control something at the Foundation Establishment level?”
[Ability depends on the owner…] The centipede’s voice was calm.
“I see…” Jeon Myeong-hoon stared at the floating centipede, Hong Beom. A decision formed. ‘I will definitely become as strong as the elders. I will raise monsters like this one too.’ He unconsciously felt respect for its owner and swore he would one day reach the same level.
That night, Jeon Myeong-hoon’s Seven Stars Ceremony began.